Esteemed for their very nature

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Afternoon Session of the April 1998 Conference.

I liked this session. Lots of good talks, lots of things I remember. These talks are starting to feel almost…recent! How strange. President Hinckley announced a bunch of temples and said we would have a hundred of them by the year 2000. I remember how amazing that was. And I remember Elder Scott's talk on leaving behind negative cultural traditions. I've always been so curious about which specific things prompted him to give that talk! Elder Lynn G. Robbins' talk on anger is so good too. I've always remembered (though still not mastered!) the doctrine that "becoming angry is a conscious choice, a decision; therefore, we can make the choice not to become angry." 

I also really liked President Packer's talk on the Relief Society. He talked a bit about priesthood power too. I feel like today we have more "official doctrine" on women and priesthood power that we've ever had. I know I have certainly learned a lot more about it than I used to know! But it's interesting that nothing President Packer said here contradicted any of the "new" (I don't know if it's really new or we just discuss it more?) things we've been learning. The fundamental doctrines are so consistent! Like this:

"However much priesthood power and authority the men may possess—however much wisdom and experience they may accumulate—the safety of the family, the integrity of the doctrine, the ordinances, the covenants, indeed the future of the Church, rests equally upon the women. The defenses of the home and family are greatly reinforced when the wife and mother and daughters belong to Relief Society.

No man receives the fulness of the priesthood without a woman at his side. For no man, the Prophet said, can obtain the fulness of the priesthood outside the temple of the Lord. And she is there beside him in that sacred place. She shares in all that he receives."

This next part was intriguing to me. My first thought was "No one would say this now." But I don't know, maybe President Packer still would! He was not afraid of what people would think. Anyway, I'm sure this line of thought would bother some people, but I think it's so interesting! I want to try to figure out what he meant by it: 

In the home and in the Church sisters should be esteemed for their very nature. Be careful lest you unknowingly foster influences and activities which tend to erase the masculine and feminine differences nature has established. A man, a father, can do much of what is usually assumed to be a woman’s work. In turn, a wife and a mother can do much—and in time of need, most things—usually considered the responsibility of the man, without jeopardizing their distinct roles. Even so, leaders, and especially parents, should recognize that there is a distinct masculine nature and a distinct feminine nature essential to the foundation of the home and the family. Whatever disturbs or weakens or tends to erase that difference erodes the family and reduces the probability of happiness for all concerned.

Earlier in the talk he said, "The tender hand of the sister gives a gentle touch of healing and encouragement which the hand of a man, however well intentioned, can never quite duplicate." That sort of talk bothers people too—"sexist idealization of women!" I can hear people complaining. But I don't know. Gender roles have always felt so exciting to me, like because I'm a woman I can just count on having certain inherent gifts and talents. Even if I don't FEEL like I'm naturally good at those things, I can trust that I can get good at them. That's very comforting to me. Plus (as I tell my girls all the time), I just feel like I got the best end of the deal, being a woman. Women are so blessed! We get the best roles of all! I'd never trade!

So, all that to say that I don't mind President Packer saying "there is a distinct feminine and masculine nature essential to the foundation of the home and the family." He wouldn't have said that if it weren't true. I'm glad we need both, and I'd like to know how to better fill my side—the feminine side. As he says, many things can be so easily done by either men or women; it's easy to think everything can be. So which areas do I need to make sure are uniquely mine? Where do I need to concentrate my specifically female gifts and make sure my "very nature" is being used to the fullest?

I don't know, but there was a time in our family recently when I was worrying and worrying about something. I couldn't stop fretting over it and turning a million solutions over in my mind. But as I prayed over it, I kept getting the answer "That's Sam's job. Let Sam worry about it." It felt so strange to have that be the answer, and I worried that I just wanted it to be the answer because it meant one fewer thing for me to take care of. But every time I prayed about it, I felt the same thing: "That's for Sam to do." I finally apologetically told him what I'd felt (I didn't actually want HIM to have one more thing to worry about!) and he was fine with it, but I still kind of feel like taking over on it myself sometimes! I have no problem with division of labor in marriage, but since so many things are left up to us and our preferences, it surprised me a little to get this pretty firm answer of "that's not your job." So maybe it really was one of those cases where our unique natures matter. And maybe there are more of those I have yet to discover! I'm curious what they are!

