OldPort

Members
  • Posts

    31
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Wasatch Front
  • Interests
    Exploring the outdoors, Podcasting, conducting family history interviews.
  • Religion
    LDS

OldPort's Achievements

  1. I will add when I see things in my life aren;t going well, it seems my life is out of balance. We all have areas in our lives that we need to make contributions to and if we don't life can be very tough. Once a week I actually sit down and spend a few minutes thinking about this and what I need to do to keep things in balance. Then I will plan out the week and schedule in those activities. I would also like to recommend areally great little recording you can look up on youtube or download very cheap to listen on an MP3 player. It is called "The Strangest Secret." and really picks me up when I am down. Lastly I would reccomend being careful about what music, news, and social media you are taking in. I used to wake up and first thing check the news, facebook, and turn on the talk radio. After taking abreak from all that I came to the realization that starting the day with lots of the nevative and sad things that get reported played a huge role on my attitude. I now listen to nice relaxing music like The Piano Guys or put on a Conference talk. This habit has made a extraordinary difference in my day and attitude.
  2. OldPort

    Death

    Wow I really feel for you. You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.
  3. My news media consumption has changed dramatically with technolgy advances. I use google news alerts, twitter, and a few outher soruces to get the news I want when I want. I have found by the time news hits the evening news it is already severly dated. I have also found how inaccurate stories are spun by traditional media and have a hard time following them because of it.
  4. I have nothing to add other than welcome back! I served in the Canada Edmonton Mission back in the day and wish the best for you.
  5. I know Elder Bednar has mentioned in the past his father was not a member when he was growing up. He did end up getting bapztized later on.
  6. Keeping records is so important. In fact I am reading the Book of Mormon right now with an emphasis on record keeping and usage. It is amazing how many times it is brought up. A traditional journal is just one way to make and use records. Video, photos, and even audio are also very helpful. I try to keep a daily record of what I did and what is goign on. Then and the end of each week I try to go a little more in depth on my thoughts and feelings. Reading the records left for me by my ancestors has been a great blessing in my life.
  7. My favorite is Nobody Knows: The Untold History of Black Mormons. A brief clip can be seen on youtube- Watching this earlier on in my life would have saved me lot's of struggling.
  8. Hey check out Clayton Christensen's book The Power of Everyday Missionaries. It really is incredible and opened my eyes to lot's of interesting ideas. One of the many practical things he talks about is inviting non-members and less-actives to use their interests and skills to help serve. He invited some ladies to use their baking skills to make bread for the sacrament in his ward. He had a co-worker who he considered very service oriented and invited her to help team teach a lesson on the good Samaritan. It really is a fantastic resource.
  9. Can you post more info on this app? I recently began a podcast called LDS Mission Matters. A new episode was posted just yesterday. ldsmissionmatters.com You can listen to it on iTunes or on the site. I am currently looking for content anyone may be interested in. Also, and Utah based folks want to be interviewed on their mission experience, let me know. At the least this is a great thing to have for posterity. I also enjoy listening to: Extreme Genes-Family History Radio-Interesting stories from family history Dan Carlin Hardcore History-Great history podcast, awesome on road trips
  10. I wanted to weigh in on this and share a few experiences from a LEO background. My partner and I found a young 15 year old man who was a runaway and had pick up orders from a judge. The young man was about 5'6" and 130. He actively resisted us (was not overtly aggressive in trying to strike/injure us) but during the course of this he caused lot's of damage to the property and himself. He was also very sweaty/slippery. Yes we could have used a number of tools on him and ended the scenario abruptly, but all those tools have pros and cons. After my partner and I decided tasing him would have been a safer option as he likely would have not injured himself in the process. I have also had tasers fail frequently. The probes don't go through thick, layered clothing well. When making what could be a life or death decision for protecting myself or partner I would not trust a taser in many scenarios.
  11. Here is a great clip from General Conference with Elder Rasband talking about the process. It is a faith building experience for those who are involved.
  12. As mentioned, the Bishop is the best resource for your questions. I do want to say that I served with a companion on my mission who was "older" and a recent convert. He was 25 at the time we were paired together. He was an AMAZING missionary and I learned so much from him and from his fresh perspective on the gospel. He was very efficient and could connect and relate with people in a way I couldn't. Just him bearing his testimony in the ward got everyone fired up and we got referrals based on that.
  13. Wingnut, I agree about how helpful structure can be with it. Eowyn, Having fun is very important. I think things can get tough if you don't have that escape valve. I work in the emergency services world, and between that and callings we literally have 30 minutes together during the week, 2 hours in the morning on Saturday, and 4 hours together on Sunday evenings. Lives have seasons, but I don't believe our current schedule is sustainable for a happy/productive family and marriage. That is partly what this meeting will serve to do is help us plan and work towards a healthier lifestyle.
  14. My wife and I feel a bit disconnected right now due to our busy lives and not seeing each other much. We also have some big goals we have not been able to accomplish after 14 years of marriage. with this in mind we have decided to start holding a "Weekly Spouse Meeting" similar to a companionship inventory for missionaries. We plan on discussing things like goals, budget, how our kids are doing, how each other are doing etc. Does anyone do anything like this? What has worked for you? I appreciate any input on this.