Stake Conference

Tonight we had the Saturday Evening Session of Stake Conference. I enjoyed getting out with Jimmy with no kids in tow. It was an uplifting meeting.

Auntie Julie came to watch the kiddos and Max slept through it all so he was easy to babysit. The kids were so excited to have Aunt Julie watch Under Dog with them. It's a blizzardy evening but it was still good to get out and go on a date. It's just funny that we can leave at 6:58 and still arrive on time since the drive is about 1 minute long. And I couldn't believe how many people attended. Usually in Tennessee the chapel wouldn't even be filled and here we extended well into the gym. I suppose driving distance may account for part of the difference.

I wanted to include some of my favorite messages from the meeting for my own personal reference.

- LESSONS FROM THE PAST GIVE US HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. Keep a personal history/journal. Record your experiences, your feelings about those experiences, failures and successes, chronical milestones in your family, the world, and church.

President and Sister Clarke, the temple president and matron from the Mt. Timpanogos Temple spoke and were so fun and sweet.

She spoke about Temple service helping us to have the PURE LOVE OF CHRIST ... to be more patient and loving... more unselfish and humble. I definitely could use more of those virtues. Perhaps with our move and new baby and our not being able to go to the temple, has contributed to my impatience. We definitely need to change that. Because the temple is a place for personal revelation, we can find solutions for personal problems - like parenting!!!

President Clarke talked about IS THE TEMPLE IN YOUR HOME? He reminded us to make sure we have pictures of the temples in our home - especially in the kid's bedrooms. DO THEY KNOW YOU CARE? not just put the pictures in your home, but take the opportunity to share memories of your temple sealing and feelings about the temple with your kids. DO YOUR KIDS KNOW YOUR MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION IS YOUR TESTIMONY AND YOUR TEMPLE SEALING?

As a sidenote in his talk relating to the message getting through to kids of what is hanging on their wall, he told a story about his teenage son. He was concerned about his work ethic as he always did everything so fast but not well. He noticed on the walls of his room, he had 3 huge posters of b-ball players, a water skier, a rock climber, and a picture of the temple. He, as the dad, asked his son if he could rent some wall space for a year? Of course the son was all over that and said it would cost $10. The dad thought that was a great deal!! So he mounted and a talk he had heard recently at a priesthood session by Elder F. David Stanley "The Principle of Work" and put it on the wall in his son's bedroom. And occasionally when he'd go in his room he read from the talk (and it totally became a joke with him and his son) about working hard. And eventually after his son's mission and marriage, his son's new wife framed nicely that same talk to give him for Christmas. President Clarke had no idea what an influence it had on his son, who took that talk on his mission and put it on the walls. His son is now in his 24th year of school in his medical residency and he definitely knows how to work hard.

Anyhoo... I just thought it was a good story about teaching your kids to work, but more importantly, the idea that the father found a clever way to teach his son in a loving way. His point was to take the opportunity to talk with your kids about the things that are important to you. I want to have that kind of relationship with my kids.

The bible dictionary reads, "Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness." That was mentioned in our meeting tonight and it really sunk in how important it is so keep our homes in order physically... but also to keep our home in order spiritually - to have love, kindness and the Spirit.