More on Money

I recently wrote a blog entitled of time and money. 

We have found that living in this world there are always forces to try and pull us away from the usual necessary and fundamental basics of living.
Money plays an important role in the lives of so many people, but we have found that the times in our life that we were happiest and remember the most were the times when we were not well healed but when we were struggling.

In the main, affluence is the enemy of spirituality. Not that it needs to be, but because people don't keep the basic principles of the Gospel in perspective. Money seems to cloud our perspective and become an object instead of a means.  

I suppose that The Lord wants us to use the wealth for the up building of the kingdom of God. 

The Germans have a saying , das Sterbehemd hat keine Taschen. This means that the burial shroud does not have any pockets. We need to be aware that money is only part of this mortal existence. The true Saint is or should be more interested in the life after this one than the transitory things of this life. It is Satan's desire that we focus our attention on the goods of this world and tries to obliterate our celestial view. His "golden" question is,” Have you any money?" 

Each of you have more in the way of worldly goods and affluence than your great grandparents ever dreamed of, but because you have never known anything different you cannot appreciate what their circumstances were and not realize that your supposed poverty is in reality their affluence.

I read recently a statement by Brigham Young where he documented eating thistle because it was plentiful and he considered it filling. We would not even think of doing that now. The closest thing that we eat is a member of the thistle family called the artichoke. At one dollar a piece most people would think that was out of their price range. 

There is a statement by Christ that we should keep in mind when addressing this issue, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all things shall be added unto."
If we keep in mind the real reason we are here on this earth, we will be able to keep things into perspective and not let money or the pursuit of wealth cloud our vision and distract us from the really important things in life.  We need to focus on family, others and making sure we do not do anything to cause hurt to ourselves or others.

Focus on what is really important. 

Love,
Grandpa 

You write your own recommendation

I screen many missionary applications and accompanying each application is in an evaluation by the bishop and the stake president.
When I was stake president I wrote these same recommendations for missionaries from our stake.
Sometimes the bishop with the stake president does not know the applicant very well.  Thus the recommendation is not necessarily reflective of that individual and his performance.
When the priesthood officer does know the applicants well they usually write a glowing recommendation.
This got me to thinking that the actions and accomplishments of our life become our resume. Each day and every week of our life we are writing a resume, which we will present to the Lord on what is called the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
I heard explained this way, it will be a great day for some people and a dreadful day for others depending on what is written in the book of life. As I have written and one of my previous blogs, the scoreboard that we keep for the Lord is what we do here in this life.
My dear grandchildren make your resume a glowing report.
Love grandpa

Let your head save your heels.

This was a saying that my parents used to tell us quite often.
Last night I was taking out the garbage. It was the night to take out both types of garbage. We have two garbage cans. The one for recyclables and the other for just trash. The trash in our house comes in four different sites. We have kitchen garbage, two bathroom receptacles and one in the laundry.
Last night I took the kitchen garbage and placed it in the black bin and the wheeled the bins to the curb. After I came back to the house I remembered the bathrooms. I then had to go back out to the curb. Then I had to take the laundry trash to the curb.
Thus I let distraction rule. I did not let my head save my heels. This is a homely illustration. If you let distractions keep you from thinking and organizing your actions, you will find you are spending time doing things that will be time wasting at the least.
Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.
This life is the time to learn eternal principles. We will eventually have to learn them and we are instructed that whatever principle we learn in this life will rise with us into the next. Therefore if we learn to be efficient now we will not have to spend time learning it later and we will have an advantage in this life as well.
Love
Grandpa

The great and spacious building and me

When one gets to my age you often reflect on the past. Probably because there is more time in the past than there is in the mortal future.

I often think, what could I have done differently? Because of the veil of forgetfulness, which is drawn, we do not know things or see things as they really are. We are here to learn by our experience.

The great and spacious building represents the pride of the world. Babylon is also a representation of worldliness and we are urged to separate ourselves from it.

When I was growing up I was always active in the church. I did not voluntarily read the scriptures like many young people do today. It was not stressed. We did hold family night, but not like it is outlined today. We knelt in family prayer in a circle. We went to church. We occasionally had gospel-centered discussions, usually when the missionaries came to eat dinner. We read the Book of Mormon sitting around the dinner table.

