Wonderful Meetings

Dear Wonderful Family,
We have had such fun reading the recent posts...all about Amy's and Zach's moving plans and Stacie and Matt's busy schedules and trip...Keep the posts coming - we love them and look forward to having them as a kind of history about our family.
We have had some wonderful meetings lately.  Last weekend we had a priesthood leadership training meeting with Elder Christofferson, Elder Rasband and Elder Bassett, our area authority.  Dad was invited to the priesthood meeting which was held in our Fresno North Stake Center for priesthood leaders in the area - as far south as Porterville and as far north as the two Modesto stakes.  He and I along with our mission president and his wife (President and Sister Gelwix) were then invited to attend a lunch for the general authorities and all the stake presidents.  At night there was a special meeting for all the youth, their parents and leaders that was also held in our North Stake Center, but then was broadcast to all the youth and their parents, etc. throughout our area.  We then went to a dinner with the Gelwix's, Elder and Sister Bassett, Elder Rasband and Elder Christofferson at a local Mexican restaurant here.  What a day! One of Dad's counselors and his wife worked through their shift on Sat. to cover ours except for about the last three hours when we rushed back to the temple after the lunch to work the last little part so they could go home.  But...what a feast we had- both physically and spiritually!  It is truly a privilege and a blessing for us to be able to "rub shoulders" with such amazing and inspiring leaders.  It is a "perk" that comes with our calling that will be so very much missed in the future. (I, Dad, will continue for a minute while Mom starts dinner and then she will add some more)  On Sunday we were invited to attend a special stake conference in Visalia with Elder Christofferson and Elder Bassett which was a treat.  We were not on the program so we thought we would be able to just enjoy the meeting.  That was the case for me but during the intermediate hymn Elder Christofferson walked over and asked Mom to say a few words and bear her testimony, which she did a great job of as usual.  Elder Bassett and Elder Christofferson were wonderful and of course Elder Christofferson spoke for about 40 minutes which was a real treat.  One of the other speakers was a Sister Sanner who is the widow of the bishop who was shot and killed in Oct. of 2010 on a Sunday while he was at the church.  She gave a wonderful talk about facing challenges and following the Savior.  You might recall, but this sister and her parents were our neighbors in our first home in Merced for a couple of years.  Her father is a pharmacist and was working at Long's Pharmacy.  They were there to support their daughter and it was fun to visit with them after the conference.  They live up north in Gridley, CA.  Another interesting thing is that after each of the meetings (Priesthood Leadership, Youth and the Stake Conference) Elder Christofferson invited people to come up and shake hands.  In the Priesthood Leadership meeting the last half was a question and answer session which was special, except when I was asked to respond to a question, and then at the end Pres. Gelwix and I were asked to share our testimonies.  They are all so caring and helpful.  What a treat! This week we received a personal letter from Elder Christofferson thanking us for our service in the Temple and for our participation in the weekend meetings. He makes you feel so comfortable and is so personal.  He came to a stake conference in Hanford last Nov. and he personally phoned me to ask that Mom and I participate and speak at the Sunday session.
On March 4th we drove to Carmel/Monterey for the day and stayed overnight and came back on Tues.  It was fun to get away and see the beautiful area.  We just walked around and went down to the beach and walked along for a while enjoying the ocean.  That night we went to a fun little restaurant in Carmel which was great.  The next day we went to a breakfast place in Monterey and walked again along the path next to the ocean and then took the 17 mile drive which of course is beautiful.  There was this recently remodeled home right on the beach with the golf course just behind it.  There were sales brochures so I picked one up and they are only asking 11.5 million.  A little out of our league.  It was a quick but fun trip.  Not quite like the great cruise Matt and Stacie had but still fun.
This week has been our busy week as we have been on every morning.  Today we attended our own ward and then went to a YSA ward sacrament meeting.  We are looking forward to Amy, Addi and Bella coming this Friday and then the following week Mom and Amy will drive to Utah as the Temple will be closed for the first 2 weeks of April.  I will join them a few days later after I cover the first part of the Temple closure period for the work being done.  (Mom will add some more now) 
I just wanted to add a little bit of the counsel Elder Christofferson, Elder Rasband and Elder Bassett gave.
They talked about "being consistent in the simple things" - prayer, scripture study and family home evening.
They said "being consistent brings the blessings" and "the best principle of preparation is the Book of Mormon."  They talked about the importance of learning how to recognize and follow the spirit.  Also, they mentioned how President Monson always stresses the importance of serving "the one" - how Jesus  ministered and blessed those in the Book of Mormon, "one by one" and that is what we should do.
We always learn so much from these wonderful men....Today we visited a couple of wards - actually, we went to our own ward and to the YSA ward that meets in the same building.  One of the speakers in our sacrament meeting was talking about the importance of putting God first in our lives and talked about how easy it is to "worship false gods".  He made a comment that I thought was so good - "Whatever man puts his heart and his trust in is his God."  I thought a lot about how our heart is the key....
I know I have rambled on too much...but just FYI:  I have reserved units at Newport July 27 - August 2 for summer of 2014.  Please plan ahead so we can have our own family reunion then.  Also, we are planning to go to Hawaii this Nov. from 16 - 23.  We have two units and as of now, we are planning on Scott, Kristin & Greg and Cinda & Dave joining us this year.  If we save Nov. 2014 and then have two units in Nov. of 2015, would the Hansens, Gruwells and Fairbanks be able to go with us then?  Would that be more fun than going separately a year at a time?  Let us know....   Also let us know if another month would be better.  As far as this summer goes, we will be in Utah the night of June 29 - July 8.  We have traded some days with Dad's counselors so that we can have a full week. We look so forward to seeing everyone then.....We love you so much and you are always in our hearts and prayers.  Love, Dad and Mom