Nick's Farewell, The Myers, and Lessons from Papa Steve

Nick's farewell was amazing. He spoke about the plan of salvation and as he was speaking I kept thinking about the wonderful missionary he will be. He has prepared himself so well. At the end of the meeting all the young men in the room walk to the front and sing "We'll Bring the World His Truth". It is a ward tradition and so touching. There must have been 60 young men up there.Then we headed to Steve and Stacy's gorgeous house for cafe rio food and lots of fun catching up with the Murphy's who I haven't seen in a long time. It was a perfect day.

Then we stopped at Aaron's Aunt Marilou's house to visit and spend time with cousin Nathan and his wife, who we hadn't even met! Caleb, their new baby was sleeping but we did get to see Melissa and her family. I just love that family so much. I hate living so far from everyone.

Nearly all of the kids fell asleep on the way home to Heber. It was warm and the kids really wanted to go swimming. So we took a nice Sunday walk after dinner followed by some of Grammie's delicious cake. Then we threw the ball around a little. The kids loved playing baseball with Aaron.

Just before bed Steve gathered the kids together for a little lesson. It was so lovely. I could listen to him speak forever. He took a soccer ball and drew the North and South Poles on it with a pen. Then he drew North America and showed them where Oregon and Utah are. The kids were surprised how close it was on the map since it feels so far when we are driving (which was fresh on their minds).

Then he spoke about how Nick gave a talk just before he started his mission. Steve explained where Jerusalem was on the ball, almost half way around the world. He told them that Jesus also gave a talk in Capernum by the sea of Galilee at the beginning of his mission. He told them that we can find what he said in the Bible. He proceeded to read and explain 4 important Beattitudes. It was remarkable how Steve can simplify the gospel in a way that is really easy to understand yet very meaningful. He did that at Mary's baptism. I love that he does this during our reunions. It's a very special tradition that I hope we will always replicate.