Learning Exaltation and Loving Grandparenting

We finished our Cousin Retreat for our teenage grandchildren in early August.  We are planning a self-guided Church history tour in the first half of September.  This blog covers the time in between.  This was time of recovery and preparations.  It was also part of our normal routine, where we strive to serve our family on both sides of the veil.  

We have also been blessed so much by our Heavenly Father as we study the amazing revelations from the Doctrine and Covenants.  He helps us to understand his will and his truth.  He teaches us how to obtain His Fullness. He teaches us how to achieve exaltation.

This slide is an example of the depth of doctrine that has been revealed in these latter-days

In the past six weeks, we have studied incredible revelations such as Doctrine and Covenants sections 76, 84, 88 and 93.  Although we have loved all of our studies, these sections have introduced truths that were beyond our previous understanding.  We cannot share all of our learnings in this blog.  However, we have learned about "The Vision" of the kingdoms that God has in store for all of His children.  He has taught us how to see the "power of godliness" through the ordinances of the priesthood.  We have learned about light and truth and eternal laws that preserve, perfect and sanctify us.  Now we have had the plan of exaltation opened to us as we follow the perfect example of our Savior who showed the way, progressing by "grace for grace".  Each revelation seems to build on the previous one and opens new understanding, additional light and truth.  We have been overwhelmed by this blessing of knowledge that has been made available to us. 

Another Grandparenting week: 

When we finished our Teenage cousin retreat at the first of the month, we were pleased and exhausted. It didn't take long to get back into our other commitments, including the baptism of our grandson, Jasper, that very Saturday.  Debbie was asked to play the piano and give a talk about the Holy Ghost and I had the privilege to be the voice for his confirmation as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  These are the pay back days of grand-parenting.  We were very pleased with his sweet spirit.

Jasper's Baptismal program

Jasper with his brother Joseph who performed the baptism

Payback time with our grandson, Jasper

Grandma teaching Jasper about the Gift of the Holy Ghost

Jasper with his siblings and his mother

The following Monday we got a call from Gina, asking if their family could enjoy time at Thanksgiving point using our Bonus Grandparent pass.  Of course we were willing, but that required at least one of us to be there with them.  So, on Monday I spent a delightful afternoon with Gina and her family as part of their summer staycation.  The pass that we had bought for our Cousin retreat gives us unlimited visits to Thanksgiving Point venues with unlimited grandchildren and with a bonus of two additional guests.  Perfect for bringing a complete family with us.  We took advantage and introduced Gina and Danny to the Curiosity Museum.  We had first gone there with Addisyn and Hudson on our grandchildren dates three years ago, before Grant was even born.  It became a delightful afternoon for all of us.  I quickly realized that Gina was spending time with the twins while I was enjoying time with the kids.  I accepted, that part of my role was to watch the twins while the parents could spend time with their other three children.

This will buy us many visits to Thanksgiving Point in the next 12 months

Danny with his kids

Tending these twins is easy for short periods of time.

All three older kids in a hurricane wind

The whole family at the molecular climbing area

Enjoying the fish

First complete family photo since the twins had been born

My Selfie with the entire family

Three days later, we had committed to have our granddaughter, Serenity, spend a few days with us.  We thought this was another good time to visit Thanksgiving Point, which we did on both Thursday and Friday with different cousins.  We find that tending grandchildren is easier when other grandchildren are involved.  We had her cousin Evelyn with us on Thursday (Curiosity Museum) and Kaleb on Friday (Museum of Ancient Life).

Serenity and Evelyn loved the Waterworks area!

Enjoying time with these two granddaughters and the silly mirrors

Serenity and Kaleb on their favorite dinosaur statue

In front of the ancient sea life

The four of us in the land of the dinosaurs

On Friday afternoon, I had a very special experience with Serenity.  I took her with me to help set up tables and chairs at the Church for a ward breakfast the next morning.  This was to be a neighborhood breakfast for members and non members alike.  Serenity got into the work after initial resistance.  After we returned home, I asked her to go with me to take some invitations to a few of our neighbors.  She was so cute. As we came to the first door, she said excitedly, "Can you come to our party, it is going to be so fun!".  This first contact was an absolute success.  We were not able to invite the other neighbor because she wasn't home, but we left the invitation with a special heart that Serenity had prepared.  To our joy, our neighbor came the next day.  How can you resist an enthusiastic six year old!

Serenity helping set up the tables and chairs

Serenity with her new friend at the breakfast

We finished up the week that night with additional baptisms for the dead with our grandsons.  They have such a great attitude about performing these sacred ordinances.   These are some of my favorite interfaces with grandchildren, when we are working together to bless the lives of others on both sides of the veil.

