OUR FAMILY: Sun, Nov 28th, 2021: Charlie sick, Church and Relief Society, Kim & Brian finish our tree, Christmas movies,

Guadalajara, Mexico

105th operating temple

Dedicated: 29 Apr 2001

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, relationships with the Father

John 5:18

Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Book of Mormon

Mormon 8:26-41

D&C

Review 135-136

"Come Follow Me"

Review "He has sealed His mission and His works with His own blood"

OctGenCon

"One Percent Better"

Elder Michael A. Dunn

Of the Seventy

For more than a century, the national bicycle racing teams of Great Britain had been the laughingstock of the cycling world. Mire in mediocrity, British riders had managed only a handful of gold medals in 100 years of Olympic competitions and had been even more underwhelming in cycling's marquee event, the three-week long Tour de France - where no British rider had prevailed in 110 years. So sorry was the plight of British riders that some bike manufacturers refused to even sell bikes to the Brits, fearing it would forever sully their hard-won reputations. And despite devoting enormous resources into cutting-edge technology and every newfangled training regimen, nothing worked.

Nothing, that is, until 2003, when a small, largely unnoticed change occurred that would forever alter the trajectory of British cycling. That new approach would also reveal an eternal principle - with a promise - regarding our ofttimes perplexing mortal quest to improve ourselves. So what happened in British cycling that has great relevance to our personal pursuit to be better daughters and sons of God?

"Facing Our Spiritual Hurricanes By Believing in Christ"

Elder Sean Douglas

Of the Seventy

You ma never face a devastating physical hurricane. However, each of us has weathered and will weather spiritual hurricanes that threaten our peace and try our faith. In today's world, they seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity. Thankfully, the Lord has provided us a sure way to joyfully overcome them. By living the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are assured that "when dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us and threaten our peace to destroy, there is hope smiling brightly before us."

We had three speakers in sacrament meeting today: Alicia Hunsaker, McKayla Finnegan, and Judy Hunter.

Alicia spoke on Satan's plan of distraction so that we won't develop a meaningful relationship with the Savior. Is the devil successful with his plan? Each of us must answer that question for ourselves. Here are some suggestions she made for us to keep the Savior in our lives:

1) Don't miss church, 2) Use the Atonement of Jesus Christ for repentance and forgiveness, 3) Choose good activities, 4) Serve others, 5) Count your blessings. She referred to a talk given by Elder Kevin Pearson, "Stand by the Tree." Here are five suggestions that Elder Pearson made: 1) Pray 2) Come unto Christ through study and covenants 3) Press forward in faith 4) Read the Book of Mormon, 5) Don't be distracted or deceived, and 6) Stand by the tree, or in other words yield our hearts to God and be under the influence of the Holy Ghost. Remember when you have felt the light and love of the Savior and use this to overcome the world.

McKayla Finnegan was the youth speaker and she spoke on "For the Strength of Youth" and the Young Women's theme:

I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents,

with a divine nature and eternal destiny.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ,

I strive to become like Him.

I seek and act upon personal revelation

and minister to others in His holy name.

I will stand as a witness of God

at all times and in all things and in all places.

As I strive to qualify for exaltation, I cherish

the gift of repentance and seek to improve each day.

With faith, I will strengthen my home and family,

make and keep sacred covenants,

and receive the ordinances and blessings

of the holy temple.

Judy Hunter was the last speaker. Her talk was based on a talk given by Elder Robert C. Gay in the October 2018 general conference, "Taking Upon Us the Savior's Name." Here are some suggestions Elder Gay gives in his talk. 1) See as God sees. His love is unfathomable. Everyone is a sacred being. Heavenly Father looks upon our hearts. 2) We must do His work and serve as He served. Do you know anyone who doesn't need the powers of heaven in their lives? God will work wonders among us as we sanctify ourselves. We sanctify ourselves by purifying our hearts. We purify our hearts as we hear Him, repent of our sins, become converted and love as He loves. Finally, 3) We must trust Him. His grace is sufficient. 3 Nephi 27:11, John 4:4.

Pierce played the organ today. When he was not playing the organ he was out in the hall getting some oxygen. The bishop called him and said we needed an organ player today and of course Pierce said he would come, in spite of not feeling well. Pierce is the type of person who puts other people's needs before his own and I had an opportunity in Relief Society to tell the sisters that.

Rosie does a great job leading the discussion in Relief Society and allowing the sisters to share their thoughts. Our lesson today was based on Elder Soares talk, "The Savior's Abiding Compassion."

Again, we must trust the will of the Lord, pray, repent, serve the Lord will full purpose of heart, sanctify ourselves, and deepen our faith. These are some of the same things Sister Hunter's talk in sacrament meeting focused on.

Kim and Brian did not attend our sacrament meeting. They stayed home because their ward is still doing a Zoom broadcast. They spent most of the day working on our Christmas tree which I did not ask them to do but they willingly did on their own. Brian on the ladder putting decorations at the top of the tree is a little more effective than James on the ladder reaching as far as he can reach.

We had three movies on today. There are soo many Christmas movies and there is no way we can watch them all but we are trying to watch, or at least I am, most of the new ones.

"Christmas at Castle Hart"

"Time for Them To Come Home for Christmas"

"Making Spirits Bright"

I finished my indexing for the month. I reached my goal of 200 names. Woohoo! I had one ministering interview with Rebecca McKamy who had not visited her sisters last quarter. When I asked her if she had contacted her sisters she said, "Yes, we took them to lunch." I was so happy that she had done this. I think having an interview once a quarter motivates some people to action. I'm not saying that's why Rebecca and her mother, who is her partner, took her sisters to lunch but me asking her about her sisters gave me the opportunity to congratulate her and encourage her in her ministering.

Our tree looks so beautiful! I use white, red, and purple because those colors remind me of the Savior. White is for purity, red is for sacrifice, and purple is for royalty.

Today my friend Catherine who is 88 told me about her grandson who is making a DVD of her life along with music and pictures. She is so excited to give it to her family, especially her grandkids for Christmas. I thought we should do something like this for Lois for Christmas if we could get some help from the family. Terry was the first who came to mind along with Cathi, and Dave. They are good on the computer. Dawn would have lots of pictures. I wanted to write her history at one time but I didn't get very far. If we had her talking on a video, telling stories, how much more meaningful would that be?

James did not feel well today and he took several naps.