Elders,
Happy rainy Wednesday. I hope that you all were able to get out to the dumpsters before they were too overflowing. It feels like an olympic event to get your trash out before everyone else (or hopefully in conjunction with everyone else).
I really enjoyed our quorum meeting on Sunday. We had some great conversation about the results from the ward survey. I’m sorry that we didn’t get through all of the comments but I really appreciated the suggestions, feedback, and honest questions. I hope that something stuck out to you and that you take the opportunity to act on that item(s). The spirit touches each of us differently and according to our needs.
In my readings this week I ended up on a talk from conference that we haven’t studied together but has been particularly poignant to me. It is Elder Eyring’s talk from last conference titled “A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord Dwells” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/16eyring?lang=kor. President Eyring states: “My purpose today is to teach what I know of how we can qualify for that feeling more often and invite it to last longer in our families. As you know from experience, that is not easy to do.” We have faced some challenges over the last year or so where we have had four of our children in one way or another distance themselves from the gospel. Keeping that feeling in our home has been difficult. President Eyring talks about the slippery slope that we see throughout history and especially in 4 Nephi. He calls out:
- Pride crept in.
- The people stopped sharing what they had with each other.
- They began to see themselves in classes above or below each other.
- They began to diminish in their faith in Jesus Christ.
- They began to hate.
- They began to commit all kinds of sin.
This is a pattern we have seen in our home and we have taken steps to try to counteract it – with limited success. The key – he says is to help them grow in faith that Jesus Christ is their loving Redeemer. He then talks about some of the “how’s” He includes:
- Praying with Love
- Teaching Early Repentance
- Cultivating a Missionary Spirit
- Visiting the Temple
He goes into detail for each and I have found it inspiring and helpful to me and Kris as we continue to fight back against the attacks of the adversary. “Come Follow Me” has helped us build faith in Jesus Christ and we have a ways to go. I want that spiritually minded feeling to exist and persist inside our home. This is helping me. Maybe it can help you too if you find yourself slipping down a similar slope.
This Sunday we’ll be hold Sunday school and we’ll learn talk about more of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. 1 Cor 14-16 and 2 Cor 1-7. The chapters from 2 Cor were inspiring to me.
We have a potluck social on Sept 26th at the clubhouse. More details will follow next week.
Elders, thanks again for your help and support. I enjoy the spirit and camaraderie that exists in our quorum. You men are the best.
Talk to you on Sunday!
President Oldroyd
801-573-6828