First we gave talks in church. I'll try to summarize them here.
Then we got a new (additional) calling--Cub den leader. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? It's a joint calling, as if they think it's too much work for one person!
Now that you've quit rolling on the floor with laughter, here are our talks:
Dad's talk was on looking for similarities in churches different from ours rather than focusing on the differences. He quoted Pres. Hinckley telling us to invite people of other faiths to keep all that is good and true in theirs and see what we can add to it.
He told about the paridigm shift he's had about Jehovah's Witnesses. Back when he was a missionary in Sweden he thought they were the enemy because tracting in a neighborhood after them was extremely unfruitful.
He told the story of giving a lady in our neighborhood a ride to the hospital and passing the building site on our corner for the new Kingdom Hall. He pointed it out to her and she said, "Oh yes and they have a beautiful building on the freeway in San Diego that looks like a Disneyland castle!" So he explained that it was OUR church who had that temple but that he could see where she would get us confused because both churches like to go door to door telling what they believe.
Then he told the story about how the supreme court had a case of a Stamford versus the Watchtower Association. A Midwestern town objected to the JWs going door to door in the neighborhood and wanted to require a permit. The case went clear up to the supreme court and they decided that going door to door was legal and didn't need a permit. So we're grateful to them for clearing that up. So now he thinks of JWs as friends and neighbors.
Then he referred to Boyd K. Packer's talk, "The One and Only True Church" where he compared using the full piano keyboard rather than hammering on one note. We want others to see the full picture, not just a few things, and realize that Christ and his atonement are the center of our gospel. And also see that they are playing more than one key.
My talk was about happiness. We all want to be happy and make choices we hope will bring it. Satan would like us to be miserable so he encourages us to make poor choices to bring unhappiness. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and does all He can to help us toward that goal. Lehi said, "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy."
Adam and Eve understood this after the fall: (ver. 10-11)
Joseph Smith said that happiness is the design and object of our existence and will be the end thereof if we do the things that lead to it--virtue, uprightness... and obeying the commandments of God. So we need to be worthy of happiness.
So what makes us happy? It may be different for different people. One may say, "If I could only go sky diving I would be happy." Or another might think, "If I could buy a new pair of shoes I would be happy." But I'm not talking about fleeting fun, but rather lasting happiness that brings joy and peace. I have thought of five things that make me happy. The list could go on and on and you could think of more things. But these are my five:
1. Living in a family. Lehi explained what would have happened if Adam and Eve had stayed in the Garden of Eden
(ver. 23) My favorite scripture is 1 John ver. 4 that says "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." Only now I can say, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my GRANDchildren walk in truth!"
2. Repentance, a beautiful principle of the gospel. How awful if our sins just piled up and we couldn't get rid of them. Alma was the expert on this.
(ver. 20) So he contrasted how he felt when he was sinning to the joy he felt when he repented.
3. Sharing the gospel. All we do in the church is to help other come unto Christ, and when we do this, we feel joy. We all know the verse in Section 18 (
ver. 16)
4. Tied in with this is helping the dead come unto Christ. Temple work brings joy. Joseph Smith in Section 128 wrote a letter telling about the principle of salvation for the dead. This was especially joyful to him because of his brother Alvin who had died without hearing the gospel. Joseph explained that those who don't have the opportunity to hear the gospel hear, will be taught in the spirit prison and then they wait there for us to perform the saving ordinances for them. Joseph waxed poetic about this in
(verses 22-23):
5. The last one I thought of is obedience. You might think if you could do anything you wanted you would be happy, but the opposite if true. Obeying God's plan for you is what brings happiness. King Benjamin explained this in (
verse 41).
I know that being obedient, helping both the living and dead come unto Christ, repenting, and working on our family relationships will bring us happiness. Which is what Heavenly Father wants for us, his children.
Grandpa and Erik went on a tandem bike ride. Erik said "Hi" to everyone they passed.
Gideon liked the "wing." He gets a kick out of watching his shadow swing beneath him.
Our family reunion at Camp Alpine was super great this year.
And a picture of the original five kids.
Ken and Polly's family: on the front row are Robin, Stephanie, Ariana, Jeff and Ann Marie. Rachel is in back.
Neil and Pam's family: in front are Emily, Gideon and Erik. In back are Esther and Zachary.
Sheryl and Jonathan's family: in front are Jason and Jessica. In back are Trevor and Curtis.
Brenda and Mike's family: in front are Sydney and Maia. In back are Berkeley and Sam.
Carl and Velvet's family: in front is Kate. In back are Laura and Grace.
We celebrated my 71st birthday there!
We did lots of crafts.
The pond and Mike's zipline were the highlight.
The kids had fun at the archery range.
There was a game of ultimate frisbee.
The talent show was good. Emily and Esther started it off with a song.
Jonathan and Sheryl played a duet.
Brenda sang "I Had a Dream" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."
We danced the Virginia Reel.
