That's the Beauty of the Truth...I Don't Have To

We're back!!!

It was a great weekend in Sun Valley. I had never been there before and I really enjoyed it! It seems like a place where it is very expensive to stay there for a weekend, let alone live there. I would definitely go back there for a short visit!

Here are more pictures that I didn't include over the past couple of days!

Just us in the heated swimming pool! Russell was LOVING it! He didn't even care that he could drown if he stepped off the ledge!

The awesome hot tub! (With the awkward lady sitting in the back corner lol)

These kids love their grandpa! (There's the awkward lady again...)

This is us on the balcony of that fancy restaurant we ate at for dinner!

Family on the balcony of the Fancy Mountain Restaurant (NOT what it's called)

Grandpa was kind enough to take a picture of the both of us while we were waiting for everyone else to catch up!

On the Gondola (Ganduluh) On our way up to the restaurant

Ice skating!!! What a fun date!

This flexible pregnant hottie!!

Quick family picture at the ice rink!

I taught Russell how to put his hands in his pockets while he walks. He was loving it!

Mmmm...One of the dishes we had there. Crispy Pork Belly with something else I forgot

Russell wanted to come on the ice with the rest of us!


It was a fun trip!!! It was nice to get away for a weekend, but it's also nice to be home. Although it's a cliche saying, there really is NO place like home.
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Just a quick reflection on the day...

This morning we had the privilege of attending the Sun Valley Ward at 10am. And much like the condo we stayed in, it was very compact! I'm sure they build a lot of things that way there so there can be more room for "expansion" or whatever. It was nice though!

As the highlight of every week should be, it was so great to be able to partake of the sacrament in a completely different place than where we "normally" do. Each time I go somewhere else and have the chance to partake of the sacrament in a ward other than my own, my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is strengthened ever so slightly. To know that we can go virtually anywhere in the world and join with fellow men and women in expressing our desire to make and keep covenants with the Lord is amazing, to say the least. It makes it even more special to me when the sacrament hymn chosen is "In Humility Our Savior." My gratitude is full.


"...My Reason...My Why"

There was a woman that had been assigned to be one of the speakers today who is a recent convert of the church, almost a year! She was a very fast speaker, but boy was it uplifting to hear what she had to say! I decided to write her name down solely for record keeping purposes: Tiffany Scutter (Unsure of the exact spelling).

Sis. Scutter has had quite the journey! She has done a lot of things in her life of only 30ish years, including traveling the world--to working at the Sun Valley Resort. During her successful life of working and really being blessed with what she had, she said she felt that something was missing--EVEN after being married! There were times when she recognized that she could feel the Spirit strongly, but she said she would just ignore it and even yell at God sometimes! But when one day she was interviewing a missionary of the church (I think for her job), the Elder asked if she would be willing to have a couple of missionaries come over to her home and visit with her. At this point she said she even said, "Yes, PLEASE have them come over!"

After being taught the gospel and such, which has brought her to where she is today, she bore POWERFUL testimony of how, "It [the gospel] has helped me find my reason, my 'why.'" Further into her talk she mentioned how she felt like she had been so blessed with great talents and abilities, it was her duty to have to carry all the burdens that came with her busy lifestyle. She had studied with different religions--Judaism, Buddhism, Native American Spirituality, etc.--but it wasn't until she started investigating the church, gaining a testimony of the Savior and His Atonement that she realized something about those burdens she had been carrying; "That's the beauty of the truth, I don't have to." She then proceeded to testify of the principles taught in John 3:16 and bear testimony of them.

Needless to say, it was a very powerful and edifying experience to listen to Sis. Scutter speak and testify today. I had to thank her for her words after the meeting.

It's such a wonderful thing to be able to go to church, be uplifted by others' words, edify those around you with the words you speak/actions you perform, and truly feel the love of God working among you. It made for a wonderful close to our wonderful weekend with our wonderful family!!!

Russell and Heidi's drawings they made while I KNOCKED OUT after getting home lol

Will You Not Seek For My Lost Ones???

"Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,

Dear are the "ninety and nine";

Dear are the sheep that have wandered

Out in the desert to pine.

Hark! he is earnestly calling,

Tenderly pleading today:

"Will you not seek for my lost ones,

Off from my shelter astray?

Out in the desert they wander,

Hungry and helpless and cold;

Off to the rescue he hastens,

Bringing them back to the fold."

