Zions, kids in river, right off our campsite.

Quote Sent by Todd

Todd wrote:

Read this today. Really liked it. Sent to my BCC list (Best Contact Considerately). By: http://www.kirkweisler.com/t4d

Our family devotional today was focused on “character” what it is, when we know we are building it, compromising it, and why it’s so very important to us individually and to our society.  So today I want to share a couple points of our discussion with you.

It’s more important to have character than it is to be one.  Being a character is easy…having character can sometimes be hard.  But the results of compromising our character can be hardest of all.

The other day I read a quote that said something to the effect that… “The real character of a person is revealed when they come into a great deal of money or when they lose a great deal of money.”

I remember being taught that character is best defined by what a person does when they don’t think anyone is watching.  Thinking about politicians in this context can start to drive you nuts.  (Sorry - but if you can’t be loyal to your spouse and family then I can’t trust you to be loyal to me and my fellow tax payers. My vote must go elsewhere regardless of your political or populist pedigree). Character requires that we choose what is right over what is popular and convenient… it requires that we stand up for principle and that means that we may often find ourselves standing first, standing out, and standing alone.

Character is developed, strengthened and refined through adversity and trial. It is weakened through the compromising of principle which is often associated with peer pressure, insecurity and the desire to be well thought of.  Interestingly in our attempts to please and appease the masses doesn’t gain us more respect but less.  Now that the masses know we are willing to “give in” they will want us to give in again and again.  At the same time since they know we will give in…they also know they can’t trust us to stand firm.  So they will use us to get what they want until we have nothing left to give…then they will find someone else to exploit.  Their is no loyalty when there is no character.   Lacking in this said scenario is trust and respect for self, for others and for truth.

Unfortunately, for those who wish it did not…truth comes with some absolutes, some lines that cannot be crossed.  Honesty, Integrity, Accountability, Responsibility are all words we associate with men and women of character.  (Notice perfection is not one of those words)  We do not have to be perfect to have character.  But we do need to have a desire to do and to be the best we can…and to be willing to live in a manner that places the importance people and principle before our own self interest.  Character is selfless and an essential ingredient in the spirit of the servant leader.

My wife shared this quote with us this morning…

“Character is revealed…in the power to discern the suffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to detect the hunger of others when we are hungry; and in the power to reach out and extend compassion for the spiritual agony of others when we are in the midst of our own spiritual distress. Thus, character is demonstrated by looking and reaching outward when the natural and instinctive response is to be self-absorbed and turn inward”. ~ David A. Bednar

Then she closed by saying..

“The true character of a man is revealed by what he does at home.”  Rebecca Weisler

BYU Planetarium--Let's Go!

BYU Planetarium

January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2011 
Days of the Week: FriEyring Science Center Planetarium
BYU, Eyring Science Center, Provo, UT 84601
801-422-5396
Hours of Operation: Shows at 7:00pm and 8:00pm
Price: $2

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Learn about the stars and other things in the sky at the BYU Planetarium. 

 

The Planetarium provides outreach shows for community groups, gives weekend shows for the public, and holds University classes. As a service to the community, the BYU Planetarium provides a few outreach shows for school groups, scout groups, youth groups, and others for a discounted rate of 50 cents per person. These shows are given at regularly scheduled times. The outreach shows are given by reservation only.

 

The shows start promptly at 7:00pm and 8:00pm.

Tickets are $2 and will be on sale at the door from 6:30pm to 7:00pm and again from 7:50pm to 8:00pm.

 

There is no food or drink allowed in the planetarium.

Because it gets very dark in the planetarium, the shows may not be appropriate for some young children.

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Quick Email

We had a big Zone activity today that took up most of my time...so I'm going to send a quick little email to let you all know that I am alive and that I have had a fantastically crazy week. I baptized another family, a family of 4 this week. The other family needs more time, possibly. We'll see what happens this week. I hit 80% retention this week. In 3 weeks we have accomplished what missionaries counldn't do in 4 or 5 weeks before! I was so excited. But that was put off by the lack of people at church this past sunday. Our attendance dropped 100! It was crazy going from 250 to 150 in one week, but that happens out here a lot. I just wish it didn't.

