Ken's birthday

Ken's getting old. He has a grey beard to prove it!

Rachel made his birthday cake--a gorgeous chocolate cherry confection.
Happy birthday to you. We love you Ken.

School thy feelings

We had an interesting discussion tonight in FHE based on President Monson's talk in Priesthood meeting.

We talked about how anger is a secondary emotion based on a more basic emotion such as irritation, impatience, disappointment, etc. President Monson said, "We've all felt anger. It can come when things don't turn out the way we want. It might be a reaction to something which is said of us or to us. We may experience it when people don't behave the way we want them to behave. Perhaps it comes when we have to wait for something longer than we expected. We might feel angry when others can't see things from our perspective."

President Monson said that we choose to become angry and when we do we yield to the influence of Satan. President Monson urged us to choose to refrain from becoming angry and testified that that was possible! So we talked about how to do that. Just zipping your lip or counting to 10 or walking away are not enough. We need to actually change our heart. Someone said getting angry can be simply a bad habit! We can practice not getting angry. We can pray for the change of heart needed. We need to be wary of pride and competition and getting angry with ourselves! Emily gave some good advice: "When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!"