Today has been such an amazing day!!! It started early, but has been a lot of fun! I'm wore out! Last night was one of the worst night's sleep I've had in a long time. I'm not sure if it was the bed or what, but even Heidi had a hard time sleeping. Eventually, I just got out of bed and headed downstairs to study the scriptures.

After everyone woke up and had some breakfast we headed to the pool! Let me tell you, it was the FANCIEST pool I have ever come across! 

Now, this may or may not be a photo from online, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the pool haha. It's a different season as well of course. Even the big, round pool is heated!! It felt so good in contrast to the cold air. 

After swimming, most everyone knocked out hard! I took the opportunity to study my scriptures for Monday's new class. Of course, I've already had the opportunity to teach what I will be covering this trimester, but it's so different now as I read through the chapters. I'm grateful for the experiences I had last trimester.

Once everyone woke up we headed to the skating rink!

It's been a while since I've been ice skating, but it was a blast! I got a pair of skates that were size 13. Plenty big, right? WRONG!! Man, I can't even tell you how painful they were because of them being too small! Once I upgraded to a size 14, it was easy gliding from there! Well, not sooo easy...lol

Here's my little man enjoying the sun while his cousins finish up skating! Two thumbs up!!

For dinner we went to this Mexican Restaurant downtown that was pretty good if I do say so myself! Of course, they had chips and salsa for us shortly after we were seated. However, the chips were like crispy corn tortilla shells that we had to break up ourselves! Haha, it was pretty hilarious. But the salsa was AMAZING! 

Anyways, I got one of my normal dishes I get at "good" Mexican Restaurants: Tamales. While we were eating, I happen to look over across the room and there was a catholic father or priest (I'm unsure of the difference, but he was wearing the whole black with a white collar outfit) sitting and talking with a man and a woman at the table where they were having dinner. I'm unsure of the whole purpose of their meeting, but I may or may not have eavesdropped on the beginning of their conversation. 

The priest or whoever he was invited them to dinner to just check up on the "couple" and see how they were doing! It was such a simple meeting, but I couldn't stop thinking about them and looking over at them for the remainder of the time we were there! As I was pondering on some thoughts, the hymn I posted above "Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd" came to mind.

Here was a shepherd who was seeing to the welfare of his flock. The applications to myself and those of us in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are numerous. Home teaching is the obvious one, yeah? I'm thankful for the example I was shown today of one way I can help tend to the Lord's sheep, my brothers and sisters.

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Here are more pictures:

Just some mad selfie skills!! (Right as I take this picture, Papa Jeff points out that a car is waiting for us to cross lol. Well, they're gonna have to wait!)

Our lovely family at the ice rink!

These two studs!! (Russell and Lincoln) They went on an adventure with grandma and grandpa while the rest of us were having fun making fools of ourselves on the ice! haha. I just can't help but think of what these two are gonna look like in several years and look at the difference between then and now. But don't get me wrong! I'm cherishing every moment I can with my little man!

UNTO THE OUTMOST PARTS

Up early and ready to go!

However,  last night was a rough night! I don't know why, but I woke up almost every hour of the night. And on top of that, I had THE weirdest dreams. I'm not sure if it's because of the food I ate last night or what. At like 6:30 this morning Heidi was even awake and when I told her that it had been the longest night for me she quickly agreed! "I'm so glad you said that!" she says. Apparently, we do everything together, including sleeping horribly.

Anyways, I didn't start writing this morning to tell you about my bad night's sleep really. I would rather tell you what I just studied in the scriptures.


"UNTO THE OUTMOST PARTS..."

I'm in 2 Nephi 1 in my personal scripture study. And although I'm not a huge follower of politics, or what's going on within the political/economical world, I feel like this chapter somewhat addresses what is being talked about concerning the Syrian Refugees.

I never realized how much 2 Nephi 1 talks about the promises the Lord has made unto His people who inherit this land. I realize that there are some things that He is saying specifically to Lehi and his people, but it would be foolish for us not to see the application of the principles contained therein for ourselves.

While reading about the promises AND curses the Lord had prepared for Lehi's people concerning this land of promise, there is a footnote that leads you to Deuteronomy 29:9, 30:9. Within those chapters, the Lord is making covenants with the children of Israel in the land of Moab. These covenants and the promises which accompany the heed which is given to them are very similar to those in 2 Nephi 1. One that struck me with power is found in Deut. 30:4(1-4):

"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee."

