Monday, May 18, 2015

Surrounded by good people

In my patriarchal blessing it tells me how I would be surrounded by Heavenly Fathers choices children and over the years I have learned  how true that is! Example:
 
Last night Daniel went to the airport to pick up Elder Gay and Mike Murray. These men are men we admire very much and respect greatly. Both men have had an amazing career. I often hear people say: “my good friend Mike Murray told me once …” because there is so much wisdom that comes out of his mouth when he talks.  


Mike Murray went to school at Stanford, then went to work directly reporting to Steve Jobs at Apple Computers in his 20s as the head of marketing for the Macintosh.  Mike joined Microsoft in 1989 reporting directly to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.  He spent 10 years at Microsoft during a 10 year span when the company’s stock grew 40% year over year for the entire 10 year span.  Mike walked away from Microsoft having made significant money off his stock options.  Mike could have chosen to do anything with his money, but what he chose was to dedicate his money and his time to serving others through his charity work.  One of the charities Mike founded is called Unitus which helps increase access to microloans throughout India, Africa and other areas with a need in order to help people find a pathway to self-reliance.  Through his efforts he has been able to affect the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people throughout the world and now he is serving in the PEF/ Self Reliance program for the Church. How cool is that!!


The best part about Mike Murray is the fact that if you were to meet him on the street knowing nothing at all about his incredible success you would literally think you had met one of the kindest, most gentle hearted, humble, and unassuming men out there.  He shows no sign of arrogance or entitlement.  Mike acknowledges that he worked hard for many years to achieve the financial success he achieved, but he then immediately points out that he knows many people who have worked just as hard as he did yet did not get financially blessed the way he did.  You can tell that it genuinely bothers Mike that everyone who works hard doesn’t have the same financial rewards as him and he has now dedicated his life to helping everyone he can to achieve financial success too.


Mike is generous beyond belief. He is thoughtful and authentic and you can feel of his sincerity for helping others – not for the sake of gaining recognition or attention for himself, you can quickly see how uncomfortable that makes him – no, Mike does it solely for the purpose of doing all he can to help others succeed.  He is an amazing example for all of us.


Elder Robert Gay is just as brilliant and very down to earth too. Elder Gay received a bachelor of arts degree in economics with an emphasis in statistics from the University of Utah in 1976. In 1982, he received a PhD in business economics from Harvard University. Most recently, he was the chief executive officer and managing partner of Huntsman Gay Global Capital. Previously, he worked 16 years as a principal and managing director at Bain Capital. He has also worked for GE Capital, McKinsey & Company, and as an instructor in economics at Harvard University. His father was the right hand man for Howard Hughes. One of the most wealthiest billionaires in the world at the time. Elder Gay didn't want to be a business man just to get rich, he told the professors at Harvard, his only mission in life was to make money to help others and he has done just that!


He gave a devotional here in the Dominican Republic two years ago on many of his experiences he had in Africa that had everyone in tears. He is a very humble man and so spiritual. Look him up and spend 10 minutes of your time listening to his talk in 2012 " What Shall a Man Give in Exchange for his Soul"


 Daniel is at the moment having meetings with them. I am thankful we have the chance to associate with good people like Mike Murray and Elder Bob Gay and to learn from their examples of how to make the world around us a better place by using our time and talents and resources to help others which by the way was our lesson we had in Sunday school yesterday.


Have an amazing Monday everyone!


Love,


Vero


 


 


 

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