Thanksgiving

I don't have much time before we go to the Temple but our hearts are full today & I wanted to mention a few things. I thought I wanted to talk about how great it is to be in the birthplace of our nation, especially during this Thanksgiving season, but over the past week my thoughts keep changing.

Our hearts are tender today as our thoughts & prayers go to our sweet daughter (in-law) & her family as they are burying her father today. He passed away too soon at the age of 53. He was a wonderful man. It has reminded me of when we had to bury Nathan. We haven't forgotten how hard it was but it has reminded me of the many sweet experiences we were blessed with.

During this week of Thanksgiving we are especially grateful to our Father in Heaven for the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, who made it possible for us to be with our loved ones again. Since Nathan passed away the Atonement has meant so much more to me in my life.

We are grateful to be able to serve the Lord as missionaries in the Boston Temple full time. The blessings & the Spirit that we feel there are beyond description.

I hesitate to mention all of the blessings we are grateful for because I don't want to leave anyone or anything out & I don't want it to be in any particular order, but I would be ungrateful if I didn't mention a few.

We are thankful for goodly parents who gave us life & taught us the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are thankful for our children & that includes their spouses who are ours now whether they like it or not. We are grateful for our 24 grandchildren & the love they bring into our lives. We are thankful for extended family & friends & the gift of love & friendship we feel.

We are thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ & all of the many blessings we have because of it, especially the opportunity we had to be sealed for time & all eternity to each other & our families.

I was told in my patriarchal blessing to be forever grateful for ingratitude is a grievous sin. President Monson said that we should develop an attitude of gratitude. I will always be forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of my many blessings.

We send our love.

Home Teaching

I suppose it's my turn to write in the blog. There are so many blessings & experiences that we are having lately. Sometimes I feel unworthy of it. I was assigned by one of the wards to train a new member of one week how to Hometeach. I know that sometimes I probably have not been the best home teacher, but so be it. I asked him to make the appointment & I would give a short lesson. We got in the car together, and I told him that we generally have a prayer prior to going, so we asked Heavenly Father to help us to be receptive to the Spirit as we visit this sister & her non-member husband. I found out beforehand that normally he disappears during visits from church members. We went & he came in, we got acqainted & it felt good. I started the lesson not knowing for sure what to say. We talked about leaving home when we were young & how we missed our families & were excited to return & then we compared this to the Plan of Salvation. They had both had that experience with their families. We talked about how it was important to be the best we can be here on earth so we can return to be with our Heavenly Father. Then we started talking about the Temple & he said he visited it during the Open House. He asked me what the oxen represented & I said they represented the 10 Tribes of Israel. Then he asked, "why oxen?" I told him that in the Temple & in life we are taught in symbols & Christ also taught in symbols. I said, "What does the heart represent", & he said love. As we get older we think of the heart differently. Some symbols teach us in different degrees & it depends on us & how we feel at the time. I asked him what he thought the oxen represented, and He said that he thought that the oxen lifted our burdens from us as we are baptized. I was so surprised that he said that, & he taught me something that night. He asked my companion to give the closing prayer, what a sweet prayer. Then I told him that he was a member of just two weeks. He asked us to come back and we thanked him and went on our way. On are way home the new member said that our prayers had been answered and that he was going to get them an anniversary card & send it to them after we both sign it. I feel blessed to have that kind of training from both a new member & a non-member.

This week we have three members of our Temple Preparation class coming to the Temple on Friday. We are so excited to have that experience with them.

A few days ago I recorded 2 cards that had been done & when I looked at the dates I was really surprised. Their birth dates were 1783 B.C. & 1483 B.C. We have been told that the Chinese keep excellent records especially for the men. I made copies of those cards because I wasn't sure anyone would believe me.

Last week we got to go down & touch the oxen. It was a special experience.

We are truly blessed to be in the mission field & to be a part of this work. We send our love.

He Made You

We have had the most beautiful fall. The colors have been absolutely gorgeous. There is some kind of a law that people cannot cut down trees even on their own property unless it's approved. Because of that there are trees everywhere. There are so many that when we first came here we wondered when we would get to the city because from the freeway all you can see are mostly trees. As we drive to the Temple each day we are driving under the trees that cover the road. I never really thought about it until the colors started changing & then you can't help but notice the beautiful foliage. One day I told Rod that we were literally driving under a canopy of colors. I miss the snow covered mountain peaks but we have been blessed to enjoy a beautiful New England fall.

A couple of weeks ago I was recording some work that had been done & one of the cards caught my attention. It was all Chinese characters. I mentioned how amazing that was & then I noticed that the birth date of the person was 181 B.C. I was showing everyone in the office & when the sister came to pick up her card I asked her if I could make a copy of it. I was so impressed & inspired. Dad & others have taken one of our lines back to 6 A.D. & I have always loved that.

