Seek and Expect Miracles

Seek and Expect Miracles

President Nelson has asked us to increase the spiritual momentum in our lives.  In his talk The Power of Spiritual Momentum, he said, 

"Seek and expect miracles.

Moroni assured us that “God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.”²¹ Every book of scripture demonstrates how willing the Lord is to intervene in the lives of those who believe in Him.²² He parted the Red Sea for Moses, helped Nephi retrieve the brass plates, and restored His Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Each of these miracles took time and may not have been exactly what those individuals originally requested from the Lord.

In the same way, the Lord will bless you with miracles if you believe in Him, “doubting nothing.”²³ Do the spiritual work to seek miracles. Prayerfully ask God to help you exercise that kind of faith. I promise that you can experience for yourself that Jesus Christ “giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”²⁴ Few things will accelerate your spiritual momentum more than realizing the Lord is helping you to move a mountain in your life."

We have been experiencing miracles and tender mercies in our family.  We are specifically seeing tender mercies with our sweet grandson Zack.  This past week Crista finally got some news that lifted her spirits.  She took Zack to Shriner's Hospital to see what had to be done with Zack's club feet.  She said that the doctor came in, took one look at Zack's feet and said, "These are not club feet." He told her that Zack has a condition called metatarsis aductis, which means his feet are a little turned.  He will still need a few castings, but the condition is not nearly as serious as club feet, which would have required scraping his Achilles tendon and having boots till he turns four.  Plus, club feet have a possibility of relapse after treatment.  All of us are so relieved and grateful.  The doctor also said that there was no hurry to cause Zack more pain than he is already dealing with, so they can put any treatment on his feet off for a couple of months.

Some other good news:  The pediatrician does not see any signs of muscle weakness, and Zack is gaining weight well.  Also, when Zack was born, his head size was off the charts.  It is now in the 80 percentile and is in much better proportion to his body size.  

We continue to pray for miracles and tender mercies in all of our lives. 

Enjoying the Grandchildren

This week we had several events with grandchildren involved.  We had tickets to Elf at the Hale Center Theater and we loved every minute of it.  Ila and Finn were the lucky grandchildren that got to go with us this time.  Ila said her favorite part was seeing the "real" Santa Claus.  

Ila, Finn, Roy and Catharine

Gunnar had a choir program.  Roy went and heard him sing while I stayed home and did my institute class.  I have one more before the end of the semester and I have loved every minute of it.  I'm excited to teach Book of Mormon next semester.  That's also what we will be studying in Come Follow Me.  I'm ready to immerse myself in studying for both gospel doctrine classes and institute.

Roy, Finn, Adrienne, Ollie, Ila, Gunnar, Mark and Lisa Green, Cub, and AJ

Caitlyn and Ori did a wonderful job in the Christmas Ice Show this year.  They had great support, too, with Dan's family, Nick's family, and Dallin, all present to cheer them on.

Lots of support for Caitlyn and Ori; Cait and Ori in their ice show costumes

Lastly, we were able to watch Yuna in her gymnastics recital.  She performed on the floor, the vault, the bars and the beam, so we were able to get a good idea of her progress.  

Yuna performed at the same venue where Cam and Yuli performed last week.  I mentioned that I didn't know who the little blond girl was in the picture I used.  The little blond girl is Nova Oblad, Bryant's daughter.

After Yuna's performance and a much needed nap, we picked up Yuna.  She went with us to do some Christmas shopping and we bought some "Everbowl" for dinner.  She helped us pick out some of the Christmas presents for the grandchildren.  Ori arrived to join us in the middle of a Netflix movie and popcorn.  Luckily, she'd already seen at least some of the movie.  Ori and Yuna stayed the night and went to church with us this morning.  They are currently doing service by wrapping up some of our  Christmas purchases. 

Ori and Yuna, Sunday morning before church

Cooking with Nick and Sara

For our Christmas gift this year, Nick and Sara gave us an "experience gift."  We went with them to the Harmons in Traverse Mountain and learned how to make Empanada's.  We really enjoyed the experience, and the company!  Below are some pictures of the event.

Cait's skate video

I'm going to try and add Ori's skating video to next week's letter because I was having technical difficulties tonight.  Sadly, about 5 people walked in front of Sara while she was videoing Ori.