Our Whole Bodies

          Every Tuesday/Thursday night I find myself on the Front Runner not really making a very good use of my time coming home from my 7:40 p.m. class in Salt Lake. But tonight I made a good use of my time reading your posts. It always feels great to get a good spiritual boost in for the day! 
I love you guys.

For my week i spent a lot of my  personal study contemplating the baptismal covenant. Something i learned was the word baptism in Greek means to immerse or to dip. Thus, baptism is not baptism if one is sprinkled with water. We put our whole bodies into the water. Not even a toe can come out. I thought about the Greek myth Achilles. Achilles was left vulnerable, as he was dipped all except his heel. When we are baptized we are completely covered in water and make a covenant to serve the Lord with all of our hearts, might, mind, and strength...basically our whole body. The Savior gave His whole body for us, blood and all. What more do we have if we give our whole body? And in return we are promised that His Holy Spirit will always be with us. Our whole body can be filled with His light and His love. No wonder no man can serve two masters. We can't split up our body. We can't keep just part of our covenants. If we do, we are leaving ourselves exposed to Satan who looks for those chinks in our armor. When I think about how baptism last just a few seconds, but the eternal effects it has, it makes me realize how every moment of our lives matter. We must keep ourselves fully engaged in keeping our covenants. I know we will be blessed eternally for our service-serving with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength.

My talk from the other week

My life has been an adventure full of ups and downs and loopty loops but one swell ride. I intended to be an architect. I dreamed of buildings that would inspire people and help them live their lives better. When I was ten I built a suspension bridge out of legos that spanned 5 feet and held 20 lbs. But an unfortunate skiing accident involving my uncle Archie a big cliff and a concussion derailed those plans. I remember the moment as I walked out of the Wilkinson center my freshmen year when a still small voice whispered, “ You will study history.” I proceeded to fully comprehend it as a revelation from the Lord then completely ignore it. As I sat in my dorm room while I was on a study abroad in England two summers ago. Long after my revelation was received, tears blurred the lines of my last rejection letter for the program I needed to pursue my dreams, the voice came again. “Would you sacrifice anything for me?” My response of coarse! “Would you give up your dreams for me?” I was stunned, I had heard of the martyrs of the faith laying down their lives but that seemed easy compared to the jewel I was being asked to hand over. The voice came again, “I need you to study History.” Don’t get me wrong, I love history but majoring in it wasn’t something I had considered. As I wrestled before the Lord that night where I was completely alone yet perfectly connected I pondered the manner in which we make our priorities our realities.  

Drawing from the scriptures, my assigned talk given by Elder Nelson in Conference last October and personal experiences I will attempt to describe the doctrines principles and practices that we need to understand in this season of our lives to accurately make decisions both big and small.

First principle: Our Bodies.

Elder Nelson taught that rather than our bodies are a hindrance to our spiritual growth and development it is a necessary and beautiful addition to our lives. They are not necessary evils but gifts of immense worth to help us progress through the plan of salvation. We are to care and develop our bodies, including talents and abilities.

With your body being such a vital part of God’s eternal plan, it is little wonder that the Apostle Paul described it as a “temple of God.”14 Each time you look in the mirror, see your body as your temple. That truth—refreshed gratefully each day—can positively influence your decisions about how you will care for your body and how you will use it. And those decisions will determine your destiny. How could this be? Because your body is the temple for your spirit. And how you use your body affects your spirit.

Our bodies are the key ingredient in our access to agency in this life. With a body our ability to act far surpasses our status as things that are acted upon. How well our body works is irrelevant because of its eventual breakdown in death.

“the aging process is a gift from god.” Why so? Because the closer we are to death the closer we are to returning home. The aches and pains that we are feeling more and more and a gentle reminder of the gift that God as given us in a body.

Second Principle: Understanding Addiction

It is my belief that the Word of Wisdom is generally misunderstood and under applied. Apart from the big 5 temple recommend questions that we need to have control over before making covenants our work is not done. The one aspect of the Word of Wisdom is this, freeing our selves from earthly snares will allow smoother and us to float upwards faster. What holds us to the cares and worries of the world? Addictions. Any addiction is contrary to the word of wisdom. Any habit, substance, sensation or activity that repeatedly draws our time and energy from things that we actually want to be doing is an addiction. We all have them, and we need to defeat them just as much as the poor soul struggling with cigarettes needs to fight nicotine.

