It's Now Officially Winter

This last week we met a guy named Thang (tong) who's from Burma. He's a really cool guy who's going to college nearby. We did a bible study with him, and he asked if we could do one every night. He has tons of questions, and is so anxious to learn, but he's 19 so we ended up passing him off to the YSA Elders. It's cool to see the people that the Lord places in our path, for however long we get to be a part of their lives.

It also got down to the negatives this week. In fact, Sunday was so cold and it was still snowing so they canceled church to keep everyone safe. We ended up still meeting as a district to do the sacrament, but it was interesting trying to bike through that.

I hope you're all doing well. I want to say that whatever you're going through, and whatever you will go through, there is hope and happiness ahead. Elder Holland has a great talk about this, about still trying when everything seems hopeless. When it comes down to it, life can be hard, with twists and turns we didn't expect. However, there is always hope when we put our trust in God and hold to what we know. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Goals for the Year

Goal #1 (these are in no particular order)

Many years ago I came across a blogger who was pretty much in my same stage of life and I began to follow her . . . not literally, because that would be weird, but in the blogging world so to speak. She mentioned how she would pick one word to live by that year. I tried it once and kind of failed. A couple of times in her testimony, my neighbor down the street has mentioned how she and her sisters each pick a word and share it with each other. This year I decided to try again. I had one word I had decided on but then another came to my head, so this year is a twofer.

Hearken and present are my two words. Hearken is the first word to begin the book of scripture known as the Doctrine and Covenants which we are studying this year. Hearken is more than just hearing, but it's also doing something about it, listening and then obeying. How one hears the voice of the Lord can be a challenging thing to discover, but it's something I have continued to get better at. The hard part has been the obeying part. I'll get a prompting and dismiss it. I believe I do it out of fear. Fear of overstepping my bounds. Fear of how people might react. The older I've gotten, I'm getting over that fear. So hearken is a word I need to improve on and was the first word I chose.

The second one came to me as I was in the middle of many things, trying to multitask, and not really "there" for any of them. I am a doer by nature, but I knew that how I was doing things wasn't right. So word number two has become present in mind and body. I am working on being more present wherever I am.

Goal #2

Nate challenged me the other day in an email to study Preach My Gospel. "Preach My Gospel is as much for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as it is for the full-time missionaries of the Church" (found in the introduction to PMG). Over the years since it was introduced, I've casually browsed through it, but now I'm beginning a more serious study. In my study the other night I reread a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott titled Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge and pulled this little nugget out of there:

"Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a sacred place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. That practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light."

Goal #3

"Find something to do that you think about all the time, that you enjoy so much that when you don't have to think about it, that's what you think about." -- Henry Eyring to his son Henry B. Eyring

(Young Henry often helped his dad with physics equations on the blackboard in the basement. One day older Henry noticed that younger Henry was still working through the same problem and asked him if he didn't think about this stuff all the time. Young Henry said no and older Henry gave him the advice above.)

Ah hobbies. I have so many of them that I like to devote my time to and in the last year my job has just become a hobby as I've slowly discovered that I have a passion for early childhood literacy. I can't seem to read enough or watch enough about it. It is the one thing I think about all the time. How do I help my struggling readers to unlock the magic of written words? What is the science behind reading? I have a student who could not read one word at the beginning of the year and only knew about half of his sounds. I have taken him aside, one-on-one, and worked with him at first with just his sounds and then we moved on to very simple books. Oh to see his eyes light up and the excitement he feels when he can read a page all by himself. He has recently gotten to where he will work through a word on his own without my help. It has been so rewarding to watch his growth. Four years ago I didn't understand the trial of unemployment Tyler and I were going through. But today I do. This is where I am to be and I am loving it!

So I guess Goal #3 is to continue to learn as much as I can about early childhood literacy which encompasses so much more than just reading words on a page.

These are the days of . . . 

*still more science fair competitions. This year the district had to go virtual for the competition and the program they used was glitchy, so not all participants were able to be interviewed. Due to that technicality, all participants at the district level have advanced to the regional level if they chose to. Alex decided he wanted to which means more uploading of materials and getting paperwork signed and taking a day off when he actually gets to present. But it's all good.

