A Very Long Walk amidst a Riot of Colour

The past couple of weeks have been busy.  We continue to work with full-time missionaries in the Melbourne area who are coming close to the end of their 1.5 to 2 years of service and about to go wherever in the world they call home.  Many need counselling in schooling or career choices, or help in English language proficiency.  These young adults have acquired many skills on their mission and have witnessed of Christ powerfully and with the Spirit.  But in regards to life, their journey to self-reliance has just started.  They understand some of the fundamental principles, such as faith in Christ and the power of prayer, but they have yet to apply these principles to most of life's challenges.  It is a pleasure to work with them and feel of their enthusiasm to enter the next phase of their life.

We have met a number of people who have immigrated to Australia as refugees, and have been impressed with the encouragement and support they have received from the Australian government and people.  Some of them have heart-wrenching stories of fleeing for their lives, leaving all their worldly goods in another country, being separated from family members for months or years, and facing many challenges while encountering a totally new culture and language in Australia.  But they seem to have flourished here - finding friends, community, churches, and jobs.  This has in turn enriched the Australian communities with a diversity of cultures and foods.  It is an inspiring story!

On a personal note, we have benefited from having many choices for unusual grocery items, as well as making good friends from various countries.  We think that the church's self-reliance teachings have a role to play in helping immigrants.

We noticed something quite odd when we first came here - some of the people who bicycle on the park paths around the city (the more serious ones) have plastic cable ties attached to and sticking up from their helmets, which looks bizarre on first sight.  It took us a while to realize that they were discouraging swooping birds who are protecting their young during nesting season.  We've been trying to get a good photo of this phenomenon, but in a reverse psychology to the car which, once you notice you see everywhere, cable-tied bike helmets are never around when you want to photograph them.  Then, just as the sun was setting today, this friendly person came along and stopped for a photo op.  He only has two cable ties - a mere pittance compared to some we have seen, but you get the idea!  We've been dive-bombed enough by nesting birds while walking in the parks to know it is a good idea.

A home-grown bird warder

Last weekend we took one of the other senior missionary couples, Elder and Sister Myers, to the airport for their trip to Tasmania.  We thought, while we near the airport, that we would find a local park and try it out.  There is a large (roughly 2 km by 3 km in size) park to the NE of the Melbourne airport called Woodlands Historic park.  We had a great walk there, clocking up close to 12 km and seeing a wide variety of birds.  One minor hitch in the walk - needing to find a toilet, we phoned the park number and were told that there was one near the Sommerton camping area, towards which we were fortuitously headed.  Only one problem, which we didn't know - it was about 4 km away!  That was one brisk hike, towards the end :>)

Spring is showing its colours with a vengeance (Woodlands Park)!

Yellow is a favourite spring colour (different flower here, though; Woodlands Park).

A shaded path in Yarra Flats Park (a little too susceptible to snakes for Sister Sobkowicz)

Well, we must finish off with a few bird photos - "tradition"!! (Can't you just hear Tavye singing that song?).  The first is a beautiful small bird we see in several parks.  This one was photographed in Wilson Reserve and it is one of many types of robins in Australia!

Australia's Eastern Yellow Robin

While out walking on a rainy day between the Yarra River and an adjacent golf course, we were bemoaning the lack of birds.  Then, glancing out over the golf course, we saw that it was covered with these magnificent Australian White Ibis:

Australian White Ibis (the black head is actually unfeathered)

I never tire of seeing or hearing the Kookaburra.  The following two photos were taken with quite patient birds that let me approach closely and almost posed for their photos.

A Kookaburra sunning itself on a cold morning (note blue on wings)

While on our "march to the washroom" in Woodlands Park, we had to stop and try to photograph this gorgeous, not that common bird.  Unfortunately, I only had one shot, as it was chased away right after the shutter snapped.

A Crimson Rosella (bright red with blue on the shoulders and on the cheeks; subspecies Elegans)

The following guy likes to hang out in one of our very local parks, feeding off the rugby green whenever it rains a lot and there are shallow puddles.

