Dealing with Disorder

 I wrote this article a few weeks ago and pondered on whether I ought to post it,           or not.

As I summarized my difficulties dealing with disorder and frustrations of life, I pondered the concept of adversity being trivialized by these minor irritations when so many have to deal with serious issues. What right have I to complain?

Then, last Sunday in our Gospel Doctrine class, the teacher was summarizing the deep anxiety experienced by the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Saints of Missouri and why must they suffer so. I even mentioned my own great-grandfather, who as a child of about 8 years endured the expulsion from Missouri to Illinois where his own father perished in the process. Why the adversity? To gain experience and be better for it? Yes, of course, but in the discussion I brought up the issue of dealing with our own minor frustrations, becoming angry and distracted from what is important. She said that those issues are also real.

So, with all that, here it goes....

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Dealing with Disorder

I have joked in my well-known and odd humor that "entropy is not what it used to be," (refering to randomness). At times, I have also commented on how life seems to sometimes be a constant war between friction and gravity (meaning that things stick or drop with little predictability). What my esoteric attempts to be funny really hide is my innate dislike of disorder and randomness which results in my reaction to the unexpected. It is an obsession and a compulsion. I want entropy to stop, and get upset at my inability to avoid the inevitable stubbed toe of life.

No one is to blame, usually, but that makes it even worse. When it is unfair, it helps to convict someone else for their meanness. I am not mad at anyone, so that is not sin. After all, if I get angry at myself, who does it hurt?

Deep down, within me, it becomes a spirit of contention.

The Lord makes it clear that those feelings are not from Him:

"For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another." - 3 Nephi 11:29 

Basically, I am stirring up my own heart as I choose to react to my ordinary missteps and the random inconveniences around me.

How can I change? I have consciously, but more often unconsciously, been dealing with this dilemma my whole life.

It is probably this lifetime struggle that prompted me to embrace a scripture, becoming my favorite. It was introduced to me by my semimary teacher many years ago, Keith Perkins, at Granite High school as a senior. It reads:

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean on unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Depart from evil."  Proverbs 3:5-7

It is not that I DO trust in the Lord that this is my favorite scripture. Quite the contrary, it is because I generally DO NOT trust Him and trip through life condemning random events and try to analyze life's many crooked paths. I don't "acknowledge Him" and don't let Him "direct my paths."

At times, I think about the promise of that day when Satan will be bound and we no longer are tossed about and tempted, and suffer from the bad stuff others inflict upon us. Recently, though, I asked myself whether this random unpredictability of life will be part of what goes away at His coming. That shook me up. We know that we will live in the Millenium with peace and that contention which comes from the devil will be done away, but will we nonetheless live our lives, interacting with others and with "nature," and not suffer from ailments, death and temptation and Satan's incessant twists, and does that mean that the accidental dropping of the fork to the floor, or the tripping on the rug will also never happen again? (Nor will we be made to suffer from extreme run-on sentences?) Will the winds of life not blow that paper off my desk again for one thousand years?

Of course these examples are intentionally silly. Still, it is those things that push me into my angry reactions at times.

Maybe the change that comes — even now, not necessarily waiting for the Savior to come again — must be made within me. What can be done to change the way I react to random, distressing, unplanned, unexpected, annoying, infuriating, unfair, entropic, ...  life?

The Lord has promised to "wipe away tears from all faces" (Isaiah 25:8, see also Rev. 7:17 and Rev. 21:4). I am now thinking that perhaps that wiping away of tears involves a change within me that brings those tears to my eyes in the first place. Of course, I do not speak of those real effects of life that bring tears. I mean my own perceptions of life's unfairness that bring disproportional reactions in me. Sometimes the scriptures refer to this as "kicking against the pricks" (e.g. Acts 9:5).

Breathe in, breathe out, calm down. These are such nice words but often are the worst things I want to hear at the moment of distress. What temperance can I learn?

Actually, in a recent conference address I was impressed by the topic of temperance given by Elder Ulisses Soares a few weeks ago. He said, "... cultivating temperance is a meaningful way to protect our souls against the subtle yet constant spiritual erosion caused by worldly influences that can weaken our foundation in Jesus Christ." - Elder Ulisses Soares, October 2025 General Conference

Worldly influences — that fairly well describes what I have summarized here. Considering the world, I also remember reading how the three Nephites were not affected by the world: " the powers of the earth could not hold them," and I wondered what that might have been (see 3 Nephi 29:39). Is that what the Millennium will be like for us? Will the winds not blow the paper off the desk? Will that tissue always land in the rubbish bin when tossed?

