The Prophet

I remember when Spencer W. Kimball came, I was only six, but I remember. I don't remember anything he said, but I know that I saw a prophet. In August 1998 when Gordon B. Hinckley came to Hamilton I was excited to go and listen to a prophet. I don't remember what he said, but I remember his wife saying that we needed to do something to grow our testimony each day - those words have stayed with me, even twenty years later.

When we were told the prophet - now Russell M. Nelson was coming to Hamilton I was excited. Excited for me, but also so excited for my girls. It's one thing to see the prophet through video link, it's quite another to be literally in his presence.

The girls were excited to go see the prophet. Everything was so well organized. We were given maps and parking passes. The doors were to open at 4:30 and the conference/meeting would begin at 6. We left a little later then we planned to, we missed the parking lot the first time, and by the time we got there, the arena was nearly full. We were able to find five seats, three in front, and two behind and my girls were able to see the prophet. It was a beautiful, beautiful meeting. It was so uplifting and so inspiring. Every time I think about it my eyes fill with tears and I'm just so thankful for a prophet, and so thankful that he came to visit us.

The area seventy and his wife spoke, as did Elder Andersen and his wife, and then the prophet and his wife. These are the notes that I took.

Sister Shelley Bennett - sometimes we only see the trials, we have to have faith

Elder Randall K. Bennett - when he was six, he sat and listened to a prophet - bore witness and gave testimony about Joseph Smith and the Savior - do better, become better

Sister Kathy Andersen - testimony - I know my redeemer lives - story of Pres. Nelson, was encouraged in a meeting to learn Chinese, he's prayed for 40 years for the Chinese people - follow the prophet, a way will be opened, nothing is impossible

Elder Neil L. Andersen - Friday, Winnepeg, Saturday, Montreal - Jan 14 2018, stood in the circle, Dallin H Oaks, ordained and set apart Russell M Nelson as the prophet, testified of the prophet - Priesthood - there would be a gathering, all things as one in Christ - we sometimes may overly associate the priesthood with men, if a man walks into a room and opens the curtain to let in the light, he doesn't own the sunlight, he doesn't own the warmth - do we use priesthood blessings the way we need to? (story of a visit to a family in New Jersey) - we all need the blessings of the priesthood - 2002, area presidency in Brazil, he got a blessing from Elder Nelson before leading a meeting, we have the priesthood of God, let us not diminish that power

Sister Wendy Nelson - born in Raymond - spoke of the devotional to the youth - the preparation and the assault from the adversary, the fight with sin is real - Hymn, Where Can I turn for Peace - where can I run?, March 31 - peace - overwhelming peace - a sacred witness given to her, twice, the exact same way before her husband was sustained as the prophet - she could get on any witness stand and testify that he is a prophet - the Lord instructs his prophet - he - the prophet is wakened in the night to receive revelation - at almost 94, he is becoming more and more who he was meant to be - was fore-ordained to be a prophet - words of Bruce R. McConkie - quote about Spencer W. Kimball, but she applied it to her husband - He knew and worshiped the Lord Jehovah, who was “like unto God.” (Abr. 3:24.) He was a friend of Adam and Enoch. He took counsel from Noah and Abraham. He sat in meetings with Isaiah and Nephi. He served in the heavenly kingdom with Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. - bore powerful testimony about how her husband receives revelation - the prophet is to gather Israel on both sides of the veil - what would we be prompted to do, or not do, if we prayed to draw closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus - we need to be His Saints

President Russell M. Nelson
- Teach children to pray - they really can communicate with Heavenly Father
- Teach them about Jesus, teach them Jesus established this church
- the name of the church - correct errors, this is the Church of Jesus Christ
- Teach children why we partake of the sacrament - why the bread, why the water
- Teach them this is the restored Church of Jesus Christ - to collect scattered Israel
- The first draft of the Book of Mormon manuscript was printed - quill of a turkey feather, no punctuation, beautiful script - Oliver Cowdry sent by the Lord to help translate - April 7, 1829 - 65 working days on translating, Joseph Smith also received 12 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, they translated about nine pages/day - when Pres Hinckley encouraged people to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year - translation took less time - Orson Pratt changed verses to what we recognize today (1876?)
- Read the Scriptures to your children - start with the stories (listed Old Testament stories, let them get into the real text, Father's you need to read - your children need to hear your voice reading the scriptures (they've already memorized the sound of their mother's voice)
- Let children receive Father's blessings - a great purpose of the church - to strengthen families
- Have pictures of family up in your home
- Help children to qualify to serve a mission
- Children should learn another language - it's good for the mind
- Help them to be worthy to go to the temple - everything leads to the temple
- Help them to be tithe payers - we teach tithing in the poorest nations on the earth - the way to break the cycles of poverty is to pay tithing
- Teach about the Word of Wisdom
- the perilous plague of Pornography - the body has ways of flushing out toxins, but not the mind, the best way to protect the mind is to never let those pictures in - no escape channel - PREVENT
- Help children get all the education they can, it is difficult, but so important, they can be able to help/do good for others
- Teach children to be good citizens, of their country and church
- Children are precious
- Write a letter to each of your children/grand children - your hopes, wishes, testimony, faith
Then he left us with a blessing - feast on His words, apply His words, be exemplary - quiet/calm/considerate disposition, focus on the temple, the blessings there for you - healing blessing in line with God's will - leave his testimony, gather Israel, Love, appreciation for leaders, families, prosper in the land