After performing another 40 baptisms for our ancestors

Masks are back in the temple but the work moves forward:

During this same week, President Russell M. Nelson made a public statement, urging Church members to get vaccinated and wear masks in crowded places.  This has been a sensitive subject in the United States as many have refused to get vaccinated, based on their freedom of choice.  As a result, the numbers of Coronavirus cases have started to rise again, with a very high percentage of these cases to be with unvaccinated individuals.  The rest comes from my journal that next day:

"As I sat in the temple with three grandsons, I noted that all temple workers were wearing masks. President Nelson had publicly urged members of the Church this week to get vaccinated and wear masks in indoor events where social distancing does not work. This is due to increasing cases of Coronavirus again. Some may think this is overreacting or taking our freedom away. However, the Spirit spoke to me the wisdom to “overreact” so that we can keep our temples open and our church meetings in person. Losing these privileges again is much more limiting than wearing a mask or getting vaccinated. I saw the wisdom in President Nelson’s words. 

Then today we focused on D&C 90:5 in our family home evening discussion. It was again confirmed to my heart the importance to not take the counsel from the oracles of God lightly. If we do, we will stumble and fall as times get tougher. Many are already falling who have taken counsel lightly. 

D&C 90:5 ​And all they who receive the ​​​oracles​ of God, let them beware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing, and are brought under condemnation thereby, and stumble and fall when the storms descend, and the winds blow, and the ​​​rains​ descend, and beat upon their house."

So once again we are wearing masks in the temple, but I am very happy to do that so that we can continue to do this sacred work.  During this past month, we have decided to schedule endowment sessions followed by sealing sessions.  By doing this, after we are able to complete the endowment session, we are able to seal the individuals to their spouses and to their children.  It has enhanced our temple service and joy in seeing our ancestor families being sealed together immediately after the endowment ordinance has been completed.

Still in the temples, but with masks.  A small price to pay to continue this wonderful work.

This past week we had some very special temple experiences.  Our friend, Gail Atkinson, had asked me to help out with some baptisms that she had been able to schedule in the Draper Temple.  As Gail does, she had arranged for several individuals to be involved.  The focus would be to do some work for her ancestors but also anything else that we could accomplish.  As the time approached, Gail was exposed to someone with Covid and was not able to attend. On the day of, two other individuals were sick and cancelled.  In the end, there were two young adult sisters and myself.  However, the Draper Temple was super accommodating and said we could do all of the work possible within our scheduled one hour appointment.  Gail had sent about 30 names and I had brought another 50 names.  I was able to perform about 25 to 30 baptisms for each of the young ladies and then was baptized by a temple worker for another 25 male individuals.  We then completed the confirmations for each of them. What started out as an opportunity to help a friend, turned into an additional opportunity to do the baptisms for about 50 of my ancestors and relatives.  I left the temple energized and full of joy. One of the young ladies is one who had been doing many baptisms for us before Covid, so we were able to reconnect for future opportunities. 

In front of the Draper Temple on Thursday morning

That Saturday we had a family temple sealing session scheduled in the morning. Unfortunately only my brother Jim and his wife, Becky were able to join myself, Debbie, and my mother.  The sealer was a member of our ward.  As we completed the names that we had brought, there was additional time available and he suggested that we do additional sealings.  In the end we sealed 6 couples and 24 children to their parents.  For the second time that week, the work that we were able to perform for our ancestors far exceeded our expectations.  Even with masks, this great work moves forward.

As we have been able to return to the temples, I have also been able to contact many who have helped do our temple work in the past.  Our friends in Meridian, Idaho were already doing our family names.  Relatives from the Rueckert side were volunteering to do more and I was able to send or transfer over 100 names to others to do.  Debbie's siblings each are working on the Moeller family names.  We have much to do, but we are not alone in this work.  It is the Lord's work and He will help us along the way.

During the Covid Pandemic, we were able to identify many ancestors for temple work but unable to perform temple ordinances.  So, we do have a backlog to work on.  My mother's backlog increased from 5,000 names to over 14,000 names.  This in addition to almost 1,000 names in each of the accounts for myself and Debbie. 

Screen shot of my mother's family search account with over 14,000 individuals whose temple work needs to be done.  

Challenges amongst our blessings:

At the end of July we learned of a tragic automobile accident that impacted some dear friends of ours.  In a 22 car pile-up, 5 of six occupants of one van were killed.  These included posterity of our friends, Steve and Kaycee Sawyer.  They lost a son and his young son, and another daughter-in-law with two of her young children.  We were shocked as were so many who love and admire this family.  The funeral for all five of these individuals was held at West Jordan High School in their auditorium.  We attended this funeral on the weekend of our cousin retreat.  We can't imagine the difficulty that the Sawyer family is experiencing and pray that the Lord will bless them.  I served in the bishopric with Steve and Kaycee was ever-present in the lives of our children.  Those whose lives were lost were known to many of our family members.  At these times, we stop to ponder the realities of eternity.  We know that in times of apparent tragedy we have two choices, to turn to the Lord or away.  We know that there is no tragedy  when we see with an eternal perspective, but the here and now is still so very difficult.  Our prayers go out to this entire family.

From the funeral program

At the funeral where four coffins were present.  One coffin had a young brother and sister together.

