He is the Gift - Greatest blessing in my life and a good reminder this time of the year

At this time of the year, with the heavy burdens we sometimes place upon ourselves in the hectic nature of Christmas, we sometimes look past the greatest gift of all, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is the reason, I have hope. He is the reason I can be forgiven and he is the reason I serve as Stake President of the Salt Lake Rose Park Stake.  I love everything about the birth of the Savior, his birth to a caring and virtuous mother, cared for by Joseph who soon learned his responsibility to the Christ child and his life of teaching and caring for those most in need.

In my role as lay clergy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I see on a regular basis the power of his atonement in the lives of others and witnessing that strength as individuals make changes in their lives, reminds me that the greatest gift I can give to others is to introduce them to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  If you haven't seen this video, I would encourage you to do so, and share the gift with others.  Merry Christmas to you and thank you for letting me be a small part in your life.

My Mom helped me fix the vacuum cleaner

A walk along the Jordan River Parkway in the last year of my mom's life
with Jessica & Sarah my daughters and our dog Daisy

The title of this blog entry would keep you wondering about how my mother, who passed away in July of 2004 could have helped me fix my vacuum cleaner?  I do think it deserves some background and explanation.  I came home from work and received report that when Sarah had tried to use the vacuum earlier that day, it began to spark where the cord goes into the vacuum and quit on her.  While the vacuum doesn't owe us a lot, it wasn't something high on my list to replace and I had other places where the money could go.  I decided to take a look at it, and began to see where the cord had become separated and a wire broke.  I took the back off, cut the wire, re-spliced it and placed that new connection within the protective area and shortened the cord by about 4 inches and secured it into the vacuum, just like new.  Before putting the cover back on, the thought hit me, that it was my mother who had the insight for me to learn and the patience to work with me, that gave me the confidence to fix it.  I cried a little with gratitude for having such a great mom, who taught me to have the confidence and knowledge to face life.

Growing up in home where my father had died when I was 10, I was faced numerous times with things that were broken in the house or projects that either my mom wanted done or something I wanted to tackle.  It was not uncommon when I needed something, for my mom to put me in the car, take me either to Samons Plumbing Supply located on 900 W where a grocery store now exists, or Sutherland Lumber over on Redwood Road.  She wouldn't have any idea generally what I was buying, but would let me try and figure it out and then pay for it at the cash register.  I sometimes would end back there two or three times during a project.  Mom was always willing to let us try and fix it and try more than common sense would suggest.

Seems like we were always engaged in a project.  This was a time with my
Mom, my nephew Evan and nieces Noelle and Emily as we cleaned out
my Dad's home in Richfield after my Step-Grandmother passed away.  I drove
this 1964 GMC truck during High  School (the gas gauges never worked).
Mom always liked to have a truck around

Sometimes, I would get frustrated with a plumbing or electrical project and tell my mom to call Frank Dahn, a plumber who was a retired firefighter, or my uncle, MC Laird to see if they would come fix the problem.  Half the time, they would instruct her to put me on the phone, indicating that I could fix it and try and talk me through it and then would say, "Call me back if you can't get it".  In the case of Frank, didn't he ever want to have a paid job!  Frequently I would then figure it out, and we would be on our way.  Years later, I realized both had the insight to see a widow who needed help and then training me was a way for them to succeed in doing so.

In the years that followed my father's death, Mom had three rental homes and a basement apartment.  I ended up fixing a lot of things over the years, and later would help wire a garage, greenhouse, or assist siblings, family or friends with their remodel projects.  I will on occasion see a need with some of the single women I home teach in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and really it's my mom helping to do the work.

For the record, the vacuum is running well and lives to see another day.  While Mom never was that mechanically inclined, she knew how to raise children to think for themselves. I just wanted to tell Mom thanks for helping me to fix the vacuum.

Mom at the demolition of the Court House on Library Square in preparation
for the construction of the new Main Library.  I'm holding Sarah as a baby.
Mom participated in the Mayor's Capitol Advisory Board that led to the
building of a bunch of facilities I ended up tearing down!

Meet the Mormons - A movie you should watch!

Attending the premier of Meet the Mormons, with Cathy and having our picture with
Jermaine Sullivan, Bishop of the Atlanta Ward
and one of the members of the LDS Church profiled in the movie.

