Blessings

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Dear Roice, Ben, Paul, Melanie, Sara, and Rob,

cc: file, Marti, Sara and Des, Diane Cluff, Tony Hafen, Darrell and Nancy Krueger, Eric and Annette Krueger, Eric and Renee Miner, Claude and Katherine Warner, Forest and Amy Warner, and Ivan and Chell Warner.

Welcome to "Thoughtlets." This is a weekly review of an idea, belief, thought, or words that will hopefully be of some benefit to you, my children, with an electronic copy to on-line extended family members. Any of you can ask me not to clutter your mail box at any time.

What an exciting week! What a wonderful time we live in! What big challenges we face! What wonderful blessings we have!

Since Saturday the 9th, the following has happened:

• Rick Zimmerman, a friend I met at PAIRS and the President and Owner of Texas Independent Exploration, invited me over to his house for dinner. We not only talked about emotional challenges, but Rick has become quite interested in some of the things I am pursuing. We talked about Project Mind (http://www.walden3d.com/project_mind), about the Virtual Environment Technology Laboratory CAVE (http://www.vetl.uh.edu), about Advanced Structures Incorporated (http://www.asidesign.com) where Roice works, about Bill Bavingers work on pattern finding and mapping data against the infinite grid (http://www.walden3d.com/SIC), about advanced computer graphics research at the University of Utah (http://www.cs.utah.edu/~sci/), about our intelligent habitat / 3-D cities built around people instead of cars concepts (http://www.walden3d.com/w3d/design/W3D89A), etc. Rick talked about taking his daughter to visit his Father in Maryland earlier in the week and how they had visited the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. He was particularly struck by a quote something to the effect of `Who is the next Columbus?' Over the last ten years he has built a company with considerable net worth and he wants to identify and fund a more positive future of mankind. He has become quite skeptical of human nature, and yet he still hopes for a better world.
• Sunday was Missionary Correlation Meeting, High Priest Group Leadership meeting, Ward Conference (with excellent talks by Bishop Daniels and by President Jones), substituting for Chris Schmidt's Sunday School Class, Priesthood meeting, High Priest Missionary Committe Meeting at the house, cooking dinner for Chris Nickol, Melanie's Young Women of Excellence Award Ceremony, and finishing the reading of President Hinkely's biography: `Go Forward with Faith.'
• I spent Monday and Tuesday working in Austin at the Bureau of Economic Geology (http://www.utexas.edu/research/beg/index.html). We are coming to the end of a big project evaluating the potential of South Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. As we put together a formal description of the exploration prospects my mind was caught up in reviewing the impact of the Lamanites in the last days. The previous project I worked on at the B.E.G. resulted in 165 drilling locations for horizontal wells which will cost US$500,000 each to drill. The payout on those wells is about a year, and then it is almost pure profit. One of the executives from the newly combined Pedevesa (merging Lagoven, Maraven, Corpoven, and Pedevesa) visited a couple of weeks ago. As he talked about his expected new position of being in charge of all of Western Venezuela, described the relationship with OPEC, acknowledged Venezuela is currently supplying more oil to the U.S.A. than Saudi Arabia and intends to triple output over the next 10 years, and introduced me to a senior scientist, a lady, who came up to help finish off the project, I recognized the fullfillment of prophecy. These people are literally the beginning of a wave from Central and South America which will change the land of the gentiles and eventually build the New Jerusalem.
• Wednesday I had an unexpected visit with Dr. Bill Kanes, Director of the Energy and Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah Research Park. EGI (http://www.egi.utah.edu) was started about 30 years ago at The University of South Carloina in Columbia. They have the largest current oil and gas university research consortium (it numbers about the same as the Seismic Acoustics Laboratory at the University of Houston when I left to help start Landmark Graphics) and is has about 10 times more income than SAL had ($7 million for 1997). They have about 43 major oil companies paying $45,000 per year to play in their game. In addition to this, companies pay between $15,000 and $150,000 each if they choose to participate in specific geotechnical studies, including cataloging work with institutes in Kazakhstan, West Siberia, and Pechora Basins in the former USSR. I had become friends with Dr. Ray Levey at the BEG, who recently took a job in Utah as Associate Director of EGI. I thought the discussion with Dr. Kanes was going to be to see if there was interest in EGI getting involved at the VETL. It turned into a job interview. EGI is looking for someone who can talk to the local community (they have no members of the church on transplanted staff), who can market their research in Houston (I told him I would not leave Houston until Rob graduates from High School in four years), and who can work on seismic interpretation projects. Although it is a relatively small operation, compared with some of the other stuff I am involved with, EGI is in a nice part of the world, and if, as it appears, I need to find a new companion (Genesis 2:18) the potential is higher there (although I will never stop loving your Mom and continue to hope she can find it in her heart to change her mind). What suprised me was how open Bill Kanes was with me regarding the future of EGI and why they moved from South Carolina. When he first visited Utah, the University had him meet with the top financial guy in the intermountain west, the top mining guy, and with President Hinkley, who was 1st counselor in the First Presidency at the time. He was asked if EGI could help provide geological studies for new cities (which Bill said no, it was outside of the charter), could provide investment guidance for energy investments, and implied open doors into new countries where the church currently does not proselyte. I was impressed, and had already set up a meeting in Salt Lake on my way to the Hafen Family Reunion in Heber. The meeting with Bill was scheduled for an hour, from 10:00 to 11:00. After lunch I brought Bill by the house, which he said would be a suitable Houston office for EGI.
