Thursday, August 28, 2008

Beautiful Sandy, UT home for sale



We own a house in Sandy, UT that we have decided to sell. The house is freshly remodeled. The house is located in the High Point subdivision at 1171 Lodgepole Dr. Sandy, UT. At only $299,900 it is the lowest priced home per square foot in the High Point subdivision.

The countertops, tile, dishwasher, and microwave are all new. The realtor is Scott Robbins. He can be reached at (801) 209-1120 or scott.robbins@utahhomes.com

The house is a lovely 2 story split level home in the High Point Subdivision. Home sits at end of quiet side lane and is a very private location. There are three large bedrooms upstairs including a master bedroom with master bath. The main level is very open with a large kitchen, dining nook in a bay, and large front living room. The family room is very large and has a gas burning fireplace. Off the back of the home is a large custom deck that has been built around a large shade tree.

If you, or anyone you know, is looking for a immaculate 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home on a private cul-de-sac should give Scott a call and set up a time to go look at the house.

Other particulars include:

Lot size: 10,454 sq ft. or a full quarter acre.
2,236 sq ft house

The neighborhood has a great central location just off of 1300 East in northern Sandy. There is easy access to the major freeways and loads of great stores near by. Four major ski resorts are a mere 30 minutes away, and Park City is only 40 minutes away. In and out access to the main 1-15 corridor is easy and near by.

Neighborhood: High Point
School District: Jordan School District
Elementary School: East Sandy
Middle School: Union
High School: Hillcrest





Thursday, August 21, 2008

Travelling on the ocean of life - Ether 6:1-3

1 AND now I, Moroni, proceed to give the record of Jared and his brother.
2 For it came to pass after the Lord had prepared the stones which the brother of Jared had carried up into the mount, the brother of Jared came down out of the mount, and he did put forth the stones into the vessels which were prepared, one in each end thereof; and behold, they did give light unto the vessels.
3 And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.

(Book of Mormon | Ether 6:1 - 3)

The brother of Jared places the stones that had been touched by the finger of the Lord into their ships. These stones provide light for the travelers as they sail across the ocean to the promised land.

The Lord Jesus is the light and life of the world, see Mosiah 16: 8-9, and Alma 38:9. He is the One that provides light for us as we travel through the ocean of life. His light is a shining beacon, that if followed, will bring us back home to the promised land.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Hi, my name is Dan and I'm addicted to the Olympics (Hi Dan!)


I apologize for not having posted in a while. My spare moments in the evening have been spent enthralled as I've watched mere mortals performing inhuman acts.

Is Michael Phelps a mere mortal? I read an article last week that discussed how swimming world records were no longer relevant because they're getting broken in every race. That's not exactly true, i.e. breaking a record in every race, unless we're talking about final events that Michael Phelps has participated in. In that case it's true. Does breaking a record in every final make it any less significant?

I say no! Human bodies haven't evolved much in the last 100 years. Swimming races in the Olympics have been around for a long time. The molecular construction of water hasn't changed drastically, that I'm aware of. It's not like Michael Phelps is racing downhill or anything like that. He doesn't have the wind at his back, making his swims easier. He is simply dominating the sport in a fashion that hasn't been seen since Mark Spitz. In fact, if he keeps it up, he will earn more gold medals in one Olympics than Mark Spitz. That's a daunting task.



I have loved watching all of the events. I'm not exactly sure if those 68 pound female Chinese gymnasts are actually 16 years old, like they claim, but they are amazing to watch.



I love the Chinese names, like Guo Jingjing. They're just fun to say. I've been tempted to turn Chinese myself, just so I can have a cool name. However, I think that if I do, I'll have to take up diving, and if you look at my picture on this blog, you'll quickly realize that I might be able to specialize in cannonballs, but probably not much else.

Anyway, I'll try to post now and then over the next two weeks if I can pull myself away from the T.V. long enough to do so.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Colby's Line of Authority

5 We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

(Pearl of Great Price | Articles of Faith 1:5)

What does it mean to be called of God? If I feel a closeness to the Savior does that qualify me? Let me say at the outset that feeling a closeness to the Savior is definitely a good start, but is it sufficient in and of itself to proclaim myself a minister of His word? On this subject Hebrews 5:4 states, “no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” The question then becomes, who was Aaron, and how was he called?

Aaron was Moses’ brother. In Exodus 28:1 it states, “AND take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.”

The Lord spoke directly to Moses and told him to call his brother to the ministry. So it is today; the Lord reveals His will to his chosen leaders, who then “call” worthy and qualified individuals to the ministry. Additionally, the Lord reminds us that He calls us and not the other way around in John 15:16.

Some of the qualifications to be called can be found in Acts 6:3, 2 Corinthians 4:2 and, Alma 13:3.

I am grateful that there are men, called of God, on earth today to lead and guide us.

Last Sunday I had the privilege of ordaining my son Colby to the office of a teacher. The picture below shows his Line of Authority showing how his priesthood goes directly back to the Savior. It is an honor to serve in the priesthood.

missionary e-mail 8-8-08

Well, the transfer is coming up next week so things are rushed around the office again. I finished up the mission newsletter which always takes FOREVER but it turned out well. I spent most of my week doing that.

