Monthly Archives: October 2007

23 October 2007

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After the explosion – some smoke flowing out. Look Dad – I can ride it backwards. This bike load looks impressive but they are empty cans. It is a common load here in Jakarta.

23 October 2007 – Tuesday

A very normal day for us – at least normal while an Intensive English Class is going on. I exercised, drank my breakfast, and we read from the Kitab Mormon. I continued to spend some time reading from PMG in Indonesian.  We got the sad news that the daughter of an old friend of ours from the Lennox Ward days had did of a massive overdose. Her father had been inactive for quite a while but had returned to the church. We also got to talk to Tom and his family for a short time this morning via Skype. William is becoming a chatter-box and sounds like he is all boy. We also got some photos that Kristy sent of Olivia. Mary showed them to everyone at the mission home.

We had a little excitement this morning when we stopped to pick up Mary’s music copies. Sam and Mary went up to the counter to and I stood around looking for some good motorcycle loads. All of sudden I heard a big bang behind me and so I turned around but everything looked OK. I asked Mary what had happened and it seemed some electrical device in the shop exploded. No one was hurt but there was a good deal of smoke. One of the big problems they have in Indonesia is people run electrical cords everywhere and they have lots of fires start from overloaded circuits. Luckily this one did not cause a fire – it did not even cut off the electricity. Maybe they do not have a fuse or breaker box.

We had the morning class and after starting together we broke into groups. I worked my section pretty hard. I still am not sure what they need most but right now I am working mainly on vocabulary and learning to write and speak good sentences. One of them is having trouble with constructing sentences – he tends to make them too complex.

After the morning class we immediately went to the mission office to have lunch and for Mary to teach her 1 p.m. class. When we got there Mary was reminded that the Tuesday class was to start at 3 p.m. However since everyone was there, they had it at 1 this week but it will move to 3 next week. I had a great meal from BYU – they had cucumbers again.

I had a nice talks with Elder Subandriyo and then with the president. Each time I sit and talk with president Marchant I learn something. Today he talked about the missionaries having pictures of their family or girl friends on the wall above their desks. He said he thought that should be stopped – that anything that took their minds away from their missionary work should be put away for two years. Especially the pictures of the girl friends. I thought that may be true for us also. Maybe we need to only communicate with our children and grandchildren on P-day. It would be hard but if all them would send us letters, etc. during the week, then on P-day we could respond to them and others. I am not sure we can do it, but perhaps we could work towards it.

The main thing that my talk with the president did for me was to testify again that he was certainly called of God for this position. It was time to have a soft but firm hand to guide the mission for the next three years. It also confirmed to me that each person is called to a position at the time their talents are needed and that the changing of leadership is important to keep the kingdom moving forward and not stagnating.

Next it was time for Sogo – I was completely out of orange juice. We of course also hit BreadTalk and our fix of bakery goods. They were not running at full capacity because most of the bakers were on holiday. They were not allowed to take it when everyone else did because the bakery is very busy at that time.

Our evening was spent reading the Kitab Mormon, studying Indonesian, and working on projects. Mary worked on getting her music on to the poster board we bought a couple of weeks ago. She is so happy that Lisa got her music that she can easily read. Before turning off the light I continued to read in PMG. I hit a quote from elder Holland and the change to non-church words really slowed me down. But it is the only way I am going to learn to read and speak Indonesian to members and non-members.



22 October 2007

22 October 2007 – Monday

Before I get started some random worldly thoughts. There were well over 500 deaths of motorists over the week long holiday. Over 75% of them were on motorcycles. If this was to happen in the U.S. motorcycles would be banned from the roads. Of course here there are more motorcycles than cars and they weave in and out of the traffic. Add the problem of the riders falling asleep or being very tired due to the length of trips – many were traveling for 12 – 20 hours on their motorcycles – and whole families traveling on one motorcycle – and it is amazing that more were not killed.

I was sorry to read that Cal lost again. How quickly they have fallen from 2nd to off the board. Upsets have become almost a given in college football. It seems on any given day one team can surprise another. At least USC got up for the Notre Dame game and basically destroyed themwith a back-up quarterback.

We got a letter this morning from Rachel that mentioned that snow has fallen in the valley and stuck on the ground. Hopefully this means a great snow year so there will be lots of water when we get released. We also got a great letter from McKay and she is doing well. It is good to get news from home. Of course the blogs are great – lots of pictures.