I was able to visit our daughter, Camila recently.  Her life is another apparent tragedy as her health continues to decline.  At this point she is unable to remember others, even her father, and her communication is nonexistent.  We don't know what she understands, but she screams often without anyone at the care facility being able to understand her needs.

My best selfie of myself with Camila

Camila in her wheel chair, uncommunicative

The best photo of Camila when she finally looked up

As I sat with her this past week, my heart once again went out to her.  it is beyond my comprehension to understand what remaining purpose she has on this earth.  I know that all will be well with her when she returns to her Heavenly Father.  I don't know what more I can do.  I have felt the need to continue to visit her on a more regular basis.  I am also including her more consistently in my prayers.

In both of these extreme cases, I know that the answer is to turn to the Lord and trust Him.  There is so much that we do not understand.  However, I know that He does understand and knows what is best for each of us.  We learned this past week in our Come Follow Me study that "truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come" (D&C 93;24).  As I ponder these profound words, it is easy to know that God knows all and we are clearly lacking in this truth.  Not only do we need to turn to him for understanding, but also for support and strength.  I fully trust his understanding of truth and His ability to comfort.  These are the moments that we need that trust. 

Cornerstone Condominium Summer Social:

With Covid, it has been a long time since our neighborhood has been able to get together in person.  Several months ago, we planned an Summer Social in our HOA management committee.  The committee members were amazing, arranging entertainment, refreshments, communication, etc.  This was scheduled for the evening of August 26 and even the weather was projected to be ideal.

Then, on August 24, we received an email from the family that was going to provide the entertainment, advising us that some of their group were sick, perhaps with Covid.  Appropriately, they cancelled their planned participation.   This created a bit of angst amongst us.   We had two choices, to find a different entertainment on short notice or reschedule for later in the year when the weather would be more suspect.  Fortunately, we had previously talked to another singing duet, who when approached, agreed to come on short notice to entertain us.  In the end all was well and a wonderful time was had by all.  

I am thankful for some excellent members of our Homeowners Association management committee.  They step up and resolve problems.  We work well together as a committee. The demands of this committee are significant, but I have felt a joy in serving with other dedicated committee members.  It makes my role as the HOA President rewarding.

Nearly 100 residents were in attendance at our Summer Social

Another view of our residents, enjoying our entertainment

Photo taken by our treasurer, show yours truly sitting with my wife

Watching the entertainment with ice cream being served on the side of the building

Leatherby's served ice cream to all of the residents before and while they enjoyed the entertainment

Birthdays:

As always we had a few birthdays.  Emily turned two, we traveled to Hyrum to enjoy this time with her.  James and Henry had birthdays in Pennsylvania, so no photos.  Tommy celebrated his third birthday.  Even though Ammon was not there, the mothers of his two children were.  This allows Tommy and Ariana to get to know each other well. We appreciate the mothers of these two grandchildren for inviting us to be part of their children's lives.

Emily with her "Push" books that she loved

Emily with her two year old birthday cake made out of mousse

Tommy with his Spanish books, so that Jessica, his mother, can teach him to read in Spanish

Ariana, who we haven't seen since her birthday in January.  It was good to see her at her brother's birthday party.

Teenage Cousin Retreat 2021, After Two Years Planning

We have recently completed our first Teenage Grandchildren Retreat, July 29 to August 3, 2021.  Overall, we call it a success.  Thirteen of our 16 grandchildren participated in at least one of the days.  Nine participated in all of the activities.  Our last blog explained a little of our thoughts while we prepared, the guidance that we felt came from our Heavenly Father, and our detailed schedule that was sent to each of the grandchildren.

Some only confirmed their participation in the week or two prior and one joined us only after a conversation on the first day of the activity.  We felt that the hand of the Lord was present and facilitating  the involvement of each.  In this blog we will describe the experiences that we had together, the hand of the Lord in the process, and the lessons learned by different grandchildren.

The following photo shows the greatest number of grandchildren that participated, which was at Thanksgiving Point on Friday.  We had 13 grandchildren and a friend in this photo.  It was taken in front of a giant LEGO spider hanging in the cave.

Our number one stated goal was to strengthen relationships between cousins.  Even though they come from different locations and backgrounds, we felt that this was accomplished 100%.  We didn't feel any conflict amongst them, even after 4 days together.  In some cases the cousins had never met, in others,  relationships were minimal.  In the end, phone numbers were exchanged and friendships established.  One example would be our granddaughter Natalia who participated on Friday at the Thanksgiving Point activity.  She has had almost no relationship with her cousins.  On Tuesday morning she saw her cousin Abbie at Walmart and came over to say Hi! Ethan is new to the family and had never met his cousins from Pennsylvania and several of the others.  He ended up spending strangers. 

Our second goal was to have activities that emphasized All Areas of Life.  These included Spiritual, Social, Physical and Intellectual.  This was consistent with the Children and Youth Program that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints introduced shortly before COVID hit.

