OUR FAMILY: Fortaleza

Fortaleza, Brazil

to be completed in 2018

Happy 89th Birthday to my dear sweet aunt.

Aunt Gene is a social person. She still plays bridge
every week and looks forward to visits from family and friends.

Jacob 7:21-Enos 1:10

*According to Jacob 7:23, how did Jacob's encounter with Sherem ultimately affect the multitude?
*What truths can we learn from the results of Jacob's encounter with Sherem? (1.All prophets testify of Jesus Christ 2.As we respond to questions or criticisms of our faith in ways that invite the Spirit, we can help others turn to the Lord. 3.Prophets help us recognize and overcome Satan's deceptions.
*Enos 1:1-10. What might a person mean by the phrase "my soul hungered"? (Feelings of spiritual emptiness, pain, or weakness or a desire to be filled spiritually.)
*How might the phrase "wrestle...before God" describe a person's effort to receive a remission of sins? (This wrestling indicates Enos's struggle to show Heavenly Father the sincerity of his desires and his willingness to repent by making necessary changes in his life?) Do you think wrestle is a good word to describe our efforts to repent?
*What lessons can we learn from Enos about the process of receiving forgiveness for our sins? (In addition to other truths your family may mention, be sure they understand this: As we exercise faith in Jesus Christ, our sins can be forgiven and we can be made whole.)
Alma 53-54
53 The Lamanite prisoners are used to fortify the city Bountiful - Dissensions among the Nephites give rise to Lamanite victories - Helaman takes command of the two thousand stripling sons of the people of Ammon. About 64-63 B.C.
54 Ammoron and Moroni negotiate for the exchange of prisoners - Moroni demands that the Lamanites withdraw and cease their murderous attacks - Ammoron demands that the Nephites lay down their arms and become subject to the Lamanites. About 63 B.C.
DC 46:27-48:6
47 John Whitmer is designated to keep the history of the Church and to write for the Prophet.
48:1-3, The Saints in Ohio are to share their lands with their brethren; 4-6, The Saints are to purchase lands, build a city, and follow the counsel of their presiding officers.
Has there been a time when you have gone through your journals and have found answers to your questions?
General Conference

Lest Thou Forget

Elder Ronald A. Rasband

"No matter what mistakes we have made or how imperfect we feel we are, we can always bless and lift others. Reaching out to them in Christlike service can help us feel the love of God in our hearts.

Generations are affected by the choices we make.

Never forget, question or ignore personal, sacred spiritual experiences. The Lord's desire is to enlighten and engage us in His work."

It snowed hard for five minutes this morning and then stopped and the sun came out. A few minutes later it was snowing again.

We also had hail, rain and thunder. I saw four deer walking through the snow up the hill in front of our house.

It is what I call a powdered sugar snow.

James left for the valley this morning and was complaining that he couldn't talk. My advice was to turn off the radio in his truck and talk to Heavenly Father why he needs his voice today. Later when he was driving in to Apache Junction, he called me and his voice was perfectly fine.

I am looking forward to the hummingbirds

returning.

Today in my book "The Contrite Spirit" I read about becoming Savior's on Mount Zion to our families, both the living and the dead. The title of this chapter was Savior's On Mount Zion: Restoring the Generations. Here are a few things I underlined.

*"If you want a happier family, create, refine and retell the story of your family's positive moments and your ability to bounce back from the difficult ones. That act alone may increase the odds that your family will thrive for many generations to come."

*"All of us stand as links in a great family chain, holding the hands of ancestors on one side and descendants on the other."

*Allen Bergin, a BYU psychologist did research a few years ago on the place of religious values in psychotherapy. Bergin developed the concept of the "transitional figure" to describe someone recovering from childhood trauma who is able to change the pattern in his or her family history. Such persons use their personal link in the family's intergenerational chain to transform, rather than to pass along, the current of harm. Instead of seeking retribution, one learns to absorb the pain, to be forgiving, to try to reconcile with forebears, and then become a generator of positive change in the next generation."

* "Those who develop the needed capacity and strength - aided by the Lord's strengthening blessings - can halt the intergenerational flow of affliction."

* "Christ took upon Himself undeserved affliction, heaped upon Him by people who might have said they loved Him. And in the ultimate exchange of sweet for bitter, He assumed the bitter, then offered healing even to those who had unleashed the pain He absorbed. He repaired the breach that separates us from Him and from His Father, not just by stopping the onrolling forces of darkness but by exchanging darkness for light, good for evil - and passing onward a repeatable pattern of goodness. For us to act in some similar way, to the extent of our limited capacity is to be a Christ figure in our own family chain. We become a transitional point in the war between good and evil, stopping the current of evil by absorbing and even transforming it, thereby protecting the innocence and emotional and spiritual health of the next generation."

This is all so very interesting to me because I have tried to be a transitional person in my own family. My family was not active in the Church and my parents had never been to the temple. My dad used the Lord's name in vain and it made me cringe. I would go to church by myself and see all the families sitting together while as a teenager, I sat by myself. I said to myself, "Someday when I have a family, we will all go to church and sit together." I married a worthy priesthood holder in the temple and we raised our children in the gospel. Our sons went on missions and all of our children were married in the temple. The gospel and my family mean everything to me. My desire is to pass on the gospel legacy to my grandchildren. Right now many of them are struggling and it breaks my heart. Through faith, fasting and prayer, and setting a good example I pray that we can bring them back.