I hope everything is great with you this week. It's been a busy week for me so time have flown buy.
A couple of years ago we went on a cruise with TAG and a couple of our dealers, Glen & Dawn Meese and Paul & Mikki Hathaway. All of them were delightful people and we really enjoyed our time together. One concern I had with Paul Hathaway while he was on the cruise is that he gambled regularly and also talked about how well he was doing.
I remember at one dinner he invited Caleb to come with him and wouldn't let it go. I was sick inside because I didn't want to make a scene and embarrass him or Caleb. Caleb was curious and went with him. I have no idea what happened but I thought I would just never speak of it again and hope that Caleb would grow out of his curiosity.
This past week, I was in court with Paul Hathaway. This time the scene was quite different. He and Mikki were in their church clothes and Paul was sitting with his attorneys and Mikki was sitting in the back of the courtroom openly weeping. I was with TAG's attorneys and we were obviously in opposing positions. The short story is that Paul has defaulted on his obligations to TAG and after trying to work it out with him, TAG has decided we can no longer forbear and that we need to get his assets and have those assets pay off his debt.
As we've gone through this process, the basic question that I've asked Paul several times, is, "Where is the money and what did you do with it?" We usually have decent conversations until I ask that question and then he goes dark and becomes evasive. I will learn what he did with the money as the court grants TAG access to his bank accounts so it won't matter that he was evasive, however, I'm betting that, given his personality, I will find that he literally gambled on the Fort Hall indian reservation or that he figuratively gambled by taking huge risks with TAG's money.
Now a different story... I'm not exempt from taking risks that I shouldn't take. Year's ago, and really before you can remember, the stock market was crazy over internet stocks. It seemed that all one had to do was put money in the stocks and watch them go up in value. Long story short, I did that. My account went from 15K to 200K within a month. I thought I would be retiring from my job at 30 as a wildly rich millionaire. I'll never forget the day that the market turned and I lost about half the value. Over the next few days, I lost almost everything I'd put into the market. It was a hard lesson for me. I should'a would'a could'a...
As you go through your missions and through life, you need to remember that YOU are the goldmine. You need to invest in yourselves following the time-honored tradition of education and hard-work. As you do, your lives will be sanctified by your efforts and you will become a person of substance. Take it seriously both on your mission and when you get home. Establish the correct patterns in life and them follow them throughout your mission and your life.
Why do I tell you this story when you both know that I'm hugely imperfect and make business mistakes all the time? I tell you this so you can learn from my mistakes and never make those mistakes yourselves. I also tell you these things so that you can consider them and resolve to become the person that your talents will allow you to become.
Have a great week. I love you,
Dad
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