Assisted Ascent

Happy Easter! This was one of the views from my window heading back to Oahu from Hilo yesterday. There were no words to describe the unique and explosive sunset I saw above those clouds the whole way home, but there are powerful and personal words this view moved me to share.

As the plane took off and ascended out of Hilo, it was dark and the rains were beating hard against the windows of the plane. On top of that, as we moved through the cloud cover there was some brief yet pretty jarring stomach-in-throat turbulence that shook the plane violently before we finally climbed through and above the thick clouds to smoother skies where this majestic sunset was opened to my view.

The symbolic nature of this experience for me was that just minutes before I endured another round of some emotionally excruciating experiences I've been having recently having to do with the interisland custody situation with my children, who live with their mom in Hilo. The heart was very heavy and the eyes wet as that plane took off and it felt like that rain was beating on more than just the plane. The process of feeling this, followed by the ascent through the storm and into the beautiful sunset, however, was an experience I believe I was deliberately meant to have and I felt lifted from sorrow and taken to a better place, as if I was being told "look here, I have something to show you." I looked, and what I saw amazed me, calmed me and gave me hope in the bigger picture of what my Heavenly Father has intended for me, despite the bleakness of what I felt in that moment. This was definitely one of the more impactful tender mercies I've ever experienced in my life.

It reminded me that no matter who you are and what you believe when it comes to God, religion, "the universe," faith, fate, chance, etc., whatever - there is beauty all around us and despite the ugliness we sometimes find ourselves subject to, if we choose to behold and be grateful for that beauty, we will find ourselves being lifted from challenging circumstances into ones that are more manageable.

Personally, I believe I was deliberately meant to have this experience and I know that such lifting and so much more was made possible by Him who rose on the third day, He who is the true reason for the celebration of Easter, who broke the bands of both sin and death, making it possible to be rescued from the beatdowns of life and lifted to a higher and more beautiful future. Aloha and Happy Easter!

First view on the ascent

Can't imagine the view the pilots must've had!

Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa

Fire Sandwich!

Eternal Traction

Like many people, I'm no stranger to trials in life and as a result this subject seems to be on my mind often. I have come to learn that the trials of life we experience are something to be grateful for because while they may seem to be doing something unpleasant to us in the here and now, they are actually doing something great for us in the long run.

One of the things they do for us, if we view and respond to them properly, is propel us forward along a path. Adam and Eve knew this, despite feeling sorrow for the transgression they had committed and the mortal sorrow that soon followed after being exiled from the garden of Eden. They came to realize that passing through sorrow was necessary if they were to be able to recognize between good and evil. This is important because while we may often think life would be better if there were no downsides to it, we really don't have our concept and appreciation of good if bad did not exist! Without contrast and opposites, everything is in just a ho-hum state of blandness, or as Lehi described it, "all things must needs be a compound in one."

Still, trials are hard! I thought of a simple analogy and way we can look at trials a little more positively though. Imagine the tire of a vehicle that is completely smooth with no tread. Also imagine a completely smooth road, as smooth as the slickest, most slippery tile you've ever seen. When these two come together and any kind of significant torque is applied to the turning of that tire, it's pretty obvious what will happen - slippage and the vehicle getting nowhere while its tires spin and spin. But give that tire some tread and put it to a surface with some roughness to it and something completely different happens - friction between the two surfaces occurs, traction is gained and movement fo the vehicle occurs.

The collision of us and the trials of life can be looked at in a similar way. We are the vehicle and the tire and hopefully we've got some tread to us, looking to grab on to what we can in life and propel ourselves in the right direction. Trials are like the rough road and should be looked at as much as possible as an opportunity (even though we don't go around looking for trials, haha) that when present in our lives, can function as the other half of the spiritual physics equation that provides eternal traction, propelling us in the right direction.

Nothing new here, just another way of looking at the hardships of life in a way that hopefully helps!

