Couple Reunion Missouri 2019

Some pictures from the couple retreat Febuary 2019

Parables

I have loved the Come Follow Me Manual that we have been given to study this year with our families!! https://www.lds.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-individuals-and-families-new-testament-2019/title?lang=eng

This past week we’ve been studied the parables that Christ taught is Matthew 13, and Luke chapters 8 and 13. I’ve been pondering why did Christ teach in parables? Then I thought, do I not learn better when I have an object lesson to see and visualize what is being taught? Yes, I believe we all learn, or it sticks with us longer if we can visualize.

Matthew 13:18 is the parable of the sower. As Christ speaks to me is his word falling upon a stony “heart”, is it falling among “thorns”, or is it falling in good ground where it can be cultivated and grow? I’ll admit that I’m not always ready to listen to His word and therefore it’s falling among thorns or stones where it’s not going to grow. This morning His word came to me in a parable, I was ready to listen, and I wanted to share this parable with you.

It is the parable of the clogged drain. Our tubs in our home allow the very smallest of particles to pass down the drain. Although hair is small and if a little hair goes down the drain, no big deal. I was noticing that the boys shower was not draining like it should, I have a special tool that I’m able to use to remove excessive hair out of the drains. I took my special tool to the boy’s bathroom and began removing my first clog, it seemed like such a little amount of hair, but as I used my tool again much more hair came from the drain. After cleaning this drain, the water ran down it with no problem. I compared this to me and the Holy Ghost. When I am trying to do what’s right, I truly can feel of God’s spirit running through me, helping me! I quickly go to my knees in prayer for guidance, I find myself in His scriptures listening to His word, listening to the words of our Prophets and leaders. Then a little sin crepes in, maybe too much social media, maybe forgetting a morning prayer, maybe serving with the wrong attitude, and so on! Then suddenly, I find that I can’t hear his voice, I am “clogged” with disappointment, clogged with laziness, clogged with little sins. How grateful I am for the tool of the Atonement,

I can apply daily, I can be cleaned and have the spirit again flowing within me freely.

The pipes will need to be continually cleaned of the hair and debris that clogs it, the same is true with all of us, we will need to continually apply the Atonement daily in our life in order to stay close to our Heavenly Father.

I am deeply grateful for Come Follow Me and the lessons that I am learning. I’m thankful for the opportunity of growing closer to my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost that if I’m willing to listen will guide me every day – we are promised that if we always remember him and Keep his commandments, he promises to ALWAYS have His spirit to be with us! What a beautiful promise.

-Shannon Morley

The Power of Being There (Teaching Moments)

You never know when it’s going to happen. What is that saying....if the teacher is ready the student will come...or something like that. All I know is that it happens sometimes when you least expect it. It has really taught me the lesson lately that there is no substitute for being there.

You can prepare a lesson to give in church or to give at family night, and sometimes (let’s be honest, most of the time!) your kids could care less about what you want to teach. They have their own agenda and usually that is just to get the lesson over with as soon as humanly possible. I remember having those feelings from when I was a kid. Poor parents. What goes around comes around.

But once in a while, when you aren’t even preparing a beautiful sermon in your head of what to say, your child is asking a question and that moment happens. A teaching moment. A moment when your truly connect and both of you are edified.

It’s amazing when you can tell that your child sincerely wants to know something and you can express what you want them to hear and they really LISTEN to what you are saying to them. Not the kind of listening when you know they heard what you said but they really didn’t hear (“uh-huh, got it mom, now stop talking, mom”) what you said. This is a moment when you know that what you said and what they heard will definitely impact them and they may even remember it for the rest of their lives.

Just in the last two days, it’s happened twice. That’s like lightening striking twice! It just doesn’t happen like that....ever!

In the car with one son and we’re waiting for his basketball practice to start but the coach is late so we are just sitting in the car. It starts with small talk and then, BOOM, the teaching moment appears and we have a heart-felt discussion about life as a junior high student and some of the struggles he’s facing. I was able to express that I knew what he was going through and that I remembered and understood. We came to some resolutions about some things we can do to make life better and I’m so thankful that the coach was 20 minutes late. That conversation lead to further conversations, and confessions, and now we really feel like we’re making some progress.

