Still playing

In studying Come Follow Me the past couple of weeks I came across a couple of quotes that I thought worth sharing.   It struck me that many people left the church even in Joseph Smith's time (which made me all the more grateful for faithful ancestors).  When someone was disenchanted with the church for whatever reason (often because Joseph Smith was a man, and not an almost-God), they often became bitter enemies and caused Joseph to suffer immensely.  Today we are seeing people leave the church, too--and sometimes they cannot leave it alone.  Sometimes we have friends or even family that have questions and their faith wavers.  I thought that this first quote was a great way to approach those who come to us with questions.  

"How do we respond to those who seek to tear down the faith of others?"   Lawrence E. Corbridge, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, spoke once about how his assignment as a general authority was to read many of the publications written to attack the faith of Church members.  He noted the endless array of questions raised by those who seek to destroy faith and then offered this counsel: 

"Begin by answering the primary questions.  There are  primary questions and there are secondary questions.  Answer the primary questions first.  Not all questions are equal and not all truths are equal.  The primary questions are the most important.  Everything else is subordinate.  There are only a few primary questions.  I will mention four of them.

1) Is there a God who is our Father?

2) Is Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Savior of the world?

3) Was Joseph Smith a prophet?

4) Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the kingdom of God on the earth?

By contrast, the secondary questions are unending.  They include questions about Church history, polygamy, people of African descent and the priesthood, women and the priesthood, how the Book of Mormon was translated, the Pearl of Great Price, DNA and the Book of Mormon, gay marriage, the different accounts of the First Vision, and on and on.

If you answer the primary questions, the secondary questions get answered too, or they pale in significance and you can deal with things you understand and things you don't and things you agree with and things you don't without jumping ship altogether."

We've spent most of our time at home and in the yard this week, playing catch-up.  We still managed to have some fun with our family:

 Dan and Jieun took us out to dinner one evening.  We went to Full House Chinese Bistro in Park City.  The boat pictured below was for Dan and Jieun, but of course Roy and I had a few bites.  It was mostly sashimi.  The fish was very fresh and the pieces were generous.  It was fun to be with them.  We enjoyed the visit at the restaurant and on the ride to and from Park City.

Crista and Matt

Dad and Matt rode in the Gran Fondo in Logan again this year.  This time they only signed up to do the 35 mile course.  Roy because  he felt like that was what he was in shape to do, and Matt because he had to get home to officiate at a baptism.  The evening before the ride, Crista and Matt took us to dinner at Crumb Brothers.  They don't have a menu, just a theme, and you don't choose your dinner.  The theme was "garden produce" and it was delicious.   We ate a cucumber salad--pretty normal, then a rhubarb and chard salad, very different, but really good.  The main dish was risotto with summer squash and braised beef.  The beef was very tender.  It was a fun place.

risotto with braised beef

The Gran Fondo started at 7:00 am. (earlier for the 70 milers). Matt and Roy were done by 9:30.  Roy said he was actually cold when he started.  It was still cool at 9:30.  It got as hot in Logan as Centerville by the end of the day, but while we were there it was nice and cool.  

Matt's friend Mike, Roy and Matt                      Ruby, Grandma, Bridget and Matt

Roy and Bridget.  A few hours after the Gran Fondo 

                                         we ate lunch at  Great Harvest.  They were sponsers so

                                         Roy and Matt got free sandwiches.  

Sunday evening we were invited to Jennie and Jordan's for dinner.  They had tended all five of Dan and Jieun's kids for the weekend and apparently loved it.  I was surprised Jennie still had energy to fix dinner.  

The 2nd quote I thought would be good to share is taken from commentary on section 68 in the D&C.  I relate it to the first quote in that we are always trying to share our testimony--sometimes to those who have doubts, as in the first quote, and often to those we care about most--our own children (2nd quote). It is so important to share our feelings with our children, and more importantly, to teach them.  In section 68 in the D&C the Lord gives instruction on parenting (The commentary is from Book of Mormon Central--attributed to the Joseph Smith papers).

 "Children become weak and helpless, powerless to act for themselves but are inately divine. Children can be enpowered to act for themselves if properly parented.  Out of love, God empowers his children to act as he acts.  God empowers his children by teaching them law, beginning with the law of the gospel.  If children are not taught God's laws as they mature, they will never have agency or power to act for themselves.  Teaching children the law of the gospel is a prerequisite to their gaining the ability to choose and act for themselves.

Teaching children the laws of God does not guarantee they will keep them.  It does guarantee that they will be able to choose for themselves whether to keep them.  Parents who do not teach and therefore do not endow the children with agency will answer to God for deciding for the children rather than empowering them to choose for themselves." 

Thank you to all my children for teaching their children the gospel.  I remember seeing something on Youtube where someone had a picture of Christ and was asking various children, "Who is this?"  Most of them did  not recognize him at all.  I know if my grandchildren were shown that picture, they would immediatley answer that it was Jesus.  

Dad and I love all of you.  It's been fun to spend so much time with family this summer.  

Avie got her birthday present early since
Roy and I will be gone.  Apparently she is
insisting she sleep in her new sleeping bag.

I won't be writing anything for the next three weeks.  Next weekend we'll be in Augusta to witness Max' baptism.  We'll make sure we get a great picture of him to congratulate him on this important step.  The following two Sundays we'll be in Iceland.  I'm sure I'll have a lot to share in the next letter.