White-faced Heron (graceful and poised)

I played "hide and seek" with this fellow, trying to catch a clear view of him through the trees.  He kept hopping about from branch to branch whenever I thought I had a photo lined up.  I think he was messing around with me - don't tell me birds don't have a sense of humour :>)

Grey Butcherbird (supposedly common; this is the first time we had seen one)

This last bird is one of my favourites, simply because it has such a comical look to its face.  However, I wouldn't want to get anywhere near the business end of its beak.

Long-billed Corella (only found around Melbourne)

Final photo of the day - we wouldn't be done if the sun wasn't going down!  Not as dramatic as some, but still very pretty!

Enjoying All Things Exotic and Familiar

We were thinking today that while there are many exotic flora and fauna around Melbourne (of which the birds are our favourites), the city nevertheless feels very familiar to us.  Partly it is the climate that we have experienced so far - a Melbourne spring is very much like a Vancouver spring - cool to warm, somewhat rainy, always a pleasure to walk in.  And partly it is due to the friendly, multi-cultural nature of society here.  There are many people of English descent (or from the UK or NZ), a lot of "islanders" (people from various Polynesian countries), many Asian people, a fairly good Indian community (although not as many as in Vancouver), and a smattering of people from elsewhere (including the odd person from Canada or the US).  When people hear we are from Canada, their ears always perk up; more often than not they have friends or relatives in Canada, or have holidayed there.  We don't have to tell anyone where Vancouver is - it is on their radar just like Melbourne or Sydney or Perth is on ours.

We have had the occasional rainy day, often associated with a spectacular sunset, as in the photo below.  In this case, the photo really captured the magic of the moment.

This photo, taken a few minutes later, shows the intensity of the sunset just before the sun disappears (note that this photo does have some HDR effects in it, but only to preserve what the eye sees rather than what one photo can capture).  Notice which way the cars are parked, by the way - yes, they ARE where they are supposed to be :>)

Melbourne is pronounced "Melbun", by the way, just like Cairns is pronounced "Cans" - our Australian friends seem to leave out the r's in a lot of place names and common words.  And we're getting used to saying "no worries" instead of "no problem" (one of my favourite expressions).  When in Rome....

Driving continues to be an exciting experience.  John was just starting to feel confident about being on the left side of the road and complementing himself on doing so well with his driving skills.  Then, in a moment of panic last Sunday, he made a right turn onto a side street and ended up in the wrong (i.e., right side) lane.  The fellow coming down the hill in that lane got a bit excited.  It's a good thing we don't have to drive with a sign on our vehicle that says "From Canada - Watch Out!!".

The past week or so has been busy with training and meeting people, and starting to understand both the need for self-reliance in the lives of the church members and the enthusiasm with which they have embraced this new initiative from the church.  The various courses are generating a lot of discussion and we have heard many stories of how people's lives have changed after hearing and acting upon simple self-reliance concepts.

One brand new course is called "Success in School Starts at Home".  It is focused on getting parents to understand the vital role that the home plays in the education of their children - how they need to be anxiously engaged in training their pre-schoolers and preparing them for school, and how they need to be intimately involved in the learning process for those of their children who are in school.  One grandmother told us: "After our last discussion group, I realized that I needed to turn off the TV or the computer and spend more time reading and talking to my young grandchildren.  I've talked so much in the past week that my jaw is sore!"  Another mother commented: "Now I understand the importance of making sure my children do not skip any school days or classes, no matter how tempted I am to let them stay home and help with the housework".

We helped facilitate a discussion group for a young man (~25 years old) who was looking for a job.  He already had a great attitude and desire to work, but needed to learn some job search skills.  The discussion was called "Accelerated Job Search" and it asked him to commit to a number of actions each day that would keep him very busy identifying resources, making contacts and having interviews.  He said that learning how to present "Me in 30 seconds" (one of several tools about which he learned) was very helpful as it projected a positive and enthusiastic message to a prospective employer.  He also said that having a spiritual basis for what he was doing, particularly knowing that Heavenly Father would help him in his efforts as he exercised faith, strengthened him.  We learned that he found a job in his area of interest in about 2 weeks, which is not unusual if someone is willing to apply the principles diligently.

For those who might be interested in further information about finding a job, check out this link: "My Job Search".

