Corry's cousin Dom came to visit from Switzerland earlier this month. It was so fun to have him and his friend Fabian around for a week. He was a little worried if he would be accepted by us with his tattoos and piercings, but we assured him that he would be accepted.
Niether are members of our church and Corry helps his young men, who are preparing to serve missions, with a missionary prep class two Sundays a month. The Sunday they were here just happened to be one of those Sundays, so Corry asked them if they would be willing to come and be "investigators" for his boys. We don't know many people here who are not members, or who were not members of our faith at one time, so it was a great treat for these boys to have them. Since the class was after our 3 hour church meetings, they were great sports and came to that too.
I LOVED how accepting my children, friends, and neighbors were! I live around incredible people! Anyway, we had great discussions and talked a lot about our beliefs the rest of the week. Some interesting things that Dom pointed out were:
- You tell me that my drinking and smoking is harmful to my body, but you (meaning Mormons in general) eat a lot of fast food and drink a lot of soda. That is not good for you either! - We then talked about how he is right. We don't treat our bodies right when we eat too much junk and drink soda! But we also talked about the habit forming and mind altering affect that drugs, alcohol, and smoking can have on your mind and body. Good point though! We are eating a lot more "whole foods" at our house now and I already rarely had soda or let the kids have soda.
- You're women are so beautiful! They are almost pure or something. There is just something different about them. Later he told my mother in law that he wanted to marry one of these most beautiful mormon women. She replied to him that what a beautiful Mormon girl wants is a Mormon boy. He asked me about that later and I told him it was true and it all lies in the temple. If we want to be sealed to our spouse for time AND ALL ETERNITY, we both have to be active in our church, make covenants and keep them. It is not a one time, get yourself ready to go to the temple, go through, make the covenants, and then go back to your same old habits. It is about life changing things that bring us more happiness than we can ever imagine.
- At one point he asked the girls what they did for fun, because he drinks a lot, goes to clubs and that sort of thing for fun. When they started telling him the crazy games they play, night games, swimming, hiking, movies in the backyard, and all the other fun things they (and Corry and I) do with our friends he was amazed. We even took them to trafalga to play laser tag and they loved it. They want to open a Laser Tag place in Switzerland when they get home!
After church Corry is out of his shirt and tie fast! But, Dom and Fabian didn't bring a change of clothes! Don't they dress up nice!
One of the days Scotty went with Corry's dad, Dom, and Fabian to the sand dunes. They had a great time until my father in law rolled the 4-wheeler he and Scotty were on and ended up with some broken ribs. Thankfully Scotty was OK though! It has been a long painful process for my father in law though. I feel so bad for him, but am grateful he protected my Scotty!
This was one of the greatest experiences my family has had. As I said, my kids don't know many people that aren't a member of our church, or didn't used to be a member. It was so great for them to see how wonderful people are in general and also see how they want to live. I think the whole experience strengthen each of my kids testimonies about the truthfulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and made them want to be better!
Throughout the week I kept thinking about Elder Jeffery R Holland said in the last general conference for our church..., "however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines." He also said, "coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image. So be kind, and be grateful that God is kind. It is a happy way to live." And another favorite, "surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it."
I am thankful God is kind and merciful because I NEED Him to be!
To read the whole talk, click HERE.
Throughout the week I kept thinking about Elder Jeffery R Holland said in the last general conference for our church..., "however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines." He also said, "coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image. So be kind, and be grateful that God is kind. It is a happy way to live." And another favorite, "surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it."
I am thankful God is kind and merciful because I NEED Him to be!
To read the whole talk, click HERE.