I woke at 4 and could not go back to sleep so at 4:30 I was reading from the Indonesian PMG. It is not the best way to learn what is there, but it is a good way to learn more Indonesian. When it was time, I went to the gym and had a good workout – I am up to about 150 sit-ups. Which is good since about a month ago when I started again, I killed myself doing 30.

After that is was a normal morning including reading in the Kitab Mormon. The only problem was that I was really tired before we had even left for the church. The day went well. While Mary taught the morning class, I made lots of copies of vocabulary, organized the afternoon lesson, and answered what seemed like an unending amount of e-mail. The best one I got at the office was one from the man who we have been trying to home teach for the last two months. He agreed to a time in November and also said that he would interview Daisy for a job. So now we must get her a resume and teach her how to do a good interview. I will ask Lukito to give her a short Career Workshop.

After lunch – we had nasi goreng off the street – we split the class. I worked my section very hard. I am working on getting them to write and speak correct sentences. I am also working a lot on vocabulary. Hopefully I can get them to a point where they will be able to get a good score on the Michigan test.

When the afternoon class was over we all piled into our car and they brought us home before going on to the Walkers for FHE. We read from the Kitab Mormon and then I studied some from PMG. Later we read again from the Kitab Mormon – we completed the Book of Mormon and are into Ether. We are about 50 pages from the end and only had to look up maybe 10 words all day. The Lord I am sure is blessing us for our diligence. I am beginning to better understand the scripture about ‘prove me herewith.’ But in regard to the gift of tongues instead of tithing.



21 October 2007

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Us with Maria Sandra. Elders Erickson, Louhannapessy, with those who would be baptized.

21 October 2007 – Sunday

I slept like a batu until almost 6 – I do not think I even rolled over all night. Normal morning with reading from the Kitab Mormon and then I worked on pictures and this journal.

We arrived at Jakarta Raya in time to meet and greet most of the members. Elders Torrens, Erickson and Louhannapessy were already there. It is a big day for them because they are having two baptisms.

This session of District Conference was a direct broadcast from Hong Kong of talks by Elder Cook – the newest member of the 12, Sister Cook – of the YW presidency, and President Monson. Unfortunately they had a problem getting the sound and so we missed the first part of the program. Hendra ended up getting the back-up receiver to work. Since the program was broadcast in Indonesian and our interpreter forgot to interpret, we did not get a lot out of it. However we are hearing more of the words and know what they mean, we just can not put them together very well. Hopefully the program will be available on a DVD in English.

After the meeting we went down to the foyer and took pictures of Maria Sandra and the other sister who will be baptized. Elder Torrens – who has been out a whole 2 weeks – will baptize sister Maria and elder Erickson will do the other baptism. Elder Louhannapessy is being very nice to the his companions – especially elder Torrens – by letting them have this experience. He only has a couple of weeks left in his mission and will not have another chance to do a baptism. It shows the quality of this fine elder. We have feel in some ways we are a part of this also. We had gone with the missionaries a few times when they taught Maria Sandra. Her and Mary have become close.

While we are waiting for the program to start, president and sister Marchant along with the office elders and the Zls come in. Later president Marchant thanked me for telling him about the baptisms last night. I am sure the Lord prompted me to do this as I was certain that he would already know. It is another tender mercy of the Lord and fits into with President Eyring’s talk about noting when the Lord has touched my life in a simple way but special way.

As we watched the baptism I thought about how simple this ordinance really is. Elder Torrens was able to do it perfectly the first time and that was good. He will certainly remember this day and his first baptism as a missionary. How special it will be to write about it in his journal and in his e-mail home to his family. But the whole thing takes less than a minute – less than 60 seconds to completely change a person’s life for eternity. By small things great changes are made. I certainly hope that Maria Sanders can stay the course and enjoy the peace that the gospel can bring into her life. I feel the spirit saying that she will be blessed by her membership and she will stay active.

After the baptism, we went back to the chapel where we sing songs until those who were baptized can join us. There is a song by the branch choir – which I take capture in a movie and then president Marchant welcomes the new members. A closing song and a prayer and another Sabbath day service is over. It was truly a special time.

