Back to Prison

In 1999, I had just left my off-shore job and I was able to find work at a prison about 60 miles from our home as a computer technician. I only worked there for a few months, but I met some inmates that were Mormons like I am. One of them hooked me up with the prison chaplain and asked that I start a "sunday school" class for the Latter-Day Saint inmates. I decided to do it and a friend of mine, who had spare time and income on his hands, got involved with it as well.  Many Saturdays, we would make the drive to the prison in my friend truck, spend some time with a handful of inmates, and drive back, which took up the bulk of the day.

It was a marvelous experience and I can say that some of my most enduring spiritual experiences happened in a tiny, cinder-block room in the bowels of the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility (GCCF)!

Sadly, as the years passed, I guess my friend got burned out and dispirited as our favorite prison chaplain died of cancer and the cost of travel and time was taking a toll on my family and causing a few problems, so our prison visits came to an end.

I don't remember when we stopped visiting at the prison, so I don't know how long it has been since I did it, but it has been a long while.  A few months ago, I got the impression to look up what the Church (of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) had on its website about prison services and was quite impressed with the progress made. When we started fifteen years ago, there was very little guidance and we were basically on our own.  I said something to my wife, looked up what prisons were nearby, and dropped the subject.

Then, one of our high councilors came and spoke at our ward and I had an impression to ask him what the stake was doing for prison services.  He surprised me by saying that they were just getting something pulled together and that they would love to have someone who had some experience or even interest in doing this! I was hooked up with another man who the stake had identified and finally got on the phone with him last night.

So, I am getting back involved with LDS Prison Services after a bit of a hiatus and it seems to be motivated by the Lord. Perhaps there will be more on this in future posts.

I am the Master, Not the Doctor

Lest you think me cocky with the title, it was not not me that proclaimed myself a Master.  After nearly eighteen months of effort and lack of sleep, Western Governors University has proclaimed me a Master of Science.  I am told I have mastered Information Technology and have a specialization in Network Management, so who am I to argue with that?

Now that this is done, I will likely take a bit of a break and then get back to my more philosophical writing, if I can muster such.

The Quasi-Indefatigable Xenolith Server Returns

After a wrestling match with AT&T U-verse, the long stretch of server-less-ness has finally come to an end. If you thought http://qix.me, http://quix.us, gopher://qix.me, http://shetlandic.info, and all the rest had disappeared into the fading purple of the World-Wide-Web sunset, you were wrong. It lives on!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

We have a house under contract in Oklahoma City and the plan is to close on it and move in by the end of February. Not too long thereafter in March 2014, I hope to have the server back on-line (likely with far better bandwidth than previously) and resume regular operations.

Extended Downtime

If you have noticed that http://qix.me and gopher://qix.me have been off-line, that is because my family has relocated to Oklahoma and our situation is too fluid for now to allow for a decent internet connection for the home server.  I have no idea when this will be remedied.

The Eyring Method and How to Spread the Gospel

A few years back, President Henry B. Eyring gave a talk about a scripture study method he had used in the past. It was basically to read one verse (or two) a day and ponder it.  He said that he gained so many new insights from taking his study very, very  slowly. I decided that day that I would try that out.

It has been years now and I decided to pick up where I had been reading in the Book of Mormon with chapters at a time (and inconsistently).  I can't say when I started (perhaps three or four years ago), but I began at 2nd Nephi chapter 10 and I am just now at approaching Alma chapter 27.  As you can see, it is slow going!

As predicted, there have been many insights and there is one today.  I don't know if I will blog about this every day, but perhaps this will contribute to more regular posts.  It is from Alma 26:29 (a rather long verse) which talks about two subjects: How to spread the gospel and what reception you can expect to receive.

And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their ^asynagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been ^bstoned, and taken and bound with ^cstrong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.

So, in homes, on the streets, on hills (find me one around here), and in their temples and synagogues are potential places to teach people about the gospel.  Lately, it is a lot of Facebook and Twitter. The medium is not that important - it is the spreading of the message.

Now, it goes into what you should expect to receive: stoning, chains (in a modern analogue), prison.  It doesn't sound pleasant, but for Aaron and his brethren (who are being spoken of here) it may have been a preparation to enjoy the numerous conversions that came later through his teaching of Lamoni's father, who was a powerful king.

The final statement, the delivery from these trials by the power and wisdom of God, is the reward for persevering in preaching. It isn't that you won't have problems, but that you will endure them and enjoy the joy of watching a soul come closer to God through your efforts.  I have had that a few times, but not nearly often enough.

So, the thought for today is to do more in that thing we call missionary work though it might not be pleasant sometimes.

A Few Anniversaries

I am happy to note that Lisa and I have been married for 25 years this coming Tuesday!  We will be off somewhere and sleeping in and having the sort of fun we tend to have, which is probably terribly low-key compared to most...

I also calculated something else and it has been fifteen years since "The Great Writing Year", where I penned many of my short stories, the awesome novella Rachel and Her Knight in Shining Armor, and wrote the first complete draft of a book from The Navigiary Series.  That was 1998, while I was bobbing about on the waters off the US Gulf Coast and the west coast of Africa as a seismic navigator.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of my big writing push, I am giving everyone A Free Copy of "The Joys of Autism and Christian Ethos", which is a collection of many of these stories that is available from my Amazon store.  The book will only be free for a few days, so don't hesitate to get it right now! Of course, I welcome your kind reviews of my writing!

If you are really in a celebratory mood, you can certainly check out other books by Jason Nemrow on Amazon and make me a a little money.

I'll be celebrating over the next few days and you can, too!  Happy days for us all!