It's no secret to friends and readers of my blog, that I love my faith.  (I guess friends could also be readers of my blog...)  In fact, I love to share my faith with others.  However even more important for me, is for others to understand who we are as a people and who we are not.  It's tough to always explain and many avenues in media often do a horrible job with that task.  Sometimes it's done in jest, a little self humor or someone having a little fun about you, usually works.  We all need to laugh at ourselves.  However there are times when people truly are insensitive toward one another both in the Church and outside.  Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints don't have an exclusive right to be idiots and those outside of our faith, aren't always insightful in their interpretation.  The reality is that most members of the Church have many characteristics of others and what we don't always share in belief, we hold in respect for one another.  I need to do a better job understanding others and I hope they would do the same.  For those wanting a better insight into those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the movie premier this weekend of Meet The Mormons allows one to do just that, within the safety of their local theater.

This movie, while originally created to be shown in the Legacy Theater of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and other visitor centers throughout the world, was found to be effective in helping others understand us for who we are or in other ways, who we want to become.  We are not a perfect people, but we aren't villains either.  Meeting tonight my friend Mitt Romney, reminded me that during the 2012 Presidential Election, how much people misunderstood our faith.  While this movie will not resolve all questions, it gives a wonderful overview of the personal challenges and lives of six wonderful members from different areas of life, who share a hope of being good people and love and respect their families.

Take a minute out of your schedule this weekend and go to the movies.  Any net proceeds from this effort go to the American Red Cross, no profits will come from the effort.  If this movie was originally created for a visitor center why show it in a theater?   Why not.  We watch a number of other movies about different aspects of life, should this be any less?  In fact, what better and more neutral venue to watch it for anyone than a move theater.  You get to choose, you can even walk out if you want, or take a friend back to watch it again.  This is a ticket work every dollar you'll spend.

Ogden Temple Dedication - Preparing the Rose Park Stake

On Saturday September 20th, members of the Rose Park Stake prepare our chapel
for the dedication of the Ogden Temple

As a Stake President, you have frequent thoughts about the welfare and needs within the membership of your Stake.  Some are general in nature, others more specific.  I try to act upon them when I feel prompted by the spirit of the Holy Ghost, but I am not perfect and sometimes I simply just miss things.  It is a challenge to say the least.  

A few weeks ago, after some leadership training for Stake Presidents in the area, and discussing Section 110 of the Doctrine & Covenants and the keys that were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, I was thinking about the dedication of the Kirtland Temple and why so many of the members had such powerful spiritual experiences associated with that dedication.  One direction that is clear, came from their individual consecration in building that Temple and their personal sacrifice associated with it.  Joseph Smith also gave them instruction on how to come prepared both physically and spiritually including preparation of the building itself.  I felt impressed that not only should members come worthily (there is a worthiness recommend required for all in attendance) but the building as an extension of the Ogden Temple should also be prepared.  While the Lord might not walk within its walls I did hope that to the extent possible, it might be worthy of it.  On a Saturday evening session of our Regional Conference, I invited every member in the Stake to join us on Saturday afternoon prior to the dedication to help us prepare the building and grounds so that we might be ready for the Temple Dedication.  I understood that there might be conflicts and it wasn't necessarily a sign of individual commitment, but where possible, old and young alike were invited to help us prepare our building.

Chairs that had years of use were cleaned and polished

Cleaning assignments were prepared and distributed.  Wards invited members the following Sunday and individuals were invited through Relief Societies, Priesthood Quorums and by friends.  You are never quite sure when that time comes, how individuals will respond.  Yet you know that's the impression you received and an exercise in faith is in order.  At the appointed hour, 4 p.m. individuals started arriving of all ages, both as families and as friends and my heart began to be full of gratitude as I witnessed the faith and dedication of the members of the Rose Park Stake.  They were scattered through the building from Primary Rooms to restrooms, Chapel to the grounds.  Each in their own part, looked at spots in need of a deep cleaning that went overlooked during our weekly cleaning assignments.  Members helped each other and in a period of about one hour, the building looked beautiful.

