What once was lost...

Imagine your surprise if the Church all of the sudden just came out today and said that they found the (unaltered) 116 pages of the Book of Lehi. Now imagine that those pages refer to you specifically, by name. That'd be pretty incredible, right?

It's funny how the Lord likes to mess with me. For nigh on 10 years now, I had been under the impression that my Patriarchal Blessing was only so long, and, strangely enough, for that exact same amount of time my impression was completely wrong! Well, I did have the impression that a lot was missing, but I just thought the Lord was covering his back by being vague.

I went to President Hinckley's viewing yesterday morning after I got off work, and with a bunch of time to kill before my 2nd job, I figured it was a good idea to go visit my Mom at work. Long story short, she opens one of her desk drawers and pulls out our blessings to have a gander...only I notice as she's reading mine that it's a lot longer than the one I have at home. There was a whole stinking page missing!

Back to the Lord messing with me. When I read the truncated version, it almost seamlessly fit together. In the full version it talks about education and marriage and being a dad, and as I've struggled to grow into a man of God over the past...oh...26 years or so (see previous post "Azeem knew it"), it's got some really good and needed and personalized advice that directly applies to me today. Yeah, I guess He's not really messing with me, he just knows when to bless me.

Aside from trying to be grateful, I do have that nagging preachy feeling (that Ol' Janx Spirit? 10 points to whoever gets the reference!), but don't worry, it mostly applies to myself. In my earlier reference to the lost 116 pages, I can't help but think "How can I be sad, and long for what was lost, when I don't really put to good use what I have?" Or, as my newfound lost blessing states, "Father in Heaven is desirous that you...continue and increase your study of the scriptures." Ain't that the truth?