Another late post - sorry! I don't know where the week went or where the Summer went for that matter. Time is flying! Do you know that Aldste Milne will be home in less than three months? So excited! I promised Dallin last week that I would post some pictures from our Laguna Beach trip so you can see those at the end of the post. While we were in Laguna Beach we had the opportunity of attending Sacrament Meeting at the Laguna Beach chapel. It was amazing! There was something that the speaker shared that really hit home. He was talking about the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy and the importance of partaking of the Sacrament. He shared the story of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and how he asked his apostles to watch with him. He returned an hour later only to find them all asleep. He said to Peter, "What, could you not watch with me one hour?". He likened this to us as we attend Sacrament Meeting. Do we sleep through the meeting, do we play on our phones, day dream, doodle, or do something else? Can we not watch with the Savior for that one hour out of the week? Can we not spend that time reflecting on all that He has done for us, and what we can do for Him in return? Can we not listen intently to the speakers, the hymns, and the prayers that the Spirit might teach us and inspire us?
I really loved this!
I really loved this!
Letter From Home:
“And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; “For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High” (D&C 59:9–10).
This is a commandment with a promise. By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of thesacrament we qualify for the promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77). That Spirit is the foundation of our testimony. It testifies of the Father and the Son, brings all things to our remembrance, and leads us into truth. It is the compass to guide us on our path. This gift of the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, “is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man” (Deseret Weekly, Apr. 6, 1889, 451). - Elder Dallin H. Oaks
The ordinance of the sacrament makes the sacrament meeting the most sacred and important meeting in the Church. It is the only Sabbath meeting the entire family can attend together. Its content in addition to the sacrament should always be planned and presented to focus our attention on the Atonement and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. - Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Howdy Dallin,
I loved the pictures that you sent. Stockholm is beautiful! I will update the blog on Monday. Dad and I have been in Southern California since Thursday so I haven't had a chance to do a new post. I pray this finds you happy and well. How was your week? I just love hearing all about it! How are you and the Fin getting along? How is the work going in that part of the vineyard?
This week ended up being a little crazy. Carter's team played two games this week. Carter pitched against Desert Hills on Wednesday and did a really great job. He has really had a successful summer thus far on the mound. His true test will come this next week as he heads into the Legion State Tournament up in Logan. Dad, Ty, and I will drive up on Tuesday to watch Carter pitch and turn around and come home and then drive up on Thursday night so we can be there for his 18th birthday which is on Friday. He will probably pitch on Friday as well - hopefully it will be for the championship! Ty will also be playing in a baseball tournament this next weekend in Cedar City.
On Thursday of this past week dad and I headed to Southern California to watch Keaton play baseball with the Marshalls and to stay at the beach house in Laguna Beach. It was awesome. We watched four of Keaton's games. He did an excellent job. He hits in the three spot for the Marshalls and plays left field. His batting average for this weekend was over .500 and he hit a homerun over the right center field fence. Keep in mind that he was using a wooden bat and he was hitting at sea level. He is looking real good and he is such a good kid. Rebecca, Kyson, Jada, and Kyson's girlfriend Brooke met us at Keaton's games on Saturday in Oceanside. That is the day he hit his blast. The rest of the time dad and I enjoyed the beach house to ourselves, eating out, and of course the beach. The water was warm and the weather was perfect.
One of the highlights of the weekend was definitely Sacrament Meeting at the Laguna Beach ward. There is only one ward there, but they have a beautiful smaller building on some very prime property right there in Laguna Beach. It was one of the neatest Sacrament meetings I have ever attended. All of the people were so friendly and the Spirit there was so strong. A returned missionary who had served in Florida spoke and a high council member. The missionary's name was Elder Kimball. He and his family are relatives of Spencer W. Kimball. His dad is a dentist ther in Laguna Beach, his uncle and his grandpa are both orthodontists there. Their family has lived there for many years. The church at one time owned a home there where George Albert Smith, David O'McKay, and other prophets would stay. Both President McKay and President Smith had health problems and actually lived in the home for quite some time during the final years of their lives. The value of the home increased so much over time that when President Kimball was president he determined that the home should be sold and the money used for other things. I'm certain it was worth several million dollars because property is so expensive there. There were so many neat people there. I will post some pictures on the blog. The church is right across the street from Laguna Beach High School. Dad also ran into one of his BYU teammates and his family who were also visiting there - Tony Smith. It was so fun to meet him and his cute family. They have a darling four year old down syndrome daughter that reminded me so much of sweet little Amy Robinson in Minnetonka. Remember how she would come and sit by me every Sunday?
Carter and Ty did not go to Beaver for the weekend. They decided to stay here and hang out with friends. Carter didn't want to go with us because he thought it would be too much driving - due to him having to leave for Logan tonight, and Ty didn't want to go if Carter wasn't going. Boy did they miss out. It is actually a pretty quick drive - only about five and a half hours.