As we planned these activities we were led to put focus on the "household of faith".  Therefore, we had spiritual activities mixed in throughout the week intentionally and were pleased that they strengthened those on the covenant path.  They also provided others the opportunity to experience some of these spiritual activities in a fun and enjoyable manner. 

As we felt during our planning, we continued to feel the guidance of our Heavenly Father throughout the week, even as some schedules were modified.  Overall, we were able to manage the logistics of this group with only one difficulty, which was our hike in the canyons.  More about that later.

This activity began with the arrival of the three cousins from Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, July 27.  They spent eight nights with us and returned home the following Wednesday.

Henry, Thomas and James arriving at the airport from Philadelphia.  

Ethan arrived on Front Runner on Wednesday night.  He came from Nibley, 90 minutes away. Ethan joined the family last year through the marriage of our daughter KariLyn with Michael, Ethan's father.  He had only met a few of his cousins and did not know any of them very well.  We decided to have him also stay at our condo throughout the retreat to facilitate the transportation issues.

Day 1 (Thursday):

We arranged to rent a 15 passenger van for each day of our retreat.  We picked up and dropped off all other participants each morning and night.  On Thursday morning we reviewed the planned activities for the week and made decisions and assignments as needed.  We began with a getting to know you activity.  It was a good beginning before we went to the Cowabunga Water Park, which opened at 10:30 am. 

Oma helping 10 grandchildren to get to know each other on Thursday morning

Our first activity at Cowabunga Water Park was well received and got their physical activity started.  Some of them were a little nervous about going down the high speed slides.  They each gave it a try before we finished.  We watched them grow together from the very beginning.  This activity was noted as the favorite by some throughout the week.

The bottom of the slides were filled with water for a fun finish

Some slides had a lot more splash than others

Enjoying time on the Lazy River, very relaxing after the water slides

Getting drenched by the tipping of a giant bucket of water from above

We had a great support crew to take photos and videos

Each and every day we were able to be together in the 15 passenger van that we had rented for this occasion.  We hope that this contributed to greater togetherness as cousins.  We also let many of them take turns sending their music from their phones to the media player in the van. 

After the water park we came back to the condo for a hoagie sandwich lunch. We then went downtown to the Family History Library and enjoyed their interactive Discovery activities.  Several of them discovered that they were related to famous individuals.  Others enjoyed discovering more about their names and the world when they and their ancestors were born.  It was a great chance to get to know more about them, their parents and their ancestors.  We finished a little earlier than expected and then moved upstairs to work on different Family History projects individually.

 

We enjoyed getting some group photos in front of some selected scenes from Germany.   This works on a "green screen" technology.  Since Henry and myself had green shirts on, you can see the scenery through our shirts.  It was still fun but didn't turn out as well as we had hoped for.

While at the Family History Library, I received a text from our 18 year old grandson, Caide.  We knew he had  been living with a friend but had no idea how to contact him.  His cousin, Naliyah, had made contact with him and encouraged him to contact me. I texted and called him and immediately we arranged for his involvement with us on Friday. He also continued with us on Monday. This was a great blessing to have this special grandson with us who so much needs the support of his extended family.  This was after months of trying to contact him though his aunt Caren.

After the Family History Library we had dinner downtown at the food court.  We decided to teach a finance lesson.  We gave each of our grandchildren a $10 bill and told them they could buy whatever they wanted within that limit.  That saved us the hassle of going to each food option and negotiating with each grandchild.  They were able to pocket any change that they received back.

Everyone with their own chosen and purchased meal, hassle free and with lessons learned

After dinner, we went to the Rescue Mission where these ten grandchildren served meals to the homeless.  They were amazing and respectful.  When asked to do new and perhaps difficult things, they stepped up. Fortunately, there was work for each of them.  Nick stepped up and took the dishwashing job.  All helped clean up after the meal.  Several wanted to return and do it again.  We may make this a repeat performance in the future for those who live close by.

Everybody had a role in preparing the plates to serve

We served a taco meal, each had a specialty in the preparation

They especially enjoyed serving food to those in need and taking orders for second servings

Everyone at work, including our dishwasher, Nick

Nick did the dishes keeping up with everyone, our unsung hero

Day 2 (Friday):

Friday morning we took 11 grandchildren in our rented van and headed to Thanksgiving Point.  There we met two more grandchildren, Naliyah and Natalia and Natalia's friend, Kasper.  Since Naliyah drives and needed to pick up her boy friend later, they went in her car.  However they spent the entire time at Thanksgiving Point with us and participated in our luncheon at the Golden Corral.  This became our best attended activity of the week.

At the Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point, we visited some of the LEGO sculptures that were placed throughout the park.  Most of these sculptures took hundreds of hours to assemble.  Of the 15 sculptures on exhibit we were able to see nine of them as we went to or from the Light of the World sculptures.  

With most of the group in front of a large LEGO spider hanging in the cave

Seven of the grandsons behind the Bonsai plants made out of LEGOS

A LEGO turtle found in the gardens

Our primary purpose in visiting the Ashton Gardens was to visit the Light the World Sculptures.  These are 15 sculptures depicting the life of Jesus Christ that were added to the gardens a few years ago.  We first saw them earlier this year and fell in love with the powerful spirit that accompanies them.  