So why do we all have this universal urge to watch Netflix when we really should be studying or going shopping when we should be saving our money? Elder nelson explains.

It is not surprising, then, that most temptations to stray from God’s plan of happiness come through the misuse of those essential, God-given appetites. Controlling our appetites is not always easy. Not one of us manages them perfectly.24 Mistakes happen. Errors are made. Sins are committed. What can we do then? We can learn from them. And we can truly repent.

Notice how he describes our appetites as essential and God given.

Why the need for self-mastery? God implanted strong appetites within us for nourishment and love, vital for the human family to be perpetuated.22 

We are given appetites, in who’s fulfillment we find joy. The well read scripture from the book of Mormon as Alma counsels his righteous son shiblon is so powerful in this context. “bridle your passions that ye may be filled with love.” To bridle a horse doesn’t mean to shoot it or let it starve, it is to tame and train. Our greatest weaknesses are our greatest strengths that have been misdirected through temptation.

When we master our appetites within the bounds of God’s laws, we can enjoy longer life, greater love, and consummate joy.

If I might suggest another analogy would be to compare our passions to a tree. A tree grows straight and healthy if propery tended to and cared for. Watered occasionally trimmed and fertilized. It takes time but the result of many years of patience and care is our reward

That is in my opinion the key to living a life of joy and purpose. Break our addictions from running wild, then let our passions take us to unimaginable vistas and far away lands. How do we break our passions? Through the cleansing Atonement of Jesus Christ.

A pivotal spiritual attribute is that of self-mastery—the strength to place reason over appetite. Self-mastery builds a strong conscience. And your conscience determines your moral responses in difficult, tempting, and trying situations.

A strong human spirit with control over appetites of the flesh is master over emotions and passions and not a slave to them. That kind of freedom is as vital to the spirit as oxygen is to the body! Freedom from self-slavery is true liberation!

I too have felt the miniature wild horses pull my hand and click “watch next episode” on a Netflix binge despite my protesting, but when we are the servants, even in the inconsequential things like Netflix then we are not allowing ourselves to feel as happy as we might.

Principle number 3: Live the law of chastity.

As bishiop so artfully taught in our previous meeting, Chastity is not a series of rules. It is a guiding principle designed to create the central feature of God’s plan for his children, eternal families. From the traditional menace to society joke to the scriptural, “It is not meet that man should be alone.” It is very clear that we are human beings are not designed nor purposed to live single lives.

Plato envisioned the origins of the human race as fearful creatures with 4 legs and 4 arms and two heads that were so powerful that Zeus feared they would overpower him. So he cut them in two and cursed them to look for their other half. When we find our other half we have the power to dethrone the god’s of this world just as Zeus feared.

Consider library with no books, a chalkboard with no chalk, a guitar with no strings, a computer but no software. These items are not broken or in disrepair, but utterly useless because they are not “complete.” They need a partner to work in its intended function. I have a beautiful HD pasma tv sitting on my desk which I use for work and not netflix. But for the longest time I had no remote to change the input to use it at all. it was stuck in a unusable mode. It wasn’t broken, it could turn on and would show a blue screen unbelievably clear words reading NO SIGNAL but there was so much unrealized potential with what it could do. When I acquired the nessesary hardware now it functions as it should.

I am proposing that none of us who are not married and progressed toward having a family have actually realized what it is like to be alive and hold true purpose. In Plato’s words again our function and power is like shadows on a wall in a cave. Fleeting glimpses of what may be.

To live the law of chastity we need to be actively looking for our other halves to gain the powers God wishes to give to us. It may be in the next life but we are never to give up seeking the measure of our creation.

Principle Number 4: No Regrets

I recently felt inspired to make a list of things that if I had the chance I would redo in my life. It was a useful exercise as it helped me see patterns in my behavior which then projected future problems allowing me to prepare ahead of time. As I finished my list I was astonished, every single one started with the word Not. Not playing for the basketball team in highschool, not dropping by my grandmothers the day before she passed on, not inviting a friend to church. I didn’t have a single thing that I regretted doing, only things that I didn’t do. We must do the little things.

I also reflected on what I never regretted.

Never regretted following the Holy Ghost.

Never regretted being kind to someone

Never regretted doing something courageous

Never regretted spending the time each day to read the scriptures and have meaningful prayers.

In short I have never regretted keeping the commandments and living the gospel. I have regretted not doing so.