This next paragraph also stuck out to me because it was basically the theme of all three Stake Conference sessions we just had. Our Stake President emphasized a balanced life over and over again. He encouraged us to slow down, simplify, and focus in on the most important things—discarding any other things as necessary. So I've been thinking a lot about that, trying to evaluate our family life and if we need to make changes, and then suddenly here is President Packer saying the same thing:

At those times when parents feel smothered and just cannot do it all, they must make wise and inspired judgments as to how much out-of-home activity of all kinds is best for their own family. It is on this subject that the priesthood leaders, in council assembled, must pay careful attention to the expressions of the sisters, the mothers.

That makes it sound like here, in the area of "how the family should spend its time," is another place where it really is important that the mother's view be particularly prioritized—not just for some vaguely sexist cultural reason, but because she has an inherent, God-given sensitivity to what her family needs! I don't find that limiting at all. Intimidating, maybe! But I also find it reassuring—because it means God will help me develop my sensitivities as I try to exercise that gift. He's not going to tell women to do something and then not give them the tools to do it!

Other posts in this series:

Endure to the end (I hope I can!)—by Rozy

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Happy Birthday to Clemmie

Hooray, hooray! Happy Birthday to the little queen! We celebrated her as much as we could.

Here she is admiring her clementine garland.

Ziggy was so cute while we were singing Happy Birthday! So enthusiastic. And he wanted to stand right next to Clementine! He was definitely as excited, or more excited, than she was! She wasn't quite sure what to think of it all at first.

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Clementine's first year

I was looking back at some of these old "first year" posts as I was making this one. I only started doing it with Junie (much to Daisy's indignation), and then who knows what happened with Gus! I think I probably thought "what am I doing this for?" and stopped. It's not like I don't take any OTHER pictures of the little dears. 

But then there's just something so fun about looking at these babies month-by-month, all lined up together.   So I made another attempt with Clementine, and even though I missed September, October, and November (!) it's still cute to see how much she grew and changed! I think my favorite thing is seeing how babies refuse to sit docilely in one spot by the end of the year. They crawl all about and even stand up! Almost as if they have minds of their own! :)

(And after making this, I felt bad about Gus and went back and hastily found a few monthly pictures of him too. And posted them back-dated in 2021 so we could watch him change from a skinny Gus to a chubby Gus. Because that was some transformation!)

Anyway, here is Clementine in…some of the months of her first year. The little darling.

She has quite a monkey-ish expression in that last picture, and I'm sorry to say it is an accurate reflection of her current monkey-ish soul! She's not at all the placid little bundle she once was. Luckily, we've had plenty of other monkey-children around here and have become accustomed to it!

And here she is on her birthday. Biting her foot.

Looking sad.

And being the sweetest little squishy snookums!

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Unity is not an ideal. It is a necessity.

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the April 1998 Conference.

President Hinckley's talk on testimony was so good from this conference! But I couldn't not choose Elder Eyring's talk on unity to write about. I've been trying to understand unity for so long, and it still baffles me. Luckily, you can count on Elder Eyring to shed light on anything! He starts out rather boldly:

At the creation of man and woman, unity for them in marriage was not given as hope, it was a command! …Our Heavenly Father wants our hearts to be knit together. That union in love is not simply an ideal. It is a necessity.

Then he says,

All of us have felt something of both union and separation. Sometimes in families and perhaps in other settings we have glimpsed life when one person put the interests of another above his or her own, in love and with sacrifice. And all of us know something of the sadness and loneliness of being separate and alone. We don’t need to be told which we should choose. We know. But we need hope that we can experience unity in this life and qualify to have it forever in the world to come.

All of this is so true. We DO know the difference—even when my children are the most rebellious or the most determined to pull apart from others, lashing out at everything and everyone in their distress—I can sense that underneath it all, they LONG for inclusion and togetherness. They need it. Contention makes them feel defensive and alone.

