Mission Call

Well, I figure that I better finally post a post about what I'll be doing the next two years of my life.

I have been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I've been assigned to labor in the Florida Tampa Spanish speaking mission.

I say it that way because 1) that's how it comes in the letter and 2) that's how it is.  I've been called to serve as a missionary and assigned to a mission in the same way that I'll be assigned to an area in my mission once I get there.

I am very excited.  I have no regrets about where I've been called to serve; it feels right to me.  I'm grateful that I'll be learning a different language, especially one that I've already studied and that will benefit me immensely once I return.

Entropy and the Gospel

In chemistry we've been learning about a concept called entropy, designated by the letter S.  The statistical definition of entropy is dependent on how many microstates a substance can have.  Microstates are determined by how spread out particles in the substance are, how much energy they have (velocity), the number of rotational and vibrational movements they can have, etc.  Entropy, in other words, measures disorganization.  Entropy also helps to measure spontaneity. 

Here's the important part:  every reaction increases the entropy of the universe.

There's a tradeoff in every reaction necessary to accomplish work.  We like the fridge to be cold, but we can't except it to get that way on it's own.  Why?  Because systems seek to maximize entropy.  In this case, the maximum entropy level of the fridge and the surroundings exist when the fridge is the same temperature as the surroundings and thus all particles are as disorganized as they can be.  If we want to cool the fridge down, we have to put work/energy into it using the compressor and the chemical properties of the Freon-like material.  By putting work in, we can cause the entropy level of the fridge to decrease and, therefore, it can sustain a colder temperature than the surroundings.

Take note of the important fact that even in this process, the entropy of the universe is still increasing.  The fridge decreased, but where did the energy come from to do it?  The power company, which produces energy by one of several means.  Each way will increase entropy in the universe more than the fridge will decrease it. The overall S of the universe will increase.

Life is not spontaneous.  Life works against entropy.  Our bodies are builders, not "sparsifiers."  Thus life has a problem.  If everything has to increase the universe's entropy, what do we do?  The truth is, we work the same way as the fridge.  We offload our entropy problem.  It's like an entropy chain.  We use the energy from the food we eat to build proteins and to do work.  That food is built from plants, which take a ton of energy from the sun to build sugars.  If we follow the chain back, we realize that we can only survive if the sun increases in entropy more than we decrease in entropy.  Essentially, we offload our entropy problem to the sun.  The only way life can exist on earth is if we take our problems and let something else deal with all of them.  Of course, we do deal with some of it; we will die eventually and our particles will be dispersed.  We are all subject to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, but at the same time, we can use another Law (a less defined law) and transfer our problem to the sun.  It's a law because it works, and it always works.  It's what allows us to live.  Yet the first law, the law defining entropy, is not violated.  In fact, if we define life in terms of a system that auto-perpetuates a lower entropy state even with complete material turnover, the sun becomes the enabler of that.  The sun becomes not only the light, but the life of the world.

Now, as I'm sure you predicted, comes the ol' vowel switcheroo.  'u' becomes 'o' in the sun.  The only enabler of life on this planet is the Son.  The only way we can survive is if we offload our problems to Him.  Sometimes it goes through the chain - hometeachers, the bishop, etc - until it finally reaches Him, but it will eventually.  Through the Son the Law of Justice can still be fulfilled while letting us use the Law of Mercy (less defined - more abstract) to transfer the full effect of the Law of Justice to Him.  As our bodies have to do work to let the entropy changes slow and transfer the change away, so do our spirits have to do work to let our problems transfer to Christ.  It's called repentance, prayer, fasting, commandment-keeping, etc.

Now, scientifically, the sun of this world will ultimately fail.  Entropy will wear it down until it stops giving off the light and the energy the world needs.  That is where the comparison stops.  Unlike this temporal sun, the Son of Man (exalted Man) will not fail.  He has already completed the mission that allows us to apply the Law of Mercy.  It is an infinite and eternal sacrifice.  Jesus Christ, the true Son, will never wear down and we can partake of his infinite light, power, and goodness forever.  Life is not spontaneous.  We were created by God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and by Him and through Him we live.  He is the ultimate light and life of the world.

Draper Temple Open House

Yesterday (Thursday the 29th of January) my FHE (family home evening) group and I went to the Draper Temple open house.  After a few wrong turns and a near "please go to a different lot" speech by an usher, we were entitled to wait with 300 others in a Stake Center close to the temple.

When a temple is just built, the public is allowed to walk through it on a guided tour.  It has not been dedicated and set apart from the world to fulfill it's purpose yet.  Once it is, only those that have demonstrated their worthiness to enter are allowed in.  One's worthiness to enter is determined by all of those good, positive virtues in this life: honesty, chastity, service to fellow men, and a perfect uprightness before God and man.

