My Testimony of Time

I know that time is. But sometimes.. at times, I doubt time. I struggle to believe that it’s real. I start to feel that it is random or that we can control it, and both are true..or false?

I have never been super observant of time until I started writing more the last 3 years. I watched how cycles and patterns in time would manifest each season and year. Then I bumped my head and had more time to observe, or I become more observant of time?

Right now, it just became summertime. It is Solstice today, marking it the longest day of the year where I am in Italy and I think it’s the same for home in Utah. I am in Sardinia, which is an island west of Rome. It’s a big island. It’s one of those Blue Zones where people live longer than normal. I’ve been to lots of those zones now, so hopefully just being here affords me an extra month of good living.

Time, what’s going on with it. Are you feeling something is up with Time? I know it’s real, like the Sun, but we can’t see it and we don’t all see time the same. I do feel that it’s infinite and available to all forever.

I have never felt like I should be a tracker of time. I haven’t been driven to do things where timing is essential. I am not competitive in races based on time nor do I try to time markets or game systems. I do see things before most people, so I am early in my timing but that feels intuitive and not deliberate.

Time is on my mind today but it is not what I woke up and sat down to write of this morning as I sit by the sea.

I was going to talk about the Sun Day that happens to be on the Summer Solstice when this message delivers to the readers of my ramblings. Instead, Time hit me hard and I realized 2 years ago on this solstice I was on the seaside, same mediterranean sea, penning a memoir about my Mormon mission served here 26 years ago. In that article I wrote how I felt about the Italians and their community.

Here I am again, moved upon by the repeating of time and time again. Same time of year a similar voyage to this land that has directed and influenced so much of my being. Italia. Forza Italia !

In 2001 when a man named Madison Sowell was serving as a mission president of the Milan Mission (my mission) he prophesied that in 25 years, a temple would be built in Italy and that there would be a reunion of those that served with him at this temple. His prediction was correct. Side note: My grandpa was a mission president in Los Angelos years before I was born. Dewitt Paul was his name. Anywho, Madison has the prediction power of my daughter Jane, who has won every bet she has made on the World Cup during this trip.

So I missed this reunion last month. I was busy doing a shamanic journey in Costa Rica while a few dozen missionaries and their spouses gathered and reunited at the Rome temple. I’m sure they even did temple sessions, where they go through this temple together. This is a privilege only available to the worthy. I am worthy and my God knows it, but I did have espresso this year a few times, and that is a behavior that divides your very soul from the presence of God. I will get clean and return to the presence of the almight soon. That reunion will be beautiful.

I tried very hard to pass the test of the temple, a quick quiz done in person to determine if you are worthy to enter. I failed this test. But you can retake it again and again. So eventually the espresso will be out of my system so I can pass the drug test with flying colors:)

This didn’t stop me from experiencing the temple grounds. It’s a beautiful structure, built by the architecture firm started by our friend Peter Brunjes. We live in Peter’s home that we purchased 8 years ago in Utah. My daughter studies architecture at school in large part because she experiences this man’s creations all around us in Utah, and now Italy.

I got to take my whole family to this prophesied temple this week. I missed the reunion with the missionaries inside the temple, but I got my own with President Sowell. I even asked that my favorite companion, Anziano Dilillo, fly in from Belgium to his home town of Rome to hang with me on this monumental event. He came, and introduced to me Stracciatella cheese, of which I am enjoying now as I write this.

I only got to know one Italian really well in my life and it’s been Francesco Dilillo. We have spent many days together since the mission as well, sharing our homes with each other and our young families, of which are now full grown and the age we were when we met. I got to be with Francesco, my last companion. I can’t say my fav, because at least 2 other companions read my writings and think they are my favorite. Being the polyamorous man I am, they are all my favorites.

I got to be with him, President Sowell, Sorella Sowell, my family at this new temple.

Temple was dope, but eating and talking after at a local grill was what I will remember best. The restaurant doesn’t have a worthiness qualification, so all were welcome, even me, the greatest sinner among us. I was offered an espresso after dinner from our waitress, and I did partake. The “Just say no” campaign from California elementary D.A.R.E. program couldn’t keep me clean from the temptation.

I will go to that temple and others someday, and I will share the experience honestly and openly. I encourage all of you to go into a Mormon temple someday. But don’t prioritize it above or before any other temple. There are so many temples across the globe that you can see with your eyes and meditate in. Don’t die without visiting Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I will be doing the lego set of that one soon that just released.

Angline is straight up getting inspired to be architect in this photo as she is in this famous edifice with her brand new Messi jersey in 2017.

If you want to visit temples with me or do legos, just let me know, that’s the second half of my life’s work, I feel it deeply. Next year is the 88 Temples of Japan pilgrimage that I will do, and if you want to join me like people joined Forrest Gump for his run, I can’t stop you.

Time keeps on slipping, into the Future. A wise man once sang this:

I think I have experienced that slippage. But today it’s slipping into the past. June 20th 2024 I wrote words that I couldn’t keep in, I had to let it out.

