Sunday, October 11, 2015
It has been a wonderful Sabbath Day so far. We had stake conference this weekend and had Elder
Zaballos of the seventy as a general authority visitor. He was fun to listen to because of his
accent. He speaks great English, but
would forget words from time to time and ask if certain things were words. He has lived his whole life in Chile until he
recently moved to the united states one and a half months ago. He was one of the speakers in the last April
2015 general conference that spoke in Spanish.
Anyway, he told many great stories from his life and then gave a great
talk today about how we can improve our happiness. I’ll include my notes from his talk at the
end of this letter.
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| Leg wrestling pics from last Sunday evening |
Late Tuesday morning the kids and I took a bike
ride to the dollar store and then we decided to ride to the tunnel under
Germann road. The tunnel is in between
Ranch House Pkwy. and Power Rd. It has
become a tradition to ride there each fall break. It was really fun and I got some cute
pictures. I should have had Spencer take
a turn pulling Marlee and Tilly in the bike trailer though because my legs were
pretty tired the rest of the day. That afternoon
I got clothes packed—note to self, I packed way to many clothes, next year I
can just pack swim suits, pajamas and maybe one pair of clothes since we stay
on the beach until it gets dark pretty much every day. At mutual that night there were not many
girls there because so many people were out of town for fall break.
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| I love, love, love this picture. |
Wednesday we got everything packed up and loaded
and left to Rocky Point on time!! That almost
never happens. I think we were all
excited for our vacation to start. We
invited Spencer’s friend Danner Bowen to come with us this year since we have
an extra seat. He was fun to have around
and was helpful and kind. Our vacation was
so relaxing. I loved the beach!! We had Wednesday and most of Thursday to
spend by ourselves and then several of our friends and their families arrived
on Thursday evening—the Buhrley, Sorenson, Lantz, Lines, Clayton, and Sandall
families. We played on the beach each
day until dark and then at night Chad and I stayed up late visiting with the
adults while the kids played games on the lawn of the resort. It was so fun. I’m so glad that the kids still have another
whole week and a day of fall break left so we can relax and do fun things. I wish Chad had more time off too, but sadly
he goes back to work tomorrow.
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| The boys turning themselves into "sugar cookies". The did this at least 20 times. It was funny. From left to right--Bryant, Danner, Spencer, and a boy from school that came over to say hi to Spencer and Danner. |
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| We stopped at the dirt mall for souvenirs on our way out of town. |
We got home yesterday afternoon just in time to
unpack and get a load of laundry done before the adult session of stake
conference. Our ward choir was asked to
sing for the special number and since our choir pianist was out of town I was
asked to play for the choir. It was fun
to accompany again. I think that is my
best musical talent. Today Spencer and I
sang in the stake choir. We even got to
stand and sit by each other for the whole time.
It was fun to do that together.
For my quotes today I’ll share one quote from last
night’s stake conference session and one quote from today’s session:
·
Last night Pres. Nattress, of the Gilbert, AZ
Mission, asked us, “What think ye of
Christ?” I know that Christ loves
me. I know that he has surely has borne
my griefs and carried my sorrows. (Isaiah 53:4)
·
Today Elder Zeballos taught us how to be happy:
1.
Obedience to the laws of God. D&C 11:20 “Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with
all your might, mind and strength.”
The Lord’s work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of
man (Moses 1:39) “…ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the
commandments of God…” (Mosiah 2:41).
If you’re not happy, consider what commandments you need to improve on.
2.
Repentance.
When we really repent he is always ready, always willing to bless
us. Sin is contrary to the nature of
happiness. Wickedness never was happiness.
(Alma 41) If you want to be happier,
find what you need to repent of and do it now.
3.
Forgiveness.
Some say I can forgive, but I can’t forget. That is another way of saying I can’t
forgive. We have to let our heart
forget. We can’t have any bad feelings
for that person remain. If we want to be
happier, identify who we need to forgive and do it now.
4.
Bring souls into the kingdom. D&C 18:15-16. In a recent training he attended with President
Monson, the prophet reemphasized the importance of going to the rescue.
5. When
I have the spirit I am happy. “I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my god is
a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am
cheerful, pleasant, lively and good-natured when I have His Spirit…. That
arises from the perfection of His attributes; He is a jovial, lively person,
and a beautiful man” (Heber C. Kimball)
6. Patience
also bring happiness.
Love,
Mindy
Gilbert San
Tan Stake Conference Notes
Saturday, Oct. 10th Adult Session
·
President Trendler – 1st councilor in
stake presidency
o
What we become in the future is based on what we
do today.
o
The true love we have for others is manifested
in follow up.
o
Where there are priesthood keys, you will find
councils.
o
The ward council has responsibility for ward
members.
·
Bro. Thompson – Power Ranch 1st Ward
Elder’s Quorum President
o
Faith is a gift.
We receive it as we are willing to act.
o
Less active members are children of God who He
loves, who have made covenants but has become distant or offended. How do you help them?—Go to their home to
visit them, build trust, love them, have faith in Christ’s capacity to heal,
bear testimony
·
President
Nattress – Gilbert, AZ Mission President
o
Do we understand the significance of Jesus
Christ?
o
When I have had a hard time, how did the Savior
come to my rescue?
o
What think ye of Christ?
§
He helps us forgive.