Back in the apartment we fixed a light lunch and then took naps. After all it is a day of rest. Later I downloaded my pictures of the day and wrote in this journal. Then we read from the Kitab Mormon for about an hour. We are in the Book of Mormon where Moroni has taken over the task of finishing the writing. I was touched by his writing about being alone. Imagine being so alone and still going on doing what the Lord has asked you to do. What great faith that must take.

The rest of the day is spent doing lots of different things – some of them mundane and some spiritual. I am trying to read PMG in Indonesian. The last time I started it I soon quit because I had to look up about every third word. Now I am usually able to understand what is written and only have to look up about 5 – 10% of the words. It really feels good to see how much my ablility to read Indonesian – at least church related Indonesian – has improved. There is still a long ways to go before I can read talks from church magazines. I hope that by the time we are released I can read newspapers and all subtitles on T.V. I will certainly need lots of help from the Lord as I continue to work on my Indonesian.

We read again from the Kitab Mormon where Moroni is talking about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. The admonishment not to reject it because of mistakes. If there are any he says they are the mistakes of man. We read about 10 pages today – that is our goal for each day.

Now it is late and it is time to go to bed. It has been a wonderful day. I hope Maria Sandra and the other sister is sleeping with peace in their hearts. Knowing that they have entered into the strait gate.



20 October 2007

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Mary playing for choir at conference. The Missionary Choir led by sister Hinckley. President Marchant being a gracious host – Sam and Elder Louhannapessy.

20 October 2007 – Saturday

The day was so long and so packed that Mary had to remind me about the morning being normal. I continue to get up and go to the gym. We read for a short time in the Kitab Mormon and then headed off to teach English.

We kept the class together for the morning section but divided them into two groups for the second one. Mary was not all the excited about dividing the class but after the class period she said the students in her class – those who are not as advanced as the other half – were excited about being taught separately. I think my part of the class also was OK with the split. I am not so sure they are excited about having more homework than the rest but I think it will help them.

Starting at about 1:00 people started arriving for District Conference – the Lees from Bogor joined us in the office for a while and we caught up with things in their lives. The Kanes will not be at the conference because they were headed for Bali to meet up with one of their daughters and her family. The arrival of all the Indonesian saints causes some problems with our class. It means that they will end up speaking a lot of Indonesian – the temptation is just too great. I kid them about only speaking English, but I know that it is mostly in vain.

Mary got to play the piano for the 1st general session and also for the Missionary Choir. The only problem she runs into is that no one bothers to tell her what the choir was singing until the last minute. The conference is on preparedness and all the talks are very on subject. I especially enjoyed district president Mak’s talk. He always seems to talk from the heart and with sweet directness. He told how his bank offered interest free loans so their employees could buy a car. He did not take up the offer because even an interest free payment would not work in their budget. They waited for a number of years and their children getting older before they purchased their caravan.

Elder Tucksworth is going to spend his last month in Bogor as Zone Leader. I am going to miss him – he has the same sense of humor as me. He is going to be a strong leader in Australia. Elder Whitmore and elder Tucksworth in the MTC together and go home at almost the same time. The quality of these young elders is amazing. What great training a mission can be if the missionary learns to work with God and Jesus Christ. They also learn to handle the frustration and sorrow that comes from seeing people reject the gospel. To work hard and see no tangible results except their own growth. I believe that missionary work is almost as much about proving the missionary as it is getting converts. It is the Lord’s version of a seminary for future leaders. For some it is the Road to Damascus or the Liberty jail. Some unfortunately find it as a huge stumbling block or a something to be endured – a inconvenient rite of passage. But for all it is a great time of probation – the experience that sets the tone for their whole life. Many are called ….

After the session, president Marchant invited us to join the other missionaries for dinner at the mission home. It was a great gathering of missionaries and the only thing I would have changed was where we sat. The Davises sat in the kitchen area with a whole circle of young missionaries while we sat with the other couples and mainly the office elders that we see all the time. The Davises seem to have more fun. We did not stay long after dinner – we really needed to get home.
By the time we got home it was almost 10 – we had been away for almost 14 hours. Strangely enough I was exhausted but not all that tired. At least so it seemed, but as soon as my head hit the pillow I was gone. It was a good day.



19 October 2007

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The Walkers with our class. Friday night at the Steak House. A load of chairs arrived at the building and the men have to carry them up a couple of flights of stairs to the meeting room. They carry from 6 to 8 chairs on their backs and these are not light chairs. They load people about the same way they load motorcycles.

