"Thy Will, Not Mine, Be Done"

Three weeks and two days ago I embarked upon one of the most ambitious adventures of my life.  I live in the college town of Provo, Utah, and Jenn's family lives in Riverton, Utah, about 30 miles north by car.  It is about 33 miles away by car, which follows nearly a direct route.  There are many potential bike routes there, but if you enter directions into a map app, none should ever tell you to go one of the technically shortest ways, which would be up and over Point of the Mountain.  You see, Utah Valley is bordered on the east by the enormous Wasatch Range of mountains, on the west by Utah Lake (and more mountains), and on the north, as the gateway to Salt Lake County, by a group of east-west trending small mountains or large hills called the Traverse Range.  The little pass the freeway takes before dropping down into Salt Lake County is called Point of the Mountain.  Below it to the west is a narrow canyon through which the Jordan River runs from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake, and above it are the large hills or small mountains of the Traverse Range often referred to as Point of the Mountain.

Driving route from Provo to Riverton (North is up).
Wasatch Front seen on the right, and Point of the
Mountain is in the top central part of the photo.

I had ridden my bike before from Provo to Riverton, but I had taken the "easy" way along the Jordan River.  Now I had the crazy idea to bike up and over Point of the Mountain to get there.

Do not misunderstand me.  I am most definitely not a mountain biker.  There have been many small communities build in the Traverse Range recently, and so there is a paved highway winding up to the top and back down again.  However, it is a 2,000 foot elevation gain in not very much distance, which was much more than I had ever attempted before.  All this after riding 20 miles just to get to the base.  So I decided to try it, and if I couldn't make it over the top then I would come down and get to Riverton the low way.

Off I went on Friday at about 11:00, and I could not have wished for a more beautiful ride.  It was a clear, sunny day, the road wove largely along a canal road with the mountains towering to the right and views of the lake to the left.  I rode 20 miles and was already feeling fairly exhausted.  Then I saw the mountain in front of me and started the long trudge up them.

It was every bit as hard as I thought it would be, but nothing like I expected.  A wrenching burn with every turn of the wheel, and I was in such a low gear that progress was barely faster than walking.  I was looking at each bush several feet ahead, pushing myself just to reach that one goal--and then picking a new goal another several feet ahead.  There were several large, sweeping curves that I passed, eagerly wondering if I was at the top--to realize I still had a ways to go.

The winding road going from bottom right to top left is Traverse Ridge Road.
It gains 2,000' in about 2 miles, then quickly loses it all in the same distance
on the way back down.

At long last I reached the top.  I had made it!  Anyone who has climbed or biked an extremely hard trail knows the unparalleled feeling of satisfaction at the top.  That exhilaration for me was coupled with the breathtaking sunset over the new view of Salt Lake County, the red colors retreating up the mountains as the shadows advanced, and the complete joy of being able to go down a screamingly steep, long slope.  In my experience, there are few things quite as fun as going down a very steep slope on a bike.  I got up to 32.7 mph, much faster than I had ever gone before (true bikers, try to stifle your scoffs), right as the light faded.  Total trip: 34 miles.  I had done it.

This was an example to me of just how much God loves me.  He had given me a wonderful experience, something amazing and practically perfect to me that I could remember all my life.  We don't need to be perfect, or even all that great, for God to bless us.  We just need to be trying our very best to pass the tests that He gives us to make us into better people.

It doesn't ever really matter at what point we are in our journey--or even, for that matter, what our specific path is.  We may be the holiest and closest to God you can be, or we may be just beginning to get to know God--we may be just emerging or attempting to emerge from a terrible addiction, or we may be striving to make little changes to be better each day--God does not love any of us less or more than the others.  We do receive more and more blessings the closer we grow to God, but it does not matter how recently you turned to God or how much more of your journey to Him still remains. What matters is which direction you are going.

The view as I was coming down from Traverse Ridge Road, going north into Draper.

