Month: June 2006

Sweet Fruit, Bitter Fruit

After my previous musing, I thought I might share some more in depth thoughts on the subject…

…it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. (2 Nephi 2:15)

So which was sweet and which was bitter. Surely our first thought must lead us to believe that the fruit of the tree of life was sweet, but not so (despite the opinions I’ve read on other blogs and sites). It was the forbidden fruit (the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil) that was sweet.

The fruit of the one which was “bitter” was the tree of life, and the forbidden fruit was the one which was “sweet to the taste” Harold B. Lee CR April 56 page 109.

Harold B. Lee also stated:

Now that is the way it ofttimes sounds, that the things that are forbidden are the things which are the most desirable, and the things that are right for us are sometimes pretty bitter pills for us to swallow, as we say. (Teachings of Harold B. Lee pg. 13-14)

It makes sense to me that the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was sweet to the taste. It is a desireable thing to have knowledge of good and evil. Recognizing the sweetness of the fruit of this tree may have meant that yes, they possibly did partake of the fruit of the tree of life. God say they could surely eat of any tree in the garden except for the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

… it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet. (D&C 29:39)

So this begs the question, was the tree of life that Lehi partook of in his dream the same tree of life in the garden of eden? The surroundings sound much different and there was no cheribum and flaming sword guarding it. This one I don’t know. It may have been “just a parable.” It does represent the tree of life in the interpretation given by Nephi.

And just maybe the fruit of the tree of life is “most precious and most desirable above all other fruits” now, but was not at the time. Have any of us eaten fruit that tasted bitter, but would have been more sweet if we’d just given it a bit more time to ripen?

Abortion destroys freedom

Some people say that making abortion illegal would limit freedom, and that the mother should be given a choice in the matter. While we are all able to make our own choices in mortality, people who choose to have abortions should understand that in making that one choice themselves, they are destroying any choices that the unborn child would ever make. Essentially, they are taking away the freedom and choices of an entire lifetime by choosing to selfishly make one choice for themselves. Just some food for thought…

Mafia to Mormon

Mafia to Mormon:
My Conversion Story

A couple weeks ago I went to the library during lunch to return some books and check out one I had on hold. I decided to browse through the LDS section. I decided to look for a small book that would be an easy read. I’ve got a goal to read a non-fiction book every month. I only made it through half of a book last month. I found a book with the title Mafia to Mormon. It’s a true story about the conversion of a man named Mario Facione. It was basically an auto biography. I couldn’t put it down. I read a couple chapters during lunch, then when I got home, my wife had a baby shower to go to, so I read the whole time with my two kids climbing all over me. I finished the book before going to bed that night. I’ve never finished a 100+ page book that fast before. I was just so impressed and amazed at his whole story. The man was a central figure in many big crime operations and he was able to walk away from it all with the Lord’s help. It was very inspirational. I pondered it all day the following day while doing yard work. I think there are two things that really stood out to me about his story:

  1. In the Mafia, a promise is life-binding. You just don’t go back on your word, or you die. It was by someone’s word that made Mario’s life safe from the mafia. Mario left the mafia because he made a promise to God. With his background, I’m sure it’s very hard for him to understand why anyone would break a covenant with the Lord.
  2. Mario saw a video about the temple in one of his early discussions. He felt he had to get inside that temple. That was a driving force that led to his conversion and determination to put his life on the line to leave the mafia.

I highly recommend this book. It is an easy read really. It has a fair number of typos and obvious grammitical erros as it is in Mario’s own words.

Suit Yourself

I’ve recently lost about 20lbs. As I was getting dressed for a meeting last week, my wife said I looked like a little kid wearing his dad’s suit. So, for a combined Father’s Day/Anniversary gift, she wanted to get me a new suit.