19 October 2007 – Friday

As I woke at about 4:30 today, I realized that I am still waking about the same time as I did when we first got here and it seemed so early. At least now I can sometimes go back to sleep – not today however. Before going to exercise I studied some Indonesian- it would be interesting to know how much time we have spent trying to learn Indonesian since we got our call. It must be close to a month of hours – and some times it seems like years. But it is a great exercise for my mind and I think that is what keeps it alive and well. Maybe not being able to remember much of the past is a good thing – it means I have to live for now and the future.

It was strange this morning to see none of my usual fellow walkers or gym users. It was like I had this huge complex all to myself. When I got done with my morning work-out I was pleased to see that Cindy had posted to her blog. It sounds like she is still not feeling 100%. There were some pictures of Krista with a new hair style. I like it – she reminds me of Cindy back when she was in high school and trying to be her own self. She was continually changing her hair styles so I thought it was funny to read the restrictions she placed on what Krista could do with her hair.

We read from the Kitab Mormon – we are now into the Book of Mormon and should be finished with the Kitab Mormon by the end of the month. Obviously there was still a functioning church at this time because Mormon and his family have not only the knowledge but also the priesthood. Or so it would seem.

We teach the morning classes – mainly a major test and vocabulary – and then wait until the Walkers come before we come back to the apartment to rest. We will go back later and take them all to dinner.

While I was monitoring the test, I read some of the conference talks from the November 2006 Ensign. Once again it struck me how important the counsel that we receive from conference should be read, re-read and then done. Each talk had something that touched me as I read it. Sometimes it was a rebuke for something I need to do more or better and sometimes it was the feeling of the spirit as one of the speakers shared their testimony or a story. The ideas edified me.

We came back to the apartment and I crashed. I did not realize I was so tired but I slept for 90 minutes. I would have slept longer if Mary had not woke me up. It certainly felt good.

We went back to the chapel by taxi and got there just as they were closing with prayer. Sam had told the students they were going to another home for dinner and so they were surprised when we told them we were taking them to Warang Steak House. We invited the Walkers and their driver to join us so we ended up as a party of 12. Everyone had a good time and ate way too much food. I gave half of mine to Sam who ended up with a triple steak. The bill came to under $30 for the 12 of us. I love eating out in Jakarta – at least in non-bulai restaurants.

We continue to read in the Kitab Mormon – Mormon is refusing to lead the Nephites because they will not repent and accept the Lord’s pardon. They feel that they have accomplished the great victory on their own. About a year ago I read a talk that pointed out that we can be mislead by the idea that if we are righteous the Lord steps in when we have done all we can for ourselves. The article points out that when we are righteous the spirit and the blessings of the Lord is always with us and what we accomplish ‘by ourselves’ still depends on that help.



18 October 2007

18 October 2007 – Thursday

This is our P-day but we have the IEC to teach in the morning and Mary has a class at the mission office in the afternoon. I pull myself out of bed and get in 40 minutes of exercises. We read from the Kitab Mormon before heading off to the chapel and teaching. The Lord’s tender mercy touches me when for some reason I remember that I need to take the equipment so Lukito can teach a Career Workshop for elders Whitmore and Pagalla who are about to be released.

We found that we are giving the students so much homework that they do not have time to sleep. So we only gave them a small amount today and hopefully they will catch up. At least we know that they are serious. They also did not sleep well because there were lots of mosquitoes that bit them all night. The joys of living in Indonesia.

After our morning class we let the students off until tonight when they will go to president Smith’s for dinner. We headed for the mission office. But we were about 1/3 of the way when I remembered I needed to take some workbooks and we had to turn around and go back to the office. The only reason we got to the office in time was that the traffic was so light.

At the office I had lunch – Mary ate hers in the car while we were traveling. While she taught the class I talked to elder Roper, elder Walker, and elder Subandriyo. Elder Subandriyo showed me pictures of their new house in Bakasi. It is a great house with a nice yard – they will move there when he retires in about 3 years. We were talking about the IEC when Mary joined us and the conversation changed to what his staff needs to study to pass their English test in November. Mary had looked at the sample test and has a good idea of where they need the most help.

