6 Apr 11

Join the fun!  Guess whether the tortoise will walk 100 days or 100 miles first ... http://terreeeblay.blogspot.com/2011/04/81.html

A special thought for today ... "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."~Goethe

I'm spending a lot of time on the phone these days, that's no surprise during this season.  One of my calls today was with Gary Lynn, my long-time (since second grade) 777 pilot friend.  He shared a special treat with me, an evening with President Uchtdorf who was a keynote speaker last Thursday night at an LDS Health Professionals awards dinner in Salt Lake.  So how does an airline pilot get himself invited to that?  Well it helps when your sister is a nurse :)

Gary is a smart man.  He follows the advice of both Willyne and her mother, Floryne.  He had a great teacher in his father as well, actually Bert Lynn would make a good blog post topic all on his own.  ("The Only Way To Fly" man).

The advice?  Gary goes to events early.  Of course there was a crowd waiting to shake President Uchtdorf's hand after his speech.  It was much easier to say hello and visit with him before the dinner began ...

It is probably no surprise to you that President Uchtdorf is very personable and considerate.  He took a personal interest in Gary's flying.  There were two awards given.  One to the medical professional of the year.  The other for outstanding service period.  They called President Uchtdorf for the latter, but he didn't go straight to the podium to accept it, first he stopped at Gary's table where the recipient of the first award was sitting and gave her a warm congratulations.

Gary also noted how when President Uchtdorf talks of something especially spiritual or meaningful to him, he will talk much softer to emphasize it.  Then when he goes to his next point, he returns to a louder, dynamic voice.  Very effective.

I'm sure Gary will remember that evening always.  I thank him for sharing his experience with me today!