*mudstorms and snowstorms. First came the mud that just coated everything. I thought a good rainstorm might clean it all but when we did get some rain it didn't. When it warms up, I will be hosing off sidewalks and pergolas and plants. We did get some good snowstorms that were much needed.

*using the puzzle room florescent light as a grow light as Tyler and I attempt to germinate seeds for the first time. I've never started my own vegetable seeds inside. This is our new little experiment. Just waiting for some black pepper seeds to show up in the mail this week before the planting commences. (I might have to figure out how to clean the mud off that window to let some more natural light in.)

*splitting our stake. We are now part of a new stake -- the Lake Point Stake. It's crazy how this area has grown in the last 10 years. When we moved out here there were two wards, now there are four. Lake Point was becoming a dying town and years ago the ward members prayed and fasted for some new blood. Well, they got it. I don't know that they ever imagined one day they would be their own stake. We got to participate in that special stake conference over a Youtube link from home. Our new stake president is President Robbins. I called that one. He decided to take our bishop for one of his counselors, so we will be getting a new bishop in the new week or two.

*our temple FINALLY coming to fruition. They announced a new location and a new name. It will be called the Deseret Peak Temple, a name a like a whole lot more, and will be located up by Clarke Johnson Jr. High. I'm just excited that it is happening. What a blessing for this valley. The people of Erda really missed out with all their bickering and fighting over it.

*finally finishing the kitchenette 10 years later. There's countertops, a stove, a sink, and a microwave. Erik may never want to move out of the basement now. But seriously, having a sink right there has been so nice. No more carrying water in a bucket downstairs when I need to clean.

Couple emails from Nate plus a bonus Facebook post he made

FEBRUARY 8, 2021
Exchange

Hey!

The highlight of the week by far was on Saturday. I was asked to play a musical number at a Spanish baptism again, and once again, nodded and smiled when people tried to talk to me. We got a call right afterwards from the ZL's saying that we were going to do a mini exchange. Elder Spilsbury came and joined us for the rest of the day, and it was amazing. We prayed specifically to find someone in the park, and we both thought of someone with a blue hat. We walked outside our apartment and the first person we saw was wearing a blue hat and walking towards the park. We went and talked to them and got their number, and they're going to come to church this Sunday!

We also put on a ward zoom call so people could get together during COVID since the majority of our ward is older at-risk people. We've tried it in the past, but no one showed up. This last week though, we really worked hard to invite people to come and we had 15 different families on, and you could tell some of them hadn't talked to friends from the ward in months. It was really cool to see how happy it made them.

Lastly, I want to promise that the power of prayer is real. If you are worthy of the Holy Ghost, and give a specific prayer for a good cause, and do your part, your prayer will be answered. The Lord is bound when we do what He says, and he has promised to answer those prayers when we do our part. I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Leary 

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FEBRUARY 1, 2021
Cop Craziness

Hey!!

Sorry I didn't write last week, we had a hard situation come up that we had to deal with. This week was kind of crazy. We had zone conference on Wednesday, which was really awesome. I got to play a musical number and we were taught some really cool things. On Thursday night I called the cops for the first time. A man on the floor below us was arguing super loudly with a woman, and we were concerned about what was going on. Then, he ran to the balcony and screamed help, and we figured that was probably a good enough excuse to call the cops. They sent someone, but I don't think anyone was actually in danger. I'm pretty sure he was just trying to look like the victim, we never heard any signs of violence.

On Saturday, our zone had five baptisms, which was amazing. I got roped into doing a musical number at both of them at the last second, even though the second one was a Spanish baptism. And when I say last second, I mean they had us bring some baptismal forms a half hour before because they didn't have any and they said they had forgotten to ask someone to play the hymns, and then asked if I could accompany two people that were already planning on doing a musical number. It was a lot of fun honestly, and that night since the baptism was when we had dinner planned they let us steal their truck to go grab food real fast. It was the first time I've driven in almost six months.

