Easter

I've been feeling a little discouraged about our addiction calling.  We just aren't making much progress in getting the word out to our members, which is the most important part of the job, in my opinion.  But this month has brought something of a change in that area.  Our Stake President has called an "addiction committee" to discuss what to do about addiction, especially pornography addiction, in our stake.  We are on the committee.  I'm excited about that!  To add to that, we are speaking at another stake's conference on pornography.  Later in the month we travel to California to present yet another talk in Rayne's singles ward.

Speaking of Rayne, she is engaged!  It sounds like her man of choice is a good one.  Other good news; Chase got a job, after looking for 9 months.  He and his little family will be moving to Provo to begin working for Visa next month.  Such blessings!

I don't like holidays away from family.  So I was excited when Audrey told me that she and Dorothy were coming on Easter weekend, with Scott and Allegra, on their way to Rexburg and BYUI.  I had visions of a bit of family for Easter.  But they decided to rush their trip so that they could drive back to their homes for Easter.  Well, that is the decent thing to do when you have family at home.  That is the thing when your children have families.  They are the first priority.  Which is only right.  But I still miss them.

Here is our visiting family:  Allegra, (Layne), Audrey, Dorothy, Scott.

They arrived for a quick visit Thursday afternoon.  They drove through lots of snow, especially over the Sierras.  The shocker was that the snow accompanied them all the way to Star!  Yes, it snowed here!  All over our daffodils and tulips.  And all over the tree blossoms.  For awhile it was winter again.  In fact, their whole visit was accompanied by storms.  It was snowing as they left Friday morning and only cleared up when they were well down the road to Rexburg.  The storms seemed to covet their company!  But I'm happy to say that they traveled to Rexburg and on back to California with no weather issues.  I'm imaging that they are finishing up a lovely Easter.

Snow on the daffodils!

The kids depart in a spring snowstorm!  By afternoon it was all gone.  You can see their red van in the center of the picture.

With no family at hand, we invited our friends, Carol and Larry Wintersteen over for Easter dinner.  We combined dishes and had a wonderful Easter feast.  This year, throughout the weekend, I marked Christ's activities as they occurred 2000+ years ago.  It was a sweet way to honor Him as I imagined Gethsemane, His trial and crucifixion on Friday; His burial and visit to the Spirit World on Saturday and His resurrection on Sunday.  That, combined with an inspired Church service, brought the meaning of Easter closer to my heart.

Here's Carol, with a delicious cake she contributed to our Easter feast.

Larry and Layne bonding after dinner.

 

And...spring is back, with all the snow gone and sunshine again at work bringing out the hidden life outside.  Good times!