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"Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's" - 2nd Chronicles.
When I was younger I would read this scripture and imagine myself standing for the truth against an army of sin and confusion. Clad in armor all by myself facing an unimaginable number of foes. Now as I recently read this scripture I see myself standing next to the temple with my husband and my child (and future children) all holding hands facing head on the storms in life. I don't see me doing one big courageous act against some HUGE foe (although I know it is huge), I usually see myself doing a bunch of everyday little things to fight Satin. Things like staying home and taking care of Aiden, or making our home a place where we are able to feel the spirit. But there is still something that is not quite right in my picture! I still revert to how in the world are WE supposed to raise a family in this crazy world!!! Well I have learned that there is no way that we can without Christ. The battle is not ours! It really is Gods! He just asks us to stand on holy ground and be not moved. As easy as this sounds, it can take a lot of courage at times to not be moved, or to get to holy ground in the first place. But our Heavenly Father does understand and loves us unconditionally still.
Last night I was studying the Doctrine and Covenants and I felt like I was going to pop inside! I was so excited about all the amazing things Heavenly Father has in store for us if we will only have the faith and courage to obey him! Jason had to get to sleep because he had a final this morning, but I just HAD to tell him about all the incredible things I was reading. God really will do everything he can do to get us back to him in the end. He loves us so much he sent a savior for us and he will fight our battles for us! He does this everyday in so many ways. "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are build for". We need to have the courage that we can be given strength through Christ and let our self go out to sea, knowing that God can command the seas and that there is a lighthouse. Sometimes having courage means taking a specific action that can be scary, other times we just need to "Be still and know that [He] is God".
Here is the Family Newsletter my Mom (Suzanne Williams) sent out this week. It totally inspired me to try and do my part a little better in standing up for Christ.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Hello Family, We hope that all is well with you and yours.
Can I tell you how much I love Joshua, the prophet after Moses, and how much I love how the Lord deals with Joshua. In the first chapter of Joshua the Lord tells him 4 times “Be strong and of good courage.” Here is how he says them. First time – be strong and of goo courage. Second time – Only be though strong and very courageous. Third time – Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be though dismayed: for the Lord they God is with thee whithersoever though goest. Fouth time – Only be strong and of good courage.
I’m sure there are many concepts that the Lord has to try to get me to learn every time we talk as well. And being strong and of good courage is definitely one of them.
I love how Judges starts with the Lord showing by the history of the Israelites that if you are bad as a nation you will be taken into bondage and if you repent and are good the Lord will send a hero to lead you back to freedom.
For Presidents Day Priscilla (14) and Colt (16) went cross country skiing with the Foote Family. While they were gone Derek and the younger children watch Johnny Tremain while he worked on his studies for the Bar and I worked on cleaning my room – which I admit had been sadly neglected. I would much rather help the children with their schooling than clean my room any day. Anyway, as I was walking upstairs to put away some things I heard this quote
“if they mean to have a war, let it begin here” liking research more than cleaning and thinking that was a powerful quote I went and googled the quote. The whole quotes is as follows. "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." It was said by a man named John Parker who was in charge of a minute man company. I love how brave he was. I love how he was not going to back down. He was not going to wait for others to defend themselves first. He manned up and said if there will be a fight let it begin us.
I think that we today need to be equally courageous and need to not be afraid of standing up for what we believe in. No matter what consequences threaten.
I was talking with someone the other day. And I was saying how much I love my life. Some people look and me a homeschooling mom with 8 children and think that it would be a very frustrating life. But that is not my existence at all. It is completely opposite of my existence. My children feed and nourish me emotionally and intellectually. My children are the light and joy in my life. And I didn’t mean to just say my children. I mean my husband, my parents, my sister, my new son Jason and my new Grandbaby Aiden. The richness and pleasure and joy in my life comes from family.
I just want you to know how happy and rich I feel because of the love of so many good people.
Am I saying that life is never hard or boring or annoying? No we are human and so that means that sometimes we rub people wrong, some people we create work for people that they would rather not do, sometimes life is repetitive which can be boring at times and completely make you feel secure and fulfilled at others. But I am so completely eternally thankful for each person in my family and thank God for them! The good a million times outweighs any bad.
