Engineering 101

     When I grow up want to go into Engineering… or some thing where I can build things and see something great be built. I just love seeing anything I have created be built. I can remember building fort after fort down by the creek next to my house. One of the forts was like the Floating Gardens of Babylon. It had three different levels. We would have gone on to a fourth level but school came along and no one got to it. I still wonder how we got some of those strands of bailing twine to hold the weight but it was awesome. I like seeing stuff be built whether it is my idea or someone else’s idea.

     During my childhood, as I look back, I see two key events that help expanded my knowledge of engineering. One event was while I played with Legos. Just like if you play chess your IQ goes up. The more you play with legos, the more your desire to build marvelous contraptions grows.

     The second event happened while I was at church it while I was in Primary. In Primary there is a song called, "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" The song basically goes like this:

-Scenario 1-

The wise man built his house upon the rock, and the rains came tumbling down. The rains came down, and the floods came up, and the house on the rock stood still.

-Scenario 2-

The foolish man built his house upon the sand, and the rains came tumbling down. The rains came down, and the floods came up, and the house on the sand washed away.

     Back then I only heard about how how I should build on sand. It wasn't until years later I actually learned what my teachers actually wanted me to learn. They actually wanted me to learn something about faith. This song basically was just telling me simply to "remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." Helaman 5:12 "And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock. But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall, and the gates of hell are ready open to receive them." 3 Nephi 18:12 The goal of that song was to remind me that the only sure foundation that can be built on is the foundation of Jesus Christ because when all else fails Jesus Christ won’t. Then once you have sure foundation on Christ you can build up from there.

     For me, faith is one of the hardest qualities to have or grow. Sometimes the person I'm talking to is excessively muscular and he makes a semi-truck look like child’s play toy. He may be all those qualities and more but as I remember to exercise faith in Christ and realize that the message of the Restoration is bigger than him. The person starts to shrink back a regular size and is not so big. This work is amazing and I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm grateful that I am able to add something into people’s lives that can help them return to their Father in Heaven.