Watch Your Step

We've all heard lights and sirens before - sometimes they pass our homes or while we are out driving. Sometimes, they might even be coming to our own aide. Based on the perceived severity of the call, lights and sirens are used to alert and warn others that there is an emergency somewhere that needs a prompt response and is priority over their needs at the moment.   A common term for that type of response is called "Code 3".  While I know all of our curiosity is pinpointed on where and what the emergency response is all about, have you ever considered what is going through those responders minds during this time?

Flipping perspectives to that of an EMT/Paramedic, there are a lot of factors that are running through their heads while responding to a Code 3 call.

He Will Give You Help

To whom this is written to,

I hope it helps all of us know that there is more to life then death.

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9)

One of the most sure facts of this life is that we will all die someday. We never know when that day will visit us and take us away from our earthly cares and worries. Unavoidably the time will come in which our "limbs . . . must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return" (2 Nephi 1:14).

The words of God, which speak comfort and peace to us at all times, give us a great reassurance that there is life after death. The scriptures, in which those words are contained, are written for us. Whether in happiness and joy, or in misery and anguish, they are given for our benifit to know that God loves us and has prepared a wonderful plan for us.

Some may think that death is the end of all life, that the time spent here is just an experience to enjoy and when death comes, that is the end of it all. In our moments of deepest reflection and saddness, we plead that there is more to life then just death. Often, we wish that there might another way, that there might be another chance given. If you are one that wishes and hopes and desires that there is more to life then just death, do not fear any longer, soon your hope will come alive and it will be real.  This matter is one that concerns everyone. In particular, it troubled greatly a son of a Book of Mormon prophet. The following words are from Alma the Younger, a prophet whom God had called to teach the Gospel.  He spoke these words to his son, Coriaton, while he himself not being far from the end of his own life.

Remembering 9/11, Part 2: My Eyes Were Opened

I was no where near New York on September 11th, 2001.  In fact, I was on the complete opposite side of the U.S. when it happened.  9/11 affects knew no bounds though, and it changed everything.

I was 10 years old at the time and I remember waking that morning and going into my mother's room.  Like any other school day morning, it started off fairly early, around 6-6:30 am.  It was common for my mother to have the news on in her room, most often playing Good Morning America.  This morning was different however.  As I entered,  I could feel tension in the atmosphere, the mood back dropped with stress and disbelief.  As I intently listened, it didn't take long to learn that a commercial sized plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers in New York City. 

New York was somewhere I have always dreamed of going.  During my elementary years, I couldn't pronounce certain phonetics and many people asked me if I was from New York because of it.  Sometimes I liked to entertain the thought, but I'd gladly inform them I was from San Francisco eventually.  My parents had talked about a trip there a few years before but with the then recent birth of my sisters, those plans were no longer realistic.  I would like to go.  Sadly, one of the highlights of my future trip will be to visit where the Towers once stood and see what is replacing them.

  

I recall the news announcers talking very rapidly.  No exact remarks are remembered but the gasps and horror in their voice and facial expressions remain clear as we all watched the second plane strike the other tower.  Our fears were confirmed.  This was no accident.  America was being attacked, and I had never known fear quite like I had 
now.

Sure, I had feared things.  I remember cutting my head open on a glass table and breaking my finger after falling off my bike.  For that time of my life, those were my little, innocent fears.  Fearing that the land I lived in would come under attack wasn't something that had crossed my mind.  I wasn't concerned with my world surroundings.  Granted, I was only 10 but even at that age in some countries, the realization of how fragile mortality is very real to them.  It wasn't to me, especially since death was not an event I was exposed to.  I had watched the news coverage of the bombing of the USS Cole in the gulf of Aden a year prior while at school.  This had sparked some interest but it did not last.

Remembering 9-11, Part 1: "Where Were You"

In a similar aspect to that of July 4th, September 11th brings about a strong sense of patriotism and nationalism.  As we near the 10th anniversary of that fateful September morning, it is and always will be, a time spent remembering and reflecting the events of that day.  The effects of 9/11 stretch and continue to stretch all over the world.  Whether you were fleeing the scene of those doomed towers, a fireman heeding the call to serve, or watching or listening to it miles and miles away, it has affected you.  Whether you are a believer or not, it has brought you closer to the realization of the fragility of mortality.  In some way or another, 9/11 has meant something to you.

September 11th means much to me and has changed my outlook on the world.  Rather, I might say, it opened my eyes to the world and its calamity.  In a following post, I will write about how 9/11 changed me and my perspective on life.  I remember where I was and what I was doing.  I remember who I was with and where I was going that day.  Do you?

W H E R E   W E R E   Y O U ?

If Jesus Came To Your House

When I first came to Montana and learned that it was nicknamed "Big Sky Country", I never understood why it had received such a name.  Arriving in Billings, MT back in August of last year, my stay there was fairly short as I was shipped off on a Greyhound to Missoula, MT to begin my missionary service there.  Being amongst all those mountains made the sky look like any other normal sky.  Moving on the Great Falls and then to Glasgow, the sky seemed to progressively get larger.  Now serving in Sidney, MT and having traveled around most of Eastern Montana, I definitely feel that the "Big Sky Country" title is very fitting.  You can see from horizon to horizon and the sunsets are so intense and appealing that they almost seem fake.

The picture above is of a sunset coming back from a dinner at a member's house just over the North Dakota border, east of Fairview, MT.  A couple hours prior to this, we attended a baptism of an 8 year-old that had made the great choice to make a promise to keep God's commandments and follow Him.  We had a couple that is learning about the church attend it with us.  Following that, they joined us for a dinner and a lesson out at a member's house.  We asked them how they enjoyed the baptism and they noted a number of things that were different than what they had done or were used to - one of the main one's was that the practice of baptism by immersion.  That took us into a discussion on how Christ set the example for us by being baptized Himself to be completely obedient to His Father's commandments and to show the path to return to Heaven.