Everything the family does enriches my life. I love that Jason is in medical school. I love that Grandma and Grandpa are dedicated indexers. I love that I have experienced law school through Derek. There’s just too many things that you all bring into my life to begin to count.
Even if I simply said the music you have brought into my life – which I am listening to right now as I write – if I listed all the music that you have brought into my life that I love that list would go on forever.
I am blessed by you and I know it! Thank you!
Wesley right now is such a joy to me. If I had to estimate he must come to me 20+ times a day to give me hugs and kisses. Right now he loves to climb up me when I am sitting down and hug my face. If I am in a different room he comes to me and tells me to stay with him. I love that he loves me so much and tells me so often. I love that he is so vocal about how much he loves me and how he wants to spend time with me.
I want you all to know that I love you and that I love spending time with you!
We went to the Salt Lake Temple Tuesday because the Bountiful Temple is closed for 2 weeks. It gave us the opportunity to get together with Catherine, and Rebecca, and Elizabeth Bingham. It was so good to see them. The Salt Lake Temple is so beautiful. So peaceful! That’s the feeling I want for my home.
We got our first letter from Hunter – he is doing very well. And doing well with Spanish. That he is doing so well is incredibly satisfying to us. We pray for his success and happiness.
Caleb (10) and Clancy (8) continue to love scouting. Marshall (12) is so good at helping them do the requirements that they need to pass off in the books. That boy will make such a good father someday. He has a Shepherd’s heart and love. He knows how to show love and nurturing. And he is careful to help people stay on the right course.
I was just trying to think of life from Wesley’s point of view. It must be very hard for a little one of so little understanding to try to understand why some Portia is sometimes here and is sometimes gone. It must be hard for him to understand why Hunter is sometimes here and sometimes gone. “Mom, why did we leave Hunter?” He asked me. And I had to explain to him that we didn’t leave Hunter at the MTC. We would never leave any of our children. Hunter is just choosing to be away as a missionary right now because he is serving God and that is a good thing.
I remember a visiting teaching companion in South Jordan telling me how hard it was on her daughter to have each of her brothers and sister grow and leave the family. I can see that. I try to tell Wesley that Derek and I will never leave. And that his brother and sister who do leave are having fun and doing good things in other places.
Changing the subject, I love in Judges how the Lord shows in Judges so many times that he will bless us when we are doing good even though He knows we will do bad later. And when we repent and every time we repent He forgives us and comes to our aid. When we are good we are free and when we are not we are in bondage. And yet no matter how many times we are sinful he longs for us to repent and to forgive us and to lead us to freedom and prosperity. How good God is. I am thankful that studying His book shows us that!
I love the story of Gideon. I feel for him, and feel akin to him on so many levels. He wants to be good and do what the Lord wants, but Gideon doubts his own abilities “My family is poor and I am the least of my father’s house.” God tells him not to be afraid. Fear must be such a universal human emotion. I can’t begin to count the number of prophets and heroes that God has told not to be afraid.
Gideon is a careful man. He wants to make sure he has heard the voice of the Lord. He asks for a fleece to first be wet when the land around is dry and the next day for the fleece to dry even when the land around is wet.
Even after that he has trouble trusting the Lord. Gideon goes to fight the Midiannites with 32,000 men. And the Lord tells him he has too many people for the Israelites to acknoledge the Lord’s hand in the matter. So the Lord tells Gideon to send all those who are afraid back home. And 22,000 go back home and 10,000 stay with Gideon.
Then the Lord tells Gideon that there are still too many and another test (a test to see who is careful and will stay prepared) reduces Gideon’s army to 300. And then God tells Gideon to go down because he has given the Midianites (who are so numerous they can’t be counted) into his hands.
And here is why I love the Lord. He is so understanding. He says to Gideon, you can go down now or you can take a friend and go into the Midianite camp and then you will have enough courgage.
And Gideon chooses the later – he still doesn’t have enough faith to trust that God can do what seems impossible to him.
So he goes into camp and hears what he needs to hear and goes up and he and the people blow their horns and break their pitchers and hold up their lanterns and yell “The Sword of the Lord, and of Gideon” and the Midianite host flees.