Twelve of the Sculptures from these gardens

On Thursday morning, we asked the 10 grandchildren to each present one of the sculptures to their cousins, sharing the story behind the sculpture.  We were pleased that all of these 10 cousins did an excellent job in sharing.  Some went in more depth than the others, but we felt it was one of the spiritual highlights of the retreat. Henry started us off, but we didn't get a photo.  Most of them are included in the photos below: 

Oma shared this beautiful sculpture of Jesus with the Woman at the Well

McKenzie taught us about the Savior healing the leper

James shared the story of the infirmed lady touching the hem of the Savior

Thomas shared the story of the Savior with the woman taken in sin

Ethan shared the story of the Savior with Mary and Martha

Even Natalia's friend, Kasper, read the summary about Jesus praying to His Father

Nick shared the story of the Savior in Gethsemane

Joseph shared the story of the Crucifixion

Joshua shared the story of the resurrected Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene

Jon shared the story of the resurrected Savior appearing to Thomas

Abbie shared the story of the Savior and His Father appearing to Joseph Smith in the latter-days

We loved the involvement and respect of all in this activity.  As we rejoiced in this activity and the Rescue Mission activity the night before, Debbie made a powerful observation.  She said that teenagers rise to our expectations of them.  We asked them to do some things out of their comfort zones and we loved their response.  

After the Ashton Gardens we moved to the Museum of Curiosity.  This Museum is an amazing place.  It is designed for younger children, but we felt the "Brain Maze" section and the Canopy Tours were fitting for our teenagers.  They enjoyed time exercising their intellectual abilities in the Brain Maze before our scheduled Canopy Tour. 

Joshua with incredible patience to move the piles of circles according to the rules

Natalia and Kasper putting the puzzle together

Thomas examining the optical illusions available in the maze

Joseph walking through the floor maze

Henry checking out the parallel lines or not

We weren't sure what to expect with the Canopy Tour, high above the other exhibits, but we made reservations for 10 of our grandchildren to participate.  That is all the space that was available. It turned out to be an opportunity for them to do difficult things and perhaps the highest adventure activity of our retreat.  Although they were all safely harnessed, they had to deal with any concerns with heights or trusting the harnesses.  

The courageous ten waiting to begin the "tour"

Some found this easier than others.  Thomas passed through the course faster and more often than the others.  Ethan was very comfortable trusting the harness and performing daredevils acts.

Thomas cruising over the high wire

Ethan walking on the steel beam with "no hands"

All overcame their fears and persevered through differing levels of this activity.  We are proud of all of them:

  

After our visit to Thanksgiving Point we had a buffet lunch at the Golden Corral.  They gave us separate tables in a reserved room.  This gave our grandchildren the chance to eat whatever they wanted and as much as they wanted.  It seemed to hit the spot for each of them.

Our van photo from Friday

After a late lunch, we visited the Orem Temple Construction visitors center.  This is supervised by a wonderful missionary couple, Elder and Sister Hacking, who we served with in Europe.  We arranged for a short visit where our grandchildren could learn a little about the construction  project.  We were fortunate to see it while the marble is going up.  We learned a lot about the marble which comes from a marble quarry in Portugal and cut and finished in Portugal.  It then needs to fit the construction design perfectly.  We found it very interesting and a nice change of pace for our activities.

Learning about marble cut in Portugal and installed in Orem, Utah

A group shot of 11 of our grandchildren with us

Outdoors, observing the construction site with partially completed marble

After the temple site, we headed home.  Eight of our grandchildren took us up on getting their hair cut or trimmed at our local Great Clips site.  Debbie had arranged this.  It took several hours to complete them all, but they came back looking better than when they went in.  While several were getting their hair cut, the others were playing games, watching movies and preparing another dinner of hoagies.  

Once the haircuts were finished and food was eaten, we enjoyed watching the movie "Clouds" together.  We were impressed with this movie that was recommended by one of our grandchildren.  It is of a high school student who was dying of cancer but made a significant difference in life.  His message was appropriate to all "Don't wait until you are dying to start living!".  As is part of our tradition, we finished the day with all you can eat ice cream.

Thomas said he liked not having his hair in his eyes any more

Joshua getting a trim, but maintaining his special look

Several waiting their turns at the barber shop

Playing games at home while waiting for the others to finish hair cuts

And eating more to fill the holes left from the Golden Corral

Weekend:

We found the timing right to take a two day break before continuing our activities on the following Monday.  However, we still had four grandchildren staying the weekend with us.  On Saturday, they went to the home of their Digerness cousins and had a billiards party.  We are thankful to Jamie for hosting this event in her home while we attended a lengthy group funeral (More on that in a future blog).  The Pennsylvania cousins also spent some time with one of their uncles.  We let the rest of the day be filled with informal activities, games, movies and food.

