the urge

There is a feeling I frequently get when walking outside on a starry night. I felt this feeling many times as a missionary walking beneath heavens with the moon and stars shining down on me, and I have since felt it here, at home, though not as often. The feeling that if I were to let go and jump toward the clouds, I would fly. I would leave the earth behind and soar toward the distant lights that twinkle up above. Sometimes the urge to leap and test this feeling, to see if I would indeed whiz up into the air, is almost irrepressible. I don't know what would happen, if I were to give in and let go. But I know that if I were to fly, I would never come down. This is why I don't give in. I am not yet ready to remove the tether and soar to heaven. There are too many things I have to accomplish here on the ground.
In the meantime, don't be worried should you see me tearing down the street in a blur, or catch me leaping over furniture and bushes and rocks. I am only practicing for when the time comes to take off and make my climb to eternity.

trial o the heart

"Captain," boatswain Hans called as he came out of the trees onto the beach.  "Are ye about ready to set sail? The crew is beginning to wonder if we will ever leave this island."
Hans turned a corner and stopped in his tracks. There sat his captain on the prow of one of the ship's dingies.  He was slouched, with his head resting in his h ands and his eyes vacantly watching the waves. He appeared so lost and unlike the captain, that it took Hans by surprise.
"Eh Captain," the boatswain said, quietly,  "are you alright?"
The captain slowly turned toward Hans. "Have you ever found something that made you happy and sad at the same time Mr. Hans? He asked.  His soft, low voice carried easily on the ocean breeze
"The ship's Stores Do that some Captain," Hans said,  trying for a joke.  The captain didn't even crack a grin.
"I've found something that does this to me," the captain continued.
"What?" Hans asked.
Now the captain did grin, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. He looked up at his boatswain.
"A girl. The prettiest girl I've ever laid eyes on."
"Is that all sir? Just a pretty face?"
"Nay man, this lass be something special. She is pretty, yes, but there is so much more. There is a potential in her for greatness that she ain't tapped yet."
Hans mulled over his captain's words.
The captain meanwhile was lost again as he stared off across the beach.
"I take it then, Sir, that she be the reason we ain't shoved off yet?"
"Aye," was the captain's short reply.
"An you be a planning on staying here until when exactly?"
"I can't leave until I see her again."
"I'll go tell the men to relax then Captain. Being that we are going to be here awhile."
'Thank you Hans."
Hans left his captain then to his thoughts. The captain sighed heavily. It isn't an easy thing, to be patient....

Regrets...and how to avoid em.

     Gather round me mates and maids a like, fer I have somethin' to share wi't ye. What be the thing that can weigh down our souls like an anchor a keepin us from sailin' like the free spirits we be? I propose that we can be a namin' it "the regrets o' life". What causes them? And how be it that we seem to constantly find ourselves in thar grasp? In my experience, and I might add that I do have experience with these here beasties, they come from times that I give a deaf ear to things that I should be a doin'.

      Things like not treat'n others kindly when we knows that we should. Things like lett'n our mouths say things that we think of better of the moment we let em loose. These things and many more be the causes of the regrets that later plague our lives. And if we aint careful, they can ruin em.

      When I was a young lad I discovered a strange thing about meself. I don't like to see me friends and family suffer. It makes me sad and most often angry. I started to do someth'n that weren't all that smart. That was to lay the blame on meself for any problem that one of me loved ones was a goin' thru at that time. Me thought with this was, "If its my fault, then I can fix it." I later realized that because o' this, I became quite hard on meself when I would make mistakes. However, there were some good of this, I did become more love'n and will'n to apologize first. Still, I don't believe that that is the way to fix things. We are all to blame, in a way for the things that happen to us and our loved ones. But in the end it is the personal decision of one that chooses the end result. Sin Embargo (as they say in Spanish, meaning However) that end decision can be greatly influenced by us before it is made. Making the decision to procrastinate doin' somethin' that we feel would be for thar benifit and help until after they make thar decision is where we go wrong a lot of the time. And it is from that that we get regrets.