And I thank God for including this story in the scriptures. I thank God for someone honestly writing all the emotional parts of it. We can be afraid to follow God – and he will forgive us – and he will send miracles to strength our faith, again and again, until we can understand enough to try. And then God will do miracles through us.
Why is trusting in the Lord so hard for some of us to learn. I don’t know. But I do know that God loves us and He will save us as we try to obey his commandments and follow the path that he wants for us.
Another thing I learn about the story of Gideon. Most people aren’t doing right. Most people aren’t careful. Most people aren’t prepared. And so if we justify ourselves that we are just as good as most people we can still lose the blessings that God wants to give us.
I can’t tell you enough how much I love the scriptures and how much I am strengthened when I read them!
Just a shout out for God commanding us to go to church on Sunday. How thankful I am for that commandment. If going to church were not a commandment (and a tradition that I have grown up with) I might not think that I had a need to go to church. I might think: hey, I’m busy with other things, or hey, I can do this myself. But in being commanded to go to church each Sunday I am edified in some way. And I have made so many friends over the years – and they have strengthened me as well. And my children have so many good teachers and programs that have helped their faith progress through the years. And we have fun together. So God, knows what He is doing.
Before Hunter was set apart as a missionary The Stake President gave Hunter some missionary advice and asked others in the room to give him advice as well. Below our signatures is all that advice. Also below our signatures are highlights from Hunter’s blessing when he was set apart as a missionary by the Stake President.
Did you know that a General Authority used to set you apart for your mission? My mom Beulah Dale Roberts Kunz was set apart by _____. My dad Richard R Kunz was set apart by Elder Mark E. Peterson. Derek’s dad Emery Gene Williams was set apart by Hunter W. Hunter.
Well that’s about all here from The Land of the Everlasting Hills, we love and pray for you
Derek & Suzanne, Elder Hunter Williams, Colt – 16, Priscilla – 14, Marshall – 12, Caleb – 10, Clancy – 8, Wesley – 4, and Portia & Jason + Baby Aiden
Mission Advice
Stake President Alex Jensen
1. The most important language you will speak is the language of the Spirit – Your lack of ability to speak Spanish will not be an impediment to share the gospel. They will know your testimony and your love
2. He told a story that President Monson told in General Conference of a missionary that was very successful because he tried to imagine what the people could be like dressed in white instead of seeing them as they were presently like. – Don’t rush to judgment – not matter what the clothes or the habits
3. Be obedient – Don’t worry about knowing the why of the rules. The Lord gives us more instructions than explanations. We often don’t understand a rule until after we have lived it and sometimes not even then.
4. Work hard. There is no substitute for hard work. That’s why it’s called Missionary Work
5. Make the most of every single day – Relish and Enjoy life
6. Live your life so you can always have the Spirit with you.
Stake Counselor Scott Robert Stringham
1. Love the people you work with
2. Love your companions
3. Try and see people as the Savior see them
4. Keep a journal. Your posterity and spouse will want to know about your mission. Before you have a transfer, hand your journal to your companion and let him write a note on it
5. The Gospel is true. The Savior lives Sometimes you grow the most and grow closer to the Lord the most on your hard days if you get on your knees
Grandpa Emery Gene Williams
1. Smile & laugh & have fun
2. When you work, work hard. When you play, play hard
3. Marion G. Romney once asked Gene when he was on a mission in Mexico “What do you attribute your success to?” And Gene replied that he simply tried to love the people.
4. Gene told the story of President Gordon B. Hinckley on his mission. “Forget yourself and go to work.”
Grandpa Richard R Kunz
1. My bishop came and found me when I was baling hay and told me I should be doing other things. I knew what he meant. I am grateful that I didn’t say know when I was asked to go on a mission
2. Hunter you are already ahead of me on your language ability
3. Regardless of what else you do, write your parents every week – even share your heartaches. Let them share in the mission with you.
Derek Gene Williams
1. You are there to share the love that our Savior has for us
2. The Lord doesn’t require perfection. He requires willingness.
Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Fisher Williams
1. If you are ever sad or discouraged, pray to Heavenly Father and thank Him for your blessings. I know it will lift your spirits and help you see things differently.
Hunter Gene Fisher Williams responded
I’m grateful for each and every one of you. You have all been great examples to me. I love you all and will miss you all