And the needing hope part is true too. I can't count the number of times I've decided that true unity is impossible on this earth, only to be forced to confront the fact that God still commands us to seek it! I've speculated that maybe it's just the effort to create unity that God requires, but I need to work on having hope that it's actually within reach, in this life, as Elder Eyring says! So—what's his advice on finding that hope?

[Jesus] made clear how the gospel of Jesus Christ can allow hearts to be made one. Those who would believe the truth He taught could accept the ordinances and the covenants offered by His authorized servants. Then, through obedience to those ordinances and covenants, their natures would be changed. The Savior’s Atonement in that way makes it possible for us to be sanctified. We can then live in unity, as we must to have peace in this life and to dwell with the Father and His Son in eternity.…

The Holy Ghost is a sanctifier. We can have it as our companion because the Lord restored the Melchizedek Priesthood through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The keys of that priesthood are on the earth today. By its power we can make covenants which allow us to have the Holy Ghost constantly.

Where people have that Spirit with them, we may expect harmony. The Spirit puts the testimony of truth in our hearts, which unifies those who share that testimony. The Spirit of God never generates contention. It never generates the feelings of distinctions between people which lead to strife. It leads to personal peace and a feeling of union with others. It unifies souls. A unified family, a unified Church, and a world at peace depend on unified souls.

It seems like he's saying our hope comes through keeping covenants, which makes sense. We know our covenants give us access to power, and specifically to the companionship of the Spirit. The Spirit changes us and makes us ABLE to be unified where we can't, by ourselves. That's probably why Zion seems so out of reach to me sometimes—because I'm thinking of myself (and others) as we are right now. And it IS out of reach. But we don't have to continue to BE who we are right now!

Elder Eyring goes on to talk about praying and reading scriptures as a family, and taking the sacrament, nothing new (it's never anything new! Only my understanding deepens over time)—and then he says this interesting thing:

There are some commandments which, when broken, destroy unity. Some have to do with what we say and some with how we react to what others say. We must speak no ill of anyone. We must see the good in each other and speak well of each other whenever we can.

At the same time, we must stand against those who speak contemptuously of sacred things, because the certain effect of that offense is to offend the Spirit and so create contention and confusion.…An inspired, loving rebuke can be an invitation to unity. Failure to give it when moved upon by the Holy Ghost will lead to discord.

As a parent, I of course know this is true—there are times I know I MUST stop my children from doing what they're doing to each other, even if it causes more contention for the moment—but I wish I knew HOW to give "an inspired, loving rebuke" better. I don't really trust myself to keep the Spirit while I'm doing the rebuking—I get too caught up in impatience or anger or indignation myself. I don't know how to achieve that in public life either, so my usual method is to say nothing. That's probably the right thing sometimes, but I wish I was better at knowing when my failure to speak will actually "lead to discord" as Elder Eyring said.

I also liked this:

There is a protection against pride, that sure source of disunity. It is to see the bounties which God pours upon us not only as a mark of His favor but an opportunity to join with those around us in greater service. A man and his wife learn to be one by using their similarities to understand each other and their differences to complement each other in serving one another and those around them. In the same way, we can unite with those who do not accept our doctrine but share our desire to bless the children of our Heavenly Father.

I like the idea that unity doesn't require similarity in every area. (I've actually learned this before, but forgotten, and probably part of my hopelessness about it has been that misunderstanding about what "unity" actually means!) Here it sounds like Elder Eyring is saying that, paradoxically, we can use BOTH our similarities and our differences to become more unified with each other. I can understand this most easily in marriage, because there are so many areas where I'm weak and Sam is strong, and I'm grateful for the difference! Now I just need to broaden my gratitude to areas where I currently feel frustrated about differences in viewpoint and approach, and enlarge it to apply to people in my ward or neighborhood or other circles as well!

Other posts in this series: 

Timeless Testimonies, by Rozy

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Birthday Hike to Lake Catherine

I told you Daisy and I were laying plans to do another hike before the wildflowers were gone. And thanks to Sam, we managed something I've always wanted to do—hiking up one canyon and down the other! It was the perfect way to start Daisy's birthday morning (and even though both of us were sick with colds in the surrounding days, we both felt good during our hike, a tiny miracle!). 