No post would be complete without a few good photos of birds!  The first is of a bird called a "Common Bronzewing" (reason for name evident), which is found all over Australia and is a member of the Pigeon/Dove family.  We have not seen that many of them, however...

One of my favourite birds from the parrot family is the Eastern Rosella.  It is getting ready to enter its nest - the adjacent hole in the tree.

Of course, one can't come to Australia and not hear and then see some Kookaburras - their odd laughter and majestic bearing are a delight to those not familiar with them, (the Kookaburra is a type of kingfisher - Australia's largest).

Week 2 - Spring is Here!

We will preface this post by explaining the terminology for LDS church groups, as those terms are used below.  A "Ward" is a congregation typically of a few hundred members (usually from 400 to 500, but could be less or more) who live in a relatively small geographical area and meet together in a church building for Sunday services.  They are led by a Bishop, who is their priesthood authority and spiritual "father" (or mentor).  In areas where there are fewer members, who meet in a smaller congregation, the term "Branch" is used instead of Ward.  The next larger ecclesiastical unit is a "Stake", which is formed of anywhere from 5 to 10 Wards and Branches, and typically has from 2500 to over 5000 members.  A Stake is led by a "Stake President", whose responsibility is to provide spiritual guidance and direction for all of the wards under his jurisdiction.

Between the Melbourne area and Tasmania, there are 11 Stakes with 53 Wards and 11 Branches.

So, on to the experiences of this past week....

We had a wonderful time, meeting some of the people involved with self-reliance in several different Stakes for which we are responsible in Melbourne.  They are dedicated and passionate about the subject and doing a good work for the members here.  A few examples will give you a flavour for a typical week:

1. Saturday and Sunday, as reported in the previous blog, we traveled to Benalla and Wangaratta to visit with two small congregations (Branches) - small in numbers but big in spirit!  It was a long but enjoyable weekend of driving, teaching and meeting members in these outlying areas.
2. Monday - a team meeting with the other self-reliance missionaries, Elder and Sister Myers.  They have been waiting patiently for us to "get up to speed" and take some of the load off of their shoulders.  They work hard and are excellent trainers.
3. We did take some time late Monday afternoon to travel to Plenty Gorge Park, which is on the north edge of Melbourne, to see some kangaroos.  They didn't disappoint us, turning out in large numbers (see photos below).
4. Wednesday - we attended an "Accelerated Job Search" discussion with one young man from the Craigieburn Stake.  He returned from a mission a while ago and is keen to get a job.  This discussion really teaches people how to identify resources and network, and challenges them to be fully engaged in the process of finding a job every day.  When you realize that Heavenly Father wants to help us as we put forth effort to move forward ourselves, you realize that everything we do has a spiritual basis and that what we do is a manifestation of the faith we have in Him.
5. On Wednesday evening we visited with a couple who are self-reliance specialists in another Stake .  They are serving as "church service missionaries" (typically requiring a day or two a week of their time).  They are doing a great job organizing and overseeing self-reliance classes in the various Wards in their Stake, and seeing people benefit from learning about how to improve their education and how to start or grow their own business.
6. On Thursday, we had the opportunity to meet with a couple who have just been called as self-reliance specialists in another Stake, to do some training on the "My Path to Self-Reliance" devotional.  Later in the evening, we met with them and other Stake leaders and learned of their plans for advancing the self-reliance initiative in their area.
7. This past Saturday, we met with 6 young adults who have recently returned from missions in various parts of the world, and are now home in Melbourne, working and planning to advance their education.  That was a very dynamic group and it was a pleasure to get to know them and hear what they had planned for their lives.

Our mission isn't all work and no play.  We get up early each morning (usually by 6 am) and go to a local gym for aerobic and weight training.  We try to arrive by 7 and get back home shortly after 8.  We find the regular exercise gives us energy for the day and helps to keep us sane!  We also spend about an hour in the morning studying scriptures and our self-reliance materials, during which time we can receive spiritual direction for the day.

