Stake Conference

Last night and today was our Stake conference. It was sooo good. President and Sister Bricknell of the Idaho Pocatello mission were our guests. They are orininally from South Africa. Sister Brinknell stated that it was so hard when they first got over here 2 1/2 years ago because everything is so different here. She said she had trouble shopping even. And she said you guys have an accent. That just about brought the house down. They definitely have an accent. It is even more pronounced in some ways than the British accent. She speaks very fast so you have to listen closely to understand her at times but she had some very good counsel. Last night she mentioned that since the First Presidency raised the bar on missionaries, that the young men and young women are coming out more prepared spiritually but many of them not prepared physically. She said that being physically prepared is just as important as being physically prepared. Some of the things she mentioned were.: 1) Teach your children how to set goals. 2) Teach them how to work. (She did mention that as President Bricknell communitcated with ohter mission presidents that they have mentioned that the young men and women from Idaho usually do know how to work. But since the farms are getting more machinery etc. and there are fewer farms, that even Idaho needs to take notice too. 3) Teach your children how to handle stress and preasure. 4) Teach them how to shop for healthy meals....get away from the fast food thing. 5) Teach them especially the young men how to clean....she specifically mentioned how to clean a toilet. 6) Teach them how to follow rules. When someone who just returned from his mission was interview he was asked what he would do differently if he were just preparing now for a mission. He said: 1) Play less video and TV games and watch less TV. Because she said the young men and women who do these things when they are on their mission, they actually go thro' withdrawal. 2) He would learn not to sleep in. He said it was very hard to get used to getting up so early EVERY morning. and 3) Don't have a girl friend before your mission. After all you are just courting someone else's wife. That nearly brought the house down too. She also mentioned to teach your children to take care of their health and how to live on a budget. She said that it has been proven that young men and women who don't have supplemental funds from their parents and actually live on the stipend given them make better missionaries. She also mentioned the Preach my Gospel handbook. Stating that it should be in every home and used as a second home evening source. President Bricknell stated that besides praying for the missionaries in general or our own missionaries, that we need to pray for the pair of Elders who are serving in our stake. Today a delight woman about my age, I think alittle older, gave a talk on reading the Book of Mormon. She is from the Kearney 3rd Ward. I didn't know her but would like to get to know her. She made reading the Book of Mormon sound like an adventure. She said that it took ten years for the brethern to get all of those foot notes in place and we need to learn how to use them. She mentioned that on pages 74 and 75 that half of the pages are foot notes and most of us don't use them. A young 14 year old girl also spoke on the Book of Mormon. She bore a powerful testimony of it, especially for one so young. It was refreshing to listen to her. President David Lyman, who is two weeks younger than our Bryan, spoke about standing tall, being courageous, and shrinking. Sister Bricknell and President Bricknell also gave very good talks again. President Batt talked about how we live represents how we let our light so shine and how we represent the Savior. He tells such good stories that really happened to his children to illustrate his points. The music was provided by a woman's choir, women 18 and older. They sang so beautifully. The songs were familiar but different arrangements for three part women's choirs. The first was Do What is Right. The second Sweet is the Work, my God my King. We left feeling so good. And I resolved to read the Book of Mormon every day even if it is just one short chapter. I read chapter three after I got home. I had started again just this past week reading chapters 1 & 2. I need to be diligent in this. Karl & I should finish reading the D&C together since we didn't read all of it last year. Time will tell. We will have to do better than we have been doing.