Season One : Episode 5 " Reality Check "

Simply put life is good. I have so many blessings and opportunities before me it is incredible. I have been working for a few weeks now at Kneader's Baker. This was an answer to prayer. It is a super positive environment back in the kitchen and I am learning so much. Quite frankly maybe too much. I am learning everything about life skills to physical conditioning. Seriously I'm not kidding. The first day I was working the boss's husband was telling me to "fold the dough like a man" ... there is a manly way to fold dough?! Now a few weeks in I realize that my job is somewhat labor intensive. Instead of carrying lettuce to chop like my job at Dixie State I now lift over 50 lb. tubs filled with dough, bahaha I know that isn't a lot but my right arm is so sore from lifting, kneading and chopping over 8 hours a day! I am not complaining really. It is great :)

Today at work one of my coworkers had to leave because her children had been in an accident. This really struck me and my heart ached for her. Inside I hoped for the best but she was going to the hospital and likely it was a serious situation. I feel so bad for her. Also this and other recent events have caused my mind to continue to ponder about how precious our families really are. We never know what is going to happen in life, there are no guarantees. We may live a perfectly righteous life and still be hit with affliction or trial. As I think of this it helps me to see how much more time I need to spend with my family.

Ironically today I  had decided to spend time with my family and serve them a little. I can only attempt to express the joy this gave me. I spent time with my Nephews. I talked to them, tickled them and in the end my adorable nephew Braxton just wanted me to sit down and watch a couple episodes of Batman. Ha, I think I enjoyed our time more than he did! Come on, who doesn't want to watch batman, especially the animated series! haha

I went through some extra effort to help my mother out which I had actually intended to do for several weeks and for whatever reason had never made it to it. Well today I chose to make time. When she came home and found me helping out she was so grateful. Really it wasn't anything amazing but I could see how happy she was that I took the time to help out. I don't say this to brag that I helped my mom out but to simply say the extra effort was more than worth it.

As to other things in life I am soo excited to go to St. George this weekend. I will have the opportunity to see my good friend Jose Osorio. He has recently returned Honorably after 2 years of service to the Lord in the Canada, Montreal Mission. He has been an amazing example to me of faith, courage & charity. He has even been a constant example to me even as we have been miles apart nearly the past 3 years! I remember receiving a Christmas gift while I had been serving where he took the time to get pictures of most of the families in our ward and send them in a package to me along with several other things, including gluten-free cookies. I think of the effort and thoughtfulness put into that and am grateful for a friend that is so kind. Truely a Mighty Man of Valor. It will be wonderful to reconnect and catch up on so much!

~Trent D. Nielson

Keep the Faith & Never Give Up, Never Surrender

Season One : Episode 4 "The 'Lazy' Way"

This week has been wonderful. It has been busy as well. I have been working my new Job at Kneaders Bakery in Gilbert. It is a pretty sweet restaurant and makes all fresh breads of really good quality. I am grateful for the opportunity to work there for sure! I am learning a lot. I actually have a pretty legit boss as well, named Greg. He is pretty easy going and knows exactly what he is doing.

I have already learned a lot since I have been there. It has been interesting to notice all of the little life lessons that I see as well. One of the principles we talked about was working the 'lazy' way. I know it sounds negative but really its positive. Assuming we have to eventually accomplish all the tasks for the day, "what is the way I can best do this job so it requires the least amount of energy by the end of the night?" By looking at it from this perspective if one takes short cuts early in the game by not cleaning all the way when finished with a task, by not keeping an even steady pace, or by ignoring the dishwasher then problems occur later. There is hardened dough and ingredients over all the machinery or tables that takes 3x longer to clean. There is buildup of cooking the doughs at the same time with not enough space in the oven because they weren't completed steadily. Their are hundreds of dirty dishes to be cleaned and not enough time or space to do them. As I was thinking on this I realized it was totally applicable to life. It is so easy to be caught up in the rush of everything and take constant short cuts. Ignore a few oil changes, forget to schedule a doctor's appt. on that continual ache on your lower back or ignoring the need to file our taxes. Each of these eventually come back to bite you and they can bight back in very serious ways. These are all technically short-sighted and not truly considering the 'Lazy' Way.

As I ponder on that I cannot help but think that there are ways that we might take short cuts spiritually. Do I ever read my scriptures instead of study them? Do I just not find enough time to attend the temple regularly? Is it easier to just sleep or browse Facebook instead of spending time playing that game of Uno my sister asked me to 2 days ago? I don't know, I guess it seems like too often those parts of life of the greatest importance are cast aside. And what do we gain by doing so? Do we really get ahead? Maybe we read a funny comment that makes us laugh, enjoy more sleep or have our home more spotless... The principle is though, in the end we missed out on blessings far greater. And the fact is when my sister is 36 and i am 48 that game of uno will be different and because we didn't play it earlier we may not be as close then. [btw it was really weird to a) realize some day I will be 48.... b) That when I am 48 my sister will be 36... mind-blown]

I recently watched a video on YouTube that is a Mormon message taken from a talk/speech given President Uchtdorf (Part of the Presidency of the LDS Church) which taught this very principle. After pondering about all this I decided to make a new effort to really focus on being an individual that appreciates the precious moments of life we are given. I want to give a diligent effort now rather than being filled with regret later. So I guess in reality the true "Lazy" Way is to do it right the first time. Then we don't have a build up of dishes, we don't have unsung memories or relationships and we find greater satisfaction whether at work or just in life.

Needless to say Kneaders Bakery has been great. I enjoy the work environment and those I work with. I have just been chillin with the family and enjoying my nephews. I love seeing everyone, they are pretty cool if I do say so myself! I also talk on the phone all the time with my girlfriend. She is the best. I am super stoked for the next weekend following this because one my friends will be getting home from his mission! Good old Jose Osorio. This next week should be solid!

~Trent D. Nielson

Keep the Faith & Never Give Up, Never Surrender