Elder Nelson’s words are mine at this juncture and I close with them. notice he makes no mention of grades, social status or employment.

My dear brothers and sisters, each day is a day of decision, and our decisions determine our destiny. One day each of us will stand before the Lord in judgment.41 We will each have a personal interview with Jesus Christ.42 We will account for decisions that we made about our bodies, our spiritual attributes, and how we honored God’s pattern for marriage and family. That we may choose wisely each day’s decisions for eternity is my earnest prayer in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

No Crystal Lattice is Perfect

What's up, Bearries?!

It's been a good week.  Busy, but good.  Midterms and mid semester projects all crashed down... But I seemed to pull out of it all fairly in tact.  

Is anyone else getting sick of school?

School sucks, but field trips are cool.  I'm actually writing this post on the way back from Death Valley.  It was awesome. 

I slept under some of the most breathtaking stars of my life.  Just stunning. 

I got to thinking a lot about creation, plans, my destiny, why I'm here, what I have already accomplished - you know, all the normal things your brains goes to when you get to sleep out away from the rest of it. 

Anyways - as I laid in the dirt, I thought of my sins and thought of what I was going to do about them.  Naturally, as I usually do, I started realizing how sucky I am.  How pathetic I am.  Or, in Nephi's words, oh what a wretched man I am."

Then I rembered somethig my structural geology professor said the week before in some of my test preperation - "no crystal lattice is perfect". Rocks are composed of different minerals.  Each mineral forms a crystal lattice that acts as a type of signature; a crystal lattice is how minerals are classified.  Each of these lattices has tiny problems or mal-alignments.

He said this and then said, "see, now you don't have to feel so bad about all your problems! Even rocks aren't perfect!" The class laughed and it was kind of cute.  It was a nice way to remind us that we will all have things that are hard for us.

But this, COMBINED with the next part of our class discussion, is what really hit me hard.

My professor pointed out this fact about the imperfections because we were learning about fault propagation.  When tension is placed on a rock, the first step of the formation of a fault are tiny micro fractures that start at these imperfections in the crystal lattice.  These micro fractures grow and form large 'tension' fractures that are parallel to the maximum stress.  As the pressure increases, a huge fault rips through all the tension fractures and the rock slips.  This is what causes earthquakes as the rock completely busts and slides in response to the load. 

So, long story short - earthquakes are results of tiny (I mean, we're talking microscopic level!) imperfections in a crystal lattice.

We all have imperfect crystal lattices.  We have personal struggles.  We have problems.  We don't have to beat ourselves up over it.  Nobody is perfect. 

However, if we don't pay attention to, and do everything in our power to mitigate and end these problems, we may end up with some earthquakes in our lives.

So, set some good goals to start to heal lattice imperfections and prevent the earthquakes of life.

Wisdom, Wrath, Brotherly Kindness, and Few Other Things to Figure Out...

I have been thinking a lot about how to be more tolerant (and patient) of differences in others in my life.  I feel like I can be pretty impatient with people who do things differently than I think they should be done.  I think that my way is the ONLY right way.  I get frustrated with others who think differently than I do.  And I don't like it.  This impatience creates unhealthy relationships with co-workers, classmates, friends, family, and my wife.  SO, I did a little scripture search to see if I can get some scripture-supported analogs to help me change my ways.  Here are a few of the top finds:

D&C 4:6 

Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience,brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

This has been a scripture that has come up in my mind MANY times lately as I have made a conscious effort to be patient with others at work or school.  Brotherly kindness is the kicker for me here.  Who am I to "be mad" at my brother?  How can I justify unkind behavior to a member of my family?  So what if that kid isn't doing anything at work and I have to pick up the slack?  "He aint heavy, he's my brother".

Matthew 7:12

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should doto you, do ye even so to them

The golden rule.  I am WAY SHORT of perfection.  I blow it all the time.  I do dumb things.  I mess up.  I don't work as hard as I should.  I break things accidentally.  Here is the question - Do I expect forgiveness without giving it in return?  I think, yes, I am guilty of this sometimes.  And the worst part is, I don't realize this in the moment... it usually takes me a few hours (or days... or weeks!) to come to this.  And, unfortunately, by then the damage is usually done.  I want to get to the point where I can, in the 'frustrating moment' I can remember how often I demand the forgiveness and tolerance of others, and in turn, offer it immediately.  (It is kind of like the "King Benjamin Principle" - 'Are we not all beggars?')  If we can offer that immediate forgiveness in the form of patience and kindness, life is so much better!  We don't have to repair the damage hours, days, weeks, or even years later.

