Lots Of News this Week

4 March 2017

As I write I'm thinking of the news we received this week of three big events.

First, our daughter, Laura, was sustained as the Relief Society president in her ward in Greenville, NC this past Sunday. It’s a big calling, but we know she’s up to the task, and will do a great job. We wish her well!

Also, this week, we learned we’re going to become great-grandparents!! Our oldest granddaughter, Ryann, told us that she and Kyle are expecting a baby girl at the end of May and we can hardly wait to meet this new little one! (Although, with the mission, unless they can come here for a visit, this little one will be a toddler before we get to see her.) We’re grateful for facebook so we’ll at least see pictures!

Some friends of ours created a plaque to keep track of all their great-grands. (They are w-a-a-a-y ahead of us in that category — but it’s something to aspire to.)  ;-)  Their plaque has the name, birthdate, and parents’ names, plus, a tiny little pink or blue rhinestone to designate gender. We especially like that they titled their plaque “The Great Ones.”  Maybe we have one of these in our future! :-)

And, this morning, our granddaughter, Abby, is being baptized! We wish we could be there for this special day! Our hearts are in North Carolina, today, though we are in Salt Lake City. We would love to be at her baptism, and spend a little time with family. We’re so proud of her for making this important decision to follow the Savior. (Her mother has turned away from the church, and though we pray her heart will return one day, she tried to persuade Abby not to be baptized. Abby decided to anyway, though it was really hard for her to go against her mother's wishes, and we are very proud of her for making that choice. The good news is that, in the end, her mother chose to support Abby in her decision, even though it wasn't the one she wanted her to make.) This has been difficult for our son, John, as well — wanting Abby to be baptized and also wanting to keep peace in the family. We're glad he's the one who's baptizing and confirming Abby today.

As for our mission, I’ve mentioned before that we serve with a truly interesting variety of people, and we enjoy hearing their stories. In our mission devotional this week, an 84-yr-old sister missionary introduced herself as Sister Roberts. Then she said, “Before I got married, my name was Butts. B-U-T-T-S. — and it ruined my childhood!!” Then, she continued, “However, I didn’t have it as bad as my grandmother. Before she married, her name was Ellen Baer, and after she got married, she was Ellen Baer Butts. And, that’s a true story!”  :-D  She was delightful! She went on to say that her father died when she was only 8 years old, leaving her mother to raise her and her siblings alone. Her mother went to work in a munitions plant. Even though she was a single mom, struggling to feed and clothe her family, she took some of the money from every paycheck to buy shelf-stable food items to put into care packages for extended family members living in Germany. (This was in 1945, and people in post-war Europe were literally starving.) Her mother tried to get others to help, but, because the anti-German sentiment was so strong, no one would. There was a teacher in Germany who interpreted her letters for the family there. Once, this teacher sent a letter to Sister Roberts’ mother and pleaded, “Please. I don’t want to cause trouble. But, is there anyone there who could send my family some of that powdered milk? We have a small baby, and my wife is unable to nurse.” [probably because she was starving] Again, her mother asked others to help, and no one would. So, she started sending to that family, too. She kept sending packages of powdered milk, Spam, etc. every time she got paid. Once the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1948, they wrote to tell her they could get food now, so she didn’t need to send it anymore. I was impressed that she would do so much when she had little herself.

Another day this week, a sister in our zone, Sister Deeana Shelton, gave a spiritual thought during our zone devotional that I loved. So, I’m sharing it, as well.

Make Christ the Center of Your Day

A story is told of a woman who woke up one morning and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. “I think I’ll braid my hair today,” she said. So, she did, and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up and had only two strands of hair on her head. “I think I’ll part my hair down the middle today,” she said. So, she did, and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up and had only one hair on her head. “I know,” she said, “today I’ll wear my hair in a ponytail.” So, she did, and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up and had no hair on her head. She exclaimed, “Well, hallelujah! I don’t have to fix my hair today.” She didn’t. . . and she had a wonderful day! . . .

-Influenced by his parents’ counsel and example, young Gordon Hinckley also learned to approach life with optimism and faith.
President Hinckley taught: “In a dark and troubled hour, the Lord said to those he loved: ‘Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) These great words of confidence are a beacon to each of us. In him we may indeed have trust. For he and his promises will never fail.”

No matter what challenges we face, we, too, can have a wonderful day, if we make Christ the center of our day.