Beets and beds, or, the reason I'm so gosh darn happy

I was invited to participate in a religion conference last week and, of course, I jumped at the chance to tell people about our way of thinking and how fun it is to go boating on Saturday instead of Sunday. You know, people think of the commandments in two ways. Either they think of them as a restriction to their lifestyle, or they think of them as a restriction that will ultimately lead to happiness. And I'm in that group.

The commandments lead to happiness. There's no denying that. Helping, giving, taking your old bed to the Deseret Industries so that someone else can enjoy what you now hate, is really the way to peaceful living.

My mother in Texas lives right next door to the most unhappy man I've ever met. Last time I was visiting my mother I took this fellow some beets from my mother's garden and I asked him if he has ever donated an old bed to a second hand store. He said no. I told him that's probably why he was so unhappy and I gave him the beets. Now I don't know if I made a difference in his life. But that's not the point. The point is, I am so much happier than him. And I'm not better than him. That's not the point, either. But I am better at being happy. And I am better at giving away beets. And beds.

It's like my mother always says. It's better to beet a man, than to beat a man.

General Conference re-cap, or, ask the Sunbeams

Ask the Sunbeams 

Question: What was your favorite part of conference?
Hannah Givens: I can touch my eyeball!

Question: What did President Monson talk about?
Emmy Thompson: Guess what. Did you know chickens can't fart?

Question: Did you hear anyone talk about ways to be more like Jesus?
Adam Westing: This one time, I heard my mom and dad argue about how come my dad always came home late and how come he got off work at 6 but didn't come home until 8 sometimes and another time they weren't arguing at all but their door was locked and they kept telling me to leave them alone.

I'm a giver. I love to give.

So many times in our lives, we're asked at parties and on surveys, what are those things in which we excel. What are we good at. And we always put down down things like water-skiing, playing the organ, getting pencils really sharp without breaking the lead, and the like. Those things we always put down without fail. Acquired skills.

But here's something I'm good at, naturally. I'm a giver. I love to give. I'm so much like Jesus in that way that sometimes it makes me laugh. Just the other day I was riding in the car with my family (we were going to Trafalga Fun Center) and I just started laughing. To them I started laughing for no reason at all. In fact, to my wife, I was being insensitive, because apparently she was trying to tell all of us about some person she knows that has cancer or asthma or something. So I started laughing out loud, but it was only because I was realizing how much I am like Jesus, on account of how much I love to give.

What about you. At which skills do you excel?