Speech-

I'm giving a talk this weekend at church. The subject is commitment. I'm probably not going to use these two stories but thought they were good enough to put up here on the blog.

I'll want to focus on keeping our commitments despite negative voices that may surround us. I've been listening to NPR recently and they are doing a series on people who have defied odds to achieve success. One guest talked about getting out of "the crab bucket". When one crab has a chance to climb out of the bucket others will always try to pull him down. This happens often to kids who dream of going to college, but are talked out of it by family and friends. The success stories I've heard on NPR are all about individuals with very strong commitments, it's amazing what some have gone through to get their degrees.

Anyway. This is the story I want to put up here. It is a legend attributed to the Cherokee Indian Tribe.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.” One is EVIL. It is anger, envy, jealously, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, and ego. The other is GOOD. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth and faith."

The grandson thought for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

What wolf do we "feed"? Do we dwell on the unsupportive words of others, or do we listen to the encouraging words that will lift us up? It's hard, but we need to see through all the pessimists and focus only on our potential.

Commitment is quite a challenge. Hopefully my talk will go well.

Scott

One of our Hero's

Ensign John Robert "Robbie" Harrison, 26, died Dec. 25, 2007, while serving in the U.S. Navy stationed at Okinawa, Japan. The exact cause of death has yet to be determined, but it appears to be due to complications related to a possible seizure he experienced while driving home from Torii Beach with his family.

Robbie was born Feb. 24, 1981, in Mesa. He attended Blue Ridge schools kindergarten to sixth grade and Snowflake Junior High School where he was elected president in eighth grade. His family moved to Tempe where he attended and graduated from Marcos de Niza High School, graduating in 2000. He attended Scottsdale Community College and Arizona State University, graduating May 2006 with a degree in civil engineering.

Robbie started wrestling in the fourth grade. In junior high he could not figure out that basketball is not a contact sport and was asked to never try out again. He started every Saturday morning for many years by performing an act of service for anyone in need.

Robbie served 2000-2002 in the Scotland Edinburgh mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was very active in his church serving as Young Men's Teachers Quorum adviser, secretary and scoutmaster. Robbie joined the U.S. Navy Sept. 1, 2004, and, in August 2006, was commissioned an officer attending officer candidate school in Pensacola, Fla., and Civil Engineering Corps officers school in Port Hueneme, Calif. He was stationed at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Foster where he worked as the residential officer in charge of construction.

Robbie married Heather Leslee Winters of Delta, Utah, March 15, 2003, in the Manti, Utah, LDS Temple. They had a son, Patrick, and are expecting a baby in July.

He lived every day as if it were his last. He refused to miss any opportunity to try something new or different including participating in all sports. He also loved cliff diving. He rebuilt his dune buggy every year "just because."

He enjoyed dirt bikes, working out, camping and the outdoors, being with family and friends, spicy Mexican food and serving his country. He won many wrestling awards, graduated high school with honors and was a member of the National Engineering Honor Society. He was a father and husband with a life dream of serving his country.

Robbie is survived by his wife; children; father John E. Harrison; brothers Todd and Matthew (Spot) of Rose, Okla.; mother Kris Teena Linch; sister Eric (Cami) Page of Casa Grande; and grandmother Geraldine Harrison of Taylor.

He was preceded in death by his uncle, Boyd T. Hatch.

A memorial service was held Dec. 29, in Okinawa Japan. Funeral services and burial will be in Delta, Utah, and will be announced due to military protocol. In lieu of flowers, Robbie had requested that family and friends perform two hours of service in his name.

source: WMI Central --

http://www.wmicentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19153321&BRD=2264&PAG=461&dept_id=505963&rfi=6

Integrity-Patriotism-Success-Conscience-Dedication

All month long I have been praying for good conditions on December 27-29th because our troop held its annual ‘Winter Encampment’. This wasn’t a snow outing, which will come later, but this is a three day campout that the boys look forward too during their Christmas break. Only 3 scouts and 1 junior leader were able to attend this time, but the trip was very fun.

We went for three days because: #1-It’s Cool, #2-Troop Tradition and #3 Because the extra day allows us to focus on character building. This year’s event focused on integrity (as opposed to last year, when we focused on excellence).

Each boy was given an assignment to either teach scout skills to the other boys, or to give a short devotional on the topic of their choice. The boys made me very proud. On the trail, they were stronger and tougher than I anticipated. They took the campfire programs more seriously than I expected. And their devotionals were much more meaningful than I projected. I felt very good arriving home and reflecting on how well behaved and how mature the boys acted on this outing. Everything went much better than I had imagined it would.

We backpacked down Cave Creek (the year round creek north of the valley) and settled in a perfect location on the creek. We had to carry in all our food, carry out all our trash and purify the creek water for drinking. Overnight temperatures got below freezing both nights but we survived.

We practiced fire starting with flint and steel and had a competition to see who could burn a string the fastest. After the boys went the other adult leader and I went head to head. He got his string burnt quicker than me but we both were faster than any of the boys. Later we explored the creek and found some standing water that froze over. That allowed us to be able to play Hocker (a combination of Hockey and Soccer) on the ice. That may have been the most fun thing we did all weekend.

The hike in took 3 hours, but the hike out only took 2. As we approached the end of the trail on the way out the boys stopped and asked me to lead us back to the cars. I don’t know whose idea that was, but it made me feel very good and honored to be their scout leader. Thanks guys.

Scott

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Cooking Dinner
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Gravestone or Grafitti?

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Slippery Ice

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Hand Powered Chain Saw

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Ice, directly from the Creek

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Troop 630's new Class B Uniforms
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Flint and Steel Fire-Starting
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Home made 'Boulder' Chairs

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Hike out

Beware of Sasquatch –

This Christmas was again very fun. We went to Lynette’s parents house and spent time with her parents, brother and grandparents. This year was a good year for both giving and receiving. We were able to buy Lynette a sewing machine and a tripod for her camera. I got (among other things) the cool T-shirt with the logo you see above, a cordless drill a (much needed) new scout shirt and money for new shoes.

On Christmas Eve Lynette and I drove to Summer Haven up on Mount Lemon. We took a few pictures of the snow and ate fudge at one of the shops up there. At one point Lynette threw a snowball at me, but the snow had re-frozen and hit me like a rock. The impact hurt a little, but it was definitely more funny than it hurt so we just laughed together. She posted a few of the snow pictures on her blog. Click here to see them.

Jeff made us a couple of bonfires in the evenings and we enjoyed each others company. We also played Parcheesi (which I should have won, but there was a loophole in the game rules), Monopoly and of course, Scrabble.

All weekend people seemed to be dropping by Lynette’s parents home bringing cookies, candy and fudge. With that endless supply of goodies and with a great dinner Christmas day we went home feeling very well fed.

The picture above is the graphic from a t-shirt I got for Christmas.

On a sad note, I found out Christmas day that my sister’s son died in Japan from complications relating to a seizure. I feel for very sad for his wife and for my sister as they mourn the loss of a hero.

Scott

Bonfire

Trying on my new headlamp

I also have been wanting this book for a while. Thanks Lynette!

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She loves turtles

Parcheesi

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Lynette took this on our drive up to Summer Haven. I call this picture "Snowcone".

Currently, this is my computers desktop wallpaper.

The Beginning Is the End -

I decided to get a new layout for my blog. I was tempted to change the web address, but decided to keep this one for all of your sakes.

I still will be posting about my life with my wife and the cool things my scout troop does. Is there anything else you would like me to post? I've written some political blog posts but decided not to post them. I want to re-energize this blog and don't really think politics is the way to go.

So if you have ideas, let me know.

Scott