Eternal Blessings, Temporary Challenges

On March 12 we completed 22 years of marriage.  We were privileged to spend most of the day in the Jordan River Temple, participating in temple ordinances on behalf of Debbie's ancestors.  While we were in the temple, the world increased in chaos over the Coronavirus.  This included  the cancelling of public gatherings in the state of Utah and the biggest loss in the stock market in the past 30 years.  We are grateful that we know that God is in charge and that those things that are eternal, such as our marriage, will last forever.

In front of the Jordan River Temple on the 22nd anniversary of our marriage in this temple

It has been 2 months since we last updated our blog.  In that time, we have been thrilled to increase our study of the Book of Mormon following the Come Follow Me curriculum, have tried to serve our community in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, the Cornerstone Condominium Home Owners Association and in the Sunday School of our ward,  and continued our our service to our family on both sides of the veil.  We consider these to be our eternal priorities and the focus of our lives.

Come Follow Me

We have loved the emphasis on Home Centered Education since the beginning of 2019.  We have learned so much more than ever before and have grown together as a married couple.  Each day we study individually and each night we then study together, sharing what we have learned during the day and supplementing our study with general conference talks and with podcasts or YouTube presentations.  These YouTube presentation have been prepared by many knowledgeable members of the Church who are willing to share their understanding, fulfilling the scriptural mandate to "teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom . . . that all may be edified". This sharing by others has greatly increased our understanding and blessed us with new and inspiring insights.  The following are examples of the photos that I take of the presentations while we study so that we can remember the highlights of what we learn.  I just share a few of the many that are available and edifying.

From "Don't Miss This", a podcast that we usually listen to on Sunday Evening

From Teaching with Power

From Book of Mormon Central, an amazing discussion about the doctrine of Christ and the ancient temple

From Steve Scott

As the ward Sunday School president, I have felt inspired for the Sunday School to be the Church Support of Home Centered Gospel Learning.  We have emphasized the formation of informal study groups and have started a ward Facebook group.  We have asked a very capable sister to administer the page.  We now have 29 members of the ward participating as members of our ward group with several others who are participating but have not yet accepted their invite.  For many of our seniors, they need hands on help to follow the needed steps.  Overall, we have enjoyed this Facebook group and have found additional resources for our own study. As we discover new insights or resources we try to share them with others so that "all may be edified".

A screen shot of our Facebook Page today with 29 members

Tom and Debbie's Birthdays and Anniversary

We have just completed celebrating our birthdays and ou wedding anniversary.  Debbie's birthday is in January, mine was in February, and March 12th was our wedding anniversary.  For my birthday, I received some music books for the trumpet.  I had not played my trumpet for a long time, but this gave me a good reason to start playing again.  Debbie adjusted the register of her new piano to match my trumpet and we were able to play duets together.  It is fun to put a little bit of music into our combined lives.

Tom's Birthday presents, music stand and music books and a few books and socks

Debbie and I enjoying our birthday presents and music together

On my birthday, Debbie allowed me to spend time with my passion, doing family history research.  Through research on that day and the weeks before and after, Debbie and I were able to locate several more of Debbie's great grandparents and their families from the on-line Gispersleben parish records.  For me this is really exciting, especially since we were able to extend lines that had been dead ended for many, many years.  Three days later we were able to perform 50 baptisms for the dead with four of our grandchildren for these very same relatives. We find this is gratifying.

Our four grandchildren that helped perform the baptisms.  Joseph had his first opportunity to perform the baptisms as a newly ordained priest.  Jon had his first opportunity to participate as a newly ordained deacon.

The 50 baptisms and confirmations performed, the majority were from the Gispersleben parish records.  Several were Debbie's direct great . . . grandparents

We always enjoy a dinner with our grandchildren after doing baptisms

On our anniversary we kept the gifts to a minimum but decided to spend the day together.  

Flowers, a Charity is the Pure Love of Christ necklace and a scripture a day book for Don't Miss This

We started in the temple, where we were able to complete the temple work for some of these families whose baptisms were performed less than two weeks earlier.  We chose to do the work for two of Debbie's great . . . grandparents and then seal them together and to their child that was Debbie's direct ancestor.  We did a little bit more, but this is best represented by the temple cards below:

Direct Ancestors linked together on our Anniversary

As we completed these ordinances, Debbie took her shift to play the organ in the temple and I went ahead and completed some initiatory ordinances for other ancestors.  I was then able to sit in the chapel for a few minutes and listen to my wife play the organ.  She is an amazing individual that I have been blessed to have as my eternal companion.  I am so exceedingly grateful.

