Career Accomplishments
Martin Harris Pageant Photographer
In 2003 I was asked if I would be interested in coming to the Martin Harris Pageant in Clarkston, Utah and take a few pictures of the cast and crew before, during, and after the show. Twelve years later I am still taking pictures and enjoying the relationships that I have created with this wonderful pageant.
Over the years I have:
• Taken more than 20,000 photos
• Created more than 700 photo CD’s for the cast and crew
• Produced 9 slideshows with more than 200 photos
Photography Classes at Inkley’s
Inkley's only offered free photography classes in Salt Lake City and so I took it upon myself to learn what it would take to bring the classes to Logan. I completed training on my own time, learned the basic class presentation, and added some of my personal photos and personality. We held these classes on a weekly basis for 10-20 people and not only did it help increase my sales; it also increased the stores revenue.
Missed Punch Form Challenge
While I worked as an Administrative Assistant for HAP-Alaska/Yukon I created a program to help the tour directors remember to punch in and out. Each time they missed punching in or out they needed to fill out a form, get it signed by a supervisor, and then turn it into me so I could make the necessary corrections to the timecards. Those employees that did not miss a punch during the pay period would be entered into a drawing for a prize. I received a lot of positive feedback from both the tour directors and our management team.
Life Accomplishments
Serving as a full-time missionary in the Alaska, Anchorage Mission
When I went in for a physical before my mission, my doctor asked me where I would like to go on my mission. I replied, “I could pretty much go anywhere, I am just not big on cold weather”. So God sent me to Alaska and I am so grateful for that. I almost did not go to Alaska because I was not 100% sure that I was doing the right thing. I did not have my own testimony. I received my answer a few days before I was flying to Alaska. It was one of the hardest, but most rewarding experiences of my life.
Finding an amazing woman, who said “Yes” and married me in the Bountiful Temple
I would not be who or where I am today, without Angie Curtis Tolman in my life. I most likely would be a lot worse off if I did not have her because of the lessons that I have learned being with her. Thank you Heavenly Father for sending me one of your most precious daughters.
6 Children
Judson Curtis, Samantha, Tiare, Dexton Nathan, Deyton Bryant, Journee
These 6 sweet individuals make my life continue. I really need to be more patient and understanding of these wonderful children. Because of having children I have had experiences and learned things (and will yet have many more to come) that I would not have been able to experience in any other way.
Business and Building the Kingdom of God
No matter what type of employment or business that you run we should always be anxiously engaged in building the Kingdom of God. Some are called on to end their employment or sell their business much sooner than they were anticipating, because they are asked to serve a mission or called to serve in the leadership of the church. Then there are other’s that continue to work much longer than they thought they would, yet they can also help in serving and building the Kingdom of God.
The phrase “Business and Building the Kingdom of God” reminds me of a story by Elder Robert D. Hales. When he was a graduate student at Harvard University, he was called to be the president of his elder’s quorum. He was willing to accept the call, but he also knew that because of the intensity of the courses required in his masters of business administration program, professors discouraged students from participating in outside activities. He and his wife, Mary, prayed for guidance and discussed the calling together. As they did, Mary said, “I’d rather have an active priesthood holder than a man who holds a master’s degree from Harvard. We’ll do them both.”
If we accept calling with a “mighty heart” and a “strong mind” then Heavenly Father blesses us to be able to accomplish both our schooling (and at times employment/business) in addition to fulfilling our church callings. Doing both is not always easy and there might be times when things are challenges and don’t always go according to plan. However, as long as we “seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
A Disciple Preparation Center (DPC)
I absolutely loved the way Elder Bednar described the similarities between the institution of BYU-Idaho and temples. Temples and Universities are open to all who would like to enter. However, there are certain requirements that need to be met and certain standards that need to be followed. The temple president or the university president is not necessarily the one’s making the decision of who can enter; we are. Just getting accepted to enter is not all we need to do to increase in our learning either. We need to make covenants and commitments which Elder Bednar taught will, “expand our education”.
When Elder Bednar was discussing faith I was kind of surprised when I read what faith is not. "A disciple recognizes that faith in the Savior is a spiritual gift and appropriately seeks for that gift in his or her life. Faith is not a trait to be developed or a reward to be earned. Rather, it is a gift we receive from God. Scriptural synonyms for faith include trust, confidence, and reliance. Thus, the spiritual gift of faith enables us to trust in Christ and to have confidence in His power to cleanse, to renew, to redeem, and to strengthen us." Faith is a gift from God and we don’t necessarily develop it, we live our life so that Heavenly Father can trust or rely on us to do those things that He needs us to do. It is also very comforting to know that “a disciple’s faith in the Savior and spiritual preparation dispel fear”. We learn in Moroni 8:16 that, “Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear.”
Elder Bednar also reminded us that we have a responsibility to seek after the gift of faith and do all we can to live a life that qualifies us of this precious gift. As I continue on this course to increase in learning I hope that I might live worthy of this wonderful gift to help lead and guide those important decisions that I will be making in the near future.
A Steady, Upward Course
The main point that I gathered from this address was that no matter what stage of education we are at or where we might be in our career (if we even have one) there are always going to be challenges and difficulties that we will have to navigate through. Through this navigation process there is always going to be opportunities if we are open to them. “Although we face an increase in challenges, there is another change sweeping the earth. It is a flood of opportunity.” – President Eyring
I also liked the statement that he made about BYU-Idaho graduates. “Graduates of BYU-Idaho will become legendary for their capacity to build the people around them and to add value wherever they serve.” To me this means that we need to make sure that we learn what we need to, so we can build the people around us and add value wherever we serve, both in the church and in our employment or business.
