We Shall Be Like Him

While listening to Elder Jeffery R. Holland's most recent conference talk (I have heard October's talks numerous times now), it finally hit me about some things he said. He said his dad "never wore a new suit or a new shirt or a new pair of shoes for two years so his son could have all of those for his mission" and that his "mother, who had never worked out of the home in her married life, took a job at a local department store so that (his) mission expenses could be met." While Elder Holland was talking about how his parents had paid for his whole mission at their own personal sacrifice, these words came into my mind: "When He shall appear we shall be like Him" (1John 3:2). Why would these words come to mind during Elder Holland's talk. I wondered this for a moment, but then it became obvious. Those who have seen the Son have seen the Father and I am certain that we have a Heavenly Father that would make the very same personal sacrifices in those circumstances. Our Heavenly Father almost certainly did make these type of personal sacrifices in His mortality. There might not be a better way for us to "be like Him" than to make personal sacrifices for our kids. I am grateful for parents that have made personal sacrifices for me and my brothers and sisters. There are too many of these personal sacrifices to count.

Savannah And The Hot Surface Ignitor

NEVER underestimate the faith of a child. When we came over to the new (at the time) house, we were shocked to find that the temperature in the house was about 40 degrees and dropping. Clearly, the furnace had stopped functioning. I went down and tried to figure out what was wrong with the furnace, but only managed to get very frustrated. I came back upstairs after trying every thing I knew. Jen instantly reminded me that the pipes were going to freeze if I didn't do something. Even though her statement was obvious, it didn't do much for my frustration level. It was Sunday, so I figured calling a company to come fix the furnace would be about as expensive as just buying a new furnace. Plus, I had just had a bad experience with an HVAC who guessed wrong on an $800 manifold in the old house. I was not going to call a company, but things were getting desperate. It was about that time that Savannah suggested saying a prayer "for the furnace to get fixed", so we all knelt down and she said the prayer. I then went back downstairs and when I removed the furnace cover once again, my flashlight immediately shined on the problem. I didn't even know what the part was called, but I could see a crack in it and I knew that was the problem. A guy at Home Depot told me that the part was a hot surface ignitor. We tracked one down and I installed it and the furnace then functioned properly and hasn't failed since.

Robbins dance 5

Robbins dance 4

Robbins Dance 3

Robbins dance 2

Robbins dance 1

Jacob's Progress

Point Loma

Jacob's first visit to the ocean (out of the womb).

Jacob liked watching the waves. This would not be the place you'd want to be when a rogue wave hit the point:

Jen wanted to see some whales, but we only saw a few pods of dolphins and a lot of surfers.

Point Loma is largely covered with the graves of military men. The pretty white graves are in perfect rows and they map the contour of the steep hills. There are over 50,000 military men buried here (Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery).

Jennie and I spent just a short time here, but I have reflected on seeing this place many times. I hold this place to be sacred. My thoughts about the service men who have died for the United States have overwhelmed me with gratitude to the point of tears. The sheer numbers of graves speak volumes to those that are grateful for our God-given freedoms. There are about 60 Robbins buried here and 2 Ostlers.

Male Turkey Combat:

So, I made Jennie go snake hunting with me during our San Diego trip. She said we wouldn't find anything. She was way wrong. We found some cool herps and this turkey that mistook our rental car for a rival male. It really wouldn't allow us to pass.