After leaving the temple we had dinner together and then headed to the Hale Center Theater where we had tickets for a play.  As we arrived we found out that the play had been canceled due to the Coronavirus concerns and the announcement by the governor while we were in the temple.

We were disappointed but came home and enjoyed  the evening together watching a few inspiring movies.  It was a wonderful anniversary that we will never forget.

A new Son-in-law
Debbie's oldest daughter, KariLyn, became a widow the first week after we moved to Germany.  Since then she has worked hard to become a registered nurse and support her family as a single mom.  Recently she fell in love with Michael Shelton and they made arrangements to get sealed in the temple.  They made their plans based on an expected clearance to be sealed together, which required First Presidency approval, since they had both been previously sealed to others in the temple.  They scheduled their wedding for January 31, 2020.  As the date approached it became clear that there were still hurdles to overcome before they would receive their clearance.  On February 1, they went to the temple for guidance and felt assured that they should move ahead and be married civilly and then return to be sealed once the clearances are completed.  It was a wonderful example of finally accepting the Lord's will instead of doing it exactly like Kari had wanted it. 

So the very same day, they scheduled a simple ceremony in their home and we gained a son-in-law with three additional grandchildren, born to Michael from former marriages.

Married by their bishop in their home

With big smiles after their marriage ceremony

Close-up on the wedding rings

The completed Marriage License/Certificate

Sealing Families Together forever

We clearly believe in eternal families.  We believe that as our ancestors receive the gospel, they also want and need to be sealed to their families.  This is the greatest joy in temple work, as these sealing ordinances are completed. Quarterly, we meet with our siblings and enjoy this special moment together in a sealing room in the temple.  February was our month to have this sacred experience, February 1 with my brothers and mother and February 15 with Debbie's siblings.  This also gives us a wonderful reason to be with our siblings on a regular basis.  It helps to serve so many purposes on both sides of the veil.

Tom's Family - 9 couples and 44 children sealed together, many were multiple children to the same parents, often performed in one single sealing ordinance, including 3 direct great . . . grandparents

10 couples and 24 children sealed together, including direct great . . . grandparents for Debbie's Family. Most of the children sealed were groups of siblings sealed to the same parents in a single ordinance.

On Valentine's Day Debbie and I were also able to do multiple ordinances in the temple, including multiple sealings.  There are also other sealing groups that participate in sealing for our family members.  Thankfully, we have a continual number of individuals who are ready to receive these sacred ordinances.  Each time we listen to the words, we are reminded of our own covenants with each other and with our Father in Heaven.

Service to Others

We both are able to serve in our community.  I serve as a member of the HOA management committee.  Debbie is the editor of our monthly newsletter.  Debbie also serves as the Camp Captain for the local Daughters of Utah Pioneers camp.  This fills some of our hours with a chance to give back to those in our community.  We find it rewarding to be able to give this type of service.

A little sample of the newsletter that Debbie creates and distributes monthly.  She uses her creative touch to add borders, interesting articles and jokes.  The residents love the jokes!

During January, we had the annual meeting of our HOA and elected new officers.  With this change, my responsibilities were changed from Buildings and Roads to Landscaping.  This corresponded to other changes made.  So I will not be changing light bulbs anymore but will be responsible to work with different contractors to take care of the landscaping and maintenance care of our lawns and garden areas.  For the first few months, it has been an easier job, but that will change as spring comes.

Annual meeting of the HOA

New Management Team for the Cornerstone Condominiums

We have also been working with our son Ben to find additional service opportunities in the community.  I first went with him to serve dinner to the homeless at the Rescue Mission.  He decided that he would prefer to help with the children of the homeless.  He and I got oriented and cleared to serve at the Road Home.  We went together on one Thursday afternoon to help with the "Playtime with the Littles".  I loved seeing his smile as he worked with these preschool children.  He has signed up for each week for the near future.

Ben in front of the Road Home, no photos allowed inside for privacy reasons

Debbie and I have followed up with additional visits to the Rescue Mission to help prepare and serve lunch.  This has been a gratifying experience.  Meals are provided to probably around 100 homeless individuals each and every day.  We especially enjoy working with the individuals who are on the "program", preparing and cleaning up for the meals.  These individuals are in the middle of trying to change their lives and are an inspiration to us.  We hope to be able to serve here on a monthly basis, although volunteering may be on hold with the Coronavirus challenges.

One of our continuing opportunities to serve is with our disabled daughter Camila.  As her health declines, her challenges become greater.  We were able to meet with the Huntington Disease team and the guardians of her children in January.  This turned out to be a very helpful group therapy type session, to understand feelings of the guardians and the children and to organize our efforts going forward.  We are thankful for their aunt Caren who takes the major role in raising three of the children and Steve and Jamie who are raising Cherish.  We appreciate their letting us remain a part of these children's lives.

