To do list done!

Dear Sister Payne,

It was so nice to talk to you today.  I'm glad we get to chat weekly and hope you look forward to our visits as much as I do.  About 2:30 pm I start checking my watch more frequently! :)

Here are some notes from today.  Have a great week!

Love,

Dad

I have been working on improving the way I use my To Do list at work, and today I actually checked off everything that was on my list for today!  I think I'm making progress figuring out how to organize myself effectively.  Here's to continued improvement.

I enjoyed visiting with Jessie this afternoon.  She and Sister MacDonald have been busy teaching lots of member lessons.  I'm glad they've got good things they are working on.  I hope they will be able to make a difference in the lives of the people they teach.

Dinner tonight was Salsa Rosa Chicken with fresh avocado.  It was amazing.  I'm sad I got full as quickly as I did.  Then we had our ice cream chore-reward party.  Each week the kids have a punch card with a list of responsibilities.  As they do the things they are supposed to do, they get a punch.  Monthly we have a reward, and the more punches you have, the more you are rewarded.  Abbie couldn't eat all the ice cream to which she was entitled, but some of her younger, less diligent siblings benefited from her kindness as she shared some punches with them.  My favorite was the Bryers vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries.  (Not from our garden, sadly.)

After ice cream I agreed to finish playing Clue with Neil and Isaac.  It took longer than it should have, but we had a lot of fun.  I need to teach my sons some technique to make the game better.

Thankful: I am thankful that I spent time with my family tonight.  I served the ice cream, enjoyed playing a game, then read scriptures and our chapter book. 

Ministering: In a sense, I ministered to the world tonight.  The book we are reading, Wild Robot, is an odd story about a robot that washes on the shore of an island inhabited only by wild animals.  It's not amazing literature.  But tonight the story presented a good opportunity to talk about not judging others just because we are different.  It was a timely discussion as racial prejudice is front and center of so many discussions.  I hope my teaching helped my children recognize the need to treat others as children of God, and do our best to look past differences to see others as God sees them.  It's not easy, but most growth takes effort.

More later…

A view of the ice cream extravaganza...