About seventy five years ago in Dublan about a half a
block from our home, the Vicente Flores family lived. They lived in a
little house that still stands today. Behind the house Don Vicente had
a big carpenter shop in which he, with the help of his boys, filled
all of the carpentry needs of our town. I remember the machinery they
had in that big shop. As I go back in time I can smell the strong
piney scent of the fresh shavings and hear the loud whining
brrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! Of the planer. I can see Don Vicente with his
glasses on carefully cutting an intricate design on the narrow band
saw. I can see Arturo and Lemuel on each end of a long board holding
it steady as they pushed it slowly through the whining rip saw.
Don Vicente was a quiet man and a faithful member of
the church. I remember his soft voice touched with sadness as he told
me of the death of his oldest son Daniel. It was an accident in the
carpenter shop and he cautioned us to stay a distance from the
machines when they were working.
One day as I came out our front gate I looked high in
the air to see a kite that seemed unmoving in the sky. Only the tail
fluttered gently to denote the breeze that held it steady in the Blue
sky. I went out into the street to watch the kite and Arturo and
Lemuel Flores were in the street trying to get another kite up. There
was no wind down in the street but there seemed to be a steady breeze
up where the other kite was. They would run in the street pulling the
kite on the end of the string. The kite would go up into the air a
ways while they were running but as soon as they stopped the kite
would slowly come back to earth and lie lifeless on the ground. I
asked them how they had gotten the other kite up and they said that
their father had gotten it up easily the night before because there
was a nice breeze that evening. I was incredulous that the kite that
was up there so steady today had been sent up last evening and had
been up all night. Don Vicente had gotten it up at the full length of
the string and when it steadied he had tied the string to a little
tree and had left it there all night.
I curiously examined the kite they were trying to fly
to see how it was made that it could fly so steadily and stay up in
the air so effortlessly. The frame of the kite was made of split
Bamboo. Two pieces were the same length and were placed so that they
formed and X with a cross piece crossing at where the X crossed. The
bottom part of the X was longer than the top part so the cross piece
was about 2/3 of the way up on the X. The kite was covered with a
heavy brown paper, probably from a paper bag. We went into the
carpenter shop and the boys told their father that there was no wind
to fly the kite. He smiled and said we will fly it up this evening to
keep the other one company. He was confident that the kite was made
right and would fly just like the one that was up in the air.
I asked him to teach me how to make a kite like that
and he proceeded to tell me how it was made. He explained that the
bridle was very important and that it had to be measured and tied with
three strings coming from the two points on top of the X and the other
string coming from the center where the X and the cross piece were
tied together. When the bridle was tied it should be equally distant
from each of the three points so that it would hold the kite at the
correct angle so that the wind would push it up until it seemed almost
straight up. He then explained that the tail was very important and
had to be just the right length and weight to flow straight out back
of the kite and hold it steady so that it didn't spin or dart from
side to side. The tail was fastened to the two struts or the bottom of
the X and was made of a long string with paper strips of about six
inches long tied across it at intervals creating a pull on the bottom
of the kite and flowing straight out back in the wind. He told me that
the stronger the wind the more tail had to be added to keep the kite
steady.
I went home and with my new found knowledge of kites
and with my mother's help I built a kite similar to Don Vicente's It
didn't fly as good as his. I guess I didn't get the measurements
exactly right . Through the years I built many kites big ones and
little ones. When our children were growing up I helped them make
kites and some of them won the kite flying contest that was sponsored
each year by the Primary organization. I remember on one occasion my
son Tracy and I had built a very good kite and we were flying it in a
very good wind and it was going higher and higher to the full length
of the string. As it came to the end of the string Tracy did not
notice that the end of the string was not firmly tied to the spool.
The string went off the spool releasing the kite to the mercy of the
wind. It came down and down fluttering helplessly driven by the wind
until it caught in the bare branches of a big tree. There it hung
beating itself to pieces as the wind whipped it back and forth. Tracy
climbed up to untangle the string and the tail and finally salvaged
the frame and the tail and most of the string.
As I remember my experiences with kites I am impressed
with the fact that the kite cannot fly without the string. Even with
lots of string and a good bridle and the tail just the right weight
The kite cannot fly without the wind to push it up pulling hard on the
string. The string and the bridle is what controls the kite against
the resistance of the wind. If the bridle is not right then the kite
well seem to fly high into the air then suddenly dive toward the
ground with great force and speed. Some times it will recover just
before it hits the ground and soar again into the blue only to dive
again and again.
When the tail or the bridle are not right it sometimes
climbs high into the air and suddenly dives toward the earth and is
dashed into the ground and is sadly broken.
In our lives if we bridle our passions and are held
steady by the word of the Lord and the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can
climb to great heights using the winds of adversity and the resistance
and opposition to push us up and keep us there. When we are held
steady by the tail of our spiritual experiences and keep the covenants
we make with the Lord we can continue upward and be steady and
beautiful in our flight.
If we do not bridle our passions or keep our covenants
then like the kite we can dive to the earth and be broken in our fall.
If we break the string that holds us to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
to our Heavenly Father we will be turned loose to the mercy of the
winds of adversity and to the buffetings of Satan and end up tangled
and torn in the snare of the adversary. Thanks to the mercy of our
Heavenly Father and the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can repent and
put back together our broken lives and fix the bridle of our lives and
renew our covenants and again fly into the heavens and remain
steadfast and immovable in the winds of adversity and the resistance
of the opposition.
Like the kite we must be held steady by obedience to
the laws and principles of the Gospel and use the winds of adversity
to climb up and up until we reach our potential. We must be exact in
our self discipline and bridle our passions and use them for good and
to help us keep steady. We must see to it that we are also helped to
grow by work in the church and the service to our fellow men giving us
joy and happiness and a tail to flow out behind and keep our flight
steady and sustained.
May we be like Don Vicente's kite perfectly bridled and
held by the strong string of the Word of the lord. May we develop a
long tail of service to our fellow men and to the Lord's Church. Then
in the winds of adversity we will be pushed up and be strong and
steady in our lives and have peace and joy each day.