July 8, 2014
Last week we attended a Jake Flake family reunion
in Huntington Beach planned and hosted by Jeff and Kayla. It was a BLAST!!! Jeff and Kayla planned out lots of fun
activities and we had a great time together with those who were able to make
it. We sure missed those who couldn’t
come, but are glad they would have liked to be there if they could have. I put together this video and uploaded it to youtube from the pictures and videos
Jenn and I took. (For some reason it
only plays from a computer, not from a phone.)
Summer is going nicely. We’ve been on a much more relaxed schedule,
some of that is good, but sometimes we are a little bit too lazy and at the end
of the day I don’t feel good about how the day has gone. In order to fix those feelings at the end of
the day we’ve made some changes. The
last couple of weeks or so I’ve done better about getting going in the morning
with my scripture study and exercise. It
is much easier for me to be motivated to exercise if I do it early in the
day. I’ve also decided to go off
desserts for a while. I’ve gained 10
pounds over the last 8 months or so and I feel yucky physically and my self-esteem
isn’t very good in regards to my body.
Hopefully I can lose that weight.
We’ve also made changes in how much TV the kids can watch. I was reading “Stand
Strong against the Wiles of the World” which is the talk given by Pres.
Hinckley that introduced The Family: A
Proclamation to the World. In that
talk he counsels, “Encourage your
children to read more and watch television less.” I’ve let my kids watch so
much TV this summer and I knew I needed to repent, so Chad and I came up with a
plan that the kids need to read 30 minutes to be able to watch 2 episodes of
their program of choice, and they need to read 45 minutes to be able to watch a
movie. This plan has gone well for us
and the kids have either spent more time reading or more time playing
imaginatively instead of spending time plopped in front of the TV.
I read that talk by Pres. Hinckley because during the
5th Sunday lesson that was given by Kayla’s stake presidency on the
family proclamation when we attended her ward they suggested we read it. It was an excellent lesson. They gave us each a copy of the proclamation
and had us break into groups and go through the proclamation in depth and talk
about things that stood out to us in our assigned section. I marked up my copy and plan to give a lesson
on it to the laurels in my ward sometime.
Tomorrow I am taking the kids to Snowflake for two
nights. Chad will have to stay home and
work, but the kids and I really want to go up there. It’s been too long. We will get to go up again at the end of the
month for the William J. Flake Family Reunion/Rodeo and the Snowflake Pioneer
Days Celebration, which is one of my favorite times of the year. It might even be tied with Christmas for the
best time of the year in my opinion.
Last week when I attended the temple I learned
something that has changed my perspective a lot. During the endowment when Eve is counseled to
hearken to her husband as he listens to the Lord I thought about that phrase a
lot. Then I asked myself why she was
given that counsel. I thought more about
it and realized it is because she made the choice to partake of the fruit
without talking to Adam about it. Even
though it was a good choice, she should have talked about it with Adam and
sought his opinion before making that choice, especially since it affected his
life too. Spouses should council with
each other before making decisions. It
is part of being one. She also should
have asked the Lord too. Anyway that has
been in my thoughts a lot lately. Now I need
to make sure I apply the things that I learned into my life.
I have also thought a lot about part of the baptismal
covenant to bear one another’s burdens a lot lately. I’ve realized how much that encompasses. Even if that was the only covenant I ever
made, it would keep me very, very busy.
It is a beautiful part of Heavenly Father’s plan. I think being in a family gives us the best
way to practice this with our immediate and extended family members. It is important to keep in touch and keep a
good relationship with your family members so you can know the burdens they are
facing and to help them bear them and so they’ll share those burdens with you
so you can fulfil that covenant. The
same pattern also works with visiting and home teaching.
My quote for today is good counsel in regards to
getting along with each other, “Think for
a few seconds how you react when someone does not comply with your desires the
moment you want them to. What about when people disagree with your ideas, even
though you are absolutely sure that they represent the proper solution to a
problem? What is your response when someone offends you, critiques your
efforts, or is simply unkind because he or she is in a bad mood? At these
moments and in other difficult situations, we must learn to control our temper
and convey our feelings with patience and gentle persuasion. This is most
important within our homes and within our relationships with our eternal
companions. During the 31 years I’ve been married to my sweetheart, she has
often given me gentle reminders of this as we have faced life’s unsettling challenges”
(Be
Meek and Lowly of Heart, by Elder Ulisses Soares).
Love,
Mindy
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