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!! 😊