Sister Kobayashi- a Tender Mercy for Us

We were called to serve in the Sendai, Japan mission and served the entire 18 months in a little branch in Tsuruoka, Japan.  We grew to love the people there.  Communication with people there since coming home has been difficult.  I do communicate regularly with a few people that can speak and write English, but with the language barrier and the private Japanese culture, it is difficult to get information.  So much like Paul in the New Testament, we long for news of those we served.

Heavenly Father provided that for us.  Here's the story:

Sister Kobayashi is from the Tokyo South area.  She received her call to serve in St. George, Utah.  But her visa was slow in coming, so she was assigned to serve in what is now the Tokyo North mission.  The mission president sent her to a tiny town on the Sea of Japan- our beloved Tsuruoka!  She served there several months until her visa came.  She is now in St. George.  We had her and her cute companion to dinner. It was such a joy to show her pictures and have her update us.  We were saddened to learn that some of our Tsuruoka people are not coming to church, but she had happy news too.  We feel so grateful to get this update and meet these wonderful sisters.

When she tasted my creamy Jell-O salad she exclaimed, "I've had this before!"  When I left Tsuruoka, I left Jell-O and pudding mix with Imi along with the recipe so she could make this Jell-O.  You can't get Jell-O or pudding mix in Japan. Family members had brought or sent pudding and Jell-O to us and we didn't use it all before we left.  So I left all that was left with Imi- the one who cooks every week for FHE.   She is still making it because she made it for a FHE and served it to Sister Kobayashi. 

The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights From the World's Most Beloved Neighbor

The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights from the World's Most Beloved Neighbor by Amy Hollingsworth

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I haven’t always been, but the more I learn about him, I declare myself a Mr. Rogers fan. I loved reading this book written by a friend of Fred Rogers after his death. It gave insight to what kind of friend Mr. Rogers was. It was full of wisdom and thought-provoking quotations. A few of them follow:
“I tried to look everyone in the eye and make each person feel that he or she was important, the only one present at the moment . . .When you convince people that you really care and that, even if hundreds of others are around at that particular moment they are the only ones that count- then you establish a new relationship . . . You have somehow mediated the love, mercy, and compassion of the Lord. In other words, the encounter also has a significant religious dimension: It helps strengthen the bond, the relationship, between each person and God.”
“There is one thing that evil cannot stand- and that’s forgiveness.”
“To be able to be accepted for who we are and to be able to grow from there is one of the great treasures of life.”




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What Did the Prophet Ask Us to Do? October, 2019

What Did the Prophet Ask Us to Do?  October, 2019

Women’s Session

Study prayerfully Doctrine and Covenants 25

Examine your life meticulously.  Put aside many things of the world as directed by the Holy Ghost.

Distinguish between truth and error.  Be guardians of morality.  Teach others to do likewise.  “Let me be very clear about this:  If the world loses the moral rectitude of its women, the world will never recover.

We need your (women’s) voice teaching the doctrine of Christ.  We need your input in family, ward, and stake councils.  Your participation is essential and never ornamental.

Study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power.  Begin with Doctrine and Covenants 84 and 107.

Sunday Morning

“Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy.” Deut. 15:11

Matthew 25:

“For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat.  I was thirsty, and y gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; Naked, and ye clothes me; I was sick, and ye visited me.”

Make a conscientious effort to care about others as musch as or more than we care about ourselves, especially when it is not convenient and when it takes us out of our comfort zone;  Living that second great commandment is the key to becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

Closing Remarks:

As members of the Church, we need to be prepared to answer questions about the temple.  He gives specific answers we can be prepared to give.  Youth should obtain limited- use recommends for the temple.

In the next six months, individuals and families should prepare for a special general conference next April:

Read Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision.

Ponder: How would my life be different if my knowledge gained from the Book of Mormon were suddenly taken away?”  “How have the events of the First Vision made a difference for me and my loved ones?”  You may wish to incorporate the Book of Mormon videos in your individual and family study.

Select your own questions.  Design your own plan.  Immerse yourself in the glorious light of the Restoration.

Good Man, Dalton

Good Man, Dalton by Karen McQuestion

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this cute book. I thought the premise was a good one: a young man from a rich family in Connecticut decides, as a social experiment, to go to NYC and live for two weeks as a homeless person. His path crosses with a girl from Wisconsin on an adventure of her own- in NYC interning for an incredibly popular social media star.
Not award-winning writing, but a fun, easy read. Free on Amazon Prime.