It was an amazing night. I felt so good, so good to hear the word of the Lord from the mouth of the prophet. The counsel for parents was so uplifting. My heart is still so full as I sit here typing all of my notes. It was such a blessing to be in the same room as the prophet - and his amazing wife Wendy - her powerful testimony of how the prophet receives revelation. Her testimony of him being the prophet, it was powerful. 

I'm thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I thankful for the church, for the leadership, for all that they sacrifice and do to inspire and uplift us. I know that Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God, and I am so thankful that he came to Hamilton to speak to us.

(The pictures were taken from Neil L Andersen's facebook page, and Jim MacDonald's facebook page - I didn't take a picture from where I was sitting - I was on the opposite side from Jim, I wish I'd taken a picture.)

Summer Fun at Home - August 13 - 19

Monday - the annual swim party at Gayla's parents! I think it's so fun that we've been doing this every year since 2012! Gayla and I taught together at Blue Willow P.S. way before either of us had kids. We bonded when she was adopting around the time I got pregnant with Kate. We shared our crazy journeys! I think that Gayla taught for one year at Blue Willow after Jake, but I'm not sure. In any case, her parents house in Richmond Hill has now been the scene of our yearly pool fun. Jennifer Rosenberg who I taught with for a long time, and she went to school with Jonathan, she was able to come today too - so fun. She has the cutest little boy, Seth, who will be two next week. He talked non stop and sang to himself, oh my goodness, happiest little boy. Jake, Liam, Kate, Alice and Fiona played really, really well together for almost four hours... and then it went a little sideways as it does! But all in all, such a great afternoon! Pictures - 2012 - 2017!

 2012

 2013

 2014

 2015

 2016

 2017

And now, this year's pics!

We had a great time, and I'm so glad that Gayla and I took a pic. We need to make that part of the picture taking tradition too! I love traditions!

Tuesday - The Science Centre with the Beitz family!! I almost got there at the same time as Sarah, almost... and she only came from Alliston! Yeesh, leaving the house is not something I'm good at doing in a timely fashion. But seriously, we were stuck for ten minutes turning from Eglinton onto Don Mills - the construction is nuts! The Beitz's were having their lunch when we got there, so we got out the picnic blanket and had a couple of snacks, but my girls weren't all that interested in eating at the time. Next we walked over to the front of the building and watched bottle rockets being launched a few times. It was pretty cool. Then after several trips to the bathroom and waiting, we were ready to play!

 First stop - Kidspark!

Then we left the kids area and were planning to go right into space, but we got incredibly distracted by the machine with all the balls, where one ball falls onto another thing, and then something else is set in motion - I don't what's its called, but the kids were all distracted and playing, and when we were finally ready to go, we were missing a William!

Thankfully he was located in less than a minute, security already having found him, and they had begun looking for Sarah. William stayed close after that, he wouldn't let go of his Mama!

We enjoyed space, and this was where the girls started to connect with each other. Thomas, who is essentially the same age as Kate had brought a friend Mitchell, and Kate looked like she was going to hang out with them, but she never really did, she did her own thing, and we did things together. Abigail and Fiona were really cute together as were Bridget and Alice. At one point we were looking at a moon rock, and Abigail was flabbergasted that it was an actual rock, from the actual moon. It was really cute!

Then we were off down, down, down. We were deciding where to go, when we were approached by some researchers looking for kids 3-5 to participate in a research study. Abigail, Fiona and William participated in the research, and then the rest of the kids became makers, Kate became a wanderer, but the kids were so engaged.

Then we were off to the rain forest.