We left the little ones home with Malachi during this hike (which made it go lots faster!). Junie came with us, and Sam hiked up too for the first half hour or so, then descended, got in the car, and drove around to the other end of the trail where he talked to Abe on the phone while waiting for us. It was great! Sam drew this on his iPad while he was waiting:

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Plenty of work to do

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the April 1998 Conference.

I liked Elder Maxwell's talk about work, "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel." He showed off a bunch of the awards he won for pig raising! I had to turn on the video so I could see him and Elder Nelson hold up a big blanket full of ribbons at the pulpit. I'm sure my brothers all remember this talk because of that!

Anyway, in our Stake Conference last weekend, one of the speakers talked about helping our children learn to work and quoted Elder Maxwell, and I thought, "Hey, I just read that talk!" So it must be I needed to ponder this again:

When the time comes, young men, make your career choices. Know that whether one is a neurosurgeon, forest ranger, mechanic, farmer, or teacher is a matter of preference not of principle. While those career choices are clearly very important, these do not mark your real career path. Instead, brethren, you are sojourning sons of God who have been invited to take the path that leads home. There, morticians will find theirs is not the only occupation to become obsolete. But the capacity to work and work wisely will never become obsolete. And neither will the ability to learn. Meanwhile, my young brethren, I have not seen any perspiration-free shortcuts to the celestial kingdom; there is no easy escalator to take us there.

I'm pretty much always worried about work in our family. I worry that we don't have our kids do enough, or that they aren't learning the value of it. I often think, "Would things be better if we lived on a farm?" We have tried many things to create opportunities for them to work more, and there is certainly always plenty to be done around here; having a large family is good for that reason—but it is a constant struggle to balance "I need to let the children learn and grow" with "I'm so tired of fighting about it." *sigh* 

But Elder Maxwell understands that. He even says

"For most young men, there are no cows to be milked, pigs to be fed, et cetera. Yes, some of today’s work may seem artificial and contrived. Nevertheless, young men, be patient with your parents as they try to help provide reasonable and meaningful work."

Yeah. We are trying! And as we do, it's good for me to remember WHY work is important. I think I often need these nudges toward working hard myself, too!

My brethren, old and young, sweeping is the only way to describe your spiritual history and your possible future! There will always be plenty of work to do, especially for those who know how to do the Lord’s work!…I believe in your future possibilities. You are special spirits sent to do special chores. It is toward those chores that I have tried to give you a friendly nudge tonight!

I'm grateful that Abe is learning hard work on his mission. And I'm grateful that Sam is such a good example of a hard-working father! Hopefully some of the lessons we're trying to teach will sink in…someday!😄

Other posts in this series: 

Rozy's post on work

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The symbiosis between church and member

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the April 1998 Conference.

I read this post recently which talks about "church culture" vs. "church doctrine" in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I really liked his take on how there is no single, uniform "church culture," but simply flawed members of the church all trying to interpret the doctrines the best they can (and often failing to do it perfectly). Having read so many people go on and on lately about how hurtful and harmful "church culture" can be, that post felt like an important reminder that the habits and behaviors formed by "church culture" are often positive, welcoming, charitable, and uplifting. In my own life, I know that the lifestyle surrounding membership in the Church has been an unmitigated good—supported, of course, by the pure doctrines that underlie that culture. In fact, it's astonishing to me how much just doing the basic "church" things—worshiping together every Sunday, accepting callings, ministering to my sisters in Relief Society, attending activities—takes me out of myself and makes me want to improve at the more personal things as well.

I was thinking about it again as I read Elder Dale E. Miller's talk "The Kingdom's Perfecting Pathway." He says,

The symbiosis between Church and member is strikingly efficient. As we invest our time, talents, and means to build Zion, our hearts are purified, our wisdom increases, celestial habits begin to form, and the Holy Spirit prepares us to receive the presence of the Father and the Son. By thrusting in our sickle, we reap a double portion—for ourselves and for the kingdom.