Temples are very sacred.  As I entered the temple through the baptistry doors I felt an immediate sense of holiness.  Holiness to the Lord.  As I walked through it I just thought to myself, over and over again, that this will truly be the House of the Lord, and He will dwell in it.  We walked through the baptistry first, and we were all impressed with the openness and the light and the goodness that infused every room.  Taking a couple of left turns we climbed stairs, ascending farther into the "mountain of the Lord."  The rooms in the upper portion of the temple were glorious and conducive to reverence and joy.  I couldn't stop smiling.  We all whispered to each other how we couldn't wait to someday go through the temple for ourselves.

After we exited the temple, we were given cookies and water and left back home on the bus.  Jerry's car wouldn't start, and we had to attempt to procure jumper cables and a working car to jump from.  Upon completion of that getting-to-be-common task, we drove home and arrived in the hour before midnight.  Long time, but completely worth every minute of it.

Allegory of the...Freeway?

I was laying in bed the other night and thought this up and decided to turn on the light and write it in my journal. So here I thought I'd post it up, if I can decipher the handwriting that I wrote at midnight, and my handwriting is bad enough anyways! This will be copied word for word, because it's late right now, but in the future maybe I'll tweak it a little and improve it and maybe add some other ideas I've had since then, because this can be expanded. Additionally, both the real story and the symbolical meaning is sometimes incorporated into this mesh of words, so ideally the story will come first and then the explanation later, but that's a project for a different time. Here it is:

Life is like a highway. Sometimes we get off the exit and detour from our true destination, which is the celestial kingdom. Sometimes interchanges come up, and people take the roads to the other kingdoms. When we get off the narrow, straight freeway, sometimes the access to the on-ramp is blocked from the off-ramp. Sometimes we need to drive a little ways and then pop a U-turn (repent means to turn around) and bypass the roadblock through the help of our in-car navigation system kind of like OnStar - sometimes the volume is low - sometimes we can't remember where the volume control is - sometimes our arms don't seem long enough and we really have to work to reach it. However, a voice does come out of the navigation system, telling the will of Him who watches the position of our and every car on the satellite tracking system, overseeing legions of helpers recording every turn we make. He waits at our destination. Often we need the help of "officers" along the way, those who wear a badge of leadership and priesthood, those who venture out into the muddlesome places and attempt to direct those who are weaving ll over the road back to the main highway. Sometimes other officers (or perhaps the same one) regulate entrance to the highway by approving returners. They stand by a car wash, for being clean is of utmost importance on the highway. Additionally, it is sometimes a junior officer in training who actually raises the bar to let a freshly washed car onto the freeway. Sometimes it is hard for a car to find its way back because of the detours, but I testify there is an unblocked on-ramp for every car, if it chooses to seek it long and hard enough. Billboards along the road attempt to entice cars with their siren's song to take the next exit, but those that learn to listen and enjoy the soft music coming from the navigation radio never have need for the billboards and ignore them. Every week we pull into a rest area and refuel. Sometimes it seems the road will never end. Those in the know know that the real trick to getting to the destination is driving until your car wears out and collapses, for as we all know, roads never really end - everything is interconnected. After your car collapses, JC Grace Towing will come, evaluate your car, and decide whether it is worthy for the destination. If so, it will be taken the rest of the way by the towing company. The executive of the towing company is the only person with the key to the compound to which we all aspire. The number of dings on the front from giving those in front a nudge in troubled times might be evaluated, as well as any unwashed spots. Some try to crash early, while others take an exit and drive, trying to get away, but their car will eventually wear out too, and then they'll be in a pickle, because they will be so far away from the range of the towing company they will have to stay and roast and burn in the desert. Those who are closer but not on the freeway will have to pay a fee to be towed. Highway travelers get the service for free.

LDS-ity

Well, today I wasted a TON of time when I should be reading Jane Eyre for tomorrow's AP English test. I guess that's what comes having the LDS website as my homepage. They just released a new website that talks specifically about Jesus Christ. That led me to go to the LDS Tech site forums, which then led me to reading several pages on Mormon.org and then I read some pages on this Gordan B. Hinckley website and this one as well. Then this and this Thomas S. Monson website. Then I wondered about the More Good foundation, which sponsored the last four websites, and so I signed up there, then followed a link to LDS.net, and signed up there, which had this interesting news story. I also watched a small video on that website which talked about how to blog, which is what inspired me to write in mine. Now I've got to go read prepare for the test tomorrow, but first...some ice cream.

President Hinckley Dies

I apologize for the disorganized pastiche that follows, but I am in kind of a state of tumultuous thoughts right now.

I was caught totally off guard this evening when I found out that President Hinckley died tonight at about 7:00 MST. Right now news sources are swamped and no news page will connect...they all time out. It is such a shock! I didn't expect President Hinckley to live forever in this mortal life but I devoutly wish'd he could have.

