Charlie Steen house view

Charlie Steen was an impoverished uranium prospector, who struck it rich in the 1950s, and built his home on a bluff overlooking Moab.  His home is now a restaurant.

Dead Horse Point

LaSal Mountains in the background

Trip to SE Utah

Wendy and I took a 3-day trip to SE Utah last week  Wendy had never seen that pat of the State.  We arranged to stay in Moab on Monday and Tuesday nights.  The weather was warm, the sky was clear, and we had a very enjoyable trip.  Our first stop was at Dead Horse Point where we admired the huge view of the Colorado Rive canyons.  Then we spent a couple of hours at Arches NP in the late afternoon.  We got an overview of the scenery as we drove to  the end of the road, and then hiked to Landscape arch.

On Tuesday, we got up early and drove to Monticello for session at the temple.  This visit made me home-sick for our Raleigh Temple, since the architecture is so similar.  We got a nice summary of this temple's history from some worker.  It was the very first temple built and dedicated on the inspired plan of President Hinckley's.  It was kind of a test temple to see what worked.  Apparently there were some areas that were inadequate, so they made adjustments in the basic design from what they had learned, and used the new design in the construction of all of the remaining small temples that were built.  These included the 2-phase endowment rooms, larger celestial room, a second sealing room, larger dressing rooms, and more office space.  After a little while, the Church remodeled the Monticello temple also into the newer, slightly larger design.

Monticello has a population of about 2000.  It has one stake.  The temple also serves one stake in Blanding (21 miles) and one in Moab (54 miles), plus 2 stakes in Grand Junction CO (167 miles) and one in Durango CO (104 miles).  It is not exactly in the middle of a population mass.  According to our informants, when Pres. Hinckley dedicated this temple he told them that they didn't really need this temple (Manti was less than 4 hours away), but the Church needed it to learn how the design would work.  Anyway, the people were really nice, and there was a good spirit there.

We enjoyed a story about the remodeling.  When the temple was originally constructed, there were several stained glass window provided by a company in Istanbul, Turkey.  Oddly, when the workmen installed these windows, they found that there were several extra and so the extra ones were stored in a warehouse in back of the temple property and forgotten.  Then when the temple was enlarged some 3 years later, there was a need to order several more windows.  The builders tried to contact the Turkish company and found they were out of business.  Then someone remembered the windows in storage.  There was exactly enough to complete the new design.

We got back to Moab mid-afternoon, and started a drive up Rt. 128 along the Colorado River.  We only went a few miles however (to the start of Negro Bill canyon) , because this road was under construction and traveling was very slow.

In the evening, we had a dinner at a restaurant perched high over the Moab valley that was former house in the home of Charlie Steen, who was known as the "Uranium King."  The evening view was quite extraordinary and the steaks good.

On spent Wednesday on a return engagement with Arches.  We hiked around several arches in the Windows area, drove to the Delicate Arch and Fiery Furnace viewpoints, and hiked to Sandstone and Broken arches, before heading home.

My one disappointment was not feeling capable of making some of the more difficult hikes, like to Delicate Arch.  But I guess that goes with my age and I need to be content to do what we did. 

Manti temple visit for Wendy's birthday

Approaching the temple

Manti temple

Mt. Nebo from just north of Ephraim

Mt. Loafer from Birdseye area

We went to the Manti Temple for Wendy’s birthday.  It was snowing lightly as we left Spanish Fork and went over the summit past Salt Creek Canyon but then cleared as we approached the temple.  Then the skies were a brilliant blue.  I am using my new I-phone almost exclusively for pictures, and it performs nicely.

I am still enthralled by the beauty of this old edifice, especially the interior.  The dark woods in the handcarved stair-rails and door casings, contrasting with white walls, and touches of gold, in the chapel, the main entrance hall and other areas are exquisite.  The Minerva Teichert mural in the world room is a classic that cannot be matched anywhere else.  The blues in the decor of the Terrestrial room make it Wendy’s very favorite room in all of templedom.  We feel the influence and love for the temple in the work of the 19th century craftsmen who built this place.