This was hosted in the Digerness Home with pool sticks that were shared from Ethan's home

This reminded us of good memories from our family reunion two years ago

It shows that they could have fun together without the grandparents being present

On Sunday, we did our best to enjoy the Sabbath Day.  We had a Come Follow Me family session with the four grandsons before our Church meeting.  Then they attended Church in our old folks ward from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.  One of the highlights was to have the three DeVore grandchildren participate in our sacrament.  I was able to bless the sacrament with James while Thomas and Henry were able to pass the sacrament.  For me this was quite an honor, to kneel alongside my grandson.  Our ward is great to let visiting grandchildren help us older folks administer the sacrament.   Then the four of them attended the Sunday school class that was taught by their grandma.  They even helped distribute and gather up the cushions that are used to help the harder chairs be more acceptable to our ward members since this class was held in the primary room.

They enjoyed watching some of our collection of Church oriented movies and then we spent the remainder of the evening playing games.  Our son Jacob came over and played with us.  It also gave them a chance to get to know their uncle better.

Day 3 (Monday):

We had been planning on hiking up to Lake Mary in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Monday and having a "Solo" experience around the lake.  Unfortunately, the rain we had been praying for all summer finally arrived on this weekend.

When I woke up on Monday morning, the weather report showed the rain to be done and projected no rain until later in the afternoon, when we would be back.  I felt encouraged that this might work.  As I went to pick up the Van that morning, I saw a few raindrops on the windshield and I wasn't sure.  I decided to make this a matter of prayer.  Before returning home with the van, I pulled over and prayed.  I told the Lord that changing the hike to Tuesday would increase costs for the movie which we had reserved discounted seating on Tuesday.  I was also trying to add another ticket to Guys and Dolls, which was sold out that night, so that Caide could participate.  However, since Caide was now 18, the ticket would be twice as expensive as for the other grandchildren. 

As I prayed, I felt that a Tuesday hike would have much less weather related stress and the Lord sent me a clear message to quit worrying about money that he would help us with finances.  I was thankful for the impression and started home.  Still unsure about how this would all work, I decided to stop the van and offer one more prayer for confirmation of my thoughts.  As I prayed, the same thoughts came to my mind.  As soon as I closed the prayer, rain started falling heavily on my windshield.  The Lord was being very clear with me and our Monday activities began changing.

We decided to move our bowling activity to the morning instead of the afternoon and then try to catch our movie activity at noon.  We would then still try to play miniature golf in the afternoon and the Hale Center theater that evening.  As we went to the bowling alley, we were now in a thunder storm.  We dashed from the van into the bowling alley and enjoyed a fun time bowling.  Throughout the day, I was able to transfer our movie reservations from Tuesday to Monday and I was even able to find one more ticket available for Guys and Dolls for Caide to join with us.

Nik had a doctor's appointment that morning, so Grandma took Nik to the appointment while we went bowling. We got back together for the movie. This bowling alley offers two games of bowling for free for youth up to 17 years old if we pay for shoes, so it was a good activity.  We also decided to combine our lunch with bowling to arrive at the movie theater in time and brought pizza for Debbie and Nik to eat on the way.

We had two lanes for us, since another group of 45 youth arrived seconds after we did.

Most enjoyed the activity.  A few alternated gutter balls with strikes.

This seemed to be a "guys" activity, but . . . 

the best score between the grandchildren was by McKenzie (on the right)

We rushed to the movie theater to arrive at the early matinee, which was the only movie that would fit our schedule.  We wanted to see the movie "Witnesses", which had been released last month.  It told the story of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon as it related to the history of the Church.  In our world of criticism and doubts, we thought it did an excellent job of showing a more complete story of Church History and wanted our grandchildren to see things with this perspective.  They may not have all appreciated the movie but we did hear comments later about a much clearer understanding of the challenges of the early days of the restoration.  We felt that our mission had been accomplished.

We missed our discount tickets, but the Lord had us covered

Our movie group together in front of the movie theater

After the movie, the rain finally stopped and we enjoyed a few hours playing miniature golf.  Several of the grandchildren (and grandpa) were able to have a hole in one,  We could have had a low cost replay for all, but most had enough after 18 holes.

Getting Started

Spread out all over

With our changes, we had a few hours to kill before attending Guys and Dolls at the Hale Center Theater that evening.  We went back to the condo, played games, watched some movies and devoured two large bucket meals of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Some returned home to change clothes before the theater.  This informal time seems to work as well as planned activities.  They just seemed to enjoy being together, which was gratifying to us.

In the van during our Monday travels

More Games

Animé Movies, their favorites

Finally we went on our cultural event of the retreat,  viewing "Guys and Dolls" at the Hale Center Theater.  This was a highlight for some, as they were able to see a very professional presentation on a high tech stage in the round.  Involving Caide in this activity was certainly worth while.  

As he went home on Monday night, he shared his experiences with his "mother" who is caring for him.  It was a special moment down memory lane for her, since she had been in Guys and Dolls in her high school days.  Now we have contact with him and his "mother".

