No Excuses, Only Results

This is the wrist band that was recently given to me my my wife's cousin Cheryl. She's a Health and Fitness coach. Here's a link to her website. You can also like her Facebook page. She periodically comes out with weight loss challenges that are sponsored by various health and wellness companies with weekly prizes for winners. Be sure to check her out.

Since the beginning of the year, my wife and I have been on our weight loss kick. To date, I've lost 36 lbs while Karen has lost 24 lbs. For a while I was doing great. Over the past month though, the scale has started to creep back up. Karen and I had our own weight loss challenge for the month of June. Who ever lost the most weight percentage wise would win $50 to spend however they wanted. Neither one of us won. We both ended up gaining weight in the month of June.

So here I am...again. Making a commitment to myself and to my family to not only lose the weight that I regained, but to keep losing weight until I reach my ultimate goal. My motto now is the same that's on my wrist band, "No Excuses, Only Results".

How do I relate this to the scriptures? That's easy. This reminds me of D&C section 89. This section is devoted to the Word of Wisdom. To those who don't know, The Word of Wisdom is a law of health revealed by the Lord for the physical and spiritual benefit of His children. The Lord revealed which foods are good for us to eat and which substances are not good for the human body. He also promised health, protection, knowledge, and wisdom to those who obey the Word of Wisdom. Heavenly Father wants us to be at our best not only spiritually, but physically. We are promised blessings if we do so. I'm just trying to do my part.

Happy Independence Day!!!

Happy Independence day to all. Today we started the morning off with our annual Flag Raising and Pancake Breakfast Ceremony in our ward. We all had a great time. Especially Allyson. She went last year but was too young to enjoy the food or festivities.

Karen and I were ask by the Bishop to give a brief talk on what the fourth means to us since we both served in the Navy. The fourth is a special day for me. This day commemorates the day we declared with one voice that we are free to govern ourselves. I like to relate this to the premortal existence when we chose to follow Heavenly Fathers Plan of Salvation over the alternative. In doing so we were able to keep our agency to choose for ourselves. All our decisions have consequences, good or bad. But, at least they're our choices.

As a first generation American, this day has a special place in Karen's heart. Many years ago, Karen's grandmother moved to America with her daughter to provide a better way in the land of promise. Though she loved Jamaica, she felt that her and her family would have better opportunities in America. The pursuit of the American Dream.

For me, there is no greater nation than the USA. I love it so much that I was willing to serve my country in the military. No country is without mistakes. And though the U.S. has many, I can think of no other place that I would rather be. God bless America.

Below are a few of the pictures that were taken at the breakfast.

Whole World vs My Soul

Recently I made the decision to start listening to more uplifting music. This was on the heals of realizing that the music I was listening wasn't very savory. So I decided to turn the dial to our local christian station in Atlanta, 104.7 The Fish.

The first songs I heard was from an artist I've never heard of. His name is Toby Mac. The song was called "Lose My Soul". The hook of the song says, "I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul." This was a very powerful line to hear after just making the decision I made. I've spent too much time being in the world and not simply being of the world. Too many times I feel that we let the adversary seep in and negatively influence the decisions we make. I felt that this was Heavenly Father telling me that I made the right decision. Just thought I would share this with you.

Catching Up

Well...I guess I wan't lying when I said that I procrastinate lol. It's been a while since my last post. That doesn't mean I had nothing to say, just that I "didn't have time". My wife found a quote the other day that says "When you say you don't have time, you're really saying that it wasn't a priority". I see this quote getting me in a lot of trouble.

4th of July Talk
Yesterday my wife and I got a call from our Bishop. I instantly thought, "Another calling?!" I already have two! It turns out that he wants Karen and I to give a 5-10 minute talk on what Independence Day means to us since we served in the Navy. This shouldn't be too difficult...I hope. We are giving this talk on the 4th at our Annual Flag Raising and Pancake Breakfast. I can't wait to eat....I mean talk.

