April Conference - Solemn Assembly

We love visiting our beautiful Johns family in West Jordan. It's a treat when we can coordinate our visit with General Conference, too. We flew to Salt Lake City, Thursday, March 29th, to sunny, clear skies. The rest of the weekend was so beautiful. Sunny and warm for all the Conference goers.

Friday morning we visited with Grandma Julia, then on to meet up with Emily & Bronson at their nice apartment, then to lunch. We toured the Museum of Art, and enjoyed many interesting, and beautiful paintings. I appreciated Emily borrowing a wheelchair from her work facility so I didn't have to walk so much. That was very helpful. Also, I'm using a wheelchair much more at airports now, too, and that is a relief, too. We topped off our afternoon with the Gardner's at the Creamery for some delicious ice cream! We will really miss having Emily & Bronson in Utah, as they move to Madison, Wisconsin the end of May.

We loved being in the Conference Center for the Saturday morning, Solemn Assembly, and standing to sustain, with all our hearts, our new prophet, Pres. Russell M. Nelson, and his counselors, Pres. Dallin H. Oaks, and Pres. Henry B. Eyring. We know the power and spirit of that meeting was felt around the world as members participated in their homes, chapels, or wherever they were to sustain our dear prophet. It truly was an incredible experience. The spirit was so strong in the Conference Center. It was wonderful to actually be there in personal and witness that sacred experience as the First Presidency, the Quorums, the Seventy, etc, the Melchizedek Priesthood bearers, the Aaronic Priesthood bearers, the Relief Society, the Young Woman, and then the entire body of the church stood to sustain our new prophet, Pres. Russell M. Nelson. While standing there to sustain our prophet, I received a powerful witness from the spirit that he indeed is called of God. I hadn't really been praying for that witness, but I realized that would have been good to do that, but I was grateful for the power of the Holy Ghost that witnessed to me that he was called of God.

I'm glad that Emily & Bronson could be with us for that session, and especially grateful that granddaughter, Kenna Johns, could join us, too. Having these experiences as youth is so helpful as you strengthen your testimony. She seemed to love being there as well.


Crismon & I have been reading Pres. Nelson's biography and it has been so interesting. He truly is a man of God, so gifted, so prepared to fulfill this role as our prophet. We sustain him with our prayers, fasting, and obedience.

Emily & Bronson tended the Johns children on Sunday afternoon so Alice-Anne & Gary could attend that session with us. It was also another powerful session. Pres. Nelson announced that there would be no more Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching, it would now be called Ministering, and we heard several talks explaining more about what that meant. Seven new temples were announced. Dallin & Janelle were so very excited to hear that there will be a temple built in Richmond, VA, two hours from them. When the choir sang, "Let Us All Press On in the Work of the Lord," I was truly overcome by the spirit, and I had to cover my mouth to hold in my emotions. I couldn't hold back the tears. I was so overcome by the powerful spirit of the Holy Ghost that attended the conference. The choir sounded absolutely amazing! I'm sure angels were singing with them.

We're glad that Alice-Anne & Gary were able to go on a little get-away on Monday and Tues. Spencer got sick in the night, so they delayed a little in the morning so Crismon & I could go to the Jordan River Temple Open House. What a beautiful temple! The paintings were especially lovely.
Alice-Anne got to snow ski for the first time at Alta. They attended the Draper temple before returning late Tues. afternoon. It was so fun to have my sister, Meredith, come down from Ogden to visit with me and wish me Happy Birthday. She was so sweet. I received two cards from her as she couldn't decide between the two of them. Also, she informed me that chocolate was essential everyday so she gave me a bag of chocolates. She's so fun and I'm so grateful she's my sister!

Sadly, the stomach flu made it's way through the Johns family. That delayed the Johns from leaving on their Spring Break trip to Moab by a day. Dad was sick with it, too, on the day as we returned home on my birthday. I'm so thankful I didn't get sick.