On some days, we walk in the local parks, which of course includes bird watching and photography.  John is really missing his SLR camera, which at the time we flew here seemed too bulky and heavy to bring along, given the weight and luggage restrictions when flying from Vancouver to SLC and then to Melbourne.  This was a big mistake!  He is trying to capture some bird photos using a "point and shoot" camera with a a 30x zoom lens, but the results are less than satisfactory.  However, on occasion, mostly by luck, a few decent photos are taken:

The first photo, below, is typical of pathways in Melbourne Parks and just shows that in the summer months (November to March) you really need to keep your eyes open :>)

Note that not only do people drive on the left, but they also walk and bicycle on the left - it's actually harder to get into that habit when walking than it is when driving.  Just to show that spring has already arrived in Melbourne...

While at Plenty Gorge Park, we had some excellent views of Kangaroos.  As usual, John took way too many photos and even videos; we will only share one here.  This is only a mild telephoto view, which shows that with patience you can get relatively close to these cautious animals.

The back lighting on this photo is particularly nice in emphasizing the kangaroo's outline without turning them into silhouettes.  Another indication of spring are these Noisy Miner fledglings who just couldn't wait for the next bite to eat.  They kept momma and papa hopping, providing food.

Also at the entrance to her (his?) nest is this Rainbow Lorikeet.  Unfortunately, we couldn't (yet) see the babies:

We tend to mostly look up for birds, but there is a small parrot here who loves to eat seeds from various low lying ground plants.  It is called, for obvious reasons, a red-rumped parrot:

We suppose a tour of Melbourne spring birds would not be complete without a photo of the sulphur-crested cockatoo - a large, bright, raucous, fairly common inhabitant of the parks in the area.  When this bird gets a little excited, it fans the yellow crest out, which looks very impressive.

While out in Warringal Park tonight, our friends Elder and Sister Myers, took this photo of John and Janette - it seems to capture the spirit of the moment nicely.  If you look closely, you'll see those are mostly "gum" (or Eucalyptus) trees in the background.  We walked along a portion of the Yarra River towards a billabong (or oxbow lake).  We're trying to learn and use local terms - when greeting someone, people often say "How are you going?" (rather than "doing").  One of my favourite expressions back home is "No problem" but down here it is "No worries" (which I actually like better).

If you look closely at John, you will see he has put on a few pounds.  It is very difficult, when visiting a lot of people each week (particularly the Islanders) to not eat way too much food.  What is needed is more willpower to limit the calorie intake (keeping in mind that dark chocolate has no calories :>)

End of our First Week in Australia

We have finished our first week in Australia - what an amazing and busy week it has been! We received a warm welcome from Elder and Sister Myers, the other self-reliance senior missionaries here. They picked us up at the airport and got us settled in our apartment. They also guided us through getting an Australian phone number and activating our bank account. This was all accomplished on the first day, despite us being in a jet lag fog!

We spent the week in training and meeting church leaders and others involved in self-reliance. The people here are warm and friendly and so helpful. We particularly liked meeting church members from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. They are a spiritual people with a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and his gospel. And they give lots of good hugs!

John is more comfortable driving on the left side of the road now. He only needs the odd reminder from Janette that he is drifting to the left side of the lane. He assures her that his driving will improve as he adjusts to Australian time.

We have walked in some of the local parks and seen a plenitude of bird life. They are a lot noisier than the birds back home in Canada. But they are also more varied and colourful. It is not uncommon to see small flocks of Lorikeets or Parikeets streaking from tree to tree. Or to see the sulfur-crested Cockatoo, which is both common and raucous. They don't care if they are seen or heard! There are also birds here with names like "magpie" and "wood duck" that look quite different from birds with the same name at home.

Here is an Australian magpie, which looks more like a black and white crow (to us) than a Canadian magpie.  One other difference - it is not at all raucous (that is left to the cockatoos and parikeets), but has a fluid, melodious call.

Likewise, an Australian wood duck - it's definitely a duck, but nowhere near as colourful as its Canadian cousin.

Finally, a collared dove - we think the origin of the name will be pretty obvious...

At the end of August, we are entering Melbourne's spring. The weather now is like early spring in Vancouver, Canada - cool to cold days and some rain. We see many interesting plants and bushes flowering. What is surprising is to see the orange and lemon trees with fruit ready to pick! Despite the cold, wet weather, the fruit has ripened over the winter. These trees must know that there is hot, dry weather arriving soon and that is their time for dormancy.

