Hola,
Elder Smith, I love what you wrote last week about the refiner's fire,
and how you are being molded and changed. So beautifully expressed, it
brought tears to my eyes. How was your week? How is the work going in
La Mololoa? How are Franklin and Jahaida? They have been in my
prayers. I also loved the story of the girl who came to the door and you
knew it was not the first time you had met her. What an awesome
experience that must have been. I love hearing all your stories.
We
have had a good week, the best part was today, Sunday, at stake
conference. It was actually a regional conference, broadcast from the
Marriott Center to all the stakes in Utah and Weber counties. Elders
Russell M. Nelson and Richard G. Scott both spoke. Both were amazing.
Elder Scott spoke on the subject of prayer, and how communication with
our Heavenly Father is not a trivial matter, it is a sacred privilege.
He talked about three ways Heavenly Father answers our prayers…1) a
feeling of peace, 2) an unsettled feeling or stupor of thought, and 3)
no response. The third requires the most faith to know that God always
hears our prayers, and he will answer in the way that is best suited to
our own personal growth and development.
Elder
Nelson spoke on the subject of angels. He gave several examples of
angels from the scriptures, and said that angels have not ceased to
appear in modern times. He told of a personal story when he and his
wife were attacked by a gang and nearly killed, but he knows he and his
wife were surrounded and protected by angels. I pray for that for you
every single day.
Elder Nelson ended with an
apostolic blessing. It was so powerful. He promised us a deep desire
to feast on the words of Christ. He said we would experience greater
love at home, and an increase of enjoyment of our lives. He bestowed a
blessing of health and healing, and that we would be successful in our
occupations. He said that we would be good missionaries, and that
others would notice our good works. He ended by promising that angels,
known and unknown to us would surround and bless us. It was powerful,
and I was so glad to be there for that.
The
evening before, Saturday night, was the adult session of conference, the
youth were again invited to attend so we were glad to have Stefanie
with us. Another good meeting, all about Hastening the Work, and the
4th section of Doctrine and Covenants. President Wilcox had us all
stand and recite/read it. The spirit was so string, I love section 4!
I was asked to participate in a musical number with a small group of
people from the stake, we did well. After the meeting we went out for
ice-cream with the Bishara family.
Saturday
morning was the BYU invitational, Stefanie ran the Freshman/Sophomore
race. She did good--improved her time by several seconds so she was
happy. Then the college teams ran, they are impressive. The BYU men
won, and women came in second. Dad knew quite a few of the BYU runners
who he had seen in high school races over the years. Cross country
meets are the best…so positive and encouraging. So glad Stefanie is
part of it.
Another family update…your cousin
Hunter received his mission call. He is headed to the Ohio, Cleveland
mission, Spanish speaking! He will enter the Mexico City MTC the day
after your birthday…January 7th. Happy for Hunter.
Well, that is all our news for now. Sure love you, and excited to hear your news from the week. Love, Mom