This month has been very busy, especially for Crismon as he and his counselors have spent many hours making the necessary changes with the Elder’s Quorum Presidencies. We spoke at a Singles Adult fireside, attended the temple each week, enjoyed grandchildren’s school concerts, hosted Seth & Tiffany’s family one weekend, and hosted Tiffany & her Dad another weekend while they were here to go skiing. We had a lovely evening with our Patriarch and his wife in our home for dinner and then to view the training video for Patriarchs as a reminder of his duties and the Stake Pres. responsibilities. We love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunities to serve, and the blessing our family brings to us.

 

 

Our Visit to Colorado

Danielle has been working very hard preparing for what most likely will be her last major recital as a student. Although she has already received her Master's in Violin performance from UofU, She furthered her abilities by taking lessons from Linda Wang at the Univ. of Denver. Also, she is graduating with the Suzuki Certificate where she is trained to teach on all 8 levels of Suzuki. She played incredibly well. It was an amazing performance. She has spent hours and hours of intense practicing to accomplish this outstanding ability. We were so happy to be there to join in celebrating this special occasion. 

We arrived on Tues., March 6th in Denver. Crismon picked us up and we went back to their apt. in Boulder and then back to the Univ. of Denver for the recital. Danielle's parents were there, Scott & Laurie Swain. Also, she had a good turn out of friends from their ward and friends from of both Crismon & Danielle from school. There were at least 50 in attendance and then a nice reception afterwards, with yummy treats. We're so thankful we could be there for this special day.

Dad took some early morning walks toward the Boulder campus and snapped some beautiful pictures. We enjoyed attending the Denver temple, and one day drove to Colorado Springs to see the US Air Force Academy. I toured the Visitors Center with everyone, but waited while they walked to the stunning Academy Chapel that soars 150 feet in the air. We drove through the Garden of the Gods, located at the base of Pikes Peak. This National Natural Landmark features incredible geological formations, rock climbing and nature trails. It was easy to drive through this park. One of the highlights of our trip was visiting Verlan, Katherine and their 3 beautiful children. They added number another girl one month later. What a treat to be with family. We had a great visit with Crismon & Danielle. We flew home on Saturday morning.

 

Stake Conference with Elder Hansen

Having a member of the Seventy come to our Mt. Hood Oregon Stake is a wonderful blessing. But this weekend, we had an added blessing to have Elder Richard K. Hansen as our visitor. He is not really a visitor, as he grew up in this area, his father has been a leader in the church, Elder Hansen use to be our Bishop and the Stake President before he was called to the Seventy. It was such a treat to feel of his spirit and be blessed by his inspired counsel. His brother, Paul Hansen, Crismon's 1st Counselor is his younger brother. It was also my easiest stake conference. I didn't have to host him in our home as he lives just 5 minutes away from us. It took a lot of pressure off of Crismon as well, to feel more relaxed around Elder Hansen, compared to someone we don't know. 

What I want to remember about this conference. Elder Hansen set the theme of "Conversion" and the "Sabbath Day" for our Saturday evening meeting. 

Pres. Paul Hansen counseled us to remember what we've learned tonight. Remember the things you learned that you did not hear.  Elder Bednar: Consistently being true to the Gospel is the essence of conversion. 

Shannon Richardson: Conversion is line upon line. Sacrifice is a sign of our conversion, true conversion. Keep your eye singled to God. 

Trent Westover: Example of the Zoramites in Alma 31. They failed to do the little things daily that draw us to God. Alma 32, Faith is an ongoing process, always nourishing our testimony.

Adrienne Malan: Preparation for the Sabbath Day is vital.

Julie Bullen: (wife of Mission Pres.) Repentance. See yourself as a beloved child of God.

Pres. Bullen: Grasp hold of the Iron Rod and stay on the path to the Tree of Life.

Elder Hansen: Referring to Elder Halstrom: "Being active in the Gospel, is more important than being active in the Church.  When we read: "As the Lord Liveth" you better listen to this. Alma 23, speaking of the converted Lamanites, "They never fell away.He wanted that to be said of him someday. There is more to the Gospel than just knowing that it is true. We need to be like Nephi, "I will go and do!" How can we increase our faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement? Through a revelatory process. That can be our blessing. We need to focus on keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. This is an eternal commandment. Our faith in God will increase as we do the little things each and every day; scripture study, prayers.

