Serving with Christlike love

Dear family,

I sure love you all. Jessie, I try not to brag about you too much when people ask what you're doing now that your mission is over. It's not easy when people see the painting you gave me for Christmas. I go into full "proud dad" mode. And Mark, the same goes for you when people ask about your mission. Similarly with Abbie, Spencer, Neil, Isaac, Emma, Camilla, Nathaniel, Hazel, and my wonderful wife. You're all amazing and wonderful.

Enjoy a quick recap of the last 48 hours!

Love,

Dad

Sunday, April 25, 2021
10:19 pm

Yesterday was project day:

·        Change winter tires for regular on Bertha

·        Oil change for Bertha

·        Tried to fix leaky washer. Discovered that the problem is not what I thought. That took two hours to tear into and put back together. Fortunately the problem is a quick fix. Part is ordered, should be here Wednesday, and will only take about 15 minutes. (Assuming I can turn off the water at the inlet… that may be a problem.)

·        Mowed the lawn with Nathaniel on my back.

·        Scrubbed our shower.

·        Went on a date with Julie. That was a bummer. ☹

Today was a full Sunday. Church was nice. Meetings before Church were effective. Ward Youth Council this month was better than last, although we still had a fair amount of screen time on the part of some of the youth. My initial thought after the meeting was to ask them next time to put their phones away, but the Spirit prompted otherwise. Get to know them and let them get to know me. That's going to be much more effective than "nagging." We'll see.

Had a 2½ hour training meeting with the Stake Presidency. It was long, but I love spending time with those men. There is a brotherhood among Bishops that I had heard about but never understood. I try very hard to keep my mouth closed so I can learn from them and from the Holy Ghost.

Dinner tonight at Dad and Mom's was delicious. Typical Sunday dinner with berries and cream for dessert. I would have loved to eat more, but I was full! Read scriptures together after, then put the kids in bed. They went to sleep reasonably well. Spencer and I went on a drive, then journal and bed.

Ministering: I hope my service to our ward is effective and helps them draw closer to the Savior. I was asked to lead the discussion in YW today, and really enjoyed that. We discussed the following scriptures, with a very brief summary of what I learn:

·       Matthew 14:13–21 With Jesus' help, what we have is enough.

·       John 9:1–11 Sometimes hard things are just part of life. We can serve others without judging.

·       John 13:4–5, 12–17 No one is too good to serve another person.

·       3 Nephi 17:5–10  Jesus met people's needs one by one.

Thankful: I don't mean this to sound arrogant in any way, but I am thankful that I have been spared so much of the heartache that comes from sin. Discussing the needs of the members of our Stake, how to counsel with various problems, membership counsels, etc. made me remember how naïve I really am, and I am thankful for that.

Off to sleep. More later…

Some of my favorite people: