United We Stand

Tonight at Stake Conference, President Dudley shared a story from Aesop's Fables that made a great point on unity. He was specifically referring to having unity in ward councils as well as family council. This point can be applied in every group situation:

The Four Oxen and the Lion

A LION used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they fell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end of all four.         www.oldhomesteadswanzey.com “UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.”

Jesus has Time

Happy Easter - almost :-).

Right now I am teaching the CTR 6 primary class in church. Yesterday, I planned to give the Easter lesson as next Sunday (Easter Sunday), we will be watching General Conference.

Before going over the Easter story, I handed out pictures of the Savior and asked the kids to describe Him to me.


Christ and the Children (Christ with the Children), by Harry Anderson (62467); GAK 216; GAB 47; Primary manual 2-35; Primary manual 3-56; Primary manual 7-24; Matthew 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16





Triumphal Entry (Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem), by Harry Anderson (62173); GAK 223; GAB 50; Primary manual 7-28; Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:29–38



The Resurrected Jesus Christ, by Harry Anderson (62187); GAK 239; Primary manual 2-65; Primary manual 3-15; Primary manual 4-49; Primary manual 6-48; Primary manual 7-37; Primary manual 7-25; Matthew 16:27; 24:30–31; 25:31

At first, the kids described the pictures but after a little bit of coaching, the kids came up with this tender list:

He lives.

He loves us.

He has time for us all.

He wants: 

 Moms

Dads

Brothers

Sisters

Aunts

Uncles

Grandmas

Grandpas

Cousins



to come near Him.

 

 

I may be called "teacher" in this class, but on this day, I had five little teachers. 

Harry Potter

My son received the first book in the Harry Potter series titled : The Sorcerer's Stone, for his 11th birthday. We started reading it has a family right away. Coincidentally, "Harry Potter Day" is July 31st, Harry's "supposed" birthday. He turns 11 in the first book. So, we are right on track to "grow up" with Harry Potter.

Reading with the kids every night brought me great joy. We predicted what might happen, we talked about magic. We discussed big words. The book was a little hard for my six-year old to keep up with, but she was patient and would often color during reading time. One day, I asked my nine-year old to provide some illustrations (as seen below).

What really struck me was realizing the nuggets of wisdom in the story. Fourteen years ago, I listened to this story when it first came out. The memory is nice because I listened to with Darren as we commuted down to Davis/Weber Counties for work. We had fun imitating the narrator on the story, "I'm sorry Harry." (in a falsetto Hermione Granger voice).

My lasting opinion of the story was probably from watching the movies though, in which I came away with a sort of "dark" impression from the series. So, reading the book with my kids, I was surprised to catch on to the theme (toward the end).

To quote the character Professor Albus Dumbledore explaining Voldemort's powers and motivation to Harry when Harry asked why Quirrell (whose body Voldemort inhabited) couldn't touch Harry. Dumbledore said,

"Your mother died to save you.

If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love.

He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark.

Not a scar, no visible sign. . . to have been loved so deeply,

even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.

 It is in your very skin."

We had such fun reading this story and as I write this, I'll bet our son has re-read the book five times. In fact, he claims to be trying to memorize it. We recently made the long trip to Idaho to see family and borrowed the movie from friends. The kids watched and re-watched the movie the entire time. I'll bet it played four times.

In Awesome Wonder

When through the woods

And forest glades I wander

I hear the birds

Sing sweetly in the trees

 

Maybe the birds aren't singing while we are swinging :-)

 

When I look down

From lofty mountain grandeur

 

About the first of July, can you tell?

Grand Tetons -- wow!

During the summer of 2014: we stayed overnight in Jackson Wyoming. There is a big resort called, "Jackson Hole Resort" (something like that) where a person can ride a gondola up, up, up the mountains to the very top. It was an incredible sight to see, truly a "wonder of the west".

10,000 + feet above elevation

This was the first of our mountainous exploration. We also ventured down south to another peak called Ensign Peak, in the Salt Lake Valley. This is where Brigham Young looked out over the valley for the first time and knew he was in the right place (to establish Zion).

Ensign Peak, Summer 2014

And hear the brook

And feel the gentle breeze.

 

Clifton Basin with Fuller and Bingham Cousins - Summer 2014

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!