After that we came back to the apartment where we cleaned house, took a nap and read from the Kitab Mormon. I still need to do the laundry and we will also read one more hour from the Kitab Mormon. Amazing Race, dinner, another hour of the Kitab Mormon – we are reading about 10 pages a day now because we need to look up only a few words. We find ourselves commenting on what we are reading in Indonesian, which means we understand what is being said as we read it. Now if speaking and hearing went so well things would be great.

The mission has made us more spiritually alive – that is alive to the spirit. The need for the Lord’s help with so much of what we do draws us closer to him. It is one of the great blessings of our mission.

Early this morning I answered a survey from the training department about the MTC training for senior couples. Looking back we did not really learn much about what we would be doing on our mission. What it did do is give us a lot of spiritual experiences  – just being in the MTC with all the young elders and sisters is great. Then there is getting to know the other senior couples in our group and working with some of them for two weeks is also wonderful. But as to the actual training I think it is of minimal value. The MTC is like crossing over a bridge from the everyday world to the world of a mission. It is a needed time of transition and I feel sorry for those who have to wait for an extended period of time between the last day at the MTC and the first day in their mission field. You need to go out fully spiritually charged and that is what happens in the MTC.

Before turning off the lights I read some of a talk in the Liahona. When I do this I am both encouraged and discouraged – I guess it is another way the Lord is helping me with my impatience.



17 October 2007

17 October 2007 – Wednesday

I slept in until after 6 so I did not go down and exercise. Mary said she slept much better than the night before. I caught up with my journal posting on the blog and added some pictures. We read a couple of pages from the Kitab Mormon – we hit a chapter from Isaiah in 3 Nephi and that caused us a pause. We both broke out laughing when we hit the first verse in 3 Nephi 23 and the words “karena besarlah kata-kata Yesaya.” That may not so when you are trying to translate the words.

I wrote a few e-mails to different missionary couples including the Petersons who are back in Utah. They tell us they have held a number of firesides and have used some of the motorcycle load pictures I had shared. I also wrote to Mike saying that I was sorry that Cal lost just when they had a chance to be ranked first nationally. I wrote to Kristy about some pictures on her blog. It is good to hear from the family.

The traffic is still really light so the trip to chapel is very quick. This will all change come Monday when everything opens again. We have not missed the traffic jams that adds so much time to any journey.

Mary taught the first half of the morning class and I took the other half. Today I changed the relay race some and I am not sure it was so good. Tomorrow I will try to refine it some. I think they are trying to speak English more – Wawan said that he was dreaming in English and that is really good. I had them read some of Elder Hallstrom’s talk and I was surprised how many of the words that I thought might throw them, they already knew. Only occupy, procrastination, prior and consequences stopped most of them.

Explaining about the meaning of Consequences gave me a chance to expound on their choices about how much Indonesian they speak when they are not in class. I may pound on that a little too much but I know that the less then use Indonesian the easier it will be for them to hear and see when they make a mistake in English.

While waiting for some copies to be printed – or printer is really slow – I read president Hinckley’s talk about anger and had to confess to myself that it is something that I still need to work on each day. I have always felt strongly that General Conference and the thoughts and instruction we receive there is very important. However since we have been on our mission and I have needed the spirit as much as I ever have, this inspired information has become even more important to me.

As I wrote that I thought how much I have missed by not feeling this way no matter what my calling. I have always needed the spirit in my life as much as I do now. I just have not thought about it that way. I imagine I have often felt that I can get by on past knowledge, stored up light, etc. What this means of course is that I have not been able to do my best, to fulfil my calling as well as I could, and have in some way failed to keep the commandments. Hopefully as my children and grandchildren read this, they will learn from my mistake and ponder the conference talks and then follow the instruction that is in them. 15 living prophets spoke to me – how wonderful that is to think about. Not only that I can go back and see, hear and read their talks as often as I want – as often as I should. Only in this last dispensation has so much been available to the saints of the kingdom. There is so much that I foolish take sips of living water instead of drinking my fill again and again.



16 October 2007

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This is a mobile gas station. I do not see many on bikes, but there are lots of them with carts. He is either taking this load to his own station or is taking it around to sell to others for resale.  See the ‘Things go better with Coke” picture to see a typical small gas station.

16 October 2007 – Tuesday

I woke at about 5 and read from the Kitab Mormon before heading down to exercise. It was a very pleasant morning to be on the track. It was drizzling for about the first 3 or 4 minutes and then a nice breeze came up. The combination kept the temperatures down. This is only the second time this has happened since I started using the track. After a normal morning we read a couple of pages from the Kitab Mormon. Christ institutes the sacrament and talks about its importance. We only look up a couple of words today.

