The Story of the LIghtbulb

From Dieter F Uchtdorf's talk "We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down"  General Conference April 2009 -

On a dark December night 36 years ago, a Lockheed 1011 jumbo jet crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing over 100 people. This terrible accident was one of the deadliest crashes in the history of the United States.

A curious thing about this accident is that all vital parts and systems of the airplane were functioning perfectly—the plane could have easily landed safely at its destination in Miami, only 20 miles (32km) away.

During the final approach, however, the crew noticed that one green light had failed to illuminate—a light that indicates whether or not the nose landing gear has extended successfully. The pilots discontinued the approach, set the aircraft into a circling holding pattern over the pitch-black Everglades, and turned their attention toward investigating the problem.

They became so preoccupied with their search that they failed to realize the plane was gradually descending closer and closer toward the dark swamp below. By the time someone noticed what was happening, it was too late to avoid the disaster.

After the accident, investigators tried to determine the cause. The landing gear had indeed lowered properly. The plane was in perfect mechanical condition. Everything was working properly—all except one thing: a single burned-out lightbulb. That tiny bulb—worth about 20 cents—started the chain of events that ultimately led to the tragic death of over 100 people.

Of course, the malfunctioning lightbulb didn’t cause the accident; it happened because the crew placed its focus on something that seemed to matter at the moment while losing sight of what mattered most.

Only A Thimbleful

 "A young man who was stationed in Teheran, the capital of Iran, ... was a member of our Church. While he was there he decided to make the best use of his time and learn the Farsi language. He thought the best way of doing this would be to work with little children and have them teach him Farsi as he taught them English. ... So he found a very intelligent young pair of children, a young boy and a young girl, and through an interpreter ... he said he would teach them English on the condition that they would teach him Farsi. They were overjoyed at this opportunity and so it started. ... It was only a very short time until they were able to communicate with one another. He didn't have any teaching materials, but he did have his Service-man's Principles of the Gospel with him and his Book of Mormon, so he began to read with them out of these English books. In the course of his teaching, he taught them about the Word of Wisdom and about a whole host of things that we do and believe in our Church. One day they invited him to come and meet their uncle. ... He took the little girl on his shoulders and boy by the hand and went over to the uncle's home laughing and chatting all the way. When they got there, the uncle received him with outstretched arms. He was very, very hospitable to him and they had a wonderful time. Then finally the man got up and went over to his bookcase, opened the door, and reached in, and there was a beautiful silver tray, a silver decanter, and some very tiny cups made of silver. He brought the tray and set it down before them on that beautiful bronze table, and then he very carefully removed the cork from the decanter, and poured beautiful cherry-red wine into those little silver cups. ... [The young man] thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I don't believe in this thing, but after all, he has been so hospitable to me, and he has explained that this is a custom in his country. I don't want to offend him in any way, so I will do it.' And that is exactly what he did. As the tray reached him, he took this tiny silver cup no bigger than a thimble and toasted the man's health and drank it down. The conversation dragged immediately. A silence spread throughout the room. He became uncertain and he quickly broke off the conversation, took the little girl on his shoulders and the little boy by the hand and went outside on their way home. On their way, the little girl started to cry. He said, 'Honey, why are you crying?' She could not answer a word through her sobs, but the little boy said, 'Joe, why did you do it? Why did you do it?' And he said, 'Why did I do what?' And he said, 'Why did you take that drink?' 'Well,' he said, 'It was just a little thimble-ful.' 'Well,' the boy said, 'That doesn't make any difference. Uncle said you would do it. We told him all about the Word of Wisdom, and he said, "Those Americans talk about a lot of things, but they don't believe them." We told him that you really did, but you didn't.' Well, the [young man] said as soon as that happened, he would have given his right arm if he could only recall the action that he had done, because he knew what damage he had done to the lives of those little children. They never came back. He had lost his valuable contact and perhaps an opportunity to spread the gospel among influential people in that land" (Theodore M. Burton, Tickling the Tiger, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [Provo, 17 Jan. 1961], pp. 7-9).

creative job /money making/saving ideas

Some creative job /money making/saving ideas a friend shared (thanks Sue):

1) Advertise on your car. drivenmediaonline.com or freecarmedia.com

2)Test websites at usertesting.com

3)Participate in focus groups. findfocusgroups.com and call each one
to have your name added to the list so they will call you as they come
up.

4)Perform tasks for businesses. mturk.com Search through the human
intelligence tasks to find out which ones you are up for. It could be
translation, data gathering, writing product reviews or testing
websites.

5)Pet paid to tweet. Sign up at sponsoredtweets.com where advertisers
look for tweeters to tout their brands.

6) Be an online expert. Field questions related to your expertise.
Prove your knowledge with credentials and quick subject matter test at
justanswer.com where visitors submit inquiries for a suggested price.
The more you answer, the better your chances for more questions. On a
side note, when I was doing my taxes with Turbo Tax this year, I asked
a question to their expert online. A H was the responder! She is my
visiting teacher!

7) Hawk your handiwork. etsy.com (we know about etsy) what you may not
know is that it only costs about 20 cents for four months. If you have
handmade items, this is great way to market them.

8)Ask for $5. Fiverr.com. The website where you can list anything you
are willing to do for $5. It can be silly stuff like singing in a
banana suit! One participant made $1000 by writing messages on a sandy
beach and photographing them. Whether you make great power points or
killer maid- of-honor speaches or offer organizing advise.

9)Put your photos up for sale. (I thought this was GREAT!) Submit your
jpeg images for free to stock photography sites such as
shutterstock.com. They will pay up to $28 whenever some downloads your
image. Istockphoto pays 15% of each download. FYI. I have used some of
these sites when I was in marketing. I paid for the pictures! This one
is a no brainer if you have some pictures.

