BR Week 29

Hi there!

Well, we have rested in the glow of the Utah defeat of the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tide is Crimson this week because of the flushed cheeks of embarrassment. There was a lot of positive talk around here about Utah football.

We had a few meeting throughout the week. We were able to do some work for school at home and at the office. We start work schedules again tomorrow in earnest. We also saw a couple of matinee movie, just so we could still be on vacation. The weather here has been great. We had some rainy days but it usually clears up after a few hours.

We had stake conference this week. That meant a leadership meeting in the afternoon and an adult meeting in the evening. On Sunday, the meeting was a broadcast from Salt Lake to 21 Stakes in the gulf coast area. We heard from Elder Walter Gonzalez, Sis Beck, Elder Holland, and Elder Uchtdorf. All of the meetings were very good. Beginning with the leadership meeting the messages focused on the little things. The message is that the little things are the big things--reading the scriptures, saying daily prayers, and doing your best to serve your family, friends, and neighbors. I found the whole message timely and important. For example, Sister Beck said that reading the scriptures doesn’t require a system it requires a habit. Reading something every day is the important thing. Attention to other things will come as you stay in the scriptures. In the leadership meeting someone told a story about how Elder Packer asked Elder S Dilworth Young about how to deal with contention at a conference or a meeting. Elder Young said “read the scriptures.” Elder Packer asked “which ones?” Elder Young said “it doesn’t matter.” I was struck with the simply purity of that. Read the scriptures, have faith, work toward making things in all aspects of your life better.

Dana also finished here first bishop’s store house experience. We figured out when and where the truck with the orders comes in and we met the truck to pick up a couple of food orders. The church and the world needs more people doing more things for each other. We are grateful for the acts of charity and service that you have been involved in. If we all did what you kids did this Christmas season the world would be a better place.

We keep discussing the severe poverty that grips so many people in the south. We don’t understand how it continues so unabated. We are trying to understand the things that we might do related to education. “Where there is no vision the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18. We hope that good people will continue to go into education and work in communities that need help through a variety of careers.

I know that this sounds like a Sunday school lesson, but living the gospel with an eye to service helps everyone. I was also struck by how the speakers mentioned the difficult economic times but still talked about the blessings of tithing and living the gospel. Struggles will come but the gospel helps us make sense of the difficult times.

We love you. Take care of each other.

Love Dad and Dana