Sunday morning:

Pres. Crismon Lewis: We have rituals in our church through the Ordinances because we are a dual beings; the spirit and the body. Every commandment comes with a covenant. The promises from God are always in our favor. God binds us to Him and then He binds us with those we love. D&C 35, Keep all the commandments. I will cause the heavens to shake for your good. Story of the hail storm in Panguitich UT of his ancestors when George Deliverance Wilson commanded the storm to not touch his crop. The hail storm was fierce, but it built up around the fence posts, but it didn't destroy his crop. Covenants protect us and give us power.

Anne Anderson: Remember spiritual feelings we have. Build on the rock of Jesus Christ.

Pres. Steven Christiansen: Be still and know that I am God. Take time to be Holy. Mindfulness: Being one who is conscious of what is going on. We need time for our minds to rest, and be holy. Then he made promises to each of the age groups how we will have joy if we take time to be holy.

Whitney Kelson: Grew in appreciation of ancestors on her mission and the reality of the Atonement.

Pres. Watts: We sit at the feet of great men who have great authority. The temple brings us back to God.

Vivienne Lewis: I was called upon to share my testimony. I said I wanted to be like Abraham, to be called a follower of righteousness. This was a big surprise. You always think afterwards, "why didn't I say this, or that, but in the moment, I hope my humble testimony touched someone's heart. I had been praying for a spiritual experience in the conference. Didn't know this would be an answer to my prayer, if it was, but I felt I had been uplifted so much by the other talks.

Rich Monnie: Tender Mercies of the Lord, record them and remember them.

Cindy Hansen: We are who we are because of you. We have grown up here and you have taught us.

Elder Hansen: He keeps a picture in his binder that was taken by the Hubble Space Craft of the Deep Space - Black with spots of white, 10,000 galaxies and each galaxy has billion of stars. God says, "All things are numbered unto me, and they are mine." Brother Hinshaw's boating accident. "Jeff, get off the boat." He heard it three times. Jeff told Elder Hansen, I know God knows my name. God's children are without number, yet He knows our name. Doctrine of Christ: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism by Immersion, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, Endure to the End. We get to repent. It's joyous! We participate in ordinances in the temple, once for ourselves and then always for someone else. When we take the Sacrament, we do it every time for ourselves. It is a sacred privilege we should always cherish. Experience of Home Teaching Bro. Wilford Stevenson. When asked how he is doing he said shortly after the death of his wife, "I'm so very lonely, I pray every day that I can live worthy to be with Reba again. Elder Hansen's mother died about the same time. When he asked his Dad the same question, his Dad had the same response. He was so very lonely and he had a great desire to live worthy of covenants to be together again someday. 

Before our Saturday evening meeting, we had a delicious dinner with all the Bishops and their wives, Elder Richard & Sis. Cindy Hansen, Pres. Jonathan & Julie Bullen, Mission Pres. and their daughter, Sarah, and the Stake Presidency. Alisha Christiansen did the food, (Pasta & Chicken dish, Caesar salad, rolls, fruit for dessert, with a homemade chocolate.) and Nancy Hansen did the flower centerpieces. We all helped in the kitchen before, but I did a minimal amount because of my lack of energy and strength. I have to be so careful. It's difficult for me to go over 5,000 steps a day. I really pay for it the next day.

It was really fun to sit by Julie Bullen and get acquainted. Turns out her sister is Lorraine Harris who was in my class at Sky View High School. I always admired and idolized Lorraine as she was so beautiful, kind, feminine, always with a single pearl necklace. She was very sweet. 

