President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has advised families: “Whatever problems your family is facing, whatever you must do to solve them, the beginning and the end of the solution is charity, the pure love of Christ. Without this love, even seemingly perfect families struggle. With it, even families with great challenges succeed” (“In Praise of Those Who Save,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016).

Our son Mark and his family visited us in Abilene. We had a good time with them. We waited for 45 minutes at a dining place to get the best barbecue in town. We played games, talked, laughed, distracted, had contests, and anything else our imaginations could drum up to keep the kids happy. When we were almost at the front of the line, an older lady tapped Shaunel on the shoulder (my daughter-in-law) and said, "We've enjoyed watching your family so much. You have entertained us all." While sitting at the picnic table waiting for the food, we played Up Jenkins, the game where you pass a quarter under the table and the other side of the table has to guess who has the quarter. We hope we gave more pleasure to the others rather than annoyance in our efforts to keep children happy.

Some of the things we did with Mark's family were the zoo, checked out the "story book" sculptures, had Pres. Luke tell us about the B-1 bomber and other airplanes at Dyess Airforce Base, and the kids came to our Institute class and played foosball and listened to their grandparents teach Institute. 

“We are commanded to love others, not to judge them. Let’s lay down that heavy burden; it isn’t ours to carry. Instead, we can pick up the Savior’s yoke of love and compassion.” (Sister J. Annette Dennis, 2022 Oct Conf.) 

We have been taught so much as we've watched young adults show courage, resilience, determination, and faithfulness.  

One young adult shows all the rest of us what true discipleship means. She comes faithfully every Sunday 30 minutes early to prepare herself to lead the singing for Sacrament meeting. She wants to make sure she knows the words since she struggles with dyslexia and practices the correct beat. She is amazing. 

All of us carry some kind of burden; physical, emotional, situational, or spiritual. It has been a good experience for us to be in a position to be a listening ear, to love without judgment, to encourage, and to remind these young adults they are loved by a Father in Heaven who is aware of their worries and struggles. 

We have felt the love and help of our Heavenly Father as we strive to "pick up the Savior's yoke of love and compassion" and "lay down the heavy burden of judgment."

It was fun having the Abilene missionaries over to watch General Conference Sunday morning.

A picture of our group support for Lox, our branch member, who plays soccer for Abilene Christian University.

This picture shows our faithful branch members supporting Stephen who plays football for Hardin Simmons University. The guy in the back with his arms raised is a photo bomber - love his enthusiasm!