Sanders' Saga: Letter - Big Expectations to Fill, Time Together

Sunday, November 22, 2015

The last two weeks have been wonderful. Last Wednesday, Nov. 11^th was Veteran’s Day. Chad was blessed to have the day off work and the kids had the day off of school. Around 8:45 that morning Spencer, Bryant and I went to help with an Eagle project for Bridon Bowen, a ward friend. We planted plants at the Gilbert Temple for a few hours. Our good friend Derek Rudd, who is also in our ward, was just hired on as the head gardener there and so Spencer has been talking with him hoping to do his eagle project there too. Spencer hasn’t progressed much in scouts lately. He’s been pretty busy with school and I’ve lost steam in encouraging him. He doesn’t lack much to complete his eagle though.

Later that day Chad and Spencer tore the broken floor out of our new-to-us little trailer. After that Chad, the girls and I got new lumber for it at Lowes and then the Chad and I spent several hours waterproofing the wood, and installing it. It was hard work, especially since Chad is on crutches and I had to do all the lifting and carrying of the 10ft boards. A few weeks ago Chad tore out the old lights since they were all broken and installed all new lights from a kit at home depot. Chad has really been glad to have a project in repairing the trailer while he can’t walk. A good project is good therapy.

Installing new lights. Nov. 7th

Tearing out the old floor. Nov. 11th.

Looks good!! Such a sense of accomplishmet at the end of a good days work.

The last two Friday nights I have spent away from Chad and our kids and home. I don’t like to be away from them, but the experiences I had were worthwhile. On Friday the 13^th, Brenda, Chad’s mom, arranged for all the girls in the Sanders family who were able to come to go to Time Out for Women over in Phoenix. It went from Friday night through Saturday afternoon. Brenda put us all up in a hotel near there Friday night and we had a great time. There were many funny, interesting, inspiring speakers at the event. It was especially a treat to be able to watch and listen to Jenny Oaks Baker perform on her violin. She graduated from Julliard and was the first chair violinist in the National symphony for seven years until she retired to be able to spend more time with her family. I would venture to say that she is probably one of the best violinists in the world. On two of her songs, Love is Spoken Here and I Know that My Redeemer Lives, she seamlessly played both the harmony and the melody at the same time! It was incredible to see someone who has put hours and hours every week, year after year into developing and perfecting her talent.

This Friday night, Nov. 20^th, I was gone to a Stake Youth Conference. Since Spencer turns 14 in a couple of weeks he was invited to go too. The conference was held at the old high school in Superior. A Brother and Sister Cardon from this area purchased the old high school and are in the process of remodeling it. They live there and they allow stakes to use it for youth conferences free of charge. The youth and YM YW leaders in our ward drove to Superior on Friday evening to start the conference. We got back home around 8:15 last night. It sure was fun.

Can you find Spencer in there? He on the left side, midway up.

Superior has some beautiful views. It was SO windy though. They have wind that rivals Snowflake's spring winds.

The first speaker of the conference on Friday night was our former Stake President Matt Riggs. He recently returned from serving as a mission president in Washington D.C. It was cool to hear from him again. During his talk, he did an object lesson about receiving the Holy Ghost. He asked the youth who played football this year to raise their hands. Spencer and several other young men raised their hands. Pres. Riggs called on Spencer and said, “What position did you play?” Spencer said, “wide receiver”. Pres. Riggs said, “Oh that’s perfect. What’s your name?” Spencer replied, “Spencer Sanders.” Pres. Riggs excitedly asked, “Are you related to Chad Sanders?” Spencer said, “Yeah, he’s my dad.” Pres. Riggs said to all the youth, “Let me tell you about Chad Sanders.” He proceeded to tell everyone there about a church basketball game where our ward played against his ward. He said, “Our team was good, but Chad Sanders’ was great.” Then he explained that since our ward only had three players and had to forfeit that he and his son played with our ward and how his son threw Chad an alley-oop and how Chad reached way back grabbed it and dunked it. Then he turned to Spencer and said, “That’s your dad. You have some big expectations to fulfil.” After that he asked Spencer to get up off the bleachers where all the kids were sitting and come out onto the gym floor. Then he said something like ok I’m going to throw you a pass and I want you to receive it. Then just before he threw it he paused and said, “oh man that’s a lot of pressure, everyone’s watching.” I was kind of an anxious mess inside at this point hoping Spencer wouldn’t drop it in front of everyone and feel badly about himself. Then Pres. Riggs threw Spencer the pass and really rocketed it to him. (Pres. Riggs is a former quarter back.) Spencer caught it perfectly!! I was so glad for him. It was such a proud evening for our little Sanders’ family to be spotlighted like that. When I came home last night and told the younger kids all about what happened they were so proud of their Dad and big brother.

I have been thinking about what president Riggs said to Spencer. “That’s your dad. You have some big expectations to fulfil.” While Pres. Riggs was talking about Chad’s athletic ability, there are many other qualities that Chad has that give our kids big expectations to fulfil. Chad truly is a great athlete, but he is an even better man. He is kind. He is obedient. He is a stalwart Priesthood holder. He never yells at or belittles me. He treats me as an equal. He is an intelligent, hard worker. I know that all my children can develop and are developing these qualities. I know they can meet and are meeting the expectations that are set for them.

Here’s my quote for this week, “Time together brings insights and experiences that strengthen us and bind us together as friends, and more importantly, as disciples of the Savior, forever. It is a great blessing to be together” (Elder Neil L. Andersen, Nov. 14, 2015 Facebook post). I felt that it was a great blessing to be together with the Sanders’ women two weekends ago. It was also a great blessing to be together with the youth in our stake. Relationships were strengthened and we were bound together. As this coming Thursday is Thanksgiving, I’m looking forward to time together with my Mom and all my siblings. It is a blessing that we will be able to be together. We will be strengthened and our bonds will grow deeper.

Love,

Mindy

P.S. Here are several pictures from the last month or so.