Our good Bishops and their wives are: Derek & Dana May (Walters Hill), Derek & Carrie Conklin (Tickle Creek),  Jeremy & Selena Kato (Sandy River), Pres. Trent & Sheryl Westover (YSA), Michael & Lisa Hulet (Powell Valley), Mike & Debbie Miller (Damascus), David & Deanna Hawkins (Estacada), Pres. Carlos Ibarra (Pioneer Branch). We are so blessed to associate with such great people.

January Highlights

The new year is upon us and we’re grateful to begin again in our desire to make improvements in our lives. We were saddened by the passing of our dear Prophet, Pres. Thomas S. Monson. He lived a life of service, not only to the many, but to the one. His funeral was inspiring, like listening to General Conference. On our 43rd Wedding Anniversary, Tuesday, January 16th, Pres. Nelson spoke to the members of the church through a broadcast from inside the Salt Lake Temple as our new Prophet. We are happy to sustain Pres. Dallin H. Oaks, and Pres. Henry B. Eyring as his counselors. Crismon and I are reading together Russell M. Nelson, Father, Surgeon, Apostle. What a great man! He is well prepared to be our Prophet. I’m thankful for the friendship that my parents had with Pres. Nelson and Dantzel when they were both attending the Univ. of Minnesota. They went on picnics and fishing outings together, and traded babysitting during those early days, and stayed in touch each Christmas. In 1999 Pres. Nelson was a visiting authority in our stake. We had the sweet privilege of meeting with him at Pres. Steven & Michelle Watts’ home. Julia (9) & Emily (7) sat on his lap, and he called them “My Buddy." 

January 9th, I was still recovering from the flu. Crismon was so nice to fix our dinner that evening.

On Jan. 10th, Julia & Austin flew to Portland after tending Meredith's kids in Hawaii, while Bryan & Meredith came to Portland for Tesa & Dalton Boyles wedding. Then they drove back to Moscow, ID, to pack up and then 9 days later, they head back for Austin' new job, just north of Seattle.  We are so happy they are close, just 3 hours, 15 minutes away in Kenmore, WA.

  We enjoyed celebrating our anniversary, Jan. 16th by going out to lunch and then a movie.

On our way home from the temple, we swung by the Caudle's to wish Clark a Happy 11th Birthday.

 On Friday evening, Jan. 19th, we had a nice Stake Appreciation Dinner for all the Bishops and their wives, and all the High Council and their wives, about 45 of us in the home of Trent & Sheryl Westover. Ward Conferences and member visits are keeping Crismon busy. We’re grateful we can serve together. I have just been called as a Gospel Doctrine teacher, so this will be a new opportunity for me.

The Stake Women’s Conference was the next morning. They had a special guest, Garth Smith, from CA who put on a beautiful program. He arranges hymns and has a visual presentation that goes along with the hymns that he plays. He performed for us Friday evening as well, and it was a very uplifting time together. I was one of four sisters that were asked to speak at the Women’s Conf. My topic was Service and Charity. Crismon spoke briefly at the end. At the breakfast I enjoyed sitting by Linda Johns, Gary's Mom. She and her husband have been serving as missionaries in our area. Wonderful people!

Right after the Stake Women's Conference I went to Vancouver to tend the Vance children.  Ondalynn & Gary went to Los Cobos for a short getaway. Gratefully, Crismon was able to be with me some of the time. It’s nice to have this one-on-one time with these good kids. 

I’m grateful that Crismon and I can serve together in the temple each week. We have felt a sweetness in our marriage through that temple service. I’m grateful I have the privilege of being a recorder for the first half of my shift.

Vivi’s husband, Brett, has been working in the Seattle area during the week, and then home on the weekends, opening up a new Tech Academy there. He earned a trip for his family to Disneyland. They were there last week and Vivi was so excited that she happened to run in to cousin Rachel Peck and Emma McBride. 

Jan. 28th we had a family dinner at our home with the Caudle’s and the Vance’s. We were able to all meet for lunch as it was a Regional Stake Conf. that morning. Then, Crismon had a Coordinating Council meeting for four hours with the Area Seventy, Elder Blunck.

