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Seeing only what we want to see, or what blinded too.


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I was going through some pictures the other day. I found a picture where my youngest daughter (she was the one in the frame, all my children and wife were there) is standing next to President Howard W Hunter. President Hunter is seated in a wheelchair with his wife standing behind him. It was June 1994, we were in Nauvoo listening to a Church volunteer describing "Lyon's Drug Store". It was really cool to just happen upon the Nauvoo site at the same time President Hunter was visiting. The day before I was at Cathage Jail for a large gathering asking the 150th anniversary of the death of Joseph and Hyrum. We were there on a family vacation...we started out for Kirtland, but in Kentucky while reading an Ensign and read how there would be a big event at Cathage and Nauvoo. I told the wife about it just before entering Ohio, so we took a family vote and decided to change our plans. While waiting for the televised event at Cathage, a news crew interviewed me while we waited. When the event was over I (dispite the number of people) I met both President Hinckley and Elder Ballard. That night while watching the news, I appeared on the news (via my interview) with President Hinckley, Elder Ballard and another member (a sister). 

The following morning the only thing we had not visited in Nauvoo was the Lyon's Drug Store. Just as we approached President Hunter was being wheeled in, so we went in also. So I took pictures of President Hunter, and as I said my daughter was standing next to him. When the tour was over, he shook my wife and my hand, but put his hand on the head of all four of children. Of course my wife and my children were crying, even though my youngest had no idea at four what was going on. Needless to say our last min plans to divert from our vacation plans made for a very cool vacation. 

A month or so later while reading in the Ensign, I read an article about a family who at the last min decided to go to Nauvoo. In the article the author spoke of how her family went on a private tour in the Lyon's Drug Store with President Hunter. Without seeing who the author was I asked my wife if she wrote the story and sent it to the Ensign. She said, no, so I looked at the author and told my wife this is in error. You see, the author said they were the only family in the drug store with President Hunter. I then told my wife we were the only family in the drug store with President Hunter. My wife told me to get the pictures and look at them, and big as life, I had a picture of the other family and the woman who wrote the story, pointing a camera right back at me. 

Is that just like real life, we mostly see only what we want to see? When it comes to the Gospel, this can be a common problem, or we hear what we want to hear. Since that day (or revelation) I have always made every effort to see,,hear, and study things out in my mind so that I am not mislead. The same occurs with those who don't want to believe, or can't believe. They see only what reinforces their view...do we? Often and even now there is a long running thread that conjecture is used when facts or lack of facts get in the way of preconceived ideas. Our Church leaders encourage us to pray about sermons, scriptures and all else that impacts our lives. Growing up in a different Faith, we were to accept sermons as from God without error, and to question any scripture meant we were not Christian or true believers. Our missionaries are confident to ask investigators to pray about the things they say and about the Book of Mormon. We should pray that as we see things that we see them as they are, hear things as they are, and have the confidence to do so, or the mandate too. 

I believe that our beliefs can stand that simple test, because I have been an "investigator" of the Church for 37 years now. 

How long have you been an "investigator"? 

"The blind they see no colors,

The deaf they hear no voice.

Halt not by birth it seems,

But rather so by choice."

 

From the poem, "This Day"

-Lee- 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Bill “Papa” Lee
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18 minutes ago, Pa Pa said:

I was going through some pictures the other day. I found a picture where my youngest daughter (she was the one in the frame, all my children and wife were there) is standing next to President Howard W Hunter. President Hunter is seated in a wheelchair with his wife standing behind him. It was June 1994, we were in Nauvoo listening to a Church volunteer describing "Lyon's Drug Store". It was really cool to just happen upon the Nauvoo site at the same time President Hunter was visiting. The day before I was at Cathage Jail for a large gathering asking the 150th anniversary of the death of Joseph and Hyrum. We were there on a family vacation...we started out for Kirtland, but in Kentucky while reading an Ensign and read how there would be a big event at Cathage and Nauvoo. I told the wife about it just before entering Ohio, so we took a family vote and decided to change our plans. While waiting for the televised event at Cathage, a news crew interviewed me while we waited. When the event was over I (dispite the number of people) I met both President Hinckley and Elder Ballard. That night while watching the news, I appeared on the news (via my interview) with President Hinckley, Elder Ballard and another member (a sister). 