We lived in the world and did not realize how much of an impact it had on the lives of the people around us. The distinction between evil and good was not as crass as it is now. Thus many of the things were considered acceptable, which in retrospect, were things which I would not accept today.
 
Living in Lander where the church was not established allowed me to attain a spiritual growth that was best for me. Yet the great and spacious building and its influences were there. What I was missing was the iron rod. I now realize more than ever before how much spiritual strength and insight one can gain from consistent scripture study.

I went away to college and even though there were many members of the church around me and I was still active in the church, there was more of the influence of the world, which went unrecognized.
It was not until I went to Germany on my mission that I made an effort to grasp the iron rod. It seemed as though I wanted to know every thing about the church and the gospel. I read the scriptures with my companions. I read by myself. They call that personal gospel study now.

This did not suddenly get me along the straight and narrow path, but it kept me out of the river of filthy water.

Still there were the temptations, which are part of our mortal existence. That is why we are here.
The mocking of other people of my beliefs started on my mission. We went to a Lutheran bible study class to explain our beliefs. We read the articles of faith to them and the person who represented the other faith mocked the wording of third article of faith. The great and spacious building was alive and well in Hildesheim, but I heeded not.

There was a plethora of anti-Mormon literature in the German language. One of the books was "Mysten, Maurer, und Mormonen". Translated into English the title is Mystics, Masons, and Mormons. Then there was an article in a national magazine called "Westwart zogen die Mormonen". This article caused at least one of the members that I knew to seriously doubt the truthfulness of the church and the restored gospel. I read these attacks against the church. I wanted to be prepared to defend the church and the restored gospel of Christ. There were other books” Seher Grübler und Enthusiasten” and “Was Galuben Die Andern” that put the church in a bad light.

In Flensburg I read "The teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith" in German. It was a book that I didn't know about previously. I have since read it in English.

While I was in Goslar I found a stash of old Improvement Eras and discovered a series of articles by Hugh Nibley. They outlined the apostasy from the true church of Christ. I could not get enough. I decided that I would take a class from Nibley when I got home from my mission.

I had previously read the “Great Apostasy” by James Barker when I was a junior and senior in high school. Since there were not many priesthood bearers in Lander all the priesthood bearers met together and brother Farthing taught the lessons.
 
Although these readings helped me to gain a better understanding of the great and spacious building, it was reading the scriptures that kept me from being led off the straight and narrow track.

I have since read many articles and books by those opposed to the church and its teachings. If I had questions, I would go to the revealed word in the scriptures to find my answers.  I had been given an extra measure of the spirit of discernment.  I could tell if something was false without knowing why. 

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden they partook of the fruit of a tree, which gave them the opportunity to know good from evil.  They never were beguiled again and so we as their descendants are given that gift, if we choose to inquire of the Lord.

Now, my beloved grandchildren, you will probably come up against the teachings of Babylon and the influence of the great a spacious building in your life.  I have written these letters to you to help you know that the church and its teachings are true.  Pay no heed to the philosophies of men and the detractors and those who mock from the great and spacious building.  Build your testimony on the Iron Rod of the word of God and you will never be lead astray.

Use the gift of discernment.  It is your right to cultivate it.

Love,

Grandpa

A family mission statement

Last month I attended Roots Tech conference. One of the speakers there talked about the fact that each large corporation or business had a mission statement. This gives direction to the company and a guide to where decisions will lead.
Each of us should have received an individual mission statement. We call it a patriarchal blessing. This is not like going to a fortuneteller. It is a declaration of possibilities and occasionally a warning of things that may cause problems in our lives.
For my eightieth birthday my children put together a book, which probably defines our family mission statement as well as anything, I could have put together. I am sorry that we did not do this earlier in our family life, but I think we gave each of our children the impression of what we expected of them.
We had a number of family rules. Two or three times a year we would hold a family home evening and rehearse the rules. Every one knew what was expected of them.
The Lord has a mission statement for us as outlined in the scriptures. “ And we will prove them I think it is better for each of us to fashion our family mission statement that is congruent with the gospel.
Here are the things that are in our family mission statement. These are listed not necessarily in order of importance except the first.

