From Dad 3/30
Good morning everyone,
We love letters from home. Being connected to family means everything to us. We love hearing about your busy lives and the challenges you face. What a good feeling it is to see the first one from the younger generation be in a temple and there receive those wonderful blessings and make new and important covenants giving strength to face all that life places before us.
Facing all that life places before us is a blessing and a challenge. Our agency will always be respected. We can progress or begin to move away from our Father in Heaven. We were with the Masch family earlier this week which has two return missionary sons and a father, who has not yet joined the Church. The oldest son is being led away from his covenants with the Lord feeling he cannot accept both religion and science. The cunning of the devil is full of power and also full of lies. Science is a wonderful blessing and brings so much that is good into our lives. The built in danger from accomplishments through science is one of pride and a sense of accomplishment excluding the role played by our Father in Heaven. Our Father in Heaven instructs us in the 59th section of the D & C there are two things that offend Him. These are when we choose not to keep His commandments, and when we fail to recognize and give Him thanks for all of the good things He brings into our lives. Christ taught us He came to serve not to be served. Too often we look for praise when we do something that is good rather than to express to our Father in Heaven our thanks for showing us how good things are done. Our Father in Heaven’s desire is not to be served but to help us learn that we can be trusted with His great power through exercising our priesthood. Once it is clear for all of His children and we each know who of us are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to earn His trust, then He desires is to give to us or share with us all that He has. He wants us to become His eternal partners and together work to bless the lives of others.
Mom describes brother Vollrath as a gentleman in everyway. He has had young elders come to see him from time to time over the years. But since their calling focuses on teaching investigators, little of the gospel has been taught to him in the 14 years he has been a member of the Church. When we were together on Tuesday we were going to start by asking how he felt about our Father in Heaven and how much he understood about Him. After the opening prayer and as we set our books open he said, “Can we begin with the homework assignment you gave me?” We had forgotten to write down the assignment we had given him in Alma, chapter 32. He said, “Who is Alma?” Then he wanted to know about the time when the prophets in the Book of Mormon lived. We talked about Lehi and Nephi leaving Jerusalem and taking the brass plates with them. He asked, “How far back in time does the record on the brass plates go?” We told him it began with our first parents, Adam and Eve and that much of what we read in the Book of Mormon is quoted from that record. He wanted to know how the Book of Mormon was translated and how we came to receive it. He wants to absorb everything. It was all so new to him. He was like a new investigator and we will teach him in almost the same way. We spent 45 minutes with him yesterday getting his Windows 98 up to speed on his computer so he can listen to conference today and tomorrow. This has been a very rewarding and fun experience for us. Yesterday when two appointments called and canceled it helped us make it through the day.
Bowling with 13 young adults last night was a lot of fun and a great diversion for us. Mom, of course, was one of the top scorers on the two lines we bowled. I cleared 100 both times so I was happy. Some who hardly have ever bowled came up with one or two strikes. It was really fun to see and feel the excitement in the air. It was good to do things together where the emphasis was on just having fun. We are a lot closer to these young people this morning. We hope to have and they seem prepared to plan and carry out a fun Friday night activity once a month. Life is good.
Have a great weekend. We look forward to having our motors charged with conference the next two days.
Love always,
Dad
We love letters from home. Being connected to family means everything to us. We love hearing about your busy lives and the challenges you face. What a good feeling it is to see the first one from the younger generation be in a temple and there receive those wonderful blessings and make new and important covenants giving strength to face all that life places before us.
Facing all that life places before us is a blessing and a challenge. Our agency will always be respected. We can progress or begin to move away from our Father in Heaven. We were with the Masch family earlier this week which has two return missionary sons and a father, who has not yet joined the Church. The oldest son is being led away from his covenants with the Lord feeling he cannot accept both religion and science. The cunning of the devil is full of power and also full of lies. Science is a wonderful blessing and brings so much that is good into our lives. The built in danger from accomplishments through science is one of pride and a sense of accomplishment excluding the role played by our Father in Heaven. Our Father in Heaven instructs us in the 59th section of the D & C there are two things that offend Him. These are when we choose not to keep His commandments, and when we fail to recognize and give Him thanks for all of the good things He brings into our lives. Christ taught us He came to serve not to be served. Too often we look for praise when we do something that is good rather than to express to our Father in Heaven our thanks for showing us how good things are done. Our Father in Heaven’s desire is not to be served but to help us learn that we can be trusted with His great power through exercising our priesthood. Once it is clear for all of His children and we each know who of us are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to earn His trust, then He desires is to give to us or share with us all that He has. He wants us to become His eternal partners and together work to bless the lives of others.
Mom describes brother Vollrath as a gentleman in everyway. He has had young elders come to see him from time to time over the years. But since their calling focuses on teaching investigators, little of the gospel has been taught to him in the 14 years he has been a member of the Church. When we were together on Tuesday we were going to start by asking how he felt about our Father in Heaven and how much he understood about Him. After the opening prayer and as we set our books open he said, “Can we begin with the homework assignment you gave me?” We had forgotten to write down the assignment we had given him in Alma, chapter 32. He said, “Who is Alma?” Then he wanted to know about the time when the prophets in the Book of Mormon lived. We talked about Lehi and Nephi leaving Jerusalem and taking the brass plates with them. He asked, “How far back in time does the record on the brass plates go?” We told him it began with our first parents, Adam and Eve and that much of what we read in the Book of Mormon is quoted from that record. He wanted to know how the Book of Mormon was translated and how we came to receive it. He wants to absorb everything. It was all so new to him. He was like a new investigator and we will teach him in almost the same way. We spent 45 minutes with him yesterday getting his Windows 98 up to speed on his computer so he can listen to conference today and tomorrow. This has been a very rewarding and fun experience for us. Yesterday when two appointments called and canceled it helped us make it through the day.
Bowling with 13 young adults last night was a lot of fun and a great diversion for us. Mom, of course, was one of the top scorers on the two lines we bowled. I cleared 100 both times so I was happy. Some who hardly have ever bowled came up with one or two strikes. It was really fun to see and feel the excitement in the air. It was good to do things together where the emphasis was on just having fun. We are a lot closer to these young people this morning. We hope to have and they seem prepared to plan and carry out a fun Friday night activity once a month. Life is good.
Have a great weekend. We look forward to having our motors charged with conference the next two days.
Love always,
Dad
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