Dear Elder Alex,
The girls are in bed, dad just got off the phone with grandma and grandpa, Kirk and Kristina are watching some show, Sean is off visiting with the Shaws and I have a few moments of peace to compose a letter. Earlier this evening Sean, dad and I went over to the Gilman's to let Sean talk with Josh about Cordoba. It was great seeing them again. Sometimes we go a long time without running into them anywhere. Josh is excited to get going on his mission.
Today after stake conference, we had Easter dinner with the Braithwaites. Tracey had 3 of her daughters home, so of course I take 2 of my eligible sons over in hopes of connecting our families through the bonds of marriage. Kirk claims he can't think of anyone right now because he's off to Uganda in 10 days and Sean, well, he has his own date set-ups that people are doing for him (he's trying to connect with the Cameron's cousin).
Stake Conference was good. We had a broadcast today for our whole western Idaho region and last night the Saturday session was wonderful (it always is). Pres. Tanner spoke on the need for having a personal testimony because we will not be able to stand on borrowed light in life. He talked about 3 times in his life that he was confronted with anti-Mormon literature and told us all about what he heard and saw and how he listened to what they had to say and had no answer in response, but he did have his own testimony that let him just walk away and not be concerned about it. Then he told about what happened in the 1980's when there were some people dying from bombs being left on their doorsteps and finally a bomb that exploded next to a car and hurt the man whose car it was. At first they thought it was another victim, but in the end it turned out to be the bomber, Mark Hoffman. It also turned out that he had been a dealer in rare books and documents and was being questioned by several people about their authenticity. Those were the people who were killed. In the end, we find out that Mark Hoffman had been the forger, author of hundreds of documents concerning the church including the 3 that Pres. Tanner had heard about in his life. Pres. Tanner even read from Time magazine back then when the third document appeared and read quotes from several LDS people left the church because of it. Years later we learn that they were all fake and you wonder where those people are now.
His talk hit close to home because we were living in SLC at the time all this happened and I even had a close friend who was a rare book dealer at the time. So it brought back a lot of memories. But it's very true that in our lives, there will be tough times that will require us to have strong testimonies of our own where borrowed light will not carry us through.
Toni went home Tuesday, but we had a beautiful and even spiritual evening the night before. After going to lacrosse games, I took Toni to Doug and Traci Roberts to visit. We ended up talking for quite a while and it was a very tender talk. Toni's got some hurdles in life to get over to enable her to come back to church. She needs to know that the church can't be judged by the actions of one person. So it was especially nice to let her see and talk with a couple who love the Lord, love their family and truly care about those around them. Then Uncle Bill called and wanted us to come by his place even though it was late at night. We ended up talking with him and Nancy til midnight and once again it was such a wonderful visit. In the middle of the visit, Bill stopped talking and then said, "Toni, I just got a very strong impression and I need to tell you. If you will start going to sacrament meeting at least once a month even every other week, and only sacrament meeting is necessary, not all 3 hours, I know you will fall in love, find true love, get married and find true happiness in your life." He then went on to tell Toni that he often receives impressions about people, sometimes strangers he sees as he's out and about. Nancy validated everything he was saying by telling us about several promptings he received about people just in the grocery store and how he helped them. The key is that he listens and then responds to that prompting and many people have even asked him who sent him because no one but their family would know that they were in such dire need. Toni was in tears and I felt so proud to have people in my family who cared enough to speak up and say what they felt prompted to say. I told Toni later that we were so blessed to have such a wonderful family and how much love we feel from every one of them.
As we've talked this week since she's been home, she has brought up the "Bill incident" several times and I know she was moved by it. Family is powerful.
It's been fun having Sean home for a few days, but he leaves tomorrow to go back to Provo and then starts spring semester. He brought home his 70's hi-fi stereo for us to keep for him until September. So the girls have been playing all their records this weekend and been having fun with that. Kristina wants to have a party with it. Sean's plans are to audit one class in spring and take 2-3 classes in summer semester and has been having several job interviews. So he's hopeful.
We've also been spending a lot of time helping Kirk gather things for his Africa internship. He's gotten his shots, filled out tons of paper work and bought special clothing that they require there. I'm excited for him and his upcoming experience. He set up a blog so it will be fun to read his stories.
It's good to hear more stories about Thomas. There's nothing like the fire of a new testimony igniting the fire in someone else. Have you started teaching the woman he found?
We got your mission newsletter this week. It's a really nice and thorough newsletter and we enjoy reading it. You have a lot of good people that you're surrounded with in your mission.
Leah told me today that Kiley K. is engaged. That's my only source on that story, so I'll check it out for you and see if it's true.
My life has been extremely busy this past week with helping Jan Lutz get ready for quilt market and helping Jan Leifson with the quilt she is making for Jan. It's been a little crazy, but it should be completed by Tuesday. It seems like I'm always at a lacrosse game too. It's a good thing that Nikki didn't play on a team this time. I don't know how I'd fit it all in. I also met with the counselors at the middle school to talk about Leah and her transition there. I think they have a great team there that will be good for Leah and they are anxious to help her.
The weather's been beautiful and dad has been enjoying some days out in the yard, but wishes he had more days out there. He's starting on the garden, the sweet peas are in the ground and there are plants starting to grow in the laundry room in the basement. This year we are planting a huge field of corn in that field between us and the Leifson's. We'll let you know how that goes and send some pictures.
In our stake conference today they prayed for all the missionaries from our stake who were out in the field. It still makes my heart skip a beat when I hear that. Keep up the great work, rely on your own testimony, do things to make it even stronger (I always pray that you'll have experiences that will strengthen your testimony) and help others to gain their own so we can all stand firm and unmovable and will not have to rely on a weak borrowed light.
Love you very much,
mom
XXOO
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