Hastening family history and temple work in our day is essential for the salvation and exaltation of families.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
PREP DAY ACTIVITY FOR STRESS RELIEF
This is a B&W rendering of a picture taken December 2011 in MX at a Monastery south of Mexico City.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Lenhard Children and Grandchildren...PLEASE READ
Powerful excerpts from:
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The question is, what do we need to do? The Prophet Joseph’s
counsel was to present in the temple “the records of our dead, which shall be
worthy of all acceptation.”25 Doctrine and Covenants 128:24
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Roots and Branches
The leadership of the Church has issued a
clarion call to the rising generation to lead the way in the use of technology
to experience the spirit of Elijah, to search out their ancestors, and to perform temple
ordinances for them.26 [See First Presidency letter, Oct. 8, 2012; see
also David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 24–27; R. Scott
Lloyd, “‘Find Our Cousins’: Apostle [Neil L. Andersen] Counsels LDS Youth
at RootsTech Conference,” Church News, Feb. 16, 2014, 8–9.] Much of the heavy lifting in hastening the work of salvation for
both the living and the dead will be done by you young people.27 [One recent study indicated that a major emphasis
for this generation is living a meaningful life where they “give to others, and
orient themselves to a larger purpose” (Emily Esfahani Smith and
Jennifer L. Aaker, “Millennial Searchers,” New York Times Sunday Review, Dec. 1, 2013, 6).]
If the youth in each ward will not only go to
the temple and do baptisms for their dead but also work with their families and
other ward members to provide the family names for the ordinance work they
perform, both they and the Church will be greatly blessed. Don’t underestimate
the influence of the deceased in assisting your efforts and the joy of
ultimately meeting those you serve. The eternally significant blessing of
uniting our own families is almost beyond comprehension.28 [See Howard W. Hunter, “A Temple-Motivated
People,” Ensign, Feb. 1995, 2–5; Liahona, May 1995, 2–7.]
In the worldwide membership of the Church,
fifty-one percent of adults currently do not have both parents in the Family
Tree section of the Church’s FamilySearch Internet site. Sixty-five percent of
adults do not have all four grandparents listed.29 [Statistics provided by Family History Department.] Remember, we without our roots and branches cannot be saved.
Church members need to obtain and input this vital information.
We finally have the doctrine, the temples, and
the technology for families to accomplish this glorious work of salvation. I
suggest one way this might be done. Families could hold a “Family Tree
Gathering.” This should be a recurring effort. Everyone would bring existing
family histories, stories, and photos, including cherished possessions of grandparents
and parents. Our young people are excited to learn about the lives of family
members—where they came from and how they lived. Many have had their hearts
turned to the fathers. They love the stories and photos, and they have the
technological expertise to scan and upload these stories and photos to Family
Tree and connect source documents with ancestors to preserve these for all
time. Of course, the main objective is to determine what ordinances still need
to be done and make assignments for the essential temple work. The My Family booklet can
be utilized to help record family information, stories, and photos that can
then be uploaded to Family Tree.
Family commitments and expectations should be
at the top of our priorities to protect our divine destiny. For those who are
looking for more fruitful use of the Sabbath day for the family as a whole, the
hastening of this work is fertile ground. One mother glowingly tells how her
17-year-old son gets on the computer after church on Sunday to do family history
work and her 10-year-old son loves to hear the stories and see pictures of his
ancestors. This has blessed their entire family to experience the spirit of Elijah. Our precious roots and branches must be nourished.
Jesus Christ gave His life as a vicarious atonement. He resolved
the ultimate question raised by Job. He overcame death for all mankind, which
we could not do for ourselves. We can, however, perform vicarious ordinances
and truly become saviors on Mount Zion30 [See Obadiah 1:21 for our own families in order that we, with them, might be
exalted as well as saved.