The power of BYU-Idaho is amazing in our learning capacity, because everything that is being taught has gospel principles and activities involved in the lessons. At BYU-Idaho they do not shy away from the fact that you can learn things in ways that not many other institutions consider and that is by inspiration and revelation. The interesting thing about that concept with those at other schools is they might also learn by the same way, but they do not acknowledge it and know that the help and guidance they received is from a very loving Heavenly Father.
Making a Living and a Life
I really enjoyed this talk. The items that Elder Robbins discussed in this address helped answer some questions and concerns that I had just been discussing with a friend. The reminder that he shared from the church handbook was very poignant.
“Members of the Church should endeavor to be involved in activities and employment upon which they can conscientiously ask the blessings of the Lord and which are consistent with the principles of the gospel and the teachings of the Savior.”
As he explained the difference between an A-level and a B-level employee or business, I began to ask myself the questions of where I stand. Am I truly seeking the Kingdom of God before the almighty dollar? One of the things that I was discussing with a friend of mine was that money is an extension of who you are. If you are a good person and you are blessed with money, then you will do good things with it. If you are a bad person and you have money, then you will do bad things with it. I also like to think of money, like fire. It can keep us warm and be a comforting thing, or one little spark can start a wild fire that destroys everything in its path.
Right now where I am unemployed, I would say that money seems to be my main motivating factor in a lot of things that I am currently pursuing. I really need to work on moving from the B-level; which means, “There is still a love of fellowmen and a genuine desire to provide good products and services to customers, but money is the primary motivation,” to a A-level.
It also does not matter what type of employment or business we pursue because, “No profession is exempt from Satan’s influence.”
Your Whole Souls as an Offering Unto Him
I have never listened to Elder Bednar speak and not learn something new. He is an amazing teacher and uses the power of the Spirit to help teach and testify. I really enjoyed the process that he took in explaining the words of Doctrine and Covenants 4:2
“Please consider the word “might” as descriptive of the “heart.” In other words, a mighty heart is required for serving God. Now also consider that the word “strength” as descriptive of the “mind.” Therefore, to effectively serve God we also must have a strong mind.”
This reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures Alma 5:14 when Alma asks us if we have experienced a mighty change in our hearts. It also made reflect differently on the first great commandment found in Matthew 22:37 – “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. “ So now I can shorten it a little by asking myself; Do I love God with a mighty heart and strong mind? I am pretty sure that I will not be able to read Alma 5 or D&C 4 without remembering what Elder Bednar taught in this address.
His explanation between sacrifice and consecration was something that I really enjoyed. Sacrifice is what I will offer, surrender, yield, or give up. Consecration, on the other hand, is to fully develop and dedicate to a sacred purpose. These two principles are something that I need to work on and understanding them more now I can see where I can make the improvements. When we are not working on making ourselves the best we can be then we are not really living the law of consecration.
How Will You Measure Your Life?
What an absolutely wonderful talk! One of the first things that jumped out to me was the statement that he quoted from Frederick Herzberg. “The powerful motivator in our lives isn’t money; it’s the opportunity to learn, grow in responsibilities, contribute to others, and be recognized for achievements.”
When I read that statement, I thought to myself, my main motivator really isn’t money. The other things that he mentioned are really what I would like in a career. I believe that if I was part of an organization that allowed me to grow in responsibilities, took the time to help me learn their business, gave me opportunities to help those around me, and took the time to recognize the good things that I can and do offer then money would not be an issue. I would be making enough to provide for my family.
I was impressed with how he discussed the importance of taking the time to read, to think, and to pray. He shared that doing those things on a daily basis had a major impact on his academic studies. That is one thing that I enjoy so much attending BYU-Idaho, because a lot of assignments have gospel connections.
He also explains that there is more to employment than just finding something that you can make a lot of money. You need to find out what your purpose in life is. What makes you truly happy? It is more about the relationships that we create and hold onto. “The metric by which God will assess my life isnʼt dollars but the individual people whose lives Iʼve touched.”
Return
Trying to figure out how to share what I have gained from the wonderful book called, “Return” by Elder Robert D. Hales is not an easy process. Even though we had reading assignments to read certain chapters, I could not pass up the wisdom and insight that would be contained in the other chapters and so I needed to read the whole book. As I read through it, there were many times that I highlighted certain sentences or paragraphs that I felt like where exactly what I needed at this time in my life. Like the scriptures (and Elder Hales quotes many of them) the insights that he offers based on his vast experience is something that we could read over and over again and gain new insights and direction as our circumstances change.
One of these statements that seemed to jump of the page is found in chapter 13 titled, “Overcoming the Adversary” on page 156. “Choose to be happy and confident about life and about the opportunities and blessings that await us here and throughout eternity.” This is probably something that I need to read every single day. Happiness is a choice! In this same chapter there was also some wonderful counsel that we need to remember; we have the power to overcome the influence of Satan. We need to take the time to teach our children that Satan is real. “We must teach our children that Satan cannot command us to do anything. When we follow the Savior’s example and command Satan to depart, he must leave us.—Whenever we choose the Lord over Satan, God strengthens us so that we can conquer Satan.”
There was also a great reminder for me that I needed to hear found in chapter 24 (“True to Ourselves and Our Mission”, page 304). “There will be times in our lives when things don’t go as we plan, but the Lord’s plan is greater than we can even dream. When disappointments come into our lives, it is well to remember that we should learn from our experience, both successes and failures, and be grateful for being able to move joyfully forward with faith and hope.”
These are just a few things that have had an impact on my life. I will most likely read this book again to get addition insight and guidance. Thank you Elder Hales!