The following morning the only thing we had not visited in Nauvoo was the Lyon's Drug Store. Just as we approached President Hunter was being wheeled in, so we went in also. So I took pictures of President Hunter, and as I said my daughter was standing next to him. When the tour was over, he shook my wife and my hand, but put his hand on the head of all four of children. Of course my wife and my children were crying, even though my youngest had no idea at four what was going on. Needless to say our last min plans to divert from our vacation plans made for a very cool vacation. 

A month or so later while reading in the Ensign, I read an article about a family who at the last min decided to go to Nauvoo. In the article the author spoke of how her family went on a private tour in the Lyon's Drug Store with President Hunter. Without seeing who the author was I asked my wife if she wrote the story and sent it to the Ensign. She said, no, so I looked at the author and told my wife this is in error. You see, the author said they were the only family in the drug store with President Hunter. I then told my wife we were the only family in the drug store with President Hunter. My wife told me to get the pictures and look at them, and big as life, I had a picture of the other family and the woman who wrote the story, pointing a camera right back at me. 

Is that just like real life, we mostly see only what we want to see? When it comes to the Gospel, this can be a common problem, or we hear what we want to hear. Since that day (or revelation) I have always made every effort to see,,hear, and study things out in my mind so that I am not mislead. The same occurs with those who don't want to believe, or can't believe. They see only what reinforces their view...do we? Often and even now there is a long running thread that conjecture is used when facts or lack of facts get in the way of preconceived ideas. Our Church leaders encourage us to pray about sermons, scriptures and all else that impacts our lives. Growing up in a different Faith, we were to accept sermons as from God without error, and to question any scripture meant we were not Christian or true believers. Our missionaries are confident to ask investigators to pray about the things they say and about the Book of Mormon. We should pray that as we see things that we see them as they are, hear things as they are, and have the confidence to do so, or the mandate too. 

I believe that our beliefs can stand that simple test, because I have been an "investigator" of the Church for 37 years now. 

How long have you been an "investigator"? 

The blind they see no colors,

The deaf they hear no voice.

Halt not by birth it seems,

But rather so by choice.

 

From the poem, "This Day"

-Lee- 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you mind me asking what the month/year the Ensign was?

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6 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

Do you mind me asking what the month/year the Ensign was?

I don't remember the month, but almost sure it was 1994, soon after the event. 

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I don't think it's necessarily that we see only what we want to see.  I think it just takes enough time and enough observation to see what there is to be seen.

Like when driving, for example.  I heard an expert on a talk radio show talk about how drivers stopped at intersections waiting to go sometimes don't see a car or a motorcycle near the intersection when they are trying to see if the "coast is clear", so to speak.  People usually want to see IF the coast is clear, not necessarily that the coast IS clear, and yet sometimes some people just don't see that the coast is not clear.  And what I found interesting was that the expert was saying that our eyes often miss something that is right in front of us because it takes a certain amount of time to be able to see something.  Not just the act of looking, but looking long enough and while paying enough attention to what there is to be seen.  A quick glance back and forth, even 2 or 3 times, is just not enough.

So the problem is that we are sometimes in too big of a hurry so that we don't pay enough attention to what is there.  Not that we don't look or that we don't try to see.

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6 minutes ago, Calm said:

Makes it much more impressive. 

Yeah, really.

Now ask her how many kids she had climbing all over her, why don't cha.

I'm seeing/ imagining 2 or 3 little ones and her still able to keep her eyes on a monitor while using a mouse and keyboard.

Edited by Ahab
dag nabbit auto complete
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To me it's all about perspective. And each person's perspective is their reality. That's why my sister remembers childhood differently than I do - she experienced it differently than I did. It's why all of us here can read the same article and have completely different takes on it.

