Manning Musings

Today was our Stake Conference. I always look forward to those meetings! There was a mix of topics but all very good. The two councilors in the Presidency were my favorite talks. President Sanders talked about seeing things as they really are. He is a younger guy and two of his daughters are in our Sunday School class. He told a story about this past summer he was experiencing all sorts of strange things with his vision where he couldn't see things sometimes that people pointed out, people looked different than he knew they looked, etc. He ended up having a brain tumor the size of a golf ball in his brain. He just had it removed and he is doing well but he compared how skewed our vision can be just in day to day life. We don't see things as they really so we need to be less judgmental, kinder and more understanding. The other councilor talked about keeping our children safe from spiritual dangers. He talked about the basics we should be doing in our homes and then he told a story about an older lady who wrote a personal history with 5 chapters in it. The chapter headings were like this: Chapter 1 - I walked down a street. There was a big hole. I fell in the hole. I eventually got out of the hole. Chapter 2 - I walked down the same street. There was a hole. I fell in the hole again. I worked hard and got out. Chapter 3 - I walked down the same street. I saw the hole. I fell in again! It must be a habit. I got out again. Chapter 4 - I walked down the same street. I saw the hole and walked around.
Chapter 5 - I took a different street. He compared this to parenting and just life in general. He said that we should look out for the holes in our lives and learn a better and different way. I really liked that.
Other than that life is pretty much the same. Nick works hard all week and things are going pretty well at seminary. Wesley just got his first tooth! He is growing cuter and rounder by the day! Can't wait to see some of you at Thanksgiving and even more of you at Christmas!