We were involved in another good stake conference presided over by Elder Zwick. Aaron and I spoke in the evening session sharing with the members how to easily apply the teaching given by Elder Oaks in the October conference of 2016. We all need to pray for a greater desire to share the gospel, model it through righteous living, and pray for specific opportunities. As we reinforced his teachings, we showed them how to use Facebook to share the gospel with specific friends and role-played how to invite someone to church for a “Friend Sunday”. We also spoke on Sunday morning on what the doctrine of Christ means to us and how we are continually using it to bring us closer to Christ. That the Doctrine of Christ isn’t a checklist but a way to become and progress into the person Heavenly Father wants us to be. We then zipped off to the home ward to hear Jessie speak in primary. She and Aaron had prepared her talk but she took it out of her bag during sacrament to read over it. She forgot to put it back into her bag so we encouraged her to share her experience and testimony from her heart. She panicked at the suggestion at first but then decided she could do it. She did a great job!
At the beginning of the week, I was busy trying to plan for Allie to come visit us, research options for a getaway to Galveston Island this summer and activities/plans for the kids this summer. Allie will come down to Texas on the May 12th. We are all super excited about that. She hasn’t been here since Christmas. It’s crazy it’s been that long. We will see on the getaway and still working on the kids plans.
On Wednesday, we had our four outbound Nauvoo sisters return back to Nauvoo and we have loved having them. This is the second group of four Nauvoo sisters that were assigned to our mission and they loved being with us. They serve almost half their mission with us and when they first arrive they are a a bit reluctant to jump in with both feet as they miss their assignment in Nauvoo. Once they warm up, they come to love the proselyting aspect of the mission that they miss out on as they serve in the visitor centers in Nauvoo. Aaron and I both saw a lot of growth out of these four sisters while they were with us and it’s hard to let them go. We have two temple square sisters with us right now and they return mid-May. Just like that we lose six sisters. I am a bit blown away when it’s time for our sisters to leave. It seems like they just got here. It’s how it rolls though. Later that day I met with some sisters for companionship study. Again, I am so grateful for revelation received from the Holy Ghost. The ideas and promptings I receive when studying is just the insight the sisters need to help their investigators progress.
I also had a companionship study on Thursday as well. In this study, it expanded to planning. We looked at ways they could work in their area more effectively. How to help increase the faith of less actives to see how they are needed, not just bless the ward but each other. This particular ward has many Nigerian families but don’t feel like they fit the Mormon mold when they come to church so they just don’t come even though they truly believe it is where they should be. We talked about if they knew there were other families just like them they could be center of strengths for each other. The sisters think this could help change the dynamics for these families. Again feeling blessed to follow the spirit, not a checklist. Bode had his last soccer game of the season and they ended on a good note with another W. They won all but one game which is saying something for Fort Settlement. Bode got kicked pretty hard on his thigh during the second half of the game and had to be taken out. He will definitely be bruise for a few days. Jessie had gymnastics which Zac took her to for me since I was still with the sisters. Zac continues physical therapy for his ankle. It still swells up after a working out.
Our new senior couple the Davis’ arrived on Friday. He’s a retired dentist and she’s a homemaker and they’ll be great. They have jumped in with both feet. They only have had 4 days of on the job training and the predecessors have already departed for home. Nothing like baptism of fire, it’s just the nature of missions. We will miss the Burke's and their fun personalities that blessed so many.
Jessica Kate continues to teach the family all the latest events happening around the world and has a very strong opinion about what she sees going on. She likes to share with us “technically this is how it is…..” She is hilarious. The schools have been tough, but it has been amazing to see how good she’s doing. Allie finished finals up at UVU this. She is watching the West kids this week during them to their different activities. The boys had a stake basketball tournament this weekend. They won the first two games but lost the third making a tie for first so they played the first team again to decide the winner of the tournament. Our boys of the Sugarland 1st ward came out on top. They worked hard together and had a lot of fun in the process. It’s times like this we really see how the mission is blessing our family in small and simple ways.