We had an unusual experience with the Spirit there.  As we prayed before we began the trip, I caught myself asking for something I don’t typically do–I asked that we might be touched by the Spirit as we participated in the ceremonies.  When we arrive at the temple and were walking along the hallway from the recommend desk toward the dressing rooms, a worker steped forward and invited us to be the witness couple.  I believe this was the first time we had perform this duty in the Manti temple.  From the start, it seemed special as a way for Wendy to celebrate her birthday.  When we were dressed, the same brother introduced in a warm and personal way to the man who would be the initial officiator in the session.  The persons who performed the various roles all seemed confident and well-prepared.  During the session as this initial officiator addressed certain portions of the instruction which pertained to the suffering of the Savior, I detected an unusual pausing to gain emotional control and could feel that the atonement was something very personal for him, which feeling was also passed to me.

When Wendy and I had completed the session and were sitting together in Celestial Room, the session workers filtered into this room also.  This brother happened to look our way and I motioned for him to join us.  I thanked him and mentioned my perception that he had some unusually deep and personal feelings about the work of the Savior.  He ended up telling us much of the story of his life, how he had found the gospel after an unusually difficult childhood, placement or abandonment by parents twice to orphanages, deeply troubled by the divorce of LDS adoptive parents to whom he had been sealed, and peace in the knowledge that no matter what troubles one might have, the atonement of Christ makes up the difference.  I had tears and spiritual feelings from all of this and connected this experience to the prayer of the morning.  I sure love what the Gospel has done for me.

Inoculating our children against evil

Richard and Linda Eyre suggest this metaphor for parenting which seems to suggest that we cannot totally shield our children from exposure to disease-causing viruses of various societal ills and evils.  Rather, many of our teaching strategies must aim at trying to build immunities into our children.  It reminds me of an old Chinese proverb that has served me well, which says, “Nakedness is often seen, but never looked at.”

The Eyres address teaching children to avoid pornography in this manner in an article this morning in the D-News called “Inoculating kids against the evils of porn” (a slightly modified version is on-line: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865589915/Porn-is-the-villain-so-what-is-the-hero.html?pg=all)

Here is their suggestion for helping a young person transform a sexual thought from negative to positive.  Tell them,: “When you see or hear something sexual, just think for a moment how much more beautiful sex will be if you wait until marriage.  Until then, look away and get away from anything less beautiful.”

Their advice is that talking to kids about sex in a positive, love-oriented way is much easier than using fear tactics.  And when you keep it positive, you can have the “big talk” much earlier.  In fact, they recommend the eighth birthday.  “While it may seem counterintuitive, the fact is that the earlier and more frequently parents talk to their kids about sex, the later they will experiment or go to other sources.”

If you are interested, the Eyres provide more details about this approach on their website: www.valuesparenting.com/talktokids.php

Kitchen additions

I have been resuscitating my fix-it skills in our kitchen.  I got the replacement cabinet hung Saturday evening.  We are still finishing the doors so this job isn't finished.  We got a bigger cabinet than the original, a full 36 inches wide.  It still has only one stud to hang on, but I hope I attached it solidly.  Where the old one had only two screws both on the left-hand side, I put nine in this new cabinet.  There are seven in a vertical line down the middle and I also put in two molly bolts at the top toward the edges.

While we we were doing this work we got excited about improving the lighting in the kitchen (something we have been talking about for several years).  It has been dark in places that count--at the sink, and over the island.  Today, we replaced two lights that give us multiple lamps in these key places.   


We found a 5-bulb light fixture that matched the one over the kitchen table and swagged it so that it is more nearly over the island which is one of Wendy's main food  preparation spaces.  We also replaced the over-sink light, a little one bulb job, with a three bulb adjustable spotlight.

Kitchen disaster

We had this kitchen disaster yesterday afternoon.  While Wendy was standing on a stool doing some cleaning, a cabinet holding most of our dishes, plates, etc., fell off the wall.  Wendy got some bruises and scrapes (she made an attempt to catch it and hold it up), but thankfully was not in the direct path.  The cabinet had been anchored by only two screws near the top and the bottom but on the far left side of the cabinet.  At last 90% of all the items in this cupboard were broken.  It was such a mess.

Scott gave us the name of the builder and I called him complaining.  He was apologetic but was unwilling to give any recourse.  Today, we went shopping for a new cabinet and are beginning the “do it yourself” process of preparing the replacement.  Right now we are gluing the veneers on the cabinet.  Then comes staining and varnishing.  After that we need to hang it, then replace the doors.  It may take a few days.

We also will need to replace the whole set of dishes.

Autumn in Spanish Fork

Wendy and I took a walk today on the River Trail along the Spanish Fork River.  I love the fall leaves, especially those that are yellow.