I hope to have the effects of the world not hold me, but now perhaps I need to learn how to not let these effects affect me. For that, I need to trust in the Lord and let Him change me so that such insignificant things do not turn my soul away from His redeeming love by my becoming angry.

I am sure that is the answer. It is the Lord who can tame that animal within me that reacts to life's stings, whether they are Satan's attempts to foil me or just some random wind of fate. Either way, my response is key. I pray that the Lord can make me better than I am and trust in Him to lift me above the powers of the earth. I cannot do this by myself. With the grace of my Savior Jesus Christ all things are possible.

 - jfb

They way they say it here...

 I love seeing the different terms used here in New Zealand. 

I already knew about the boot and the bonnet of the car and other terms. I learned recently that when you change residence, you do not "move," you "shift." The pharmacist is the "chemist."  When you have it all figured out, you have it "sorted." 

A pickup truck is a "ute." 

Those round rubber things that carry the cars down the road are "tyres." WOF means "Warrant of Fitness," meaning an approved safety inspection.

When they fix damage to your auto body, we use a body shop, they use "panelbeaters."

The parking lot is called a "car park." A shopping cart is called a "trolley" or "trundler," and they often have a one-way entrance for bringing in your trolleys into the store (see top picture of the three).

In the store, you see what looks like large ground beef logs, but in fact they are meat for dogs. (Also, here it is not "ground beef," but beef "mince.")

The bacon that we usually see in the US is called "streaky bacon," and roasted almonds are "scorched." 

What we call vanilla pudding, they call "custard" and it comes in cartons already made up and ready to pour. Often, their desserts are served with custard and cream. They love cream on things. I could get used to that, though it might bring about a few added kilos to the waistline. Their equivalent to our 7-11 and circle K are their "takeaways." These are places all over the area in great number, where you can grab some milk, soda pop and some quick meals, usually fish or chicken and chips, a meat pie or other delectables (and also some of those dog meat rolls).

One thing I still haven't figured out, though, is this place that is a café that also sells manure and fertilizers (and liquid lime), along with a hair stylist and massage therapy — a single stop for all your needs.

Goodnight TIWI (with apologies to Margaret Wise Brown)

 In a white Malibu

was a log book

In a red case

And from the mirror hook,

Masks for the face

And three smiling Elders buckled in place

soccer ball in the back

near a rattling bike rack

old PepBoys slips

and crusty nacho chips

light in the back, someone trying to read

a sweet lady voice saying "Watch your speed"

goodnight Tiwi

goodnight Malibu

goodnight masks, we won’t miss you

goodnight light

good night bike rack

good night Pep Boys, and the ball in the back

good night Elders

good night chips

good night receipts and gas card slips

good night miles log

good night everything

and good night to the voice saying "Aggressive Driving."

Goodnight stars
Goodnight air
Good night missionaries everywhere 

- Elder Joseph Buchanan, California Newport Mission vehicle coordinator

(available to an illustrator)

A Musician and Computer Geek vs. a Malibu

So we had transfers yesterday. This happens every six weeks (usually), but sometimes it is a bit crazier that others. Today we have four missionaries going home and 17 new missionaries arriving. In preparation, a lot of craziness happened yesterday. We had many of our dear people here at the same time, switching cars, getting bikes, getting TIWI cards, asking questions, moving luggage around, trying out bikes, finding helmets, inspecting cars, etc.

The challenge of note came when two sisters said that their car would not start. They have a Chevy Malibu. I have a portable power unit that can jump start a car, and as I was in the middle of TIWI training and many other interactions in the office, I sent that device out with them to get their car started.

After a long while, I wondered what had become of the stalled car, breaking away for a moment from office madness to check on the sister missionaries. It looked like they had attached things correctly, but nothing had improved. I tried and the car would not turn over for me either. Checking in my trunk for some traditional jumper cables, and finding none, I asked a couple of other elders near by and none of them had any either. Remembering having seem some in the office, I went back in and encountered many requests from missionaries waiting for me in the office, one set of elders offered to take the cables I handed them to go out and connect the cables to a mission truck to get the car started properly.

