Confirmation

With the first session of conference beginning tomorrow I find myself thinking about the reasons for my belief. Although there have been many pivotal moments in my spiritual journey, at this time of year this one stands out the most.

Spencer W. Kimball was not the first prophet that I remember, but he was the prophet during most of my formative years. He was small and soft spoken and because of earlier throat surgery his voice was raspy and quiet and he had to speak with the aid of a special microphone attached to his glasses... and his spirit could fill a basketball arena. Many of the questions that I had were answered by him as I listened at conference.

He passed away while I was serving my mission and in fact, I was informed of his death on the doorstep of a home in a neighborhood where I was tracting. The gentleman at the door said I needed to stop what I was doing and quickly return home because my prophet had pass away.

I will not say that my testimony faltered because it didn't, but I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to feel the same spirit from another prophet. I prayed that I would be able to know for myself that Ezra Taft Benson was a prophet of my Heavenly Father.

At our very next Zone conference President Ludlow had a video tape of the most recent General Conference, the one in which the membership of the church has an opportunity to stand and sustain the new prophet, and he wisely decided that he would share this session with the missionaries. As a missionary I had the opportunity to stand with other missionaries and sustain and recognize Ezra Taft Benson as the new Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

Just as it might have been if he had been standing in that very chapel. I could feel the spirit and I knew that my Heavenly loved me because he not only grant me through confirmation of the spirit, that Ezra Taft Benson was the new prophet, but at the same time I knew that he knew the desires of my heart and my spiritual well being was important to him. Since then three other men have served as Presidents of the Church, and in each situation I have had the same confirmation of the spirit.

More importantly, as I have faced difficult situations in my life, in those times especially, I have had the knowledge that I did not stand alone. This knowledge of my importance to my Heavenly Father along with an increase of the spirit, has seen me through every difficulty.

Princess Alyson's new crib...

Alyson, excuse me, Princess Alyson has informed me that we will be moving from our "cottage" to a castle, probably before Christmas. When I asked her which castle, she showed me on the way to school...we will be moving into Castlebrook, a local reception center.

Every morning when we take the boys to school, Alyson give us a guided tour, thusly:
"Here we are leaving our royal cottage. You can see the other lovely royal cottages on this lovely street." As we turn onto Antelope Drive, she continues "Here are the local nobles and princes, on their way to the royal academy for learning." And as we pass Quail Cove Apartments..."Oh, and of course, those are the peasant towers."

Princess Alyson has promised my mom a place in our new castle, as the maid. Becky's brothers will apparently be the cooks. Hey folks, this isn't my call. I'm only the king.

Disneyland/SoCal pics

Did we mention we went on a trip to California in June? Becky posted the pics on facebook, but I've been lazy. Here are some pics:

The Tea Cups

Visiting Mickey at his house

Goofing off with Chip (Or Dale - I can't ever keep them straight)

Mustard?! Don't let's be silly.

Groman's Chinese Theater (Comparing hand size with Julie Andrews)

The Disney Soda Fountain with the Westenskows

All about the Bling!

Exploring Tom Sawyer's Island

She must be REALLY thirst to use two straws like that...

Relaxing at the Taste Pilot Grill

Brad Smith - airplane geek

Okay, you all know that I'm a geek. I revel in it. There are so many neat things out there to geek out about...comics, books, cars, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.

One of my oldest obsessions has to do with airplanes. I think I got my first model airplane around the time I was nine or ten, and I'm more in love with airplanes now than I've ever been. This is fairly incomprehensible to most people, as the public tends to think "If you've seen one airshow/museum/flight sim, you've seen them all". Even Becky gets exasperated with me sometimes, but mostly she tolerates my affliction.

Not surprisingly, I tend to gravitate towards people and events that feed this nonsense. There are (believe it or not) people out there whose obsessions are far deeper than mine. Here are a few:

John Altmann decided that someone should record the sounds of airplanes. So he did. He has used top-notch recording equipment to capture the sounds of some of the most captivating airplanes in existence. His website is here complete with lots of samples (turn up the volume!), and his blog is here.

For those of you who like video, youtube is okay, but the best stuff I've found is at Air Show Buzz
and ClipWings.com.

Why I love the works of J.R.R. Tolkien

You all know that I am a big fan of The Lord of the Rings. Many of you can't figure out why. Follow the link to get a really good (and in the best Brad-like traditions, long-winded) explanation.

Omnivoracious: There and Back Again
P.S. Don't bother to read the comments on China's site, just read the article.

The Guys Manual

Yes, I know it's a thinly-veiled advertisement for Grape Nuts, but the videos are hilarious. (There are several in each of the six areas to the lower left.)

http://theguysmanual.msn.com/

Brad? A Technophobe?

Not really.

But there are certain things I don't like about our current technology-enabled society. Like kids who won't answer their phones, but will text you immediately no matter what they are doing. (None of my kids do this). Or drivers whose most important task is not keeping their vehicles on the road, but talking to who-knows-whom about who-knows-what (Again, none of my kids do this - I've threatened revocation of privileges often enough that they are afraid of the consequences). Or punk kids that mock those that wear wristwatches to tell the time (Duh! Your cellphone keeps time, and it's more accurate!)

I resist being connected to the world in this manner. Yes, I know I'm writing this on a blog. More about that later. I love my watch. Or rather, watches. I have five functioning watches that I cycle through: a quartz Mickey Mouse, two Fossil chronographs, a Swiss Army quartz and a Stauer Automatic. I have four additional non-functional watches that I hope to repair someday: The Seiko I got for graduating from High School, a cheap dotOne watch that I keep like a psychological Purple Heart, a Timex Indiglo Alarm and a Lorus Mickey Mouse. I aspire to own more watches. My next target is a Christopher Ward C8 Automatic. It is much easier not to buy a watch on impulse, so Becky likes this new collection since I am not filling the basement with "collectibles" (junk). I like the thought of having a small piece of non-electronic machinery on my person that keeps time. I enjoy the thought of the craftsmanship necessary to create such a piece of machinery.. And even though I can't keep a database on it, nor play games, nor text people nor play mp3s, I love my watches. They say something about me.

I realize that cellphones are very useful. But I will resist owning one for as long as possible. Becky and the girls each have one, so I can borrow theirs if I really need one. You can reach me at home or at work on the phone, and I will pick up, unless I'm not home. Then you can leave a message. Archaic, I know, but it's me.

Now to the blog. I really like posting stuff on my blog periodically. And I love reading your blogs. But don't be surprised if you get an actual snail-mail letter from me sometime in the near future. My writing is execrable, of course, but after reading "John Adams" by David McCullough, I was struck by the fact that letters were the ONLY way to keep in touch with others outside your town. I was digging around in some of my junk downstairs, and found a bunch of letters that Becky wrote me while I was in Basic Training in 1987. Email doesn't have that kind of longevity. And I prefer perfume and stamps to smileys, when all is said and done.

Please don't feel that I'm being judgmental about the tech habits of others. One does what one feels one must. This stuff just isn't for me. But I will keep blogging. I just hope you can read my writing.