From Dad April 10, 2016

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Re: Letter 68 of 3

Dear Riley:

Ok, so it’s 9:40 PM and our last bit of company from the monthly birthday bash just left. It was held at our home on account of some remodeling underway at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s. What a pleasant evening surrounded by family. Now I’m rushing to write my letter to my missionary.

Last week was spring break and we took a couple days near the end to enjoy some family time away. Would you believe that the last time we visited Goblin Valley Elise was just a small baby and has no recollection of the adventure? So off to Goblin Valley we went. We camped about 7 miles outside of the park which was a great adventure. All the open space with few restraints was almost more than the kids could handle. We had a great time hiking around, sitting around a campfire, watching the stars, and piling into a huge tent. Josie was particularly intrigued by the concept of all being in the same room of the tent. The following morning we went into the park to explore the rock goblins. As we looked over the valley from the parking lot Josie remarked “Hey! Did they say we could climb on those?” I assured her that it was ok. She then turned to mom and asked “Will they really let us climb on those?” Leadelle confirmed that it was indeed allowed. To this Josie slowly shook her head in wonder and remarked “Well it’s a really good thing it isn’t furniture!” She spent the greater part of the day tearing all over, exploring and climbing, playing hide and seek…and standing in the line for the bathroom only to chicken out at the sight of a cavernous hole with a seat on top.. She had a ball and thoroughly exhausted herself. Poor Parker! I think he was missing a brother nearly as crazy as he is. Sisters are great, but a little too hesitant for his style. At one point, very close to the place you scared me to death years ago; he got up something he couldn’t get down without assistance. He was the only one who wasn’t ready to leave at the end of the day. For the most part, everyone all got along well and when we finally got back home, it seemed we had been gone for considerably longer than a couple days.

I’ve got bees again and they seem to be settling in well. I was missing the activity around the hive when I looked out the window, or worked in the garden. I finally planted the strawberry patch and given the age of the starts can expect some produce in a couple months. Still a lot of work to do, and I’m still getting up early each morning to knock out a few projects.

Sacrament meeting was wonderful and it was fascinating to watch the common thread that linked everything together. The Spirit was so strong, and there were several testimonies that touched on personal experiences regarding the location of most of the new temples that were announced. One particular story was told by KK who lived in Brazil during the early years of his marriage and served as branch president in Belem Brazil. He told of a man who had heard the missionaries’ message numerous times, but told them he simply wasn’t interested. He was extremely poor and was more concerned about day to day survival. Then one day, the missionaries came by to chat, and one of them happened to be carrying the Ensign magazine with a picture of the prophet on the cover. He asked who the man was, because he had a dream about him and knew he was a man called of God. When this good brother found out that this was the leader of our Church and that we considered him a prophet of God, he joined the church. He came to church and brought his family but couldn’t afford the bus fare, which was a few pennies, except for every other week. Yet when he did come, he always paid tithing and fast offerings. It was a sweet testimony and firsthand account of how the faith of members such as this man built the spiritual foundation upon which a physical temple will now be built in their city. There were a lot of tears in our meeting and I soaked through four tissues myself.

Well, time to sign off. I don’t want to miss you. I hope you got as much of a lift from conference as I did. Keep up the great work. The time will pass before you know it. No regrets!

Love,
Dad