KIND - It's Not that Hard

Soapbox time (sort of).  Much gets said nowadays about the topic of 'bullying'.  Maybe it's just my perception of how it gets talked about, but to me it seems like society views this as some new alarming trend that needs to be plastered across the media and for grand "STOP BULLYING!" campaigns to be stirred up.  I'm not exactly sure why but this kind of annoys me.  Not that I don't think the issue at hand is important and that as a whole our society needs to (re)learn how to act right toward each other - we certainly do!!  I'm not outright knocking such campaigns, but I guess I just get a little irked sometimes at the way old values that I feel should be second nature to us get recycled into a bandwagon that people suddenly get all gung-ho about, especially when it gets used to seemingly draw attention to themselves (i.e. celebrities and other attention seekers - judgmental, I know, my bad :( ).  I guess, too, though, that it's good that these values come back around at all!

Anyway, to me, our use of the word 'bullying' is dumb.  Or maybe it's just our concept of and approach to doing something about it.  Again, it seems to be viewed as this new and emerging social problem that's compartmentalized and approached almost like medical diagnoses are.  I feel like this falls short of identifying what is the real problem and therefore totally misses what is the real solution.  I like what a lot of people are doing to try to put a stop to the terrible things that kids do to each other at school, online, etc.  But to me talking about bullying is like hacking at the branches of a tree with a butter knife when what we should have is our eyes near the roots of that tree with a chainsaw in hand.  Or better yet a big truck and a heavy duty chain!

"Bullying" is nothing new.  It's as old as time and has been around since Satan swore that he would use enmity to ruin us.  One of his tactics is stirring up in us envy, malice, criticism, pride, etc.  Our tactics in response should simply be to follow the Savior's example and be kind.  That's it!  "Opposition in all things?"  Yeah, well we can oppose things too!  We all know how to be kind.  Children seem to instinctually know how to do this and to the degree they don't, good parents should teach them how...

Oh...did we just hit the deepest root?  Yank it out, son!  To me, herein lies the problem with so-called 'bullying' (and pretty much everything else that ails us humanoids) - failure in the home to teach how to act right toward other human beings!  There's no bullying, there's just people who've forgotten or been insufficiently taught how to be kind and decent.  I guess somehow that behavior gets perpetuated and magnified (like in the video below) by the group/gang mentality when those in the group who might speak up for niceness won't or don't, for whatever reason.

I know, weird soapbox, but for me, forget the labels and the idea that we need some special program or campaign to stamp out 'bullying.'  Just be kind like you know you should, encourage others to do the same (without being a bully yourself, which can be hard - I felt like punching the kids in the video below!), and if you're a parent or in another position to teach kindness and to be as the Christ would, do it!

Powerful and stirring Mormon Messages video, check it out...

And to read or watch the rest of President Uchtdorf's awesome talk that was used in this video, go here.

Hope, and Stuff

In my work as a self-employed fitness professional, I am constantly trying to find ways to motivate, inspire, and in any way possible encourage my clients to keep moving forward toward their goals of better health and fitness.  Many people get to the end of the year and just sort of forget about fitness and nutrition, probably because of the nature of the holiday season and probably also because they figure the new year and renewed motivation and energy for that sort of thing are right around the corner.  With my business and my clients, I'm trying to get them to look at it differently by taking the holidays head on and staying consistent throughout the holidays in trying to reach their goals so that they can get a running start on the new year and accomplish even more once 2014 rolls around.

The funny and ironic thing about this is that while I have been focusing all this energy and effort on being this way for my clients, I myself CANNOT WAIT for 2013 to be over!  This has been one of the more difficult years of my life (which is saying a lot, considering the last 5-6 years or so).  So for me, it's good riddance, 2013...shooo...get gone!

I am very thankful, however, for all that I do have and that occasionally does go right in my life.  Like most people, I found myself reflecting on that this past weekend with the Thanksgiving holiday.  I must admit, I had a hard time fully feeling the power of gratitude that I should have felt for those blessings, probably because my mind has been really consumed this year with the hardships I've been facing that have seemed to bombard me one after another.  But as I thought a little harder, I realized that there is one constant that I have to be grateful for that is always there despite - and maybe because of - all those struggles.