Memories are wonderful, but not really reliable for hard evidence. And our life events color the way we see and analyze things.

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2 minutes ago, Ahab said:

Yeah, really.

Now ask her how many kids she had climbing all over her, why don't cha.

I'm seeing/ imagining 2 or 3 little ones and her still able to keep her eyes on a monitor while using a mouse and keyboard.

It was between 2 and 3 depending on the moment and I'm using my phone. Keyboards and mice are sooooo early aughts ;)

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2 minutes ago, ladyshanae said:

It was between 2 and 3 depending on the moment and I'm using my phone. Keyboards and mice are sooooo early aughts ;)

Yeah I'm using a phone now too, and have been for about a year now, but it doesn't seem like it was that long ago when I used a destop and for some reason I still picture in my mind's eyes most people sitting at a desk and using desktop computers.

But I'll admit that I could be wrong about that.

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10 hours ago, Calm said:

Makes it much more impressive. 

I find that astounding. I have to give up what I am doing on any computer when my grandchildren and possibly their friends start on me.

Glenn

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16 hours ago, Calm said:

Thank you for finding the article, oddly this was published in 1995. So she had the pictures. While I was taking my pictures, she has her camera out taking a picture that would have me and my taking a picture. She has a black skirt, red blouse with a white jacket. She had to have seen the pictures when she wrote the article. Had my wife not told me to go back and see the pictures, I would have wrote the same thing. Either way, it was a very good day, President Hunter was very frail but very polite with all in the room, taking the time to speak with everyone as long as it took. During the tour he was falling in and out of sleep. At Cathage Jail, it was so hot and many fans were put on the stage. Then the clouds grew dark and everyone feared a storm, but all we got were the cool winds, the temp dropped about 15 degrees and stayed that way during the ceremony which was televised. When we got home a friend asked why we did not attend the broadcast...I responded, "I was there a few rows back and was in the newscast". Anyway I looked and could not find the article...so thankful some of you did. I love the posters here! 

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23 minutes ago, Pa Pa said:

She had to have seen the pictures when she wrote the article.

Possibly.  Otoh, she might be like my family who waits until we have a stack of film to go get processed (easier tech actually means less pictures as we never print them up now and the tech they are stored on gets lost a lot, sigh).  Or she may not have looked at them when she got them but just shoved them into the picture box.  Another habit we had.  There is a table in a spare room that has been laden for a number of years with both pictures and frames to put them in.  I don't know why I avoid them and prefer my mental images.

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2 hours ago, Calm said:

Possibly.  Otoh, she might be like my family who waits until we have a stack of film to go get processed (easier tech actually means less pictures as we never print them up now and the tech they are stored on gets lost a lot, sigh).  Or she may not have looked at them when she got them but just shoved them into the picture box.  Another habit we had.  There is a table in a spare room that has been laden for a number of years with both pictures and frames to put them in.  I don't know why I avoid them and prefer my mental images.

Good point. Makes me wonder if I should send this story to e Ensign or Church News to point out the lesson of seeing only what we want to see. It is a valuable lesson for all, to see all things as they are. 

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4 hours ago, Pa Pa said:

Thanks to great people, now we have it. :) I love this website! 

I searched through each article in the Ensign, but was looking for the photo, and bypassed the article, so I tried! ;) Glad the smarties on here found it. :) ETA: Oh, I didn't bypass it, if this was clear in 1995.

Edited by Tacenda
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I think it likely that both families were so focused on their experience with Pres. Hunter that they had tunnel vision rather than mentally phasing out the other family because 'seeing what they wanted to see'.

Definitely shows though how we can fool ourselves.

I was just reading an article about how dreams incorporate memory with the suggestion (if I understood it correctly, it was a skim in the therapist's office) that at times the dream may alter or even become part of the memory.  Such studies of memory definitely make it obvious that memory is not a simple reliving of a past experience like the replay of a video, but an experience in and of itself and thus should not be expected to be a record of the past event even if we live and make judgments based on memory as if they are.

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