REMEMBER

Guys - EPIC talk from Elder Eyring from 1989 GC.

  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1989/10/remembrance-and-gratitude?lang=eng

Here are my quick notes:

• Find gratitude; be grateful - it will surprise you what it will do. 
• Orderville Utah was a test (gets my socialist juices FLOWING, I freaking love it) - try to pledge all to the Lord. 
• Comparison was (once again) the thief of joy.
• We must REMEMBER our past experiences... that way we can skip the pride cycle... and just keep hitting those blessings. Gratitude leads to repentance, which leads to more blessings, which can leave to gratitude (if you play it right and can remember)... gotta keep that rolling. 
• Remember your nothingness and call on the Lord daily. 
• GIFT OF REMEMBRANCE  - that is the Holy Ghost. 
• Remembering is the key. Ask - how did God bless me today? Write it down. 
• Always remember Him.

A Self Made No-No?

When things go well in my life, I am quick to think, “wow, I am such a good jobber.”  I give myself all the credit I can as quickly as I can.  I think I am one cool kid, that’s for sure.

And I believe that is a position taken by most people.  Humans love to be right.  We love to be the ones responsible for good things that happen.  We are all arrogant pieces of poop.

And while there is a lot in life that takes place thanks to hard work, endurance, grit, innovation, and a general go-get-em attitude, I tend to think there is a lot more that we should chalk up to our surroundings, infrastructure, actions of others, privilege, political frameworks, and overall LUCK.

A story I heard recently illustrates the point pretty well. (More baseball comparisons coming at you. Sorry, not sorry.)

no-hitter –  a complete game in which a pitcher yields no hits to the opposing team.

A no-hitter is lauded as the crowning achievement of a pitcher (arguably MORE incredible than a Perfect Game, but that is a debate for another day)  When a no-no is thrown, that pitcher’s name is entered into a list that will live on forever in baseball statistician heaven.

Now that we have that defined, cue that 1969 Chicago Cubs (it is beautiful that this story has to do with my beloved Cubbies).

Ken Holtzman took the mound and started firing away. With a quick look at the score card, all you would see an incredible no hitter performance.  BUT, if you looked a little closer, you would see that EVERY OUT RECORDED that game was from a ball put in play.  Which means, every batter that got up, made contact with the ball, put it in play, and the other 8 players were able to either catch the ball or field and throw the runner out.

Ken Holtzman never threw a single strike out that game.  He owed every out to his team. In fact there was one very dramatic moment of the game when Hank Aaron hit a ball so hard that everyone was SURE it was gone, only to watch it be caught at the wall by the left fielder.  That left fielder noted after the game that he saw the ball go over the fence, only to be “blown back into play just far enough for him to catch it up against the ivy.”  Sounds pretty incredible, doesn’t it?

What I want to note is that you don’t see those other 8 men on that immortal no-hitter list.  And you for sure don’t see that lucky gust of wind that blew a home run ball back into play!

Now, I am not saying that Ken Holtzman doesn’t deserve the spot on that list.  He absolutely does.  It takes incredible skill to pitch in a way that puts balls in play that are “fieldable”.  No player on the other team got a hit!  It is a NO HITTER.

BUT, I am saying that he was supported in his heroic action by his team, by the weather, and by God (He is a baseball fan, you know…)

That story is a dramatic (and beautiful) example of how we, and our achievements, are a result of many, many factors.  And I think it is our duty to acknowledge those other factors – especially the role that God plays in our lives.

However, it can admittedly seem difficult to know exactly what blessings comes from God.  To which prophets recommend to always “let thy heart be full of thanks unto God” (Alma 37:37) After all, it is a safer bet to just attribute everything to God, right?

Anyways, get on your knees tonight, and praise the Lord for your amazing team, that good luck, and those favorable winds.

1 Corinthians 6

19 know ye… (that) ye are not your cown?

20 For ye are abought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, (perhaps we can add here and in your deeds) which are God’s.

Temple Tickets

White Sox vs. Oakland A’s!!!  

So cool story - Madison was at the temple later than we had planned (I was on babysitting duty while she went through with a friend who was taking out her endowments for the first time) ... and we were LATE for the game.  Of course I was all grumpy and annoyed. (okay, not to toot my own horn here, but to be totally honest I was doing pretty well - I’ve been working on my patience factor haha)

We showed up at the 3rd inning, and went up to the box office.  We didn't buy our tickets online 'cause of the stupid 9 dollar convenience fee. (that is a rant for another day)

There was no line, nobody was around - everyone is already in the stadium of course.  We get almost to the window and the guy comes out of the booth and is like, “you guys still need tickets? Here, have these.”  And handed us tickets! FOR FREE!  No charge!  Just boom, here you go!

