October 4, 2015
Re: Letter 44 of 3
Dear Riley:
We just finished the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference. It was wonderful! I’m filled with spirit and a resolve to do better. So many times I was touched by the Spirit as it testified of the gospel truths. The counsel was timely and inspired. The music was beautiful and edifying, and a wonderful feeling of peace and love filled our home.
It was somewhat historic to have three new apostles called in one session as this hasn’t happened since the early 1900’s. We were excited to see Elder Rasband called. If you remember, he was T’s mission president in New York. Back when T returned from his mission 15 years ago he predicted that his mission president would someday be an apostle. I initially dismissed this as simply one of the highest compliments you can pay to someone you hold in high regard. After all, there are so many worthy options to choose from, what are the odds? However, both T and Grandma mentioned having the impression that Elder Rasband would fill one of these vacancies in the days leading up to conference. Yesterday it was prophecy fulfilled. All these things strengthen my faith in the gospel, its principles, and the divine guidance of its leadership.
Another highlight of Conference was that Parker got to sing in the priesthood session choir. This was a multi stake request from the church. Each ward was asked to submit four names. They did an amazing job and what made it even better was the fact that Parker was given one ticket down on the floor which I got to use. This was a nice surprise because I’ve always been self conscious over using any conference tickets distributed to the ward for my own use and had given away the four priesthood tickets I had. As it turned out I got seating closer than I have ever sat before and was so inspired by the entire meeting. Parker was visible on the screen several times, and three times up close. So, you’ll be able to see him when you watch the Priesthood session broadcast. Your mother has her own personal experience regarding this which I’m certain she’ll share.
Other highlights of the week involved Elise’s bike which she picked up on Friday. (Only Parker has to choose a bike now.) She’s so excited about it. She and Aleah are taking the opportunity to explore new places as they learn to master gear bikes and enjoy the many options previously unavailable to them. I recognize this means letting them go and that potentially they could end up in harm’s way. Aleah already had her first crash. However, we can’t live life in a bubble, so we try to teach them safety concepts and defensive riding, provide them with proper equipment and let them go….
Your mother and I decided we need a little more out of the tandem so I’m looking at getting different gears which will allow for even greater speed on flat or downhill stretches. It was a pretty busy week so we only took the bike out briefly yesterday morning before conference. Still fun though. I think your mother’s going to go into withdrawals come winter.
I guess your mother told you about our company ( B and N) for a night. Having nine kids in the home was a circus. There were times when it sounded like twenty. It was good to see them and it compelled me to fix the downstairs toilet which, believe it or not, is now the most reliable and robust flusher in the house. One down…two more to go.
You mentioned the Imitation Game movie in your last letter. We’ve seen it and I actually mentioned it in a letter a number of months ago. It was fascinating and engaging, with a shameless social / political agenda at the end. Actually, it compelled me to watch a couple of documentaries about the enigma machine and fully appreciate the magnitude of what the allied forces faced in breaking the cipher. I enjoyed these more than the movie. Consider a code which has one solution out of 139,000,000,000,000,000,000 and it changes every 24 hours so all the work you do to crack it has to start over each day. The mechanics of how the machine worked, and the mathematical way it was cracked was genius on so many levels. Then, what to do with the information you acquire? How do you win the war with the intelligence you have without letting the enemy know the code had been cracked? This was also mathematically derived to the detriment of many troops and considerable equipment deemed expendable in the overall effort to win the war. There were battles which were deliberately lost in order to conceal the fact that we knew everything the Germans were doing because we were intercepting all their transmissions and breaking the daily code in 20 minutes.
I suppose a parallel could be drawn to the spiritual battle in which we are engaged. We have the advantage and will ultimately win, because we have the key which sheds light on and provides discernment to counter all the falsehoods, all the wiles and snares of the adversary.
The gospel is true. The work in which you’re engaged is divinely inspired and carried out. Stay the course and keep the faith. Let the world say what it will, they can only diminish what we have in our lives if we allow it. Looking forward to your latest report.
Love,
Dad
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