"There is no change!"

It's always great when people show some initiative and try to make things better for themselves. Sometimes this is forced out of necessity, occasionally it's when someone has a brilliant idea that's just to good to pass up, but more times than not it's a proven idea that just different people take turns giving it a try. My wife loves to pull-over every time she see's some little kids selling something on the side of the road. Most of the time it's some sort of lemonade, but once in a blue moon it's something else like:  popsicles, cookies, rocks, and one time it was their artwork - these would have looked great on the fridge if you know the kid, we passed that one up.The other day there was a six year old that had set up a lemonade stand just around the corner from us, now just so you know the younger the entrepreneur the more likely I am at stopping. This little girl was great, not only did we know her but she had a big sign that she was waving and everything. As we pulled over Lori asked if I had any money? I didn't have any change but I knew I had a couple of dollar bills in my pocket. As I rolled down the window we told her we would like some lemonade. She came over to get the money I had stuck out the window and said did you want one glass or two. Boy this little girl was a salesman. It's then that I noticed that it cost .50 cents a glass. We told her one and she walked over to the table to get our drink. Now occasionally I'm a generous guy and leave a good tip, so I decided that this would be one of those times. As she brought us the drink back I told her to keep the change. "Oh I know, there is no change" she said. Unbeknown to me the decision had already been made, the question wasn't if I was going to get any change or not it was just weather I wanted one or two cups. Now if I was at a restaurant I would have paid three dollars for a lemonade, yes it would have been bigger and come with free refills and wouldn't have tasted like it was made by a six year-old, but that day I met the world's next great salesman - and the dollar was worth the laugh and smile my wife and I had on the way home.

Boat Races

Traditions are events or circumstances that are repeated over and over, was the first time a mistake or was it planned and just turned out in a way we wanted to duplicate such a wonderful event. If it wasn't wonderful, we wouldn't try to duplicate or do it again. Families, neighborhoods, friends, any group or individual has some type of traditions. We could talk of hundreds of examples over the years. There a couple of families that we have done things with for ever. Every year, usually in the later part of the summer, we meet for a picnic and and then the competition begins - boat races. Now these aren't your normal boats - even though style doesn't count it does make an impression. In reality which boat gets to the finish line first doesn't matter much at all, there isn't a prize, just temporary pride or boasting. There are a few people in the group that would say they usually finish first - the problem is there are more of those than is possible for the number of races that have taken place. What the boats are make out of is left completely up to the participants. Only a couple of times has someone thought another persons design was unfair, I'll get to that in a second. Doll parts, hollowed out fruit, make shift sails - you name it, it's probably been tried. The two most common materials used are glue and duck tape! Duck tape is the best, because if you use enough of it your boat is most likely waterproof. Everyone try's to get a little extra nudge or boost to start - but our location is a slow moving cannel that runs through a local park on it's way to water some families gardens. I'm not an engineer, or have been accused of inventing a design that will change nautical production forever. Honestly most of the boats are put together fifteen minutes before we're suppose to be at the park in the first place. During my frantic rush to produce a boat I came across my secret weapon. Another one of our families traditions is a 4th of July picnic and firework show. These same three families are involved, but we have a whole lot of other families that participate as well. Some times we have so many people and fireworks being lit that we don't use them all. That was the case the summer before this particular boat race, the left over firework was about eight inches long and a couple of inches wide - just right for the top of my vessel. With that spraying out the back my boat I would have to be propelled way out in front of the competition. At least that was the intent. I needed to be in the water so it could be lit just at the right moment. That all worked alright, for that matter it started to off OK as well, the problem started shortly after - I guess when the top of the boat is heavier than the bottom it corrects it's self. Who know that the firework would continue to go off for a while under water? It sure wasn't faster! Maybe putting an engine on the top of the boat would be a good idea if it was designed properly - in this case it made it slower. I didn't come in first - not even close, but it definitely gave everyone a good laugh. I think that next year there might be a bunch of new ideas as a new precedent has been set. I just need to think out the options at least an hour in advance.