10) Pick up insurance bonuses. Make sure your health and life
insurance KNOWS you are non-smokers, you workout at the gym, etc. Many
reduce their premiums.

11) Sell your gift cards. Sometimes we collect gift cards we will
never use. Sell them on any of those sites. Google, gift card
exchange. Tranversely, you can buy cards you DO use at a savings on
these sites. I use them all the time! Sometimes up to 30% off. I have
never had a problem.

12) Jewelry. cash4gold.com and exboyfriendjewelry.com are a couple of
the many websites you can turn to if you want to sell necklaces, rings
and other gold jewelry. You may get a better rate at a local jewelry
store. My daughter had her old class ring that she shrunk out of. She
got $200!

13)Gadgets. DON'T THROW OUT THAT OLD GAME SYSTEM! Instead trade in
your small electronic at gazelle.comand earn cash-$100 on average
according to the site. They will tell you where you can sell your
product and ship your gadget free of charge and you will recieve a
check in the mail.

14) Books. At bookscouter.com, enter the ISBN number for any book you
hoping to sell and it will compare more than 40-bookbuying sites. You
decide which one you want to sell to or sell on and go that site and
do what is necessary to sell them.

15) Clothes. Gently used clothes and childrens things can be
liquidated at local 'used' clothing shops.

16) Everything else. ebayclassifieds.com and craigslist.com are free
to list on. Last week we pulled the toilet out of our master bath and
replaced it. I put it on CL for $50. A guy came and bought it for $40.
Also, use the CL for free stuff to give. When I pulled out my old
stove and the counter with the sink still attached, both were dump
worthy. The stove still works and the counter and sink worked, but
more for a farm or garage. Same with our old wheat! They were gone in
minutes! When dad pulled out all the wood in the garage for the
intended bathroom we never put in, I took a picture of the pile and
said free. A lady and her hubby came and took nearly all of it. Again,
saving us the dump trip.

F Jesse -- a short piece worth reading...

Thanks for sharing, Moroni

---

Interesting bit about failure to success.

Who would have ever guessed? 

But once you know, you understand.

Jesse, the rest of the story A DREAMER AND HIS DREAM Let me tell you, Jesse hated his job. And you would too, I imagine, if you had to do it. Jesse was a chicken plucker. That's right. He stood on a line in a chicken factory and spent his days Pulling the feathers off dead chickens so the rest of us Wouldn't have to. It wasn't much of a job. But at the time, Jesse didn't think he was much of a person. His father was a brute of a man. His dad was actually thought to be mentally ill And treated Jesse rough all of his life. Jesse's older brother wasn't much better. He was always picking on Jesse and beating him up. Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia. Life was anything but easy. And he thought life didn't hold much hope for him. That's why he was standing in this chicken line, Doing a job that darn few people wanted. In addition to all the rough treatment at home, it seems That Jesse was always sick. Sometimes it was real Physical illness, but way too often it was all in his head. He was a small child, skinny and meek. That sure didn't help the situation any. When he started to school, he was the target for every Bully on the playground. He was also a hypochondriac of the first order. For Jesse, tomorrow was not always something to be Looked forward to. But, he had dreams. He wanted to be a ventriloquist. He found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with Sock puppets and saved his hard earned dollars until He could get a real ventriloquist dummy. When he got old enough, he joined the military. And even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms Persisted, the military did recognize his talents and Put him in the entertainment corp. That was when his world changed. He gained confidence. He found that he had a talent for making people laugh, And laugh so hard they often had tears in their eyes. Yes, little Jesse had found himself. You know, folks, the history books are full of people Who overcame a handicap to go on and make a success Of themselves, But Jesse is one of the few I know of Who didn't just overcome it. Instead he used his paranoia To make a million dollars, and become one of The best-loved characters of all time in doing it! Yes, that little paranoid hypochondriac, who transferred His nervousness into a successful career, still holds the Record for the most Emmys ever given in a single category. The wonderful, gifted, talented, and nervous comedian Who brought us Barney Fife Was Jesse Don Knotts. NOW YOU KNOW, "THE REST OF THE STORY" There is a street named for him and has a statue in Morgantown , West Virginia, his place of birth.

Free dental clinic in Sacramento Aug. 24-25

Free dental clinic in Sacramento Aug. 24-25

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Everybody needs Panda therapy

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Thanks, Elaine L

Is it any wonder the world has fallen in love with these animals? Mom? Can you come and get me down now? This is sooooo therapeudic... Kung Fu Panda...bring it on! C'mon guys, you can do it, 1, 2, 3.... Lift! Does this log make my butt look fat? Peek-A-Boo..... Oops! Slight miscalculation. You go. I'll just stay here and rest my head a little bit. It wasn't me! It was just sitting here, I swear it! Tell me where it is or I'll tickle you... Pardon me but do you have a napkin? Awww, these little kids are so cute!!! How come I always get time out??? Just a few more minutes, OK? zzzzzz. I cannot believe that I'm stuck in this tree again. What is the matter with me? I'm sure there's a way out somewhere. I saw an ant go this way yesterday. I can't find it, neither can I, me neither.... Contemplating his Panda day... Forgive me Father, for I have sinned...

STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S. T. R.

Stroke has a new indicator:    They say if you e-mail this to ten people, you stand a chance of saving one life. Will you send this along? Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S. T. R. STROKE IDENTIFICATION: During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ...she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 PM Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough. RECOGNIZING A STROKE Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR. Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions: S *Ask the individual to SMILE. T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (coherently, i.e. It is sunny out today.) R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. New Sign of a Stroke : Stick out Your Tongue Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke. A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this  shares it with 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.