General Conference

We had a very special visitor for General Conference. Diahan was in town for another work conference and made time for us to get together. 

Not only did she make time, she gathered enough tickets for all of us to go to the conference center for the Women's session with our daughters. It was so much fun.

BFFs

(We also had dinner together the night before and talked about everything under the sun. The best kind of therapy session!)

Sunday, the boys went to the afternoon session of conference at the conference center. I took the girls for a drive up to Squaw Peak in Provo. It was cold and rainy but it was also a great view with lots of vibrant fall leaves.

I love these girls of mine.

And I love the opportunity we have to listen to a prophet speak and reveal new things to us- like-

* 2 hour church and 

* a new way to study and teach the gospel at home and

* challenging the women to limit social media and 

* to attend the temple more often and 

* read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year

Random September

Parker got his driver's permit!!! after one try!!!

Camille started an art class (finally got my act together and signed her up) and she is loving it!

I saw this happen after church one day. I love that the kids search out their dad whenever they can at church. And he makes time for them whenever they do. Here he was fixing Bryce's tie. 

Stake Conference

Aug 2018 Stake conference.

This conference marked the almost 5 year mark for us. 

Our visiting authority was Elder McCune. We had such a great time with them. Both of the McCune's are so easy to relate to and down to earth. 

In his talk during the Saturday night adult session, Elder McCune talked about tolerance and that it isn't necessarily a Christ-like attribute. And that we should be careful to not be too tolerant, especially of sin. Well, that didn't sit well with me. The rest of the evening the words of my grandma's hymn kept running through my head:

"Teach us tolerance and love"

(In Humility, Our Savior, hymn #172)

It seemed like a direct contradiction. So I went home and immediately started studying. The topical guide equates tolerance with forbearance, patience and understanding. Those are all positive qualities. 

Then I looked up a talk by President Nelson (before he was president of the church). 

"Teach us Tolerance and Love"

The next day, as I was walking out of the building with the two of them, I told him I didn't quite agree with what he had said about tolerance. And he quoted to me what the topical guide said. And we talked about the difference between righteous tolerance and tolerating sin and bad behavior. It was a fantastic conversation and I wish it could have lasted longer. 

My experience with church leaders is that they welcome questions. They are not offended or irritated. They are happy to talk about and discuss gospel principles. And usually, its just a miscommunication or misinterpretation. I think, as church members, we need to talk about our questions more and the more we do, I think we'll find more belief, faith and understanding. 

This speech by Elder Oaks is also a great read regarding tolerance.

Truth and Tolerance

Pioneer Trek

Bright and early!!!

We needed to be at the church at 4:00 am for the Pioneer Trek send-off.

After a nice welcome and instructions, the kids were off on the bus and Sterling and I were off in our car.

Most of these pictures were taken by the leaders and shared.

We arrived at Martin's Cove, loaded up the handcarts and were off.

SYDNEY

PARKER

SYDNEY

PARKER

Girls Camp

Sydney and Camille went to ward Girl's Camp!

They had the best time having fun, goofing off, learning the gospel, doing crafts, playing in the lake, feeling the Spirit. and bonding as sisters and friends.

Timpanogos Cave

On the way home, they stopped by FIZ and helped Camille celebrate her 13th birthday.