Faith in God and in his son Jesus Christ
Being married in the temple, then always have a current temple recommend.
Serving a mission
Learning a foreign language
Having a college education
Having family home evening
Reenacting the nativity at Christmas
An extra ordinary interest in food

There are other things that could be added to the Gee Family Mission Statement.

What is your personal mission statement?  What will you have for your family mission statement?

Think about it!

Love Grandpa

What it means to be a Gee

I was asked to write this in 2014 when I turned eighty and it was included in the book prepared by my children entitled " What it Means to be a Gee". 

Future generations will not have access to the book.  This may be then made available to my future descendants who will not have this little essay. These are not necessarily ranked in order of importance.  I could probably add to this, but this will suffice.

Recently they ran a series of articles in the Deseret News on the Ten Commandments. In one article on the ninth commandment written by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach he said, "A man or a woman can be stripped of every possession save one: their good name, their most prized possession of all."

Brigham Young in speaking about being a good father said,” Take this course and you will secure to yourselves an honorable name on earth among the good and the pure; you will maintain your integrity before heaven, and prove yourselves worthy of a high state of glory when you get through with this world.” 14:200.

It is difficult to discuss this without giving some examples from the lives of my predecessors. It means that I have descended from a long line of noble ancestors. Because they paved the way, I am indebted to them and the example they set.

It means I believe in God the Eternal Father. 

Solomon Gee our first American ancestor believed in a God and wrote a poem so stating. As far as I can determine his Gee line for nine generations have had that belief. It means I believe in God

It means I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and as such I should try to emulate His example.

It means I am not perfect, but I am striving to keep the commandments so that I can be perfected in Christ.

It means I can be trusted.

It means I am honest in what I say and in my dealings with my fellow men. My grandfather Gee was a trusted public servant. He ran for public office after he was eighty years of age.

It means I will follow the prophet. When Salmon Gee was dying he admonished his children to follow the church wherever it went.

It means I support the general and local authorities of the church. Lysander Gee risked being caught by the mob around Liberty jail to deliver a message from the prophet Joseph Smith to the leaders in Far West.

It means that I will serve where I am called and do what I can to build up the kingdom of God. Salmon Gee was a general authority in the early days of the church. He was released from that position to serve elsewhere.

It means that I have no favorites among my children or grandchildren or their children.

It means that I try to be refined in my language and behavior, because I have a Heavenly Father who is refined.

It means that I enjoy good music. My parents and grandparents enjoyed listening to good classical music including opera and had recordings of this music when they could afford it. My parents supported community concerts in Lander to bring in talented artists to the city. I helped to bring in the Utah symphony orchestra to play in Lander. All my Gee uncles had good voices and sang.

It means that I love my wife with all my heart.

It means that I am interested in seeing those of my posterity and my family obtain an education commensurate with their desire. My grandparents were educated for their time and saw all their sons graduate from college. Three of the five had advanced degrees. My brothers both had doctorate degrees.

It means that I will never stop learning new things. My father learned to turn spindles on a lathe to create a railing for the house in Paris when he was in his later years.

It means that I am not afraid of physical labor. I will give a days work for a days pay. All of my ancestors worked doing physical labor most of their life. My father had a garden until he moved to Bountiful. Lysander was a plasterer and did construction work until he became an attorney and labored as well.

It means I am true to the principles of liberty and to the constitution of the United States. Solomon Gee served in the French and Indian war. William Gee was in the revolutionary war. Lysander was a justice of the peace. I served in the navy.

It means that I enjoy well-prepared food and enjoy eating it.

It means that I enjoy art and have some paintings and other art in my home to appreciate.

It means that I oppose tyranny. Solomon Gee jumped ship and came to the United States because the captain if the ship that he was on whipped his men.

It means that I am trusting but not gullible.

It means that that I am self reliant with the Lord's help and do not ask people to do what I can do for myself.

It means that I will try to be compassionate to those around me.

It means that the service that I render will never be convenient. It means that the fasting in behalf of others and myself will never be convenient.

It means that I will strengthen those around me and lift them to a higher plane.

It means I have been given a good name.