This testifies strongly of how merciful the Lord is to His people. It makes ME want to shout to the world that the Lord is truly merciful to those who will turn back to Him. But there are clarifiers in those verses that are very important: WITH ALL THINE HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL. But if we will just do that, the Lord will gather us even from the outmost parts! When we think that we are too far out of reach of the Atonement, we can find faith and comfort in knowing we can be redeemed if we will turn to Him.

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely---What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

New Found Knowledge and a WHOLE lot of NEW

So, I can't even believe it's been almost a year! Well, getting past that, I just found out a week ago or so that I can "transform" the posts on my blog into a book! Last year I started really writing in my physical/hard copy journal, but now I think I might start doing this more often! That way I can include pictures and things and print it into book format. I'm so excited! (Plus, I don't think really anybody reads my blog, so it's like a personal journal anyway!)

Wow, where do I begin???

I think I'll just start with telling you what's recently been happening to us. I am actually in the process of trying to be hired on as a full-time "Seminary Teacher!" I put it in quotes because we are actually being asked to call ourselves Religious Educators now. Either way, it's been such a great experience! There have been so many ups and downs as far as emotions go, and wondering if I'm even good enough to do this, etc. All in all, it's been an awesome ride!

I'm teaching at Rigby High School in Rigby, ID (go figure!). We will be going into our third trimester of the school year and it will be during this trimester that I will find out if I will get the job or not! I should find out as late as the week of April 15th! Intense right?!?! I was teaching in this same location last trimester, but this trimester I am being blessed with another class period to teach. I will be teaching 4th and 5th hour.

AAAHHH!! I can't even tell you how excited I am for this trimester! I have done a lot of praying and pondering about what it is that I can do a bit differently to make this trimester a great experience for the kids and I feel very confident that I am being led in the right direction----Let me just take a minute to testify of the reality of revelation from on high. Our Father in heaven truly does desire to reveal to us those things we need and want to know. According to His will and time, answers come as we truly seek for them, asking for them on bended knee in all humility----What an amazing journey this has all been!

I will give you more of an update on how things have been going tomorrow!

TODAY (26 Feb. 2016)

We are staying in Sun Valley tonight! It's my first time here and I get to spend it with some of the people I love the most--two of which I truly DO love the most of anyone: Heidi and Russell. OH!! Before I go any further, I need to make a special announcement...

WE'RE HAVING TWINS!!!!!!!

Speaking of incredible journeys, THIS particular journey has been one for the record! We are 23 weeks...Well, I should really say that HEIDI is 23 weeks along now. We are expecting them to come anywhere in the next 10-13 weeks!!! I can't even believe how fast time has gone by since we found out that we were being sent TWO beautiful angels from heaven. And they are both girls!!!!!! :) I'm super excited! More of an update in the next couple of days!

Anyways, so that's who I'm here with: Heidi, Russell, the two little ones, and then we have Heidi's parents here who actually has made all of this possible, and then Heidi's sister's family. There really isn't ANYTHING like spending time with family.

We just got back not too long ago from having dinner in this lodge that was up in the middle of the mountains! It was delicious! We even got to ride a Gondola up to the lodge! I wish I had some pictures I could show you, but I forgot my phone here at the condo. I'll have to get some pictures from Jessica and Dustin.

The dinner we had was EPIC! I felt like I was eating food from one of the food competition television shows! It was like a 7 course meal! First, I had Baby Beets with some really good sauce that I can't recall the name of at the moment. Second, I had Steak Tartare. It was SOOOOOOOO good!!! I can't even describe to you the taste or the visual of it all! Third, they brought out some bread, grapes, mushrooms, and baby potatoes for fondue. Fourth, a lemon "shave ice" type of drink that was meant to cleanse our palates before we ate our main Entree. 5th, the entree for me was some sort of Risotto. It was amazing! And for dessert, we had this chocolate cake type of deal that was real dark chocolate and tasted SO rich! It was all too good! I could barely breathe when we were finished! 
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Well, that's it for tonight! I'm worn out! I will try and update more tomorrow in some of our spare time. Love to all of my family! I know the church to be true, I know the Lord, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of our souls, the scriptures to be the words of God purposed to lead us unto eternal life, prophets speak on the earth today, the Spirit (Holy Ghost) is real and we need Him in our lives "at ALL TIMES and in ALL THINGS, and in ALL PLACES that [we] may be in, even until death." Mosiah 18:9

Friends, Family, and New Adventures

I wasn't originally planning on posting this here, but I figured...WHY NOT?!