• Thursday morning early I flew to Las Vegas, drove to St. George and took your Grandma to lunch and shopping. She bought Sara and I a nice cotton blanket with pictures of major historical places in St. George on it for an early Christmas present. We had a good time, even though she is upset at having someone renting her house. The afternoon was spent with Ray and Tom Gardner reviewing Shirts' Canyon again, as a possible place for the prototype new kind of city. Rick had got ill earlier in the week and so he needed to stay at work and postponed his visit to Southern Utah until the leaves turn nice colors in the fall. I spent the evening on the hills in Shirts' Canyon taking pictures of the sunset and thinking about Columbus. I stayed with Sara and Des that night.
• Friday morning I woke up early and drove to Salt Lake by the back way. I stopped about half way between Milford and Delta and looked at the stars, listened to the coyotes, and practiced screaming as taught at PAIRS (between that and allergies I lost my voice for the next week). I also stopped by Utah Lake and climbed over the mountains to look at Cedar Valley (by Cedar Fort) on the west side of those mountains. Took some nice pictures of this beautiful little desert valley. I stopped at Deseret Books and met with Jack Lyons, an editor, to discuss ELDO's (ELectronic DOcuments) and Prime Words (http://www.walden3d.com/w3d/prime_words/PW_Cover.html), and using Bavinger's pattern finding techniques and user interface to create a new kind of indexing schema for books. He gave me permission to use the LDS Collectors Library '97 Infobases to do a test project. (Bavinger is quite excited about the anticipated patterns to be drived from 1,400 volumes of text.)
• Lunch and the afternoon were spent with Dr. Ray Levey, Dr. Bob Erhlich, Dr. Chris Johnson, and Dr. Mike Wright. Neat group of people. Ray and Bob are both Jewish, and we have really become good friends. They plan to start an Information Management study group and to have me head it up. Chris has the largest computer graphics system in the world: a 60 processor Silicon Graphics (the VETL has 4 processors). Back when I was at the `U' it was the leading institution in computer graphics in the world. Graduates, like the founder of Silicon Graphics and NetScape, are encouraging a return to these roots. Most of Chris' work has been in BioPSE (Bio Problem Solving Environment) where they do computation steering to simulate the impact of electrical implants in the body, etc., etc. He was also involved in a $26.8 million grant called ASCI from the DOE which is part of the transfer of nuclear technology from the large national labs. His third area of focus is geophysics and energy and he agreed Walden 3-D / EGI will be the industry interface. Mike was in charge of Kennecott Copper when I was going to school and now he heads up the Geothermal Studies at EGI. They are the only geotechnical group in the world studing geothermal power supplies. Neat stuff, with a tremendous potential impact. Especially in South America. I was quite excited as I left EGI and drove up I-80 to Heber.
• It was really nice to drive up to the beautiful landscaped gardens of Sunrise Nursery and see all of the Hafen family gathered for a reunion. `Muggy' had cooked a whole pig like they did in Argentina where he served his mission. Roice was there with Diane and two of her kids. There were about 50 people and we had a lot of fun. Tony caught half a dozen large rainbow trout for breakfast Saturday morning. We ate, played vollyball and got sunburned, ate, fished, ate, talked, ate, played horse shoes, ate, had campfires, ate, told stories, ate, looked at the phesants and goats and rabbits, ate, and for the most part enjoyed each other's company. I wish you all could have been there with Roice and I. Sara and I are going to do the Hafen reunion next summer and so I hope you will all plan on attending with me. We will probably go back to Heber since Glenn volunteered and has set up such a nice 1997 version of the Calf Springs Ranch of the 1950's and early 1960's.
• Sunday after another giant breakfast of sausages, hash browns, pancakes, fruit, and juice, talking to Grandma Hafen, and saying good-byes I drove down to Cedar City. I went through Provo at 10:40 and decided to go to an 11:00 Sacrament Meeting. I saw a young couple dressed for church and followed them to the Bonneville Seventh Ward. It was special:
  • After the sacrament the parents of a baby who was blessed were asked to share their testimonies. I cried as I thought of each of your blessings and how much you each mean to me.
  • Sister Erin Gwilliam talked about receiving an ugly ring while serving her mission in Southern California. Then she found out it was her Great Grandmother's ring and it became a blessing which was no longer ugly. The scriptures she read about commitment were very touching (Omni 1:26; Alma 23:6; and Alma 24:25 & 30).
  • I love the songs of Zion and was especially touched this meeting as we sang: Now Let Us Rejoice; As Now We Take The Sacrament; Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer; and Nearer, My God to Thee. There were tears in my eyes during the songs.
  • Brother Erin Gwilliam talked about Christ as the ultimate example of commitment. He told about Wilma Rudolf, who born 2 months premature in 1940 and who later had polio won the 100, 200, and 400 meter Olympic races in Italy with a sprained ankle. He said: winners make commitments and losers make promises. We must first have the desire, second have the courage, and third be determined (Luke 23:44-46 and II Timotny 4:7). I did not have the radio on once from Las Vegas to Salt Lake and back.
  • Bishop Farnsworth (probably related to David Farnsworth, a friend from my youth), closed the meeting talking about the word theame for the 3rd Quarter: Commitment and Consecration. He pointed out our level of commitment determines the level of blessings we receive. How our attitude or testimony determines our commitment. Then he admonished us `Do not be slothful because of the easiness of the way. We must strengthen our testimony and our commitment.'
  There is so much to think about. We have so many blessings.

