Best on the planet

June 21, 2013

Good food, good friends, great family; who could ever ask for more. I observed yesterday as friends and family met as a bon voyage party for Skyler Jacobs, soon to depart on a mission to Calgary, Alberta, Canada on a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mission calls come through our LDS prophet (at this time, Thomas B. Monson) and are proffered to young men and women who are worthy to share the Gospel with honest and honorable people around the world. I look back fifty some years and compare my maturity, spiritual strength, and testimony with today’s youth. These young people are sincerely desirous of serving God. They love their families, their friends, and our Savior and are willing to forego the opportunities for education, recreation, and financial rewards to make all this happen.

Everyone at the bon voyage party for Skyler was not a member of the Church. Some were not believers in God, but they all had one thing in common. They love this young man because of the opportunities they have had to see him grow and learn and ready himself for life. The conversations around the room were widely divergent. Young ladies eyed Skyler as a “hot” prospect for romance when he returns. Older people, like me, pondered and discussed our lives and the things we have done. We also discussed the things we have never had the nerve to do. We discussed “bucket lists”. The day before we went to a frozen custard stand in old Las Vegas and had what I would call a soft ice cream Sunday. Not because we needed it, or even particularly wanted it; but because that was on Skyler’s “bucket list” and we were just knocking things off the list.

Years ago, we went to a fellow’s house in La Cresenta, California. I’ll think of his name in a minute. He was quite famous and had pursued many venturesome activities in his lifetime. He had mementoes of his exploration all over his house and had completed virtually everything on list. I was impressed and began laying out some of the things I wanted to accomplish. I never actually wrote those challenges on a list; rather, I posted them mentally, so I probably lost some in the processes of the mind.  I wanted to:

1.       Serve in the US Navy. I had done that, serving four years as a Machinist, AC&R specialist on the USS Hornet CVS 12 from 1961 – 1965.

2.       Build a personal testimony of God the Father, of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost.

3.       Understand God’s eternal plan for us with sufficient clarity as to be able to successfully navigate life’s myriad trails and trials.

4.       Hold stead fast to the Iron rod (the word of God)

5.       Get myself to a position where I no longer had a desire to do evil and follow Satan’s insidious paths (Moroni 10-32)

6.       Marry in the LDS Temple which I did with my sweetheart May 1, 1965

7.       Have children. I knew that I would have two and we were blessed with six.

8.       Go to college and become a real estate tycoon. I did go to college in Marketing and Real estate, but the tycoon part somehow passed me by.

9.       Serve as a teacher and professor for forty years. NOT!!! That never entered my mind. My father taught me very clearly; “if you can’t, then teach; if you can’t teach, then teach teachers.” Probably just rebellion pop. Sorry about that.

10.   Help other people. Hopefully, we have been helpful to some as we have move through our years on this rock.

11.   Endure to the end. Maybe more. I wanted and still want to listen and watch for signals from the Holy Ghost and ministering angels leading me to serve in ways which I couldn’t think of as a mere mortal; then act on those promptings.

For 48 years Mom and I have been one. We have not always been perfect. Far from it, we have had more discussions (code for fights) than most heavy weight title holders and I have hurt mom’s feelings way more times than I care to count or remember. What I do want to remember is that we always make up and promise to continue on the path we started so many years ago.

What’s in the future for us? Hopefully more of the same! You see, we have grown in wisdom and knowledge over the years. We have learned to be understanding and patient. We have learned to honor the other’s feelings and ideas. Will we have more discussions in the future? Absolutely! We will continue to be two people trying to be as one, as long as money is involved in our daily events. Will we continue to beg forgiveness and promise to do better? Absolutely!

Thanks mom. You are the very best and I love you eternally.

God bless each of you as you struggle with mortality and strive to live each day a little better than the last.

Duane Jacobs, Grandfather, father, brother, uncle, cousin, and fond friend