I hope you enjoy!

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Well, nothing like a health challenge to motivate me to write in my journal again.

Jessica is part of this group that does challenges to help them lose/maintain weight and she just recently asked Heidi and I to do it with her. And it’s not your normal “weight-loss challenge” either. They have certain tasks that you need to perform in order to get points, and the individual and team that have the most points at the end of the challenge wins money! It’s actually pretty exciting! Heidi and I committed to do it with Jessica. I’m actually pretty excited. If I haven’t mentioned it already, I love to do things for money; money is a big motivator for me for some reason.

Then on Saturday, Heidi and I went over to Ryan and Sonia’s for dinner, told them about the challenge, and I think they want to do it with us as well! They don’t seem as enthused about it as we were, but I think they’ll do it with us. If not, oh well.

Speaking of Ryan and Sonia, they have become some of our best friends within the last year or two. We of course have Dallin and Erika, Hailey and Kyler, and others that we consider our good friends. But, Ryan and Sonia are the only ones we’ve really done things with more than just once every six months. I think it all started when Ryan was planning on coming to Chicago with me. Ever since the trip we’ve stayed in pretty close contact with one another. About a year ago, we were working out together almost every day. Then our schedules changed and we haven’t really worked out together since. However, within the past two weeks after today (I’m writing at 2:18 am on Tuesday March 17, 2015) we will have been over to their home three times. That’s a record for us! lol. They’re good to us and we appreciate them being so close friends of ours a lot. I would say as of right now, Ryan would be considered my best friend just because we’ve done more together than those others that I would normally say are my best friends. I think you can understand what I’m trying to say, so I won’t explain myself further. (Y'all know who you are!!!)

As far as adventures go, Heidi and I haven’t really been out on any adventures lately. It’s definitely an adventure trying to raise an 8-month-old infant, THAT’S for sure! But we love it! I wouldn’t give anything in the world for my boy…or my wife for that matter.

Russell actually started crawling a couple weeks ago! It was so exciting! Man, I’ve seen a lot of videos about parents getting excited as their baby(ies) crawl, but it’s nothing like experiencing it with your own! I’m such a proud father of the best little boy on earth! Except he’s getting into everything now and has a little attitude to him sometimes!

For example, he loves electrical cords. Phone cords, cords to the television, cords to the phone (we don’t really have a telephone cord, there’s just one from when a phone used to exist in our apartment), anything. If it’s a cord, he’s all about it! So, of course our natural instinct is to hide or make it impossible for him to access any cords in the house. However, sometimes he gets ahold of one somehow. If you can imagine---in our home/apartment, you have to walk through part of the dining room/kitchen and into a hallway to get to the bedrooms. Well, as you enter the hallway, there is the cord for what used to be a home telephone in the apartment. It comes down the wall and then goes under a metal threshold that connects the linoleum dining room floor to the carpeted hallway. Anyways, Russell somehow ALWAYS sees the cord and goes straight for it! When he starts to crawl toward the cord, we start to raise our voices and say, “Russell! Don’t you go over there and mess with that cord!” Needless to say he doesn’t even acknowledge the fact that we are calling to him. Once he gets there, he turns around and looks at us while ever so slowly his hand goes up to find the cord. What a punk!!! Well, if you ask me anyways! ;)

Like I said though, I love him to death. I would do anything for my boy; and for any future children we may have of course.

Well, I think that will be all I include in this journal entry for now. I’m getting tired and I can’t really fall asleep here at work (lol).

OH! I’ve been working at this place called the Behavioral Health Crisis Center now for a couple months. I can’t really say that I really like it, but it’s a job that I am grateful to have. I got it through a connection from the in-laws’ ward that we used to attend when we lived with them. Again, I am very grateful to have it, but I wouldn’t want to do this for a living. It’s a good thing I’m graduating in a month!

