February 27th - March 5th

In Our Family This Week...
* Dad had people from Corporate at work this week
* Pack Meeting for Scouts
* Ben had a movie night with friends
* Spring Cleaning has begun in the house!
* Dad had Stake Priesthood Leadership Training followed by the Adult session of Stake Conference
* Mom attended the Temple

Seth Spotlight...

* Had "Tarde Blanco" - literally translating to "White Afternoon".... They had a combined Baptism for his zone and there were 17 people who chose to be Baptized (hence the name - since they were all dressed in white)
* Got his first transfer to Leon (about 2.5 hours North of Managua)
* His new area is the "Touristy place" and he said he'd seen more white people in the 3 hours since he'd arrived than the last 4 months combined!
* He hadn't been to his new apartment but had been told it was a beach house along the shore - we'll find out what it looks like in tomorrow's email (we're super excited to hear how his first week went!)
* His new companion is Elder Sanchez from El Salvador who arrived in Nicaragua on December 6th - so Seth is now the Senior Companion (although he said that only meant he will handle the rent money and he said that he looked at their companionship as equal. He was a bit apprehensive since they are both fairly new missionaries - but was excited to "get to work"!)
* Was very sad to leave Managua and all of the good friends that he's made (especially Elders Price and Menezes)
* His District got matching T-shirts and hats (see pic below) and posed for a picture before those being transferred left to their new areas
* We found out that he had been transferred (before hearing from him in his email) because a post was made on Facebook from a member in the ward... it was actually from Jimmy who was one of his very first convert baptisms when he first arrived in Managua! We also thought it was fun that Jimmy changed his FB profile picture to one of him Seth together)

Spiritually Speaking...
Honestly, this has been such a wonderful week for me (mom)! I recommitted to cutting out all sugars (including hidden sugars!) in my diet and I have felt sooooo good this week! I have renewed energy, renewed motivation, and rekindled my zest for life! Along with feeding my physical body better, I also felt I needed to feed my spiritual body better and FEAST upon the words of Christ in the Scriptures! I read in Nephi where he talks about how his spirit DELIGHTS in the scriptures and I thought to myself that I really wanted to have that same feeling of delight! I also read about how personal revelation comes when we really study and ponder the words vs just casually reading them. Each day as I applied these renewed principles as I approached my personal study time - I came away feeling nourished in the word! And you know what... my HAPPINESS grew! and I found that I was truly delighting in all aspects of my life. On Saturday, dad had a Stake Priesthood Leadership training meeting and so I decided to go to the Temple after I dropped him off. I only had about an hour and a half before I needed to be back to pick him up and attend the adult session of Stake Conference so I decided to just do some Initiatories. As I sat down with the first name in my hand, a beautiful feeling of peace and happiness came over me and I realized that I was truly DELIGHTING in the things of righteousness. My spirit was so delighted to be there that I literally couldn't hold back the tears. I felt so grateful to have a Temple easily accessible to me - one that I could frequent as often as I wanted! I felt gratitude to have a righteous Priesthood holder as my eternal companion and to have all of the blessings that have been bestowed upon me in life! I was able to see a glimpse of the DELIGHT that Nephi had spoken about!

After the Temple, I met back up with John and was Spiritually fed during Stake Conference (on both Saturday night and Sunday morning)... I have way too many pages of notes to share everything that touched me, but a few highlighted points:
* We need to work on creating an atmosphere of Love and Acceptance. Don't let self-imposed barriers keep me away from loving/accepting/including someone
* Faith will sustain us through our trials
* When we say "I don't have time for ________" (fill in the blank with anything from scripture study to exercise) we are really saying "______ is not important to me."

* Small deviations (from truth) in parents can become Big diversions for our children 

* Look for daily ways to immerse in gospel and spiritual things
* One speaker gave an analogy that I really loved! She was talking about how our children are so very important and how it is our duty to help them, etc... she went on to say that if we read Joseph Smith History 1:59-60 and inserted "our children" for "the brass plates" it would take on a whole new meaning. She then read it (I've included it below) and I loved it!
59 ... having gone as usual at the end of another year to the place where the plates were deposited, the same heavenly messenger delivered them up to me with this charge: that I should be responsible for them; that if I should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call for them, they should be protected.

 60 I soon found out the reason why I had received such strict charges to keep them safe, and why it was that the messenger had said that when I had done what was required at my hand, he would call for them. For no sooner was it known that I had them, than the most strenuous exertions were used to get them from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose. The persecution became more bitter and severe than before, and multitudes were on the alert continually to get them from me if possible. But by the wisdom of God, they remained safe in my hands, until I had accomplished by them what was required at my hand. When, according to arrangements, the messenger called for them, I delivered them up to him; and he has them in his charge until this day, being the second day of May, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.