The Prodigal Son Returns!!

This week was a very eventful week. My little brother just got home from his LDS mission in Santa Rosa, CA. It was especially neat for me because I haven't seen him in 3 1/2 years (our missions overlapped). He is doing amazing, in fact, so amazing that we went to lunch at Zupas (thanks Shayne for the advertising there) and five girls stopped to hug him and say how much they missed him.

The title of this blog is a little misleading. In fact it is a complete lie. Justin was never the prodigal son. If you have read the Book of Mormon there is a character named Captain Moroni. A scripture about Captain Moroni says that if every man were like Captain Moroni the very gates of hell would be shaken forever. That is like my little brother. Another character he is like is Nephi. Nephi was a prophet first one that we know, in the Book of Mormon, he helped things to grow. Ok sorry. Nephi was awesome though; however, he had two older brothers that were rebellious. I always thought growing up that Justin was Nephi, my older brother was Laman, and I was Lemuel. It was sad I was Lemuel, because he just did anything Laman did. Anyway, that is how cool he was.

I learned of my little brother's spirituality when we were young. My friends and I were playing slingshots in my room one day, while Justin was reading his Bible. We were shooting Jenga blocks, Hot Wheel cars, etc, and totally oblivious to Justin on his bed. Well, one of the Jengas flew and hit him in the head. He suddenly became full of the Spirit, and stood up on his bed with his countenance glowing like Moses' after coming down from Mt. Sinai. With conviction in his voice he said, "Whoever hit me with this wooden block better come forth!" We were rebuked to say the least.

This was a very important lesson for me to learn. That lesson was reinforced today when he gave a powerful sermon at church. My "lesson learned" is that my little brother has always, and will always, inspire me to be a better person. After his talk today I rededicated my life to living more righteously. Thank you little Nephi.