He is a funny kid. He still wanted to have pancakes and eggs. He is a growing young man. He is such a good boy too. He and his friends went to the temple on Thursday. Hollie also went by her self, she could not get any of her friends to go with her. She was the only one there when she got there after school, so she was done in about 20 minutes. I was still waiting for the boys to come out of the JR. High when she texted me and told me she was done.
Friday Night Lights - Lone Peak killed PG. It was to bad the coaches didn't put some of the kids in who never get to play. I just don't understand why they don't, when there are so many boys wanting to play.
Bronson got to meet Coach Kay, from Duke. Frank has signed with them.
Britton's Birthday was filled with lots of excitement. He started with his soccer game.
He made the first goal. Then left at half time to go to his football game.
His header barley rolled over the bar to miss the goal.
He played hard and we were up 2-0 at the half.
When he got to his football game, PG had already scored.
He made some good tackles and caught a couple of passes.
This pass was almost fumbled, but he saved it.
Miriah had her first game. She made two goals and they won.
She wasn't very happy with me that I had to miss it. She plays really hard.
The Birthday Boy is such a happy young man.
He wanted to go shooting. Took a couple of friends and had a great time.
Britton, Dallin Blackhurst, Jake Hyatt, and Max Oborn.
Hollie had the best record for the day! She was pretty impressive.
Picture from Face book that the mission posted of a group of missionaries and there was Elder Berry right on the front row so I could see him!
The boys in Hawaii this week.
We are all wondering if the little white truck is the wheels Brody has bought.
The boys had a soccer game in Hawaii yesterday also, Won 4-1
Uncle Ty gave the tickets to Britton for his birthday.
It was quite a game again, they came back to win in the last few minutes of the game.
They wanted to know why the tree died and they figured out that the water to the grove of trees had been rerouted because of the construction of a new building. Its life line had been cut. He use of the story was a great analogy for us and our testimonies. We need to do the simple things that feed us spiritually, The Life Line to our testimonies is reading the Book of Mornon and praying, going to the temple, serving others.
This is what LDS Church News reported from Elder Ballard.
“Because I am unable to personally meet with all of you in your 235 stakes where you are gathered in your many chapels, I'm giving to you my own epistle today to express my love and gratitude and to provide you some specific counsel,” said Elder Ballard.
He compared the Church in Utah to a heart of the Church body throughout the world. Elder Ballard said, “The Saints in Utah help pump gospel truths through the entire world — giving the members important spiritual oxygen and essential nutrients.”
Citing a Gallup poll, Elder Ballard said that the Utah South Area is one of the most religious areas in the United States, revealed in the flourishing religious landscape.
However just like any heart needs regular checkups to remain healthy, Elder Ballard had several recommendations to share at the conference.
“These recommendations include maintaining healthy practices that you are already engaged in and, in some cases, recommending adjustments in your spiritual exercise and well-being,” he said.
Elder Ballard warned of practices and influences that could separate an individual from the Spirit. He shared a story about a grove of sequoia trees on the BYU campus. Tall, resilient and able to resist damage from bugs, fungi and forest fires, it came as a surprise when one of the large sequoias on campus suddenly died last year. Surprisingly, an arborist found that the tree died from lack of water.
“The arborist discovered that the aquifer that nourished the little grove had shifted as an unintended consequence of the construction of the new Life Sciences Building, just east of the grove,” Elder Ballard said.
He continued, “To me this is a perfect analogy of what happens when stalwart Church members, the 'very elect,' who for all appearances seem to stand tall and erect in faith, die spiritually.”
To keep members from spiritually dying from a lack of living water, Elder Ballard advised members to maintain essential, daily habits that “keep us rooted, grounded, and connected to [Christ].” These habits include daily prayer, fasting, studying the scriptures and the words of the living prophets, keeping the Sabbath day holy, partaking of the sacrament, worshiping in the temple often and reaching out to the needy, poor and lonely.
“When someone stops doing these simple but essential things,” Elder Ballard said, “they cut themselves from the 'well of living water' and allow Satan to muddle their thinking.”
Of concern to him was knowing that “individuals who don't stay focused on the simple doctrine and gospel of Christ will eventually listen to false teachers and self-declared prophets and adopt worldly philosophies,” Elder Ballard said.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking questions or investigating the Church's history, doctrine or practices, Elder Ballard said. He advised Church leaders to help those who come to them with difficult questions. “When someone comes to you with a question or concern, please don't brush the question off — do not tell him or her to not worry about the question. Please do not doubt the person's dedication to the Lord's work. Instead, help the person find the answers to their questions.”
Elder Ballard said that the Lord doesn't expect His Saints to have advanced degrees in Church history and doctrine, but members can still provide many — not all — answers for those who are sincere.
“Another concern I have is you live so close to Church headquarters that some of you may have become casual in listening to the Lord's servants,” Elder Ballard said. An effect of this attitude is choosing to miss sessions of stake and general conference, seeing that time as time-off from Church assignments.
Members living beyond their means in order to keep up with their neighbors is another concern. “We make a very serious mistake when we compare our lives with those who have much wealth, forgetting that most of us have already prospered in the land,” Elder Ballard said. “Please be content and enjoy the blessings you already have received instead of becoming slave to unwise use of consumer debt.”
Over-programmed lives and constantly being distracted by technology and social media also cut members off from the Spirit, he said. “Please carefully look at your calendars and consider where you might cut back and enjoy a less hectic life more fully,” Elder Ballard advised. “The Lord counseled us to find time to 'be still and know that I am God'” (Psalm 46:10).
