My thoughts about the ending of the campaign...a shock but I was too optimistic to be ready for it

February 7, 2008 4:00pm

My thoughts about today:

What an awesome run Mitt Romney had! What an awesome experience this was!

This news is definitely hard to take. Mitt Romney is a good man. He would be a wonderful president. Having the chance to see him up close and to meet him, I’ve found that he is not a slick, greasy politician who plays the games of politics like so many politicians. He is a good man, a family man, a regular man who truly loves his country and is in this for the country. If nothing else, I can say that he’s just a regular good ole’ Mormon guy!

When I see the other candidates and what America has in its near four year future (with one of the other nominees winning), I can feel really sad. The BEST thing for America isn’t going to happen. But I feel one thing even very strong. I can’t help but think about the old Chinese proverb that my old stake President at BYU-Idaho, President Foster, shared about the good man who had a lot of bad things happen to him. Each time something happened to him, a neighbor who would come to him and tell him how bad it was. Each time his neighbor would tell him that, he replied, “I don’t know if that’s bad or if that’s good.” (Read it, its really short…its at the end of this).
Is this a bad thing that Mitt Romney lost and America is going to pretty much miss out on all the good things that he had to offer? I DON”T KNOW. Right now, in context, it sure seems like a bad thing. It seems really bad.

(If the Democrats win in November, they’re going to pull out of Iraq ASAP, which could be a disaster for Iraq and even for us, taxes will increase and government will grow, the borders will become more open to illegal immigration, social agendas like abortion and same sex marriage are going to be pushed further…there are a bunch of things.)

You know what, I feel strongly to really say “I don’t know if its good or if its bad.” And I feel good about it. I think that there really could be something good in the future with this, though its hard to see right now. Maybe this isn’t the right time?

These last couple of weeks, I often thought to myself, “What does the Lord think about Mitt Romney’s candidacy for President?” I know that the Lord knows about it! He’s the one who made this country possible in the first place! There was no way that the founding fathers could have made the miracle of America (which I believe is the greatest thing that ever happened to this world, along with the gospel, of course), without the Lord’s guidance. The Book of Mormon is full of prophecies, promises and warnings regarding America.

What does He think about a member of His church running for President. This is a man who loves America, who is supporting good principles (teaching that people should not have children until marriage, supporting pro life and anti pornography, etc). Would the Lord step back and let the people decide who they want, or could He create miracles to help the people choose him? I don’t know. To this point, I actually believe that there have been many miracles to this point.

I’m not sure exactly what the Lord has in mind for the future of America, but I do know that He has something.
This isn’t the worst day in the world. I loved Mitt Romney’s final speech today (at the CPAC convention). He sure went out with a bang! I feel that the things he talked about are exactly what our country needs!

Watching today’s speech, I know that its not over for Mitt Romney and the conservative cause. We might have a few years of trial, but Mitt Romney will back stronger than ever….and the timing will be right!

(If you didn’t see Mitt’s speech today at the CPAC convention, go check it out! It’s not too long.)

Thanks for reading this!













From President Foster’s talk:
Those are the days I want to talk about. I will begin by telling you a story. This story will provide the lens that will focus you on what I want you to learn from the rest of my remarks, a lens that will provide eternal clarity for the rest of your life’s journey.

There was once a wise Chinese man who had one son, one horse, and one acre of ground on which he made his living. One day his son went out to feed the horse and left the gate open and the horse ran away. All of the man’s friends and neighbors came to him and said, “Oh that’s too bad. You’ve lost your only horse. How will you make your living?” The wise Chinese man just said “I don’t know if that’s bad or that’s good.” But they insisted it was bad. A few days later, the horse got thirsty and came back to the corral bringing 9 other wild horses with him. Now all his friends came over and said “Oh, isn’t that good. You’ve got 10 horses.” The wise Chinese man said “I don’t know if that’s bad or good.” And they insisted it was good.
A few days later, the wise Chinese man’s son went out to break one of the wild horses. In the process, the horsed reared up and came down, severely breaking the son’s leg. This time all the neighbors came over and said “Oh, that’s too bad. That’s your only son. What will you do?” And again the wise Chinese man said “I don’t know if that’s bad or good.” And they insisted it was bad.

A short time later, war broke out in the country. The government came through and gathered up all the able-bodied young men and marched them off to war where they were all killed.

This story can go on and on.
This story belongs to all of us. It’s our story too.
The moral of it is this: be very careful about letting the ‘voices of the world,’ sometimes even your best friends and neighbors, convince you that something is good or bad. It’s important to reserve judgment and trust in the Lord and His plan.
For as the Lord reminds us in Isaiah 55: 8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The Lord tells us He sees the big picture, but because of the veil, we only get to see only glimpses of the big picture.





We’re in a battle that is going to last a long time. We are fighting on the right side. Our ideals are what America needs. We need virtuous people in office. We need to strengthen America’s families. We need to protect life. We need to keep our economy strong by keeping the money in the hands of the people (low taxes). We need to protect our borders. We need to maintain a strong military to protect our safety. We need to protect the lives of unborn babies. There a lot of things that America needs, that we’re going to have to fight for. But we will. We’re going to fight for it and we’re going to win.