Tender Mercies of the Lord

As I begin writing my thoughts this early morning, I'm sitting in our living room, enjoying our Christmas tree shining brightly, some presents wrapped under the tree, the lights on the mantle, Christmas Choral Classics playing on the Pandora channel and some quiet time before the rest of the world awakes.  A glorious, beautiful time of the year. Crismon and I have seen the Lord's hand in our lives a number of times over the last several weeks. I feel a great desire to remember them.

The other day, we were serving in the temple. Before leaving that morning, I had pulled out the envelope in Crismon's temple suit jacket and reviewed the names we had for temple sealings to make sure we didn't have any duplicates. We had a number of names that needed sealing, but we hadn't done sealings for some time. We usually do some temple service after our Wednesday temple assignment on the midshift. Before our devotional started we talked about what we should do that day. I mentioned we had sealings to do, but didn't know that we could do it as we hadn't scheduled it ahead of time. Turns out that we could do the sealings, but to our surprise and joy we learned that it was Dennis Baird's first time, as a new sealer, to do sealings at just that same time.

Crismon had felt impressed that Bro. Baird would make a good sealer while Bro. Baird was speaking at his mother-in-laws funeral. He had called Pres. Watts, a counselor in the temple presidency and shared his impression with him. Thus, the process began in Bro. Baird being called as a sealer. He also needed to be approved by the First Presidency. Crismon didn't even know that he had been called, so this was a most wonderful surprise.

When I mentioned to Bro. Baird how nice it was to be the first ones for him to do sealings, he shared how he had felt anxious as he approached this first assignment, but when he saw Crismon come in, he knew he was being blessed and that there are no coincidences with the Lord and his timing. He did so well. It was a special time for us to share this new experience with him, as well as doing sealings for our own family names.

Another tender mercy came the day after Thanksgiving. We had talked a week earlier about having a family baptism session with Seth and Tiffany's three older boys, Jackson, Addison and Preston, and Ondalynn and Gary, Sydney and Julia. No one had gotten around to schedule a time for the day after Thanksgiving. Finally Dad called the temple, and there were only a few openings, for very early morning, or 5 pm that day. Seth's family were hoping for an early appointment that afternoon, but decided to go ahead with the 5 pm one. I stayed in the Visitor's Center with Bryson and Asher while the others were in the temple. But left about 5:30 pm to get ready for the 6 pm temple session that we had decided to do. Crismon and I were so surprised to that in that session was Jacob Cuevas, a young man preparing to leave on his mission. His mother, Leslie, and his grandmother Mary Lindhorst, have been special friends of ours. Crismon was Mary's home teacher for many years when we were in the same ward before the boundary changes. Leslie's husband died suddenly about 10 months ago or so. Crismon has been a tremendous support to Mary over the years. When Mary's husband had died suddenly about 25 years ago, Crismon was the first one Mary called.

Jacob has felt close to Pres. Lewis, and when their family was moving out of the stake, Jacob didn't want to move as he wanted Pres. Lewis to set him apart as a missionary. A few weeks or so ago, Jacob had mentioned to Crismon in passing after a Sacrament meeting when his Endowment session was. Crismon didn't have a way of writing it down at just that moment and it had slipped his mind. But when we found ourselves in that Endowment session that evening, and realized that that is the most important thing we could be doing at that very important, we knew the Lord had a hand in our being there. Mary kept saying to me in the celestial room, Crismon has always been there for me at all the important times in my life. We didn't know how to tell her at that moment, and it was by happen chance that we were there, but later when she was bearing her testimony in her Damascus Ward, and Crismon was on the stand, she spoke again of the many tender mercies that had happened at Jacob's Endowment session, and referred to someone who was always there for her, then turned and looked at Crismon. He got up at the end of the meeting and said, "It is the Lord that was aware of Mary, and He had put us there at that session." We were so very thankful for the Lord's goodness in making sure we were there in the temple that evening for that special evening with their family. Truly a tender mercy.

