Random thoughts from oldmcgyver

I guess I should go back and rehearse my first contact with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His name was Gawin Goodrich and he was the section chief of the 8th Army Headquarters Supply section to which I was assigned. He was an Elder in the Church and very open about it. He had a small jar on his desk, it was his bad word jar. If someone said a cuss word or took the Lords name in vain they had to contribute a dollar to the jar. It worked to calm the language. He used to tell me: “Balluff the church would do you a lot of good”. Another person I met was Joanie who was a good friend, a member of the church and a nurse at Letterman general hospital on base. In retrospect I think Gawin asked her to look me up because she approached me. Shortly thereafter she invited me to go to church with her because Gawin was going to speak there. After, I asked why the Bishop didn’t speak. She told me the Bishop is not a preacher he was the leader of the congregation. The members give th...

Before I get to how we joined the Church, I must go back to yesteryear and talk about my first experience on my own with a church. Some of my friends in high school were talking about going to church and I was kind of eavesdropping over time and finally ask them which church they were going to because we had three different churches in Leslie. It was the methodist Church and they asked me to come with them. So I rode my bike five miles into town Sunday morning to meet them there. After 3 or 4 Sundays the Minister asked me if I wanted to be baptized and I said sure. Well I had to take some lessons first. So I came in a half an hour early for three weeks for the lessons. The first lesson was about the prophets of the old testament. I raised my hand and asked if there was a prophet now and he said no. I said don’t we need a prophet now and he said no, now be quiet and let me finish the lesson. The last lesson was about the need for baptism and that’s when I found out that if I wasn’t bapt...

I was in the car Thursday listening to the radio. The talk show host came on after the top of the hour and said: “three things you should know”, and gave three headlines that he was going to talk about. I thought about the three things I should know. I can’t do it all myself God won’t do it all for me But He has my 6 and will be with me every step of the way Sometimes we pray wanting an immediate answer but God knows when that answer will have the most impact on us. He knows the beginning from the end and He knows and loves us deeply and wants us to grow in knowledge and patience. Other times He has done things for me that I didn’t know I wanted: Goodly parents that raised me on a farm. Sent me from Korea to San Francisco instead of Chicago. Gave me a friend (a nurse named Joanie) that enabled me to meet the love of me life, Patti me wife. Gave me the wonderful opportunity to be influenced by an Elder in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, CWO Gaywin Goodrich and Joanie an...