The Goodwins

A year ago from today was a memorable day. I was able to see my dear friends Buster and Karen Goodwin sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. My first encounter with them dates back to December of 2007, when I was serving as a missionary out in Enterprise, Oregon. Buster was baptized at age 8 but never went to church so he was as close to a non-member as you can get. While Karen never had investigated the church. All their lives missionaries and members of the church would try to reach out to them, but they were never interested in meeting or getting involved with church. For some reason the first week I get into the area they decided to start taking the missionary lessons. What made this situation even more unique is how spread out the area was. They lived about 40 miles from Enterprise, so every week when we'd go out to teach we could count on an hour drive through some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.

I was fortunate enough to spend 6 months out in Enterprise to see Buster and Karen come full circle in the gospel. They showed true devotion to the church by each Sunday driving an hour to and from Enterprise to attend church. I can remember that Sunday in April when I thought Karen may never go through with being baptized as doubt and fear clouded her thoughts. We met with Buster and Karen right after to church to discuss if Karen wanted to stick with her baptismal date, despite not feeling completely confident that she should go forward. I remember offering one of the most fervent prayers I've ever given pleading for Karen to receive answers and have confidence that being baptized was right for her. It was only a few hours later I received a call from Karen saying she had received answers to her prayers and was ready to move forward with her baptism. I can still recall the excitement and joy I felt as Karen made that commitment on the phone that day. So on April 19th, 2008 I was able to baptize and then confirm her a member of the church.

And now that you know all the energy it took to get Karen baptized, you'll understand why it was so special to be able to go to the temple a year ago with Karen and Buster to serve as a witness to their sealing in the Idaho Boise Temple. My experiences with them strengthened my testimony and always invite the spirit when I reflect on those times. I truly saw the Lord's hand work in their lives and mine own. I love the Buster and Karen and their ability to live the gospel has been incredible. I was able to see them sealed in the temple 3 days before I completed my mission, it was by far the best way I could ever imagine finishing my mission. Thanks be to God for allowing me to be an instrument in his hands and to have seen many miracles moving forward his work.

Goodbye Vinny

Today was a big day in the world of Chicago sports. Chicago Bulls coach of two years Vinny Del Negro was fired. Even though he led the Bulls to back to back playoff runs and coached one of the most memorable playoff series in NBA history against Boston in 2009; we won't see him on the Bulls bench come fall. Now a lot of credit to Vinny's coaching success could be attributed to having all-star point guard Derrick Rose and one of the most improved players in the league Joakim Noah, but he does deserve credit in developing these spectacular college athletes into quality NBA players. Big thanks and best of wishes to Vinny Del Negro.

Chicago demands the best, if you don't produce good results you might as well leave town. Who will coach Chicago next season? Unlike the past decade no one wanted to come coach Chicago because of their lack of talent. The difference now is you have a young team full of talent between Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and with summer free agency, a good shot at having an all-star like Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson, or Chris Bosh. Personally there a few guys that come to mind that I would like to see coaching the Bulls. (Avery Johnson, Maurice Cheeks, or Byron Scott)

Of all the people available could we maybe see Avery Johnson who led a team to the NBA Finals back in 2006? He seems like an ideal candidate. The Chicago front office scares me. Within the last 10 years we've made terrible trades, had less than spectacular coaches and done little with our high draft picks up until 2008 with Rose. Let's hope they can get it right this time around. We are closer than ever to bringing rings back to Chicago.