We ended the walk near our favorite tree, an ancient cottonwood.  It is nearly 4 feet in diameter at the base and has great sprawling branches that come clear to the ground and are themselves putting down roots.  The City has located a picnic table right under the umbrella of this wonderful tree.  We say to each other “Wouldn’t this be a great place for a family picture?”

Payson temple topped off.

Wow! See our new Payson temple with its exterior nearly complete and that got its Angel Moroni on its spire on Thursday morning.  Our friends from Santaquin, etc., who work with us on our Thursday shift were all excited as they drove along the freeway and saw the crowd of people and the statue on the crane ready to go.  Only a year to a year and a half to go.

I am sorry that Pres. Monson do not announce the Bentonville temple again.  I think that more mission costs must have delayed the annoucement for a few months.

South and East faces

Long telephoto shot NE toward Provo Peak

Our Provo Temple

     Trying to learn more about temples, I have been reading a couple of volumes from Hugh Nibley on the subject of temples (The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley Volumes 12 and 17 Ancient History), and found these insightful personal references to the Provo Temple:
     “We strive to make our temples beautiful, but if in the eyes of many of us some turn out to something less than breathtaking, that doesn’t dampen our enthusiasm for what goes on in them.  My favorite temple is certainly the Provo temple, though as a building I give it very low marks indeed.  We are not attached to the building as such (it is but an endowment house)....
     “...we know that the gospel has been restored, and the temple is the center of things.  So we must repair there often.  I have gotten so I am almost an addict.  I cannot keep away from the temple.  I revel in it, the building I call an endowment house, lacking as it does in so many respects–but that doesn’t make any difference.  We can see the ordinances and the endowments.  It was built for practical purposes.
     “In a speech in the 1880s in St. George, Brother Erastus Snow said that every temple has a slightly different design, because it performs a different purposes.  The St. George Temple was built after the pattern of the Kirtland Temple, to emphasize certain things.  Our Provo Temple is built in a different way entirely.  It functions with a different thing in mind–efficiency in getting a lot of work done in a hurry, but also as a teaching tool.” (Vol. 12, “The Meaning of the Temple,” pp. 32, 35)
     Truly the Provo temple is a work-horse temple, built for high volume, like a well-oiled machine.  We like to think that it also retains the same spiritual values that smaller-volume temples have.  President Dahl, 1st Counselor in the temple presidency, has likened our work to a duck, with legs paddling furiously under the water, but with the water on the surface being perfectly calm with no evidence of the effort of the bird to propel itself along.
     Wendy and I have been ordinance workers in the Provo temple since 2006 and 2005 respectively and love this place.  We love the Spirit there.  It has been a House of Learning for us, in the deeper things of the gospel.  We love the friendships we have made.  We love the chance to serve the MTC missionaries who pour into the temple daily, and initiate them into the temple ordinances.  We love the association with college students who make up a significant minority of the temple worker staff (we must have the lowest average worker age of about any temple in the world) and project that these young people, as they graduate and establish employment and families in many other parts of the world, will be a great strength to the Kingdom.  We love the challenges of providing an orderly and spiritual tone in this high volume setting.  We understand that our temple completed about 3 million ordinances in 2012, being the highest volume temple in the world, and we hope to keep that record.
     We are proud of the vision and leadership exhibited by our temple presidency in the face of recent changes in the endowment film, which added about 12 minutes to its length.  They challenged us to maintain the schedule that has been in place for over 40 years, in which a new endowment session starts every 20 minutes, from 7 am or earlier to about 8 pm each day.  We have 6 endowment rooms, with a complete rotation every 2 hours.  This now means that, for all day and every day, we need to start all sessions on time and clear each room in 10–12 minutes, so the same room may then be loaded with the next set of patrons and start on time. 
     We understand that we are the only large film temple in the world that has been able to maintain its old regular schedule in light of the new film length.  President Daines reported that when the new film was presented in August, that members of the Church’s Temple Committee suggested that the temple might want to change to a 30 minute schedule.  However, members of the presidency felt that we should make the attempt to continue to accommodate the high volume of patrons who use the temple and keep the original schedule.  So far, this has worked.