The baptism was crazy because there was no water in the church, so we went to a river in my area to baptize (instead of going to baptize in the ocean because they have some crazy fear of the ocean water). I will send the photos with the other email tomorrow. :)

Love,
Elder B

In a River

As previously mentioned, this week was pretty crazy. I visited a TON of people with my companion, had to go help the other missionaries in my area visit some of their investigators in order to help them understand more the familial problems, went to all of my District, Zone and Planning meetings. The list goes on and on. There's so much stuff we have to do all the time, and there never seems to be enough time to get it all done. I always have so many ideas of things to do, things I could and should be doing, but there is NEVER enough time to get it all done. Now I understand what my mom always told me about always having a huge list of things to accomplish and not getting the chance to do it! SOmetimes it frustrates me, but oh well. Life will move on, it'll all work out (it always does). ;)

We prepared our families, had them interviewed and everything, and we thought everything was all dandy for Saturday. Until MB, one of my investigators, decided to run away Saturday morning and have his wife lie to us. Just an FYI, Miskito women are bad liars, they think that they are fantastic liars because they do it all the time, but they do not lie well. She said that she didn't know where her husband went, but that he went to work. We knew he works construction so we asked her where the house he's helping to build is located. She looked all around and said with a puzzled look, "I don't know. Over there." Where? There's nothing around us in like all 360º of view! Oh well. Then they didn't come to church on Sunday, so we'll see what's going on with that family today. Oh, and apart from that, there was NO WATER in the church because the water pump broke, so we had to baptize my family in a river. That was crazy. We had to walk forever and then some, but it was worth it. It was so beautiful and clean out there!

We had a really cool lessons with some new investigators of ours, Judith and Franklin, and with some recent converts (too many to name right now). My companion, Elder Salmon, and I are having so much fun finding new families and teaching the all of them, and all of the recent converts their duties as Children of God. Really, it is like teaching Primary children all day long, but it is so much fun. I never get tired of telling people how important it is to go to church every Sunday, to pray (alone and in families), to pay tithing, to read the scriptures, etc. It never gets old for me; on the contrary, I learn new things and increase my knowledge of the Gospel. I love to hear new convert's growing testimonies, I love to see their progression and their hunger for the truth and light increase weekly. 

We're basically done baptizing this month, if I baptize the other family, fantastic! Otherwise we're simply going to prepare for August. We've gotten the results I feel were needed for this month.

Well, I love you all! I love this work and I love all of the lessons that I am learning out here. I am grateful for your love, emails, prayers and letters! Keep sending them my way...;) Have a great week and be happy!

Love,
Elder B 

Retaining

This week was rather miraculous for my branch out here. Knowing that my companion has been dealing with retention for so long I decided to take advantage of his "expertise" in this area. We visited our investigators, we visited members, we went and did visits with members, we visited TONS of converts, and...we hit 74% retention. That's amazing. In two weeks we have achieved more than what has been achieved in a whole month by other misionaries! We also had 250 people in church on Sunday! I was able to sit and enjoy the sacrament, the talks, and enjoy the hard work I had done this week.

So I accidentally lied last week. My companion is not from Tooele, he's from West Bountiful. Oops. :(

My companion and I had so much fun this week teaching our investigators and doing the like 100+ visits that we did. We were able to chat about the zone, the mission, funny memories, I hastle him, he hastles me. He is rather hilarious. He also is a wonderful example for me. He is so kind and loving to everyone he meets, something that I need to get better at doing. I'm not always nice to everyone, especially when they're rude or just plain stupid. But he is so charitable. I am adapting and becoming better at it.

My companion and I have so many great things that we would like to achieve as a companionship. We want to be better missionaries, we want to have real success and be united as a companionship. So we are studying more together, we talk all the time. Yeah. So this next change is looking great. :)

Elder Lundquist and I are determined to help him start some kind of easy-up business when he finishes his mission. We are working out the kinks right now, slowly but surely and we're gonna see what happens when he gets back.

So, this week, if you're feeling rather charitable, could you all pray for a couple of the people I am teaching? First we have Luis and Judith. They want to get baptized, but the husband is hesitant. They didn't make it to church this Sunday, so I'm a little cautious as to what might happen when I see them tomorrow. Next is Marcelino and Carina: these two are fantastic, except Carina is just a little nervous about getting baptized again. We've been working with them and we are going to do all that we can to help them enter the waters of baptism this week! Coolest thing, they're both legally married. That is a huge surprise. We're trying to help both of these marriages rise from the ashes, as they are both struggling and want out of the hole they are slipping into.

