Dear Richard
The dominant feature of last week was a lack of my voice… On Tuesday
it gradually disappeared until by the evening I had nothing left… So I had to
ask one of the other lecturers to do my lectures on Wednesday and Thursday
because there just wasn’t anything. At least it meant a bit less rushing for
those 2 mornings.
Then Friday was Women’s Day, so we were all at home. In the afternoon
we went to Small Bay for a picnic. Mom, Dad and Andrew came with us, and we had
a really nice time! The weather was just beautiful over the weekend (now the
winter storms are back, and set to stay for the whole week) and the kids really
enjoyed the park, and playing in the sand. I really enjoyed chatting to Andrew
a bit J At one point Caleb was at the water’s
edge, and Andrew and I said that it reminded me of one of the previous times
and Josh fell into the water. And the next thing Caleb fell into the water…
Just like de ja vu! But we had a good time overall, and enjoyed a beautiful
sunset J
Then on Saturday we had a braai and invited Sam and Bongi over. And
that was also really nice. We had some really good conversation, but then
they’re great people, so it’s not surprising J The kids really
loved Bongi especially! She has a really nice way with them.
After a really nice time with the kids on Friday and Saturday the lack
of routine just became too much obviously, along with the tail ends of colds,
and so we had pretty horrific behaviour for a lot of the day L But during the afternoon I begged
Heavenly Father for some inspiration, and felt we should take the kids outside,
for me to walk around a bit, and for them to burn off some energy. And we then
had a MUCH better evening! We had a good supper time, we read stories and
coloured in pictures, and they went to bed quite easily, and then had the best
night’s sleep the whole week! So thanks to the guidance of the spirit things
got much better in our family!
I was asked to teach the Sunday School lesson yesterday, and it went
quite well! The lesson was based on D&C 121 and 122 when Joseph Smith was
in Liberty Jail. It reminded me of a talk by Elder Scott from 1995, “Trust in
the Lord”. A very powerful talk about adversity, and the purposes of adversity
– that we need to experience these challenges so that we can be perfected. “Just
when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses
applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your
disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow
more (see Prov. 3:11–12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate
growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting
benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a
lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.” If you
can’t access the talk, I’ll send you a copy. Well worth a read.
We had a FHE lesson last week on work, and I’m happy to say that the
kids have been much more willing to help with a few chores each day now. This
evening I was thinking how glad I am for the family home evening program, which
gives us that scheduled time to be able to talk to the kids about things that
are important. Following some child rapes last week, we spoke to the kids today
about what to do if someone hurts them. We pray it will never happen, but by
having a regular time every week to at least talk to the kids it meant that our
discussion didn’t have to particularly scare them because it was out of place.
It was a normal space for us to talk about important things, and they have
taken to heart a number of our lessons, including about work and prayer. And we
were able to remind them that the reason that we need to know if anything
happens to them is so that we can protect them, because Heavenly Father has
given them to us to protect. What a blessing these children are in our lives!
There are so many rich experiences that you have ahead of you in your life! But
I know that you’re making the most of the very rich 2 years you have now J Keep on loving it!
Lots of love, Shelly
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