In the following photo, the large bush on the right is just starting to show its spring bloom whereas the orange tree on the left is ready to pick!

Here is just one of many interesting flowering plants - we have no idea what it is, but is lovely!

We find it challenging adjusting to the heating systems in Melbourne. Many homes and chapels have no or little heating, or only space heaters. Sometimes the inside of a house is colder than outside! We have learned to wear layers of clothing and be ready for any temperature!  Breakfast this morning contained several "warm-me-ups".

We are enjoying the food here a little too much, especially the desserts. There is something called "double cream" that is tasty. It can't be whipped but it is delicious. Fortunately, we've signed up at a state-of-the-art gym close by and hope to reverse the weight trend.

We look at a different set of stars and planets here. Tonight, Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction over the western horizon, just after sundown. They are both bright and clear, even in the light-contaminated Melbourne sky.

We haven't seen any snakes yet - these aren't expected until the summer. But when we were in the bush this weekend a lady mentioned that there has been flooding and mild weather. This has caused them to appear earlier than usual. She told us that if the Kookaburras are silent, watch out!

A treat this past week was the visit of Elder Leota from Sydney. He is a self-reliance manager for our church and the person to whom we report. What a warm, gentle, inspiring person he is! We have learned so much from him already and we have just got started.

A "selfie" of John and Elder Leota - a bit goofy, but we don't have any better photos yet!

This weekend we traveled with Elder and Sister Meyers to Benalla and Wangaratta. These are two towns about 2.5 hour's drive north of Melbourne where there are small church congregations. We participated in training and got to meet the wonderful Saints in that area.  Janette felt impressed, as we left Melbourne, to bring along several training manuals.  We met one father who had recently finished his schooling and was looking for a job, and were able to share the My Job Search course with him.  We also shared the Mom's Pre-School book with his wife.  Unbeknownst to us, she is a school teacher and was thrilled to receive it.  Legislation is changing in the Australian schools and parents are concerned with some of the values being presented.  As a consequence, she is considering home schooling.

Here is a photo of us in Benalla, enjoying a wonderful dinner at the end of our training session.

John and Janette spoke in Sacrament meeting in Wangaratta. Janette's topic was "Principles of Self-reliance"; John's was "The Character of Christ". We have provided links to these talks if you would like to download and read them.

The Rubber Hits the Road!

Well, we are now on a 22-hour countdown for our flight to Melbourne, Australia.  We've spent a week at the Mission Training Centre in Provo and 3 days at the church office building in Salt Lake City.  As a result, we feel more prepared in mind, body and spirit for our mission.  That is not to say we don't still have a lot to learn - we do! But we can't wait to be in Melbourne.  We want to meet the people there with whom we will be working.  And we'd like to meet the other senior missionaries, roll up our sleeves and get to work.

We've posted some information before about the church's self-reliance initiative. However, the recent training put the spirit into our understanding. Here are some important spiritual lessons that we have learned:

• Our main purpose is to invite others to Christ. The most important thing we do is testify of Christ.
• Our focus is on people and their needs.
• Everything we do in this life, no matter how physical it seems, has a spiritual basis. That applies to all the training we will be doing in self-reliance - it is a spiritual work.
• There could have been no Atonement without the character of Christ.
• One of our personal study priorities should be to examine His life and determine those characteristics. We want to serve others as He did and that means striving to become like Him.
• One thing we know about Christ is that he was selfless. He turned outwards to help others when most of us would turn inwards. Given our natural tendencies, always thinking about others is a difficult characteristic to develop.
• Another characteristic is that Christ listened to people. He asked many question. He listened to the Spirit. Only then did he speak or act. If we want to help others, we need to develop these same skills.
• We want to be kind and considerate to others - much more so than we are at present! In other words, we want to treat people as Christ would treat them if He were present. And the most important person to whom we should apply that skill is to our life long companion!
• The scriptures are a springboard to testimony and personal revelation. This is particularly true of the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, which speak so much of Christ.
• Love everyone that you serve. Never mind if you like them - love them! Look for the positive and see the good in people and in their culture.
• Each of us has two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak. Then listen to the Spirit. Then we can teach so that both the teacher and the student understand one another.
• When we have an open heart and an open mind, the Lord will reveal what we are to do.
• No one is alone and no problem, temporal or spiritual, is too small or too big for the Saviour.
• It is important to learn doctrine first and then figure out how to apply it.
• Local solutions developed by local people are almost always better than solutions imposed from the outside.