My life has changed recently and I have been in school this last year so I’m not home every day if my kids were to come home for lunch. Sometimes I regret that I’m not home as much but even on the days I have been home, they haven’t come home to eat so today when my high school-aged son came home, I was surprised. I immediately stopped cleaning the bathroom and went to the kitchen to make him something to eat. We started talking while he was eating and BOOM, it happened again. A wonderful teaching opportunity occurred where I was able to talk with him heart-to-heart and bear my testimony about repentance and forgiveness and the gratitude I feel for the Savior and His atonement in my life. What if I would have missed that? It was so sweet. I love being able to communicate one-on-one and when there’s true understanding, it creates a bond like no other.

I know we can’t be everywhere that our kids are, and they would hate it if we were. But we can be there for the small day to day things and then pray that those teaching moments will happen. We can do our best to be prepared spiritually for when those moments come and pray like crazy that Heavenly Father will help us to know what to say to our child when they are “really listening.” When these moments do come, it’s a blessing and can be life-changing for both parties.

-Cathy Bennett

Fall-Time Favorites

Fall is my favorite time of year! The colorful hues on the trees and vegetation that illuminate in the sunshine, the smells of pumpkin bread baking and spiced cider with cinnamon, the brisk leafy-smell  morning air, and a hint of a newly-lit fireplace in the night air, all conjure up fond Fall feelings. My earliest Fall memory that has endeared this season to me occurred when I was in Kindergarten. My family lived in a three-story house built by my dad and older brothers in the Salem, Utah mountains in the 1970’s. I had just exited the school bus, a short walk down the hill to my house. I remember the crunch of the leaves under my feet and the anticipation of getting home to my mom and the little ones too small to go to school.

As I opened the front door on that Fall day, the smell of pumpkin cookies baking, the sight of the familiar ceramic pumpkin and other fall décor and the melodic sound of my mom’s voice and embrace greeting me after another day at Kindergarten all enveloped me. In that moment, I remember thinking “This is home!” It was the most comforting, safe, pleasant place I had known. Everything about it defined what I considered to be a happy home. Through the nearly five decades since then, I have tried to recreate that feeling for my children.

One Fall day I received a phone call from my oldest son, who was grown and gone from home.  He said, “Mom, I’ll bet you are baking pumpkin bread, and let me guess . . .  you have the leaves and orange lights on the mantle and the glass pumpkin on the table”. I confirmed that those same traditions continued, even without him. He then sighed and with a sincere, reflective voice said, “Ahhh, mom I love Fall!”

By Chrisy Cope

Coincidences or Tender Mercies

I have seen so many amazing tender mercies and miracles in my life. Some people would call them “ coincidences” but I’ve heard that coincidences are just miracles where God prefers to remain anonymous. I sometimes imagine Heavenly Father waiting in anticipation for us to ask for something so that He can bless us with it and make us happy. I know as a parent myself, I love to do things for my children. Especially if it’s something I know they really want. And because God is all-knowing, He probably loves to orchestrate His miracles to bless as many of His children as possible and to do things when people don’t think it can or will happen.

I love it when something happens that I’ve been praying for and it’s like a little secret between Heavenly Father and myself. Only He knew that I was praying for that certain thing and just because He’s so kind and good, He gives it to me to bless me and make me happy.

They are usually just small things that wouldn’t be important to anyone else, usually involving the success of my children and husband. For instance, the other day I was watching my Freshman son, Morley, play in the state baseball finals. He made the varsity team this year but has only ever been a pinch runner. (That means that when someone gets on base, they put Morley in to make it around the bases a lot faster. He is speedy so that makes sense.) Anyway, the baseball player that Morley usually runs for had gotten up to bat two times and both times had gotten out so it was his last time at bats. I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to please let him get on base because I wanted to watch Morley run the bases in a state varsity game. I hadn’t seen him run in a varsity game all year. Sure enough, that young man had a great hit up the middle of the field and they called Morley out on the bases to run for him. Morley was able to run all the way around, even having a dramatic slide at 3rd, to score for the team which really helped them a lot. Although the team did end up losing by one point, I was content having watched my sweet son play his part for the team. It was silly maybe, maybe it was just a coincidence, but to me it was a tender mercy and manifestation that God hears and answers my prayers.

Another example of a wonderful tender mercy happened when my daughter, Sadie, didn’t get asked to prom. It’s her senior year so her last chance to go to a high school dance and we all knew of her desire to go. I think everyone in the family was praying that she’d get asked. The night before the dance, when we’d all pretty much given up hope, a young man showed up with roses and asked her to go. The Lord seems to always wait until the last minute so that we all realize what a miracle it is. It truly was such a sweet tender mercy for our beautiful daughter. She was able to buy a pretty dress, get all dolled up and not miss out on that memory, which is all she really wanted. 