I loved President Hinckley, and I'm not ashamed to say it proudly. I know that he was a Prophet of God here upon the earth, and I sustain him. He did so many great things! He built over half the temples now existing upon the earth. At general conference sometimes my family would get a bit lax and a bit too relaxed, and maybe even sleep. However, at the end of every session when he would speak, at some unspoken feeling/prompt, we would all sit up and listen attentively to the words that our beloved prophet had to say. He was so powerful in the Spirit. You could just feel that what he said was true. I will always have a significant attachment to this great man, who in my opinion was as close to perfect as anybody could ever wish to be in this life.

I cannot convey my lachrymose thoughts. I can only hope to tell I have much sadness, and doubtless as this tremendous event sinks in more I will have even more. However, I have faith that the church will go on, and the next President (presumably President Monson), will be inspired as well. I trust that the Lord is doing what is best for his church on the earth right now in these trying times. I trust that the Lord is directing this church, and I know that everything will be alright, and that I will be able to meet President Hinckley after I die. I never got to fulfill that great dream of mine to shake his hand or even see him in person just once, but I know I can later.

Perhaps my favorite addresses of his came in the general Priesthood sessions. I particularly enjoyed his enjoining the church to read the Book of Mormon in the year of '06. It was from this reading that I gained the strongest testimony of the Book of Mormon, and in turn, the church, that I have ever had. I know that book is the word of God.

Here is the original news article, quoted from the Deseret News at http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695247765,00.html

President Gordon B. Hinckley dies at age 97
Published: Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 8:08 p.m. MST


President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through explosive growth during his more than 12 years as president, died at 7 p.m. today of causes incident to age, surrounded by family. He was 97.

He traveled the world during his tenure, which was marked by a number of significant milestones, including the "Proclamation to the World on the Family," construction of dozens of small temples and the creation of several new quorums of the Seventy. He called for increased fellowshipping of new converts and reaching out to other faiths. Church membership has grown from 9 million to more than 13 million members during his administration.

His ministry was characterized by a strong desire to be out among the people. He traveled more than half a million miles and spoke to hundreds of thousands of members in more than 60 nations, employing his mastery of electronic media to bring unprecedented press attention to the church.

Under his leadership, the 21,000-seat Conference Center, north of the Salt Lake Tabernacle, was built and dedicated, and the portion of Main Street between Temple Square and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building was turned into a plaza. Online computer access to church information as well as online and CD access to family history resources grew exponentially.

A young man of 25 and just home from his mission when he went to work for the church in 1935, he remained an employee, administrator and general authority for almost seven decades, an eyewitness — and key contributor — to what he called, with the approach of the 21st century, "a great season in the history of the world and a great season in the history of the church."

His proposal to build small temples launched what some have termed the most ambitious temple-building program in world history. Some 122 temples are now in use and nine more have been announced, or are under construction. His goal of having at least 100 temples in use, authorized or under construction by Jan. 1, 2000, was accomplished with the dedication of the church's 100th temple in Boston on Oct. 1, 2000.

Three of the temples were at major sites in church history. The Nauvoo Temple was rebuilt to 21st-century standards, a temple was dedicated at Palmyra, N.Y., and another was dedicated at Winter Quarters, Neb.

Area Authority Seventies, essentially replacing regional representatives, were called in the late 1990s to help handle the church's growing leadership burden at the local level. The First and Second Quorums of the Seventy also grew.

At the 171st Annual General Conference in the spring of 2001, he announced creation of the Perpetual Education Fund, a loan program to help young Latter-day Saints in Third World countries.

President Hinckley, who spent nearly 14 years as a counselor in the First Presidency, was set apart as 15th church president on March 12, 1995, three months before his 85th birthday. He was sustained in solemn assembly at the 165th Annual General Conference that April 1.

He then set out to visit as many church members as possible in their homelands. He continued an ambitious travel schedule throughout his stewardship, urged the members to get their houses in order and warned against pornography and maltreatment of spouses and children. The "Proclamation to the World on the Family," that he announced in September 1995 gave Latter-day Saints a ready reference for their beliefs on family life, and has been used as a model by international organizations seeking to preserve the traditional family.

With the death of President Hinckley, the First Presidency was dissolved and the Quorum of the Twelve became the governing body of the church. President Hinckley's counselors, Presidents Thomas S. Monson and Henry B. Eyring, took their places — first and 11th — within the 14-member quorum. Until his death in August 2007, President James E. Faust served as President Hinckley's second counselor for 12 years.

Sometime soon, following President Hinckley's funeral, quorum members will sustain a new church president. If historical precedent holds, the quorum's senior apostle and president, President Monson, will succeed President Hinckley.

President Hinckley's initial call to the First Presidency came July 23, 1981, as a counselor to President Spencer W. Kimball. He was set apart as second counselor to President Kimball on Dec. 2, 1982, following the death of President N. Eldon Tanner. In November 1985, following the death of President Kimball, he was called as first counselor in the First Presidency, serving with President Ezra Taft Benson and President Monson, the second counselor. Presidents Hinckley and Monson continued in those positions under President Howard W. Hunter.