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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

Elders,

Caught you by surprise with an earlier than usual weekly email. As much as I like the two hour block of church, I really miss the weekly quorum interaction. I like to learn and talk about the gospel with you. You are all great men.

I’m writing early this week to remind you / let you know about the fireside being held Thursday evening in the gym, 6:30pm at our ward building (casual dress). The fireside is for all youth and adults 11 years old or older. The bishop arranged for Brady Mackay to come and speak to us. Brother Mackay’s career has taken him from working in a Mortuary to 24 years as a DEA Special Agent. During his career he was involved throughout the world in undercover operations. As part of his operations he participated in purchasing / obtaining illicit products including: drugs, money laundering, human trafficking, weapons-grade uranium, anti-aircraft weapons, and many others. He helped prosecute hundreds of cases. He trained extensively with many branches of the special forces. He has processed over 1500 methamphetamine laboratories. He personally arrested the two largest producers of heroin in the world. His credits and accomplishments go on and on. He has seen incredible things (both good and bad) all around the world and will be sharing some of his stories and perspectives on life. He is definitely a manly-man if there ever was one.

This Sunday we are going to talk a bit about the survey that we all participated in earlier in the year. I’m interested in getting your feelings and opinions about the data points that we have gathered and how we can help each other in our paths of discipleship.

Marshall is contacting each of you to invite you to come participate in a PPI with a member of the quorum presidency. I’m sure that he would appreciate you reaching out to him first to schedule some time. Please help make his job a bit easier. We are also working on another round of Ministering Interviews. I have been impressed with some of the good things that you all are doing to help bless the lives of those you serve.

Thank you Elders for being good husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers. The world needs more men like you.

Hope to see you Thursday evening!

Thanks,

President Oldroyd
801-573-6828

Elders,

Happy Wednesday! I missed seeing all of you on Sunday in quorum. I’m sure that David led a great discussion around Elder Bednar’s conference talk. I enjoy being with you and learning from you all.

Sorry about the back and forth on the Cannery service project. Ultimately the farmers decided it wasn’t quite the right time to bring in the corn. Thank you for being willing to serve.

This coming Sunday we’ll be talking about Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It is full of great points and insights. It isn’t totally straightforward (at least for me), but there are some gems in there. One of the comparisons that Paul uses a couple of times is about running a race, persevering and finishing the race. Just a couple of weeks ago my family participated in a fun-run. I’m no marathon runner, but I can handle a 5k pretty easily. I was a little frustrated at the start of the run because I had to go at a real slow pace, take breaks, and walk a good chunk of the race because my daughter was with me and I didn’t want to leave her behind. All of my frustration changed however, as we neared the finish line and my daughter lit up like the sun. She was so happy to have “made it”. She stuck it out and found a way to finish. Nobody was happier to receive a finisher medal than her. Seeing her happiness totally changed my mood as well. Suddenly our pace, heart rate, time, etc all faded away in the joy of finishing.

Paul is saying the something similar. Everyone that “endures to the end” and finishes the race in this life fixed on the Savior will receive the crown – the love and acceptance and joy from our Heavenly Father. He wants us to finish and to endure. Our speed and pace aren’t nearly as important as our endurance and direction. I can only imagine the magnitude of the joy that Heavenly Father has for each of us that “finish”. I want to see my family and each of you at the finish line having done our best and finished strong in the Savior. 

We have an EQ/RS social coming up on 9/26 at the club house at 7:00pm. It will be a potluck dinner arranged by our activities committee. More information will come, but get it on your calendar.

Elders – keep fighting the good fight and enduring to the end. I know that it is going to be worth it and I know that we all can do it. Let’s help each other be successful.

God bless each of you. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Thanks,

President Oldroyd
801-573-6828

Elders,

Good afternoon! For many of us school is back in session – maybe not for you personally, but for your children / grandchildren. It is always an exciting time for everyone. Gone are the lazy days of summer where schedules don’t matter and time is fluid. It is back to distinct patterns and routines. It is also a time for renewal, change, hope, and excitement. 

What about you? What are you doing as things change around you? Are you taking the opportunity to make changes for the better for yourself and your family? Are you restarting or strengthening practices that will help you and your family increase your faith in Jesus Christ? Are you taking the opportunity to exercise your priesthood and bless your children / grandchildren as they begin a new school year? There are many opportunities to change, grow, and help others. Let me know if I can help you in any way.