While many rooms were not used in the dedication, they were
still cleaned so that the whole building would reflect
the sacredness of the event

I love the Rose Park Stake Center.  It was built originally by much sacrifice of the members of the Stake and refurbished extensively with mechanical and seismic upgrades in 2007.  However on Sunday morning, when I arrived for my 7 a.m. Presidency Meeting, I arrived early and walked down the halls of the building to the chapel and I felt a spirit that I have never felt before in my nearly 49 years of being here.  I walked into the chapel, sat on the stand and looked out and reflected upon the commitment of the members in not only preparing the building, but in their attendance that day.   I felt the Lord's acceptance of their work, it was an overwhelming feeling. Close to 700 members came during three sessions and I believe each one felt the sacred nature of the occasion.  It will be impossible to maintain the pristine nature of the building going forward.  While it will be kept clean, it is a building intended for a variety of uses.  However for this one day, it was reflective both physically and spiritually as an extension of the Ogden Temple.  I am grateful for the tender mercies of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To see more pictures of the cleaning efforts, click here

Seeing things with a great clarity is a great blessing in my life

Riding my bike without the need of glasses
is a wonderful reawakening

As I was riding my bicycle this morning on some of the great bike routes in my community and thinking how wonderful it's been to be able to ride without prescription classes.  It hasn't been that way, in fact, less than six months ago, I had some pretty heavy glasses with prisms that distorted things like stairs when you were trying to walk down them!  I've been blessed with a lot of things in my life, but great vision isn't one of them.  I actually did pretty well until High School, when I received my first pair of glasses.  I mostly used them for classroom situations.  By the time I returned home from my mission, I had to start wearing them more regularly and within a few years had to wear them all the time.  I was nearsighted, so reading was never a problem, but distance vision was the challenge.  Eventually astigmatism came into play and were followed with prisms.  Only good part of that, was that my children almost never put on my glasses because five seconds of them seeing double vision through them was enough to cure the problem!

About four years ago, my eye doctor indicated that my cataract problem in my eyes would progressively getting worse and would require surgery.  In 2012, he indicated, he could no longer correct through glasses and my vision and that within a year I would need surgery in both eyes.  Two of my brothers had surgery, that while successful, were followed with some other complications.  They in theory were not tied together, but it made me nervous.  In cataract surgery, they physically remove your lenses and place new ones in their place, so blindness, while minimal, is a risk of the surgery.  It's one reason they do both eyes at least two weeks apart, to assure you some continuance of vision.  The doctor warned me that my vision would get progressively worse and cloudy.  By the end of 2012, it was clear I would need to do something, but I waited until June of 2013 to maximize my insurance benefit and the city council would be done with most of their meetings.  The doctor gave me the option to replace my lenses with a toric lens, which had the potential of correcting my vision.  While I had options of how to correct my vision, I opted to become far sighted, thus requiring reading glasses.   Both surgeries were successful, and for the first time in nearly two decades, I had 20/20 vision.  Unfortunately my astigmatism remained.  However Dr. Miller indicated that since both eyes had done so well that I should consider an additional surgery to correct my eye muscle.

 I visited Dr. Peterson at Rocky Mountain Eye Center, who felt comfortable that with surgery, I might be able to go without glasses.  That surgery, while less risky than cataract surgery, would require them to sever the eye muscle, realign the eye to match the other one and then tie it up again.  My counselors in the Stake Presidency gave me a blessing and I felt at peace that things would be well.  Even when Dr. Peterson did a post surgery adjustment to my eye while out of anesthesia to get a better alignment, I was able to hold still and feel a peace that I didn't think I had in me.  My vision has corrected so well, that I seldom use reading glasses and if its about 30 inches away, I can see it clearer than when I had bifocal classes.  In a very literal way, my world has opened up to me in way, I never imagined.

In a similar way, since being called as President of the Rose Park Stake last November, I have been humbly grateful at the spiritual clarity that I feel and experience on a regular basis.  While my sixteen years of public service and even my current public service as an appointed official for Salt Lake County have been an incredible a rewarding experience, working with individuals and seeing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their life is more rewarding.  It has hard moments, some of which I think about constantly because they are heartbreaking but God has not left me alone.  I find the sweet and overwhelming influence of the Holy Ghost in my life to be such a humbling experience that I frequently ask myself why God would choose me to have this experience.  I am grateful however and the clarity of the gospel and its truthfulness in how it changes people lives if they're willing to live it. It's even more clear than anything I physically see.   While this world has many challenges, it has wonderful opportunities as well. It's wonderful to see it with such great clarity!

Rose Park Stake has a flag flying again!