Mario Kart

I don’t understand how some things work – cell phones, internet, face time, by the time I figure them out - chances are there are a bunch of new things that would work better. I needed to send a text to my brother-in-law to thank him for a favor he did for me, after about ten minutes I asked my son to do it for me. This worked much faster and the words were now spelled correctly. As a family we have most of the gadgets, I just don’t know how to use them. The other day my kids and some of their friends asked me to play Mario Kart with them. This is a Wii game that your character races around on different tracks in cars or motorcycles with tons of obstacles all over the place. Four people can play at once as the screen is divided into four different sections. I was confused which buttons to push and when to do it. When you get off the track you either fall into the black abyss or have to try to find your way back through the obstacles. After one such event I found my way back to the track – but I couldn’t figure out where I was. There was a little U on the screen that I had never seen before. I didn’t know what it meant, nor did I care, I needed to catch the leaders. I was taken off guard when the other cars almost hit me head on, then my son asked me why I was going the wrong way. I didn’t even know that was possible! I was already in last place and this sure didn’t help things out. To paraphrase a quote I once heard – “How fast your going makes little difference if you’re going in the wrong direction.” I’m sure this was a variation of the famous conversation Alice in Wonderland had with the Cheshire Cat. Alice said – “Would you tell me, please which way I ought to go from here?” The Cat answered “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” “I don’t much care” said Alice. The Cat’s answer is understandable - “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.” Now I believe there are very few people that really have no idea where they want to go. I would bet that most of us even have some sort of vision or goals that we want to achieve. Sometimes that goal or vision is different than those around us think that it should be, or it could even be something that isn’t in our best interest. Spiritually that end should be exaltation. Financially it should be to have what we need. We may even be on the right track or have the proper plan in place. That makes little difference if we don’t know how to use the proper buttons or follow the warnings or caution signs along the way. Another thing I didn’t understand while playing, that after all of the other racers have finished the race the time has expired and no matter where I am the game is over. Satan is a master of making us think that we are on the right track, the fact we aren’t progressing isn’t that important. He encourages us to leave the track to experiment and enjoy the journey along the way. When we listen to his prompting it doesn’t take long to realize that his joy is fleeting and hollow. We may even try to steer back and find in reality that we are going in the wrong direction or that the addictions or obstacles we have acquired are far harder to over come than we had ever imagined. He will try to make you think you have entered that black abyss - that it's hopeless and not worth the effort to come back. This, like the game, isn’t true or real. The Savior has provided the way for us to return to the right track, that little U was a warning sign trying to tell me to u-turn and go the other direction. These U’s are given to us thorough the scriptures, prophets, righteous church leaders and loving parents. They are placed before us as warnings and encouragements to try a little harder. If we ignore them, like I did, we will find ourselves not knowing where we are or how we got there. But unlike the game, the Savior through his atonement has provided the way the truth and the light to guide us back to the proper location.

Martha

I don't know much about Martha Champlin, I probably never will, at least not in this life. At this point it's unlikely anyone will ever know very much. She was four years old in 1870, at least according to the censes in southern Mississippi of that year. I've never found any other documentation that she ever existed. She was the oldest child of Zachary Taylor and Virginia White Champlin, who happens to be my great-grand parents. If I figured it out correctly that makes her my great-aunt. Normally to be a great aunt you would have to shower someone with a lot of love and treats, or be quit old, Martha didn't have the opportunity to do either one, not even my father knew she existed. In the 1880 censes, Zachary and Virginia were listed as the parents of four children - William, Margaret, Nellie and my grandfather Walter. Martha was no where to be found. She could have gone to live with relatives, but more likely she passed away. Being a Latter-day Saint the linking of my ancestors is a important responsibility, we believe that families can be together forever. The binding of the fathers to the children's and the children's to the fathers. This binding is possible by the power and authority of God through the priesthood. This power is what the Savior gave to Peter in Matthew chapter 16, - "whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." When my father joined the LDS church, one of the first things he did was make sure that the temple work was done for his extended family. Making sure that the saving ordinances of salvation were preformed for his forefathers. He had the access to the 1880 censes, the records of the life of this family, except Martha. For 75 years this family seemed complete. In August of 2011, I was in a training meeting with Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve. He encouraged us to find our ancestors and take them to the temple. I sat there knowing that I had never found someone to take to the temple. I had a strong impression I needed to change that. Not knowing how to do that didn't slow down my resolve. Under the heading of Zachary T Champlin I found the 1880 censes that was available to my father so many years before. There was the family we all knew and have known for decades, but no Martha. About a third a page below the link to the 1880 censes, was listed a 1870 censes with the heading Zach Champlin. Computers now can make the decision to find similar possibilities, a event not possible to my father so many years before. That link was indeed to my great grandparents small families' information, but the oldest child was Martha, someone none of us had heard of before. At first I thought there was a mistake - that was quickly replaced by excitement. She was the first of what has turned out to be hundreds of names that we have been able to find. When I called the temple to set up an appointment to do Martha's baptism - they asked how many names I had, I told them just one. I guess I could imagine they may have laughed, but they treated us like royalty as I took my twelve year old daughter to do the work. I envision for all of those years Martha was prayed and anticipating the time someone would find her name and help her to receive the ordinances of salvation. Allowing this family to be complete.

