(10) - Procrastination At Its Best

You know what? I just have to laugh.  This post was intended to be deep and doctrinal since it is my last one before I shall be graded on this assignment for this block.  As usual I'm a late sleeper, I go to bed, in general, at about 1 or 2 in the morning.  As a result of homework and my online business, it has been a long day.  I saved the best for last.  My online blog.  As I entered my gmail I notice that all the people I am following are also up doing their blogs.  One was submitted just 46 seconds ago. Another was just over a minute.  Then there's me.  I'm doing my 10th post at 1:04 in the morning.  One would laugh and say that I'm ridiculous for doing so, and others would scorn and chew me out (that would be my mother), but I am who I am, and I function how I function.  Since we're on the topic at hand, I do want to address the issue of procrastination.  We all know how bad it is to procrastinate.  One week we might have a midterm and we wait until the night before to study 2 months worth of material so that we can "survive" the test.  On the other hand maybe we take our sweet time in getting a work project due, later finding out that we had to have it in yesterday.  Procrastination is bad, but I want to put in that procrastination is also good.  How? Well, it's the factor that defines us as humans.  Imagine if we ALWAYS did everything on time with preciseness.  Would we be human?  No, we would be robots.  So as humans, I would go as far to say that it is healthy to procrastinate.  Obviously we can't go to the extreme, but it is healthy to have to do something last minute.  It gives excitement to our lives.  It makes us human.  It defines us.  So next time your mom gets mad at you for procrastinating whatever it might be, look her in the eyes and say,"I procrastinate, therefore I am human."

(9) - Valentine's Dilema

I don't know what to do. My whole life I've been surrounded by the tradition of Valentine's Day. Where men and women alike fall in love and create a love that flourishes. My problem is that I've never truly found that special person that will be  with me through thick and thin. This Valentine's Day I really was hoping to have someone by my side. In fact I did have someone, but things didn't work out too well. Love is a crazy thing that makes people do really crazy things. This Valentine's Day I really wish I could've had that one person by my side, but things don't go how you always want to. One lesson that I've learned is that his life it is important to find that special someone who make you feel happy and important no matter what you do, what you say, or what you think. So this Valentine's Day despite the fact that I don't have that special someone, I am going to search and find her. Hopefully by this time next year I will be with her and will be able to share a very special Valentine's Day with her. To all of you lovers out there I wish you a very happy Valentine's Day and wish you success in your relationship with your counterpart! Love them, cherish them, and always make them feel special. That is the spirit of love!

(8) - The Importance of A Mother

All my childhood I never realized just how important mothers are.  I would go as far to say that I really under appreciated my mother.  I feel like all teenagers do, but I did it more than normal.  I was an idiotic teenager and my mother and I would get in fights all the time. Don't get me wrong, I loved her, but there were things that we just didn't get along in and it really got on my nerves.  I feel like the Lord was preparing me to learn the biggest lesson of my life.  That lesson was that I truly need to appreciate all the little things that my mom has done for me. She gave me life for crying out loud!  haha.  When I went on my mission, I really understood my dependence on this great idol in my life.  In fact the scripture in Alma 56:47-48 really took a new light in my eyes. It reads," 47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."  Such strong words are spoken.  If we in our own lives trust in our mothers (or fathers, guardians, mentors, teachers, etc...) then we have no reason to doubt.  No reason to fear.  No reason to question.  These are people that have been around the block.  They know what is best for our eternal progression.  They know what is best for our eternal happiness.  I love my mother.  She is my best friend.  One of the biggest blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon me.  I am in his debt for this great blessing.  I shall always thank him for my sweet, tender, loving mother.  Now my advice to all of you is the same lesson I learned. Lover your mother.  Cherish her. If by chance you don't have a mother close by or living, you can always respect her by respecting the other women icons at your side.  Treat them like you would your own mother.  That is my exhortation.  Do it!

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AROUND!

