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The Harris's Visit! September 2015

Tuesday, July 5


Saturday afternoon Dad had Priesthood leadership meeting so Ben, Janet, and I sat in another room that had an air conditioner in it (wall units in some of the rooms). Once in a while someone would come in and want to practice speaking English to us. One time our sister missionaries came in and shared some chocolate that they received from a man who attends their English class (has been a regular attendee for the past 5 years).

Before the conference session President Lee, the stake president, came and found us to invite us down to another room to eat a snack before the meeting started. There were kim bop (dried seaweed wrapped around rice with some other vegetables or tuna or something rolled up in it), and rice balls wrapped in a breaded sort of something. They had juice or milk to drink (thinking Americans liked the milk best while Koreans liked the juice best). The juice was pressed and strained and collected over a number of days. The people are so humble and grateful and kind and they go way out of their way to provide a meal for us, treating us like royalty.

Saturday evening for stake conference I had to speak, Dad did not. So he would say things like “it’s so relaxing to sit here and not have to do/say anything”둱ust to bug me! Sounds like him, huh! I spoke on family councils likening them to ward councils or mission leadership councils adapt it to your individual needs. I used Elder Ballard’s June 2003 Ensign talk; here are a few quotes:
 "Whenever there are two or more members of a family together and a discussion is going on, that is a council! Family councils can be held in one-on-one talks between a parent and a child or among parents and several children. When a husband and wife talk to each other, they are holding a family council. I think of the traditional definition that says a family council is a time when a father and mother sit down and go through a list of dos and don’ts with their children. The more stress there is on a family, the more important family councils become. The key for a single parent and other parents as well as to take advantage of informal counseling opportunities with a child. They might be while driving in the car, doing the dishes, or in the morning and evening just before prayers. When communication with Heavenly Father breaks down, communication between spouses also breaks down. And Heavenly Father will not interfere. He doesn’t generally intrude where He is not invited. But if we ask, great blessings will flow."

I guess I never thought of family councils as a one-on-one time with my child or husband but every time I drove Niki or Ben home from school that was a council, even though we laughed and joked and had fun. It’s good to keep them relaxed and fun.

It was fun for me to look down from the stand to see Ben sitting with Victor and Janet Harris on the same row. And then a few minutes later Sister Morton (Janelle) and her companion came into the meeting and sat down right next to Ben. I was able to take a picture of Janet with Janelle! Fun! Long drive back home that night. The parking lot is so small and we got blocked in mostly but AMAZINGLY Dad got the car out with Victor directing him!!!

Early morning leave to drive back to the church building. But guess what!? We got to church very early because it started at 11:00 not at 10:00 like every other time. We got there so early the church was still locked and a few older members were sitting beside the bushes and then Ben and I sat on the steps while Dad was practicing his talk in the car.

President Lee, the stake president, is a wonderful, humble man who would walk up to the podium to give his talk, take a step back and bow to the congregation, and then step back up to the podium to begin speaking. He told of one person’s switch of plans from speaking in conference to leaving the country a week earlier. President Lee said that his son could speak in conference but that they would just wait to see what happens. When Victor and Janet came into the Saturday night session with Ken President Lee asked them to speak in stake conference the following day, on Sunday. They were an answer to his prayers!! They didn’t seem nervous at all, doing a great job of speaking. One of our sister missionaries stood up to the podium with a hand held microphone to translate for me and then for Janet. Another man stood to translate for Victor. Victor had given him a copy of his talk ahead of time but the man still took so much time translating each sentence. It is such a different experience to speak using a translator. Because of the timing of the meeting and the way the first speaker started off I changed my talk to more of a testimony. Just one part of that is a quote: "Our Father in heaven loves us more deeply than we can understand. Each one of us is important to Him.  He wants us to return to live with Him and Jesus again. He wants us to communicate with Him in prayer, to tell Him of our love, and to show our love by obeying His commandments. Through obedience we can become more like Him, developing those qualities of character that He wants His children to have.”




After lunch we took this picture all together. The Harris’ and then next is the stake president and his wife (President Lee, I don’t know what his  wife’s name is). President Lee surprises me with how funny he is (another picture will follow). He did a good job of speaking English with us.  On the other side of Dad is one of the counselors in the stake presidency followed by the other counselor and his wife. This counselor is very musical and he led the choir in the special musical numbers. They loved singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic (an American song!).  
Sunday night we ate leftovers for dinner. Think about that’s what great  friends the Harris’ are to not complain about eating leftovers! Or to be told to help themselves to the fridge for breakfast because we had a bit if a crazy schedule.  I think one of my favorite memories is walking into the living room and finding both Ken and Victor asleep on the couches...I love that they felt comfortable enough to stretch out and really relax!  

Sunday night Victor and Janet attended our staff meeting with us along with our AP’s, office elders, and senior couple missionaries who are the  secretary and financial secretary. The got a glimpse of the behind the scenes workings and they stayed through it all even though it had been a long day already.


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