At the chapel Mary teaches the first half of the class while I work on getting ahead on the vocabulary. Then we switch places and she comes into the office to catch up on some paper work. The students are working very hard and I think by this time next week they will have a lot of confidence. They are still not working together well so there is not a lot of synergy but I am trying to get that going. As I was writing this I realized I have not felt the spirit very often when I am teaching. I think I need to work more on that. Brigham Young said that nothing should be taught without the spirit.

We spend our lunch hour working on more English stuff. It is amazing how much time we put in on preparation, grading, etc. I can not imagine what it is like being a professional teacher and having to do this day after day for years. I have even more respect for teacher than I had before. Especially those who must teach all day, every day in public schools.

The Walkers taught the afternoon class so we were able to leave and go to Sogo. We did not need a lot so we were not there very long. I need to put in a point about the traffic this week. It seems that the week after Ramadahn is vacation week in Indonesia. All the offices shut down – even the LDS office staff has it off. What this means is that the traffic in Jakarta is amazingly light. Normally if we leave from the office and go to Sogo it will take us about 2 hours. Today it took one!

After we got back to the apartment we read from the Kitab Mormon for an hour. We are now reading about 4 pages an hour because we do not need to look up many words. I am not sure how much of the spirit of the writing we are getting. I guess it is like any time we read from the scriptures. That is if we are open to the spirit we receive the spirit of the writing and if not they tend to be just words. Not too long ago we were reading where Christ tells the Nephites to search the scriptures that were laid out before their eyes. Not to read them but to search them. In the New Testament he reminded the Jews that ‘they are they that testify of Me.’

Which reminds me that as I read through my notes about the latest conference talks, again and again the speakers point out that whatever subject they are talking about is based on the atonement of Christ. Also both Elder Packer and Elder Cook pointed out that the only real qualification that was necessary to be a general authority is an unwavering personal testimony. I thought it was interesting that Elder Packer learned it from the first presidency and Elder Cook learned it from Elder Packer.

We finish our companionship study by reading another hour in the Kitab Mormon.



Pictures….

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Mary teaching our class. All of the class – back row – Rudi, Wawan, Ronald – front – Puji, Daisy, Femmy. The motorcycle load is a milkman delivering fresh milk. The orange box is just because we do not see a lot orange delivery boxes.



15 October 2007

15 October 2007 – Monday

I was up and exercising by 5:40 this morning. It felt good to walk, jog, do sit-ups, etc. This is the first time since last Thursday. Normal morning except I did some laundry. We continued reading about Christ’s visit to the Nephites – the part about “other sheep.” We enjoyed reading about the Creers week in Ireland. They seem to be living in their van about as much or more than we do. They also talked about the terrible traffic in Dublin. We then had a brief Skype call with Tom’s family. William is really starting to speak. Kelli is growing up quickly. It is good just to hear their voice. We miss them but we know we are doing what we should be doing.

A normal day of classes. I enjoy teaching the youth. One of the young ladies came to me and said that she just could not keep up with the others. I told her not to judge herself against the other. Just do the best she can do and that is all the Lord expects. I talked to Mary about maybe giving her easier work or working on a one to one basis with her for part of the class.

The class really likes my sentence relay game. They usually come in very close together and so it is a lot of fun. It gives them a chance to work alone and also together. At the end of the afternoon class, we come home and they head off to have FHE with president and sister Marchant.

We have macaroni and cheese with Spam for dinner. It has always been one of our favorites and is easy to fix. We read for a couple of hours from the Kitab Mormon. It is a wonderful thing to do together. We not only can share the scriptures but also we are learning the language together.

Before going to bed, I start going through my notes from conference and picking out the one or two things from each talk that I think are most important for me. The things I need to learn and work on more. The purpose of the conference is to hear living prophets give us guidance and to share their wisdom as lead by the Holy Ghost. As I read the notes I was reminded of a number of attributes I need to work on. As I thought about them, I realized that even though I am approaching 70, that I can change habits and values so that each day will be more joyous and valuable for me. You are never too old – or too young – to grow closer to Christ. When you put everything into an Eternal prospective, I am still very, very young. Of course I am not sure that age has any real meaning when discussing Eternity.