Catching up again. We get so scheduled that sometimes things get overlooked. We had meals in the Third ward this week. We had some great visits and wonderful meals. It is so good to be in the homes and get acquainted with each family. We some neat discussions about our work following our message which usually about missionary opportunities.
It is fun to be in families where one of the children is getting prepared to serve the Lord on a mission. Obviously we often talk about the role of family history in missionary work as well. We try to be positive about the changes in Family Search, Family Tree, and opportunities to learn more about ancestors and perform temple ordinances for them.
We made some timely visits and had some spiritual visits with people as we were led by the spirit to call upon people who needed an uplift or some encouragement. One visit that was really timely was when we stopped in to see a family who committed to attend Sunday meetings. Just before we arrived the mother had a telephone call that her son in the Philippines had been killed earlier in the day. He was a young man in his 20's. They didn't know any details but were glad that we stopped in to offer our support and prayers. With the help of ward members, the family went to Church meetings the following day.
This week our Fourth Ward dinners were enjoyable. Our meals included a member of their bishopric and her mother who lives nearby. The ward has a new ward mission leader and wife who are doing so well and working hard to keep us and the sisters busy.Following dinner we had made arrangements to visit a family in our ward who has a son who is getting ready to put in his missionary papers. We waited at the home for a while because that son was at a missionary preparation class the stake is offering right now.We visited  a couple in that ward who had just moved to our stake from Washington. They are a nice couple. The wife has some heart problems but they seem to feel the doctors have a handle on the problem.
Later that evening we also stopped in to see a neighborhood friend and ward member. He has PTSD from his military service and struggles some with that problem. We did a follow up visit today because we heard he was going to have open heart surgery. Come to find out, the day following our visit, he ended up in the hospital for a few days. As a result of tests done at that time, he is having heart on Feb. 10 in Ogden. They seem confident that the VA has been vigilant in finding the best doctors available for the surgery and everything will be fine.
After our dinner on Tuesday evening, Sis. Castleton went on splits with one of our sister missionaries.
Wednesday was Zone Conference with our Cache South and the Cache North zone. We are always impressed with these conferences. Obviously the mission president and his wife are there and provide good instruction and inspiration. The bulk of the Conference though is handled by the president's assistants and  Zone leaders. Their training is so well done with inspiration and dedication. It is truly inspiring to be a part of these meetings. During this conference all the cars were equipped with "black boxes" that gives the mission leadership a great deal of information about where the cars are and what is happening in the cars. It is another tool to help keep the missionaries safe.
Following a lovely meal with an older couple Wednesday evening Ruth went visiting teaching to two of her sisters.
Thursday we had a follow up visit with a couple where the wife is active and the husband hasn't been active fro a number of years. During Zone Conference we were introduced to the 21 day Book of Mormon Challenge written by one of our young missionaries. The program is to read some verses each day from a list of scriptures, mark the verses that have meaning to the reader, then pray and ask God if the things which were read are true. This has been very effective for the missionary who compiled this list of scriptures. On Thursday we had our meal with a couple we had met before. The husband has recently attended a few church meetings, a fact we did not know prior to our visit. Each member of the family was willing to accept the challenge, so we are hopeful that they follow through to gain a testimony.
One of our missionaries explained in our zone study this week that psychologists have determined that it takes 21 days of repetition to establish a habit. This is a great habit to develop.

Our Logan Temple has been closed for a couple of weeks so we decided on Friday to take in a session. Following the temple we stopped at the Sunshine Terrace facility to visit a member from our stake that is in rehab there.  We also helped a less active member with transportation to the laundromat and to the food store. While waiting at the laundromat we gave him the 21 day Book of Mormon challenge.

Saturday was a great day. We had a good meal with a family who had just moved into our stake. They had a daughter and son-in-law living with them who are expecting their first baby in May.. Following the meal we gave them a missionary message which they seemed to enjoy. Following the message we were told the son-in-law was less active so we started talking about the Book of Mormon challenge. They said they didn't have a Book of Mormon so we retrieved two paperback books from our car trunk and gave them the challenge which they accepted. We pray they will follow through and bless their home with testimony and church activity.