Matthew 5:44

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

This is huge.  I get frustrated when someone doesn't fulfill my expectations... but then to 'despitefully use me'?  How am I supposed to get over that one?  Its a high standard.  I think going back to remembering that this person is my brother/sister, it is easier to love and pray for them.  It brings to mind the priest in Les Mis.  What an amazing example of love while being blatantly 'despitefully used'.  And like I said, I can (usually) hit this point a few hours, days, weeks later... but the negative feelings that I experience in that time before I reach the level of love and understanding is PAINFUL.  I want to rid my life of that.  Oh priest, what is your secret?!

Proverbs 29:8

wise men turn away wrath.

There it is.  If we are wise, we will turn away from the natural man, and not get angry (or impatient) with others.  We will avoid wrath and contention at all costs.  I want to be wise.  I have seen remarkable examples of this in my life.  In fact, one of the best examples of this is a fellow Bearrie.  He avoids anger and confrontation SO well.  It is impressive.  He is a wise man.

Anyways, there are a few things that I got out of a quick search.  After taking in these scriptures, it comes down to a constant battle of realizing that we ALL aren't perfect.  We are all on our individual journeys back to God and we are ALL learning on the way.  Keeping this in mind, it makes it easier to be patient with others.  I'll keep doing my best!  Hopefully you will too!

Bearrie Blog 2.0 - Let's do this!

Alright Bearries - Here we go!

We are up and running in FULL FORCE NOW!

We should be getting updates (if you confirmed your email with the FeedBurner thing)... that way we can all be kept up when someone makes a post.  Yeah.

I am sitting here on the couch with the silky robe against my naked skin... and I am just thinking about how sick the Bearries are.

Today I was applying for a job and the application asked me, "what is the hardest choice I have ever made?"  It took me a second to think.  And then I put down that it was WHERE TO GO TO SCHOOL.  It sounds trivial, but it was a big deal for me.  I did not want to go to BYU.  I wanted to go back east... or maybe to Colorado.  But NOT Utah.

BUT, for some reason, there was this weird gut feeling that I needed to go to P-town for a bit before the mission.  So I did.  AND MAN, what a good thing I did!  One of the hardest choices I made, was one of the BEST choices I made.

The progress and fun that I made as the Bearries came a part of my life was INSANE.  It was huge.  I needed the Bearries to help me be a better missionary, and I still need the Bearries now to help me be a better man.

It wasn't an accident that God led me to Utah and to all of you.  It isn't an accident now, even though we aren't all living together, that we have a medium of communication like this blog.  This is big time right now.

I hope that we can continue to help each other to grow in the Spirit and become better men.

Love you guys.

STYPULKOWSKI!

Hey hows it going Bearries?? Sorry I missed last week, school has been nuts. Lets get down to bidness.

BEARRIE BIDNESS

1. Jace got married! Alot of us went to the sealing up in Logan. It was a cool experience and the reception was a lot of fun. The rap had seen better days but we're working on that.

2. Charlie is engaged! Dang son... the kid is in the military too so nobody has talked to him except his fiance, Sammy. We're getting details from her. P.S. She is planning this wedding pretty much alone and right now its scheduled for Dec. 27th in Sacramento. She is really busy and could use a lot of help so if you know a guy who knows a guy about weddings post it on here and we'll put you two in contact. Also, she is trying to get a flight down to Georgia for Barles' army graduation. We're trying to put together a fund to help out and pay for a flight or maybe organize a road trip? She's dirt poor and could use some help to make the trip. It would make the world for her. So comment with any ideas.

3. Cees and I are working waffles nowadays. Its sick! Come grab a liege at Bruges waffles!

4. Also, I made a blog for my family and anyone interested. Check it out at zachholub.blogspot.com

good enough for now...

DEVO

So a Sunday or two ago, I was watching some videos on youtube and came across this gem: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA1SCqp9hO0

Its kind of a doozie at 25 minutes long but it makes a great Sunday movie to watch after church. Its about a guy named Stypulkowski. He is a member of the Polish underground resistance movement during WWII. After being lured into capture he faced crazy mind torture to get him to confess. Here's a summary I liked that I found on another website:

Prior to the trial, guards rigorously interrogated the men, attempting to break them mentally, emotionally, and spiritually--to destroy their integrity--so they would confess to anything demanded of them. Fifteen of the 16 men broke under the grueling pressure. Only Stypulkowski held out. He endured 69 nights of brutal questioning in a series of 141 interrogations. At one point even his interrogator had a mental breakdown and had to be replaced. Relentlessly his tormentors examined everything he had done, or hadn't done, to find anything that could be used against him. They found plenty of dirt--Stypulkowski was no saint--but they were unable to extract a confession for the crimes of which he was being accused. 

