"Sunday, after putting my primary class materials in the car in preparation to leave church, I walked over to the Schmidt's van to ask if Scott Whitrock and I could home teach later in the evening. It turned out Scott was not available, and so we postponed Home Teaching until this week. However, the Schmidts and I had a very interesting conversation, which became the theme for the week. Chris' Mom, Laurie Schmidt, has been waiting for a new dress and several other things to come together before going to the temple to be sealed to Norbert (../0216.html, ../0217.html, ../0219.html, ../0225.html, ../0227.html, ../0246.html, and ../0340.html). Chris has wanted to be sealed to his parents for time and eternity since before he went on his mission to Norway. In this way, Chris and I have been kindred spirits as long as we have been neighbors in what is now The Estates at Green Trails.
Last month when Scott and I went Home Teaching the conversation centered around going to the Houston temple and sealing the Schmidts: Laurie to Norbert, and Chris to Laurie and Norbert. When I walked over to the car, Chris informed me `this is the week.' They wanted to do the sealing on Thursday evening. Chris is driving Anna to college at BYU-Idaho (Rick's College) the next week, and this seemed like a good time for everyone. Sister Schmidt was in the back of the car, and she confirmed feeling like it was the right time for this important step. So there was a trip to the temple put on our calendar for Thursday evening for the purpose of sealing the Schmidts.
Monday night Rob and David came over for Family Home Evening. Rob brought the movie `Powaqqats,' which means `an entry, a way of life, that consumes the life forces of other beings in order to further it's own life.' This is the second in a trilogy of movies, and is suppose to be focused on the Southern Hemisphere, although many of the places shown are north of the equator. The basic idea of these movies is to start with pictures of the natural environment, i.e. beautiful southwestern landscapes time-lapse movies showing the sun coming up, the clouds going by, the sun setting, the stars traveling overhead, the sun coming back up, etc. Then the movies go faster and faster, showing time-lapse movies of traffic and people walking across a busy intersection in a major town. The images are provocative. Powaqqats starts with thousands of workers in a copper mine carrying dirt out to the top of the open pit mine. It is the most realistic modern day example of what the slavery that built the pyramids, the towers in MesoAmerica, or places like the giant lake at The Summer Palace in Beijing are like. In the special features, we learned the first movie in this set is about the Northern Hemisphere, and is based on the Hopi word koyaanisqatsi. Quoting from a previous Thoughtlets (../0112.html), this word is the basis for Stanza IV.B.60. in Prime Words:
which in my mind ties to the quote of Isaiah 9 in II Nephi 19:18 where it says:
The two movies from the trilogy I've seen have nuclear explosions, pictures from the death camps at Auchwitz or of the skulls from the killing fields in Cambodia. And even with these graphic statements of man's inhumanity to man, I think the movies are worthwhile for even young children to see and to think about and especially to talk about with their parents. The other similar movie Rob brought over several weeks ago is called `Baracka' (0531.html). I looked it up on the web, Baracka is not part of the trilogy, and the trilogy movies are described at http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org:
When I got to work Les Denham and I spent some time catching up. His twin brother, John Denham, is coming over from Australia for a visit and arrives on November 2nd. We talked about surprising Lisa by having John stay at our house for a while. I think the plans have changed since then. II&T was asked by VRMT to bid on a large interpretation project for Exxon-Mobil Nigeria. The bid was for $500,000 and involves six months work. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this, especially since it would use one or maybe both of my Landmark licenses for six months, and could generate $10,000 per month extra income. Lastly, Les starts on four to six week regional interpretation of onshore Gulf Coast on Monday. He is subcontracted to Haliburton, who are working for a large integrated oil company. Looks like the high oil and gas prices are finally starting to reach exploration geophysics. Now if prices would only raise to about $6.00 per gallon, we might see some sanity start to come into the way we build our cities and live our lives. Economics would see to it that life would no longer be centered around the automobile, and it would solve most of the internal combustion engine emission problems the political left are so worried about.
Wednesday evening we watched some old movies, and as I had done since Sunday, and did through Friday night, I was working on my Book of Mormon word count patterns. It would be much quicker to program the problem, and I don't want to take the time to learn how to do this. Oh well!
Thursday was the evening we went to the temple for the purpose of sealing the Schmidts. I got home about 5:40, changed into my suit, got my temple clothes, and was ready when Chris arrived about 6:00 with his Mom to pick up Andrea and I. Michelle is working downtown, and she met us at the temple. Temple weddings, or sealing for time and eternity by the power of the priesthood, are short, simple, and sweet. There were tears of gratitude. President Collins Steward performed the ordinances. Chris was proxy for his Dad when Norbert was sealed to Laurie Knup Schmidt. I was proxy for Norbert when Chris was sealed to Norbert and Laurie. Andrea and I were proxy for the sealing of two other couples, then Chris and Michelle were proxy for sealing two other couples, then Sister Schmidt and a friend of Chris' from north of the freeway were proxy for the sealing of yet another two couples. Of course, all of you kids were born in the covenant, and thus sealed for time and eternity at birth, and so the only way you will experience this most sacred of priesthood ordinances is by standing in proxy for someone else, as I did in sealing the Schmidts.