That describes perfectly what I've seen happening in my own life! And this is exactly what people miss when they complain about "the gospel vs the culture." Sure, the church (meaning other people) isn’t perfect. But serving in the church will perfect each one of us as we throw ourselves into the work. How else will we learn what we need than by bumping up against all the other imperfect saints? How else will we gain doctrinal knowledge than by immersing ourselves in everything we can in God's kingdom—including things that may turn out to be merely "cultural"—and by being "all in"? If we someday find that our understanding of how to live the gospel was misguided—as we surely will, in some way or another—we can recalibrate, but we won't learn that by standing back and criticizing. We will only learn by jumping in.

Elder Miller finishes by saying, 

Brothers and sisters, this kingdom is like no other organization on earth. To borrow a business term, it has a vastly superior competitive edge; it alone will lead us to eternal life. It alone is founded on solid rock, the rock of revelation. It alone has the fully restored gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the personal level, it instills a purging discipline within us. It pushes us out of our circles of comfort into growth. It fosters development of great spiritual gifts and enlightenment which we will take with us in the next life. It provides the baptism of fire. It personally empowers us in ways that can only come from God.

Again, I can attest to this, because I've seen it. I've seen that even in the life of someone who has very human tendencies towards selfishness, laziness, pride, self-consciousness, insecurity, and confusion—my membership in the church pulls me upward, it urges me forward, and it keeps me continually moving in the direction of someone who will hopefully, someday, overcome all those things and become a saint in more than just aspiration. This gospel (and the church that houses it!) truly does empower me in ways that can only come from God.

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Six months!

Abe has been on his mission for six months now! One-fourth of the way. It has gone slow and fast at the same time. He got to serve in one area the whole time, with two different companions, both of whom he really liked, and a District that all got along well. I've been so grateful for all those tender mercies!

The area he's been in is right at the edge of Texas, and he got to spend some time in both Arkansas (Texarkana) and Louisiana (Shreveport) at conferences and things. It's a part of the country I've never visited, so it was cool to hear about it and see his pictures. He often mentions various good meals he has. I love everyone who feeds him! 

Abe also loves the frequent thunderstorms and big rainstorms…he has a great desire to see a tornado sometime! Teddy is a little concerned about that, and frequently uses his phone time with Abe to say "Have there been any tornado warnings lately?"

Here are a few excerpts from Abe's long and glorious letters over these past months. 

Food:

In the evening we drove back to New Boston and were immediately picked up by some members to head over to the Watsons for a member dinner. It was a feast of corn, chicken pot pie, nachos, salsa, salad, fruit, enchiladas, artichoke dip, cookies, cake, and ice cream! It was really good, I naturally ate 4 plates. I'm still trying to bump my companion's habit of only getting one plate to at least 2! After eating we realized that it was time to BE back home and we were in Avery which was 40 minutes away! Actually now that I think about it, we would never be back late, so ignore what I just said. ;) Our drive back was very fun, it was dark and raining which is my favorite combination! They drove us a weird way through the Boonies. It was fun seeing how big our area really is! It's like an hour drive to cross it horizontally, and even longer vertically.

***

On Sunday right after church we cleared out the chapel, set up tables, and had a potluck! They are going to do this the second Sunday every month. It was super fun, probably the best Potluck I've ever been to. There was so much variety. I especially loved the Spaghetti, the tortilla soup (some of the best I've ever had), the pork sandwiches (some of the best I've ever had), the Alfredo noodles, the banana pudding, the cheesecake, the German chocolate cake, and the salami platter. As you can imagine we did not just lightly munch on the occasional item.

Funny and weird stuff:

Sunday we had church and Brother Williamson was there (he's been coming to church in New Boston for the last couple weeks bit he usually dips after the Sacrament so thats why we had never talked with him). He invited our Elders Quorum President to our dinner that night to, which was a relief cause we had a bad feeling about going alone.

