Family Celebrity

Barb sent me a link of her interview on Global TV and the radio.  Here's the link.  We think she's a natural!


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5o1rr3ejilubhjn/AAC8DYOTUpU3DV6-RM4uBknAa?dl=0

Love,
Brent & Roxanne

13 GOSPEL TOPICS ESSAYS

Last month, the Church published the last two of a series of thirteen Gospel Topics Essays begun in 2013. 

According to the news release:

“The 13 essays published to date were prepared through extensive research by men and women Church scholars and carefully reviewed by members of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other General Authorities and women leaders to provide an official, authoritative and transparent source of information.

The Church hopes that the material will be referenced in various lessons and classes, cited in talks and utilized in home study along with the large volume of resource materials now available to Church members worldwide.

While there are no immediate plans to publish additional essays of this type, it remains an option for the future.” 

Here is the official introduction:


Gospel Topics Essays

 
In the early 1830s, when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was less than three years old, the Lord invited members of the Church to seek wisdom by study and by the exercise of faith:

“And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118).

This is more than a simple exhortation to learn about the gospel. It is an invitation from the Lord to recognize that not all sources of knowledge are equally reliable. Seeking “out of the best books” does not mean seeking only one set of opinions, but it does require us to distinguish between reliable sources and unreliable sources.

Recognizing that today so much information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be obtained from questionable and often inaccurate sources, officials of the Church began in 2013 to publish straightforward, in-depth essays on a number of topics. The purpose of these essays, which have been approved by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has been to gather accurate information from many different sources and publications and place it in the Gospel Topics section of LDS.org, where the material can more easily be accessed and studied by Church members and other interested parties.

The Church places great emphasis on knowledge and on the importance of being well informed about Church history, doctrine, and practices. Ongoing historical research, revisions of the Church’s curriculum, and the use of new technologies allowing a more systematic and thorough study of scriptures have all been pursued by the Church to that end. We again encourage members to study the Gospel Topics Essays as they “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”

Thought it might be useful to have them all on our blog, so here is the list - hopefully with links!

1.  Are Mormons Christian? 
2.  First Vision Accounts
3.  Race and the Priesthood
4.  Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah
5.  Book of Mormon Translation
6.  Book of Mormon and DNA Studies
7.  Becoming Like God
8.  Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints
9.  Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham 
10. Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo 
11. The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage 
12. Joseph Smith’s Teachings about Priesthood, Temple, and Women 
13. Mother in Heaven

HALLOWEEN HOOT!

Some fun Halloween activities happened at our house today. To begin with, we had Amelia and Stella come up from Fort Sask with their parents.  Baby Max (Graham's nephew) joined us as well for his first time walking door-to-door.  Costumes included a Bride, Elsa from Frozen, a Dinosaur, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and last but not least a "Mommy Mummy".

 This afternoon we made a true Halloween smorgasbord.  First we did Spider Web Nacho Dip, followed by Ghost Pizza and Mummy Dogs followed by Mandarin Pumpkins. 

Of course these must be served on a black paper plate with Bat napkins!

Happy Halloween - Spo-o-oky!  Bahaha...
Auntie Charlene xo

FIFTY EIGHT

When I was in the hospital, I happened to mention that election day was our fifty eighth anniversary.  In unison, three women said "Do you have any tips"
My reply was as follows:
*  Please and thank you go a long way.(silence)
*  Say 'I love you' at least once per day.  (silence)
*  Greet with a smile and always kiss good bye. (silence)
*  Use touch.  when you walk by your partner, gently touch his shoulder, arm or whatever (silence)
The lady in the bed next to me said "and never go to bed on an argument."  Always a good suggestion.
I don't think they expected a sermon but I guess they got one. 


I would have liked to add something I heard in a talk many years ago.  I don't know who said it or the exact wording but we were told a church leader said the following it went something like this:
Marriage is not a 50/50 proposition.  As soon as we check to see if our spouse is giving 50%, we are looking for trouble.  Rather, marriage is 100/100.  If each partner gives 100% then we can have a marriage made in heaven.
Perhaps some of you techno people out there can find out who said this.



Now I want to give a tribute to the most wonderful partner in the world:
I was very blessed to marry a wonderful man and you were all very blessed to have an absolutely fantastic patriarch in your family.  One you can all be proud to look up to and hopefully emulate. 


My husband, your dad, grandpa, great grandpa and great great grandpa is without a doubt the most kind, caring compassionate man I have ever met.  How I was the lucky one to be placed into his loving arms I will never know.  You can all be proud to bear his family name. 


Thank you for 58 wonderful years, Honey.  I look forward to eternity with you.  Thank you  for all you have done for me.  I love you so very much. 


Adina

Mushy Post ;)

Grandma & Grandpa asked me to take some photos of them together last weekend. They thought getting one photo on their couch would be great, but of course knowing me we ended up with all of these!!! (Special thanks to Jenny for helping pick out the perfect outfits) 

I loved spending a few hours with them visiting & capturing their love.

 Aren't they cute? 

Love you all! 

Emma

A trip down memory lane

Going through some boxes (yes from our move to Rocky 2 1/2 years ago) I found a little piece of memory typed on a small piece of paper. Over 20 years ago we had a birthday party for Grampa and we did a little rap song for him, improvising music with the use of sounds by mouth and a zipper from my scriptures.


Here it is:



Hey there Grampa, what do you say,
We hope that everything goes your way.

(make funny mouth noises, rip the zipper up and down and do some goofy body moves)

He buys us treats and buys us movies,
but we don't care,  cause he's so groovy.

(funny noises etc)

And since your turning 60 today,
We want to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

(you know the drill)

So next time your out there driving your bus,
Don't forget to WAVE to us!

(funny noises and goofy walk off the stage)




It was a great birthday party!

Love from Uncle Brent.

Together Again!

What a wonderful weekend this was! I just LOVE this crazy crew! (I am emailing these pictures to my dad right after this, so if any of you would like copies talk to me or him as I don't have all of your emails)

Love Emma

Grandma is sooo beautiful!!!