      So how do we avoid them shipmates? Tis simple, yet tough. We must make a decision to act immediately on the good impressions that we get from that little voice, the voice o' the Holy Spirit. If something is a good and wholesome action, it can only bring good consequences in the long run. Let us not procrastinate, me hearties. Let us be better at protecting the ones we love, and lettin' them know that we love them. In this, I believe is the secret to livin' without regrets. Let the grudges, the hate, the dislike, the fear, and all them other negative emotions go. They be a hindrance and the agents o' old captain guilt and his ship "Regret".

       To those who I have caused pain and sorrow by my failure to act or speak up in time, I sincerely apologize. I hope to make up for my actions, or lack of them in this the new year.

Sincerely yours, and with love,

Captain Barnabas (Samuel) Pockets.

what is on my mind?

Was heaven designed to be a lonesome place?
Just one mansion with bedrooms to spare?
I don't believe that is how it should be, but it's how
I'll feel if no one is there.

Will I even make it? I don't rightly know.
I sure am going to try.
But you know what the hardest thing for me is?
The hardest thing for me is to watch friend after
Friend decide to stop moving on. There are many reasons
why people stop. Restlessness, boredom, disbelief, doubts,
Exhaustion, frusration, ignorance and many others.
I've felt most of these too, and I know that they
Are hard things to deal with.
But that is why we have the church.
3rd nefi states that those who were baptized were known
as the church of Christ. The people, not the building
are what make up the church.
When we go through hard times the church is there.
When we fall there are others who help us get up.
So why do we walk away?
Why do you leave?
What more could you want than Heaven?
Who could love you more than Christ and our
Heavenly Father?
The answer: nothing and nobody.
That is why it makes me so sad to see you leave.
Because I know that you wont find the peace you need
Or the answers to your questions.
I am sad because you are my friends and I love you.
I don't like to see you wander. ..

I be back

Ahoy thar me harties, how be the weather fer sailin' this time o' year?
If truth be spoken on this here page, I have my doubts that anyone still reads or follows this here blog. But for those wayfarin' sailors, be ye pirates, vikings, or even a ninja with a small thirst fer the sea, that stumble across me adventures, I hope from the bottom of me blackened heart that ye enjoy them as I have.

And now I wou'd like to show ye all somethin' that I started to do whilst away in the lovely country of Uruguay. I call it dragon mail. I like it.

Exciting things

Ahoy there me hearties! Much has been a happening since last I was a was a writing to ye, via message in a bottle.
Fer one, my elder sister has gone and gotten married. Now, i have been asked many a time this past couple months if I liked the fella', and I would just like all of ye to know that I do. He is a very fine man, and I think the both of them are lucky to have found the other.
Anyways, they be a sailing on a new journey now around the seven seas. So, I be a hopin' that they can hazard the rough waters and still keep good attitudes about the weather, no matter if it be stormin' or sunnin'.
This was probably one of the more exciting things that happened, and I was all ready for it, when suddenly my elder brother, who I have sailed with on many occasion, goes and tells me that he has gone and found himself a special someone also. How about that? Pretty exciting, ain't it?

Another exciting thing that will be a comin' up, is that I am going to be a going to Uruguay for an extended period of time to go tell people about the Savior and all that he has done for them. That's right, I, Captain Samuel (sometimes known as Captain Barnabas Pockets, if you have read any of my previous posts) is going on a mission. I be a leaving on March 15 and shall be gone for two years. So if you ever be wondering why this blog's posts seem a little old at times, it is because I shall not be posting for two years, or somewhere around there.

However, I shall be here a little longer, and will hopefully be able to finish the art pieces I have been working on. I have been drawing sea serpents for my aunt, and sketching mermaids, because I think mermaids and pirates make a good match. I shall be a putting the pictures on this here blog as soon as I have finished sprucing them up.

Thanks fer readin', if ye ever do,

Sincerely yours,
Captain Barnabas (Samuel) Pockets

Here is the awesome art piece

Here it is after a long wait.
My little brother made the viking.