As I contemplate the Hafen Family Reunion there are two things that stand out. First was the words my sister Sara said about kindness. There were too many unkind, hurtful, mean words spoken at the reunion. Any is too many, and they were excessive. I certainly recognized how I have let myself get caught up in this unhealthy family tradition and see the fruits of an unrecognized sin in my own life. I hope we can all learn to see the positive and to only speak the positive about others. There were times when there were wonderful things said. Grandma Hafen sat outside all day Saturday and just enjoyed her posterity. She looked at me and said `Arn't all of these people the most beautiful people you have ever seen in your life.' I agree! She later asked me to take a picture of Dan Cluff, with his long hair and beard, so she could brag to her friends in St. George. I won't try to call out all of the kind things which were said, partly for fear of missing someone and causing an unintended offense, but largely because I have already written way more than some of you have time to read and more than I have time to write.

The second thing that stands out for me about the Hafen Family Reunion of 1997 happened Friday night and was confirmed Sunday morning. I had just got to sleep in my little tent, and Roice was asleep on the cement by the table at Campsite 17 in the Wasatch State Park Campground, when Diane Cluff came and knocked on the tent and asked if I could come and help her brother Anthony (Muggy) give her daugher Michelle a blessing. Michelle had an asthma attack and couldn't sleep. I had oil. I explained how a blessing worked, annointed, Muggy sealed the blessing, and I asked Michelle to give us each a hug and to go to sleep. She didn't sleep very well. However, on Sunday morning as we were saying good bye to everyone this beautiful young lady came up and put her arm around me and wouldn't let go. It was absolutely wonderful. What blessings we have, if we can only remember to count them."

I'm interested in sharing weekly a "thoughtlet" (little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me) with you because I know how important the written word can be. I am concerned about how easy it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of daily life. If you ever want to download any of these thoughtlets, they are posted at http://www.walden3d.com/hrnmen or you can e-mail me at rnelson@walden3d.com.

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Copyright © 1997 H. Roice Nelson, Jr.