As we sat down, I couldn't help but see the DIRECT blessings from being at the temple!  

It was just another testimony builder that The Lord will always provide when you put him first.  

#HFisabaseballfan

Luke 12

27 Consider the ^alilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; ^ahow much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of ^adoubtful mind.

30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

31 ¶ ^aBut rather seek ye the ^bkingdom of God; and ^call these things shall be added unto you. (even, baseball tickets)*

*only regular season tickets apply - don't get greedy and try to sneak some postseason spot.  

Flamin' Hot

Here is a fun read for your Sunday afternoon - I love how the Montañez’s outlook on life.  I also love the advice from his grandpa too - “make sure that floor shines, and make sure they all know a Montañez mopped it.” 

Take pride in what you do. I remember some talk by President Hinckley that went along the same lines “I don’t care if you are a refrigerator salesman… just be the best refrigerator salesman in the world.” 

Or at least, be the BEST refrigerator salesman that YOU can be.  Anyways, there is my Sunday thought and here is the link so you get what I am even talking about:

https://thehustle.co/hot-cheetos-inventor/

And I just went ahead and copied it down here as well...

How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

Richard Montañez went from cleaning toilets to being one of the most respected execs in the food industry.

---

BY ZACHARY CROCKETT

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

On an early morning in the late 1980s, a group of the highest-powered executives at Frito-Lay — the CEO, CMO, and a platoon of VPs — gathered in a California conference room to hear what Richard Montañez had to say.
Montañez didn’t share their pedigree. He wasn’t an executive. He had no fancy degree. He had a 4th-grade-level education, and couldn’t read or write.
Montañez was a janitor. But he was a janitor with an idea — an idea that would make the company billions of dollars and become one of history’s most celebrated and iconic snack foods: Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
But first, he had to convince the world to hear him out.

Picking grapes

Montañez grew up in the 1960s in Guasti, California, a tiny unincorporated farming town 40 miles east of Los Angeles.
Under the sweltering Cucamonga Valley sun, his family — mother, father, grandfather, and 11 children — scraped together a meager living picking grapes, and slept together in a one-room cinderblock abode at the labor camp.
As a first-generation Mexican immigrant at an all-white school, Montañez had access to few resources and struggled to understand his teachers. “I remember my mom getting me ready for school and I was crying,” he later told Lowrider magazine. “I couldn’t speak English.”
One day in class, the teacher went around the room asking each kid to name his or her dream job: Doctor… astronaut… veterinarian. When she called on Montañez, he froze.
“I realized I didn’t have a dream,” he says. “There was no dream where I came from.”

Montañez soon stopped getting on the school bus and began boarding the work truck with his father and grandfather.
After dropping out of school, he worked the fields in 110°F heat and took on odd jobs slaughtering chickens at a poultry factory, washing cars, and picking weeds. With a 4th-grade-level education and few economic opportunities, Montañez saw no path out of poverty.
Then, in 1976, a neighbor told him about a job opening that would change his life.

“There’s no such thing as ‘just a janitor’”

Down the road, in Rancho Cucamonga, the Frito-Lay plant was looking for a janitor.
At $4 per hour ($18 in 2019 dollars), the job paid many multiples of what Montañez made in the fields. It represented a better life — insurance, benefits, social mobility.
Unable to read or write, the 18-year-old recruited his wife to help fill out an application. He journeyed down a dusty road, met with the hiring manager, and got the job.
When he broke the news to his family, his grandfather imparted a piece of advice that would always stick with him: “Make sure that floor shines,” the man told his grandson. “And let them know that a Montañez mopped it.”
Montañez decided he was going to be the “best janitor Frito-Lay had ever seen” — and he quickly made his presence known.
“Every time someone walked into a room, it would smell fresh,” he says. “I realized there’s no such thing as ‘just a janitor’ when you believe you’re going to be the best.”

Montañez also developed the philosophy that “it’s not about who you know — it’s about who knows you.”
In between shifts, he set out to make himself seen, learning as much as he could about the company’s products, spending time in the warehouse, and watching the machines churn out crunchy snacks in the lonely midnight hours.
And eventually, his insatiable curiosity would pay off.