I guess that’s some exciting news as well, yeah?! Yes, I graduate in April. April 10^th to be exact. I’m very excited! I can’t wait to be done with my undergraduate degree. It’s been a long time coming. It feels like I’ve been in this part of my life for a very, very long time! It’s time to be done. However, it won’t be for very long! I plan on going on to get my Masters Degree in Social Work at Arizona State University. Well, that’s the plan anyways. I hope I can get into ASU. That’s where Heidi and I would like to live next and settle down for a few years at least. We won’t stay there forever, but we would just like to establish our family somewhere, raise them on our own, then return to somewhere close to family. You can never get too much family right?!

Well…let’s just leave that conversation for another time. J

Temple Square, Cheesecake Factory, and Some Good 'Ole Church

This weekend my wife and I spent some of it down in Utah. It was some crazy fun! We traveled down with her parents initially for the purpose of going to one of Heidi's cousin's farewells. We went to a bunch of stores, did a bunch of shopping, spent a BUNCH of money (every single penny worth it though of course!) and even visited Temple Square to see the lights. If any of you have never seen them...you MUST go at least once in your life! They are so beautiful!! And you can also check out the other things they have to offer you there! ;) Here are some pics!

Anyways, the highlight of the trip was the farewell we were able to attend. As I said before, one of Heidi's cousins is going on a mission and he spoke today. He is going to be serving in the New Hampshire, Manchester mission. Here are some thoughts I had from that sacrament meeting---it was REALLY good. I'm grateful we went.

Sunday Sacrament Thoughts

The sacrament meeting was absolutely wonderful. I felt overwhelmed by the Spirit for much of the meeting. My testimony in the Restoration of the gospel amongst other thins was definitely strengthened today.

Opening Hymn

For the opening Hymn we sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer." While singing the hymn, I felt this overwhelming (you'll find that I use this word a lot in this entry, but all necessarily I promise!) sense of happiness and goodness come over me. I would also describe it as a "warm" feeling. it was in that moment that the Spirit bore testimony to my soul of the truthfulness of the Restoration of the gospel and the divinity of the calling Joseph Smith had as a young boy who assisted in that work---soon to hold the keys of the kingdom as the prophet of God.

Sacrament Meeting

The sacrament Hymn was "God Loved Us So He Sent His Son." It was while we were singing the words of that hymn that I felt an overwhelming sense of "Love" and "Joy" come over me. I knew that it was the Spirit, once again, whispering to me that God IS there and that He DOES love me. My testimony of the pure love of Christ was strengthened as I reflected on the sacred lyrics of that beautiful hymn. I do know that God lives, He is our Father, and that His Son, Jesus Christ, is the Redeemer of the world. Their love never dies. They are Eternal and Everlasting, forever and ever.

The Talks - Talk #1

The talks that were given were about fasting and missionary work. As the first speaker was giving his talk, the Lord revealed to me, once again, through the Holy Spirit the importance of fasting. I have known the power and importance of fasting before, but I will admit that I have gotten away from it because of the lack of participation on my part. I desire in my heart to participate in fasting this week, and thankfully this next Sunday is fast Sunday! I'm very excited! I know there is much for me to learn from the Lord as I show Him my obedience and faith through fasting.

Talk #2

The second speaker, Alec (Heidi's cousin) spoke about missionary work (appropriate to the occasion of course). As he began His talk, I noticed that he had actually prepared all of his talk on paper and was reading through it. He read through the whole thing and got through it in time! I was impressed! Not that him reading through his talk was "off" in any way, it was just interesting to me as i don't know if I have seen someone "pre-mission" give their farewell talk in that way. But again, it doesn't matter because what I felt was and is an indicator of the quality of the talk. It was very uplifting.

Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot of what he said, but I do remember feeling the Spirit bear testimony to my heart that missionary work IS indeed the work of the Lord. I do believe that Alec will be a great missionary.

Closing Hymn

For the closing hymn we sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go." Again, the Spirit bore witness to me that the Lord is there and that as I keep His commandments---being obedient in exactly everything He requires of me---He will lead me where He wants me to go, and His love will always abide with me.

Feeling Grateful

I do know that I have some things to change, even some weaknesses to bring before the Lord before they can become strengths, but I also know that He IS there. I cannot show Him to you in person because I myself have not seen Him in person, yet. But I have had many witnesses before me testify of Him, and I have had many instances where He has shown me that He is there as I have called out to Him. That is what I offer those who wish to know the Lord and learn of/from Him: my testimony. My testimony that He lives. He lives and is there to help us, strengthen us, guide us if we will call out to Him in faith and then take His hand. God is our Father and Jesus, the Christ of us all. May we forever invite Them into our homes and lives EVERY day, and especially this holiday season.