And that would be the concept of hope.

I realized that despite the struggles, I still find myself waking up nearly every single day pretty much full of this four-letter word stuff.  Maybe it's because at some point you sink to a depth that leaves you with no other choice but to have hope!  Or maybe I wake up every day deluded on this entrepreneurial spirit that seems to keep me filled with passion and drive to achieve these crazy dreams I have.  I don't know.  But what I do know is that I've tried my best to do the little things every day that keep me close to the gospel and that we are taught keep the Spirit close to us.  You know, the so-called "primary answers" like studying your scriptures, praying every day, attending church and serving in your calling, doing good to others, etc.  For some reason, a reason I can't pat myself on the back for because it almost feels like it isn't me that's responsible for it, when things have gotten harder these last several years, my focus on these little things seems to proportionately intensify.  Maybe that's that ol' "compelled to be humble" thing that Alma talks about.  I guess we're supposed to avoid placing ourselves in that position; in my case I wish I knew how!  But regardless, I guess I've lived to be able to say I'm thankful for the trials that push me in this direction.

Anyway, consistently doing these little things, I've observed and am now convinced, are what keep that hope alive.  Most of the struggles I'm facing aren't the kinds of trials that can be erased overnight and so I don't expect that of the Lord.  In fact, I don't want that.  I've recognized what I have gained from struggle and although it's weird to say this (for fear of being "blessed" with more!), I welcome the struggle because of how greatly I prize those gains.  Most of what I value at this stage of my life has come as a result of my most intense moments and I don't see that there could have been any other way that I could have learned those lessons and encountered those experiences, except to have the hard experiences that led to them.  But no matter how long it takes to overcome these things, with continued, renewed hope I'm armed with optimism to fight another day, every day, and figure out with faith the solutions to my own problems.

And for that reason, hope is enough.

My big little hopes :).

Endure to the End?

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we often hear and use the expression "endure to the end".  This idea is expressed multiple times in the scriptures and it describes the need for those who take upon themselves sacred covenants to continue in faith living up to the requirements of those covenants, to "the end", or throughout life.  I think this is a huge part of living the gospel and is so very important to remember every day in our lives!  After all, like Nephi asks in 2 Nephi 31:19, "after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done?"  If anything, taking on sacred covenants, no matter how long the road or how much preparation it took to get there, is really just the start of the path to happiness!

Lately I've been thinking that sometimes the use of the word "endure" might conjure slightly negative connotations in a lot of peoples' minds.  This might be because we all have many trials to face or even just small daily struggles and annoyances that we have to deal with throughout our lives.  These are to be "endured" and endured well, which is not always pleasant, no doubt.  But overall, living the gospel?  If I could, I'd like to re-coin "endure to the end" to read, "Live it through the end!"  I think this captures not only the way we should approach our covenants and for how long, but also how much enjoyment we should be having while doing so!

There are many important, lengthy and sometimes difficult responsibilities we all have in life.  For me, these include being a father, serving in church callings, and (one day) being married again.  I'm trying hard, though to avoid viewing these as things that require enduring.  I want to relish in them and do like President Hinckley said!

Stylin' and Profilin'

Haha, not really, I just wanted to use that cheesy line.  Every now and then I am reminded of the counsel of church leaders to complete a profile on mormon.org, to share our personal view on what we believe as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It's one of those things that really weighs on my mind as something I need to do, but always manages to get put off.  Well, I finally got 'er done!  It isn't much and I'll probably add more later, but it's just some basics about me, what I value and what I believe.

I'm really grateful for the technology advances we enjoy nowadays that allow such unbelievable ability to share information so quickly and conveniently.  So here's me, sharing a bit of what I believe.  Feel free to contact me if you have questions, I'll do my best to either answer them or point you in the right direction where better answers can be found!

