It is very late and I get up quite early so I will be brief. Today was a fantastic day. Everyone woke up late (I think we are all sluggish from allergies), but we made it to church before the end of the first meeting. In Elder’s Quorum, I learned about the power of the Book of Mormon while Lily tended Mary in nursery. Eventually, Lily was able to slip out, so we both met up in our gospel doctrine class where we learned about the story of Ruth and Naomi in the old testament. Lily made the great observation that Christ and David were decended from Ruth and both displayed incredible faithfulness, loyalty and devlotion just as Ruth did to Naomi. Sacrament meeting was mostly dominated by Lily and I taking care of the girls and minimizing screaming.
After church we ate and then Mary went down for her nap. During that time, Lily continued getting some R&R to get over her bug and enjoyed Downton Abbey and I read scriptures and learned some very neat things. Specifically I learned that to fully embrace truth, we must often unlearn things we thought were true in the process (to make room for the truth and to not contaminate it by mixing it with falsehood.) Truth cannot be fully operative in our lives if it is constrained by competition with falsehoods were are also holding onto.
When Mary woke up, I took her into her bedroom where Lydia was watching Veggie Tales on the laptop. Lydia was so sweet to Mary when Mary entered! Lydia said, “Mary, come here! Come sit with me in this tent, here I will make a place just for you. I have your special pillow right here Mary. Mary, do you want to come in the tent and watch the show with me?” Mary obliged and joined Lydia in her tent (see below). Lydia was so excited to have her buddy, Mary, watch the show with her and it touched my heart to see her enthusiasm to spend time with her sister. Sure, it devolved into crying on both ends within fifteen minutes (Mary thought the laptop was a touch-screen, which it wasn’t and Lydia was very distraught about Mary’s misuse), but Lydia’s initial intent was very touching.
Later in the afternoon we all went to Bobby and Ashley Bassett’s home where we had dinner with them and Caleb and Marissa. The food and story telling were all great. We exchanged stories fo how we all met our spouses, where we grew up etc. and it was all so delightful. Dinner was an amazing Mexican casserole with Crepes for desert and the rolls Lily brought for our contribution were fantastic.
Well, so I guess I wasn’t so brief. Writing is fun!