Sponge Bob?

Perhaps I could be mistaken for someone that is famous. Now if I am, it's not going to be someone that's super cool, I would be more in the category of Curly from the three stooges. Honestly It would be more likely my actions were mistaken for their behavior than my looks are to theirs. Let it be said, no one has ever mistakenly asked me for my autograph. The other day someone for the first time called me Sponge Paul - playing off the Sponge Bob fame. He's pretty immature so I was glad my actions weren't the same as his were. Working in the service industry I'm aware sometimes things go wrong. I was required to go to a conference for a couple of days. Most of these conferences are a waste of time. They usually have plenty of high calories, high carb treats - water, coffee or soda intended to help you stay awake. Occasionally they are awesome and really help your peace of mind and productivity. This was a two day conference so I needed to stay over night. I didn't get to chose the location or hotel, but normally it's in a nice facility. This happen to be in the Downtown Salt Lake City Marriott. It's really is a nice hotel - the beds were wonderful. Since all of the meetings are in the same location, I knew exactly how long I could stay in bed and still make it down stairs in time to make my required appearance. When I dragged myself out of bed, I went into the bathroom to start the grooming and hygiene process. I was a little surprised and disappointed when I found out that the shower wouldn't turn on. Really, the shower handle was broken and wouldn't turn on. I thought how I didn't have time to call and get someone to fix it - there probably isn't a empty room to close, then there's the fact that I'm standing nude in the bathroom. Now I've been camping a lot over the years and would have loved having hot water for a quality sponge bath, maybe in the Wind Rivers - but thats not my idea of excitement at a "luxury hotel." Out of necessity I made due and did the best I could. It still wasn't that pleasant, nor was the way I wanted to wake up. When I went down stairs I went to the service desk to take care of my bill and inform them of my discomfort. Now I had no expectation of possible results - everyone that travels knows that if your discontented at a Hampton Inn they guarantee that your stay is free - well in this case my stay was free anyway since my company was giving the conference in the first place. I was a bit disappointed that my morning torment wasn't as big of concern to the man at the desk as it was to me. There really wasn't that great of an apology rendered, but he did ask me if they could make it a little better by buying me a Starbucks coffee that was located just off the lobby of the hotel. Really, a Starbucks Coffee! First of all I don't drink coffee, second I'm at a convention at their hotel that has fifty gallons of it at the back of the room all day. I could have showered with that earlier in the day. Now I wasn't excepting anything, I just wanted them to know that there was a problem - and hoped that they would be a little more concerned about my feelings or discomfort. Many years ago my wife and I had a problem that was even worse at a Ritz Carlton resort in Naples Florida. Through work I had won a trip to Florida, and this resort. This was the greatest thing ever. There were meetings and a lot of events and parties planned for both my wife and I. We had brought with us our new baby that was to young to leave at home. Upon arriving at the resort we found out that there were no more rooms available - like many locations they had over booked for the evening. To make things right they put us up in a different hotel a mile down the road and had told us if we needed to come to the Ritz they would send us a car. They told us we didn't need to pay for the room - well they didn't understand I wasn't paying the bill in the first place. Not only was it a dive compared to the Ritz - but I also had spent the past year qualifying for this experience. My wife couldn't just go back and forth with a new baby, she needed a private location to feed the child. To say it mildly, we weren't happy. The next morning we found out that our sponsors weren't to happy either. The hotel made the arrangements necessary to move us back to the resort. It was a wonderful experience. The Ritz was so concerned about our happiness that later we received a letter from the management of the Ritz inviting us back to their resort at a different time. The most amazing part of their invitation was that they would not only pay for our stay but our airfare as well. Hopefully I don't have to be taking a sponge bath again anytime soon, but things occasionally go wrong - but when they do it's so important that they are taken care of in a quality friendly manner. The gentleman at the Marriott just made me mad.