Hi I'm Levon | family man, student, single parent, divorced, fitness, surfing, Mormon.

The Truth and the Answers

I have always loved and appreciated "eternal truth", as I like to call it, especially as it is found in the scriptures and in the teachings of the leaders of the church.  I eat it up, I can't get enough of it, and over the past few years of my life during which I've experienced some excruciating personal trials, I have come to appreciate eternal truth even more deeply.  During this time, I have worked hard to establish a very focused sit-down-and-study-intently habit of immersing myself daily in this eternal truth.  I don't share this to brag, but more as an expression of gratitude for what it's yielded and how it's gotten me through some tough times and has helped me come out stronger than before!  I highly recommend it if you're struggling because along with prayer, I fully believe that saying that goes "when we pray, we talk to God.  When we study the scriptures, God is talking to us"!  I can identify 100% with what Elder Richard G. Scott said in his October 2011 general conference address when he said that "(the scriptures) can become stalwart friends that are not limited by geography or calendar.  They are always available when needed.  Their use provides a foundation of truth that can be awakened by the Holy Ghost.  Learning, pondering, searching, and memorizing scriptures is like filling a filing cabinet with friends, values, and truths that can be called upon anytime, anywhere in the world."  I really like how he compared the scriptures to having treasured friends! Since around 2008 when this intensified need to lean on the scriptures and the words of church leaders for comfort first became very apparent, this is exactly how I have felt about many touching passages and talks I've come across (and subsequently saved on my computer) - like friends I can call on for reminders, insights, and comfort.

I also really liked the italicized statement above.  As I was listening to a talk in the car recently, I began to beat myself up slightly, as we often do when we think we're failing at something, about how the nature of my habit of immersing myself in truth has changed over the last couple of years as the nature of my daily routine has changed (I find myself driving all over the place for work now, which cuts into that sit-down gospel study time I used to have, so most days I usually listen to the scriptures or to inspirational talks on my iPhone - works great, but is not always as focused as it used to be with actual pages in front of me).  As I began lamenting this, however, my mind also gave my heart some credit as I realized my habit of seeking eternal truth is still very much intact, and it seemed to me that this is no small thing for which to be thankful.  I also felt comfort in knowing that if I continue with these good habits, that the answers to troubling questions and difficult situations will come to me as needed, through the Spirit, and because of this "foundation of truth" that I have established through my diligent study.

And THAT is a very long introduction to the main thing I wanted to say!  As I was having these thoughts, what we are always taught about how all of the answers are supposedly found "in" the scriptures made sense to me in a new and powerful way!  It isn't so much that there will be a scriptural passage or even a general conference talk that explicitly answers each and every of life's tough questions (although that happens all the time!), but that in immersing ourselves in the scriptures, we associate ourselves with this eternal truth, almost attaching ourselves to it, which opens the door to more eternal truth that can be revealed to us, and sometimes THAT is the specific answer that we are looking for - personal answers that are, again, "awakened by the Holy Ghost".  In my experience, sometimes these answers could never ever be found in the scriptures anyway, because they are feelings and impressions without words in existence to adequately express them, transferred between the Holy Ghost and our own spirits, that guide us to know or do whatever it is that is necessary at the time.

As I thought further on all of this, it seemed to me that repeated, conscientious study of the gospel accumulates over time and leads to our hearts, minds and understandings becoming linked to the tight and fully interconnected web of eternal truth, which truth really is one interconnected whole!  And if we continue on, not only studying and learning this way, but also putting what we learn into action and living our lives accordingly, we will "at last, by the very force of association, make the light and power and wisdom of God (our) own (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, "Allegiance to God")."  That's my angle, anyway, on how I hope to conquer life and become who I feel I was meant to become, and I will go to the grave claiming that there is both great power and also all the answers "in" the scriptures if we'll but turn to those "friends" often and cling to them continually :).