Lastly, we've heard prophets and apostles say that we will not survive spiritually in this day and age if we do not learn how to receive personal revelation. I want to share a few quotes about following the Spirit and the miracles that will come. Elder Bednar said, "Personal pride is the greatest obstacle to walking in the meekness of the Lord's Spirit." President Eyering, when talking to Elder Bednar, said, "President, if you have not been rebuked lately by the Holy Ghost as you were praying, then you need to improve your prayers."  We need to improve our prayers and stay humble. As well President Monson promises that "miracles are everywhere to be found when Priesthood callings are magnified. When faith replaces doubt; when selfless service eliminates selfish strivings, the power of God brings to pass his purposes." As we focus on following the spirit and serving others more, we will see additional power in our lives to overcome challenges, you will see additional strength in your marriages and family relationships, and we will become the servants that the Lord needs in these final days. I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-Elder Leary

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FEBRUARY 10, 2021
Bonus Facebook Post

Over the past few years, but this last one in particular, I've seen an increase in the number of political posts and messages on social media. I've seen great friends bash on each other's views, once-friendly neighbors at each others throats, and a great discord and lack of peace and harmony in our nation. The trend and direction of this increased contention cannot lead to any good outcome; it has become an increasing danger in our day that will lead to the destruction of the relationships we hold most dear. 

Prophets centuries ago saw our day, and this danger looming on the horizon, and included history relevant to our day to help us combat this. Alma 51 shows us the danger of political strife, and the inevitable outcome if it continues. We read in verses 2 and 3 that there were those that desired the law to be changed, but the chief judge, named Pahoran, would not change it. 

Verse 4 reads: 

Therefore, those who were desirous that the law should be altered were angry with him, and desired that he should no longer be chief judge over the land; therefore there arose a warm dispute concerning the matter”

Later, in verse 9, we read that “this was a critical time for such contentions to be among the people of Nephi; for behold, Amalickiah had again stirred up the hearts of the people of the Lamanites against the people of the Nephites, and he was gathering together soldiers from all parts of his land, and arming them, and preparing for war with all diligence. 

 Likewise, in our day, Satan is gathering soldiers and preparing for war with all diligence. He is battling for our hearts, our minds, our virtue, our love, our peace, our families, our hopes, our dreams, and our relationship with God. We cannot be the king-men that sit idly by while this great war rages on. (v. 13) We MUST take steps to prepare as Moroni did, and fortify where we are most weak, as well as help those around us do the same. We cannot help them if we are also fighting over political views with those whom we should love and care for. 

 In verse 27, we read that Amalickiah, by way of his numberless hosts, took over the strong fortifications  of Moroni, and used them to continue to attack other cities. In our day, our fortifications are under attack. Our strongest defenses, namely, our families, church attendance, scriptures study, and prayer, are under attack. Satan continues to try to pull apart families, to change the nature of what a family is, and distracts us from spending time with them. He overwhelms us with choices so that we have no time for what really matters. 

In addition, he seeks to invade our place of refuge and safety (v. 30), or in other words, our homes. Our homes should be divine sanctuaries where we can feel the Spirit and be protected from the evils of the world. Instead, we are being attacked by distractions that leave us with no time for family home evening, by technology that wastes our time and makes us forget to serve our loved ones, and by plagues such as pornography that force the Spirit out of our homes. If we allow Satan’s influence in our home, however small, we allow him full control to “harass [us] on every side” (52:9). 

Our relationships with our family, our church members, our neighbors, and our God are the most important part of our lives. Do not let politics or technology distract you from what really matters. Do not contend with others or do things that drive the Spirit away. I’d encourage each of you to pray and write down three things you can do over the next week to better serve those around you or invite the Spirit more into your home.  I know that as we do this that we will have more joy, for "heaven is a continuation of the ideal family." (Preach My Gospel, pg. 89) We may not have an ideal family or home life, but I know that as we strive towards that, we draw closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. I say this in His name, the name of Jesus Christ, amen.