On the Mark: 'Talking about Caulking'

In the August of 2025, the five members of the Ronan Montana Stake Presidency were each asked to give a six to seven-minute talk in the Mission Valley Young Single Adult Branch. I used bullet points for my address so I wrote out below basically what I said that day.

I would like to do some talking about caulking.

Earlier this year after a stake presidency meeting, I asked President Doug Lundell if he could stay after for a few minutes. Once we sat down I said, "I've got a proposal for you. We are flipping our shop into a living space. And you are living in your shop while you build a new house. I need someone to do the tile work for our shower and bathtub. You need someone to paint your shop. And I know you do not like painting. What if you come to my place to do the tile work and I go to your place to paint? That way, each of us get something done that needs to get done, plus we'll each save several thousand dollars in labor?"

Doug's response was "Where do I sign the contract? You've got a deal." And we shook on it.

So, what is caulking? It's a waterproof filler and sealant that’s a flexible polymer, most commonly acrylic, latex or silicone.

Why is caulking even needed? The main purpose of caulking is to seal gaps, cracks and joints between building materials like siding and window and door frames. It prevents the penetration of air, water and other elements to improve energy efficiency, prevent water damage and keeps pests from entering a home. (Although you can ask President Lundell about his woodpecker problem.)

How do you caulk? It comes in tubes so you use a caulking gun, leave a long bead where needed, and then use your finger to help press it into the gap and any corners.

Fast forward to a week ago yesterday, I headed to his place to do some caulking.. The building is two stories in the front but one in the back so it's a sloped roof. I went up on the roof on the side of the house which is tiered and hangs over a patio.

For me, the best way to caulk is to leave a long bead of caulk while slowly walking backwards. Then I return to where I stared laying that bead and use a finger to gently press the calking into the gap, again while walking backwards. As I did so, I stepped off the tiered roof onto nothing for a half-second until my foot landed on the lower roof. I felt my heart skip a beat as that happened for fear I had stepped off the roof, so I stopped for a second and said, “Okay Mark, be more aware of your surroundings.”

After getting back down on the ground, I put up the extension ladder to caulk near the top of the building. I couldn't comfortably reach the very top so I went to the side of the structure where I climbed onto the main roof, which is also tiered. So I hung over edge to do what I couldn’t reach while on the ladder and then noticed some weathered joints that ran the width of the structure that needed caulking.

Again, I slowly talked backwards and left a long bead of caulk. But again, I focused too much on caulking and not enough on my surroundings. I stepped off the main roof. This time, I rolled over backwards, scraped up my left arm and elbow on the metal roofing but popped right back up. I checked my arm and went right back to work. Five minutes and another tube of caulking later, I was done up top, finished some caulking at ground level, got the garden hose, rinsed off my arm and headed for home.

As I pondered about my caulking adventure, here’s what I learned: caulking a building can be and is a lot like my and your individual gospel journey. Here are some keys to consider:

1. Know what’s required and do what needs to be done to accomplish it

2. Be acutely aware of your surroundings

3. Stuff will happen so face it, overcome it and finish the job

As per our gospel journey…

1. Know what’s required and do what needs to be done to accomplish it

What is our goal? Return to Heavenly Father. How do we do that?

There are the everyday Sunday school answers of pray, read your scriptures and go to church but perhaps that may also mean serving a full-time mission, getting married in the temple, going to college and getting a job, raising children and helping others.

2. Be acutely aware of your surroundings

You can’t always control your surroundings or things that happen but don’t put yourself where you don’t need to be. Years ago in a previous career I was a television sportscaster in Topeka, Kansas, where we put together the Fighting 49ers, a basketball team of on-air personalities and behind-the-scenes TV station folks. Schools and other organizations would invite us to their communities to help them raise funds for their causes. One evening after a game, we stopped at a bar/eatery on the way home. Everyone, except me, got some post-game alcohol. Nobody was drunk or anything like that but they had been drinking, including the driver. When the time came to leave, I asked if I could drive and was told "no," so seven of us piled into an RX-7, a small sportscar that holds four people at the most.

As we drove home I was thinking, "Just make it home. Just make it home." I had a wife and two young children at home. I just wanted to make it there. I also promised myself during that drive back to Topeka, to the best of my ability anyway, that I would never put myself in a situation where I am not in better control of my surroundings.

3. Stuff will happen so face it, overcome it and finish the job

In 2 Nephi 2:11 of the Book of Mormon, Lehi addresses his young son Jacob: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so…righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.”

Translation: temptations and obstacles will happen. You can bank on it. And as you face and overcome them, you’ll become stronger. But what if you don’t feel strong or strong enough? What if you feel weak?

In Either 12:27, also in the Boof of Mormon says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

So, pray to Heavenly Father, ask for help, be grateful, learn, grow and when you stub your tow (or when you fall off that tiered roof), get right back up and keep going. You’ll be blessed for it.