I remember one time on a home teaching visit my companion was going off on how great Men’s Warehouse was. He said they treat you like a king there. Buying a suit at Men’s Warehouse was obviously one of his favorite things to do. So that is where I first suggested we go. I hate to say this, but I was really dissappointed. Maybe it was the Salesperson, maybe it was the store, maybe it was the selection… I don’t know. I think more than anything though it was the Salesperson that bugged me. It was a girl wearing a mini skirt and big hoop earings – just not what I expected. I bought a sports jacket there that cost $160, plus $15 for alterations in the sleaves. I left feeling sick to my stomach, because I didn’t really like the jacket and I had just spent close to $200 on it. The next day I went back during lunch and got a refund. I have to commend them for that. It was very easy and no questions asked – litterally. They simply issued me a refund and said “Sorry it didn’t work out for you.”

I told my wife that I really wanted a suit rather than a sports jacket. Also, I had read recently that most millionaires buy their suits at JC Penny due to the price and quality of the suits. So last night we started there. I was please to find that they had a lot larger selection that I was led to believe by looking on their website. I was also please to see they were having a sale and many suits were 25-50% off. I could have bought a Dockers brand suit for as low as $100 for the jacket and pants, or other suits for $150. There were no sales people though. This was a good and a bad thing – good in the sense that I didn’t feel pressured in any way, bad in a sense that I’m no expert in picking out suits ;). We found a few we liked, but I wanted to check out Mr. Mac’s before making a purchase.

I bought my missionary suits at Mr. Mac’s. In fact, I bought most everything for my mission at Mr. Mac’s. I was pleased with everything I purchase there. Suits were durable and lasted my whole mission and them some. My white shirts were durable and ramained white beyond my mission as well, and that is saying something for some of the areas I served in.

So we drove to Mr. Mac’s. The salesman who helped us was an older gentleman. We told him what we were looking for and my size and he showed us our selection. I found a suit that my wife and I really liked for $300. But I remembered him telling us they had some suits that were 2 for $300. Being the budget concious man that I am, I could clearly see the value of getting two for the price of one ;). We found two suits that we liked and actually got them both for $275. Then we threw in some nice ties that they gave us a 50% discount on, and some socks.

One thing I really liked about Mr. Mac’s was that all the alterations are free for the life of the suit. At Men’s Warehouse they had different fees for all types of alterations. This means that if I happen to lose any more weight, or (heaven forbid) gain some weight, I can go back in and get free alterations again.

All in all, I spend $365 last night. But this time I didn’t feel that sick sense of spending money for something I didn’t want.

So, where do you prefer to get your suits?

Ammendment to Protect Traditional Marriage

The First Presidency issued a letter for saints in America to “express themselves on this urgent matter to their elected representatives in the Senate.”

I probably would have forgotten to do so, but thanks to a friend who fowarded me the contact information for the senators in my state, I followed through.

I would just like to encourage anyone who reads this to express themselves to the state senators. Also, may I suggest that once you have done so, you may forward your state senators contact information on to friends and family to make it easier for them to do the same.

Below is the letter I wrote, in case you want/need ideas to get you started with the letter. It shouldn’t be too difficult to “express yourself”:

Senator [Senator’s Surname],

I am writing to express my feelings about the upcoming vote on June 6, to amend the federal constitution to protect the traditional institution of marriage.

While I understand the desire some same-gender couples have to express their love publicly and have laws in their favor as couples, marriage has always been between man and wife, and should always be between man and wife. If a same gender couple wants to be “bound” in some way, let them call it something else because it is not marriage.

Our society is built on the family unit. I believe that the best way to strengthen our country is to strengthen and promote families. Protecting “marriage” will only serve this purpose.

Please vote in favor to amend the constitution to protect the traditional institution of marriage.

Sincerely,
Dustin Davis
Taylorsville, Utah

Helpful Links:
Full Text of First Presidency Letter
Church Urges Members to Contact Senators on Marriage Amendment
The Family: A Proclamation to the World
U.S. Senate Contact Information for each Senator