His Work Moves Forward

Hey everyone! I want to share an experience with you that happened to my family just yesterday. It is one of those experiences that I feel should not be kept to myself, but shared with as many people as will read about it.

We had the missionaries over for Family Home Evening last night; therefore, you know it was a great FHE night. But, before I tell you about what they shared with us, I need to provide you with a little bit of a background story that is necessary to the evening.

We go back a couple weeks ago...

A couple of Sundays ago, I had my home-teaching to do but my partner was not able to go. I contacted the Elders Quorum president and asked him if he would be able to accompany me. He was not able to come with me, but arranged for someone else to come with me. Additional to that, he asked if I would knock...(yes, you read correctly...KNOCK)...on the doors of homes on the street right next to where my home-teachers live, because no one in the ward knew who lived on that street (the street is pretty new, as well as the houses).

Anyways, of course I told him that I would be willing to do it. So, after visiting my home-teaching family we turned the corner and went to the first house we saw. Fortunately, the family of that home was already outside. As we approached them, I won't lie to you, I was a little nervous. All of a sudden the memories and feelings of being on the mission and knocking on doors rushed back to me and I felt as though I were back in North Carolina. Thoughts of, "What if they reject us?", "What are they going to say?", "What are WE going to say?", "How do I not make this super awkward?" filled my mind. I was waiting for them to say something like, "We don't want any!" or any of the other given reactions that we would get in the South. Fortunately, at least for my worried mind, they ended up being active members of the ward! They had just moved into the ward boundaries and had only been to church a couple of times.

We talked with them for a little bit, getting to know them and telling them of ourselves and our family. Before we left we asked if they knew of any other members of the church living on the street. They said they were the only ones that they knew of, but then continued to tell us what they knew of their neighbors. After trying to figure out a way of remembering all the information they were giving us, we said our goodbyes and immediately texted the Elders Quorum President as much as we could remember. We thought that even though there might not be any other members of the church on the street, it would be good information that could be used in the future.

A little over a week later...

The route I take to and from school is the same every day. It just so happens that it passes right next to that street we had knocked that Sunday. One day as I was coming home from school, I happened to look over to that street and think of those people our fellow ward members had told us about. Immediately, the thought came into my mind that I should call the missionaries of our ward and tell them the information we had received. They thanked me and I returned to my day.

Back to present day (yesterday)...

So, the missionaries come over for FHE. We sing the usual opening song and say the opening prayer. That's when we turn the time over to them. They share a message with us about trusting in the Lord and having a desire to share the gospel with others. Needless to say, the Spirit was very present. Again, thoughts of me and my companions teaching lessons to both members and non-members flooded back to me. However, I put them aside to listen to the message the missionaries had come to share with us.

After they had shared their message they bore testimony and then got into the good part...the invitation. It was then that they began to tell us of a family they had met recently. And what street should they live on but that same street that we had knocked on just a couple weeks ago! This family was a young family who had just recently married and had a child (just 3 weeks old!). Even more, the wife is a member of the church while the husband is a member of the Baha'i faith. That's when the missionaries told us that they thought of my wife and I as soon as they learned this family's circumstances.

I couldn't believe what they were telling me! Well...you know I believed it...but it was just amazing to me that the missionaries were telling us of this family, and would soon invite us to help them in teaching them! Of course, we accepted.

I cannot tell you the joy I feel even now as I type this story. What was something simple that I didn't really pay much mind to before has become an opportunity for my family to assist in bringing the happiness of the gospel to another family. I'm not sure what is to come or happen with this opportunity, but what I do know NOW is that the Lord's work continues to go forward. As we seek and pray for those opportunities to share the gospel of Christ with those who need it, He will prepare us and give it to us. Who knows, if I would not have knocked on that street that Sunday maybe the Lord would have provided another way for the missionaries to get in contact with that family. Maybe not. I am grateful, however, that the Lord has seen fit to bless our family with this great opportunity and pray that we will only continue to do as He would do and not get in the way.

"For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—

Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—

These should then be attended to with great earnestness.

Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.

You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." -D&C 123:12-17