Talk in Church and Article to Read.

Last Sunday, January 22, I had the opportunity to give a wee talk in Sacrament Meeting. I used an old Limmerick as the basis of my talk: "As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives, each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, wives, how many were going to St. Ives?" I then said how often we get caught up in worrying about the wrong things. We spend time trying to figure out how many were going when the simple answer is there all along. Of course only 1 person was going to St. Ives.

Often in our lives we also get trapped going the wrong way. When we should be focusing on our testimony of Jesus Christ and on the atonement in our lives, instead of all the many things we can be busy with.

As we were home teaching Brother Bradley we discussed an article in the new BYU Magazine on page 36, called "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brother Brad Wilcox. He gave this devotional address on July 12, 2011. "http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2968". It can also be found at speeches.byu.edu. This is an amazing article and really clarifies the topic of Grace and the Atonement. I was so impressed and feel like this talk is one that I want to keep with my scriptures and read occasionally.

New Year 2012

For our New Year's Party, we had an enjoyable evening at Williamsburg! We had fun with a gathering on the 2nd floor. There were about 45 people at the party. We played some games and ate yummy goodies: Cheese and crackers, lemonade, fruits and veggies and then cookies. It was fun to relax with each other and get a chance to visit. What a good way to welcome in the year of 2012. Every hour we celebrated midnight somewhere in the world, with cheers and noisemakers.

Christmas Day

We had a lovely Christmas Day! I spent the whole weekend working, which was kind of fun as I got to wear all of my different Christmas scrubs and earrings. The whole department was decorated with fun decorations on the doors and windows, it was great. We went to Church at the Cache 1st Branch at Williamsburg Retirement Center and had a wonderful Musical program with lots of hymns. It really set a wonderful spirit. After we came home we opened presents, had a nice lunch and then settled down for a "long winter's nap", until it was time for work again. It was great to receive all of the fun treats from neighbors and friends. We had yummy peppermint coated pretzels, a spicy candle, caramel popcorn, the most heavenly, melt in the mouth fudge, spiced nuts, jerky, a book about the eternal significance of Zion's Camp and an awesome book about the construction of the Logan Temple.

Christmas cards

We received lots of Christmas cards and online Christmas wishes this year. It was fun to connect with so many people. I also really enjoyed the telephone calls. In one way or another we connected with all of our children and brothers. Life is great.
This cute photo is the card we received from Nicole and Felix Nagelschmidt in Germany. It is of cute little Moritz. I thought you would love the picture. It makes me smile. Nicole was one of our great exchange students from years ago.