Recently Camila was admitted into an emergency room due to her inability to sleep at night or during the day.  This had contributed to more agitation and reactions from her.  As I spent several hours with her in the hospital, I found it a special sacred time.  With no one else near, I was able to talk to her about her life experiences on this earth.  I felt the spirit very strongly.  We were able to reminisce about the many experiences that she has had.  I know that she cannot communicate back, but I also felt that she understood my words.  I felt prompted to give her a priesthood blessing, which I was able to do without interruption.

Camila in the emergency room of the hospital

I don't know what she has still to endure in this life, but I know that I am learning so much from her.  I feel like I am on holy ground when I am with her.    I feel that she remains alive to teach me and others.  She is certainly a chosen daughter of our Heavenly Father, clean and pure.  I know that all will be well with her when she returns to her Heavenly Father.

Caring for her is getting more difficult, but those workers at the Canyon Rim Care Center continue to serve her with love.  Unfortunately, during this Coronavirus time, all visitors are prohibited at the Care Center.

Temple Workers Devotional
In February we had our annual Jordan River Temple workers devotional.  There are about 4,500 temple workers in the Jordan River Temple, a significant increase since the Salt Lake Temple was closed for renovation at the end of last year.  The devotional was held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle and viewed in Church meetinghouses in Nevada, Tooele and West Jordan for those who could not attend at the Tabernacle.  President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, spoke to us.  He shared several examples where the hand of the Lord and those on the other side helped Family History and Temple work to be accomplished.  The choir that sang was comprised of temple workers.

As we sat in the tabernacle, we were in awe at the number of people who consecrate so much of their lives to serve in this temple.  We are blessed to be able to associate with these amazing workers.

President Ballard with the Jordan River Temple and Matron,  President Burton and Linda Burton, and the former Salt Lake Temple President and Matron, President Wixom and Rosemary Wixom who also spoke.  Also in attendance are the counselors of the Jordan River Temple and their wives (assistant matrons).

Debbie and  the temple workers choir in the tabernacle

Part of the royal army of ordinance workers

Family Events
We held our Family Gathering in January to organize and plan our 2020 family activities.  We then had our next activity, a Leap Year game afternoon, held on February 29.  This turned out quite well.  It seemed that all that attended had fun.  The younger grandkids do well with each other, allowing their parents to participate with other adults.  Being a Saturday, we were able to have Pizza brought in to make the meal side of things easier.  We love being with our family and share of their love.

Tables set up for our January family gathering. No additional photos taken.  We were too busy planning.

Game afternoon in full involvement.  Everyone seemed to find something to enjoy.

Older Folks table

Teenagers table

Moroni with the younger girls

Lego games

Even Hudson is playing games

Celebrating February Birthdays

At the beginning of the activity, we showed a video about me (Tom) playing pool.  This was created by my friend Mike Johnson.  Mike and I played pool one day and he turned it into a video.  He never shows up in his videos, so I finally got a picture of him for my own blog.  Mike has since moved to Colombia to learn better Spanish.  He is an amazing friend and person.

Mike Johnson, shooting some pool, he gave me some pretty good tips.

Other Special Events

We have the privilege to watch grandchildren receive recognition or perform.  Some of these follow:

We were pleased to have Giovanna and her husband Leo over for dinner.  We are planning a baby shower for her as she has her first child, little Sophia.  We hope that this can happen with everything that is going on in the world at this time.

McKenzie received her Young Women's Medallion for completing her Personal Progress as  she turned twelve.  Quite an accomplishment, we are proud of her.

Katelyn singing with her Concert Choir

Jon, as part of the ensemble in "A Mid Summer Night's Dream"

Birthdays and more Birthdays

We always have plenty of grandchildren birthdays:

Cherish, turning 12

Arianna, turning 6 at her swimming birthday party

Tiare, turning 6 also

Ashton, turning 9

Ashton with his cousin Tiancom at his birthday party.  We love seeing the friendship that has developed between these two.

Nik turning 15, time for cards and money

Kaisha turning 14

Her brother Isake, turning 13 on the same day

A new way of life

In the past few weeks, the world has been rocked by the spreading of the Coronavirus.  Life as we know it has gone away.  Travel, public gatherings, financial markets and economies have been severely impacted.  Panic and fear seem to be rampant.  Leaders of nations are trying to do all that they can do to contain the virus and it's damage.  However, we see that the ability of man is limited and there is only one solution, which is to return to the Lord.  As we contemplate the current situation and the possibilities in the months and years ahead, we are grateful for our faith and trust in our Heavenly Father.

