I just got back from a very beautiful and peaceful place, a gorgeous place where one can be in full contact with nature, far away from disturbing noises, stress and non-stop city life. A marvelous place on the mountain top where one can easily smell the sweetness of leafy trees, that mellow sweetness of wet wood while hearing the soft squeaks of damp trunks getting buckled is just delicious. As you probably guessed, I went to the Alps, yeah ! I took a week off for attending a spiritual activity organized by active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This year, as this post title says (my favorite LDS song when performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), the one week event took place on a mountain in the French Alps close to Switzerland. Though, I’ve always been a little afraid of heights, I very much enjoyed the wonderful sights.As this event was organized in the French-speaking world, all the talks were given in French, so I didn’t use any English the whole week. For my very first time I filled in two pages of my personal journal in French.
I met a lot of nice people from France, Switzerland and Belgium. It really feels good to meet members of the LDS Church from all over the world. This event was a great opportunity to live the gospel of Jesus Christ with young people who share the same values and have the same goals concerning spiritual growth. It’s kind of a big family environment where we’re all brothers and sisters, that’s what I love most in the LDS Church.
I’d not had a trip like this since I went to the rocky mountains of Utah for snowboarding when I was only 16 years old. Although, this time there was no snow on the mountains, it was a great spiritual experience. I uploaded some pictures over at my photo gallery. During the week my father emailed me something that inspired me. For those who like numbers:

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn’t it?
Look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Now, take a look at this…

What equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER
100%.

How about ACHIEVING 101%?

What equals 100% in life?

Here’s a little numerical formula that might help answer these
questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

If:
**H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K***
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And:
**K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E***
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But:
**A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E***
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:

**L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D***
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with numerical certainty that:
While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude
will get you there, it’s the Love of God that will put you over the top!