My Name is Jared Harding Wilson

First time blogger and hope to post interesting and fun topics that are both inspirational and helpful.

By Jared Harding Wilson

First and foremost, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is an integral part of my life. Through the ups and downs of life, my faith in Jesus Christ has helped buoy me up and to not only keep hope alive in the dark parts, but to also just keep going and not give up.

I have felt how alive Jesus is in my life; He really does live and loves us enough to help us with each of our ups and downs no matter how up or down they may be.

I am from North Carolina, home to UNC and Duke basketball, Carolina Panthers football and the Hurricanes hockey team, Krispy Kreme donuts, Putt Putt Golf, Golden Corral, where Pepsi, Texas Pete, and the very first barcodes were invented, where the Wright brothers first flew, amazing food, and where you can find some incredible trails, ancient mountains, take-your-breath-away views of the ocean, life changing sunrises and sunsets and much much more!

Yes, I love my home state. A few years ago, I decided to move to Utah and wow! North Carolina is amazing, and definitely has many more trees than Utah, but one thing I thoroughly love about Utah is the ability in many places to see great distances without so many trees blocking the incredible vistas.

I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ most of my life. I love music. Ms. Mary Redfoot taught me how to play the recorder in 1st grade and to this day I can still play the song she taught me. I no longer remember the name of the song but I can play it. Maybe I will put a recording of it up here someday and perhaps someone can tell me more about it. Mr. Randy Guptil taught me how to play trombone in middle school and then in high school I learned how to play the euphonium/baritone, tuba, French horn, clarinet, and just a few years ago I finally learned how to play guitar and ukulele. Music is a way I feel I can communicate with others without needing to use words.

As an adult I finally started learning how to do wood carving. I remember as a young boy scout buying a wooden block with a face drawn on it to try and carve it as a neck kerchief holder but I didn’t get very far. There is a popular slogan in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints known by the acronym, “CTR,” Choose The Right, as in choose to make right choices. It’s basically a synonym for “WWJD,” or What Would Jesus Do? I mention that as my very first wood carving was of a CTR shield and it turned out great! Much better than I thought it would be and it was a joy to create!

As a kid, my mother always loved to garden and had us kids help her weed and tend it. She helped me to learn how to work because of that garden and to this day I still love gardening and plants of all kinds.

As a kid I loved books, but didn’t get hugely into reading until my early 20’s when I had a hard time putting a book down. I love science fiction and fantasy novels. I love how to books and books on just about any subject if well written. Some of my favorite authors are C.S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, and Brent Weeks, Earl Nightingale, Zig Zigler, Gerald N. Lund, Stephen Robinson, David Butler, Brad Wilcox, and many others.

I LOVE food. I love the simple and the intricate. Maybe partly due to being single and not having someone to worry if my food was good or not, I explored and have discovered some delectable delights! One of my first experiences in cooking was as a preteen trying to make brownies. I followed the recipe and baked it and gave my mom a slice and she kindly said I needed to try again. I did, and the same result happened. She helped me learn about measurements in recipes and not to put 1/2 cup of salt in the batter, but 1/2 a teaspoon, LOL. I can make some really good brownies nowadays. :o)

In some of the things above I was a late bloomer, I also am in regards to travel. I served a 2 year Church mission to the Chile, Antofagasta mission from ages 19-21, and then stayed in North Carolina until a few years ago. And have had some fun travels since, including some amazing trips within my home state that I wanted to go to for so long but never went until just last year. I have seen some amazing sights hiking and camping. Next year I plan on going to Europe for the very first time on my honeymoon.

As you can guess these are going to be many of my main subjects I will choose to wri!te about:

• Testimony of Christ
• Journaling
• Gardening
• Wood carving
• Good books
• Food
• Music
• Hiking / camping
• Traveling / Exploring this beautiful world.

If you enjoy any or all of those subjects then this blog is for you! I want to share what I have learned as I have learned from many of you out there in this amazing world. I would love to connect with like minded people who Love Jesus Christ, or who simply love to read any of the above subjects. I also, feel like I consume much much more than I create. This blog is my goal to create more than I consume!

Photos by Jared Harding Wilson. All rights reserved.