Jesus Christ always and only did what His Father wanted Him to.  He said repeatedly that He was doing the will of Him that sent Him, and not His own.  Why?  He realized His Father knew better than Him, that He knew exactly what Christ should do that would be for His and for the world's benefit.  If the perfect Jesus followed His Father in everything, how much more should we follow out Perfect Father, as well as our Savior!

I cannot make a mountain, or a lung, or a flower, or a giraffe.  Heavenly Father is obviously SO much smarter than I am.  He has perfect intelligence.  Amazingly, too, He has perfect kindness, which is why we can absolutely trust Him.  If we choose to do His will instead of ours He will give us so much more happiness and growth than we could ever get by working on our own.  This will always be true.  Following God's will instead of our own will lead to much greater happiness than we could ever obtain on our own.

Along the Murdock Canal trail before getting to Riverton.

Because of this principle, in the last few weeks I have been trying hard to follow God's will instead of my own.  This means that whatever happens to me and whatever I feel like I should do, I should do it without complaining.  Because of this goal, I have been given lots and lots of tests lately--as if God was saying, "Okay, so that's your goal, let's see if you can be happy and cheerful even if I ask you to do this."  Sometimes, and a lot of times at first, I have failed the test, or not done nearly as well as I could have.  For example, I hate shopping.  I hate it with a passion.  Something about wandering endlessly in the giant stores with fluorescent lights, looking for things I am only buying because I have to, rubs me very wrong.  So sometimes when Jenn takes me shopping I have a bad, grumpy attitude, which is not accepting God's will instead of mine!  If I have to go shopping, God's will is that I enjoy it and have fun spending quality time with my wife.

Lately, though, with plenty of hiccups, I have become slowly better at accepting God's will, of trying to do what He wants with a good attitude, trying to learn whatever I can from the experience, be it lots of homework, helping someone out, or something truly tragic like going shopping.  And I have learned from this that following God's will, even when it does not align with mine, definitely will bring me the most joy.  Cheerfully following God's is so miraculous that it can turn a torture-ridden shopping trip into a fun date night with my wife.

The more we follow God's will, the more we will have challenges, but the more and greater rewards we will have as well.  For example, on Friday I went to climb the Lake Mountains, which is the mountain range just to the west of Utah Lake.  That was another perfect experience--a beautiful walk alone through an amazing land, an incredibly clear sky, and some of the best views I had ever had in Utah, with the whole Wasatch range and more laid out before me.  I feel like that experience might not have happened, or might not have been nearly so good, if I had not been setting my goals and trying to align my will to God's.

View from the top of Lake Mountains (7590') looking east at the Wasatch front including (left to right) Cascade Mountain, Squaw Peak, Y Mountain, Maple Mountain, Buckley Mountain, Twin Ridges and Hobble Creek.

Jesus Christ, in speaking to the prophet Moroni in the Book of Mormon, said, "If men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses."  That's a scary thought, isn't it?  If we grow close to God, we will see our failings, and exactly what we need to improve on will be laid before us.  But then the Lord says, "If they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."  God shows us our weaknesses so we can do something about them.  And then He helps us to do it.  I know that our weaknesses will become glorious strengths, and we will be happier, better, higher-quality people if we every day seek to align our wills more closely and completely to God's.

View from Israel Canyon (Lake Mountains Communication Road) looking east at Timpanogos (right) and Box Elder Peak (left)

Experiences with Space and Time in Death Valley National Park

Tarantula crawling on the Racetrack near Death Valley National Park, a playa (dry lake bed).

The title of this post, as you will notice, is "Experiences with Space and Time" and not "Experiences Through Space and Time."  So I'm sorry, but don't expect a trip spanning eons into the future and ripping through the fabric of space-time.  This is much simpler, but it does involve several important insights I gained into the importance of space and of time.

Death Valley

Last weekend I was on a Geology field trip in Death Valley, which is an incredible and extremely unique place.  We drove there from Provo, Utah starting Friday morning, so by sunset we were up at Dante's View, a viewpoint from about 6,000 feet elevation looking down on the valley.