So evening comes and we start driving over there with President Pierce, and as we are driving we all just kind of nervously talked. None of us were really sure what or why he wanted to talk with us. So we drove up to the address and it's literally a metal warehouse that is a church of some sort. On the lawn sitting in chairs are Brother Williamson and a Reverend of some sort. We were perplexed, we parked and went over to talk with them. They brought out a couple chairs for us and then they just started to talk. President Pierce asked Brother Williamson about how he became a member of our church, and he shared a ton of his life's stories with us. He's lived a very interesting life, and his conversion story started with him being prompted not to shoot someone. He's one of those people that just talks and talks and never gets to the point. As we were talking slowly more and more people started to arrive. The whole time I was just on the alert, I can get very paranoid haha--like for example he gave us water and so I waited until he had drank some before I had any haha

*** 

In the evening we decided to walk the streets and neighborhoods of Texarbanana and it was fun! We just basically ran around trying to catch people before they went inside. Not a single person was interested, but sometimes that's 1 of their 8 needed contacts before they ARE interested. It was so much fun to walk around with Elder Nelson, he is hilarious. We also stopped by a lady, who didn't have time for a message, but she said we could say a prayer for her. Elder Nelson started the prayer, and it began like any prayer. He was just praying, as you do, and one thing he said was "we are thankful for all the sunshine." This must have been the wrong move though cause the lady just started LAUGHING! We were unsure what to do but he kept praying and then the lady TOOK THE REIGNS. I wasn't aware that you can just take over someone's prayer bit apparently you can--cause she did it. She took over and finished the prayer. We just kind of said goodbye and walked away still confused what had happened. When we got our bearings we complained about the state this world is in these days. You can't even be in charge of your own prayer! Also we ARE grateful for the sunshine, I don't know what she was laughing at--the heat makes things much more interesting!

***

We then drove to a green dot, and taught her the Plan of Salvation. I love teaching about the Plan of Salvation, cause nobody else has such an ingenious plan--and you can see those you teach thinking it too when you teach it. After this we were walking to our car until we saw this dude by his apartment. We walked us to him, and soon realized he was a bit drunk, and was wearing a slightly long t-shirt. Under his t-shirt, we think he had nothing else on, but we didn't have the heart to confirm this haha-- It looked like fun so we naturally offered to share a message. He invited us in and we talked about the Book of Mormon. He apparently teaches at a church that has 6 members :) Judging by most churches in Texarkana it's probably called something like "First Baptist Church of GOD on the Rock of the Rock In the Rock of the LAMB Holy Ghost Holy Temple Tabernacle of Texarkana." A church named something like this is the true church fun fact! Christ definitely set up a church named something you can't even remember. After we talked with Willie, we did some calls and then watched our usual Stake President devotional.

***

On Thursday we had a gigantic storm come through. As we were doing personal study at our apartment it started pouring exceedingly hard. It got super dark outside too and there was almost constant thunder and lightning. The power kept going in and out, lots of flickering, but never long enough in my opinion.

In the afternoon we did our usual weekly planning. I was the whiteboard scribe, as usual, and my designs are getting more and more elaborate. I may even clarify our latest whiteboard as "rococo" and "a modern day Mona Lisa." DaVinci would be proud. Not Leonardo DaVinci, but the much lesser-known Harold DaVinci--Leo's younger brother who was also a painter, of houses. I will not attach a picture of it, because it's best to imagine the greatness of it.

***

Later in the day we helped some members move a whopping 300 feet. Now let me explain the situation, before you make fun of this. So we were carrying a dryer, as one does when moving--and, it was hot. Super super hot. And super humid! And when it gets humid, things get slippery. And when things get slippery, things slip. So as we were walking, this dryer started to slip. To combat this, we picked up the pace. The more it slipped, the faster we walked. Everyone knows you don't just set something down when you have committed your time and heart to it! So we pressed on under these difficult circumstances. We had scarcely got inside when things got out of hand, literally. There was a huge crash haha--we looked around hoping nobody had seen. We quickly picked it up again and ran it the rest of the way. Luckily it didn't look to be damaged at all! It's their fault anyway for not thinking to use a dolly sooner.

New friends:

Later when we arrived at this house, it looked ever run down and empty as usual. So we left without knocking.