Well, I love you all. Have a fantastic week. Don't worry. Be happy. Read your scriptures and say your prayers and everything will turn out all right.

With much love,
Elder B

Aunt Helen

BYU Beneath Your Feet

BYU Beneath Your Feet

June 1, 2010 - April 1, 2012 
Days of the Week: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, FriBYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures
700 North 100 East, Provo, UT 84602
801-422-0020
Hours of Operation: M, W, F: 9am-5pm; T, Th 9am-7pm
Price: Free

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Beneath Your Feet: Discovering the Archaeology of Utah Valley is BYU's Museum of Peoples and Cultures' (MPC) newest exhibition. This exhibition has a particular emphasis on the Fremont people who inhabited Utah Valley from AD 400 to 1300.

Featured prominently in the exhibit are many artifacts discovered around Utah Lake. Archaeologists, including those at BYU and BYU's field school class, have been excavating sites in Utah Valley since the early 1930s.

This is the first exhibition to focus solely on the archaeology of Utah Valley. All of the material in the new exhibition was put together by student employees of the MPC. This exhibit offers a new perspective on Utah Valley's history and the chance to discover the history that is literally beneath the homes, street, and sidewalks around us. 

To schedule a tour, call 801-422-0022 or just come in on your own! Admission is free.

Erin's Primary Talk About Temples

This morning I’m going to talk about temples. Temples are indeed important to many cultures around the world. Such as the Incas, Mayans, Buddhists, Isralites and especially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Temples are special for performing special rituals. In some temples they preformed sacrifices such as blood sacrifices from animals. And in some cultures they would even perform human sacrifices. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints they perform special ordinances such as being sealed for all time and eternity and when you are twelve and have permission you can be baptized for the dead.  And we do this for many people because they have never heard the name Jesus Christ.

People build temples so that they can be somewhere where they can worship their God. And I think that Temples are also special because Heavenly Father himself walks through every temple of the Latter-day Saints temples. Jesus Christ visits the temples of the Latter-day Saints.

Back in the time when Christ lived the Jewish people would abuse Heavenly Father’s way of life of performing temple rituals and when Jesus Christ was with them  He told them and  I’m going to read what He told them. 

Doctrine and Covenants 45:18-19

18  And now ye behold this temple which is in Jerusalem which ye call the house of the God and your enemies  say that this house shall never fall.

19  But verily I say unto you that desolation shall come upon this generation as a thief in the night, and this people shall be destroyed and scattered round all nations.

At the time of His crucifixion the Veil in the temple was ripped in half and the temple was destroyed.

I think that today Heavenly Father is proud to look down on us because we are doing what He  wants us to do: to believe in the church and to follow His ways.

Eagle Project for the CJC

As many of you know, my office uses the Children's Justice Center in Provo to help preserve evidence of child victims.  Even though they are not in the county where I work, they are very accommodating by putting child victims as a priority.  They have a forensic medical staff who can give needed physical exams in a compassionate way, they have experts in child interviewing who do our videos of child interviews in decorated rooms, and they have numerous contacts for therapy and other professional services.  I have watched scores of videos (probably nearing 100 over 15 years) of children who were interviewed in their soft rooms.  There is no way for me to repay them for all they have done for the area in which I work.  This is a small way, and we hope others will recognize this wonderful asset in our community whose purpose is to help children of crimes heal.

 

My son Kyle is helping the CJC for his Eagle project.  His project has 3 parts: (1) collect much needed snacks for the children, (2) a specially arranged tour of the facility to promote community education, and (3) fixing-up the playground. 

 

For those of you who can assist, he is having a day of service and has arranged a rare tour of the facility on Friday, July 9 at 5:00, service from 5:30-8:30.  The service involves painting the playground and hopefully replacing the woodchips.  He is accepting cash (to purchase paint and woodchips) any time.  If you have any contacts who could help with donated paint or woodchips, please let us know.

The needed snacks and supplies are:  Small juice boxes, bags or cans; commercial, individually-wrapped nonperishable crackers, cookies, or other snack items; bottled water; non-caffeinated soda; hand sanitizer; facial tissue; napkins; antiseptic wipes (for cleaning toys); and paper towels. Contact us and he will come and collect them from you.

 

Thank you in advance for your help.  I know this is a very busy time for everyone, but any help is appreciated.  Feel free to forward this to those who are interested in helping the CJC.

 

Thanks,

 

AnnMarie Howard