Photo that I took at Walmart, empty shelves everywhere

The Church has had to adjust many of their programs and procedures in the middle of this chaos, including the closing of several temples, moving or cancelling missionary service and temporary suspension of gatherings, including public attendance at General Conference  and the holding of Sunday Church Services.  It is amazing to recognize that the Lord inspired our leadership to introduce the amazing emphasis on home-centered gospel education 17 months ago.  Those who have been diligent in these efforts are prepared to grow spiritually without gathering for Sunday Meetings. As I am writing this, we have just been notified that all temples will be temporarily closed beginning next week.

In one our Come Follow Me studies we found the following quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord's will and in the Lord's timing".  We believe that we must exercise our faith by truly trusting in the Lord in these troubled times.  The challenges of today give us a chance to test our faith.  We know that the Lord's will and timing are for our eternal good!

Memories of the Reason for the Season

For us, the holiday season starts with Thanksgiving and continues until Debbie has her birthday on January 7.  This edition of our blog will cover this past holiday season, our most beloved traditions and the joy that the season brings, especially the powerful remembrance of the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I thought the best summary of our feelings came from a journal entry made by Debbie on Christmas Eve:

"It is 7:15 am on Christmas Eve.  I am sitting in our "parlor" surrounded by 21 nativities we have collected from all over the world.  These nativities are each very different as they depict the birth of Jesus as their individual culture would suggest.  However, they all have similar features.  Of course all nativities include Mary, Jospeh, Shepherds, Wise Men, animals of some kind or other.  The animals vary according to which country they come from.  The center figure of course is the holy baby Jesus.
This year more than any other year I have been able to spend much more time focused on the "reason for the season".  I have been actively involved in the "Light the World, one by one" campaign this year.  This has allowed me an opportunity to reach out to someone each day of December.
I has been our tradition for years to light a candle each night in December before Christmas and read a Christmas story together as a family. The December Ensign this year included an advent calendar with quotes and activities for each day leading up to Christmas Day. Tom and I have shared these quotes and participated in the activities each night as we had our couple scripture study.  The Come Follow Me curriculum for 2019 devoted one week to studying about Jesus' birth.  All of these things have brought me to where I sit this morning full of an overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude for the most precious gift ever given by Heavenly Father.  That is the gift of His only Begotten Son.
I'd like to ponder on the role each nativity figure played on that first Christmas.  I hope to be able to record my impressions.
I begin with the setting of the nativity.  The stable or grotto that served as a place to keep animals made the perfect backdrop of one of the greatest stories ever told.  Could there be anything that could depict the humble lowly birth of God's Only Begotten Son?  Because there was no room for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Son of God's first days on earth were spent among cows, donkeys and other animals.
I think it is fitting that shepherds were the first to hear the tidings of great joy from an angel of God.  These shepherds probably knew the significance of a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.  These shepherds could have been tasked to care for lambs that would be used in temple sacrifices.  These lambs had to be the first born without blemish or spot.  When these lambs were chosen they were wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.  The shepherds were humble servants.  They showed great desire to spread the glorious news of the birth of the Messiah with all they could.  They were ready to believe the words of the angel. they did not doubt but believed.
As I think about Joseph my heart swells with great admiration and awe at his willingness to do all he was asked to do.  He had to be one of the noble and great ones in pre-mortal life. The role he was asked to play was like no other role any other man was asked to play.  He was responsible for helping raise the Son of God as he grew from an infant to a child then a youth and finally a young man.  I can't even imagine how Joseph must have felt with this responsibility on his shoulders.  He had to have had great courage and wisdom in keeping Jesus safe during the time King Herod tried to kill the new born king.  Joseph showed so much love and kindness to Mary  I'm sure it was difficult to deal with the people who didn't understand their unique situation.  Joseph probably wondered more than once if he was a good enough father.
Mary was so young when the angel came to her and announced that she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus the Christ, the promised Messiah.  I'm sure she felt inadequate and wondered why she was chosen.  However she willingly submitted herself to the will of the Father.  She must have had great faith and trust in Heavenly Father.  She was probably selected not only because of her lineage but also because she was a virtuous, pure handmaid of God. She, like Joseph, was chosen before she was born to play this vital role in God's plan.
The Wise men came bearing gifts that would be used by Joseph and Mary as they took their journey to Egypt.  Their gifts would sustain them for quite a while.  These wise men had great faith that they would  ultimately be able to worship the Christ Child.  It didn't seem to bother them that it would take a couple of years to complete their quest to find the King.  They had the knowledge necessary to follow the new star which led them to Jesus."