The Way

I can't think of a more appropriate way in which to lead off this blog than in expressing my testimony of the divinity of the Savior Jesus Christ. For the church, He is at its head and guides and directs it through his chosen prophet. For mankind, He is the way back to our Heavenly Father. For us as individuals, He is our friend and example, who is always there and always seeks to help us grow and learn to become more like Him. I have always known these truths since childhood, but have not always known them. What I mean is that it wasn't until I actually went through difficult life experiences, which prompted a need to dig deeper for knowledge and help, that I came to know Him and the nature of His mission and sacrifice in a more deeply personal way. I still don't fully understand His atoning sacrifice (e.g. how He accomplished it, the enormity of all that it covers, etc.) and like most people will spend forever continuing to learn about and understand it, but I am thankfully huge leaps and bounds ahead of where I used to be with that understanding! In many ways, I tend to think that this is how the significance of who He is and what He accomplished was designed to be, at least in what it means for us on a personal level - it's something that is not just handed to us or bestowed cheaply. Otherwise, if it were easier to understand and grasp, where would the faith-building challenge be for us to reach and strive to overcome ourselves and become more like Him? It would be too easy and the ultimate prize of becoming like Him and "see(ing) him as he is" (Moroni 7:48) would not be worth to us what it should be. The fullness of what He means to us seems to lie behind a door that is often only opened by the harrowing adversities of life.

Here are some additional resources that describe the role of the Lord Jesus Christ:

• Jesus Christ is the Way
• Jesus Christ, Our Savior

One thing that I love doing is going through the vast archives of general conference talks, church education system devotionals and firesides, and any other church resource I can get my hands on and diving into talks that speak powerfully to me at any given time in my life. There are decades worth of these available, thanks to today's technology! I love hearing new stories and seeing new angles to basic and powerful truths. One such favorite talk of mine over the past few years that puts powerfully who the Savior is/can/should be for us is a talk from the October 2008 general conference entitled "The Way", by Elder Lawrence C. Corbridge of the First Quorum of the Seventy. I love the simplicity of this talk that is at once bold yet loving and encouraging! Here are some of my favorite points from Elder Corbridge's talk:

• There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. He is the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way, is madness!
• In combination with the Lord's Atonement, every good thing depends on getting and keeping the power of the Holy Ghost in our lives.
• Although life may seem hard and attaining His standard, unreachable, it is not. Unlike with many higher standards in life, becoming like Him is not something that is achievable only by a select few who appear most able. This is because becoming like Him is not a human endeavor but is something that can be accomplished through Him and by Him, "not because we are able, but because He is, and because He can make us able too."
• The gospel is not hard, life is. But life is also simple: get on the path and just keeping going, never giving up, no matter what, and we will make it!

Watch the talk below or click the link above for more ways to watch/read/download:

About This Blog

Aloha! My name is Levon and I started this blog as a means of sharing my heartfelt testimony, feelings and viewpoints about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am single father of two beautiful young children, and I am a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Days Saints (aka by some as "Mormons"). I am very passionate about what I believe in and love to share what I've experienced and come to know with anyone who is interested. All of what will be written here is in some way inextricably linked to very real experiences I've had or am currently having in my life, or with gospel-related topics that have been on my mind, a part of my ongoing personal study, or are otherwise meaningful to me.

While my commitment to the church is full and runs deep and I feel like all of what I write here will be completely in-line with church doctrines and positions, I should point out that this is after all a personal blog containing my own personal views and that it should not be construed as an official website that is associated with or maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  But, if you have any questions at all about anything I've written, please feel free to ask me or to visit mormon.org for more information!

Also, I don't intend for this blog to be an open discussion forum type of a place, but rather just a place for me to express my views and for readers to ponder for themselves what they think of those views. My main reason for this is that the Internet can often be a place where contention runs rampant, and this is something I'm wanting to avoid here. Of course, however, I'm hoping that mine are views that get internalized and considered so I'm definitely always up for a discussion on anything. So if you have questions about anything at all, feel free to contact me via message on Facebook :).

Thanks for stopping by!

My little ones and I :)