We like a poem that we heard last week. This is from our memory and it was a translation, so we may not have it right:

"Come to the edge.", He said.
"No!"

"Come to the edge.", He said.
"No!!!"

"Come To The Edge!", He said.
So we came to the edge.

And He pushed us....

And we flew!

So, those are some of the spiritual lessons. We also learned many things about our specific calling in self-reliance. We will discuss some of those learnings in other posts, when we have actually had some time "in the field".

To whet your appetite, we did learn that "...self-reliance is the ability, commitment and effort to provide the spiritual and temporal necessities of life for yourself and your family...."

In speaking about a Zion society, Elder Todd Christofferson (a modern day apostle) said that we must "...care for the poor and the needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us..." That is the challenge of the self-reliance initiative.

It does feel odd leaving with a big winter jacket packed in our suitcase.  But it is winter in Melbourne for a while yet and a lot of homes do not have central heating.  So...we will go prepared!

It's Almost Time!!

We're on the final week countdown to leave on our mission. This Friday, we fly to Salt Lake City / Provo for some training, and then in a week or two after that, we're off to Melbourne and the great land of Oz. It felt like the date would never come, but of course now it is rushing at us like a great, overpowering waterfall. It's a great feeling!!

We'll mostly be posting here, but there may be some short, different comments on Facebook.  Look us up at "John-Janette Sobkowicz" - we're happy for more friends!

Thoughts on Father's Day

While not strictly related to our mission, I share a talk below that I gave today at our church.  I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting, which is the first of three meetings we attend on Sundays.  Its main purpose, as its name suggests, is to partake of the sacrament, but several members are usually invited to share gospel messages with the congregation, later in the meeting.

There was a fair amount of contemplation and scripture study involved in preparing this talk.  I felt the Spirit was helping me to select material and organize concepts to share.  I hoped the talk would touch the father's and future fathers in the congregation, so that they felt a desire to focus on what really matters in life - their family!

Anyways, it doesn't need a lot of preamble.  Here is the talk...

Father's Day - 2016.06.19

Opening

A friend sent me examples of some father’s day cards that he had found on the internet, amongst which was a real treasure.  I suspect it was written by a young boy, perhaps 9 or 10 years old:

“Dad - without me, today is just another day. (You’re welcome).”

This humorous statement also has a serious message - without children, life would be empty and meaningless.  It’s not just that we would miss celebrating one day of the year, but that there would be a huge void in our hearts and in our souls.  This is true irrespective of the parentage of those children.

If that is how we feel about children, think how our Heavenly Father feels about us!

Today, I want to discuss three topics:

1. Appreciating our Heavenly Father.
2. What our Heavenly Father wants for His Children.
3. How we can honour Him.

Let’s think about our Heavenly Father

What is he like?

• Every day, when you pray to Him, how do you visualize Him?  Sometimes I see a face with very kind eyes; other times, it is more a feeling of warm familiarity.  That’s when I know I am actually connecting.
• We know that God is a perfect being, that He is omniscient (that is, having complete and unlimited knowledge and understanding) and all powerful.  But do we really know Him that well?

How does he see us?

• We are his children.  He has told us that we were created in the “similitude of his Only Begotten” (Moses 1:13).  Our prophets have told us that “All human beings - male and female - are created in the image of God.  Each is a beloved son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny”. (The Family - A Proclamation to the World).

How does he feel about us?

• God loves us deeply and perfectly.
• John 3:16 tells us “…For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

I can’t imagine the depth of His feelings as Jesus was praying in Gethsemane or hanging on the cross.  But if we try to understand, particularly if we have children of our own, then perhaps we can start to appreciate the depth and breadth of His love for us.  Maybe it is worth thinking about that for a while, on Father’s Day.

For now, let’s just keep in our minds that we have a perfect Father who loves us perfectly.

What does our Heavenly Father want for His Children?