I bear witness of the Savior’s atoning
sacrifice and the certainty of the Father’s plan for us and our families. In
the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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Tuesday, August 11, 2015
066 Tuesday to Tuesday (July 22-28, 2015)
My scripture studies have really been
eye-opening lately. I’m into Alma, and I love to read. The prophets at that
time saw our day. I’ve been reading the Institute classbook along with the
Scriptures so that it will help me to better focus on what has been written. It
also gives me an opportunity to reflect on what was written and to see the
background behind it. I can also see the writings of present-day Prophets and
Apostles and their understandings of the Scriptures which opens up greater meaning
for me. I’m also loving reading Jesus the
Christ. Years ago I started it, but
never finished. Well, it is better late
than never. I remember the book being really dry the first time around, but now
it is very interesting and opening up greater understanding about the Savior.
On Wednesday, we went to visit a family from
our Ward. I mentioned before that she had been leaning into a car when a drunk
man drove by and literally hit her and chopped off one leg and damaged the
other so bad that they had to amputate the other one. The legs are cut up to
the top of the body. She and her husband, Bootsie (nickname) and James Denton,
are two of the sweetest people. They are black, but when we are together, there
are no differences between us. Race is not there. He has to have is prostate
removed on the 31st. We had
not heard that he had been having problems until we got there. When those two
bear their testimonies, the Spirit joins the room and it is so thick you could
cut it with a knife. They express the ultimate love for each other. Many times
we hear of someone who gets hurt this badly, and their spouse leaves. We felt
so much love in their home. It was great to be there.
That night we went to the Armstrongs and
watched 17 Miracles. Again, I was so
touched by that movie. I think it made them think hard about the pioneers and
what they had to go through.
On
Thursday, the 23rd, we had Cable coming that morning to take care of
a problem we had been having. Had to stay in the apartment until the man showed
up. For a week, we had trouble with wifi going on and off, missing TV channels,
etc. They kept giving us one story after another until we finally got the guy
to fix it. Evidently, someone else in the building was having something changed
on his cable, and the cable guy who came to make the changes, got our hook-up
mixed up with the other persons.
Our
last class of Pathway was on the 23rd. We talked about their
assignment that included finding a country and studying about the cultures of
that country. It was fascinating to hear what they found out and wanted to
share with the rest of us. Afterwards, we shared treats, and we made a date to
go to the Temple together on September 26. By that time, one of our members
will have been a member for a year and will be able to take his wife through
for their endowments. We are looking forward to doing that.
Friday
brought German Fest. This is the largest German festival in the United States,
and people are everywhere. We had to wear black pants and white shirts. We met
so many people. They had a bigger tent than last year. We were in the Cultural
tent where we heard singing all day long. The Air Force was giving an air show
all three days we were there, and between the singing and the planes overhead,
it was crazy. Sometimes we just had to stop talking and wait for a quiet
moment. There were so many people who came through. At the end of the first
day, our feet and legs hurt so badly that we could hardly stand up. We were
able to talk to many about the importance of family and how family search could
help them. One man said we baptized for the dead. I got a chance to talk with
him about that. Everyone that we met were so positive, and we didn’t feel that
they were turned off by the name tags. That’s always a plus.
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| Jolene Carson, Angelina Ruiz Esqueda, Mike Calabro, John Osmond, Denver Fields, Anna Ritter, Jacque Jacobs, and Teresa Rivera Ramirez - (not pictured: Jaime Fields and Margaret Wehrhahn |
On Saturday, we had to work from 12-10 that
night. Our feet were still killing us from the night before, so the next day
wasn’t much better. I did wear tennis shoes and that helped. We got to eat
snitzel which is thin breaded pork that has been fried, and it was really
good. We also had some chicken nuggets
and other stuff that wasn’t all that good.
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| Burgermeister or Mayor |
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| Chimney Sweep - he does the White House Also. |
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| German Singers |
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| Worked on Sculpture Every Day |
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| Air Show Went On Every Day |
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| Workers at the Genealogy Area |
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| Mueller Display |
Sunday got us to Sacrament meeting and then down for another long day at the festival. It was a beautiful day, as had been the entire weekend. While we were there, one of the ladies who was responsible for Fiesta Italiana and said that those over the fest. had told her that because of our work (not mine and Craig’s – but all of us), they had more visitors than ever. It was a huge hit, and they will definitely be invited back next year. While this woman and the one in charge of the German Fest were talking, I found myself almost jealous that we wouldn’t be there next year and so could not take part in the ideas they were sharing about what they wanted to do in the future.
