Dad's papers

 31- Let the Holy Spirit Guide 8/28/23 Doctrine and Covenants 45:57 - For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide …. shall abide the day.   A highlight of my week has been to watch how the Spirit is actively working with each of you. These may seem like just small examples to you, but they really tell a bigger story of your faith and worthiness to receive the promptings of the Spirit and to take Him as your guide. I’ll share just a highlight from each of your siblings this past week. Pretty special for us as parents to see!   Sadie & Seth - They shared with mama and I this week just in conversation how they had a family council and decided together that they should simplify their schedule to allow time for the most important things to happen in their day to day lives.   Emma - She shared with the family in Come Follow Me how she is gaining a greater understanding and appreciation of how the H...

 30- the Law of Chastity 8/21/23 Hello Family, One of my favorite parts in recent changes to the temple endowment presentation is the explanation that sacred ordinances are given by the Lord through revelation, therefore they are best understood by revelation. Meaning personal revelation! Each time we go to the Temple with the attitude of learning, we are taught “line upon line, here a little and there a little”,    and the plan of our Heavenly Father becomes more clear to our minds and hearts. This week while in the temple I had one of those learning moments regarding the law of chastity. I have always known the importance of keeping ourselves clean and pure. Not only does this allow for the Holy Ghost to be with us, but it shows reverence and respect for our own bodies and the bodies of all our Heavenly Father’s children. It is clear that the adversary tries to influence the world in hopes to diminish and destroy this sacred law. In varying degrees we have all seen the ...

 29- Watching and Preparing 8/14/23 Hello Family, It’s crazy to me that another school year is upon us. Our little Lainey moves past Elementary school into Middle School, can you believe it? No more little ones to send out the door. You are all growing up so fast. Too fast!    Mama and I try not to think about it :) I am just finishing the book I’ve been reading over the past few months “The Millennial Messiah”. I have shared some thoughts from it before, but as it wraps up, one of the end chapters is about disciples of Christ preparing and being watchful for His return. How are we individually preparing ourselves, and in what ways are we being watchful? Yesterday in our Sacrament Meeting there were three missionaries reporting home from their missions. One missionary shared that close to the middle of his mission he found himself having a personal faith crisis. He talked about the area where he was then serving being a struggle for him. It was an affluent area and people...

 28- COnstant Nourishment          (8/7/23) This week in the temple the importance for “constant nourishment” to our body and spirit was reiterated to me. As Adam and Eve transitioned from a Terrestrial environment to one Telestial, God blessed and taught them about the gift of a Savior He would provide for them, allowing them once again to one day enter into His presence. He also emphasized then at the very beginning of this telestial state the need of a “coats of skin” or garment to be given which would symbolize and remind us of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of the covenants we made.  When the symbols of the garment are taught to us we learn the important truth that constant nourishment to our body and spirit is essential, and a critical component for our spiritual survival. Consider that the garment was one of the first blessings or gifts given to us from Our Heavenly Father. He sees their necessary role in reminding us through symbols that Jesus C...

 27- God's Perfect Plan (8/1/23) Dear Family,   Another week has flown by. It was fun to be together this past weekend (we missed you Elder Miller).  This week I have been studying about how our Heavenly Father interacts with and blesses His children. As a father, I can’t help but think that this must be His favorite thing to do. My study tied in nicely with what Emma shared at Come Follow Me this week, and the scripture Miles shared at the end of his weekly email. That God is a God of Miracles and He chooses to bless us as often as we let Him.   One way that our Heavenly Father interacts with us and blesses us is by allowing us to assist Him in His work. Emma shared some thoughts from a talk given by Elder Uchtdorf about missionary work that highlight or illustrate this principle. In this talk he shared five things that we can each do to help gather Israel. As we act in accordance with these prophetic teachings we literally find ourselves interacting with ...