Then it was late, and my kids hadn't really eaten lunch, so we went back to the lockers, got our food, and sat and ate. Then they started running. They had a really great time. It was sad to pull them away, but I was good to go before the traffic got any worse! We had so much fun with our Beitz friends! Until next time, which hopefully won't be too far away!

Tonight the girls and I watched the last episode of the first season of Little House on the Prairie. We have had so many great conversations, and so much enjoyment from this show.

Wednesday - Lake Wilcox. Yesterday when I was waking up I got a notification that I was added to an event. Sacha added me to a picnic at Lake Wilcox with some other Mom's from Richmond Hill Ward. Lindsey - the Mom who organized it is someone I've known for years, so it was fun to see both of them. It was a stinking hot day, but we were prepared with ice packs in our picnic lunch, and we found a bit of shade, and there's an amazing splash pad. The park at Lake Wilcox has been totally redone in the last few years and it is amazing. The girls had a blast, and even though it was jam packed with kids, we still found a spot to be, and it didn't feel insane.

I've known Sacha since she was two, I was her beehive adviser when she was twelve... I've always loved her to pieces, and I just love that I still get to be part of her life!

Driving home I stayed north for a while. This was our third time in less than a week driving through country-side. Kate and I really appreciated it. It's always so lovely driving through green and not concrete. I do miss living north sometimes - although truly there's lots and lots of green in Ajax, and the lake of course! I had Kate take some pics out the window for fun.

On the way home we picked up Saraliyah for a promised play date. It went sort of well... Kate's little sisters wouldn't leave them alone - which was what was promised! Ah well, wouldn't be fun without fighting - oy! Saraliyah stayed for dinner, then we all went out to take her home and do some errands.

Canadian Tire - goggles, borax, and diving weights! We're exciting to try them out at Grandma's. And then the library to return some books and find Little House on the Prairie season 2. YAY!

Thursday - Zorana and Ciaran day! Well, afternoon really, but we'll take what we can get! We cleaned the front hall this morning, the bathroom, and the sweeping, so much sweeping. The main floor is feeling half peaceful! I still haven't done any organizing of the hutch, kitchen or office... but I still plan to, I think!

Ciaran and Zorana came over mid-afternoon and the children were sent to play, so Zorana and I could chat. It sort of worked, but eventually while the kids were painting rocks, Zorana and I went upstairs to "hide" so we could get a few sentences in without interruption! The kids had fun, and so did we, and like always it just wasn't enough time to visit.

After they left I decided to make quiche for dinner - but didn't turn the oven on... oops! So while we were waiting for the quiche to be finished, after we ate our vegetables, we made slime!

The girls have been asking to make slime forever, so they were in heaven. HEAVEN!

I'm not sure when we first started talking about the Wizard of Oz, but we watched it as a family last night. It was fun, I liked it more than I remembered. It was never a movie I cared for as a kid - perhaps it was too scary, I don't know, but the girls all seemed to enjoy it!

Friday - swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's. I didn't take any pictures today... but I got a fun picture sent to me. While we were making lunch Andrew called because he was in a ditch. He didn't have his CAA number and needed to get towed out. Kelly and I sent a few messages back and forth and she sent me this fun pic of the car.

The girls had a great swim today. Fiona was super brave and did some swimming without her floaties. She really wants to learn how to swim. Next week I'm going to register her for swimming lessons, so I hope we can keep this momentum going until then! We had a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa too.

We came home later than planned, the girls were a little fragile, so Ken picked up Swiss Chalet for dinner and we had a quiet evening at home.

Saturday - sometimes you can't tell if we're going to do something or not. We move very slowly sometimes.

We got some things done and then we hopped in the car, drove to the LRT and after some waiting - problems on the tracks, we were at the ROM. We went to the spider exhibit - the special exhibit on right now. I didn't really care to see it, but Kate wanted to confront her fears so we went. It was interesting, even if I was learning things I didn't want to learn! There was one really awesome thing - this cape. Spiders - I can't remember how many, had their silk taken and from all of this spider silk a cape was made. Then we went upstairs and did the kid stuff we usually do.

Before we got on the subway we had really yummy ice cream on Yorkville. It was so good! Homemade waffle cones too! Sometimes life calls for dessert first!

On the way home we decided to try going out to an Indian Restaurant. The girls like some Indian dishes, and they love rice and na'an. I would say it was a successful venture. We all ate, even though Fiona said she didn't like anything, she ate about half her meal before she started protesting. Zeera by the Bay in Pickering is so yummy!

Originally I was going to post Sunday in here too, but the prophet's visit is just too special - it deserves it's own post!