Hello Again! And, Finding the Pearl of Great Price

From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth,
From the laziness that is content with half-truth,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
O God of truth, deliver us.
_____

Let that poem be a motto for a new season.

Hello again. It's been years. Almost four years. I gave up writing in this blog to serve in the Peru Piura Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I left on October 5, 2011 and returned on October 9, 2013. Two full years and a lifetime of experiences. And now, nearly another two full years have passed since returning and I cannot imagine attempting to write all that has happened.

The short of it is that I got married and sealed to my sweetheart, Sannah, in the newly built Kansas City Temple, I learned what the heck Spotify, Pinterest, and Instagram were, in addition to any other new developments that entered the public consciousness while I was "disconnected," I went back to finish my undergrad degree in Art from Utah State University, moved back to central Missouri again to start our lives, got jobs in Kansas City and moved out here, first living with my brother and his wife before getting our own place and establishing ourselves on the Kansas side of the city. So yeah, a lot has happened.

I was twenty-one years old when I wrote my last post. I am now twenty-five. I gained insight and experience in many things, and became more aware of my ignorance in others, but all-in-all I consider myself immensely blessed. The mission was and forever will be one of the great experiences of my life. I have lived miracles and felt myself become an instrument in the hands of God, and have learned the workings of the Spirit and the importance of service over talk. That lesson--service over talk--is probably why it has not been a priority for me to return to writing my thoughts here. I guess I was proud of what I had shared and thought I would leave it at that.

But Truth is important. It must be sought after, and cherished above all else when discovered, like the pearl of great price:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it (Matt. 13:45-46).

I have found my pearl of great price, and feel as always a desire to share it with anyone who will listen. I believe it is more needed than ever, because without a doubt, the world is more troubled now then when I left four years ago, and there are those who seek to divide, destroy, control, and corrupt. Good is evil, and evil is good for much of the public and even for our law.

And yet, on the other hand, there continue to be those who desire to find their pearl of great price. So, for that reason, I would like to continue to update this blog when possible, or if I have a thought on something.

In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there is an infinite well of understanding and truth, and my hope is to allow others to find the joy that I have found in it. I don't hope to shove it down your throat, or force you to see things the way I do, but I do only hope that you will, as the name of the blog suggests, consider this...


Thanks for reading, and, until next time, good night from Kansas City!


above: Dominco Fetti's The Pearl of Great Price, at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.