On Monday, we had things to do to prepare for
Katie, Anden, and McKay coming to visit on Wednesday. We would need clothes, so
they had to be washed. We had to look up activities and make plans. We needed
to get some things done as missionaries also, can’t forget we are missionaries.
It was a short day, and it went by too fast.
Tuesday had us getting ready for them to come.
We took the time to do paperwork that needed to be done. It’s amazing what we
can do when we put our minds to it. This week seemed to be all pointed for our
family to come. We were out of our minds with excitement. We wanted to have
lots to do and show Katie and the boys everything we had time to show them.
Yet, we didn’t want to make them tired or bored. What should we do? We had more
ideas that it would be possible to do in the short time they would be here but
we would sure give it a try.
While we would be with our family, there would
be transfers and many of our favorite missionaries were going home. We would
miss Elder Crandall and Sister King for sure. Hopefully, we will see or hear
from them in the future.
Our scripture for July is D&C
121:45:
Let thy bowels also be full of charity
towards all men, and to the household of faith,
and let virtue garnish thy thoughts
unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong
in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood
shall distil upon thy soul as
the dews from heaven.
Elder and
Sister Lenhard
065 Tuesday to Tuesday (July 15-21, 2015)
The Temple is closed until August 17, so we are
out of chances to go after July 19th. We decided we needed to go on
Thursday, so today we decided to do something with Victor. We took him to Holy
Hill. We thought he had been, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that
this would be his first time going there.
We started out that morning, and I really was
not looking forward to going back. I did think that maybe this time I could
find a Christmas ornament and then I would stop thinking about it
(hahaha). The last time I remember
thinking that I would come back nearer to Christmas and buy then. However, this
time I could look with a jaundiced eye and see that there really was nothing
that I wanted to get. They had some beautiful, and I mean beautiful, creches;
but they were simply too big.
When we got there, we ate lunch first because
we figured that when we finished, the cafeteria would be closed. I got a BLT
which was the best I’d had in forever. Just saying!
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| First sight of the Basilica |
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| Showing the way |
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| Heading to the cafe! |
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| In the tower |
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| Interesting info in the bookstore. |
After the shop, Victor and I walked to the top
of the tower. It was less scary (as long as I didn’t look down too much). At
one point, I really did feel fear as I looked down, and I got scared at the
thought the stairs, which by the way were really skinny and the width of the
stairs was for Mayan feet, might come out of the wall and tumble down. After
all the stairs were old and had been hanging on those walls for a long, long
time.
It was still the beautiful sight that we had
found the first time we went. Craig did not go up because he didn’t feel he could
take the stairs. When we got down, we toured the chapels (all of these
Basilicas have two different chapels, one smaller than the other). Both have
the Stations of the Cross around the walls. The smaller one is much less as
dramatic as the big one, but it is beautiful. After we left the building, we
walked outside and began to follow some signs that would take us along a path
that wove through the woods. It was a beautiful walk, and again we followed the
Stations of the Cross. At one place, we came upon a cemetery for the Monks who
had served at the Basilica. Craig got some beautiful pictures of the stations.
The weather was beautiful, and the walk was so nice. The trail took us down to
a picnic area which was a back door to another way up to the Basilica.
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| Victor and Linda on trail of the Grotto. |
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| Monks Quarters |
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| Cemetery |
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| Sign at the back of the Grotto |
We finished the day with FHE at the Armstrong’s
home. We got to talk with them about what happens after this life. She was told
by the Sister Missionaries that if she didn’t get baptized in this life, it
would be so much harder after this life. Craig was able to tell her the Plan
and help both of them understand what this life is about and how our lives help
determine the kind of people we will be to be accepted of the Lord. It was a
great lesson.
On Thursday, Craig had a doctor's appointment that afternoon. He needed to renew one prescription and get his blood pressure and sugar checked. He is doing well. He as been taking some Vitamin B shots that have really been helping him. They help not only with energy, but with losing weight and is blood sugar.