Mean girls, mean women, mean grandmas

Who do you think you are
Loud mouth, cafeteria star
Maybe somebody was cruel to you
So you think that's what you're supposed to do
One day, it might be you
When you need a friend, but you no longer cool
When everyone leaves when you walk in the room
I just hope they forgive you
...Mean girls, mean girls
I'm a just comb you outta my curls
Mean girls, mean girls
You no longer run my world

A column in the Deseret News Mormon Times section brings back some old hurts (Ask Angela: Angela Trusty, “Burying the hatchet is often a good idea”, September 19, 2013, p. C4).  The author quotes a letter from a young woman who was asked to substitute as instructor for a single adults Sunday School class in her ward.  She had had a falling out with another member a couple of years before.  As she came into the classroom, the sister asked, “Who is teaching today?” When someone responded with her name, the lady “whispered “ to her group that they should “definitely go to a different class.”  As the writer was being introduced, the woman and about five of her friends noticeably arose and left the classroom.

Sister Trusty responds to this request for advice by saying that this was “a major mean girl move, and mean girls (mean women, mean grandmas) exist, and can be hurtful at any age.”  She then explores the suggestion of how to reach out to this woman and attempt to bury the hatchet, that is, become reconciled with her.  Of course this is the Christ-like thing to do, as taught by the Savior:

¶Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. (Matthew 18:15)

While your commitment as a disciple of Christ requires you to make this attempt at reconciliation, what if you are dealing with a sister who truly is caught up in mean girl psychology?  What if your apology and even apparent groveling in your attempt at reconciliation, feeds her need to be in a power position over you (queen bee syndrome)?  What if she lacks insight into her own behavior so that your attempts to reconcile further threaten her insecurities (“I couldn’t have done that--I love everybody”), so that her relationship aggression amplifies.

Relational aggression is “aggression intended to cause harm through damage in one’s relationship or social standing... [It is] a covert form of bullying more common among women... to backstab, gossip, stereotype, make fun of, and single out their target through rumors, isolation, or by totally excluding the person from the group as way of retribution.

The roots of relational aggression lie in personal insecurities.  “Often enough when a woman suffers from a strong sense of inadequacy, she clings to the very things that make her feel good with a certain fierceness and possessive passion.  Threatened, she turns to devious avenues to defend her place in the social food chain... Regardless of age, women of all walks are drawn together into a posse by their very need for constant reinforcement. As they thrive on the security of membership, they soon learn of the incredible power that acting on something together promotes.  Mean girls are defined by their collective strength.  They attack as a pack.  Perched high on the pedestals of solidarity, popularity, and influence, these women develop an insatiable need for control, and in the process, lose the ability to be compassionate towards the people outside their social group.  It is when they find reward in their subtle acts of aggression that the meanness persists.  However, as they continue to live up to their untouchable reputation outside their circle, they also grapple with power and politics within.  In every mean girl clique standing tall among them is the leader of the pack.  While she sets the rules of the game, the others follow without question out of fear of being ostracized or excluded from the group.”

Suggestions:
– Do not fight fire with fire.  
– Hold your head high.
– Deal with the matter at hand without physically fighting back. (Be prepared for the verbal attacks and have a witty comeback. Avoid being emotional and keep an even tone as you talk back.)
– Open up about your problems to loved ones and people you can trust.
– Move on and make other friends.
– Practice compassion. (Understanding how cliques work helps you realize why some people can be so mean. It also lets you see them as human beings with emotions and back stories that explain why they are.)
[Information about relational aggression from Almira Presto Dalangin, “The Psychology of Mean Girl Cliques” http://miradalangin.hubpages.com/hub/The-Psychology-of-Mean-Girl-Cliques]

New temples projected priority in US

 

Temples in the Utah-Idaho LDS Corridor--analysis and projection

Temples under construction:
1) The Payson temple will draw off about 25 stakes from Provo temple (Mapleton, SF, Salem-Payson, Santaquin plus the 2 Nephi stakes from Manti. 
2) The Provo City Center temple is rumored to receive Springville (9) and perhaps 3-4 Provo stakes from SE Provo
This would leave Provo with about 40 Stakes.  Provo will possibly add the Orem stakes from Mt. Timp, raising the Provo total to near 65, and reducing Mt. Timp to under 50.
3) The proposed Cedar City temple will probably draw off about 15 stakes from St. George, leaving around 30 stakes for the latter.

