April 11, 2017
Dear Loved ones,
Sorry I am slow with this letter. Sunday was fast day and that is the day I have the Elliott family over. I have included a picture of them. Shane, Shellie, and little Rosie. Shellie and I team teach our little 4 year olds. We love those little boys, but it’s a challenge to keep them engaged. Since I have Sacrament Meeting at 8:30 in the morning, Fast Sunday is the best day to fix a big meal. Unfortunately, instead of writing on Sunday afternoon, I took a very long nap while the pot roast cooked. It had been a busy week and I needed to catch up on some rest time.
Last week we had two Zone Conferences. The first was in the Pocatello North Stake building. The second was in Grace, Idaho. I have memories of my grandparents talking about a time when my grandfather was the Presiding Bishop. While in Grace, Idaho for a conference, he had a heart attack. I don’t think there was a hospital there. The doctors told him to stay in bed at the Stake President’s house – his life depended on it. After a couple of weeks, Grandma Inee insisted on taking him home, despite the warnings that the drive to Salt Lake would kill him. Grandma had too much faith to believe the Lord would let anything happen to him. I have no idea who drove him home, because Grandma Inee didn’t drive. Obviously, he survived for another forty some years. Three cheers for my spunky little Grandma.
I love Zone Conferences! It is so wonderful to be around these amazing missionaries. I get to hear about their own conversions. We have several missionaries who joined the church and then came on a mission. Their stories inspire me!
Thursday, I had my first meeting with the Just Serve council. I guess I am going to be the mission’s representative. Elizabeth has sent me some wonderful reports of the work in their area and a link to a video that the church has put out about the program throughout the country. I believe it was shown on TV between Conference sessions. The program has been introduced in our area but hasn’t taken off. President Hancock said some of the missionaries went out to the Boys Ranch and were told to sort clothes of some kind. The both got scabies. So there are some bad first impressions to overcome. I visited with one of the Assistants today and he is excited about the program, so maybe we can get some good things going here.
Tonight, was the opening night of “Walk with Christ” that one of the Stakes puts on here every year. It is open to the public and serves as a gift to the community like the Palo Alto Creche event. It was amazingly well done. I took a couple of pictures before they told me I wasn’t supposed to. I will try to attach them to this letter. One picture shows how they created a wall, and the other is the “Woman at the well”. Who did a fabulous job of telling her story. They lead you through the church with little lights on either side of the floor in the hallways. They begin with parts of the church video on the life of Christ and then take a group of about 20 at a time. The first scene was the nativity. Then we went to a scene representing his ministry and there a healed leper tells of his experience and the Samaritan woman by the well tells her story. We move on to the scene of the Last Supper and Peter tells us about the things that occurred there. They did a beautiful job of creating a garden around a life size portrait of Christ praying in Gethsemane while a man tells of the events that took place there. Next we enter Pontius Pilates palace while a narrator reads the events there and Pontius Pilate acts his role. We then went into a room and saw the beating and crucifixion in the Church video. Next we went to see the garden tomb and Mary Magdalene was there to tell us her experience of being the first to see the Resurrected Savior. Then we go to a room where Thomas talks about needing to see to believe, bears his testimony, and explains Christ’s ascension into heaven. In the last room we sat down and were shown a video of those photos of the life of Christ that used to be on display at the Mesa Temple visitor center to the background music of someone singing “Come thou Fount of Every Blessing”. We then end in the cultural hall for cookies. The hall is cut in half by large dividers displaying framed pictures of Christ courtesy of Deseret Book and bare branched trees strung with lights. Notes on the table remind us to whisper so our voices don’t carry to other parts of the building. When we walked down halls that had classrooms, they filled the doorways with beautiful framed pictures from the life of Christ. There is a guest book everyone is encouraged to sign and indicate if they would like a copy of the video. It was a wonderful evening and such a perfect way to get ready for a meaningful celebration of Easter.
I mailed candy packages to the grandkids today, but what I really would like to give you this Easter is a deep understanding of the love the Savior feels for each of you, His unfathomable sacrifice so that our worst days do not have to define our lives. Because He lives we can keep trying to improve a little each day until we can be worthy to live with Him and with each other. I am so grateful for the hope that brings. I know he lives and loves us. I love you all more than words can say.
Love,
Grammie
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