General Conference Weekend

Pictures from September 17-23

Hyeji's lego artwork; Cub smiling for grandma

(Cub looks like Finn in this picture, in fact, I first wrote "Finn smiling for grandma."

Doyeon, Yuna, Roy and Catharine at the Hale Center Theater

Roy was at the cabin again this week. This time to wire the pole barn. He rented the lift in Rock Springs for the day to reach the top of the garage.

It was a work trip, but he stopped to enjoy the beauty just before sundown

Ila at her soccer game--she takes her sports as seriously as her brothers take theirs. I was marveling at their muscles when I saw them on Sunday. They are strong kids.

Avie had a game at the same time as Ila, but Nick hadn't told us about it.
They ran into each other at the game.

I guess Camden is a little camera shy

Cook O Rama and General Conference Weekend

Sept. 24-Oct. 1

We had our annual Cook O Rama this past week. I have some misgivings about this event because we never get very good attendance. A lot of that is our fault because we don't start advertising it very early, but I think it's hard for people to drop everything and go to a "reunion," where they are related to everyone but know hardly anyone.
At this year's Cook O Rama, Dan Ditto stepped down as president, and Marcia Marshall accepted to act as the new president. Marcia is Richard Winterton's daughter. He's my first cousin. She lives in Michigan and so most of our interactions will be through Zoom.
Nan and Bruce came to the event. I love that they come each year. Christine watched on Zoom. The meeting was worthwhile for me--even if it was poorly attended.
We had several speakers this year, but each one was short, so the meeting was just over an hour long.
Our first speaker was Dan D. He told about his years as president of the organization. He is stepping down because of health issues.
Janet Porter talked about Phineas' years in Goshen, Utah, an area that was established by Phineas and where he served as bishop for quite a few years.
Janet let me take her copy of the talk she gave. I asked for a copy because I wanted to share her words with my family.  I'll send a copy of the talk, separately (later), because I think the things she shared are something every descendant of Phineas should hear.
Phineas was perfectly straight-forward. He was not a master at P.R. He had experience enough to know he didn't have the gift to explain or defend hiself. Somehow he always caused misunderstandings...but...he was a humble disciple of Jesus Christ in every circumstance. I think if he were here today he'd say, "Stay faithful to your testimony and your love of Jesus Christ. That way you can get through anything with His power and strength." That's where Phineas' power came from and we are still learning from it. -Janet Porter
After Janet, Brent Hale spoke about his experiences with Family Search, the research he's done, and the miracles that he's seen. He taught a lot about how to use Family Search, but he said that most of what he shared is in the tutorials on the website.
Bryson Cook also spoke. Our genealogy goes back (in Phineas' line) to the 1600s. Bryson has studied as much as he can about Henry Cooke, but we don't have a lot of information, and because of the commonality of his name, we seem to be stuck there. Bryson wrote a book about this and in the book shares as much information as we have, then shares what life would have been like at the time. I bought a copy, but I haven't read through it yet. It's a short book.
Marcia Marshall was the concluding speaker (she and Bryson's talks were videos because they both live outside of Utah). She talked about what has been accomplished in the organization, and what she wants to accomplish in the future. Marcia has a lot of energy, so I'm sure we'll accomplish a lot in the next several years.

Immediately prior to the Cook O Rama, I had my 45 minute Zoom gathering with my institute class. It went well, but I need to figure out how to increase the participation. Thankfully there are a couple of students willing to speak out. I have to admit I was a little nervous, knowing that I needed to finish my class, then get to the Cook O Rama in time to conduct the meeting. Everything worked out.

Friday morning we left for Manila to spend Conference weekend at the cabin. Caitlyn and Dallin had asked if they could use the cabin over the weekend, and we told them that we would be there, but that they were welcome. They got to the cabin Thursday night and had half a day to enjoy before we arrived. It was fun spending time with them. They were a great help with getting the boat winterized. Dad has always paid someone to do it, but now we have Dallin!

And, what an amazing, spiritually uplifting Conference weekend! I was particularly touched by Elder Ballard's testimony. He is 95 years old. He said that he couldn't read the teleprompter anymore and his eye doctor told him, "Well, your eyes are old."
Elder Eyring also bore a sweet testimony. He addressed his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I felt that both of them know they may not be here much longer. I trust, love and respect the witnesses that Heavenly Father has put in place on this earth to witness of Him, and to help me find direction in my life.
I was also touched and inspired by President Nelson (who had suffered a fall on Sept. 11, 2 days after his 99th birthday, injuring his back). He missed most of conference, but gave the concluding talk. He didn't mince words, asking us to be better. He mentioned addictions of any kind, even the ones we dismiss of not being serious and not really mattering. He said as we give in to addictions, we give up some of our freedom. We also make that addiction our god. "Please do not let an obsession rob you of the freedom to follow God's fabulous plan." We are preparing now, with every choice we make, for our eternity. He said that our choices will determine three things, where you live throughout eternity, the kind of body with which you will be resurrected, and those with whom you will live forever.
He also announced several new temples. The work goes on.

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
― Joseph Smith Jr.

Pictures from the week of September 24-October 1

Roy dropped off Nick, Sara and kids for their trip to Florida with the Pederson
family. They left at night, hoping their kids would sleep on the plane. I'm not
sure how that turned out for them.

For darling pictures from their trip, check out Sara's instagram posts.

Adrienne never sends picutres, so I stole this one off Facebook.
Ila and Adrienne in Lake Powell

Jordan's pretty proud of his baby and sends pictures to the clan fairly often. This one was sent by
Jennie. Foster fell asleep on her own because her blanket was warm from the dryer.