I recently prepared a talk on the subject “Charity” and wanted to share my sudden fixation on how there is no clear definition on what “charity” is. My post I’m sure will not add to the clarity but I feel compelled to share my thoughts anyways (isn’t that what blogs are for?).
If you ask what “charity” is I find that there are a lot of vague answers that are given with good intentions yet have little clarity . . .
- Charity never faileth (RS motto) –
- Charity is the pure love of Christ –
- Charity is serving others –
- Charity is what we give to others –
Seems like there are a lot of glittering generalities but what definition may be there seems vague and abstract.
In 1 Corinthians Chap 13:1-3, 13 it speaks of how you can have some truly amazing spiritual gifts but without charity it will “profit me nothing”. In Moroni 10:20-21 it speaks of faith, hope, and charity and without charity you can’t be saved. Seems charity is pretty important and so we ought to know what it is. So when in doubt go look up the word in the Bible Dictionary and get the definition right?
BIBLE DICTIONARY: CHARITY - The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds or benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive.
Ok that’s clear right? So charity is not alms, deeds or benevolence. Wait, the story Christ gave on the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-36); that was a “deed” wasn’t it. The widow’s mite – wasn’t that an “alm”. Mother Teresa provided benevolence to all the poor in India. Aren’t these exampls of charity? These have been my definitions of charity so the bible dictionary's definition seemed to undo the little understanding I had of charity.
As I prepared more I came across a great quote that reminded me of another way to define a word; provide the opposite definition. President Uchtdorf, in his talk the “The Infinite Power of Hope,” (Liahona, Nov 2008, 21–24) said “Why then is there despair? The scriptures say that there must be “an opposition in all things.” So it is with faith, hope, and charity. Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen lead us into temptation, which can cause us to forfeit choice and precious blessings.”
Even armed with vague answers of what charity is the opposite of, vague definitions of what charity is, the importance of having charity, and knowing what charity is not; I still don’t feel like I have an idea of what charity is, let alone how to get it and grow it. So last night as I went for a walk I brought a notepad and I mulled in my mind what charity is. I’m not going to share my brain storm session since brain storming isn’t supposed to be a critical activity; but I will share some of the items I began to formulate.
The words often mentioned with charity are faith and hope. The first principles of the gospel are faith, repentance, baptism, confirmation. As we gain faith and hope we repent and then we can follow Christ’s example of baptism. Once the baptismal covenant is made we are able to renew that covenant weekly with the sacrament. In Sacrament meeting we are invited to analyze our lives and determine to improve upon our weaknesses before we renew our covenant – this is repentance. Admittedly some repentance must involve priesthood authority; regardless when we are preparing to partake of the Sacrament we should be looking for ways to grow and improve line upon line. As we determine to do better in the new week we are prepared to renew our covenant by partaking of the Sacrament.
Elder Oaks has said that “A testimony is something that we know and feel; conversion is something we do and become”. As we proceed to have faith and hope we become determined to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as we hope for the Atonement to satisfy justice on our behalf and allows us to mercifully return to live with our Heavenly Father. This is the faith and hope that leads to repentance and baptismal covenants. Once we are converted and are constantly renewing the baptismal covenant it only makes sense that we’d have our testimony increase – yeah but then what? Does conversion as Elder Oaks stated just happen? In 2 Nephi 28:30 it says: “For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.”
It sounds like it is still a choice we have to make. So if we continue to “receiveth” so that we can be given more then it seems we will grow and our conversion can be seen by what we do. While our conversion isn’t defined by what we do, it is showing what we are trying “to do and become”. Obviously, the other choice is to say “We have enough” and lose even what we have . . . this isn’t on the path to obtaining charity though so I’ll ignore this point.
So, back to charity; is our conversion an indicator of our charity? Is charity and indicator of our conversion? In Luke 10:27 it covers the two laws: “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” So, as we work week by week, renewing our covenant and growing line upon line, as we study the life of the Saviour and follow the precepts that he taught we will grow in our love not only for God, but also for our fellowman. As this love goes from just being a feeling (see definition of Testimony by Elder Oaks) and we begin acting upon it then we will becoming what God wants us to be (see definition of Conversion by Elder Oaks).
