In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Have a Happy Thanksgiving...and just remember all that you have to be thankful for.

Brad

Wise Counsel from a Wise Man.

So What is Life all About?

I love the outdoors and the beauty of a sunset. It seems to bring calm and peace when I'm experiencing them. This picture on the left was taken when I was reverently strolling through a sacred grove in Upper State New York. I felt gratitude, love and humility for the event that took place there. Walking through this sacred grove takes me back to the foundation of my beliefs and always inspires me to be a better person.

This is another grove up Provo Canyon in Utah. It has a beauty and peace that somehow seems to calm the nerves.

As I witness the national and global disasters, wars and economic challenges we live with, it causes me grave concern sometimes. In my own personal life, trials and challenges seem to be the norm. I could allow all these outside influences to bring fear and depression-at times it is hard to avoid-or I can find my place of refuge from the storm, my personal sacred grove, where I can find peace, happiness and calm.

For me, I have several places I turn to for my escape from the challenges of life-

My personal time with my sweetheart. We spend every Friday night on as our date night.

Playing with my grandchildren. Their child-like innocence helps me to look at life as if it were a playground, where sometimes you fall down and scrape your knee, but there always seems to be someone there to kiss it better.

I have found pondering as a powerful exercise. In our hurried lives and fast-paced society, we lose opportunities to ponder. Taking time to ponder about what life is all about, will bring flashes of hope and understanding. My wife knows and understands how much I cherish my solitude. Not that I don't like being around her and other people, but I do value the personal time I can spend just thinking and wondering.

Reading and studying. When my mind is occupied with a lot of stuff, a good book helps to sweep me away into another realm. Believe it or not, I really enjoy reading and studying the encyclopedia. It is full of short and to the point bits of interesting information.

Prayer. I can always find a listening ear and an understanding heart from someone who knows me and will nudge me in the right direction.

So what is life all about? You'll have to answer that for yourself as you seek answers from your own sacred groves.

But to me, life is best put by this quote from Jenkins Lloyd Jones:

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed.

Most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration.

Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise… Life is like an old-time rail journey — delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.

The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.


So, as you journey through life's challenges, keep a smile on your face and enjoy the ride.

Touched by Heaven

Our daughter Teresa, and her husband Quin, were blessed with a Down's Syndrome baby girl, by the name of Sienna. She was delivered early and was stillborn. It has been an emotional several months, no knowing if this little girl was going to make it. She was a fighter, hanging on longer than the doctors thought.

This morning she was born, but not alive. She had fought the good fight but returned early to her Heavenly Father. We were able to hold her.

Her memorial graveside services will be held this Friday.

Thanks Sienna for giving us hope and faith. We'll see you in the next life.

Love, Grandpa Stone

What's in a Village?

I've had the rare opportunity to travel to third-world countries and visit many rural villages in places like Bolivia, Mexico and Nepal. Recently I've been involved with an orphanage in Haiti.

No matter what part of the world I've been in, I've witnessed the same basic needs: Clean drinking water, fuel for heating and cooking, medical care, and education. Whether it is in the Himalayan villages of Nepal, the high Altiplano Plateau of Bolivia, the dusty desert villages of Mexico, or the Tropical island of Haiti, these rural villages struggle for the basics of sustainable life.

In rural villages on Bolivia's Altiplano, it was rare to see a tree for miles. For generations the countryside had been striped of its trees and used for cooking and heating fuel. After the trees were gone, dried livestock dung was used in its place. These cooking fires were typically used inside the home, thus contributing to lung and respiratory deceases. Mexico had similar challenges.

Clean drinking water is a worldwide challenge. In remote villages in Nepal, it was typical for a women to spend four to six hours per day hauling water from muddy rivers and streams to prepare meals and drinking water for their families. This unclean water is the cause of high rates of infant deaths and high mortality rates.

In Haiti, a twin-country island surrounded by water, struggle with providing clean drinking water for its eight million plus citizens, and recently compounded with the 7.0 earthquake in January of this year. It was heartwarming to see the outpouring of support from their global friends, to offer assistance during their time of crisis.

What is important to us who live in the comforts of a home with clean drinking water, piped in cooking fuel and a healthy environment, is that there are people in the world who do not have these luxuries, and can be helped by us through our generous giving, even if it is only a dollar or two per month.

Fifteen dollars can provide enough food for one Haitian orphan for a full month. Fifty two dollars can educate a Nepali child for a full year.

Where we have been given much...we too must give.

I invite you to visit these two websites, and consider donating: www.hithumanitarian.org; www.choicehumanitarian.org.

What's in a Name?

I've recently been doing a lot of Family History work (I caught the bug), and have been amazed with how wide and deep family lines go. It's kind of like an hour glass with our present self at the narrow neck connecting the two larger glass tubes, with our ancestor lines coming deep and wide from the top, filtering down through us, to our posterity through the bottom, going deep and wide.

It is sobering to consider the importance our personal current-day link plays in linking our past family with our future family. Hopefully we are not the "weakest link," but doing much to leave a legacy our progenitors, as well as our ancestors, would be proud of.

Another thought to consider -- just what ancestral genes and DNA do we have flowing through our veins. We know that we are all related back to Adam and Eve, but who in between are we related to, and what hereditive characteristics have been handed down to us from our ancestors. The thoughts of being tied to important historical individuals, makes one think about how well we are doing with what has been given to us, and what we will be passing on to the generations after us.

For me, I'm still working on it...

Our Friends in Haiti

Just over a year ago, my company decided to adopt an orphanage in Haiti. My business partner and his wife, Dave and Candice Aitken, were in the process of adopting two Haitian orphans from "The Hope for Little Angels of Haiti" Orphanage, and asked if the company would be interested in financially supporting this orphanage. Prior to this time, this orphanage was experiencing one to two deaths a week due to starvation and malnutrition. They barely had enough food to provide one meal a day to 60 young kids.

Well of course we were excited with the opportunity to support these children who had be taken off the streets, who were either parentless or abandoned by their parents. They were barely getting by eating a small mixture of rice and protein and drinking unclean water.

We went to our employees and solicited their help, asking them to donate what they could from each paycheck to the orphanage, and we, as a company, would match their donation. We have been donating about $4,000 per month to pay for food, medical aid and water filtration devices.

Since our 12 month involvement not one child has died. We have literally been saving lives.

When we heard of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, we were heart-broken. Were our kids okay? What about Dave and Candice's adoptive children? (They were still waiting through all the government red tape to bring them home. Now the paperwork surely is under rubble.) Were they still alive? Many questions, with not many answers.

We finally received word that most of the orphans, with the exception of 6, have been accounted for and were fine, and Dave and Candice's adoptive kids were safe. They are currently being cared for by Harry, the LDS Bishop in the area. Prayers have been answered.

But, there remains a lot of challenges ahead, that of getting food, water and medical supplies to them, among other things. The Orphanage will need to be rebuilt.

We are in the process of organizing funding efforts to help them rebuild. If you are interested in helping, please go to the Orphanage website and make a donation: http://www.hopeforlittleangelsofhaiti.org

Haiti will take a long time to rebuild, and needs the help of the world to do so. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.