The power of the Book of Mormon

A counselor in our bishopric served as a missionary in Taiwan many years ago. He shared an experience about a fifteen year old girl who read the Book of Mormon and wanted to be baptized. Her father was a Baptist preacher that led a congregation of approximately seven hundred people. Being a preacher was not just a religious expression, but it was also his livelihood. He would not give permission for her to be baptized. As her birthday approached, she told her father that the only birthday gift she desired was for him to read the Book of Mormon. He had great disinterest in reading the Book of Mormon, but after her persistence, he reluctantly agreed. He read the book in a short time and was overcome by the Spirit that testified to him of the truthfulness of the book. After reading the Book of Mormon and feeling its power, he stood before his congregation and testified of his experience. He then opened his pulpit to the mission president and missionaries, who proceeded to teach the gospel to the congregation. Over five hundred members of that congregation were eventually baptized because of the faith of a young girl and the power of the Book of Mormon.

Just for fun...

Here are some recent pictures.....

Daniel....seven weeks old

He's already showing personality..

Isaac...eight months old

It has been snowing here ALOT, one day recently the horses were running around like crazy. I tried to get some good action shots, but it was way to cold to be standing outside, so these were taken through the window. Notice the snow? We now have about 18-20 inches of snow. It will definitely be a white Christmas.

By small and not-so-simple things

We had a visitor at church today who stood and shared an experience that was very moving. His name is Ernie and he is from the Ivory Coast in Western Africa. He now lives in Logan with his wife. They have seven children, but only the youngest few are still at home. Ernie works as a janitor at Mountain Crest high school, as well as another job in the evening.

Many years ago, Ernie and his family lived in the Ivory Coast. Ernie was a college professor and also owned ten different restaurants in the city. They had a large home and several nice automobiles (with drivers). They lived near several other family members, including Ernie’s parents whom they helped in various ways. They were very well off and they were quite happy with their lives. Ernie had a friend, Charles, who decided that he wanted to go to the United States. Ernie wished Charles the best, but indicated that he had no desire to go to the United States. He was quite happy with his life and family in the Ivory Coast. Charles went to the U.S. Embassy to apply for a visa to enter the United States. While completing the application, Charles felt like he should also apply for a visa for Ernie. Unbeknownst to Ernie, Charles obtained a second application and filled in Ernie’s information.

Weeks passed, and Charles finally received notice about his visa application. He visited Ernie and explained that his own visa application had been declined. Charles then proceeded to tell Ernie that he had completed a second application for Ernie, which had been accepted. Ernie had been granted a visa to enter the United States without any knowledge of or desire to obtain the visa. Ernie explained to Charles the he did not want to go to the United States. He did not speak English, nor did his family, and they had no reason to go to the United States. Charles replied that he did not know why he had completed the application for Ernie, but had felt something prompting him to do so.

Ernie explained the situation to his family and they all agreed that they wanted to stay in the Ivory Coast. They had many blessings and a comfortable life and were not at all interested in going to the United States. Ernie’s parents were aging and need help, and his sister was ill. It was important for them to stay with their family. Ernie continued to think about the visa and wondered why Charles had filled out the application. After a few weeks, Ernie’s family was having family home evening and discussed the story of Lehi in the Book of Mormon. Lehi led his family out of their comfortable circumstances, even though some of them really did not want to leave. Ernie mentioned this to his family, but they replied simply that Ernie was not Lehi and they reaffirmed their desire to stay in the Ivory Coast. Shortly thereafter, Ernie had a dream that left an indelible impression upon him. He still did not know why, but he knew that he needed to take his family to the United States. Ernie soon bought tickets for himself, his wife, and his children to come to the United States. The only person they knew in the entire United States was a missionary that they had come to know in Ivory Coast. This man was living in Salt Lake City, so Ernie called him and explained the situation. The man offered to have Ernie and his family stay at his home. With much trepidation, Ernie and his family boarded a plane and began their journey to the United States – leaving all that they knew and loved behind.