“I saw no products catering to Latinos”

By the mid-1980s, Frito-Lay had fallen on tough times. As a way to boost morale, then-CEO Roger Enrico recorded a video message and disseminated it to the company’s 300k employees.
In the video, Enrico encouraged every worker at the company to “act like an owner.” Most employees brushed it off as a management cliché; Montañez took it to heart.
“Here’s my invitation… here’s the CEO telling me, the janitor, that I can act like an owner,” he later recalled. “I didn’t know what I was going to do. Didn’t need to. But I knew I was going to act like an owner.”
After nearly a decade mopping floors, Montañez gathered the courage to ask one of the Frito-Lay salesmen if he could tag along and learn more about the process.
They went to a convenience store in a Latino neighborhood — and while the salesman restocked inventory, Montañez made a fortuitous observation: “I saw our products on the shelves and they were all plain: Lay’s, Fritos, Ruffles,” he recalls. “And right next to these chips happened to be a shelf of Mexican spices.”
In that moment, he realized that Frito-Lay had “nothing spicy or hot.”
A few weeks later, Montañez stopped at a local vendor to get some elote, a Mexican “street corn” doused in chili powder, salt, cotija, lime juice, and crema fresca. Cob in hand, a “revelation” struck: What if I put chili on a Cheeto?

Introduced to the world in 1948, Cheetos — crunchy corn-based nuggets coated in cheese-flavored powder — were a flagship product of Frito-Lay. And while they were popular among California’s growing base of Latino consumers, the company had yet to consider re-tailoring the product’s taste profile.
“Nobody had given any thought to the Latino market,” recalls Montañez. “But everywhere I looked, I saw it ready to explode.”
So, Montañez heeded the CEO’s words and “acted like an owner.”
Working late one night at the production facility, he scooped up some Cheetos that hadn’t yet been dusted in cheese. He took them home and, with the help of his wife, covered them in his own concoction of chili powder and other “secret” spices.
When he handed them out to family members and friends, the snacks were met with universal enthusiasm. He just needed a bigger audience…

So he called the CEO

“I was naive,” Montañez later said. “I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to call the CEO… I didn’t know the rules.”
Finding Roger Enrico’s phone number was easy enough: It was listed in a company directory. He rang the line, and was put through to the chief’s executive assistant.
“Mr. Enrico’s office. Who is this?”
“Richard Montañez.”
“What division are you with?”
“California.”
“You’re the VP overseeing California?”
“No, I work at the Rancho Cucamonga plant.”
“Oh, so you’re the VP of operations?”
“No, I work inside the plant.”
“You’re the plant manager?”
“No. I’m the janitor.”
The assistant paused for what seemed like an eternity. “One moment.”

Then, a voice on the other line: “Hello, this is Roger.”
Montañez told the CEO he’d heeded the call to action. He’d studied the company’s products, identified a demand in the market, and even crafted his own rudimentary snacks in his kitchen.
Enrico loved the ingenuity: He told the janitor he’d be at the plant in 2 weeks and asked him to prepare a presentation.
Moments after Montañez hung up the phone, the plant manager stormed up to him. “He said, ‘Who do you think you are? Who let the janitor call the CEO?’” recalls Montañez. “Then he said, ‘YOU’RE doing this presentation!’”

The birth of the Hot Cheeto

Montañez was 26 years old. In his words, he couldn’t read or write very well and had no knowledge about how to formulate a business proposal.
But he wasn’t about to give up.
Accompanied by his wife, he went to the library, found a book on marketing strategies, and copied the first 5 paragraphs word for word onto transparencies. At home, he filled 100 plastic baggies with his homemade treats, sealed them with a clothing iron, and manually drew a logo and design on each package.
On the day of the presentation, he bought a $3 tie — black with blue and red stripes — and had his neighbor knot it for him. As he gathered the bags, his wife stopped him near the door: “Don’t forget who you are.”

Montañez stepped into the boardroom. “Here I was,” he says, “a janitor presenting to some of the most highly qualified executives in America.”
At one point during the presentation, an executive in the room interjected: “How much market share do you think you can get?”
“It hit me that I had no idea what he was talking about, or what I was doing,” Montañezrecalled. “I was shaking, and I damn near wanted to pass out…[but] I opened my arms and I said, ‘This much market share!’ I didn’t even know how ridiculous that looked.”
The room went silent as the CEO stood up and smiled. “Ladies and gentlemen, do you realize we have an opportunity to go after this much market share?” he said, stretching out his arms.
He turned to Montañez. “Put that mop away, you’re coming with us.”

Feeling hot, hot, hot

Six months later, with Montañez’s help, Frito-Lay began testing Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in small Latino markets in East Los Angeles.
If it performed well, the company would move forward with the product; if it didn’t, they’d scratch it — and Montañez would likely return to janitorial duties. This was his one shot, and some folks didn’t want things to work out for him.
“It seemed there was a group of [executives] who wanted it to fail,” he later told the podcast, The Passionate Few. “They thought I got lucky. They were paid big bucks to come up with these ideas… they didn’t want some janitor to do it.”