This “becoming” will stir in us more faith, more hope, and a stronger testimony. This stirring will elevate our levels of faith and hope as we begin to share it with others. We do this by sharing the gospel and treating others with the same love and appreciation we have gained from our faith. President Uchtdorf states this best in his talk “The Infinite Power of Hope,” Liahona, Nov 2008, 21–24
Faith, hope, and charity complement each other, and as one increases, the others grow as well. Hope comes of faith, for without faith, there is no hope. In like manner faith comes of hope, for faith is “the substance of things hoped for.”
Hope is critical to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith. When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without expectation of reward. The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity.
The things we hope for lead us to faith, while the things we hope in lead us to charity. The three qualities—faith, hope, and charity—working together, grounded on the truth and light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, lead us to abound in good works”
It seems that charity is conversion to the teachings of Jesus Christ. He taught us because he loves us. He gave us an example by living his life on Earth because he loves us. Could this be the definition of charity? I'm still not convinced I have a good way to define charity. If you have read this far and have some thoughts I’d love to hear them.
I ended my talk with this challenge: Determine if we are learning charity line upon line – Recognize the doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen in our lives and when you partake of the sacrament every week, determine to improve yourself and to increase your faith, hope, and charity and you are promised from the Lord: “for unto him that receiveth I will give more”.
Andrew “what is charity” Brown
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Rock Sugar Band - spreading the word
I'm an 80's music fan. In fact one of my favorite gifts (actually it was given to my wife in a Christmas gift exchange) was cd's full of 80's music. I have recently heard a couple of songs that I just thought were mashups of a couple of cover songs and then I heard the radio DJ mentioning the band and gave some background on them.
So who are they? They are the Rock Sugar Band and they have a fun site http://rocksugarband.com/home.aspx where they have a humorous back story.
Why do I like them? Cause they take songs like Madonna’s "Like a Prayer" and mix it with AC/DC's "Shook me all night long" and create a song called "Shook me like a prayer". In fact here is a list of their songs:
DON’T STOP THE SANDMAN
WE WILL KICKSTART YOUR RHAPSODY
CRAZY GIRL
VOICES IN THE JUNGLE
HERE COMES THE FOOL YOU WANTED
SHOOK ME LIKE A PRAYER
STRAIGHT TO ROCK CITY
PRAYIN’ FOR A SWEET WEEKEND
HEAVEN AND HEAVEN
BREAKIN’ THE LOVE
I LOVE SUGAR ON ME
ROUND AND SEPARATED
DREAMING OF A WHOLE LOTTA BREAKFAST
They have clips of them and a video of "Don't Stop the Sandman" on the site. I have purchase my CD already (can only buy it on the website). Check them out if you enjoy 80's music and can appreciate the 80's ballads sung to hard rock music.
Check out their site when you have some time to burn, you'll be amused and entertained.
So who are they? They are the Rock Sugar Band and they have a fun site http://rocksugarband.com/home.aspx where they have a humorous back story.
Why do I like them? Cause they take songs like Madonna’s "Like a Prayer" and mix it with AC/DC's "Shook me all night long" and create a song called "Shook me like a prayer". In fact here is a list of their songs:
DON’T STOP THE SANDMAN
WE WILL KICKSTART YOUR RHAPSODY
CRAZY GIRL
VOICES IN THE JUNGLE
HERE COMES THE FOOL YOU WANTED
SHOOK ME LIKE A PRAYER
STRAIGHT TO ROCK CITY
PRAYIN’ FOR A SWEET WEEKEND
HEAVEN AND HEAVEN
BREAKIN’ THE LOVE
I LOVE SUGAR ON ME
ROUND AND SEPARATED
DREAMING OF A WHOLE LOTTA BREAKFAST
They have clips of them and a video of "Don't Stop the Sandman" on the site. I have purchase my CD already (can only buy it on the website). Check them out if you enjoy 80's music and can appreciate the 80's ballads sung to hard rock music.
Check out their site when you have some time to burn, you'll be amused and entertained.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Light . . . To See or To Clearly Know Where to Go?
“That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day” (D&C 50:23–24).