Flag pole at the Stake Center of the Rose Park Stake 760 N 1200 W

When I was a young boy, 10 to be exact, our Stake (a body of 7 wards or congregations - we now have eight) raised money to build a flag pole.  It was 1976, the 200th birthday of our nation and our building lacked a flag pole.  Many who helped raised money and helped build the building originally, were veterans of World War II who chose to call Rose Park home when they returned to start their families.  We have had many serve since in other ways, and frankly, Rose Park is a patriotic place.  Also that year, my father passed away in January of 1976 and had also served like me, as the Stake President of the Rose Park Stake.  The flag pole, which is tall like my dad, was to honor him as well.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had rightfully quit putting plaques on things to honor people but as they raised money, this was also indicated as a purpose.  Each week, as I attended Primary, then held on Tuesday afternoon, I took my money to put in the jar.  Many of the kids brought quarters but I always brought a dollar.  This was after all, something to recognize my father, who I just had lost as a young boy.  It rightfully has roses planted around it, the symbol of our community.

A few years later, lighting was added, but it fell into disrepair.  Out of respect for the flag, it was not flown 24 hours a day and gradually, it was seldom put up.  When I was Bishop of the Rose Park 9th Ward from 1993 to 1998 I would try to have a flag flown on Sundays but even that was difficult to have someone to remember to do it regularly.  With time, it almost never had a flag on it.  It always bothered me, and I knew it didn't reflect the feelings of our members but I didn't think we had an option.  I would often volunteer my family to maintain the bed that surrounded it, since it was included in our Ward's cleaning assignment.  I felt it was the least I could do.

Photo prior to my wedding reception with the lovely
Cathleen Nielsen Christensen by the flag pole

When I was married in 1990, I was serving as the Elders Quorum President of the Rose Park 9th Ward and wanted to have a reception in Rose Park as well as the one we had in Layton, where my wife lived.  There were many members who I wanted to attend, since we would be calling Rose Park home temporarily with living in my Mom's basement apartment.  I wanted a photo that would include a part of my father, since he couldn't be there with us in person, so we took this photo by the flag pole.  Needless to say, this part of our building was a sentimental thing for me.

As I was called as Stake President of the Rose Park Stake in November of 2013, 38 years after my father was released due to his cancer, I inquired about the flag pole as we reviewed maintenance needs of the buildings with the maintenance group that does such a good job keeping our buildings in repair.  I wanted to be fair in my asking of things to be repaired, since it is the Lord's money but was excited to understand that flag poles were a standard part of the package.  I inquired of ours, mentioned the challenges we had faced over the years, and the manager in charge, committed to trying to have it ready for the 4th of July.   True to his word, the lighting was fixed, a new flag placed, and a maintenance agreement in place that will keep it in good repair going forward.

I hope you'll drive by, especially at night.  It's beautiful to me.  I know I'm biased here, but I hope you'll accept it as a gift to our community as well as the members of our Stake.  I will have a few memories on top of it as well.  On this 4th of July, let me just express my gratitude to those who have worked so hard to give us the freedom we enjoy, including the freedom of religion that allows us to worship respectfully in our own way.  Thanks as well to the good people of Rose Park who have worked and sacrificed much to make this such a wonderful place to live.  Happy Birthday to the United States of America!

Father's Tribute to his son - Milton Chester Christensen

Milton, 1965, just before he passed away

If you looked for a complete family portrait for the Robert & Verda Mae Christensen Family, you can't find one.  I was born six months after my brother Milton passed away from aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder where your body stops producing enough red blood cells.  Milton was the third child in our family as you read in my father's tribute below, had a different approach to his life.  I learned a lot about him growing up and every year we paid respect to him at his grave site.  However I obviously never got to experience him first hand, but my mother tells a story about him during the last stage of his illness.  Milton was unable to speak and had to write conversation down on paper.  My mother was pregnant with me, wrote the following story in her autobiography:

That last night when he and I were alone, he wrote me another very special note:
"Is there someone else in this room?" it said.
And I responded, "Do you see someone?"
He nodded yes.
"Sometimes, when you're very sick," I said, "Heavenly Father sends special
messengers to comfort you, and this is probably whom you see."
I made out his next words. "Clayton's here, isn't he?" I had thought he might be seeing the spirit person so many people said came at the time of death. But Clayton was his next elder brother who was very much alive. So I dismissed the idea that he was seeing a spirit person at all. He was just delirious.
I had no sooner thought that than his next word came:
"You don't believe me."
I hurried to reassure him. "Oh yes, I do." Then it occurred to me that the person he was seeing might well be another family member from generations past, even my own father who had died when I was six and who looked a great deal like his grandson, Clayton.
Then Milton wrote another note. "Who is that in your lap?" it read.
"It's just a pillow," I said. And he said, "Oh."
But later on, I wondered. I was four months pregnant with our youngest child.
Who was it he saw in my lap?