Death Valley is the lowest area in the western hemisphere, -282' at its lowest point in Badwater Basin.  It is so low because the crust of the earth is being strongly pulled apart in that area, leaving a very deep valley in between two mountain ranges: to the east the Black Mountains rise up past 7,000' and on the west the Panamount Range rises past 11,000'.  Those are absurdly tall walls between a narrow little valley only about 10 miles wide.  The valley is so dry because air from the oceans rains all of its moisture out as it climbs the Panamounts, leaving Death Valley with only hot, dry air.

Dante's View in the Black Mountains of California, looking west into Death Valley and towards the Panamount Mountains.  The Black Mountains rise over one mile high in less than three miles, an incredibly steep slope.

My Eyes!

Anyways...we saw a fantastic view at Dante's View, then drove down to our campsite, where at night it dropped all the way down to 70 degrees F (in late October!).  My eyes had been bothering me a little that day, but they were not too bad, so I decided to sleep with my contacts in (which I had done before with no problems).  I know already, you don't have to tell me...BAD IDEA.  I woke up in the middle of the night (still about 70 degrees) with my eyes stinging like crazy, and I hurriedly took out my contacts and went back to bed.  When I woke up in the morning I could not open my eyes.

Still can't see...at the Racetrack near Death Valley.

This had happened to me once before, but not while trying to enjoy time in a bright sunny national park (the last time it was a state park).  I literally had a very very hard time opening my eyes, especially in bright light.  If I could I could only open them for a fraction of a second at a time.  So I stumbled towards my breakfast and ate it, feeling very miserable.  It was a good thing that we were not going to a highly reflective white surface first thing, and that it was overcast!  We headed out to the sand dunes (a highly reflective white surface) with not a cloud in sight.

I tried to have fun as best I could, but it was a hard thing.  I was in a lot of pain and I could see hardly anything.  Every time I tried to open my eyes they stung relentlessly and my nose ran.  I realized just how valuable sight was, and probably just how much I had taken it for granted.  How much do we not appreciate the things that are around us, no matter where we are?  How much do we walk or drive the same path to school or work each day and not even notice what kind of trees we are passing?  My one desire was to see the world around me.  This was my experience with space--I learned to better appreciate and understand the world around me.  I feel like now I appreciate the world around me and the gift of sight a little bit more, no matter where I happen to be.

Ubehebe Crater

My eyes slowly got better, and I immensely enjoyed the rest of the field trip, soaking everything I could in--Ubehebe, 7 or 8 giant volcanic craters, Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in the western hemisphere, the Devil's Golf Course, Mars Hill, the Racetrack--Death Valley is well worth visiting; I highly recommend it.  It is like no place I have ever been.

A "Pointless" Walk Home

My experience with time came the week after the field trip.  That Monday I had a break in classes between 10:00 and 1:00, but I had a whole lot of homework to do, I felt, if I was to have any time to relax that night.  However, Jenn (my wife) was very insistent and persistent in that I come walk home with her and back because she had forgotten something.  The logical part of me screamed that this was impractical and not a good use of time, and that I needed to get my homework done.  But I wanted to make Jenn happy, and I would love a walk with her, so I went.

And I am so glad I did.  It was such a beautiful, pleasant crisp fall day with so many leaves changing color and falling down.  We talked and had a great time.  I've heard it said that when life is over, no one ever regrets not spending enough time at the office.  Instead, they often regret not spending time with family.  What are we doing with our time?  Are we spending the most time on things that matter most?  The things that matter most are usually people, especially our families.  In addition, we all need time to relax and look around at the world around us.  Often we wear our busyness as a badge, priding ourselves in being occupied all the time with "important matters."  Pursuing noble and good interests is very good, but we need not completely occupy our lives with so many things to do that we neglect to spend time alone with God, alone with nature and alone with our families.  In these alone moments we learn more about ourselves, how we can improve and what is really important.

In short, in this last week or so I learned how important it is to stop and appreciate what you have.  Life is not a long checklist for us to pass off--life is for us to enjoy and learn.  Take time to look around you, to realize what you have, and to focus on what matters most.  I know we will be happier people if we get our noses out of our computers and look around, to nature, to our families and to God.