Over the last several months that I have been here, I have been writing a program to keep track of all the missionaries in our mission. It has a list of all the elders and sisters and when you click on their name, it comes up with all their information, picture, info of their family, and stake president and just about everything else. You can then print out personalized envelopes and letters to send home to their family, keep track of converts, baptismal sheets, and print out reports of all the missionaries, who they are with, and where they are at. Basically, it does everything the elders in the office need. I talked to some other missions here in brazil and they loved the idea and wanted it so I spent this week writing a generalized, customizable version of my program and started sending it out. It is now being spread throughout brazil and is being used in the other mission offices. I guess I can say now that I left my mark here before I left :)

I had a really interesting experience on monday. We have a family that has been going to church that wants to get married. Unfortunately, here in brazil, the government makes it really hard and expensive for people to get married so most people dont... they just live together. Every once in a while a church or foundation will offer free marriages for people that want it. There was one in the next city over, that the baptist church was doing so we grabbed this man we are teaching, Benedito, and headed over there monday night to sign up. We got there early so we sat down and watched their meeting. It was really interesting. I have never seen a baptist church meeting before so it was a good learning experience. Unfortunately we ended up needing one more document that costs a ton of money (just as much as the marriage) that he only had a copy, not the original. We talked with a lawyer this week and we're going to try again this monday.

Monday night, we got home from our long bus ride from the other city and found out that a brilliant elder here in belem decided to move houses without telling anyone. The owner of the new house didnt even know he was coming so she didnt give him the keys. He called us at almost 10:00 sitting in from of the house with all his belongings in the most dangerous part of the city. My comps elder Araujo and Elder Dunn ran out there to go work something out. Luckily everything turned out ok and he managed to get everything back to the old apartment.

My companion Elder Rufino was called as a new Zone Leader in a city called Icoaraci and will be leaving the staff. We are all going to miss him but luckily he will be coming in to the office every monday with all the other zone leaders here in Belem to talk to president and the assistants about their work.
Well, Love you guys tons. Have a great week! Talk to you later.

Elder Childs

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Explanation of the Tree of Life - Ether 3:6-13

6 And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared fell down before the Lord, for he was struck with fear.
7 And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth; and the Lord said unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen?
8 And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood.
9 And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?
10 And he answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.
11 And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?
12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.
13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.

(Book of Mormon | Ether 3:6 - 13)

Have you ever wondered what the Tree of Life is? Was it a literal tree? Is it a figurative tree? Did Adam and Eve really eat a piece of fruit? I believe that the verses above provide some clues to those questions, culminating in verse 13 where the Lord states, “ye are redeemed from the fall.”
It was at the fall that mankind was cut off from the Tree of Life; and here we see that the brother of Jared is redeemed from the fall. What does that mean, and what does it have to do with the Lord showing himself to the brother of Jared?
I wrote a post on this subject many months ago. It explains my views on the tree of life and can be found here. Please read and let me know what you think.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Missionary e-mail 8-1-08

Hey everyone!
Last weekend was amazing! We got to baptize 2 people on Saturday. Ulisses and Maria Jose. Ulisses we have been teaching for a while and who has a ton of desire to learn about the gospel. He is about 30 and single and just soaked up everything we taught him. He is preparing to receive the priesthood already. Maria Jose we found months ago when we did a contact with her daughter Naira. We taught and baptized Naira and her 2 kids and after that, Maria started going to church, love it and was baptized this week. I was asked to baptized Maria.

We had some great investigators at church this week. Its been a while since Ive had so many people visiting there. We had 13 people with us at church on Sunday. One man we are teaching, named Lecino, has an interesting story. A while back we taught a preacher from the Assembly of God. He didnt want anything to do with us so we stopped going back. He didnt want the book of mormon but I guess he felt bad throwing it away so he gave it to one of his neighbors. One night, one of my companions was walking by and saw a man in his house reading the book of mormon so they stopped and started talking to him. He has now been to church for the last 2 weeks and accepted a baptismal date for the middle of august.

Things were interesting in the office this week. The internet was out from monday til thursday afternoon which made it impossible to do all the important stuff like making payments, sending numbers, sending baptismal sheets, or giving missionaries their money. Luckily it came back in time to do it all yesterday. If it hadnt come back, Id probably be spending my p-day in the office today.

I was working yesterday when I suddenly got a very trunkie email. This is what it said:

Itinerary for Elder Childs:

04 NOV 08 - TUESDAY
TAM MERIDION 3715 COACH CLASS EQUIP-AIRBUS A320 JET
LV: BELEM 315P NONSTOP MILES- 996 CONFIRMED
AR: BRASILIA 640P ELAPSED TIME- 2:25
SNACK
AIRLINE LOCATOR-JJ -DSXFZN

TAM MERIDION 3583 COACH CLASS EQUIP-AIRBUS A320 JET
LV: BRASILIA 745P NONSTOP MILES- 529 CONFIRMED
AR: SAO PAULO/GRU 920P ELAPSED TIME- 1:35 SNACK AIRLINE LOCATOR-JJ -DSXFZN

AMERICAN 962 COACH CLASS EQUIP-BOEING 777 JET
LV: SAO PAULO/GRU 1140P NONSTOP MILES- 5111 CONFIRMED
AR: DALLAS/FT WOR 605A ELAPSED TIME-10:25 ARVL DATE-05 NOV DINNER-BREAKFAST-MOVIE AIRLINE LOCATOR-AA -JLQPBK

05 NOV 08 - WEDNESDAY
AMERICAN 1123 COACH CLASS EQUIP-MD-80 JET
LV: DALLAS/FT WOR 740A NONSTOP MILES- 868 CONFIRMED
AR: PHOENIX 915A ELAPSED TIME- 2:35
FOOD TO PURCHASE
AIRLINE LOCATOR-AA -JLQPBK


Well, I hope you didnt get too trunkie reading that. I did. Im going to go home and make some chocolate chip cookies. Love you guys tons. Have a great week! Tchau!

Love,
Elder Childs