OUR FAMILY: Elder Holland's life changing talk

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Friday, May 17th, 2019

Sao Paulo, Brazil

17th operating temple

Dedicated: 30 Oct - Nov 2 1978

By: Spencer W. Kimball

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

1 John 4:14

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Book of Mormon

Alma 1:15-33

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Matthew 20:18-29; Mark 10:32-45; Luke 18:31-34

General Conference

Where Will This Lead?

President Dallin H. Oaks

"Some time ago I gave a talk titled 'Good, Better, Best.' In that talk I said that 'just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives. ... We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best."

I have something to say about the talk I read yesterday by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Laborers in the Vineyard" from the April 2012 General Conference. This talk was life changing for me and answered a question that I have had for some time now about our will. James has said he was going to give certain children less inheritance because we have helped them more than we have helped others. I understood what he was saying, but I was not totally comfortable with that decision. Kim and Brian are going to be the executor's of our will and I did not want to leave it up to them to make any decisions we should have made. This talk has helped me to realize that all that we have should be divided equally among our five children. Period. The main inheritance will be our home and property in Vernon. It will be up to them as to what they do with this inheritance. I feel so goo about this decision and after listening to Elder Holland, I think that James does too. I would encourage everyone to listen to this talk!!A

Here is part of a quote from that talk: "Why should you chose to be jealous because I chose to be kind? It is my money."

As I sat at my desk this morning doing my scripture study, I could hear the wind howling and blowing through the trees outside. Another windy day.

Hear is another Jeffrey R. Holland quote from another talk, "Lessons from Liberty Jail, Ensign, Sept 2009, 30.)

"When lonely, cold, hard times come, we have to endure, we have to continue, we have to persist. That was the Savior's message in the parable of the importuning widow...Keep knocking on that door. Keep pleading. In the meantime, know that God hears your cries and knows your distress. He is your Father and you are His child."

Another quote I found as part of my study. This one was in the New Testament Student Manual as part of the religion class taught at BYU:

"Perseverance is rooted in the foundational gospel principles of faith and hope. Perseverance reflects our faith that our actions will bring the Lord's blessings into our lives."

James had an appointment at Chase Bank today at 10:30 to see about cashing in our Zion's Bank stock. I dropped him off and I headed for Safeway. While I was shopping at Safeway I ran in to Sister Grapp and her kids. All of the kids except baby Leland gave me a hug. They were excited about coming over tonight so their parents could have a night out. Benson said he was going to bring his army guys if that was okay. Of course Benson.

James called me before I was finished shopping, just as I discovered they had no Dr. Pepper 10. He needs me at the bank to sign some papers, so I cut my shopping short and off I went to Chase Bank.

Jeremy was the name of the bank officer helping James. After signing all the papers he told us we should be getting our money in about 7-10 days. We should be getting around $2300 if all goes well. I already know what I am doing with the money.

We had lunch at LaCasita, we each had our usual. While there an old friend from high school and a friend of James's when he was on the Show Low high council walked in with several other workers at the hospital. Brother MacArthur is a bigwig at the hospital and so is Greg Butler. I will always remember Greg Butler as the kid who worked in my dad's store when we were in high school. We called him Bugs Bunny because he had white Converse tennis shoes and a feather duster in his back pocket and he walked with sort of a hop. I hope they had a nice lunch. Brother MacArthur spent a lot of time in Vernon because he was assigned to our ward when on the high council.

When the Grapp's got here this evening at 6 pm there were only two kids instead of four. Benson and Tildy are being punished for bad behavior and will have to stay home this evening. I guess Cammy and Thomas are staying home and hanging pictures. Liana (10)and Emsley(5)are little angels and we had a great time. They played Barbie's for awhile and then we watched the movie, "Ratatouille."

I made popcorn and James made limeade. I also had made cookies and they each had a cookie.

When Cammy came back to pick them up she said: "It's funny how you got the two good kids and we had the two misbehaving kids." We laughed and I said hopefully all of them would be able to come next time. I really do want to play with Benson's army guys.