It was also solstice when I penned my testimony of Italy 2 years ago, samesies. Damn time again. I discovered this when I woke up today and when I went back to reference that post and sure enough, to the day.

Something must be happening on this day where our solar clock stays in the sky and shines its longest day. I am realizing that almost every paragraph in written language makes reference to time. Try keeping time out of your language.

If it sounds like I am high as I write this, let it be known that even though I publish this essay at 4:20, religiously. I have been cannabis free since 4/20 of this year. I am experimenting with my new ADHDless mind that was forged in the Costa Rican jungle. I will surely be high another day, but I am feeling called to reserve it for April 20th each year as a celebration under the Sun with my family and friends. Annual sacrament of one of the world’s greatest gifts.

When I ponder on the art and music that has come from this gift I am overwhelmed with Joy. I had no idea in the first 35 years of my life how influential this plant was on the human creativity and love.

On the creative note, I just took my computer to the toilet to #2 and used a bidet, which I have come to love using, all while making content. I thought you should know how locked in I am to sharing these words. Very different than my ADHD brain that would have taken 3 days to compose.

Japan has the best toilets and Italy is right behind with these bidet things going on next to the toilets. They are both countries that look rather similar in some ways so maybe long skinny countries with the best food and oceans on both sides make for the best place to take shits and clean after???

I will take this time to celebrate America’s success in the World Cup, and I mean all the ‘Mericas… Mexico, United States and Canada. Good job to all of your matches and fixtures so far. But all of you have shitty shitters and you know it. Make Americas Toilets Great is a campaign I can get behind:)

I forgot to mention something else related to time. My parents were influenced by my brothers to observe this new book called Die with Zero. It’s a book about why you should pass down your money to your children while you are alive and not after death. My parents decided to do this in the form of traveling with each of their children each year. So Italy is where we decided to all go together and they picked up the tap for the week we were in the Dolomites.

I always thought Utah was the center of skiing and recreation until I came to Selva and stayed in Ortisei. The alps are the center of the outdoor universe for me now.

I have so much to say today, as I did 2 years ago, but this open journal style that I use will cause some of you to wane in interest as it’s not the clear cut messages that I used to post. This is a long and windy road with photos and links to all the songs that keep getting tossed in.

I have a battle with my soul every time I post to the public anything going on in my life. I have been 18 months done with social media posting and my thinking without that has been much clearer. My brain recovery feels like it’s 110% from before the accident. But my ego still wants to post to feel like I am part of something outside my head. I want to feel like I’m in a hive with bees and transmitting a message feels natural at times.

Some of you might remember that I am a religious founder. It’s been where all my thoughts go so I figure why not start a new thing, but instead of a company or hobby, I thought about religions and realized there are very few new religions and I am going to explore why by starting one. I get why there are few, religions are difficult. They are not very compatible with capitalism unless you merge with capitalism and have a religion that sells something or has subscriptions. I grew up in the most expensive religion to subscribe to or join. I felt that in my new religion I need to go with free just to see how that feels.

The Church of the Sun is free, not because we came together in a meeting to figure out the pricing model and came away empty handed, but because the Sun is free. That’s all I got on this topic. Tell me how it feels to be part of a free religion. Also, what’s it like to be auto-subscribed to the Sun Church? You didn’t get a choice, it just happens at birth. You can try to unsubscribe and reject the free gifts of the Sun, but you won’t last long.

I may sound like a false prophet at times, because I am both true and false at all times. Damn, time keeps slipping, into my language. Oh, with languages, try my language picker at top of the website and see if it makes sense in another tongue if you speak another tongue. ChurchofTheSun.org

…I just had some olives and a Sardinian Ichnusa and now it’s noon and Italy shuts down, which is fine because we are in country by the sea and have provisions to survive the day and don’t need to shop.

Today I hike with one of my greatest friends ever…David D’Angelo, who became Italian citizen a year ago and is now here in Sardinia with his fiancé of 8 years. We got to film his proposal to Angie. She said Yes!

It is David’s birthday today. It is Father’s Day. It is Sunday. It is Solstice. It is Natalie’s Birthday this week and our anniversary. We will be on a boat all to ourselves in the sea for those days. There is so much happening this Time of year;)

The number 1.618….. is Phi, and we celebrate it at our company, Phi, on June 18th. That event, day, time also just happened. I always like keeping y’all up to date with what we do and to celebrate Phi day put your name and address here and I will get you a month supply of Stack.

Ok I feel like I wasted enough Time writing on this computer. You got my raw journal as you have 500 times before.

Vi Volgio un Mondo di Bene!!!

Gregory Scott Paul ll, Daddy X, GSP2, Gspotty P.

Many of you recognize this guy in the visitors center at Rome LDS Temple. Many of you might know half the names of the dudes behind him. All of you know what that orange thing above them all that shines light on to everything through all time. That is my Testimony of Time, In Jesus name and Sole, Amen