All together at the play with 11 grandchildren

All in the same row, even with an additional ticket purchase

Returning to the van after the performance

Day 4 (Tuesday):

Tuesday morning was reserved to do baptisms for the dead with 7 of our grandchildren who were able to participate.  Counting Oma and Opa, we were able to do baptisms and confirmations for 40 of our ancestors, including at least 10 direct great grandparents of these valiant youth.  We had three baptizers in our group, starting with Grandpa who baptized Debbie and Henry.  I was followed by James who baptized me and his brother, Thomas.  Then James baptized Joseph followed by Joseph baptizing James.  I was particularly touched as I watched two cousins who live thousands of miles apart, being able to baptize each other in the temple.  Joseph then finished it off by baptizing his two younger siblings.  McKenzie was witness for all and was proxy for confirmations.

For sure, it was sublime to have 7 grandchildren with us in the temple doing baptisms and confirmations. With all of our efforts, we performed baptisms for ancestors whose names are now in the book of life that we present as an offering in the temple (D&C 128). 24 “Behold, the great day of the Lord is at hand; and who can abide the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.” I felt it strongly while confirming each of grandchildren as proxies and felt prompted to share it with them. Jon mentioned in his comments at the end of our retreat that he had helped 5 individuals get their name in the book of the dead. 

All of us in front of the Jordan River Temple, what a memorable moment!

Enjoying a breakfast together at IHOP after the baptisms.  McKenzie had to be at a school 
leadership function, so needed to miss the breakfast.

We then took these 7 home to change out of their Sunday clothes and then picked everyone up to go to the Church History Museum downtown.  This had just opened up for the first time after COVID the previous day.  With McKenzie being involved in her school leadership session, she joined us at the end of our visit to the Church History Museum.

Our Van parked by our Condo in between trips on Tuesday

We all watched the special presentation on the various accounts of the First Vision as a group, then each separated to enjoy whatever exhibits met their interests. A few photos follow:

Joseph seemed to take the most advantage of this visit, reverently visiting almost every exhibit

Some enjoyed the exhibits together

Thomas always seems to take advantage of interactive exhibits

We got a group shot next to Angel Moroni

And one with all, including grandparents, in front of the museum

Our plan was to return to the van and take the long awaited trip up the mountain for our final activity before returning to our condo for dinner and wrapping up.  When we got there we found the following:

Yes we had a flat tire on our Van

We called a roadside assistance number for free assistance, but thought we might solve the problem while waiting.  Ethan and Joseph were especially helpful and engaged.  We were able to release the spare tire from under the van and find the tools to change the tire.  Following the manual we identified the location as to where to put the tire jack.  Joseph got it started while Ethan loosened the bolts.  Unfortunately, it was inserted behind the tire in a way that made jacking up the van difficult.  Finally, we found that roadside assistance was near and waited for them to finish the job, which went well.  The old hub cap was put back on the spare tire by the roadside assistance person.  Now, with renewed hope, we decided to head out to the mountain.

As we approached the exit we found that it was under construction.  This was the same exit we had taken the previous week.  So we followed the signs to a different exit.  This is a longer but sad story.  As we arrived at the bottom of the ramp, we bumped the top of our van on the sign limiting the height of vehicles to 7' 4".  This sound of bumping put us into a panic. We had come into the parking structure under a sign that allowed the height of 8' 2".  We were now stuck, with no way out.  I tried to back the van up the ramp, being careful to leave space on both sides of the van.  Unfortunately, I hit some posts that divided the lanes.

Main exit closed for construction

Exit signs sending us down a ramp to a different exit

7 foot 4 inch clearance sign that hit the top of the van

Eight foot 2 inch clearance where we entered the parking structure

Lane dividers after I flattened a few of them while backing up over them

This latest "accident" left a terrible noise as I drove the van.  We finally took the time to turn the van around and drove it back up to our parking spot with terrible noise.  We could see that a sheet metal cover had been bent by the poles.  We didn't know the extent of the damage but could hear bad noise as we drove.  I decided to call the van rental company, who offered to bring another van to our rescue and deal with whatever damage there was.  That left us waiting for another hour and now we were quite discouraged.  We were thankful for the kindness of the rental company and their willingness to help us out.  While we waited I walked throughout the parking structure and was unable to find any exit higher than 7 feet 4 inches.  We told the rental company to pick us up on South Temple and not risk coming in a parking structure without an exit.  Finally about 5:00 pm, we were loaded into a new rental van and were able to end our 2 and a half hour activity in the City Creek parking garage.