The family had a difficult time adjusting to a new country, a new language, and a new culture. None of them spoke English, and they were very discouraged and lonely. On more than one occasion, Ernie found his wife and children in tears wishing that they could return to their home in the Ivory Coast. Ernie felt sorrow for their despair, but he knew that, despite their challenges, the Lord wanted them in the United States. It was only a short time later that Ernie received news that a civil war had begun in the Ivory Coast. His parents and sister had been killed, and much of their city had been destroyed. Had Ernie and his family dismissed the prompting to move, they also would have been killed. Ernie immediately knew that the Lord had led his family from destruction to salvation. They continued to have challenges, but they now knew that they were in the right place and that the Lord had blessed them immensely. They still do not have all of the material things that they had in the Ivory Coast. But they are alive and they have each other and they have a knowledge that the Lord loves them.

The Lord works is small and mysterious ways to bring about much righteousness. We need to be willing to receive blessings from the Lord, even if doing so means that we experience some discomfort. We do not understand all things, but we need to have faith in the Lord and lean not unto our own understanding. Ernie is a great example of faith and courage.

A Name and other exciting events

The official release of version 6 is:

Daniel JaKwaun Edward

(Yes it is a bit unusual, but sometimes situations call
for a bit of compromise, and this is one such time!)

Notice the tongue, he really does keep it out like that most of the time.

We came home and this little guy has learned the army crawl! He doesn't do it very often on his own, but his siblings sure like to tease him and when that happens he can sure crawl a long way!

Here is our first picture taken with all the children. Daniel is almost a week old.

This is what our children do on a Saturday afternoon, in the rain. They put on
winter coats, life vests, goggles, and hats. As accessories they carry around
floating devices and marshmallow guns. And don't forget Joseph's wings!

By small and simple things

Here is an excerpt from a favorite poem entitled The Weaver (author unknown):

Not til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

As we look back at the last few weeks of our lives, this verse rings particularly true for us. A few weeks ago, we traveled to Louisiana planning to adopt a baby. Within hours after we learned that the birth mother was planning to keep the baby, we received word about another baby that needed a home. Given our recent experience, we decided not to say anything about it to anyone - not really sure what might happen. The baby was supposedly due on November 4th in Dallas, so we thought we had a few weeks to think about it. But, much to our surprise, we got a call on Monday (Oct. 11th) saying that the baby had been born at 2:37 AM that morning. We were still recovering from our family festivities last weekend, but we packed as quickly as we could and flew to Dallas Tuesday morning.

The birth mother's name is Tamika, and she is a great person. We spent time with her on Tuesday and much of the day Wednesday. Despite her love for the baby, she is not able to provide a stable family life for him. She signed papers yesterday and placed the baby with us. We are so excited to have him in our family. He is a tiny baby boy - he was 5 lbs. 6 oz. at birth and 5 lbs. 1 oz when released from the hospital.

We are still working on a name, so stay tuned ...

 

 

 

Families can be together forever

On Monday, we went to the court house and Isaac was added to our family by legal authority.


On Saturday, we went to the Lord's house and Isaac was sealed to our family by priesthood authority.

 

 

 

What a Day!

This little guy is officially ours!

Aren't they cute?

We went to court today and went through the official proceedings.
The people who are not familiar to you are the judge and the lawyer.

Such interesting questions that the lawyer asks: mainly to me and then they ask Mat if he heard, and if he agrees. Some of the questions I was asked were:

• If the baby has been in my home six months
• If I am at least 21 years of age and ten years older than the child (ha, ha)
• Are we (individually) capable of providing (emotionally and physically) for the child
• If Mat is willing to agree to the adoption (like it was all my doing!)
• In the event of divorce or death, that we are still to provide for this child
• Do we feel like we have established a bond of love and affection for this child, and other such interesting questions.

A picture of our happy family!

Afterwards we went to a well known local restaurant and had
THE SINK.
It was great fun. The adults had lunch and the kids gorged
themselves on ice cream. This thing must of been at least
ten inches tall with ice cream and toppings.

They ate and ate and ate........

and then they were sick.....

yet they kept coming back for more, and eventually
resorted to eating strait out of the sink!
They never did finish it completely but they sure enjoyed themselves.

It has been a great day. We look forward to this weekend when we
are able to take Isaac to the temple and make him eternally ours.