Other possibilities for new temples:
1) Pocatello.  There is a cluster of about 16 stakes in Pocatello and Blackfoot, or just the 11 stakes in the former, for a Twin Falls/Brigham City size temple.
2) Northern Davis County.  There is a cluster of about 30 stakes that might be drawn off from the Ogden temple, for an Oquirrh Mt/Draper/Rexburg size temple
3) Tooele.  The 13 Stakes in Tooele and west into Nevada could justify a Twin Falls/Brigham City size temple.
4) Heber City.  A small temple, Monticello size, might be justified by the 7 Wasatch Back stakes: Heber (4), Park City, Kamas, Coalville

Brigham City temple trip

Wendy and I made plans earlier to do a temple session at the new Brigham City temple.  We had toured the open house but had not been back since it was dedicated.  We planned to take Dorothy and Jeree.  At the last minute Dorothy was hurting too much to go (she is having knee replacement surgery next Monday) and Jeree was too busy, so Alison was willing to accompany us.  This temple is really busy.  We made appointments a week ago and the session was totally full plus a folding chair, with over 60 patrons.

Its a very beautiful building inside and out, and we enjoyed the experience very much.

The old tabernacle east across the street

Labor Day picnic

from Valerie Blog

Jaron showing off his reverse-no look serve

One of my greatest satisfactions is in seeing my children and grandchildren getting together and loving it!  We had one of these occasions on Labor Day.  We met at Nunn's Park in Provo Canyon at about 3 pm, cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, visited a lot, played volleyball, frisbee, and table games, and left at dusk.  Besides Wendy and me, present were: Quin and Alison, Heidi and Steven, Paul and Daniel, Rachel with two college friends, and all the younger Soderquist kids; Angela, Katrina and Troy, Camille, Krysta and Tricia; Jaron; Matthew and Kim with all their kids except Alyssa; all of the Blakes; and Nathan and Gloria; forty in all.

Stormy weather at the cabin

Tuesday, 7:30 pm

Wednesday, 8 am

Wednesday, 9 am

Wednesday, 11 am

Last Tuesday evening at dusk we saw dark clouds with rain obscuring Cascade Peak, Provo Peak, and Timp.  It was moving directly toward us.  As the dark came, the rain hit.  When we awakened in the morning, we saw that a very unusual summer fog had completely enveloped the whole of Heber Valley.  It was thick and almost unbreathable.  As the morning proceeded, the fog lifted and eventually dissipated about noon showing clear blue skies and sunshine.  Our temple friends who live in Heber said they could not remember a summer fog of this sort.

Cabin sunset

We were the Midway cabin the first three days last week.  There were lots of clouds, especially in the afternoon and evening, from the monsoon weather.  Here is a dramatic sunset shot, looking southwest .

The monsoons are upon us

2 pm

(2 pm) I used to think that monsoons only happened in the tropics, but the weatherman last night said this is monsoon season in Utah (the last two weeks of August). A tropical storm off the west coast of Mexico is pumping up warm moist air to this area.  As the day heats up, big dark clouds develop.  By evening, there is lightning, thunder, and rainfall, light in some places but very heavy in others.  Yesterday we had sprinkles but northern Utah County got dumped on.

2 pm

(5 pm) the clouds are a lot heavier and some rain has fallen.

(8 pm) Look at the sunset.

5 pm

8 pm

8 pm

We're now in the political arena

Right in the SW corner of out lot, by the flowering pear trees.

Jaron the entreprenuer

I gave Jaron a ride today to the Springville Splash Pad today.  He had acquired a bunch of Otter-Pops and was selling them to mothers and little kids, hopefully for a profit.

More of my scouting adventure: Stake Leader Specific training

Here is one my latest scouting adventures, in trying to advance my vision of having YM advisors and leaders well-trained in their scouting programs.

Utah County Scouting districts were reorganized this year to match the area organization of our Church.   Our scouting district was formerly called Black Hawk, but was partly merged with the Diamond Fork district and is now called Black Diamond.  It covers the nine stakes in Spanish Fork and the two in Mapleton, including Matthew’s and also the Blake’s stakes.  It also matches the areas covered by two High Schools, Spanish Fork and Maple Mountain.

One of the innovations developed by the Black Diamond Leaders is that about a third of the monthly Round Table meetings are the responsibility of the individual stakes and meet in the respective stake centers, and would typically be planned by the stake’s young mens presidency.  A few months ago as our presidency considered plans for these meetings, consistent with my scouting advocacy emphasis, I suggested that we offer Leader Specific training at the August 8 Round Table.  This proposal was accepted by the rest of the presidency and our High Council Rep and also  President Blair, who is the Stake Presidency counselor for youth programs.  I got the assignment to arrange this with the district training people, which I did, and got their commitment to supply the instructors. 

