Parable of the laborers

Dear family,

Wrapping up lunch, I took time to write a quick journal entry. I love you all!

Dad

Thursday, August 26, 2021
11:52 am

Quick journal entry at the end of lunch. Much has happened.

Work has been really busy but feels very productive. Had "vision huddles" with each member of my staff in the past week. Introduced a "BHAG" (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) to grow to $100 million in four years. That is audacious, but I think we can do it. Meetings went well, and I think we are in good position to become better. Making progress on several of the initiatives I am working on.

Saturday spent most of the morning running between various soccer games or practices and playing on the playground with Nathaniel. Did a lot of cleaning at home, wish there would have been time to play a few games, but the home was clean.

Sunday was busy. Had interviews with lots of our youth; we are working on visiting with each of them in a mid-year interview. They are generally doing well. Trying to help them discover that they can have their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Spending time in the scriptures helps with that. Ward Youth Council meeting went really well. The kids were engaged, laughing (appropriately) and interacting with each other. Hasn't always been that way.

Camilla started kindergarten yesterday. She was so excited to go that I barely got her to stay with me for a photo. I hope she has a great experience.

Bro. Heiss shared a great thought related to Jesus' parable of the laborers in the vineyard. The message of this parable should NOT be that we can have the same "reward" even if we slack off for the first eleven hours and just sneak into the field as a laborer at the end of the day. Instead, he focused on how the potential laborers felt during the day. In Jesus' day, if you didn't work, you didn't eat. The people hired first thing in the morning were fortunate; they knew all day that they would be able to feed their children that night. Although the work was hard, they willingly labored, knowing that they could provide for their loved ones. The longer the day went, the more desperate the remaining unemployed workers must have felt. Rather than focusing on the "outcome," consider the desires of the workers. They WANTED to work all day and were probably near desperate at the end of the day, willing to do whatever they could for whatever they could get. The most fortunate people of the day were those who didn't have to wonder if their day would be wasted. We, as members of Christ's true Church, are the fortunate ones who have the truth to guide us all the time. Sure, there is work involved, but it's well worth it.

More later…

First day of kindergarten!

Masked or not, I love being in the temple.