While I was trying to find solutions to our van, Debbie was trying to keep our 9 grandchildren in a positive productive mode.  The following comes from her journal:

"I was in tears by this time.  My worst fear is to have an accident in a rental car.  We did better than that. We were able to manage to have an accident in a rental van.  Bless Kenzie's heart.  She suggested a prayer was in order and offered to be the one to say it.  It was a sweet, sincere, beautiful prayer for help and comfort.  Shortly after that I had an impression that we should sing some primary songs.  I asked Kenzie what her favorite primary song was and a few of us sang "A Child's Prayer". We then sang all three verses of "I am a Child of God".  Tom missed this sweet experience as he was on the phone talking to the rental car company.  Tom decided to go through the parking garage to see if there were any exits tall enough to allow the 8' van to exit.  It was a funny sight to see Tom wandering from exit to exit followed by several teenagers.  It reminded me of the story of the Pied Piper.  At some point Kenzie said, "I'm going on an adventure. Who wants to come with?" She started out with a few takers.  It didn't take long for most of them to join in.  While they were gone Tom informed me that the owner of the rental company would bring us another van so we could finish our retreat with our grandchildren.  It would take awhile for the van to come from Pleasant Grove.  Kenzie and the group returned from their "adventure" with a chocolate candy bar and a small box of chocolates for me.  I wanted to share the yummy chocolate but they all said, "No, this is just for you."  Tears came again but they were happy tears of love and gratitude.  Kenzie had used her phone to text her mom to find out what kind of chocolate I liked best. Wow!  

We took all of our belongings out of the van and walked out of the parking garage to wait for our replacement van.  We didn't want the driver of the new van to even go into the parking garage.  I learned that good things or "tender mercies" can happen in the midst of disaster. While we were waiting, Valerie Sabin, who is the wife of Elder Sabin, who is the Area President in Europe, stopped me to say Hi.  I was Sister Sabin's visiting teacher while I was serving my mission in Frankfurt.  What a wonderful surprise to see her again and give each other a hug and spend a few minutes in conversation.  The next thing I knew, I turned around to find Audrey Smeltzer and her husband with a couple of friends.  We were all surprised to see each other.  It had been a long time.  We talked for a little while.  Their son J.D. Smeltzer was going to get married on the 7th of August which was only four days away.  How crazy is that?  Getting two different friends on the same day in downtown SLC while waiting for our transportation."

Another note on the damage to the van.  The damage under the van was minimal.  Once they removed the damaged sheet metal covering, they were able to drive the van without trouble.  The next day they noted some damage on the top of the van.  It was all repaired in short order and was covered by our insurance.  So there was no lasting challenge, but plenty of temporary grief.

By this time, we obviously could not go on our hike. Debbie and a few of the grandchildren were not too excited about hiking anyway.  We went to plan C (we were already on plan B) and decided to go to the International Peace Gardens in Jordan Park and have our "Solo" experience there.

What did we learn about the "hike".  It had been requested by Caide who was not participating with us on Tuesday.  As I pondered this lost opportunity, I realized the great blessing that I had, taking Jon up the mountain with me in preparation the week earlier. Perhaps that was the blessing of that hike, a clear bonding time with Jon, where he shared his testimony and many of his inner thoughts.  The sharing and bonding that we did on that previous hike was a special blessing from God (see previous blog).

Back to the International Peace Gardens.  We explained our idea of having a solo experience.  Debbie shared several questions that they might ponder while being alone.  We asked them to find somewhere in the Peace Garden and ponder those things that were important to them and what they might have learned or felt during the retreat.  We asked them to spend about 15 minutes alone and then return to the front of the Peace Gardens for our return to our condo.  We felt that this worked well for most of them.  At least they were alone for a period of time.  The following are some distance photos of some them meditating alone and others looking for a solitary spot.

 

My tree that I sat by and pondered.  It was a beautiful setting.

Our last group photo at the end of the Solo experience

We finally returned home and had a barbecue to finish our retreat.  After the dinner we reviewed the activities of the week and had many share what they learned from the different activities.  We finished again with all you can eat ice cream. Since we had focused a bit on Church History and Personal History, we offered copies of the book Saints, volumes 1 and 2 to those who were interested.  All four of the books were taken.  I also gave them each a copy of My Life Story which I had recently published.  My goal was to have this book available for each of my older grandchildren.  This retreat gave me a deadline that I was able to meet.

Nine copies that were given that night.  Others were given to those who were not participating the last 
day.

Throughout the week I was sometimes disappointed with a lack of participation or respect for some of the “spiritual” aspects of our retreat from some who are not on the covenant path. Whenever I felt this, I was reminded that we were instructed to do this for the “household of faith” and then invite all. It gave me peace to see McKenzie bear testimony of the blessings of the movie “Witnesses” and see Joseph reading and enjoying many of the displays at the Church History museum. Also we loved all of our grandchildren on the covenant path presenting part of the Light the World sculptures and the others respectfully listening.  This inclusion of spiritual experiences was intentional and I believe it strengthened the household of faith.

This was a lengthy blogpost, but it was also an extremely busy week for us and a culmination of two years of planning. We believe that we were led by the Spirit throughout this process.  Individually, just about everything went well (except the hike).  Inspiration and tender mercies came.  Relationships were strengthened and memories made.  Already several of our younger children are asking when we will be doing this for their children, our younger grandchildren.  We are just thankful that our Heavenly Father inspired and supported us on this adventure.