As we were leaving the temple I took a couple of photos of us at the temple door (http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Schmidts/050818_Schmidt_Sealing/). After we left the temple we drove down to FM 1960 to La Madaline's, where we had a very nice meal and good conversations. Michelle and Chris live in a different world than we do, and I enjoy spending time with them. Sister Schmidt has a hard time hearing, and I think it was a special night for her. Certainly she was please with how pleased Chris was.
Friday morning in the paper there was an article about a research team at UT-Dallas which has invented a way to weave carbon nanotubes to create nanotube sheets. Nanotubes are tiny, submarine shaped bits of carbon with amazing strength, electrical conductivity, and other properties, which have only been able to be manufactured in very short lengths up to now. The announced nanotubes are 2 inches wide and 50 nanometers thick, or about 2,000 times thinner than a human hair. At this thickness 250 acres of solar sail made of nanotube sheets would weigh less than 70 pounds. This material has the perfect properties to be the skin for Buckminster Fuller's Cloud Nine Floating Ternsegrity Spheres. Oh that there was money to pursue ideas! Oh well!
Friday at GDC I forgot that Cindy Pevey, one of GDC's sales people, had set up a lunch at Anadarko with Sam Mentemeir. So I took a lunch, and ended up bringing it home and eating it for lunch on Saturday. Sam had a friend with him, and we went to a very nice Italian Restaurant on the open mall in The Woodlands. It was adjacent to where they have a river boat. Pretty fancy digs. Nice lunch, and we have interest from Anadarko in a big project as a result of the lunch. When I got home there was a Domino's Pizza from Chris Schmidt. Evidently he was stuck in traffic, and called Andrea to go out to his office in Katy and sit in the office until he was able to get there, and this was his payment. Nice. Although it was sufficient payment to be able to participate in sealing the Schmidts. Especially, as later that evening there was a call from Andrea's friend Carole, who has recently been released as a Relief Society President and who needed to talk to someone outside of Washington, Utah. An 80 year old lady in her ward was passing a car that had stopped in the middle of the block, and ran over and killed the 10 year old son of one of Carole's friends. Carole got the call on her cell phone at the swimming pool and went to their house in her swimming suit. At the funeral, the boy had a missionary tag on, and his friends that saw the accident sang the opening song: `I Hope They Call Me On A Mission.' The father is an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), and there were EMT's from as far away as Las Vegas in their uniforms at the funeral. The father gave a talk on the resurrection and the plan of life and the importance of being sealed for time and eternity as a family, having his son born in the covenant as part of his eternal family, and temporary separation.
Ben also called Friday evening. He and Sarah have purchased their tickets and made their plans for Christmas. They will be spending Saturday and Sunday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with us. Audrey and Sara Ellyn have to work that evening, we don't know Heather's plans, and hopefully everyone else will be able to be here for one of those days.
I was working on my Book of Mormon pattern finding stuff and watching a movie, and Rob called. He was in The Woodlands at the house of a friend of David Hergenroter. Turns out it was Larry Lind. We worked together when I was at Mobil in Dallas in Field Operations. Rob put him on the phone, and we talked four 45 minutes. He has had his own seismic crews for years, and I've seen his advertisements and heard of his work and had not talked to him since 1979. What a small world it is.
Saturday morning I mowed the lawns at 8:00, and was finished by about 8:30, well before it got hot. I decided that since we are not going to the Hafen Reunion this year that I would work on the Hafen genealogy, put it on the web, and send a copy to Rick Hafen to give to interested folks at the reunion. This turned out to be a pretty big job (0525.html). About noon, we drove down by the office to be at a very nice Italian Restaurant on Post Oak called Maggino's for Aaron Peterson's wedding reception lunch at 1:00. It was really nice. It is always nice to see Mike and Susan Reed. Mike told me I never change, and Steve Salt piped up and said I was always ugly. Aaron and his bride were sealed in the Houston Temple. There are some digital photos of friends and happenings on the website (http://www.walden3d.com/photos/NottinghamCountryWard/050820_AaronPeterson_Reception/).
We drove back home, and I worked some more on the Hafen genealogy. Then at 5:45, we drove over to the Cimmeron Parkway Community Center for Daniel Flannigan's wedding reception. I didn't take as many photos, and there are some on the website (http://www.walden3d.com/photos/NottinghamCountryWard/050820_DanielFlanigan_Reception/). There were many of the same people at this reception. Daniel and his bride were sealed in the Logan Temple. We left the reception in time to go to a 7:20 showing of `March of the Penguins.' Great show. Monogamous family life under the harshest conditions on the face of the planet. Everyone should see this, and think about the message behind this exciting side of nature. When we got home I kept working on the Hafen genealogy.
Sunday morning I got ready for my Primary Class titled `Remembering Jesus Christ When We Take the Sacrament.' Two of the kids are a little active, and it is a great class. Teaching Primary is one of the best callings in the church. It is so special to listen to the children say their prayers and talk to our Savior like he is in the room with us. And it has lasting impact, as shown by the note I received from Shannon Conners (../9731.html, ../9825.html, ../0021.html, ../0232.html, ../0419.html, and 0532.html):
Scott Whitrock was ill, and so Andrea went Home Teaching with me to the Minors. I visited Schmidts and Dong Liu alone. Chris was the only one home when I first got over there, and he wanted to talk about sealing the Schmidts. When I got home I kept working on the Hafen genealogy, and I could not help but be spiritually touched by the events of the week as I built new, for what will hopefully become eternal families if they are not already, Family Group Sheets and Pedigree Charts."