New addition to our Nativity sets, this one came from our trip to Israel this year

Thanksgiving and pre and post Thanksgiving activities

Our holiday celebrations once again began a week prior to Thanksgiving with the annual Bells Concert at Temple Square.  We traditionally come to hear this beautiful concert which is one of the highlights of the year for Debbie.  This was what we were able to do the day after returning from our mission two years ago and continues to kick off the season.

Our daughter Camila had a Thanksgiving dinner at her Care Center the week before Thanksgiving for her family members.  We start celebrating early and enjoy the presence of this special daughter of Heavenly Father.

Camila with Caide and Cherish, her oldest and youngest

Another photo including her brother Ben, who has much love and care for Camila

For the first time this year, we reserved our Clubhouse for our Thanksgiving celebration.  With some families visiting other sides of their families, we only had about 20 for dinner.  However, with another another 10 or so that came afterwards for pie, we still had a memorable time with our family.

Tables set and decorated for Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving always inspires Debbie to have cute table decorations and favors.  These are the ones she made with Beckie's kids for the Thanksgiving celebration.

Some grandchildren together as we were waiting to get started

Always plenty of home made pies, a few left over this year

The week after Thanksgiving is usually the annual German Christmas Market at This is the Place Heritage Park.  This has become part of our tradition since returning from our mission.  It gives us a chance to eat a little German food and relive some special memories from our mission and our heritage.

Near the entrance of the "Christkindlmarkt"

.

Beautiful weather for our German nostalgia

We even ran into our friends for our mission, Elder and Sister Matheson

Speaking of missionary friends, just a few weeks previous, we had a missionary reunion with those who served in the Europe Area Office.  These are great individuals who are examples to us and forever friends.

A mission full of former missionaries from the Europe Area, serving Frankfurt during the years of 2015 to 2019

Light the World and Other Service Opportunities
As December began, we decided to follow the initiative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to Light the World - One by One, every day.  Many of the ideas were centered on one on one interactions, which led us to honor special people in our lives and touch the lives of other individuals.  One of the general ideas was to reach out to global charitable organizations.  We chose to participate for our first time with the Giving Machine located at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

There we were able to purchase blessings for others.  Some of our choices involved humanitarian projects worldwide.  I (Tom) was excited to purchase a Sheep, since we were aware of a humanitarian project in Albania to raise sheep on our mission. 

However, after our purchase, Debbie reminded me that the project I remembered was to raise goats.  So we went back and purchased three chickens since we had been integrally involved in the filming of  chicken raising humanitarian projects in Cape Verde during our mission.

Buying Three Chickens for our Cape Verde friends

Some of our greatest moments of the Christmas Season are service related.  One of our favorite activities is to go Christmas Caroling with our Children and Grandchildren.  This year we had three families going with us, providing a group of 17 going to different homes.  We visit the homes of those we minister to and others in our ward that seem to enjoy it.  It becomes not only service for those we sing to but also a growing experience for our grandchildren.  After the caroling they all return to our Condo to enjoy homemade Christmas cookies and hot chocolate.

Photo of us taken by one of the families that we minister to

In the patio of another of our sisters that we minister to

In the home of Sister Winger who shared a powerful witness with our grandchildren

Part of our service includes Debbie helping organize a Christmas luncheon for the Daughter of the Utah Pioneers (DUP) camp.  She worked hard to create special Christmas favors in the form of trains, since that ties to the train and railroad themes of the DUP this year.

About 26 Christmas trains made out of candy for Christmas favors

One of our sweetest gifts this year came in a letter that we received a few days before Christmas.  It was written by the family of a man who had passed away and he had received his last hair cut in their home the night before he died.  Our son, Ammon, cut his hair as an act of service to this gentleman who had been receiving haircuts from Ammon during the past year, while he suffered with cancer.  The gratitude of this family for our son Ammon and their kind words gave us a uplift during this special season.

Letter received on December 19, 2019

Christmas Concerts, Plays and Performances

Christmas would not be Christmas without music and performances.  We have several traditions that have become meaningful to us and usually have something new to experience.

We mentioned earlier our annual visit to the Bells Concert on Temple Square.  We also have a local concert put on by a South Jordan choir and orchestra that is really amazing.  It is right next to home, at Bingham High, and is performed without an entrance fee.  However, the presentation is first class.  This is the second year we have attended this concert and we plan on making it a tradition while we are living in South Jordan.