      Starved, sleep-deprived, and in constant terror, Stypulkowski resisted even in the face of the signed confessions of his best friends blaming him for their trouble. His torturers told him his case was hopeless and as good as closed. They advised him to plead guilty so they could lessen his sentence; otherwise, he could expect certain death. But Stypulkowski continued refusing to make the full confession they wanted. He confidently stated that he had not been a traitor and could not confess to something which was not true. Throughout all these horrors he kept his Christian faith vital by regular prayer. He subordinated every other loyalty to his loyalty to Christ. Most impressive of all was the completely natural way that he witnessed about his faith. 

      At his trial he pled "not guilty," expecting to pay for the rebellion with his life. However, mainly because of the western observers who attended the trial, the Russians reluctantly dropped the charges against Stypulkowski and he was freed. 

I really think that Stypulkowski is a stud. What a man to push through that! He made the guy go crazy who was trying to make him go crazy! The incredible faith and perseverance of Stypulkowski in this situation was very inspiring for me. No matter what happened he held on to the truth. He persevered through some rough situations and, with patience, maintained his faith. I was reminded of this scripture: 

 "2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever" (Jacob 3:2).

 I believe that being strong in mind is a very important attribute to becoming a true disciple of Christ. Sometimes, the Lord needs us to be warriors in the way Stypulkowski was, to take a stand and stay true to what you know, and to not let others around you, or circumstances, or emotions, or any other thing cause you to throw in the towel. We have to be focused and concentrated on our purpose. We have to have strong minds about the gospel like Stypulkowski had about his sentence. This was a really good reminder for me to be an unwavering disciple, to not slip back in my obedience and to have unshaken faith in Christ. I know that if we seek to be disciples of Christ like that and always stand up for the truth, we will find happiness and joy in our lives. Its the right thing to do because the gospel is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  

Bearrie Devo now online!

Well, here's my first post. I was really excited when I first heard the online Bearrie Devo idea but I have neglected posting anything until now. That was a bummer. I've realized over the past couple months that I've really missed Bearrie Devo in my life. I've definitely noticed that starting my day with a little Devo in the morning gave me an added boost for sure. So, for my sake, I'm committing to post on here more frequently. I love to hear from you guys and hope to read many devo's in the future.

But as for Devo lets get down to Bearrie Business:

1. Jace is getting married this week. That seems like a significant enough event to take the number 1 slot. Friday sealing. Saturday reception.
2. If you want to post things on this blog you have to go to blogger.com. If you're signed in to google+ this blog should pop-up with an option to edit. It took me a while to figure that out and thought it was worth mentioning.
3. School is going well. I have a couple of tests and papers coming up soon but I think we'll be ok. Other than that life is pretty normal. Got a couple businesses in the work, stay tuned for that. I think maybe we'll call it good at 3 points of business for today.

Devo:

I was reading the scriptures last week and came across these verses:

"I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge." (1 Cor. 1:4-5).

Those scriptures made me think for a little as I read them. I like how Paul says that in "every thing ye are enriched by him." I thought about times in my life when I have been doing well with attending and learning in church, praying and having a good daily scripture study, and attending the temple regularly. I thought about times when I tried to love others and invite the Holy Ghost into my life. I think that during these times I was not only happiest with my life and myself but I was also most efficient. I think that the Lord wants us to be happy and successful in life. He is willing to show us the way but we have to go to Him.

I especially appreciated that Paul specifically mentioned knowledge and one of the things we're enriched in. I know I could definitely use a little enrichment for my knowledge during these years of school. Whatever thing we're doing with our lives though, or whatever life challenge we may be trying to solve, I think that Christ can enrich our efforts. I know that if we sacrifice the time to come unto Christ through the simple daily and weekly things like scripture study and temple and church attendance, He will bless us and and strengthen us so that the time we have left afterwards is magnified and better used than it would have been otherwise. Life is always better when we keep the commandments. I know that's true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.