Friday, October 17, 2008

A New Point of View


For the past couple of weeks, we've enjoyed seeing our world through the new eyes of a young girl from South Korea. Dave met JiJhe Kim (we call her Kim) while on Trax. We've enjoyed a few evenings with her since.
Kim had never seen mountains before, so we took her up to see the changing leaves. Her gasps, oohs and aahs were refreshing. She was overtaken by the beauty. (Who could blame her, it was breath-taking!)
Dave and I also appreciate such things, so it was nice to share that with someone who was so vocal in her appreciation.
We drove up to Silver Lake and walked around the boardwalk. We came within 20 feet of a large moose. Kim had never seen anything like that before. She got a good picture.
Then, we drove up the canyon to the pass where we stopped to take in the view. (It's a good thing we did, because another car there needed a jump! Not a fun place to be stuck!)
We ended the evening by taking Kim to the Red Banjo - a fun pizza place in Park City. We visited a couple of shops and then drove home in the dark where we heard Kim gasp at the beautiful view of twinkling city lights. It really was beautiful.


The next week, Kim wanted us to take her to Temple Square. She had been asking a lot of questions about Jesus, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and other things. We've enjoyed sharing our testimonies with her. Her tender spirit is so very sweet. She is easy to love.
At Temple Square, we took her to see the Joseph Smith movie to explain a little bit about the first vision and his life. Next time we will take her to see the Testament - about Jesus Christ.
We just happened to find a missionary sister there who was from Korea. It was fun to see the two of them talking; one asking questions, and the other explaining the answers.

Kim wanted to come to church with us. It happened to be a homecoming for one missionary, and a farewell for another. The farewell was for a young man who is Korean, and was going to Canada; Korean speaking mission. Several other things "coincidently" happened as well. It was great.
Next time, it would be fun to have her come when we can have the choir singing. She would like that.

Dave played the piano for her a little. (I always fall in love with him again, each time I hear him play.) Kim really enjoyed it too. We went for a walk after dinner, played a game and then took her home.
She is only going to be in the United States until December. She is excited about seeing the lights at Temple Square. I find myself excited as well.

I think everyone should revisit their lives as though through someone else's eyes. Sometimes a clearer view becomes visible, and we appreciate our blessings.

Monday, October 6, 2008

When the Saints Meet, the Heavens Weep...

















That's what they say. I'm not sure if they mean it as a point that it is almost always stormy on conference weekends, or if it is a slam about how heaven feels about it all.

It was wonderful to be surprised by Mike for Saturday sessions, as well as having Rob and Jewels, Robbie and David join us for Saturday evening and Sunday.

Little Robbie is walking all over and is SO cute!











Conference was good, as usual. Some of the things which struck me most were:

Wirthlin - "Come what may, and love it."
"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. Every tear or sorrow will be replaced with tears of joy and rejoicing."

Anderson - "Faith is not only a feeling, it's a decision."

Uchdorf - "Hope is trust that the Lord will keep his promises. Hope teaches that there is reason to rejoice when everything is falling down around us."

Hales - "Humility is a badge of Christian Courage."


The entire transcripts of the talks can be found on-line at this link:
http://www.lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-947,00.html