After another long while and many dizzying office interactions, I set a couple of sisters watching a training video and ran back out to check on the misbehaving Malibu. The elders were stymied, not having any success, leading us all to wonder whether there be other electrical issues at hand.

Finally, I looked at the clip where the jumper cables were attached. Not being familiar with these newer, more sophisticated, computer-controlled cars, I looked more closely at what we thought was the battery. I started moving clips and covers around to discover that we actually were trying to jump start the fuse box.

I saw what was really the battery, another nondescript black brick under the hood, moved the various clips and covers and finally discovered the battery posts. We connected the jumper cables correctly and after a little effort from the truck battery, the Malibu finally jumped to life!

It took about 8 of us (including the sisters) to get this reluctant Malibu to respond.

As I told Shauna back in the office of our Malibu misadventures, I exclaimed to her, "This is what comes of putting a musician and computer geek in charge of a fleet of mission cars."

What was that?

This is another one of those "What was that?" weeks. There was not a lot of astounding  experiences, but rather a blur of unexpected turns and changes of plans. It is amazing how we can go from day to day not entirely sure what to expect next.

With the regular Institute year over, we decided to not stop holding activities on Wednesday evenings, just no lessons, per se. This week we had the pleasure of one of our less-active families coming to get help with family history research. Sister B had a blast helping them and trying to understand what they were saying. They have a fairly strong local dialect. Through it all, I could hear her really doing well in speaking good German and she succeeded in finding some good leads for their research. Through it all, I was frantically (ganz sehr frustriert!) trying to help our Italian/Macedonian friend get tickets to go to Italy in his way back to Macedonia. That took quite a while with Sister B occasionally dropping in on my hair-pulling to help me keep my focus. In the end it all worked out, but I missed all the fun with the family history research.

Oh well, we had some good experiences yesterday in the church, finding some family history connections for another family on some microfilm research. I had arranged to have some films sent here and we have had good success finding people and filling in families for the family.

We had a wonderful time on Thursday evening visiting a Macedonian family in Markdorf. We have been "teaching" them for about a year already, but have not been able to make much progress because of the language barrier. Sasha helped them really understand a lot about the church and the Gospel. I are grateful that the Lord sent us someone to help us, even though we are still trying to communicate with him!  I am also grateful for the iTranslate app on my iPad that helps us communicate with Sasha. Unfortunately, I can only use it at home and at the church (wireless access).

We went out the the elders a couple of times to try to find people in Friedrichshafen. Once, as we were looking up an old investigator, they came across a member and had a good visit with him. We knew that he lived in Friedrichshafen, but never knew where or how to contact him. Now we have a connection. The Lord moves us where we need to be.

Also this week we have had the World Cup soccer games. Yes, it has been a bit crazy here. Last night the German team won the final championship game (as I am sure you probably already know). The people go absolutely nuts about these games, especially in the wins. We never see German flags anywhere, even on public buildings, but as mentioned a bit before, we see a lot right now. Also, driving around town (or even trying to sleep) is difficult when Germany wins. It was a long a noisy night last night.

There are only two pictures today and one has nothing to do with anything mentioned here - just a bit of fun.

This is a small sample of the celebrations here. They carry flags and honk horns, waving at everyone in the streets. Elder Richman got some good pictures and a video. I will see whether we can post something more later.

Whenever I see this I think about my fun days as a scout master. The boys would go nuts about this. The Germans, when they wish you a good trip say "Gute Fahrt!" 

Yes, it is pronounced that way (goo-tah fart).

Zone meeting, Covered Bridge, great people, cows and fry sauce

Here are some pictures from the past week or so. We went to Switzerland for a Zone conference and our last meeting with President and Sister Miles before they are released and go home. I will also include some pictures of the ride home.

Also I wanted to show a nice picture of a great couple whom we visit here. I have also been helping them with family history research. She has been a member here a very long time.

In the end are a few "oddities" I like to show.

Here is the Rhine River we cross as we go from Austria to Switzerland and back. I starts in the Liechtenstein area, runs in to Lake Constance (Bodensee) and then runs along the border between Switzerland and Germany, then northward past France, through Germany and empties in the ocean in Netherlands.