§
The key to happiness is to repent and to forgive
every day.
o
If all that your children knew of the gospel
came from you, how much would they know?
o
Make sure our children know that we know who the
Savior is.
o
If all that our neighbors knew of the gospel
came from us, how much would they know?
·
Bishop Wilhelmson – Meadowview 1st Ward
Bishop
o
“The family is ordained of God. It is the most important unit in time and in
eternity” (Handbook 1.1.1).
o
In families we play, love, work. Families teach how to be social—how to get along
to put other individuals first.
o
Families teach spiritual matters. The family is to teach children and reinforce
to parents about Jesus Christ.
o
Parents should be examples of obedience to teach
their children. The sons of Helaman were
true because of their mother’s teaching and example and form their father’s
obedience.
·
Elder Zeballos
o
We learn simple things, but true things in the
gospel.
o
We can be cleansed.
o
Love is the essence of the gospel.
o
Jesus followed Heavenly Father’s plan and
carried it out because He loves us.
o
What will we do with the things we’ve learned
and felt tonight?
§
Levels of learning
·
Level 1 – What did I learn? Will we just have a
wonderful remembrance? Is the knowledge
enough to be in the process of conversion?
·
Level 2 – What did I feel? (Higher learning)
·
Level 3 – What will I do? What changes will I
make? (Highest level of learning)
§
We can’t just stay with feeling or knowledge.
o
How can we help members of the church help with
the work of salvation?
§
The work of salvation is:
·
1-Member missionary work
·
2-Convert Retention
·
3-Activation
·
4-Temple and Family History Work
·
5-Teaching the Gospel
§
The trigger to this is pure love.
o
If I’m going to invite other’s to Christ, I need
to be standing very close to Christ myself.
Sunday, October
11, 2015 Session
·
President Derrick – Stake President
o
As you begin to accept invitations to exercise faith
you come closer to Christ and it brings you to your knees to repentance so you can
be more like Him.
o
There is no better way to get closer to Christ
than to keep the Sabbath Day Holy.
§
D&C 59:9--“That thou mayest more fully keep
thyself unspotted from the world…” This is a very spotty day. There are lots of spots flying around hitting
us.
§
D&C 59:13—“…that thy fasting may be perfect…” This doesn’t mean that we fast every Sunday,
but every Sabbath day is a fast from the world.
§
Ask Heavenly Father that our desires to keep the
Sabbath Day Holy may be fulfilled. He
told a story of two nurses prayed to be able to keep the Sabbath Day Holy and
were given a shift change.
§
Ask Heavenly Father, “What lack I yet?”
·
Bishop Court Kleinman – San Tan 2nd
Ward
o
God is intimately award of each of us in our
trials. Be faithful, hold on.
o
Don’t end your journey because it gets
hard. Don’t stay in a state of
non-progression.
o
The worth of souls is great. Some need rescue because progression has
stopped, some need rescue because they are lost and don’t know where they are. The Atonement has power to rescue those who
are lost.
o
Our Heavenly Father desires all his lost
children to return to Him. – I thought of how I go crazy and tear the
house apart when I lose something and how I can’t rest until I find it. I need to feel similarly to helping rescue
Heavenly Father’s lost children.
·
Sis.
Anderson – Wife of councilor in Gilbert Temple Presidency
o
The Gilbert Temple was blessed to e a refuge
from the storms of life in the dedicatory prayer.
o
You can strengthen your relationships with your
whole family in the temple.
·
Pres. Anderson - councilor in Gilbert Temple
Presidency
o
The temple has a strong physical foundation and
gives a strong spiritual foundation. He
told stories of how Chile learned from earth quakes to build strong
foundations.
·
Elder Zeballos
o
This is the best of all times. The gospel is restored, technological
advances, living prophets and apostles.
o
Lehi wanted to share the fruit he tasted with
his family because it brought him joy.
o
Happiness is the object of our existence. 2 Ne.
2:24-25 Joy! This doesn’t mean we won’t
have hard things.
o
How can we improve our happiness? There are no punishments or rewards, only
consequences. When we obtain any
blessing it is a result of our actions.
o
Don’t wait to be happy--Don’t wait until you go
to school, until you go to high school, until you go to college, until you land
a job, until you get married etc. Be
happy now! We can be happy here
regardless of our situation.
o
How to be happy:
1.
Obedience to the laws of God. D&C 11:20 “Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with
all your might, mind and strength.”
The Lord’s work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of
man (Moses 1:39) “…ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the
commandments of God…” (Mosiah 2:41).
If you’re not happy, consider what commandments you need to improve on.
2.
Repentance.
When we really repent he is always ready, always willing to bless
us. Sin is contrary to the nature of
happiness. Wickedness never was happiness.
(Alma 41) If you want to be happier,
find what you need to repent of and do it now.
3.
Forgiveness.
Some say I can forgive, but I can’t forget. That is another way of saying I can’t
forgive. We have to let our heart
forget. We can’t have any bad feelings
for that person remain. If we want to be
happier, identify who we need to forgive and do it now.
4.
Bring souls into the kingdom. D&C 18:15-16. In a recent training he attended with President
Monson, the prophet reemphasized the importance of going to the rescue.
5. When
I have the spirit I am happy. “I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my god is
a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am
cheerful, pleasant, lively and good-natured when I have His Spirit…. That
arises from the perfection of His attributes; He is a jovial, lively person,
and a beautiful man” (Heber C. Kimball)
6.
Patience also bring happiness.
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