I don't know if it was me, but I've always wondered.  Either way, I look forward to meeting him and was touched at the heart felt tribute that my father wrote, shortly after his death.  Fitting on this Father's day when we celebrate many happy moments and honors of being a father, but there are some heartbreaking moments as well and sometimes very difficult to pen.  I think like most parents, we don't entirely get over these kind of losses and while we do move on, they are tender moments with us forever.  I thought it appropriate to share my father's tribute to my brother Milton:

                No greater honor could be paid me at any time during my life, than to say I am Milton's father. For eleven wonderful years we played, worked, and worshipped together.  With Milton there were so many things in his life that did not fall into the usual pattern of a child's growing up.  Many things children normally do, Milton seemed less interested in. In other matters his interest was greater. He was so interested in some spiritual aspects of the Gospel: The visions of the prophets, death, the resurrection, the spirit world, and the three degrees of glory.

After an illness some years ago, on the way home from the hospital, Verda Mae remarked, "I wonder if we will be able to raise Milton to manhood?"

Milton delighted in the things of the Lord.  Every night he would ask me, "Daddy, tell me a story."  And in the hospital during those long weeks I told him ten times over the Church History and Missionary stories that he loved so well.  Through his bloody, swollen mouth, until the last day, he could still say, "Daddy, tell me a story."

His great love of going to work with me was a great source of happiness to him and me. In the hospital he would say to me, "Daddy, you had better get to work."  Or, "Daddy, you can go home now."  He always had a great concern for me.  He made simple cherished gifts for Father's Day, Birthdays, and Christmas.  This Father's Day on his hospital bed he wrote me his last love letter.

He was always delighted with a chance to serve someone in his own way.  He didn't want to be forced into doing things.  He didn't like the regimentation of a ball team, while a carefree ride on his bicycle filled his heart with gladness.

Milton was a beautiful child. He was always my Milty Boy. Many many times as I looked upon his sweet face as he played and worked and lay asleep, I wondered if , as he grew older, some evil  minded person could lead him astray into an unrighteous life, or some unholy teacher weaken or destroy his testimony  of the restored Gospel. As I had these thoughts I prayed diligently that this would never happen to him and that no person could have an evil influence upon him.

I have always so firmly believed the doctrine that children are heirs to the Celestial Kingdom.  For this Milton was fully prepared.  He had a beautiful body,  a saving knowledge and testimony of the gospel,  and in a few weeks he experienced more darkness,  sickness,  and pain than most men do in a lifetime.

During his illness the scriptures dealing with "Another Father's Son" kept going through my mind and took on great new meaning to me.

As I sat hour after hour, day after day,  wiping away his blood as it dripped from the pores of his body,  I knew what the Lord meant when he dripped "As it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. "

As I sat by his bed and watched him die, I was grateful for the privilege of watching and praying with him.  Many hours we prayed together as one before us, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, Thy will be done."

The will of the father was to take him home.  After so many days of awful suffering increasing in intensity hour by hour,  bleeding and infection spreading black throughout his body,  he finally laid his head on his pillow and in two or three heavy breaths,  as though to say, "It is finished," he instantly departed from mortal life.

When Verda Mae reached the hospital and we viewed his lifeless body, all I could say was "Behold thy son."

Milton bore this illness like a man.  On his last day after the needle used in giving him the transfusions had been removed from his foot, he motioned to me to lift him up on the side of the bed so his feet could hang down.  He put his arms around my neck and cried as if to say, "Father, why has thou forsaken me?"   Through his pitiful mouth he made out the words, "Daddy, take me home!"

Now after Milton's great advancement from mortality into the kingdom of the righteous spirits, I plainly see him in the full stature of his magnificent spirit, gloriously endowed with the great knowledge he had in the pre-existent world, living and laboring with our great family who now lives there, sealed up to enter the Celestial kingdom when the Lord calls him.

For Mother, Elliott, Clayton, Maribeth, Spencer, Bradley, Nancy Ruth and me, his greatly blessed father, there remains the living of our lives in the way the Lord has directed us. We must not fail Milton's expectations of our being able to join him as we have promised.

-Robert: M. Christensen

Family portrait taken in the home where I currently live.  Milton is back row
on the left with Elliott and Clayton.
Middle row is my mother Verda Mae Fuller Christensen, sister Maribeth
and my father Robert M. Christensen
Front row is my brother Brad, my brother Spencer and my sister Nancy in
my father's lap.