I heard a talk a couple of weeks ago specifically on the Light of Christ. As the talk was given and the figurative Light of Christ was explained, I latched onto a concept that I really liked. Light is what helps us to see where we need to go. The Light of Christ also helps us to see where we need to go. The Light of Christ helps us to know of the things that we must do to have happiness and to know how to make the choices that will most benefit our lives.
As I reflected on this I wondered if the Light of Christ could somehow illuminate our path even better than the light from our Sun. This made me remember the details that my aunt Rachel shared with me . . .
Rachel and her 12 year old daughter were hiking up Pine Mountain, a beautiful mountain range with a variety of trees and foliage. As you reach the final summit there is an amazing panoramic view that shows off most of Central Arizona. My aunt had hiked in the early winter and had made her plans around her husbands Boy Scout outing so she could make the travel with him and then she continued on with her daughter to the trailhead.
My Aunt reached the top and was coming back down when it started snowing. The trail covered with snow skewed their vision. Even with plenty of light out, the way to go was no longer clear. She back tracked over a few places; as she continued to re-evaluate her choices she soon was out of day light and the temperature was dropping. With no emergency kit and no daylight, her path was no longer clear and her return that day looked questionable. Realizing her predicament, she and her daughter prayed to know how to return to the trailhead. Still with much difficulty but with guidance of the spirit they made it to the trail head. They later learned the route they took was the most direct route possible. There she found her husband and authorities preparing to do a search for them.
Many times in our life we feel we are surrounded by light that seems to make our paths clear, yet a simple blanket of snow is all it takes to set us askew. If we don’t rely upon the Light of Christ then we can be lost in pure daylight. Many of our struggles don’t exist in only the physical realm. The Light of Christ teaches us to have goals, to have standards, to constantly improve and to recognize our errors and improve upon them. We have those who are called to provide direction to us in case our vision is momentarily too impaired to see this spiritual light clearly.
I’m grateful for all light in my life. I know we are here on this Earth to be happy and following God’s law is the key to having long term happiness. I am blessed as I follow these laws and spiritual light is given to me as I hike along my spiritual path in life. I know that at times my path will be unclear, it is these times that I must ask for and rely upon the spiritual light I need to return to my Heavenly Father.
Andrew "doesn't like getting lost" Brown
I heard a talk a couple of weeks ago specifically on the Light of Christ. As the talk was given and the figurative Light of Christ was explained, I latched onto a concept that I really liked. Light is what helps us to see where we need to go. The Light of Christ also helps us to see where we need to go. The Light of Christ helps us to know of the things that we must do to have happiness and to know how to make the choices that will most benefit our lives.
As I reflected on this I wondered if the Light of Christ could somehow illuminate our path even better than the light from our Sun. This made me remember the details that my aunt Rachel shared with me . . .
Rachel and her 12 year old daughter were hiking up Pine Mountain, a beautiful mountain range with a variety of trees and foliage. As you reach the final summit there is an amazing panoramic view that shows off most of Central Arizona. My aunt had hiked in the early winter and had made her plans around her husbands Boy Scout outing so she could make the travel with him and then she continued on with her daughter to the trailhead.
My Aunt reached the top and was coming back down when it started snowing. The trail covered with snow skewed their vision. Even with plenty of light out, the way to go was no longer clear. She back tracked over a few places; as she continued to re-evaluate her choices she soon was out of day light and the temperature was dropping. With no emergency kit and no daylight, her path was no longer clear and her return that day looked questionable. Realizing her predicament, she and her daughter prayed to know how to return to the trailhead. Still with much difficulty but with guidance of the spirit they made it to the trail head. They later learned the route they took was the most direct route possible. There she found her husband and authorities preparing to do a search for them.
Many times in our life we feel we are surrounded by light that seems to make our paths clear, yet a simple blanket of snow is all it takes to set us askew. If we don’t rely upon the Light of Christ then we can be lost in pure daylight. Many of our struggles don’t exist in only the physical realm. The Light of Christ teaches us to have goals, to have standards, to constantly improve and to recognize our errors and improve upon them. We have those who are called to provide direction to us in case our vision is momentarily too impaired to see this spiritual light clearly.
I’m grateful for all light in my life. I know we are here on this Earth to be happy and following God’s law is the key to having long term happiness. I am blessed as I follow these laws and spiritual light is given to me as I hike along my spiritual path in life. I know that at times my path will be unclear, it is these times that I must ask for and rely upon the spiritual light I need to return to my Heavenly Father.