(7) - (response to Bednar) Taking Pride In My Roots Part 2

This past Sunday in my singles ward we heard an excellent talk by our stake president. I don't know why it impacted me so hard but it had a great effect in my heart. He stood up and presented a familiar topic. He addressed the importance of family history and how we need to get more involved. It was neat because he made an interesting remark, he asked us who is going to tell our ancestors stories to our children of we ourselves don't know them? It hit me hard that I need to get more involved in family history. In fact his topic tied back into what Elder Bednar said respectively. How it is necessary to do family history to unite our families. We truly can't know where we're going until we know where we're from! This talk inspired in me the need to get onto familysearch.com and start researching names and not just that, but rather prepare those names to bring them to the temple. He thought of that really inspired me and initiated an excitement in my soul! The spirit definitely was speaking to me and testifying of the truthfulness of this principal! I'm excited to start working more in this and I know that it will bless my life more than I can imagine!

(6) Taking Pride In My Roots

As I have been down here at BYU I have learned many life lessons.  One great one that I have learned this past week is to always be proud of where I come from.  Lots of people would say that they are ashamed of their past, of their old friends, of where they come from, or of their family.  I'm here to say that no one should EVER have the need to feel shame for where they came from.  Life isn't about being concentrated on what we already did.  The past was made to remember, but not to live in.  We have to realize that the people we were yesterday help us be better people tomorrow.  So where we came from yesterday is going to determine what we want for our "tomorrow."

I am proud to say that I am an Idaho bred Hofman.  I come from a family very based upon tradition and roots and I am proud to say that I come from a solid family that has taught me so many different life lessons.  It really helps me with my every day decisions.  I frequently think of my ancestors in almost every step in life that I take.  When I'm about to tell a joke I try to think,"What would Grandma Hofman think about me saying this?" or when I'm going to make a purchase I think,"Would dad approve of this purchase and it's worth for me?"  It's good to know where we come from so we can know where we're going.

I am named after a man who has been a huge idol in my life.  He was a man from my past that is continuing to help me in my life direction despite the fact that he has passed on.  His name is Hugh Lynn Brown and he is my grandfather.  A stellar man who has played a major role in my growth as a young man.  He was probably the biggest stud alive.  I always remember him as the first one to take on a challenge.  One great memory is when we would go to Lake Powell as an extended family he would always find the biggest rock on the beach that he could and with out fear in his eyes he'd hoist it above his head and just start walking out into the water until the waves covered him and the rock and he was walking down and down. I remember that it was always a few minutes before we'd see a balding head pop up about 50 or 60 feet out into the water.  He was so much fun and really taught people through his actions and love.  I really hope that this part of my past will help shape me as the man that I want to be and as the father that I aspire to become.

The past determines the future. Even if our past was dark, what lies ahead is always bright!

My Grandpa Hugh Lynn Brown.  Such a Stud!

(5) Real Life Pondering

This week has been full of pondering and soul searching to be 100% honest.  Some very impactful events in my life have caused me to do an auto-analysis on where I am in life and where I want to be later down the road.  Ten years ago my idea of "what I wanted in the future" has dramatically changed as to what it is now.  I always have seen myself as a successful person in the future.  One with a wife, kids, good job, modest house, and other nice things, but over the past few years I've really had to analyze the "how" aspect of that.  For example:  How am I going to become a success?  How is my wife going to be?  How will I teach my kids so they also grow up successful and happy?  There are so many aspects to which all these questions tie back to.  Overall, as I did some pondering, I realized that the best way to accomplish this is through the gospel.  I've never had to rely on it more in my life than now.  As a recently returned missionary I came back to a life style full of challenges and obstacles. I'll tell you what, it has been THE most stressful moment in my life.  The weight of school, my social pressures, business opportunities, etc.  In my moments of despair and sadness I have felt the weight relieved as I've learned to continue trusting in the Lord.  I've never been the best at this, but I just want to stress the importance of always relying on the Lord in all that we do.  My biggest challenge as a young adult was figuring out "How" we do that.  I still am trying to figure it out, but I've learned one thing amazing.  God has already given us the way to know how to trust in him.  It's called "The Scriptures."  In his infinite wisdom he has left us some amazing tools such as the Book of Mormon and the Bible to give us a guideline of how to follow him.  If we trust in the Lord we will trust in the words that he has caused to be written.   I Absolutely LOVE the scriptures.  They have changed my life, and in those moments of desperation I can always fall back onto them.  So wherever you may be, or in whatever moment I would challenge you to always have the scriptures in hand.  Whether it be on your smart phone or in those new "miniature scripture set" that they sell in Deseret Book, have them on hand.  I promise that you will feel a better sense of security as you know that you have the word of God within your finger's reach.