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The Lincoln Hypothesis

The Lincoln Hypothesis: A Modern-day Abolitionist Investigates the Possible Connection Between Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and Abraham Lincoln by Timothy Ballard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The hypothesis, simply stated, is that Abraham Lincoln read the Book of Mormon at a crucial time in the Civil War and was greatly influenced by it. It gave him, along with prayer, guidance to lead our nation out of its darkest time.
Some of the evidence the author presents:
1. The book has pictures of Abraham Lincoln’s signature when he checked the Book of Mormon out from the Library of Congress and when he returned it. He kept it a long time.
2. The copy of the Book that Lincoln checked out has many page corners turned down that seemed to contain especially meaningful and influential stories or scriptures. We know that Lincoln frequently dog -eared pages.
3. We know that he basically quoted from the book in his second Inaugural address.
4. We know that Lincoln turned to God for direction and strength.
I appreciated the author’s enthusiasm and research. His writing lacked focus and included a lot of details that didn’t need to be there. I didn’t care for the format of the book. It included a lot of boxes that were grey. Inside those boxes were other facts and stories that didn’t relate directly to the hypothesis and, I felt, distracted from the book and interrupted the flow.
Do I believe the hypothesis? Yes. I do. We all know Lincoln was fine man who trusted in and turned to God to lead this nation out of what was probably our nation’s darkest time. Why wouldn’t God lead him to the truest book on earth for help and answers? How I long for a Lincoln now to lead us out of this dark time in our nation.
Reading this book gave me a greater appreciation for Lincoln and for the Book of Mormon and for our country: God’s promised land.




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Fun Weekend in Las Vegas

We so love living close enough to Las Vegas that we can visit the Prince family often and they can visit us.  We decided to go down over the weekend.  We left early Saturday morning as Jaron had a 9:15am soccer game.  Ken's oldest brother's youngest son, Jared (get all that?) and his wife Anepo live in Vegas as well.  He works for Amazon. (So Michelle and Jared are 1st cousins)   Princes and Jared and Anepo get together often and are good friends.  Jared was a high school soccer star.  They have a daughter, Sonora about Jaron's age.  Jared coaches the team and Brian is his assistant coach.  It is so cool to see them work together and to have this connection.  They have created a great team.

Jared

Gabbi, Sonora, Ken, Jaron, Sierra (in front)

William

This is the best shot we got of the two coaches together.

So good to get little William back in my arms!

William LOVES his nursery rhyme book.  He starts singing the next one before you can even turn the page.

That evening, we attended the stake cultural celebration put on by the Spanish branch.  Many Latino cultures are represented in the Spanish branch, and each celebrated their culture with food, music, and dance.  Michelle danced on the BYU folk dance team for four years.  She learned to love celebrating cultures through dance.

I took this after a lot of people had already left.  The place was packed.

Michelle was asked to represent USA culture by teaching the Virginia Reel.  There was a bit of a language barrier, but she did a great job.  She is not only a very talented dancer, but an excellent dance teacher as well.  We were dancing, so I didn't get a picture of her.

Sunday was the Children's Sacrament meeting presentation.  Michelle is the Primary president in their ward.  The program was very well done.  Our little Kenny LOVES to perform.  As each child got up to say their part, Michelle's counselor would prompt them.  When she started to prompt Kenny, he stopped her and said, "I want to do it myself."  He then went on to do his part perfectly.
Later in the program, Kenny's class sang, "I Am a Child of God."  As a brother set up the mikes for that song. , Kenny pulled one of the mikes to his mouth.  The brother took it from him and moved it over.  Kenny reached and grabbed it again.  The brother moved it further.  This time Kenny couldn't reach it, but he stood on his tiptoes and leaned over the rail as far as he could to get his mouth close to it.  Then he sang with all his might.  Everyone loved it.  Well, all except the brother setting up the mikes.  He wasn't too thrilled.
The thing about Kenny is that he isn't trying to be silly or naughty.  He seriously wants to perform and do it well.  He is destined for the stage!
Anyway, Jaron and Gabbi did great, too.  Jaron played a special part on bells.  Michelle gave the concluding talk and did such a nice job.  We were so glad we were there.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of any of the program or after except this one of Jaron in his new suit.

After church, we had a nice roast beef dinner.  Then we cleaned up and stayed for Choir practice.  Brian leads the ward choir, and they hold the rehearsals in their home at 2:00 every Sunday.  They have a nice choir.  Afterward, they provide treats and choir members (and their kids) stay and stay to socialize and visit.  They are making such a big difference in their ward.  We are so proud of them.

It was a nice weekend with the Prince family.

Look on Us

In Acts 3:4, we find a powerful statement of three little words.  Jesus has recently ascended into heaven.  The leadership of the church is now upon Peter, James, and John and the apostles.  Peter and John go to the temple and find there a man lame since birth.  The man asks for alms.  The apostles give him much more.  But first, Peter admonishes him to "Look on us."  Those are powerful words, worth pondering. We, too, need to look on our prophets and apostles.  If we do, we cannot go far astray.
I had a religion professor at BYU who admonished us over and over again to, when a new apostle is called, pray and ask for confirmation that they are called of God.  He taught that then we will know that anything they teach comes from God.
  I LOVE listening to, reading, and studying conference talks.  Most mornings, during breakfast, I listen to a conference talk from the last conference.  I feel that the prophets and apostles words are scripture.  As we approach the last days, I feel confident that if we listen to the prophets and apostles and heed their counsel every six months at conference we will be prepared for whatever happens in these latter days.  That gives me a lot of comfort and optimism.   Listen and heed their words , or in other words, Look on them.  As general conference approaches I hope we will look on them.

To read other possible mantras, click here.