This was the 15th annual performance of the Sounds of the Season presented by the SoJo (South Jordan) Choral Arts

Our long standing tradition, as long as we have been married, is to attend the Forgotten Carols presentation by Michael McLean.  This performance has been going on since 1991.  It has been part of our marriage since we first dated in 1997.  We are always filled with an incredible spirit during this performance and feel special inspiration about the birth and life of our Savior.  This year, the story was "reimagined", but the spirit was the same.  We love this tradition.  Almost always my mother goes with us.  

Photo Opportunity before the performance with my mother

Last year we received a gift certificate from the Hale Centre Theatre from our son, Sam.  He was very generous and we were able to enjoy a few shows with this certificate.  This year, it included "The Christmas Carol", the reenactment of the Charle Dickens classic.  We attended this on December 23, a fitting way to prepare us for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  This story never gets old and always inspires us to use the resources the Lord has given us to help others.

Our Selfie photo before the show

One of the great performances that we enjoyed was in our Sacrament Meeting on December 22, as our ward choir performed in a special Christmas program.  They are always good, but this year, for the first time, Debbie was highlighted in a trio presentation.  She has always been a great choir member, but perhaps a new career is coming?

Decorations and Nativities

Decorating is a big part of our Christmas.  Sometimes we fear that it takes too much effort.  However, our favorite part of the decorations are the nativities that we have collected from around the world.  Our parlor is full of 21 different nativities  We also have others in our kitchen and downstairs, but our parlor becomes a sacred place for us.

During this year we followed along with the David and Emilee podcasts about the participants in the nativity during the last week before Christmas.  They gave us a meaningful challenge for each of them.  One of them was to ponder in our hearts about the Christ Child, as Mary did.  This was our goal as Christmas was approaching, but our many activities seemed to stop this quiet pondering time.  Finally, on the morning of Christmas Eve, we were able to spend probably about an hour, sitting in our parlor, reading the Christmas story from the scriptures and pondering as we looked at the many nativities.  It was an amazing experience as we pondered not only the birth of that very special baby, but of His life and his atoning sacrifice.  It really was the highlight of our Christmas season to just have time and let the Holy Ghost confirm to our souls all that we had studied this year about our Savior.  We pondered the incredible gift given to us by our Heavenly Father, when he allowed His Only Begotten Son to come to this earth and sacrifice His life for us.  Also the gift of our Savior, in giving His own life, so that we could receive the many gifts made available for us.  We are so grateful for our Savior and for our increased understanding that we have received during our study of the New Testament during 2019.  Debbie's recorded her feelings of that morning in her journal, which we shared at the beginning of this blog.

Our Newest Nativity brought from our trip to Israel, highlighted in our kitchen, right in front of a special picture of our Savior

Our decorated condo as you come into our Condominium.  We have put our Nativity where it can be seen be all, so we do not forget the reason for the season.  Many of our neighbors have thanked us to have this nativity visible to all.

Jordan River Temple Maintenance, opportunities to visit other temples

The Jordan River closed down for maintenance for the two weeks before Christmas.  This gives us as ordinance workers time off of our duties.  This does add time to accomplish other priorities during the holiday season, but we never want to stop attending the temple.  We planned a few activities in other temples that helped us continue to do the work for our kindred dead and enjoy different experiences.  The first week that the temple was closed, we were able to travel to Hyrum and visit with Jared and his family.  We stayed over night there and the next day we were able to participate in two endowment sessions in the Logan Temple.  It is always a privilege to attend one of the pioneer temples, certainly this beautiful temple in Logan.

A selfie with the Logan Temple behind us on December 11, 2019

The next week we wanted to have our last opportunities to attend the Salt Lake Temple before they closed it for a 4 year renovation.  The following comes from my comments at that time:

"We really enjoyed participating in temple ordinances in the Salt Lake Temple one last time before the temple closes for modifications. Last night it took quite awhile before we could have a turn for our grandchildren could do baptisms for the dead due to so many youth in the temple. It was the first visit to this temple for our grandson Joshua. It was inspiring to consider that this same baptismal font has been used by the members of the Church for almost 130 years.
Today we went down memory lane with my mother as we performed endowments in this historical temple where we each received our own endowments and where we were each sealed for eternities. A 10:00 am session was completely filled with over 200 patrons. The view we saw in that beautiful celestial room filled with so many individuals dressed in white was simply inspiring. It gave us a glimpse of the celestial kingdom. We are so thankful for the dedication of those early pioneer who built this amazing temple unto the Lord.
As we watched those dedicated temple workers who present the entire endowment live, without the films used in other temples, we were in awe. We are excited as we contemplate their joining us as temple ordinance workers in the Jordan River Temple next month."

