The Luck of the Irish

Have you ever heard that saying, "When it rains, it pours?" Well, its absolutely true. For the most part, that is. I mean, it may not 'pour' but it is usually a fairly good drizzle. If you're thinking actual rain and you live in Utah, well, then its not true at all. Sprinkles are all we see, with pours only lasting a minute or two. But if you're thinking of more intangible things, you'll know what I'm talking about. For instance, I had quite a few Delta SkyMiles saved up from all of the flying I did in South Africa. Eirene very studiously searched, figured, and planned out how we could use them before they expire along with our Economic Stimulus money to take a little trip to New York before our baby boy comes. She ingeniously figured and planned such that our entire trip with food, airfare, some spending money, and even a Broadway matinee of the Lion King for just over $300. Quite impressive, eh? Anyhow, not a full day after she had purchased tickets, some unexpected expenses popped up. A couple parts for the car to make it pass inspection, a few more things needed to get the motorcycle up and running to save on gas. These things all seemed to purposefully wait to show themselves until right after we had committed to spending money on our trip. Not exactly pouring rain, but definitely enough of a drizzle to make you question your decision to leave the jacket at home. My mom always said that we have Irish blood in us. Since I know nothing of our geneology, I just attributed my Irish blood to the amount of Lucky Charms I ate. Either way, if Irish luck is good luck, then Henderson's aren't blessed with it. Experiences like this have made me come to the conclusion that for us, money problems are like the UTA 831 bus that I ride to campus. I'll wait for hours and not see a single one, then four show up all at once as I'm walking away from the bus stop. The good news is, we are fine. We are still going to New York, and we're going to enjoy it! If the car parts happen to add up more quickly than expected, that's why we save.

Ben

My Predjudice

This morning in between church meetings, I sat in the foyer of our chapel jotting some thoughts in my journal as a conversation between members of the other ward began around me. A Hispanic woman was asking a young man about his service as a National Guardsman in Iraq. An older lady soon joined in by telling about a program she'd seen on television that showed an airplane that was hit by primitive arrows flying over remote parts of Africa. She was astounded that there were still "uncivilized" people living in the world and expressed her opinion that we Americans must have surely been obedient in the pre-existence to receive such blessings here on earth. While I know Bruce R. McConkie may have construed a similar opinion as doctrine, I have personally gained testimony to the contrary. Hearing this conversation further ingrained into me an even deeper desire to serve our country through diplomacy throughout the world. I feel that while gaining increased understanding and appreciation for others, my family will be able to also help friends and family here at home overcome prejudices and misconceptions. Many of these misconceptions seem to be formed when people attribute a doctrinal status to statements of opinion by general authorities in personal writings. Hopefully we can all be willing to give a bit more weight to conference and church publications than we do to books written on the side.