This week’s Come Follow Me study is the start of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 1-7). It has some great wisdom as we hear Paul deal with all of the problems happening in Corinth.

Our quorum lesson will be led by Dave Oka. He will be discussing Elder Bednar’s talk from the last conference titled: “Prepared to Obtain Every Needful Thing” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/54bednar?lang=eng . Come prepared to discuss what you have learned.

The ward campout was fun last weekend. Thank you to everyone that participated and helped – especially Bro. Duvall for organizing a great breakfast Saturday morning.

Have a wonderful rest of the week. I appreciate all of the good things you do. Keep it up.

Best wishes,

President Oldroyd
801-573-6828

Hi,

Good evening everyone! This week I’m going to break from our normal weekly message and invite you to our ward campout. We are going to gather at the Wasatch Recreational Camp (Girl’s Camp) out by East Canyon. It is about a 30 minute drive from our neighborhood and accessible by car.

We will start gathering as early as 4:30 pm on Friday. Feel free to come up whenever it is convenient for you. Bring your own dinner and campfire snacks. The ward will provide breakfast Saturday morning.

If sleeping out in a tent doesn’t sound all that appealing, just come up for the evening and enjoy time around the campfire and/or playing board games at the pavilion.

The camp sites are for tent camping, but the main pavilion has electricity, lights, a fridge, and flushing toilets. There really isn’t a good spot for camp trailers – sorry. For the campfire, you may want to bring camp chairs as seating may be limited.

We hope that you will all come out and spend some time up and away from the city. If you have any questions, please contact me (Dave Oldroyd – 801-573-6828) and I’ll do what I can do to help.

Here are the directions to the camp:

Directions to Wasatch Recreational Camp from the Salt Lake Valley.

1. Go East from Salt Lake on I-80 up Parley’s Canyon.
2. Exit the freeway at the East Canyon (Mountain Dell Recreation Area) off ramp, Exit 134. This is the start of State Road 65.
3. Turn left at the stop sign and go under the freeway, northbound.
4. Stay on this road. It will curve around and run along Little Dell Reservoir.
5. You will pass a turn off to the left to Emigration Canyon. DO NOT TAKE IT. Continue straight.
6. Continue on this road. It will start to climb as it winds up the mountain.
7. Keep going until you come to the summit. You will enter Morgan County.
8. After the summit, the road begins to wind downhill toward East Canyon.
9. From the summit go about 1 1⁄2 miles to mile marker 10.
10. Right at mile marker 10 you will see a large pull off/dirt parking area to the right.
11. At the east end of the parking area there is a red gate with a lock in the metal casing.
12. This is the gate to the East Canyon Camp property.
13. The gate is locked using a combination lock. The camp manager will give you the code.
14. Once you have entered the property, the road goes left and runs down along the outside of the property then curves to the right. See the map below of the property.
15. Always keep the gate closed to discourage people from entering the camp. Vehicles must be kept on roads. Do not park vehicles in tall grass as it may start a fire.

And here are some maps:

Elders,
How has the week been? I left right after Sacrament meeting to fly to Louisiana for work. Hopefully not many more trips remain. These trips get old real fast. Now I’m on my way back home and am excited to be back with the Kris and the kids.
This weekend will be a change up for us. We wont have our regular ward services. Instead, we have a special stake conference with Elder Ulysses Soares. The meeting starts at 10:00 am on Sunday (note that there is NO Saturday session). You can see him in person at the Stake Center and it will be broadcast to our ward house as well. It is a great opportunity to learn directly from an apostle of the Lord. He will have a message tailored for the needs of our stake and I am excited to hear from him. I encourage you to prepare to be taught. President Barlow has suggested that we prepare by studying the talks that Elder Soares has given in the past. Our ward newsletter on Facebook has a great list of resources that you can search and study.
Saturday, Aug 10 (in two days) we will have a ward gathering over at the Taylorsville City hall. The food truck league will be there and you can purchase dinner from the trucks and then enjoy time with friends and neighbors. We’ll have lemonade to drink and some canopies for shade. The Sharps are providing some group games for everyone to play as well. Last year was a ton of fun. Hope you have a great evening. We are going to plan on gathering about 6:30. Once it gets dark, they will be playing a movie – LEGO Movie 2 if you want to stick around.
Next Friday evening we will be doing our annual ward campout at the Wasatch recreation camp near East Canyon (the same place we went last year). It is a quick getaway and will be fun for the family. Come up for the evening or tent camp overnight and the ward will provide breakfast in the morning. There are flush toilets, electrical outlets, and running potable water. There is a fridge available as well. It really isn’t a hardcore camping experience. Come on up – you’ll have a fun time. We can get in the campsite Friday starting at 5pm. 
Directions to the Wasatch Recreational Camp