As time went on, I stayed in touch with District Training Director, and was surprised (frustrated, appalled) to receive an e-mail from him two and a half weeks before the event that they couldn’t find any trainers and so wouldn’t be able to help us. 

I was grateful that this did not faze our YM President, Ken A., or President Blair and we set out to find our own trainers.  It took quite a bit of telephoning and persistence, but Ken and I were able to arrange to have the three sessions covered.  Ken did the Varsity, we got the YM President in a neighboring stake to take Boy Scouts, and Lynn E., who is the Venturing rep on the UNP Council training committee was able to free himself to do Venturing.  I could have taught the Venturing session myself, but thought that the people from our stake ought to hear this message from someone else for a change, and was glad for the way this turned out.

We ended up with 60 attendees, including 51 from our stake.  Our Venturing session had 13 men from our stake and included our stake President and 4 of the seven Bishops.  Feedback from all three sessions was positive, and I was quite gratified and also relieved that somehow we were able to pull this training off successfully.

The Scouting Gadfly, Part 2: BSA training for adult leaders (My proposal)

    Charles Dalquist, while General Young Mens President, criticized our lack of training of  young mens leaders, saying that in business and industry it is not typical to place workers in assignments prior to their being trained, but that in the Church we do this regularly in the area where we work with a most critical and vulnerable population–our young men.  Here are five areas of great opportunity for strengthening our work with our young men through raising the training bar for their adult leaders and advisers:
    1. The call.  Everything begins with the call to work with young men.  These are sacred callings of a missionary nature that require a high level of commitment and sacrifice to succeed.  In making these calls, Bishopric members need to be trained to make sure that these men to be called are in a position in their lives and are willing to give the time and effort needed to master the available tools for working with young men in these programs.  These men need to know from the outset the time and training expectations.  Training expectations should include all of the items discussed below in this write-up.  Detailed recommendations about how to conduct these interviews are contained in the Spanish Fork South Stake Young Men Calling Guide.
    GOAL: Train and commit Bishoprics, so that all new Young Mens callings are based upon the Calling Guide.
    2. Initial orientation.   A member of the Stake YM Presidency/Unit Commissioner should make an new leader Orientation/Fast Start visit and review the New Leader Check-list.  The person should complete specified on-line Fast Start videos on-line.  In order for this to happen, wards will need to contact the Stake Young Mens Presidency immediately after a new young mens worker is called. 
    GOAL: All men newly called in the wards to work with the young men will receive an initial orientation by the stake within three weeks of their calls.
    3. Leader Specific Training.  Leader Specific Training used to be called Basic Training and that is what it is, a basic introduction to the working tools of a specific scouting program, that is, Boy Scouts, Varsity, or Venturing.  All persons working as advisors and in other capacities with the young men (including Bishopric members and scouting commitee chairs) for the programs of Aaronic Priesthood should complete BSA Leader Specific Training for their scouting family or program. 
    Leader Specific Training is to be provided by the Scouting District.  There is a proposal, not as yet implemented in our Black Diamond District, to rotate the holding of this training around the 11 stakes in the District on a monthly basis.  Or a stake could request from the District that a special occurrence of this training be held in their stake
    In Venturing, our numbers are so low for leaders having completed this basic training (about 40%, not including Bishops and committee members) that we could profitably schedule with the district a Leader Specific Training session and train or retrain all of our adults working with young men in their scouting specialty. 
    GOAL 1: Arrange to have Leader Specific Training given in our stake within the next 3 months, and to train all adults involved in working with young men in their respective scouting program.  This includes members of the stake young mens organization.
    GOAL 2: In the future, all adults called to work with the young men, will receive Leader Specific Training for their scouting program, within 3 months of their call.
    4. Round Table participation.  Monthly Round table attendance keeps a leader sharp on the tools and culture of his program and new program and activity ideas.  It also provides encouragement and problem-solving discussions for working with youths.  Additionally, we have begun to hold a brief meeting at the end with ward advisers to correlate matters relating to these programs in our stake.  Round Table is an essential part of the ongoing training and preparation for our adults working with young men.  At a very minimum, there needs to be at least one representative of each program from each ward in our stake at Round Table.  To retain a high level of effectiveness, the majority of all men called as advisers to Aaronic Priesthood quorums should participate in their respective Round Table sessions each month.
    The older-boy programs, Venturing and Varsity, particularly need the entire group of adults associated with these programs in the wards to experience Round Table regularly , since we have much less of a tradition and experience with well-run and effective programs in these age-groups.  Key attendees for these programs may well be Bishops and their First Counselors who as file leaders for their Aaronic Priesthood quorums should provide leadership for the full and effective use of these programs.  If members of Bishoprics and Committee chairs are counted, there are as many as 30 persons associated with each program from our stake, who could benefit their respective quorum programs by regular Round Table attendance.
    GOAL1: At a minimum, a representative from each program for each ward will attend all Round Tables.
    GOAL2: The majority of adult persons associated with the programs of the Aaronic Priesthood in each ward (advisers, assistant advisers, scouting leaders, committee chairs, Bishopric members) will participate in each Round Table meeting
    5. Wood Badge.  A fifth and very useful opportunity for strengthening adult support in our wards for young mens programs is to complete a Wood Badge course.  Experience has shown that wards with 12-15 Wood Badge trained persons typically are able to maintain a high standard and tradition of young mens programs.  Wood Badge changes the level of commitment and leadership of the man.  A review of those in young mens assignments in the wards reveals that such training is virtually unknown among the adults presently called to work with our young men.  Therefore, increasing Wood Badge trainees represents a rich opportunity for upgrading the quality of Young mens programs in our stake.
    GOAL1:  Our stake should create a strategy that promotes over the long run the development of a cadre of Wood Badge trained persons in each ward (about 2 a year per ward), to achieve in the next 7 years 14-15 Wood Badge trained persons in each ward, totaling about 100 in all.  Priority should be given to the following: members of Bishoprics, and members of the Stake Young Mens Presidency and Unit Commissioners.

