I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and 
earthly father. Today is Father's Day. I had the privilege of giving a talk in Sacrament meeting this morning. Here is some of it...
“My dad is a work in progress and we always keep him on his toes with more challenges. The proclamation to the family describes the role of a father as one who presides “over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.” At a young age, my father knew he wanted an occupation that would enable him to provide for his family, serve in his church callings, and have enough time to spend with his family. He did not want his wife to have to work because he hoped his children would be blessed with a full time mother. He made sacrifices to get through school, working odd jobs and taking off two years to go on a mission. He valued our education, taught us to do our best, and be respectful to teachers. He also showed us the importance of education by sacrificing his time and energy while traveling to many different destinations of historical value, attending plays, and tutoring me. He even took a couple of college classes with Joe so he could finish his Bachelor’s Degree: 20 years later from BYU.
My father is a very loving, caring, patient man. He would do anything for any of his kids. He makes us great Saturday morning breakfasts. He keeps all our wheelchairs in working order no matter how many times Nicole drives off a cliff or down stairs. He even drove all the way to Provo with a replacement chair after one of Nicole’s accidents. No matter how many times I wake up in a grumpy mood he tries to kid me out of it. On workdays he always comes home and eats lunch with us. With four girls with blond hair, he learned to braid and curl hair.
Neal A. Maxwell said "a father who truly loves his children, and who is truly striving, for instance, to become a better man, sends off all kinds of messages, in a variety of ways, that let them know he loves them and that he is a serious disciple of Jesus Christ. Then his children can more easily forgive him the tactical errors, because his basic message is intact: he believes in God and he cares for his family. On the other hand, for the father who is not serious in his discipleship, no number of compensatory techniques or humanistic sentiments can ever compensate for the failure of that father to teach the truth by precept and by example." My dad has shown me through his actions that he understands Christ’s selflessness. My dad’s selfless nature takes me back to memories of Mammoth Mountain on Sesome Street where my dad taught me how to ski. I don’t know how many times he skied down the hill backwards until I could somewhat ski by myself. Another example of his selflessness was when I asked my father: “If you could ask God any question, what would it be?” Now I thought he would ask his question about the Old Testament that he always ponders, but I found out that he would ask for his children to be healed.
My dad is very entertaining with his off-the-wall sense of humor. Over the years, he has woken us up with “Earthquake, earthquake” while shaking our beds. He rewrites all kinds of songs with his own lyrics like when he changed the Addams Family theme song into the Wheelchair family song. His sense of humor helps lighten tense moments and helps us learn to laugh at ourselves.
I know that my dad cares for me, wants me to succeed, and be the best person I can be. His faith in me helps inspire me to work hard. In 1974, James E. Faust relayed a story of a father of six children, who had the sole responsibility for raising the family. This story reminded me of my dad who cares about me as a child and friend. The man’s youngest child was in diapers. One night the father came home from work, faced with the problems of being both father and mother and felt unusually burdened with his responsibilities. One of his little girls, laid a rock on his dresser, which she had painted at school. On the flat portion of the rock she had written, “Happiness is having a dad who cares.”
I love my dad very much and appreciate all the sacrifices he has made and is making on behalf of me and my siblings. I would like to express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for his example that my Dad is trying to follow, his forgiveness and his plan that enables us to return to live with him again. “
