The Beauty of Winter

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I dislike winter. I don't like being cold, I don't like wet feet and I don't like driving on slick roads. But I do like snuggling under a warm blanket and drinking hot chocolate, and I especially like the beauty of winter - Mother Nature outdoes herself with winter landscapes. These are a few of my favorites so far this winter. . .

Front side of Mount Timpanogos

Back side of Mount Timpanogos

Mountain Snows

Ice Castle in Midway

Tree in our Front Yard

Retirement?

Charlie's official last day of work was Friday, January 17, 2014, so this past week has been his first "official" week of retirement.  So far it seems a little surreal - kind of like he is on vacation and this will all come to an end soon.  But at the same time, it was wonderful having him home all week.  We took in a movie, went to the temple, watched grandkids, and set some goals for what we would like to accomplish now that he no longer has to clock in everyday.  Some of the things we would like to accomplish are:

*  Attend the temple more often
*  Write our personal histories
*  Spend more time with family
*  Visit Will and his family in Florida
*  Serve missions - Service and proselyting
*  Take more Cruises- some of the places we would like to see are:
         Panama Canal
         Eastern Caribbean
         Asia
         The Baltic
         The Mediterranean
         South America
*  Travel by car - some of the places we would like to see are:
          Church History sites
           Fall leaves in the northeast
           San Antonio
           Chicago Blues Festival
           Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
*  Commit to a regular exercise routine
*  Charlie would like to become more proficient on the guitar
*  Patti would like to become more proficient at quilting and sewing

I don't know if we will be able to accomplish all of these goals or not, but the main reason we wanted Charlie to retire at age 62 was so that we would be healthy enough to still enjoy life and be able to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He might see fit to use us.

      

Miracles Do Happen!

Last night was our "Adult" meeting of Stake Conference, President Vaughn Peterson, 2nd Counselor in our Stake Presidency, gave a wonderful talk on "Listening to the Spirit".  He began by relating a story about a time when, as a teenager, he and some friends were skiing at Sundance.  They were heading downhill through some trees at a very fast pace, and as they neared the bottom they were supposed to turn out onto the main trail.  President Peterson saw a shadow near the bottom of the hill and decided that instead of turning out to the main trail he would just ski through the shadow and beat everyone to the bottom of the hill.  As soon as he had that thought, though, another thought immediately entered his mind to "turn out".  He told himself, no, he wasn't going to turn out he would just ski through the shadow.  Again, the thought came to "turn out".  As he drew closer to the "shadow" he was frightened to see a huge cement block, and was barely able to miss it by "turning out" as he had been inspired to do.  Had he not listened to the Spirit and "turned out" he would surely have been killed.

He then related a more recent story of listening to the Spirit.  He related a story that happened while he was serving as Bishop just a few years ago.  He was visiting one of his Ward members in a rehab center, when he learned that another person who lived in his Ward was also in the rehab center.  This person was not a member of the Church, but he decided to pay a visit anyway.  As they talked, he came to realize that he had first met this person when he was in high school and she worked in the library at that same school.  They reminisced awhile about the past and as he was leaving he thought to himself that it was sad that this person would never have the Gospel in her life.  Almost as soon as he thought that, another thought came into his mind, almost like a voice he said, telling him "No, she will have the Gospel in her life!"  Immediately, he felt that he should return to the rehab center and share this with this woman, but again he heard the Spirit tell him that now was not the time, he was to be patient and wait.

Well, long story short, almost 18 months passed when President Peterson was impressed that now was the time.  He called at her home twice, but she wasn't home.  The third time he called; however, she was home and she graciously invited him in.  He related to her the impression that he had received nearly 18 months prior as he visited with her in the rehab center and then she related to him that she had had a dream a few nights prior to his visit.  In that dream she was frantically looking for her Baptism certificate, but never found it.  She then realized that it was a sign from the Lord that NOW was the time for her to be baptized, and President Peterson's visit only confirmed it.

Well, she began meeting with the Sister Missionaries, and on November 3, 2013, my mother, Dorothy Keele Larsen, was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Charlie & Mom



Five Years to the Day . . .

Charlie and I have been called to serve as missionaries at the Heber Valley Camp beginning this April.  I thought it would be great to keep track of our mission experience here on our blog; however, as you can see from the date of the last posting, it has been exactly 5 years to the day since I last updated our blog - my how time flies!

 

Since I figured it would take me some time to reacquaint myself with the ins and outs of blogging, I decided to start now instead of April.  I will start out slow and build up, to hopefully, blogging daily while we are on our mission.