We had a great opportunity today. Over 200 Stakes gathered to hear from leaders in our Church. There was some terrific counsel. A few things especially stuck with me.
One of the speakers spoke about a Book of Mormon scripture in Jacob 5:65. The phrase he addressed was this "and ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once," He equated that to opposition. He indicated that it was instructive that we cannot have all of the opposition eliminated so that we could remain strong. It makes sense that it is usually the opposition that drives us to our knees.
Elder Hallstrom reminded us of the growth we have seen in the church. Elder Ballard then made us laugh when he said that hearing about all of that explained why he (Elder Ballard) was so tired. I really loved his analogy about the Sequoia trees that were planted at BYU. They have a life expectancy of hundreds of years, yet one tree died. The arborist wanted to know why. When he investigated, he found that some construction that had been done nearby had changed the aquifer and the tree was unable to reach the water. He compared that to those of us who no longer take advantage of the life-saving gospel. It made me think!
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
There are good lawyers
Being a lawyer has put me in an unenviable position. Lawyers used to be respected and generally were financially well-off. Lawyers no longer are respected. I can't argue the point and I even share in the jokes. My profession deserves it. There are too many in the profession who put money ahead of doing what is right. There are too many who have lost the perspective of honesty ahead of winning cases. They no longer stand in a position to deserve respect.
Fortunately, though, those attorneys do not represent the majority. And, in most of my career, I had the privilege of working with great lawyers. Some are very dear to me. I consider them friends.
One of the good guys is a man named Gary Barr. Gary was an attorney in the Attorney General's Office when I first became acquainted with him. By the time I switched to Child Protection, he had become part of a law firm handling the defense end of those cases. Gary was a good lawyer in skill and in character. He required that I do my job and wasn't afraid to challenge me. Even when he did, though, we still remained friends. He was firm with his clients, very straight with them. Many of them were not used to that and did not understand how lucky they were to have him as their attorney. He made it very clear what the expectations and the results would be.
Gary had a great sense of humor. He used that humor well.
Unfortunately, Gary is no longer with us. He passed away last month. He had been fighting cancer for a while. I was away on our mission when things got bad for him and did not realize it when we returned. The legal profession will miss Gary. I know that I do.
Fortunately, though, those attorneys do not represent the majority. And, in most of my career, I had the privilege of working with great lawyers. Some are very dear to me. I consider them friends.
One of the good guys is a man named Gary Barr. Gary was an attorney in the Attorney General's Office when I first became acquainted with him. By the time I switched to Child Protection, he had become part of a law firm handling the defense end of those cases. Gary was a good lawyer in skill and in character. He required that I do my job and wasn't afraid to challenge me. Even when he did, though, we still remained friends. He was firm with his clients, very straight with them. Many of them were not used to that and did not understand how lucky they were to have him as their attorney. He made it very clear what the expectations and the results would be. Gary had a great sense of humor. He used that humor well.
Unfortunately, Gary is no longer with us. He passed away last month. He had been fighting cancer for a while. I was away on our mission when things got bad for him and did not realize it when we returned. The legal profession will miss Gary. I know that I do.
Returning to life
Returning from our mission has been difficult. I liked living where we did not have to mow a lawn or clean the gutters. It was nice to have someone else responsible for home repairs. Mostly, it was wonderful to be involved in something so great with such great missionaries and members of the Branch.
We miss them so much! It helps when we have reunions of the missionaries and the Mullins family brought Thays from Georgia. I loved those Young Women SOOO much!
It was great to be able to talk to some of our great returned missionaries. Okay, I love them too!
It has been awesome to spend time with family members. We have tried to do a lot of things with our grandchildren. We have found some fun things to do.
We were able to celebrate P2's second birthday. She was born shortly after we left on our mission, so we have been working on being acquainted. It is so fun to watch these little personalities. When we first arrived, P2 did not want anything to do with us. P1 didn't remember us, but enjoyed playing with Jim. He told his parents that he liked "Titan's Grandpa". We get to spend time with them once a week.
We went to Kangaroo Zoo. P2 wasn't too sure about it at first, but by the end she was having fun. P1 loved following Titan around. Titan found a friend and had a great time.
We have spent time at the cabin and have seen the moose there many times. We even had a family day there when we did not work on anything. That is something that we haven't done. There has always been something to work on when we are there.
We also went to the fair. Jim built a treehouse for the grandchildren, a rocket out of cardboard, and went fishing with Titan. We celebrated my mother-in-law's 87th birthday. Those moments are great ones to be treasured forever.
It was great to be able to talk to some of our great returned missionaries. Okay, I love them too!
It has been awesome to spend time with family members. We have tried to do a lot of things with our grandchildren. We have found some fun things to do.
We were able to celebrate P2's second birthday. She was born shortly after we left on our mission, so we have been working on being acquainted. It is so fun to watch these little personalities. When we first arrived, P2 did not want anything to do with us. P1 didn't remember us, but enjoyed playing with Jim. He told his parents that he liked "Titan's Grandpa". We get to spend time with them once a week. 
We went to Kangaroo Zoo. P2 wasn't too sure about it at first, but by the end she was having fun. P1 loved following Titan around. Titan found a friend and had a great time.
We also went to This is the Place Heritage Park. They have really created something wonderful there. There are lots of things for children. They could ride a train, pan for gold, climb on a ship, ride a pony, make a craft and even work with leather. We spent longer there than we expected because there was a lot to do. We will be going back when our other little grandchildren arrive from Canada.
We have spent time at the cabin and have seen the moose there many times. We even had a family day there when we did not work on anything. That is something that we haven't done. There has always been something to work on when we are there.
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