Baptism of Maverick Roy Rasband (February 24, 2024)

Utah happenings

Before we left for Georgia we had a big snowstorm.  The Vances were hit hard in Logan.  Todd was extremely happy with the car that Matt built in the snow for him.  Now that we're back from Georgia we're getting hit again with snowstorms.  They're beautiful and we need the water, but I think we're about ready for spring.

It was Tom's birthday on the 21st.  Adrienne made the effort to take her family to the grave on his birthday to send balloons off to Tom.  Roy and I went on Friday night (March 1),  right before a big wind and snowstorm so it was pretty cold.  We didn't stay long.  Gunnar wants to go back when it's warmer and do a clean-up job on the grave stone. He's sweet to think of serving that way.

Jennie, Caitlyn, Me and Roy at the play "Clue" at Hale Center Theater.  

Trip to Georgia for Mav's baptism

On Saturday morning, Beverly had a her ballet class.  We tried to get there 10 minutes early to see her dance, but because of a little misdirection, we made it just as the last dance was ending.  She obviously loves dancing.  Elise videoed a clip for us.

Andy, Elise, Mav, Catharine and Roy

Maverick's baptism day was wonderful.  Grandpa Jackson gave the talk on baptism and Grandpa Roy gave the talk on receiving the Holy Ghost.   Maverick was very excited for this most special gift.  Me and Elise were witnesses.  I told Mav I was honored that he would ask me to do this as I've never had the opportunity before.  I really felt the spirit as I witnessed this beautiful ordinance.  Mav's other grandma did the refreshments.  She loves making sugar cookies and even sells them because she does such a beautiful job.  Mav was excited to have her cookies, shaped as the # 8 and beautifully decorated.  She also provided fruit and a cheese plate.  It was a very nice event.

                                          Maverick                                          Andy and Maverick

Bevy

Refreshments!

Maverick with Max and his neighbors/friends, these three boys are all brothers;  Bevy and Harvey

Mav shaking his grandpa's hand

While staying at the hotel (we offered to stay in a hotel because Andy's parents were also in Georgia for the baptism) we met a hotel worker at breakfast and had a long conversation.  Of course, since she was working she kept getting interrupted, but she chose to return to continue with her questions.  She had a lot of misinformation about the church and Utah in general.  She knew enough about the church to ask if we believed black people were cursed.  We told her that it is all about personal righteousness and we don't believe that the color of our skin has anything to do with our standing before the Lord. We answered all her questions the best that we could.  When I told her we believed that all mankind may be saved, she balked.  She seriously wanted her life ending to be permanant, even asking us how we felt about suicide.  Her parents are atheists and she said she basically followed them but then said that she felt she was a "spiritual person."  She has several siblings and she said they'd all agreed together to have this generation be the end.  None of them wanted to have children to continue their line; however, her brother had broken this pact.  I told her this was the saddest life philosophy I'd ever heard.  She said, "You think so?  I'm content.  I just want to do the same things every day and then die and be done."  I thought it was interesting that she was curious enough about our religion to return over and over to ask another question.

                                  Lunch and a tour of a slave plantation

Roy had a traditional southern plate of catfish with fried okra.  Elise and I had salads.

On Monday, after lunch, we toured a plantation.  The first  picture with Harvey is inside the slave quarters.  The windows were added long after slaves lived here.  Even after slavery ended, people still lived here as servants.  The system was not very fair; there was almost no way the servants could make enough money to survive on their own elsewhere. During the slavery era, the slaves would get locked inside these buildings at night to prevent run-aways.  They would often have up to 10 people in a room; usually members of the same family.  At this plantation (and probably others as well) the slave owners wanted to keep families together because they wanted the slaves to have children to increase their wealth and ownership.  This particular slaveholder was not a good man (I'm guessing that not many slaveholders were). He had several children from a few of the slave women/girls.  He also molested 4 of his own nieces which ruined their chances for marriage and children of their own.  He had several busts of famous men in his office.  He also placed a bust of himself in between all the others, obviously thinking very highly of himself.  He kept a record of all of his deeds (misdeeds), which is how the historians knew so much about him.  Harvey patiently accompanied us.  It had to be pretty boring for him.

Harvey loves dress-ups.  When we went to the plantation he wore a leather glove on one hand the whole afternoon.

Happy Birthday to my mother on February 26.  I miss her.  I wish all my children could have known her better.  None of my grandchildren know her (in this life) at all, as she died 6 years before Hyeji and Gunnar were born.  I am grateful to know that I will see both of my parents and Tom again (This past Feb. 15 was the 9th anniversary of my dad's passing).

Home again!

       

Cam and Yuli after school (picture taken by Sara);  Yuna in her fourth grade program about Utah history.  She represented the Chinese immigrants who came and worked on the railroad.

During the snowstorm, Catilyn, Ori, Yuna and I watched Disney on Ice, featuring (appropriately) Frozen for part one and Encanto for part two.  Thankfully, Caitlyn did the driving because I would have been a nervous wreck with the snow and then trying to find parking.  Yuna and Ori came home with us and stayed the night.  We went to church together Sunday morning.

The Layton temple in the snow
and Ollie with Cub having a Sunday afternoon nap.

Below is an excert from Phil's letter last week. 

Tragedy struck in Eldoret this week and one story made international news. Kelvin Kiptum, 24, world record holder and winner of the 2023 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:00.35, died in a car accident. He was driving outside of town about 11:00 p.m. when he lost control of the car, ran into a ditch, and hit a tree. His coach died with him. A woman in the back seat is in critical condition. Eldoret is at high altitude (6,857’) and is a renowned training base for elite long-distance runners. I have writen about a 26-year-old woman named Zulfa before, and how the Church and the self-reliance program have changed her life. Her brother has been staying with her. This week, on his way home from work, he was mugged and badly beaten. I don’t know if either one of these incidences involved alcohol, but they made me think of a talk given by President Gordon B. Hinckley at BYU in 1998 entitled The Quest for Excellence. He talked, among other things, about seeing a young man in prison, his life’s hopes dashed, because he was in an accident while under the influence of alcohol and two girls died. He admonished his audience to seek a more excellent way. He said that Christ is our greatest example.

“You will find your greatest example in the Son of God. I hope that each of you will make Him your friend while you are here and ever after. I hope you will strive to walk in His paths—extending mercy, blessing those who struggle, living with less selfishness, reaching out to others. He is the greatest example of excellence in all the world. He condescended to come to earth under the most humble of circumstances. He grew up as the son of Joseph the carpenter. He struggled with the adversary on the Mount of Temptation. He came forth resplendent and beautiful and magnificent to teach the world. During His brief ministry He brought more of truth, more of hope, more of mercy, more of love than anyone else who has walked the earth. He died on Calvary’s cross for each of us. He arose the third day, the first fruits of them that slept, bringing the promise of resurrection to all mankind and the hope of exaltation to all who would walk in obedience to His teachings. He was the great paragon of righteousness, the only perfect man ever to walk the earth. His was the wondrous example toward whom each of us might point our lives in our eternal quest for excellence."