Harlingen Stake Conference 1/15/17

Larry and I are now back in the Harlingen Stake after being in the McAllen Stake where Larry served as Stake President for eight years. We were in McAllen for eleven years and will remember the fond memories and friendships that were made there. It was a time when Brant and Ryan's families were there together. Also, at one time, Erin and her family were there as well. Having that many children and their families together in one place will never happen again in this lifetime. We missed Ashley and her family but they were able to visit and, when they did, it was heaven on earth for me to have everyone together. The grandkids and my dream is for all of us to live together on property somewhere! Just shows you how special cousins are to one another. Possibly in the next life I pray. Time does fly on wings of lightening. So that makes memories all the more special. Our Stake Conference was wonderful today and I was especially touched by our new Mission President and his wife's talks. You could feel of their humility and authenticity. They simply love the Lord and want to help others feel that same kind of love that has brought true joy into their lives. They talked about their families and told very touching stories about past family experiences with their parents and home life in Honduras. President Torres talked about driving 14 hours in the back of their pickup to the temple to be sealed to his family (he was only 5 years old at the time). He remembers the peace he felt there. He also said he was in awe of the beauty of the temple. He said even the carpet was white and he wanted to sleep on it. It was the first time he had seen carpet. He said there are no language barriers to the spirit. It matters not what language we speak but it does matter what we feel. His testimony of prayer was that God does answer us and we can understand how he does so as we develop a relationship with him and tune in to our feelings. One time, after his mother passed away, he asked for Heavenly Father to witness to him in some way while he was in the temple that she was ok and he received that peaceful witness in his heart that she was, in deed, doing well. Sister Torres's love for her family was evident. She talked about creating traditions in the home. Especially reading the scriptures together as a family. She said when their youngest child, Santiago, was just two years old they decided to begin reading the scriptures together because their oldest child was going to become a teenager and they felt consistent scripture study every morning before leaving for school would be beneficial. She said the first time they gathered each child took turns reading the scriptures but they didn't give Santiago a turn because he couldn't read and was very young. At the close of their scripture reading Santiago began to cry because he didn't get a turn. From that day forward they gave him time to read. He always had his scriptures in his hands and even when they were reading out of the New Testament he would open his scriptures and talk about Nefi (Nephi) and babble on and on. She said during those settings they knew which child needed something. What a blessing, as a parent, to perceive those needs your children have because of how they are responding to the scriptures. Sister Torres also shared an experience she had when they moved here to the Rio Grande Valley. She had seen one missionary who taught her family the gospel while they were in Utah before coming here but she couldn't locate the other missionary. When they had their first zone conference in Harlingen, her husband called a sister missionary to the front and asked her to tell them something about her background. She was from Honduras and as her story unfolded, it became apparent that her Dad was the other missionary who baptized Sister Torres' family. Makes you know you are where you should be. Coincidence, I don't think so. Many other wonderful talks were given. One about doing three things every day since it is resolution time. (1) Learn something new daily, (2) Serve someone daily and, (3). Show love to someone daily!!