I have once again changed my mind about school. I will be starting into a graduate program this Fall up in Cedar City in professional communication. I will also start the Seminary teaching class. I am still working hard on the book and making some great progress. We have had a few family therapists look over our work and they love it. They are already asking for permission to share some of the chapters with their clients. That makes me feel good. I am also going to be helping dad get his own practice going. There is a big chance we may move to Cedar. I am going to get his practice set up there first and then expand into St. George. It would be great if you went to SUU and you could live at home for awhile to save you some money and to also spend time with your family that loves you so much. Listening to that returned missionary today made me trunky to get you home. Work hard to the end - only three more months! What are your thoughts on SUU? - No pressure!
Have a super fun p-day and a fantastic week! Love and miss you so much! Take care of yourself and stay safe!
Much Love,
Mom
Dallin's Letter Home:
Hello Milne fam,
Well another week has come and gone. And the month of July is just about over as well. Summer is just about over but it feels like it never really started here in Sweden this year with all the wind, rain, and cloud cover. The nice part about that though is that I haven't had a lot of sweaty days walking around in the long pants and shirt and tie. But I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to sunny southern Utah when I can wear shorts and flip flops haha.
Anyways we had a pretty decent week. Spent most of it trying to find new people to teach. A lot of the members and our investigators have been on vacation this month so we haven't had as many people to teach as we normally would. But its been alright, we've been able to explore Stockholm and see a lot of cool places and meet people from all over the world. And as you saw in the pictures I got to see some friends from past areas this week. Our Irish convert from Boden was down visiting the temple with the branch this week so we got to meet up and catch up on things. She is doing very well and thought the temple was really cool. She met a lot of other missionaries and they were so impressed with her. And our Persian friends from västerås were in Stockholm this week and attended sacrament meeting in our building. They were so surprised to see me and elder Dahle (who was also in Västerås at the same time as me and is also here in gubbängen). Crazy to think that it was a year ago that I met them. Meeting everyone this week reminded me just how blessed I have been on my mission. Heavenly Father has been good to me here.
On Thursday I taught district meeting on the importance of gaining a relationship with Jesus Christ by obeying the light of Christ within us. We talked about how there is a difference between knowing Christ and knowing about Christ. We start by learning about Christ from the scriptures. Reading God's word gives us light, we can then continue in that light by following Christ's example by loving and serving others. As we obey these promptings from the Spirit to love and serve we receive more light. As we continue in that light we will get "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" through obedience upon obedience until our eye is single to God's glory and we are sanctified and filled with light (2 nephi 28:30, D&C 88:67). The Lord says that when that day comes we will comprehend all things, being quickened in and by Him, and that He will unveil His face unto us in his own time and own way (88:49,68). That is an amazing promise, let us not take it lightly.
D&C 50:24
That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
Proverbs 4:18
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Embrace that light within you everyone, it doesn't matter where you start, its all about where you finish.
Anyways that's enough of my discourse. Sounds like you guys had an awesome week traveling around and meeting great people. Thanks for updating me on everyone! Right now I'm very open to going to school at SUU, especially if you guys are going to be living there. If you stay in St. George, I will probably attend Dixie State for a couple of years and then transfer up to SUU or up north somewhere to set me up nicely for medical/dental school.
Love you all! can't wait to hear from you next week!
-Dallin
This Week's Pictures:
Met up with my two favorite Persians
Visited with Rhiannon after her temple visit
Awesome Beach House in Laguna Beach... Thank you Facer Family for letting us stay here!
Ocean View from the beach house
Blaine's nephew Keaton playing for the Marshall's in Oceanside, CA
Kyson, Keaton, and Blaine
Kyson, Brooke (Kyson's girl friend), Keaton, and Jada... Happy Birthday Kyson! Rebecca and her two awesome teenagers visited us during Keaton's second game on Saturday. Keaton hit Kyson a homerun for his birthday. It flew over the right-center field fence. He hit it with a wood bat and at sea level! He is a beast! It was so awesome!
We visited this old mission church just as we were leaving Oceanside to head back to Laguna Beach.... Notice that it was built in 1798 - Wow!
There's my handsome husband
Very old and very beautiful
It is still used as a church today...
Nice rear view!
In the church's garden we saw the oldest pepper tree in California... It was planted sometime in 1830 - Who knew?
There's the pepper tree in the background.....
This is the LDS Chapel in Laguna Beach. There is only one ward that meets there. You have to get there early so that you can get a seat! They don't use an air conditioner. It is so neat because in the summer they just open all the doors and windows and you get to enjoy the ocean breeze as you sit in Sacrament Meeting. There people there were absolutely amazing! Blaine even ran into a BYU baseball teammate of his - Tony Smith. He and his family were there on vacation as well.
This is the ocean view from the church house. The church sits right across from Laguna Beach High School!
This is a picture of Ty's last baseball game of the Summer. Blaine and Ocey Leavitt were the coaches. They took second place in their tournament this weekend against Lehi. They lost 7-6. It was a great game and Ty played so well. He was 3 for 4 hitting and he played catcher and pitcher!
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