And My Father Dwelt in a Tent

Many years ago when I was 12 or 13 years old, my sister Lydia was given an assignment by a church leader to find a scripture that aptly described her father.

The other girls in the class came back with verbose and lengthy verses about the strength, integrity, worthy priesthood bearing and other various leadership qualities that defined their Dads.

Lydia came to class with a simple verse from the first book in the Book of Mormon. But we all agreed it would be difficult to find a scripture that more aptly and succinctly described my dad.

The verse was 1Nephi, 2;15:

And my father dwelt in a tent.

You see, if it weren't for my mom and this irrational insistence she has for having a wood and shingles roof, my Dad would be perfectly content to live in his teepee in the back yard.

In fact when he goes snow camping, he doesn't even use a tent. He just burrows a hole down in the snow, covers it with a tarp and cuddles up with a good sleeping bag and a special canteen so he doesn't have to get up during the night to pee.

My point in this post, is to honor my dad on Fathers Day and share some of the things that I admire about him.

For simplicity's sake, here is an abbreviated list:

His love for the out doors that he taught to all of us, (except I don't like snow camping, the canteen doesn't work so well for me).

His love for each of us kids.

His incredible work ethic.

His vast knowledge and ability to do almost anything, from geneology, to plumbing a house, to climbing mountains - literally.

His willingness to do any of those things.

His adoration for my mother.

His desire to serve others.

His absolute love and commitment to the Savior.

My dad has taught me many things in my life. And I am blessed that he is still around to keep teaching me stuff.

He is such a good man. My husband often says that my dad must be one of the 3 Nephites, because it's just not possible to be that good.

Nephite, Superman, or just Scoutmaster Hugo, he is my hero.

Love you Dad.

-Della