Roku and BYUtv
Over the weekend Karen and I decided to buy a Roku streaming media player. We have a Wii that we have been using to stream Netflix and Hulu. That's all we used it for though. So we though, why not get a Roku so that we can still have Netflix and Hulu, and a ton of other channels to choose from. One of the biggest selling points for me though was the ability to get BYUtv on the Roku along with Mormon Channel. For a mormon who doesn't have cable, having BYUtv in the home now is a huge blessing! We finally have a way to watch General Conference in our home, not to mention all of the other shows.

I recently got into a show called "The District". For those of you who don't know, it's a documentary that follows the lives of 8 LDS Elder and Sister Missionaries while they are serving in the San Diego, California mission field. It documents some of the highs and lows of their missions. I was surprised to find that it doesn't just show the success stories of people getting baptized, but it also shows the rejections that the missionaries face while spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. This show has given me a greater understanding and appreciation for the work that missionaries do. Click on the link below to check it out.

The District

Repentance

Repentance is a very serious topic for me. This is the process through which we ask Heavenly Father to forgive us of our sins. This is the point where we take ownership of our short-comings and make an honest vow to God that we will strive to commit this sin no more.

It is through the Atonement that Christ made that we are able to repent and have the opportunity to return to Heavenly Father. Without this life saving ordinance, we would be lost to Satan himself.

I have a question for you. Are you in the process of repenting? Are you currently struggling with the repentance process? Do you believe this will bring you closer to Heavenly Father?

10 Months Old

Today my baby girl is ten months old. It's hard to believe that just a short while ago she was just this little tiny person who did nothing more that sleep, eat, and poop (yep, she's mine lol).

Now, she's this beautiful little girl with a personality all her own...and her mothers. She is fast as lighting and will let you know all too often how dirty the floor really is. I love this little girl so much.

Why is Jesus Christ important to you?

I'm sitting here working on my lesson for this Sunday. The subject for this month is The Godhead. Specifically, I'm talking about Jesus Christ for this Sunday.


In the guidelines of the lesson, these questions are asked.

• Why is Jesus Christ important to you? 
• How has He influenced your life? 
• Why is it important for you to understand Jesus Christ's roles? 
• How can you discover His importance in your life?

These questions really struck me. After I read them, it occurred to me that I had never really asked myself these questions before.

I've always known that Jesus was important. That's what you're told as a child growing up. "Jesus DIED for your sins!" But, what does that really mean? For the longest time I viewed Jesus as the scary man on the cross looking down at me. As a kid I can remember thinking to myself, "Why is he staring at me? I didn't put him up there." It would be a long journey to know who Christ really is.

Jesus Christ was chosen to be our Savior. His Atonement makes it possible for us to be resurrected and to repent and be forgiven so we can return to our Heavenly Father’s presence. In addition to saving us from our sins, the Savior also offers us peace and strength in times of trial. He sets the perfect example for us, and His

teachings are the foundation for happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

Welcome

Hello to all that will begin following this blog. I hope that I will be able to bring you content about myself and my family, as well as outside sources that you will enjoy.

First things first though. My name is Frank. I’ve been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for going on nine years to date. I currently hold callings in the Aaronic Priesthood and The Boy Scouts for the Kennesaw Ward in Acworth, Greorgia.

I’m originally from Houston, Texas (Go Texans). I’ve been living here in Georgia now for about eight years though (Go Falcons). I met my wife Karen when we were stationed on the same ship in the Navy. Karen is originally from Brooklyn, New York (Go…never mind lol). Karen and I have been married for a little over 11 years by this point. In March of 2012, she gave birth to our first child. Her name is Allyson. Ally has been a complete blessing straight from Heavenly Father. I’ll go into that at a later date.

The reason I created this blog was so I could sorta…document my life and the spiritual happenings that occur in my life. I felt that a blog would be the way to do that. Kinda like a journal, but just a little fancier.

The reason I chose the title The Procrastinating Mormon was because it best describes who I am. I'm a Mormon and a notorious procrastinator. The fact that I’m even writing this post is a miracle.

In any event, again, I would like to say welcome and I hope you enjoy what’s to come.