Andrew "doesn't like getting lost" Brown
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friends who happen to be sisters . . .
I am enjoying a work-at-home-day and when I got up to get something out of the fridge I found my girls playing "Picnic". It was totally cute. When I went to take their picture they posed for me. You can tell that even though they are sisters they are also friends. I just thought this was too cute to not share.
Andrew "has cute girls" Brown
Thursday, November 19, 2009
"Unto Whom Much is Given" . . . My Favorite Birthday Present
I have a picture next to my clock on my nightstand. It is a captured moment of my best birthday gift ever. It was October 2003 and the Peoria Pride Project was coming up and the date they picked to do this was on my birthday. Our ward was assigned 3 homes and I was made a captain of a home. We were asked to recruit folks from our ward to help us get the things done based on what the house needed. At the time I was in the Sundance ward and we were very small. As I tried to recruit folks I realized that the few folks that were going to be able to make it would be needed at the other homes assigned to our ward and so I went outside of the ward and recruited my 3 youngest sisters (the rest were married and not so available) to give me my birthday present by serving along my side on this project. My sisters were awesome and displayed an amazing ability to work (all of my Brown siblings have this ability) and we were able to get everything done but a couple of things without outside assistance. One item required a forklift to remove a solar water heater that had died many years earlier. The other item required moving a huge rock lodged in the front yard. As you can see from the picture I have some cute sisters so it didn't take much for them to flirt with enough young men from the surrounding projects to recruit them in moving this rock successfully. We scraped, painted, hammered and cut our way to successfully completing the project. I had the smallest team of all the projects but we were mighty. That day I grew much closer to my sisters. You can see how proud and happy I was to have them as my sisters in the picture. They gave me the picture in remembrance of this great gift. I sure do have some awesome sisters. Thanks Natalie, Kara, and Kensie for my best and favorite birthday gift ever - you guys are awesome workers and even better sisters.Andrew "Spoiled Rotten" Brown
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thunder River/Tapeats/Deer Creek '09
About 2 weeks ago I finished my 4th trip to Thunder River. This trip automatically includes Tapeats and Deer Creek since if you are going to get into good enough shape to do one then you might as well do a loop and include the other two destinations.
In 2004 I had a bad experience on this hike and I needed to "kill my demons". To help me do this I recruited close friends, family, and people I respect. Since I planned the trip a year in advance, it was fun to see how the group came together and who actually came. I am grateful for those that did come with me and for putting up with all of vague descriptions of the trip, misleading information, and selective memories that seemed to be devoid of every single "pucker factor" event that we experienced on this trip.
The trip starts at Monument Point/Bill Hall Trail head which is about 35 miles southwest of Jacobs Lake on the North Rim. We had a great group of a diversity of people and hiking levels and experience. All are LDS.
My demons were conquered as this trip was an amazing success. Still there were trials for me and my friends assisted me with these struggles. I rewarded them with great views and unexpected adventures.
We enjoyed very steep trails the first day, followed by day two's narrow trails with cliffs on one side trying to push us off the narrow ledge into the "Alley" that had somehow become hundreds of feet below us (Upper Tapeats campground to Lower Tapeats campground). On day three we enjoyed what I had described to the group as a hike along the Colorado beach, which actually was more like bouldering and technical climbing with packs on as we navigated our way by the dictates of my vague memories of doing this trip before. Deer Creek was the most beautiful with the amazingly narrow slot canyon below, elevated views of the Colorado (and Cory catching the largest fish of his life on the banks). Deer Creek is so tranquil with it's gushing waterfalls and green valley.
Always was I so relieved to get to the next destination without having lost a member of our group. Many times I was sure that members of the group where going to jump me or sucker punch me due to the inconsistencies of what I had described and what we were actually experiencing on this trip. I was elated when their response was light hearted, appreciative, and amazed at what we got to experience. I honestly can't believe my memory had failed me so badly that I had forgotten so many harrowing parts of this trip - the adrenaline was flowing at emergency by-pass levels. I got teased that my memory only failed for those parts because it was so traumatic.