On Friday, we started working at Festa Italiana
with the Milwaukee Genealogy Group. This was the first time we had worked at
this festival. We were supposed to be there at ll:00, but somewhere I had made
the note that it was 1:00, so of course, we were late. We enjoyed working with
this group. We closed down at 5 every day because this was the first time we
got into this venue. Those who usually did the “genealogy” related tent had
never done anything like the Genealogy Group does. We got set up, and life got
started.
This was the hottest day of the summer for us.
For the first time, we looked at each other and said, “this is Georgia weather.”
We were quite miserable. Then, after about an hour the breeze came through the
tent. It was like an air conditioner. After that, the day cooled off, and it
was nice Wisconsin weather again. We loved it.
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| A soldier actor |
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| Genealogy Tent |
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| These guys led the parade and threw the flags around |
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| One of the statues in the Cultural Tent - an Apostle supposedly |
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| Wish we had had time for a gondala ride |
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| Craig should have been in this picture? |
When we went to eat lunch, we stopped at the
shopping area. I was hoping to get a Christmas ornament like I did at the
Polish Fest. There was nothing there I wanted, but there was a Christmas decoration
that was made by layering thin pieces of some kind of wood (all cut in the same
shape). They were separated by screws that were about an inch in length. The
shape was of a house decorated with Christmas ornaments. There were other
pieces that made a little porch and then there were windows with wreaths.
Unfortunately, I decided I didn’t need a $300 decoration that I would probably
mess up trying to get home.
Saturday, we did not work the festival. We
went with the other Senior Missionaries to Monroe, WI. It was so much fun. They
showed us how to make cheese. We went to the Historical Society Center, and we
got to see one of the oldest cheese factories that had been brought to that
area. It was a lot of fun. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and then we
went to the downtown area which was really fun. We went to a “bar” where we
ordered root beer. People would be given a special tack that would be wrapped
in some of their dollar bills (at least a couple of people used $50 dollar bills
and others used large bills). Then, they would throw them at the ceiling. At
the end of two years, they would donate the money to town charities. They had
just cleaned the ceiling back in September and donates over $2500. What a fun
thing to do! (Just to put it in perspective, the ceiling must have been at
least 20 feet high.)
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| Places for cheese making in WI |
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| Read the stats |
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| Copper vat used to make cheese |
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| Sisters Barley, Lenhard, Smith, Wright, Carter, and Linsley |
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| This man was quite a yodeler |
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| Some of the signs in Baumgartner's Bar |
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| Cheese sits in here for weeks |
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| Money on ceiling at Baumgartners Bar - used for charity |
On Sunday, we were able to go to the festival
again. We went to Sacrament and then we left to get down there by 11:00 (wasn’t
about to be late this day). The weather was really nice, and we enjoyed working.
As usual, there were lots of people who came by. We found out that Sicily is
the place to visit if you go to Italy. Rome is supposedly really dirty, and it
is not the place to visit when there. Sicily is well taken care of and nice to
visit. The history of the city is well preserved, and supposed to be a
beautiful place to go.
On Monday, we went back to Feed the Kids for the
Salvation Army. When we got there, the bread trucks had not arrived, and they
could not determine when they would get there. We waited for a little while
when they announced that anyone who couldn’t stay could leave. They would work
with a skeletal group that day. So almost everyone left. We decided that since
we had already set aside this time, we would stay. Five minutes after everyone
left, the trucks showed up. It took a little bit of extra time to get the
sandwiches made, but we did not.
On Tuesday, we had our District Meeting which
would be our last meeting with our District Leader. Elder Crandall was the
first District Leader we had when we first got here, and we got to have him at
the last of his mission. He had changed. He was still a cool leader, but he had
matured. We enjoyed working with him, and someday we hope to see him again.
That night we had to work in the South Stake
Genealogy Library with the Senior Missionaries named Carter. They are the
office missionaries, and we love them. They have been a bright light for us on
our mission. They will be leaving in August. Our Stake Genealogy Director could
not be there that night, so both couples kept the library open and worked on
our work.
Our scripture for July is D&C
121:45:
Let thy bowels also be full of charity
towards all men, and to the household of faith,
and let virtue garnish thy thoughts
unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong
in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood
shall distil upon thy soul as
the dews from heaven.
Elder and
Sister Lenhard
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