Unity, One Heart, One Mind

Last Wednesday evening at the auction, the Bishop asked if Mindi and Tristyn would speak in church on Sunday. I can not believe that she said "yes" as she suffers bad anxiety about public speaking. Kind of like her Mother. Anyway, the subject was having one heart, one mind and unity in the family. Tristyn had a short and sweet talk comparing unity in the family and unity on a volleyball team. I thought she did a great job as it was her first talk. Mindi's talk was way more personal as she talked about the family and then shared the story of the loss of our precious Kamber. I could not believe she could go there, as that is such a special and spiritual experience our family has endured. She gave a good quote by President Hinckley that says: "I would like to see greater love in our homes. ... You parents who are fathers and mothers of children, treasure your children. Look to them with love. Lead them..with love. ... They will follow after you if you do that. And I make you a promise that if you do so, the time will come when you will feel so grateful that you have done so, that you will get on your knees and thank the Lord for the precious children who have come to you and grown up under your direction." The older I get the more grateful I am for my family. At times I wonder how I lived through the different stages from babies to teenagers and then now they are all adults. I like President Packer's statement in this years conference that said, "Life was not meant to be easy, or fair." I know I have often wondered why I've had the trials that have been given to me. Another thing Mindi said in her talk was "When adversity arises, we need to avoid self-doubt and discouragement and look at our trials as an opportunity to strengthen ourselves." I know I need to be more grateful for the blessings I've been given, especially those people in my own family and hopefully at some point we can be united in "one heart and one mind." Ethan called yesterday and invited us all out for Sunday dinner. I know it was a lot of work for them but it was so nice to not have to fix dinner after our stressful weekend. The kids have so much fun playing with the cousins so I had to take a few pictures.