Seeing that card brought so many things to my mind. When Nathan was in about the 5th grade he had to do a report. He chose to do it on geneology. He would get out all the geneology books that we had & lay on his stomach & study them to see how far back they went & read the names. He loved it. For a few years that was one of his favorite hobbies. I imagine him now, finding those people & getting to know them &
teaching them the gospel.

Another thing I thought about was how many people have lived on the earth & how much Temple work needs to be done. We need to step up our efforts & do all we can to keep this work going.

Our thought for the day:

As Lily Tomlin said, "No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up."

Our economy has been shattered by widespread corporate fraud; kids lie, steal, & cheat at unprecedented rates; & their parents beat up each other or referees at youth sports events or supply alcohol to fuel organized hazing.

Our confidence in the integrity of journalistic institutions, the accounting profession, stockbrokers, college sports, organized religion, & business in general is continually shaken by a relentless barrage of shameful behavior.

It's tempting to throw up our hands in despair & surrender to cynicism.

It reminds me of the tale of the pious young man whose car broke down on his way to his place of worship. He had to walk through an area where homeless people huddled against buildings for warmth, alcoholics & mentally ill adults wandered the streets, & crack dealers sold drugs to kids. He was overcome with a sense of despondency & doubt about the power & intentions of God.

"God," he prayed, "how can you allow all this pain & misery & do nothing?" Receiving no answer, he became frustrated & raised his voice, "Lord, my faith is at issue! How can you allow all this suffering & do nothing?"

Then someone behind him whispered, "He didn't do nothing. He made you."

What a profound insight & daunting responsibility it is to realize that you are the instrument of reform, that your courage, compassion, & creativity in your own sphere of influence can set into motion a ripple effect of healing actions & attitudes to make a better world.

Are we being the best we can be & doing all the Lord wants us to do.

We send our love to everyone.

A Multitude of Blessings

We have had so many blessings in the last 2 weeks. It is amazing to me how often we feel the Lord's hand in our lives.

Our twin grandsons, Jake & Jordan, were born this past week on Oct. 27th. We are so grateful that they are healthy & are doing well & blessed to have them in our family. We love each of our 23 grandchildren so much!

Last week Amy, Natalie & Kaylee came for a few days. It was so great to have them here. We took the girls on a hayride, played games, went shopping & Amy helped us find a gym to join. We had so much fun just being together. Rod went to the Temple & Amy dropped me off a couple of hours later. They came into the foyer of the Temple to say good-bye & it broke my heart to see them leave.

Amy didn't go to church with us because the girls were sick. It was a good thing she didn't go because when we got to church there were 2 investigators there & the missionaries had others they were with so we were able to stay with these two men. Then after church there was a baptism. It was a good experience.

Two weeks ago we taught the last Temple Prep class in Central Falls. One of the couples were going on the following Saturday to receive their Endowments but on Tuesday morning she called & asked if she could come that day. Her husband couldn't get off work but she felt like Satan was pulling out all the stops to keep her out of the Temple. We told her to come & she asked me if I would be her escort because she didn't have anyone with her. What an honor. It was such a special experience. Then the next day her husband got off work & came to the Temple. Rod was able to be his escort & had the same special experience.

That night we had been invited to our first dinner appointment in Central Falls. The Portuguese missionaries came & also brought an investigator. After dinner we had a discussion about families & the Temple blessings. The investigator offered to say the closing prayer. It was pretty exciting. She is 20 & came with one of the families to their Primary activity at the Temple on Saturday. We went early & took her into the foyer & talked to her for awhile. She loves the idea of families being together for eternity & of course that is so close to my heart.

This last weekend was Stake Conference in the Stake we live in. Bishop McMullin of the Presiding Bishopric was our visiting General Authority. We left work a little early Saturday night so we could attend the adult session & it was such a great meeting. Sunday morning we went to Conference & that afternoon we went to our yearly Temple Devotional for all Temple workers. Bishop McMullin was our featured speaker again. We were on such a spiritual high from all of the meetings. We learned to love Bishop McMullin. He is a spiritual giant. The closing song was, "The Spirit of God". As we were singing we were both overcome with emotion. I think it took us back to the dedication of the Seattle Temple & the Anchorage Temple when we had the opportunity to be in the Celestial Room & feel the Spirit as we sang that song in the presence of Pres. Kimball, Pres. Hunter & Pres. Hinckley.

In D&C 24:90 it says, "And if he will do this I will bless him with a multiplicity of blessings, that he shall not be forsaken, nor his seed be found begging bread."

We are so blessed to have our family & the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives, to be able to serve in the Temple & to have these special experiences that strengthen our testimonies.

We send our love to everyone.