The Scouting Gadfly, Part 1: Leader training for young men

My role in the Stake YM Presidency, apparently, is to be the gadfly scouting advocate.  I keep hammering away and offering suggestions and advice.  Sometimes people listen.  Sometimes they don’t.

I have especially been advocating for BSA training programs.  For Priests, that the Venturing program is all about leadership training.  Other things in the Church’s programs, such as seminary, Duty to God, Come Follow Me curriculum, are wonderful resources for building faith, testimonies, and doctrinal knowledge in our young men.  Scouting and particularly Venturing, if fully used, provide the leadership training piece to the puzzle, in the Church and family tool-set for preparing young men for successful missions and exemplary priesthood manhood.  Here is a new vision statement: “Scouting is the leadership training arm of the Aaronic Priesthood.”

There are all sorts of opportunities for experiential learning of leadership skills for the young men in the scouting programs.  Additionally, Scouting has some excellent formal leadership instruction for the young men.  In Venturing, I am trying to promote the use of the Venturing Leadership Skills Course (VLSC) and Kodiak, plus an introduction to leadership for youth newly called or assigned to leader positions, the Crew Officer’s Briefing.  Our ward leaders are blissfully unaware of these excellent BSA resources.  These programs are significant in several ways.  First, they are designed with the learning styles of most adolescent males in mind.  Instruction is not academic in style, but typically begins with an activity that then allows leadership conclusions to be derived.  Second, these lessons are designed, once that the training has been initially received by a youth, to then be taught by that youth, so that learning of the lesson content is reinforced and the young man develops confidence and skill in teaching.

Regarding the VLSC and Kodiak, the Venturing program proposes that crews establish and calendar a cycle of Leadership Training programs for the young men, termed “The Nature of Leadership” featuring these two programs each presented yearly in the Crew.  The VLSC might be scheduled annually as a overnight retreat in mid- or late-winter, while the Kodiak course should be offered annually as a part of the summer superactivity.  For the initial year, the training would be conducted by adult Advisors and/or young men outside the crew who have been recipients of the training such as a stake VOA or another crew.  For ensuing years, trainers should be mostly members of the Crew/Quorum previously trained, with advisors assisting and facilitating as needed.

Several months ago, I reported on having trained young men of the VOA on the VLSC ("May 5 bullets"), and then their being the faculty to present this course to a number of other young men of our stake.

New temple film

Wendy and I did an endowment session at the Mt.Timpanogos temple today.  We were excited to experience the new endowment film for the first time.  It was moving to me and had lots of special new effects.  The wording of this ordinance is inspiring to me, whether in film or in person, as at Manti or Salt Lake temples, but I also found in addition that this production was inspiring in an added way.