Week of February 5 2017: Behold Your Little Ones

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Dear Sisters,

We hope that you are savoring the opportunity to read the words of the Savior in 3 Nephi.  We continue this week with more tender, powerful scriptures.  

Week of February 5 2017:

Read 3 Nephi 17 and Our Heritage, pages 105-110

Write Write about a time when someone prayed for you or you prayed specifically for someone you love,

or,

Write about a modern-day prophet whose message has had an impact on you.

This week's personal history was written by Sarah Kunz from the Discovery Park Ward.  Thank you Sarah!

Writing prompt: Interview an older family member and ask him/her what advice he/she would give to you. Record that advice.

I pondered for a while about who I should ask to share advice with me, and finally settled on my dad. We had the following text exchange:

Me: “I am wondering if you’d be willing to share some advice with me. Any type of advice about whatever you think would be helpful for me now and/or in the future. It can be general life advice or very specific – basically just things you think you would like to share with me.”

Dad: “Better call me. Just what is it I am supposed to tell you?”

Me: “Any advice you’d like to share. Your wisdom. Whatever you have learned in life that you think would benefit me. Anything you think is important or maybe that you wished you’d have known sooner. Really anything! Your chance to pass on whatever advice you feel led to share. I will call you tomorrow.”

Dad: “Ok til tomorrow”

With anticipation I called the next afternoon curious and a bit anxious to hear what advice my 83 year old father would bestow upon me. He told me he’d come up with only one thing – retirement. He advised me to make sure we were saving and planning for retirement. I admit I was a bit let down by that advice. While it is certainly sound advice, I had been hoping for something a bit more personal or insightful. I thought surely after living 83 years, married 55 years, and raising 4 children my father would have a lot of wisdom to pass on. When I pressed him he finally responded, “It’s hard to give you advice. You’re an adult now, and I don’t know that you need it.” That statement really made me pause. Does it appear as if I don’t need advice? Maybe he thinks I don’t value what he might have to teach me? He finally said, “Things I think of you’re already doing.” He first said attend church and be involved. Also be involved in community activities (“It’s character building!”) Stay healthy. Have family dinner. This led to a really great conversation about the importance of families.

I am the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in my family, but I was raised with a religious upbringing by parents who instilled in me that family comes first and that they are the people on whom we can most rely. Even today, though I live far away from my family and I have a couple of sisters with whom I am not particularly close, I know without hesitation I could pick up the phone and reach out to any one of them for anything I might need, and they would be there for me. I love the doctrine of eternal families and I love “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” That inspired document was issued when I was 7 months pregnant with my first child, and it has been a guide as I have raised my children.

My dad’s advice to me is exactly the counsel given by living prophets, even though he doesn’t know that! And although he thinks I don’t need advice, it was gratifying to hear that he thinks I am trying to do the right things, the most important things. At the end of our conversation he left me with his final advice, “Carry on!”