With grandkids on December 17, performing baptisms for the dead

With my mother after attending an endowment session  on December 18

Christmas Parties, Gifts

Of course, the holidays are not complete without joining with our families for Christmas parties.  We held our party for our children and grandchildren on December 15 at our Clubhouse.  We were blessed to have nearly all of our family that lives in Utah in attendance, totaling 59 individuals.  We are thankful to have them together.  This year we decided that rather than doing an enactment of the nativity, we would watch and contemplate the new video of the Christ Child that was released by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The parents tried hard to keep their children attentive and we felt really good about the experience.  We hope that they enjoyed this 18 minute video as much as we did.  It is a touching representation, without narration, of the facts that are documented in the scriptures and consistent with the location. 

We finished the party with a gift exchange of cousins and siblings and their spouses.  This party seems to bring a lot of joy and togetherness with our family, for which we are very grateful.  

Decorated and ready to go before the party started

The group heading to the table to serve themselves dinner

One of many photos of the grandchildren exchanging gifts

As part of this party, we were also able to bring Camila and her children.  They were able to exchange gifts with their mother and also participate in the party.  The extra effort to make this happen is well worth it in the joy that we see having this family together at Christmas time.

Our Christmas Gift to Camila, a Christmas tree with ornaments made of photos of her children

Camila exchanging gifts with her kids

I also invited a dear friend, Michael Johnson, to join with us at this party.  He took a lot of pictures of all that was occurring.  As Debbie took him to the train station afterwards he told her that he wanted to do a video of our party as a gift to us.  On the morning of December 24, 2019, he sent us the files of his video, which were amazing.  We were overwhelmed by his kindness to us.  He spent his career as a camera man for CNN and Fox News and worked in Hollywood.  We were blessed by his talents.  What another amazing gift that we had received, even before Christmas morning.

A screen shot from the video that Mike Johnson produced for us.  What an amazing gift to our entire family!

The following Saturday, December 21, our extended Rueckert family party was held and hosted by my brother Jim.  The party was well done with many of the extended family there.  One of the highlights was when Gorilla Santa appeared and gave out presents to the young children.

Gorilla Santa giving a treat to our granddaughter Addie

We hold a Christmas Eve activity in our home, primarily for our single sons and often we have a family or two also attending. We always call it our shepherds' meal, as we eat finger foods in knapsacks while we listen to some of the Forgotten Carols, especially of the shepherd who slept through the heavenly experience.  He did not see the Christ Child but believed in the words of those who were there.  We then share the Christmas story from the Bible and enjoy time together.  This year we also watched the new video of our Family Christmas Party that we had received that day.  This year Jacob, Sam and I ended up playing games until 2 am on Christmas morning.  

All watching the Family Christmas Party video

Many dressed in our Christmas shepherd attire

We hold the Moeller family party (Debbie's family) on the first Saturday of January by ice skating at Noah's.  This is also well attended and is the only family activity that we have during the year with this side of our family.

Food on the room on the side of the ice skating rink.  

Plenty of food and conversation with the adults.

Many cousins and second cousins enjoying time on the ice skating rink

Debbie prepared a work of love, typing and packaging many of the stories that she had been able to capture from her dad many years ago.  She shared it with each of her siblings.  Below, is her sister LuAnn, enjoying her copy which we were able to share with her on Christmas Eve day.

Debbie's Sister LuAnn

Christmas Gift Giving
Obviously this is a big part of our Christmas Celebration.  We try to give individual gifts to each grandchild and a few family gifts to the families.  Debbie wraps the presents in a different wrapping paper for each family.  We are able to share them as they come to our condo, one family at a time.  Several of the families exchange gifts with us before Christmas day, others on Christmas day.  It works out pretty well and we are able to enjoy the happiness of each grandchild.  There are way too many photos to share, but the tree below shows many of the presents in our parlor before the sharing began.  Sometimes we wonder about the challenges of this gift giving, but the happiness and gratefulness of our children and grandchildren make it worthwhile.

Making Christmas Cookies with Grandma
During the Christmas Season, Debbie tries to invite the different grandchildren to come to our condo and make Christmas Cookies.  This has become a fun tradition that most look forward to.  In two cases, we took the Christmas Cookies to Hyrum and Provo to participate with these two families that live further away.  The following photos identify much of the fun.

