Our Dad!

Well, this was the post I was gonna do for Father's Day, but I wanted to give Dad's post and McKayla's victory enough airtime. If you haven't read those yet, you should, cause they're great.
My intent on this post is to put down some of my favorite memories with Dad that have influenced me for good with hopes that I could inspire my three older siblings to follow suit (Yes, Ron, you too! :) ).

I'll start with quick references and then go into more detail. Dad taught me about home teaching. We went home teaching. Even though Dad didn't even live in Othello most of the week he always made sure we got out and visited those families. This is a lesson I'm still working on, but the memory is there. Even deeper of a memory were those visits in the car. The ones that stood out to me most were about testimony. Dad helped me understand my testimony.
At 14 on a Saturday evening Dad told me it was time to go to Priesthood. I had no intention of spending my Saturday evening in a Church watching Conference. But Dad assured me that we needed to go. I went. I didn't want to, but I did. Grudgingly, but I was there. I sat with my head down, until one of the Apostles spoke. I have no idea what Elder Haight talked about that night, but he made me laugh and I thought, "This is alright." I've paid attention to conference ever since then. Elder Haight became my favorite Apostle. And in the months prior to his death I had the chance to meet him. He held my hand and just asked me about me; where I was from, etc. It's a treasured memory...Thanks Dad.

This story might seem like the obvious choice, but it's had such a profound impact on me. It's basketball. In the Church gym whenever I'd be practicing Dad would always comment on my dribbling. "You're palming the ball," he'd say. Funny enough, I don't think I ever changed my dribbling, me and everybody else out there just does a lot of "palming" or what we now call (if it's done to an extreme) a "carry." Contrast that with Dad on the sidelines or in the stands during my basketball games. I'd look to Dad and he was right there to give me the best coaching I'd ever had. He'd put his fingers on each dimple and mouth the word, "Smile." What's really important about sports? It's having fun and being happy. What's really important about life? It's having fun and being happy. To do that we need to smile. Two scriptures for that (you didn't know how deep of an impact it was, did you Dad?): The first is found in Jacob's amazing sermon on the Atonement found in 2 Nephi 9. Look at verse 39. It reads
"O, my beloved brethren, remember . . . to be spiritually minded is life eternal."
It is that important for us to s.m.i.l.e. Dad, during a priesthood opening exercise shared 2 Nephi 2:25
"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."
Dad explained this scripture in a way I'd never seen it. We are here to be happy. It's a commandment for us to be happy. And that's how we'll get eternal life.
That wasn't the second scripture, however, that was only a side note to the first. Here's the second. Joseph in Liberty Jail writes a letter to the Saints with instructions on what we ought to do with our lives. D&C 123:13,17
"Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light the hidden things of darkness...Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."
Do all we can, but do it with a smile. Dad taught me to smile.

Love, Eric