A month ago, Jennifer Stagg, shared in her testimony about Bruce Rotolo, a man in our ward that joined the church a number of years ago. They were assigned to Home Teach him. She mentioned that after he was baptized, someone in the ward had bought him a gift subscription of the Ensign magazine. (We happened to be the ones that ordered the Ensign for him, but others don't know). He told of that first issue of the Ensign arriving on a particularly difficult day. He opened it and he found an article that he desperately needed that day. He marveled to think that someone had written that article awhile ago, it happened to be printed in that issue, and that magazine happened to be delivered to him on that very day that he needed it so much. There are no coincidences with the Lord.

Crismon and I usually go together to visit stake members in need on Monday evenings. We have our FHE on Sunday nights and do visits the next evening. About ten days ago Crismon went on his own to visit Bro. Henderson, a man from the Estacada Ward who was dying of cancer. When he arrived at the hospital and went to the door, in his mind he thought it said that that door was closed at 5 pm. He wasn't sure how to get to the right entrance. He happened to ask some men, who were smoking, in the parking lot how to get to a certain area of the hospital. The man said he was going to the same place and he would take him. Amazingly, it turns out they were both there to visit the same person. This man was a nephew to Bro. Henderson, but he was like a Dad to him as his father had died years earlier. It was especially interesting to learn that this man was a member of the church, but had been less active for year. We knew it had been the hand of the Lord directly Crismon to speak with this man and make that connection with him. Sadly, Bro. Henderson died the next morning.

Our grandson, Addison was turning 14 on Sunday, Nov. 26th. Crismon made arrangement for his Sunday meetings to be scheduled at a different time so we could go to Eugene for Addison's ordination. Because we were gone on that Sunday, Crismon and his counselors, and Executive Secretary, Brian Schumacher, held their presidency meeting the following Thursday. This meant that Brian needed to get a substitute for his temple shift in the Baptistry. He asked Scott Hansen to substitute for him. He in the baptistry that evening came Tess Morgan and her siblings. They gathered around the baptistry for the baptism of their father. This was especially touching for Bro. Hansen as he had been a good friend of their's for years. It was just meant to be that he was there for this special temple experience for the Morgan family. They went on to do all of his work for him that evening. Again, the Lord's hand was in our lives, making all the details of our lives come together at just the right moment in time.

So many of these tender mercies were due to being in the temple. I have found that our temple service has blessed our lives so much. We feel a greater love for each other, we feel an added measure of peace in our lives, we feel great contentment with our lives and circumstances, although we have challenges, we seem better able to handle them.

Jan. 7, 2018
Crismon was attending the Powell Valley Ward Fast & Testimony meeting. He was so happy to see Matt & Brandi Sims there. We had visited them about 6 weeks ago. They have been less active for a number of years. I do't know if our visit made a difference or not, but we are so grateful they came to church. Matt bore his testimony and talked about a prompting he had to come back to church. He felt a desire to take his wife to the temple and the spirit they felt just walking on the temple grounds. I remember when we visited them, their little daughter about 8 years of age was sitting on the church a little ways away from me. While we were there, she kept moving closer and closer to me. By the end she was sitting close to me. I couldn't help thinking that she felt the spirit with us there and it was a new feeling for her and I felt she was responding to it in that way.

Feb. 4, 2018
Today I taught the Gospel Doctrine Class for the first time in this new assignment. I did it for about 3 years before about 10 years ago, or so. I was very nervous, and I was way too stressed over it than I should have been. I resolved not to be that nervous again, as it was just not good, and not trusting in the Lord. I wanted to record a wonderful tender mercy for me as I was able to give my lesson and not be in pain. In fact, I felt good, and strong and without pain the entire day until I got home from church. It was then that I started to feel pain. This was definitely a little miracle to me as I'm always in pain. This was a testimony to me that the Lord was mindful of me, and He was there to sustain me. I know this may not happen again, but it gave me that assurance that the Lord was aware of me and my needs and He blessed me greatly that day. I felt the love and support of the class as they could tell that I felt unsure about everything, and they were good to encourage me along.