Rolling out cookie dough with Tiare

Cutting out cookies with Asher and Aria

And Addie (in Provo)

Frosting cookies with Ellie and Olivia (In Hyrum)

Playing with the sprinkles with Kaleb

And with Hudson (in Provo)

Ashton and Dawson decorating the cookies

Pollyanna's whole family working together

River and his family with equal intensity

Even Grant joining in the fun

Sisters working together (Katelyn and Serenity)

Intense decorating from Ethan, the first day we met our soon to be grandson, after his dad marries KariLyn

The Hennessy children, Abbie, McKenzie and Kaleb

Finally the finished products:

The Digerness clan, no  photos before the end

The Dan Digerness boys

The Hennessys

TheThompsons

The Fergusons

River and his family

Kari and her crew

Tiare

Mom and Debbie filled in one night that we had a cancellation

Sunday School President

We have lived in our ward since 2015 (with 2+ years on our mission) and I (Tom) have never had a calling, except to facilitate Self-Reliance groups, which we basically volunteered for.  So when I received a call to meet with the bishop, we wondered what might be in store.

The night before the interview, I was in the temple, attending an endowment session.  During the session, it was made clear to me that I would be called the Sunday School President.  I also felt some very specific things that I should do or emphasize in this calling.  I felt uncomfortable with these thoughts, because it felt that I was presuming what had not been even discussed.  I told Debbie about my feelings and then we waited for the interview.  The next day, I was called as the Sunday School President.  I have never had this specific of a personal revelation before, but it certainly confirmed to me that this call came from the Lord.

I know that I bring one clear quality into this calling, I have a strong testimony of the value of the Come Follow Me curriculum and the importance of Home-Center gospel study.  I feel a strong need to emphasize and support Home-Centered gospel study in our ward with all the different challenges of aging and illness.  I have since had strong promptings as to my counselors and secretary and have seen the Lord's hand in these callings.  They are wonderful men that counsel and perform in an amazing way.

One of the promptings that I had felt in the temple was to initiate a Facebook Come Follow Me group for our ward members so that many of them can share and teach one another in social media.  As I initially mentioned this to the bishop he shared caution and asked me to wait.  As I continued to ask, he finally told me through his counselor last week that he would not approve it.  I was struggling with this decision, because I knew that the Lord had asked me to do it.  As I was studying the story of Nephi and the brass plates, I knew that I needed to persist as Nephi did to accomplish the Lord's will.  As I went to the temple and prayed, I was prompted to try a one on one visit with the bishop to share  my thoughts with him and show him the way this approach was working with our family.  On the day that the bishopric counselor communicated the rejection of my idea, I shared an example of what I was proposing.  As I called the bishop, he agreed for me to visit with him last Sunday. I felt peace and felt that the Lord's will would be done, but I continued to pray.  On Sunday before Church, the bishopric counselor told me that the bishop had approved the concept once he had understood that this was a private group with participation only by invitation.  I knew that the Lord had answered my prayers and I was able to pursue the direction as prompted by the Spirit.  We asked an individual to organize the Facebook group that very day, one I had felt strong promptings to ask.  Wiithin 24 hours the group was organized and invites were sent.  So far we have 11 members in our group and others invited.  This has been a personal witness to me of the Lord's involvement and concern about all that we do.  I pray that in this calling, I can be humble and more willing to do things His way than ever before in my life.

Grandchildren performances
We always have grandchildren performances to attend.  Photos are of a few of them:

We watched Nikki perform in the high school play of  "Olivier"

We saw Katelyn perform with her concert choir

We saw Ellie and Olivia before their Christmas dance recital

Elie and Olivia dancing

Abbie singing in her School Christmas concert

McKenzie in the same school concert

Three brothers being ordained Priest, Teacher and Deacon on the same day

I guess this qualifies as a special performance.  It is the puzzle that we completed on New Years Day, one of the hardest we have ever done.  We started it in 2019 and only finished it in 2020.

While at these activities we also had the chance to see our youngest grandchildren and great grandchildren:

Marcie attending Nikki's performance

Emily while we were in Hyrum

Owen whiles brothers decorated cookies

Birthday Celebrations

And we always have birthday celebrations.  Besides the grandkids, we finished having dinner with all of our children and their significant others for their birthdays in 2019.  It was great to get to know each of them better during this year.  We are thankful for all of them and the special part they play in our family.

The grandchildren birthdays included:

Hudson, who turned three

Joseph who turned 15

Evelyn who turned 5

We also celebrated Camila's birthday with three of her kids, bringing cupcakes to the care center and a few gifts.

Celebrating Camila's birthday with other residents in the Care Center

Camila with three of her children on her birthday

And finally we finished our holiday season with the birthday of my sweetheart, Debbie.  She saw a beautiful digital mini grand piano last summer and fell in love with it.  We pondered this purchase for a long time and then I decided to take advantage of a Christmas sale.  It was delivered on her birthday, much to her surprise and delight.  It was the most that I ever spent on a birthday present, but she is certainly worth it.

Debbie turning 67, her cake and her mini grand digital piano