Hiking out proved to be a memory of its own. We got our fannies spanked coming out of Deer Creek and then again as we plodded up the long unending "flat part" of Surprise Valley to spend the night. The next morning we woke up and immediately got spanked hiking up the mighty red-wall. We walked it off on the esplanade and regrouped before ascending the white-wall. Wow!! We actually made good time and were rewarded with corn "scoops" and Pace Picante Salsa - oh that was good! We washed it down with Dr Pepper and were able to enjoy the view from Monument Point knowing we had conquered this most difficult trail. We then stumbled wearily the last 1/2 mile or so to the cars to clean up and head back home, enjoying a feast at Marble Canyon lodge and some tire repair experiences which got us into town around 1am.
Thanks to all that came and for the amazing experience that we shared - you all are awesome!! The trip was epic thanks to Jarret, Darin, Carey, Scott, John, Cory, Jacob, Justin and Ryan.
Andrew "how did I forget all the scary parts of the trail" Brown
In 2004 I had a bad experience on this hike and I needed to "kill my demons". To help me do this I recruited close friends, family, and people I respect. Since I planned the trip a year in advance, it was fun to see how the group came together and who actually came. I am grateful for those that did come with me and for putting up with all of vague descriptions of the trip, misleading information, and selective memories that seemed to be devoid of every single "pucker factor" event that we experienced on this trip.
The trip starts at Monument Point/Bill Hall Trail head which is about 35 miles southwest of Jacobs Lake on the North Rim. We had a great group of a diversity of people and hiking levels and experience. All are LDS.
My demons were conquered as this trip was an amazing success. Still there were trials for me and my friends assisted me with these struggles. I rewarded them with great views and unexpected adventures.
We enjoyed very steep trails the first day, followed by day two's narrow trails with cliffs on one side trying to push us off the narrow ledge into the "Alley" that had somehow become hundreds of feet below us (Upper Tapeats campground to Lower Tapeats campground). On day three we enjoyed what I had described to the group as a hike along the Colorado beach, which actually was more like bouldering and technical climbing with packs on as we navigated our way by the dictates of my vague memories of doing this trip before. Deer Creek was the most beautiful with the amazingly narrow slot canyon below, elevated views of the Colorado (and Cory catching the largest fish of his life on the banks). Deer Creek is so tranquil with it's gushing waterfalls and green valley.
Always was I so relieved to get to the next destination without having lost a member of our group. Many times I was sure that members of the group where going to jump me or sucker punch me due to the inconsistencies of what I had described and what we were actually experiencing on this trip. I was elated when their response was light hearted, appreciative, and amazed at what we got to experience. I honestly can't believe my memory had failed me so badly that I had forgotten so many harrowing parts of this trip - the adrenaline was flowing at emergency by-pass levels. I got teased that my memory only failed for those parts because it was so traumatic.
Hiking out proved to be a memory of its own. We got our fannies spanked coming out of Deer Creek and then again as we plodded up the long unending "flat part" of Surprise Valley to spend the night. The next morning we woke up and immediately got spanked hiking up the mighty red-wall. We walked it off on the esplanade and regrouped before ascending the white-wall. Wow!! We actually made good time and were rewarded with corn "scoops" and Pace Picante Salsa - oh that was good! We washed it down with Dr Pepper and were able to enjoy the view from Monument Point knowing we had conquered this most difficult trail. We then stumbled wearily the last 1/2 mile or so to the cars to clean up and head back home, enjoying a feast at Marble Canyon lodge and some tire repair experiences which got us into town around 1am.
Thanks to all that came and for the amazing experience that we shared - you all are awesome!! The trip was epic thanks to Jarret, Darin, Carey, Scott, John, Cory, Jacob, Justin and Ryan.
Andrew "how did I forget all the scary parts of the trail" Brown
"Unto whom much is given . . ." Darin and Jarret
A short preface to my main subject - while I was on my mission I would watch other missionaries and in my mind determine what kind of people they were. As I approached a transfer, I soon learned that I would be serving with Elder Maycock. He had been serving with a district leader up to that point and in my mind I knew he was the reason the district leader had been so successful. As soon as we were put together, knowing very little of each other, he and I worked our tails off every moment we were awake. We lived by the book and did everything to exactness. We didn't talk a lot and his driving in the snow horrified me, but we worked hard and at then end of one month had amazing rewards for our efforts. We were only together one transfer and then we were both transferred to other areas and didn't see each other until about 9 months later. When we did hook up again, we both shared how we had never before worked so hard with any other companions. I was floored; I assumed I was barely keeping up with his expectations at the time. As I was the younger companion, he didn't want to let me down by doing anything less than what he thought I expected. The month we worked together was awesome, hard, educational, and an amazing growing experience. Due to our anticipation of what the other expected, we both had served beyond our comfort zones and enjoyed the blessings of growth.