So Montañez assembled a small team of family members and friends, went to the test markets, and bought every bag of Hot Cheetos he could find.
“I’d tell the owner, ‘Man, these are great,’” he recalled. “Next week, I’d come back and there’d be a whole rack.”
In 1992, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos were greenlit for a national release. And in short order, the snack became one of the most successful product launches in Frito-Lay history.

From janitor to VP

Today, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are one of Frito-Lay’s hottest-selling commodities — a multi-billion-dollar snack celebrated by everyone from Katy Perry to middle-schoolerson meal vouchers. There’s even a rap song about them.
And Montañez is no longer sweeping floors: Over a 35-year career, the former janitor rose through the corporate ranks and is now the vice president of multicultural sales for PepsiCo America (the holding company of Frito-Lay).
Before Montañez joined the executive team, Frito-Lay had only 3 Cheeto products; since then, the company has launched more than 20, each worth $300m+.
Recognized by Newsweek and Fortune as one of the most influential Hispanic leaders in America, Montañez is a gifted speaker who often tours the country giving keynotes. And soon, his story will hit the silver screen: Fox Searchlight Pictures is currently working on a biopic about his life, appropriately titled “Flamin’ Hot.”
He still lives in Rancho Cucamonga, where he gives back to his community through a nonprofit he launched and teaches MBA classes at a nearby college.
Recently, a student asked him how he was teaching without a Ph.D.
“I do have a Ph.D.,” he responded. “I’ve been poor, hungry and determined.”

An Imperfect Dedication

Bishop started sacrament off with a piece of the dedicatory prayer for the church building.  He emphasized how this building has been set apart and dedicated to God.

As I looked around, and tried to appreciate the sacred halls, I started noticing some things.

I noticed a bunch of pink crayon scribbled in the wall next to me.  I noticed a crack in the ceiling where it met the window.  I saw a rogue wire poking out of the rock facade.  And then there was the frayed carpet, green permanent marker, and spiderwebs in the corner.

All of these imperfections aside, there was such a tangible peace and comfort at the meeting.  As the speakers focused on the words of the Savior, and as the audience listened with desire to be more like Him, it was obvious we were worshiping on Holy Ground.

Then my mind went to my own imperfections; my own spiritual crayon stains and cobwebs haunt me on the daily.

But then I remembered – I too have dedicated my life to God.  I have covenanted to always remember Him.  I am trying to live as close as I can to His will.  And even though I’m riddled with imperfections, through him, I can keep those feel-good feels of the Spirit.  It is an imperfect dedication, but none the less, I am dedicated.

So I guess the take away for me is, don’t focus too much on your frayed ends or the cracks of others.  Remember that you’re doing your best – that others are trying their hardest.  And remember, that through the Savior, all will be made right.

Alma 34:41

“But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.”

When Life Sucks, Don't Let It

I got lost in a rabbit hole of baseball statistics today.  I checked a few leader boards of the highest OPS… which is essentially a combo of how often the player gets on base and how “powerful” of a hitter they are.  Here is how wikipedia defines it:

The basic equation is:

where OBP is on-base percentage and SLG is slugging average. These averages are defined.

and

where:

• H = hits
• BB = bases on balls
• HBP = times hit by pitch
• AB = at bats
• SF = sacrifice flies
• TB = total bases

In one equation, OPS can be represented as:

Lou Gehrig, turns out has one of the highest of all time – one of only a few players to have over a 1.0000 (his was 1.0798).  Pretty freaking cool.  He was also known as the “Iron Horse” of baseball.  He held the record of most consecutive games played in a row – 2,130!!!  Crazy.  And then ALS set in.  He realized that he was sick, and that he was dying.

I found the speech that he gave to a sold out stadium and it really touched my heart.  He didn’t know at the time, that ALS would eventually take his life 2 years later.  Anyways, here are his words:

“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I’m lucky.

When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift—that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies — that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter — that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body—it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed — that’s the finest I know.

So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.”

This guy was DYING, but he chose to focus on all the good around him. His optimism is unreal.  He is the definition of a role model. Hopefully we can all be more like Lou.  When life sucks, just don’t let it.

Anyways, figured I would share.

#murica

Happy Memorial Day everyone.  I have the Cubs game on in the background as I am working today, and instead of “take me out to the ball game” during the 7th inning, they had someone sing “God Bless America”.  I got kind of emotional as I listened.  I feel like I spend so much time hyper focussed on the problems and issues that we have as a country, but MAN, I love America.  And I am so grateful for everything that she has given to me. And I know that I owe this freedom to people that have fought for it, both on the battle field and in the political arena. I am blessed. I hope that I can do my part to give back and make America even better for those that follow. Love you all. #murica

Also, this as a bonus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3SPjk1ktRQ for your health...

(Fun fact - this was the first youtube video I watched when I got back from my mission)