1. Head east on I-80 up Parley’s canyon
2. Exit the freeway at exit 134 (Mountain Dell Recreational Area)
3. Turn left at the stop sign and go north under the freeway
4. Stay on the road. It will wind around Little Dell Reservoir
5. DO NOT TAKE THE EMIGRATION CANYON EXIT – continue straight
6. The road begins to climb up the mountain and you will eventually hit the summit and descend into Morgan County towards east canyon
7. From the summit – go about 1.5 miles to mile marker 10 
8. As soon as you see mile marker 10 pull off into parking area on the right side of the road.
9. Go through the red gate at the end of the parking area (keep driving – don’t park)
10. Shut the gate behind you to discourage people from entering, but don’t lock it.
11. Follow the dirt road down to the left and then it will curve around to the right. You will see the campground on your right.
12. Find a place to park and walk up to the dining pavilion. Choose your campsite, bring out your camp chairs and have a great time.

Men, continue to live up to the potential within you. You are fantastic men, husbands, fathers, and sons. Thank you for your great examples.
Don’t hesitate to call or text if there is anything I can do to help you and your family.
God bless you,

President Oldroyd

801-573-6828

Elders,

I love summer storms. I like the smell and the cool humidity in the air. It is great. I hope that you are all having a great week. Tomorrow is August and thus we descend towards the end of summer and towards the start of football. I really enjoy college football… 

This past Sunday we shared together with Ken about Elder Uchtdorf’s talk “Missionary Work: Sharing What Is in Your Heart”. We had a great discussion around the simple “guilt-free” ways to share the gospel. They are simply:

1. Draw close to God
2. Love others
3. Be a disciple of Jesus Christ
4. Share what is in your heart
5. Trust the Lord

From this we see that much of missionary work isn’t about being a religious freak. It is about becoming what God wants you to be and that your example will spark interest in others and give rise to natural conversations from the heart. Then it is up to the individual to act and for God to persuade.
A couple of quotes that I loved from the talk are: 

• Ask yourself, “Do I really believe in Heavenly Father?” – What do you think? When was the last time you did an introspection and reached out in faith to ask this question of yourself? It may be scary or terrifying to reach deep and ask yourself, but it is at the root of everything we believe. Finding Him and believing in Him are one of the great challenges of our day.
• Walking the path of discipleship takes practice—each day, little by little, “grace for grace,” “line upon line.”Sometimes two steps forward and one step back. – I like this because it is reality. Life isn’t an Ensign article. It is tough and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up because of our imperfections. Work and improve. Accept setbacks and don’t let a setback turn into a funk that you can’t escape. You were built to succeed – especially through hard times and failures. It is all about your perspective.

Our quorum member Aric Muhlestein posted this on Facebook a couple of days ago. It struck a chord in me and I asked him for permission to share it with you:

Three years before I got injured I had the opportunity to listen to Chad speak at the Cottonwood high school baseball auction. A year before I got injured I had another opportunity to listen to him at the Taylorsville baseball auction. I started following him after the Cottonwood high school baseball auction. Two months after I returned home from therapy my stake had him over to speak to the youth at a youth conference. I didn’t realize that he would make such a great impression on me. Over the last 19 months it is been one of the hardest challenges of my life.I have had many ups and downs and Side to side. However it is also changed my perspective as Chad has indicated in this video. I love the way he says that heavenly father is looking for hands that are dirty and not hands that are clean. What do your hands look like? What are you doing in your life to change your perspective? I would’ve never been a person to say that challenges are fine. I think in life we need to make sure we grow. The way we grow is the changing of our perspective in life. I look at the news and everything that is going on around us. I wonder why can’t we all just get along. Life is already hard enough.Each of us does have different perspectives and if we sit back and listen to each other I think we would be amazed at what we would learn. There is good happening all around us. Have you done any good in the world today? If not, find something good And put your hands to work. Thanks Chad for Sharing this video.
https://www.facebook.com/chad.hymas/videos/10216357724476641/