I share this story due to the parallels that I had many years later. I experienced the splitting of my ward, right down the middle, with dear friends being in a different ward. I was given a new calling in my new ward where I got to work with two specific people - Darin and Jarret. I had some experience in my new calling from my prior ward and brought many of my ideas into my new calling. Darin and Jarret were already amazing friends which made it intimidating to me being the recent addition. I took an inventory of these two brothers and determined that much would be expected of me to serve at the level they were serving. For two years, through the mantle of my calling, I always knew what I should do. I was constantly busy with so much in my life and these two brothers seemed to always be giving me new opportunities that I had never experienced - much growth and discomfort filled my life as I tried to keep pace with them and not let them down with my shortcomings. For a little over two amazing years we got to serve together and experience much - we were close, we loved to have fun, and we loved serving together in our effort to fulfill our callings.
I look back now and am grateful for the chance I had to serve with these two men, they have gone on to serve more intensely in their new callings and continue to be an example through their great love for the gospel and their desire to fulfill their callings. Recently I got to spend several days with them as we hiked the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Their strength was more intense and amazing then what I remembered. I was able to see that they have gone on and built upon the experiences we shared. I shared with Darin's wife how I always knew what to do when I was serving with them - I never lacked direction as we three were so untied and blessed to have the mantle upon us. What we had as mere mortals was truly amazing and a gift from our Heavenly Father.
I am still processing my thoughts and experiences that I enjoyed serving by their sides - even now, 18 months later. When I do sufficiently digest and understand how to communicate this experience I hope to put into words my thoughts. Until then, I wanted to express my gratitude to both men in all that they helped me experience and grow from during those two years
Never have I worked harder, never have I been inspired more, never have I experienced so much discomfort as I strived to keep pace with you. Thanks Darin and Jarret - you are my friends; you are my brothers.
Andrew "knows discomfort" Brown
I share this story due to the parallels that I had many years later. I experienced the splitting of my ward, right down the middle, with dear friends being in a different ward. I was given a new calling in my new ward where I got to work with two specific people - Darin and Jarret. I had some experience in my new calling from my prior ward and brought many of my ideas into my new calling. Darin and Jarret were already amazing friends which made it intimidating to me being the recent addition. I took an inventory of these two brothers and determined that much would be expected of me to serve at the level they were serving. For two years, through the mantle of my calling, I always knew what I should do. I was constantly busy with so much in my life and these two brothers seemed to always be giving me new opportunities that I had never experienced - much growth and discomfort filled my life as I tried to keep pace with them and not let them down with my shortcomings. For a little over two amazing years we got to serve together and experience much - we were close, we loved to have fun, and we loved serving together in our effort to fulfill our callings.
I look back now and am grateful for the chance I had to serve with these two men, they have gone on to serve more intensely in their new callings and continue to be an example through their great love for the gospel and their desire to fulfill their callings. Recently I got to spend several days with them as we hiked the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Their strength was more intense and amazing then what I remembered. I was able to see that they have gone on and built upon the experiences we shared. I shared with Darin's wife how I always knew what to do when I was serving with them - I never lacked direction as we three were so untied and blessed to have the mantle upon us. What we had as mere mortals was truly amazing and a gift from our Heavenly Father.
I am still processing my thoughts and experiences that I enjoyed serving by their sides - even now, 18 months later. When I do sufficiently digest and understand how to communicate this experience I hope to put into words my thoughts. Until then, I wanted to express my gratitude to both men in all that they helped me experience and grow from during those two years
Never have I worked harder, never have I been inspired more, never have I experienced so much discomfort as I strived to keep pace with you. Thanks Darin and Jarret - you are my friends; you are my brothers.
Andrew "knows discomfort" Brown
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