The book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price tells us of several discussions that Moses had with God.  In one, Moses saw the entire earth and all of its inhabitants - the scriptures say that he saw, “…even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God…” (Moses 1:27).  Moses asked God to tell him why and how he made the world.  The Lord at first says “For mine own purpose have I made these things.  Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me”, (Moses 1:31).

But God tells Moses that He made our world and many other worlds by the power of His Son.  Finally, God speaks this transcendent truth to Moses: “For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39).

What does this mean?  In the last LDS general conference, President Uchtdorf said: “…we can…transcend mortal imagination and become heirs of eternal life and partakers of God’s indescribable glory….".  God’s plan is to build us into something far greater than we can ever imagine.

That means that God’s focus is on his children.  His plan is for us to be happy.  We achieve that by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

“In the pre-mortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life”. (The Family - A Proclamation to the World).

We can honour our Heavenly Father by doing His work

President Eyring’s talk from the last general conference talks about eternal families and some of the following quotes are taken from that talk.

As fathers, our greatest purpose is to help our families and others to progress towards and obtain eternal life.  Quote: “Every priesthood effort and every priesthood ordinance is intended to help Heavenly Father’s children be changed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ to become members of perfected family units.  It follows that ‘the great work of every man is to believe the gospel, to keep the commandments, and to create and perfect an eternal family unit’ (quoting Bruce R. McConkie)”.

We should put our families and the families of those around us at the centre of our concern.  Every decision we make should be based on how it helps our family to qualify for life with Heavenly Father.

In the last conference, Elder Christofferson told us that “…fatherhood exposes us to our own weaknesses and our need to improve…” and appealed to “…all fathers to do better and to be better”.  To me, this was encouragement to make the changes in my own life that are necessary for me to re-prioritize and focus on those things that will help my family - past, present and future - to obtain eternal life.  Here are some ideas that have impressed me as I have thought about this:

1. I need to treat my wife and my children the way Heavenly Father treats me.  Fortunately, modern day scriptures provide direction:
1. In regards to my wife - D&C 42:22 - “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else”.  And in contemplating this scripture, I believe we can consider the additional insight that comes from replacing the words “none else” with “nothing else”.
2. In regards to my children and grandchildren - D&C 121:41 - “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned…”.  I see this behaviour modelled daily as I watch my children and their spouses deal with the challenges of raising their children.  Elder Christofferson said that “…the most essential of a father’s work is to turn the hearts of his children to their Heavenly Father…”.
2. Teach our children and others in our family the doctrines of the Plan of Salvation:
1. The need to make choices, which means we must have both agency and opposition in our lives, keeping in mind that making right choices is what helps us to grow as our Father intended.
2. The need for a Saviour to allow us to be cleansed from sin and progress towards our eternal destiny.
3. The need for us to exercise faith in Jesus Christ.
4. The need to experience the witness of the Holy Ghost (Elder Hales - “The Holy Ghost provides personal revelation to help us make major life decisions…”).
5. The need to be obedient that we may discover “…what we are truly made of…We come to see obedience…as a liberating path to our divine destiny…”. (Uchtdorf).
6. The need to make eternal covenants with our Heavenly Father in his House, again keeping in mind that the primary blessings of the temple are the ordinances of exaltation.  (President Monson - “Until you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings which await you there, you have not obtained everything the Church has to offer.  The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God.”)
7. The need for family history work to tie our families together in the eternities, knowing that the Lord organizes eternal families only in temples.  The really cool thing is that all members of the family can be involved with family history and temple work, and there has been no other time when we have been so enabled.

Closing

The Lord expects a lot of fathers - they have an important role to play in His Plan of Happiness.  However, He does not leave them alone.  He gives them the gift of the Holy Ghost, which will always guide them in the important decisions of life.  He entrusts them with the priesthood, which if used wisely will assist them to carry out their roles in life.  And he blesses them with an eternal companion, who can be their best confidante, counsellor, encourager, and smoother of troubled waters.

I pray that today we will take some time to:

1. Think about and appreciate our Heavenly Father, and perhaps gain a more intimate picture of who he is and what he wants for His children.
2. Contemplate the ways that we can “do better and be better” as we teach and encourage our families in their journey to eternal life in a heavenly family and exaltation in God’s kingdom.