Striking The Steel

There was a man who was trying to earn money to go on a mission. He prayed and he prayed to find a job. Finally he was blessed with a job taking out guardrails on the road so that newer and better ones could be constructed. Upon taking the job, he was told he would be paid for the number of guardrails he separated from the cement blocks. His company wanted to recycle the metal and needed to separate it from its concrete pilings. The young man didn't realize how difficult it would be to remove the hardened cement from the metal.

Day after day he hammered and pounded to break free the metal guardrail. Bit by bit small pieces would break free but he knew that he needed to go faster. He prayed fervently to know how to work more effectively. A tiny voice answered him, 'Strike the steel.' He didn't pay attention because he figured God simply wanted him to work harder. He got a solid 9-pound mallet and began to beat the cement with greater fervor, but progress was still frustratingly slow.

He went to Heavenly Father again in prayer and asked the same thing. Again he heard clearly, 'Strike the Steel.' The young man wasn't sure what that meant, so he figured that he still wasn't working hard enough and he bought a bigger mallet and a railroad spike to chisel at the cement with more strength and accuracy. There was a little more progress bit still not enough. Finally, in desperation he knelt and fervently asked Heavenly Father what he should do. Again came the answer, 'Strike the Steel.'



After pondering the statement, the young man began to hit the steel guardrail instead of the cement. He noticed to his complete astonishment that the cement began to break free of the posts. The tough cement encasements cracked, crumbled, and fell away from the steel posts as his now-powerful mallet strokes reverberated through them. The concrete, once formidable, now fell away like dirt. That day he freed more rails of cement than he had the entire summer.



The young man learned that whenever we are doing something and it's not working, we should try a different approach. the answer to his prayer was simple- 'Work smarter, not harder.'

Homework

Story of My Life.

Things Heard At The Monsivais House

"Kaytlyn will you say the prayer" -Papa Monsivais

"Sure" -Kaytlyn

*Kaytlyn says Prayer*

"Amen"-Entire Family

*Pause*

"Kaytlyn, were you saying prayer that whole time??" -Emma

"Uh........What do you mean?" -Kaytlyn

"Well, when we started saying Prayer I thought Maria was saying it. Then my mind wandered away and when it came back then you were saying the prayer." -Emma

*Everyone walks out of the room*

Jen and Jake have started Food Friday. Food Friday is the first Friday of every month where friends and family come over to Jake and Jen's house to eat food and just hang out. This month was Waffles, so it was Faffle Friday! Yay! Here are some of the many quotes heard at Fabulous Faffle Friday.

"Whats a Faffle?" -Josh Levie
"Whats the Faffle with you?" -Jake

"Faffle day is a special day...." -Kaytlyn
"Here we come a Faffling" -Jen

"Fafflicious" -Kaytlyn

"What's your Faffle?" -Maria

Things About This Week

JUICE:

I am craving juice. Like all the time. Water is just not cutting it. I think I'm secretly craving Cherry Coke, but since I have been Cherry Coke free since last December* I'm trying really hard to substitute juice for a big 44oz drink.

Do you guys ever have cravings like that? Like you really need cake, but it can't be just any cake. It has to be this exact one:

Or the craving is just not satisfied. Yes, that is me, this week, and juice.

BOOKS:

I started reading a new book this week. I've been shocked that I have been able to make time to read anything besides textbooks for school, but I've gotten hooked on a few books1 that I have made enough time to get through and finish. This week, I started reading Sheri Dew's book "God Wants a Powerful People". It is an excellent book. I am about half way through and I started reading it on Monday, which shows how fast of a read it is and how easy it is to get lost in the pages. The whole book is amazing, but i thought I would share a paragraph...or two.

"A friend of mine serving with her husband as he presides over a mission signs her letters O&U-Onward and Upward. I love the image and expression. This life is not about perfecting, but progression. It's about persistently, consciously pressing forward-Onward- and persistently, consciously trying to elevate everything from our habits to our pursuits-Upward. The course we seek is to be steady and constant, regularly making course corrections and improvement, backing up, and turning around as necessary, but always generally moving forward. Onward and Upward."

"Such are the characteristics of latter-day men and women of God who know that Jesus is the Christ and that His gospel has been restored, who have committed to follow Him, who through regular backing up become increasingly pure, and who therefore increasingly qualify to call upon His power."

TESTS:

I have two tests this week. One for Marketing Management. One for Joseph Smith and The Restoration. Yay.....

FRIENDS:

Are great. Enough said.

FAMILY:

Also Super great.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

Fantastic. Loved, loved, loved General Conference. Highly recommend it. If your not sure what I'm talking about, send me a message or leave me a comment. I will explain everything and even give you a free book.

*I am Cherry Coke free since last December except for a minor slip up in the very beginning of June. But we won't talk about that.

1- Sign up for an account on goodreads.com and then add me as your friend. Its great.