There are a couple of calendar items this week:

• Thank you for those helping to clean the temple. If you want to go, let me know and we still have slots available on Thursday and Friday. It is a cool experience – one that only comes around every 15 months or so. Mac – our newest Elder – what do you think? Want to come help clean?
• Saturday August 10th – Food truck night over at the Taylorsville City Hall. Come around 6:30pm and buy some dinner, bring a lawn chair, play some games, and socialize with friends and neighbors. We had a great time last year.
• Sunday August 11th. A special Stake Conference will be held at 10 am at the Stake Center. It will also be broadcast at the North and West buildings. Elder Ulisses Soares will be presiding. No ward services will be that day. We are responsible for cleaning up the chairs in our building.
• Friday / Saturday August 16th-17th. Ward Family Campout. We’ll provide breakfast and you bring your dinner and family for a fun night up the canyon near East Canyon reservoir. We’ll be in the same place as last year. I’ll send out more information next week.

Have a fantastic week. Ponder some of the things Aric mentioned and think about your faith in God. Love all you guys. I appreciate the good men that you are.

Keep it up!

President Oldroyd
801-573-6828

Elders,

Good Morning! Last week was such a blur for me. Before I knew it, it was Saturday evening and I hadn’t even done half of the things on my plate. I’m sure that all of you have days, weeks, months like that as well. That is part of the beauty of life, that we all ebb and flow at different times. Sometimes we are the ones that are the helpers and other times we are the ones that are the recipients of service from others. 

I am really enjoying the Come Follow Me curriculum. Following the life of the Savior week over week was a sweet experience in learning to know him. Now as we move on to the early apostles my heart is touched to see how they try to build the kingdom and spread the gospel. They had to be bold, had to trust what they felt, and trust in the power of the spirit to get them through. They were bold and undaunted by the task laid before them. I have much to learn from the example of these early saints.

We have a great service opportunity that starts this Monday. Each night next week (Monday – Saturday) we have the opportunity to clean the Jordan River Temple. Now, cleaning isn’t necessarily something I normally look forward to, but cleaning the temple is a great experience. Every night next week we meet in the baptistry at 10:00pm. You will need your temple recommend to enter. We arrive in our Sunday clothes. We get to don a classy white jump suit and after bit of instruction we are sent off to clean. They ask us to bring or wear white socks and shoes if possible – otherwise you’ll be cleaning in stocking feet. Your cleaning assignment will take you until a little after midnight and then you head home with all sorts of good feelings. The temple is asking for 4 people to help clean each night. We will pass around a signup sheet on Sunday. If you want to beat the rush and sign up for an evening in advance, please shoot me a text and I’ll put you on the list in advance.

Additionally, I wanted to thank the Moores for hosting an evening with Art Arslanian in their backyard last week. I was unable to attend, but I heard that it was a wonderful time with great food, company, and stories. We have fantastic people around us with so much to share. I am sorry that I wasn’t able to participate.

We have a ward campout planned for 8/16-8/17 up near East Canyon resort. We used the same space last year. It is a nice campground with a nice pavilion, electricity, and flushing toilets. It isn’t a total wilderness survival kind of camp. It is a great place for kids to be kids and for adults to talk and laugh and have a good time. Come up for the evening, or stay the night. It will be a fun experience. We will get maps and details out in the coming weeks.

This Sunday Ken will lead our lesson. The talk that we’ll be discussing is from Elder Uchdorf titled “Missionary Work: Sharing what is in your heart” ( https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/general-conference/2019/04/14uchtdorf?lang=eng  ). Come and discuss the points of this talk with us. 

Thank you for being such great men. It is an honor to know you and get to work with you. We have a great quorum. Please reach out if there is anything I can help you with. Everyone has a season of need. Let us help where we can. 