We have had so many tender mercies when it comes to our family business. The Lord has guided and directed us in remarkable ways! From prompting us to find a new office and then guiding us to the exact location to introducing us to people that we needed to meet in a very round-about way to my Sweetheart, Mike, being prepared and lead to be in the position he is today. All these tender mercies are truly amazing to both of us! I could go on and on about this subject because there have been so many fantastic “coincidences” but we both know inside, that it’s all the Lord’s doing and we are just being blessed with His goodness. Our desires are to serve in the kingdom of God on earth and the Lord is helping us to be able to do that. He knows our hearts and hears our prayers. 

These amazing tender mercies don’t just happen to me and my family of course, they are all around me! I see them in my family, both immediate and extended, in our ward members, friends and everywhere in the world. I am baffled at the goodness and love that our Heavenly Father is always showering down upon His children. The crazy thing is, the more we recognize and acknowledge His hand in our lives, the more He seems to do for us. Or maybe it’s just that we watch for it and are aware of it more when we are mindful of the blessings. All I know is that I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love. I thank my Father-in-Heaven daily for being an active part of my life. I could do nothing without Him, but with Him, I can do all things. I love to sit back and watch as the tender mercies flow, just because He can. There are NO coincidences, Heavenly Father is in charge and He gives us everything.

Cathy Bennett

Morley Couple Retreat

A beautiful hike we took our first full day. (credit for good hike goes to Cathy:)

 We went to Tucson, AZ for our family's couple retreat.  Most of you might ask, "What's in Tucson, AZ?" SUN!  The sun is there and it wasn't in Utah or Oregon or Washington (where we all live).  It was such an enjoyable, relaxing trip.  We ate, slept in, and went on hikes, all to come back and eat some more.  The only thing that would have made it better was if all the family could have been there! unfortunately, four couples had to miss due to other obligations.  We are lucky enough in our big family that even with four couples missing we still had 9 couples and my darling sister Geri in attendance. 

 The resort we stayed was nice and clean.   One of the restaurants at the resort allowed us to sit on the patio by the pool and they served us out there.  It was so nice and comfortable, with the added bonus we could be as loud as we wanted.  That's a huge bonus if you know my family (some of us are louder than others:) They were good enough to let us use a conference room for our family meeting too.

                     Mom, Dad and Geri Lynn, or Mom and her subjects.

 Second hike was more of a walk, but we saw some cool Indian drawings. Here are the guys looking pretty cool themselves.

 Saturday some couples had to get to the airport while others were able to enjoy the beauty of the Tucson temple. 

While parents were at the temple in AZ, Cope kids were at the temple in their neck of the woods.

Kindness is Never Wasted

“I’m from Price, Utah!” I heard a voice holler out from upstairs at our LDS Bookstore after I posed the sarcastic question, “Who in Washington would ever be from the little town of Price?” I had been in conversation with an employee about my dad and mom growing up in Price and the unlikely recent acquaintance of a former Price native. Now, surprised to hear a response to my hypothetical question, I went to the sound of the responder to find an older gentleman, Brent Olson, proudly wearing a US Army Veteran hat. He explained that he grew up in Price, Utah and graduated from Carbon High School before leaving that area for a career in the Army.

“You may know my father,” I questioned, “Jeddy Morley?”  The man fell quiet, as it was obvious he reverted back over 60 years ago to memories of high school. He remained quiet as he mustered control of his emotions that seemed to attack him like an unforeseen soldier. The quivering chinned-man proceeded to explain that in high school he was unable to play sports because of rheumatic fever, which made him less-than-popular. In fact, he described himself as a “nobody”— overlooked by everyone. But, there was one quiet, popular, well-liked athlete a year older than him that always made eye contact with this “nobody” that offered a smile and a genuine “Hi”. 

Brent said, “I know your dad, and I will never forget him for making me feel like I was somebody.” Then, succumbing to his emotion, he said, “I love that guy!”

I wiped tears from my eyes that were there because I felt sorry for the neglected teenager Brent once-was, but even more, I felt proud to be the daughter of such a kind-hearted teenager-now-father who noticed the lonely and insecure, and made a life-long difference. 

I have thought about my dad as a teenager, knowing he was innately shy, undoubtedly insecure, with a home life that was less-than-ideal, and yet, he looked out for the “one” and made him feel special. 

Kindness received is never forgotten. An act of kindness is never wasted. Its impact spans the decades and reaches into the eternities. 

By Chrisy Cope