January 15, 2017
Today we attended the 13th Ward for the first time. Wow, they have A LOT of young families and little kids. Primary has something like 125 and we were talking to the Young Men's Pres. and they have 55 young men and about 35 of them are active!!
We had Ward Council at 8:30 and have an assignment to visit three families.
1. The Hernandez family, who keep saying they need to come back to church. They have a son that is deacon age that comes most of the time and he has a desire to make changes and be active. They have other children that want to come and the parents probably bring them because they are bugged by the kids. They also have a great member neighbor, Brother Nichols, who helps them a lot and knows the family very well. We will visit with him before we go see them.
2. Laura Abbott. Her husband passed away in December, the 22nd I think. She has 3 sons who are in college and the last just left this week to go back to school in New York. She has a daughter at home. Her sons were able to help with all the snow but now that they are gone the ward needs to be on top of the needs she might have. We will go to be friends and assess how we can help her.
3. Juanita Patrick. She is a retired police officer for Canyon County Sheriff's office. Her husband has very poor health - has some kind of cancer I gathered and he isn't going to take any treatments because he wants to enjoy what time he has left. One of the brethren said that they thought they were going to have to plan a funeral a couple of weeks ago but he pulled out of it and it's kind of a cycle he goes through. One of these days he won't pull out of it though. We're told that Juanita is quite the sister and we should plan on being there for a couple of hours when we go visit!
It was Ward Conference so Pres. Medel from the Stake Presidency was there. Bishop Kent talked in Sacrament Meeting and said that in the last year the ward had revelation given them early in the year to repent and prepare to build Zion. Then they received the call to rescue, which sometimes is hard but if we dig in and be consistent the Lord will bless our efforts. He also talked about enduring to the end. Endure means to continue and do it positively.
He read 1 Nephi 13:37 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, (speaking of our day) for they shall have the gift and power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.
How do we engage in the task? The Lord has prepared the way. Boy, does this apply to us and our calling here in this ward.
The 3rd hour was a combined meeting and an Area Plan for the United States and Canada was introduced. This comes from the leaders of The Church and there was much discussion about it and what we as families and individuals can do to implement it.
The Vision: Become, and help others to become, true followers of Jesus Christ and enjoy the blessings of the holy temple.
Area Priorities: 1. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ
2. Gather Israel through missionary work.
3. Care for the poor and needy.
4. Enable the salvation of the dead by identifying ancestors and performing vicarious temple ordinances for them.
Then there are area goals, indicators of progress, and implementation.
President Medel considers this as important as other declarations we have received and it needs to be studied, pondered and applied. Wow. There is plenty of work for us to do!! 😊
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Introduction
On November 20th, 2016, we had an appointment with our Stake President, Reid Stephan. We were issued a mission call to serve in the 13th Ward of the Nampa Idaho North Stake. We were told we would be released from all of our callings in the 16th Ward and our records would be sent to the 13th Ward for the duration of our mission.
Our mission begins on January 1st, 2017, but we are in Cookeville, Tennessee helping Amy in her recovery from recent surgery. Our first day in the 13th Ward will be Jan. 15th.
I am creating this blog to record our experiences and be able to share them with family and friends who might be interested.
We are excited about this calling. We will still serve at the temple on Wednesdays and Jim will still work at the Family History Center on Friday afternoon. We have been given permission to keep three of my visiting teaching sisters. One of them Jim & I visit together as home and visiting teachers. This may change if we feel promptings from the spirit that a change would be good. We have visited Sister Janet Lee for so long we can't remember. There was a change once and she didn't like it. Her husband was a non member but he would let us come as a couple. I always took treats and that might be the reason he liked us and they accepted us. I may be making a lot of treats as we go to visit less active, inactive and part member families.
When we were set apart for this mission Pres. Stephan counseled me to keep in touch with our friends and associates of the 16th Ward so that when we return after our year of service it will be a smooth transaction, I have been surprised at the reaction some of our friends have had. They are happy for our call but sad that we will not be in the ward for the coming year. We plan on still having good times with them and keeping in touch.
We met with the Bishop, Boyd Kent, on Sunday, Dec. 18th. I didn't write down the numbers but they had a lot of youth and a large Primary. He gave us the number of endowed members who do not have current recommends and that will be one of the lists we will work with. We will work with members who are struggling, who need caring and support. We realize that we will have to do the things that will invite the spirit to be our companion so that we know how to work with those we will be assigned to work with. There may be times we will ask for the faith and prayers of others to help us in accomplishing our goals.
Our mission begins on January 1st, 2017, but we are in Cookeville, Tennessee helping Amy in her recovery from recent surgery. Our first day in the 13th Ward will be Jan. 15th.
I am creating this blog to record our experiences and be able to share them with family and friends who might be interested.
We are excited about this calling. We will still serve at the temple on Wednesdays and Jim will still work at the Family History Center on Friday afternoon. We have been given permission to keep three of my visiting teaching sisters. One of them Jim & I visit together as home and visiting teachers. This may change if we feel promptings from the spirit that a change would be good. We have visited Sister Janet Lee for so long we can't remember. There was a change once and she didn't like it. Her husband was a non member but he would let us come as a couple. I always took treats and that might be the reason he liked us and they accepted us. I may be making a lot of treats as we go to visit less active, inactive and part member families.
When we were set apart for this mission Pres. Stephan counseled me to keep in touch with our friends and associates of the 16th Ward so that when we return after our year of service it will be a smooth transaction, I have been surprised at the reaction some of our friends have had. They are happy for our call but sad that we will not be in the ward for the coming year. We plan on still having good times with them and keeping in touch.
We met with the Bishop, Boyd Kent, on Sunday, Dec. 18th. I didn't write down the numbers but they had a lot of youth and a large Primary. He gave us the number of endowed members who do not have current recommends and that will be one of the lists we will work with. We will work with members who are struggling, who need caring and support. We realize that we will have to do the things that will invite the spirit to be our companion so that we know how to work with those we will be assigned to work with. There may be times we will ask for the faith and prayers of others to help us in accomplishing our goals.
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