Thanks,

President Oldroyd
801-573-6828

Elders,

Good morning! I hope that you and your family enjoyed a fun and safe 4th of July weekend. We hit our main traditions – the Murray parade and fun days and the Bee’s game in the evening. We had a wonderful time, even if Cassidy and I broke our 3-year running streak of winning the water balloon toss. Maybe it was the fatigue from walking / dancing in the parade…

This last Sunday we met in Sunday School and we talked about the early days of the apostles and the church after Jesus was crucified. We talked about how difficult it was for the new apostles to lead the church forward. They were not scholars nor priests. They were just simple fishermen, but embodied and emboldened by the Holy Ghost they were able to become mighty men of God. Nick shared a clip from Elder Holland’s talk “The First Great Commandment” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2012/10/the-first-great-commandment?lang=eng that details Peter and the other apostles in the early days of the church.

This Sunday David will teach us about Sister Eubank’s talk: “Christ: The Light That Shines in Darkness” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/42eubank?lang=eng I encourage you to read or re-read her talk.

We have a couple of things coming up:

• 7/18 7:00pm – Elders and Relief Society BBQ and social in the Moore’s backyard. We’ll have one of our ward members share a bit about their life and enjoy some good food and company.
• 7/29 – 8/2 We have the opportunity to help clean the Jordan River Temple. I always look forward to doing this. It is a great way to physically serve in the temple. It makes me happy. More information to come
• 8/11 10:00am – Special Stake Conference with an Apostle. (note there won’t be a Saturday session)
• 8/16 – 8/17 – Ward camp near East Canyon – the same place as last year. A quick drive away and a fun place to gather around the campfire and learn more about each other.

Elders, thank you. Thank you for being good men. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support for all of our quorum members. Keep pushing forward and enjoy the journey. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

Thanks,
President Oldroyd
801-573-6828

Elders,

Happy Birthday America! This is such a great time of the year. The weather, food, fun, festivities – one big celebration of our heritages, our freedoms, and our country. I’m proud to be a citizen and call this my home. Our country has a tumultuous history but has always been set aside as a place for freedom. I think of Captain Moroni and his title of liberty that inspired so many. I think of our founding fathers who risked everything to declare our freedom from oppression and allow life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our country was build upon the backs of amazing women and men committed to an ideal and something bigger than themselves. Many sacrificed much and many sacrificed their all in helping to ensure we enjoy the freedoms we do today. To all those before, thank you, and may God Bless America.

Speaking of the pursuit of happiness, Kevin Bone (with the help of many others) presented our lesson last Sunday on a speech that President Nelson delivered in Florida. These truths have the power to change lives and bring happiness. The truths are:

1. God is our Father
2. Jesus Christ is our Savior
3. We are children of God
4. The Book of Mormon is the word of God
5. The priesthood is restored
6. The gathering of Israel
7. Joy comes from keeping the commandments

I encourage you to take a few minutes and reflect on these truths and what knowing them and believing them has done and can do for your life. If you feel inspired to dig and drink deeply from one or more of these truths then I encourage you to do so – and would love to hear your thoughts. I get this open forum to share my thoughts and I always love hearing what you have to say as well.

We have a couple of things coming up:

• 7/18 7:00pm – Elders and Relief Society BBQ and social in the Moore’s backyard. We’ll have one of our ward members share a bit about their life and enjoy some good food and company.
• 7/29 – 8/2 We have the opportunity to help clean the Jordan River Temple. I always look forward to doing this. It is a great way to physically serve in the temple. It makes me happy. More information to come
• 8/16 – 8/17 – Ward camp near East Canyon – the same place as last year. A quick drive away and a fun place to gather around the campfire and learn more about each other.

One more shameless plug… Four of our ward members are participating in Taylorsville Arts Council production of Mamma Mia! Beau Sheffield, David Swenson, Cassidy Swenson, and myself will all don disco gear and sing and dance to the hits of ABBA. The show runs 7/15-7//20 and begins at 8:00pm at the SLCC Redwood campus’ Alder outdoor amphitheater. Bring your dinner or some snacks and come see us perform. Tickets are available at the door.

Elders, enjoy the holiday. Be safe. Build traditions.

Respectfully, 

President Oldroyd
801-573-6828