Two elders in identical suits and ties (and sunglasses), both from Finland

Getting ready for a group picture (more fun than the picture itself).

Attentive in the meeting.

A covered bridge in Austria (quite narrow and small). Trucks are not allowed.

This shows you how narrow the road is coming to an from the bridge. It is a major roadway crossing this part of Austria.

We finally got a good picture of this beautiful hillside near our city in Germany.

We have cows. They don't speak English.

Cows and goats by the hops fields.

Roland and Juditha - charming people.

They have a great idea for nursery. It is held in a basement room that has a double door, one with huge safe-style locks. I can explain this later for any who want to know. It really is not built that way for the nursery (Kindergarten).

And yes, I found Fry Sauce in Germany. Not really, it is just Mayonnaise, but it is called Frites (Fry) Sauce because they offer it to go with french fries. Utah is safe with its reputation.

Fun with words

Fun with German Words

The good thing about long German words is that they really make sense - when you understand that they are usually a lot of smaller words all stuck together. If you don't know that or don't know what those smaller words are, it can be a bit daunting.

For example, here is a label that is on a package of vine (cluster) tomatoes. They are simply called:

Cocktailrispentomaten - literally Cocktail Panicle (or bunch) tomatoes. Of course the picture is a dead giveaway because you can see the tomatoes in a bunch.

Also, food usually contains a Zufriedenheitsgarantie (satisfaction guarantee).

When you want to go to the store for the Spring Closeout Sale, you go to the Frühlingsschlussverkauf.

When we went in to get our visa, we got an Aufenthaltserlaubnis, literally "permission to be a resident."

The church words are no different. The sisters in the church attend Frauenhilfsvereinigung, or in other words, "women's help organization" (Relief Society). Sacrament meeting is Abendmahlsversammlung.

There are some interesting words that I found in the Book of Mormon. For example, in Alma when they were preparing for war it was Kriegsvorbereitungen (Alma 50:1) and the Christians were told not to "shrink" (or cower), which in German is zurückzuschrecken (Alma 43:48).

But when you get to the numbers, you really have fun. Here is the 327th year, as mentioned in in Mormon 2:3 : Dreihundertundsiebenundzwanzigsten Jahr.

I know that Mark Twain had fun with the language and wrote a book: "That Awful German Language," where part of his complaint had to do with the large words. It is a fun little book to read.

Beware of Transpiration

Our hotel room in Munich had, as one of the guest supplies, a small can of men's antiperspirant. Notice, though, that people in Germany must be like trees and plants, which transpire.

Biff

I saw this product in the store and thought about the bully in "Back to the Future," Biff.

It is a bathroom/toilet cleaning product. Biff is totally bad!  (Bad is the word for bath.)

How many ways can you say "spatula?"

Being in Europe is fun. One of the interesting things here is the multitude of languages. Everything has at least a few panels saying the same thing in another language. Sometimes, though, I think they get a little carried away.

The right side just says what this thing is (a spatula or a turner). The left says not to leave it in a hot pan - all in 23 languages.

I could not scan it, but I have a potato chip sack. The name on the front is "Crunchips   Salted" and is made in Germany. They love to use sort-of English words on their products. On the back it has what it is (in English, GB: Crunchy Potato crisps), and the ingredients, in:

German(D), English (GB), French(F), Italian(I), Spanish(E), Greek(GR), Portugal(P), Danish(DK), Bulgarian(BG), Slovenian(SLO), Croatian [not Hungarian](HR)(BIH), Russian(RUS), Armenian(ARM), Kazachstani(KZ), and Arabic(ARAB)

I guess you have a different world population who uses spatulas from those who eat potato chips.

Huzzah! We are online!

As of about 30 minutes ago, we successfully established internet access to our apartment! We should now be able to respond in a more timely manner. Also --  drum roll -- we can Skype!

Now what...

It has been so long, I am trying to remember what we did ...

Language humor (unintentional)

A couple of days ago, one of my sons (D) came in and asked why we hated our toilet. It turns out that I had placed little sticker notes on various objects around the house so that my wife could learn few German words. In German, der, die and das are the equivalents to "the" in English and each noun has a gender. We have to learn those specific articles along with the words. Anyway, he knew what was meant, but it looked nonetheless like we had a death wish on the toilet.