Ha! I got you hehe--just joking of course we knocked it anyway. A dude named Dailyn answered. He came out and sat down, and had us sit down too. We talked about the Book of Mormon, and read the entire intro with him. He was intrigued. He asked us a bunch of questions like where we were from and why we were in Texas, which we happily answered. He then asked if we had a church and we said yes! He said, "You probably don't believe me, but I WILL be coming to church on Sunday." We were really glad to hear that. We said we'd arrange a ride for him, and then he told us this. He said, "I had a dream about Utah, and missionaries last night. So that's why I'm talking to you now!" It was super awesome to hear! Dailyn already seems very golden, we gave him a copy of The Book of Mormon, and set up another lesson in a few days. 

***

Sunday morning was great. As we were getting ready for church I got a message from this guy I had randomly messaged on Facebook a little while ago to look for him at church today! And sure enough he showed up to church after parking his longboard. So I have now found at least one person on Facebook every transfer so far!! Facebook really does work super well, I just wish I could get our Zone to believe me that it works. We've been trying to get them more hyped about Facebook work,, but they are all so pessimistic about it. >:( Anyway back to the guy, he's so cool, he came in with us and and asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. We gave him one and he said, "I always thought there was more writings, not just the Bible." We spoke in church and afterwards he told us he loved it. He us also intrigued by the thought of modern prophets and said, "it does make sense that they would exist." He stayed for Sunday school even. Then another member of our ward came up to him with a surprised look on his face, and apparently the two work at the same place! So they talked for a while, this means we already have a fellowshipper! He even posted on his Facebook after church thanking us for being so welcoming.

The best thing of all is that he just sounds happy. He's working hard, he's having fun, he seems to see everything as a grand adventure. He is learning and growing. What a blessing missions are for young men…and their families!

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Lakes and Wildflowers

Last year at this time, I was due to have a baby any moment! Well…that is, it didn't turn out to be as soon as I thought it might be—it never is—but, in any event, I did NOT feel up to hiking to see the wildflowers, even though I wanted to and even dreamed about it repeatedly during those weeks! So that means it's been TWO years since we last hiked my favorite wildflower hike, and last time we went the girls and Teddy looked like this:

Tiny!

This year we had to do all kinds of contortions as we tried to figure out HOW to fit the hike in. How could I leave Clementine early in the morning when she needs to nurse, who would be home with the little ones, who would drive the boys where they needed to go or how would we divide up the cars…it all seemed impossible until I realized that actually we did use to do this hike with ALL the children! Those days of taking all of them everywhere feel so far-off now, but in fact, I was quite capable of doing such a thing even by myself…once. Like this:

Oh! This picture gives me quite a pang. Those sweet little boys that used to love hiking with me!😥

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Read the story of the Son of God

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the April 1998 Conference.

I've been thinking about how to improve our family scripture study. Is it even possible to have family scripture "study" and not just "reading" (which is hard enough!)? Hmm. I don't know. But these quotes from Sister Anne G. Wirthlin made me wish I knew how:

How can we engage our children in learning from the scriptures so that the testimonies of the prophets will make a difference in their lives? We have been counseled to read the scriptures together as families. When scripture reading and sharing is a tradition in our families, then our children are more likely to make it a habit in their personal lives.

I would like to get better at that—sharing ways that the scriptures have helped me, or sharing insights I've gained through study. I think about those things a lot myself, but I don't know that I often think to share them with my family!

I also liked this:

President Hinckley has counseled parents: “Read to your children. Read the story of the Son of God. Read to them from the New Testament. Read to them from the Book of Mormon. It will take time, and you are very busy, but it will prove to be a great blessing in your lives as well as in their lives. And there will grow in their hearts a great love for the Savior of the world, the only perfect man who walked the earth. He will become to them a very real living being, and His great atoning sacrifice as they grow to manhood and womanhood, will take on a new and more glorious meaning in their lives.”

And this:

That spirit which comes when we share sacred things of the heart will bond us together as families.

Those are very motivating promises about reading and sharing scriptures together!

Other posts in this series:

Treasure Nuggets—by Rozy

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