"He is risen...."

Beautiful day today...I was struck by the profound Easter message from Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here are the closing words of his testimony of the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ:

“…Of Him who delivered each of us from endless death, I testify He is a teacher of truth—but He is more than a teacher. He is the exemplar of the perfect life—but He is more than an exemplar. He is the great physician—but He is more than a physician. He is the literal Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Holy One of Israel, even the risen Lord, who declared, “I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 110:4).”
“Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!'”

Spring at Last!!!!!!

Today has been an absolutely glorious day!!!! I know I am totally obsessed with the weather and it has been so dreadful lately and then today it was 86 degrees. We have gone from winter to summer in one day and I even saw beautiful little purple crocuses blooming. The kids all lounged on the grass on blankets all afternoon chatting, resting, and just soaking up every bit of sunshine. We even took turns at the BBQ to cook our dinner---such a great day Sabbath day.
Yesterday we had the opportunity of going to the Detroit Temple with the young adults and then breakfast with the group afterwards. Since we were in Detroit, we decided to check out the Ford museum.



Craig was able to see the 1967 LeMans winning Ford GT40 Mk VI he had always wanted to see.



One of the many Friday Forum lunches we do.

Super Busy Week!

This week has been an especially busy one as Brother Draut has been out of town and Craig has been teaching many of his classes as well as his own. I too, had an additional class to teach this week. I was asked to teach a cooking class on making "no knead" bread for their Thursday night cultural night. The cooking class, though, took hours of preparation, turned out to be so much fun for all of us. We had a great turn out and I think there were as many boys in the class as girls. I felt a little like I was back teaching school and helping my students learn a new task. After lots of laughing and joking around, everyone went home with their bowl of dough to rise overnight. The next day the apartments smelled like a bakery--there is nothing better than smelling bread baking. All went well with the classes, but we were glad to see Friday night come.
After being edified with two full days of General Conference we are ready to start another busy week and that week starts Monday at 6:30 A.M. Craig will be teaching the Power of the Scriptures class to all the early risers and I plan to spoil them with some freshly baked raspberry muffins.
This is a picture of our most recent district, with Elder Riley as the district leader. Every time we have district meetings, we always come away so impressed by the dedication and work ethic of the elders in our area.
Last week for Family Night, the YSA Ward had a dance contest. They divided up in groups and then had a few minutes to put together a routine. All the routines were so creative and fun. They never cease to amaze me with the clever ideas they come up with for activities. The lessons they give at Family Night are also so great and one that was given a couple of weeks ago on forgiveness really touched me and I still remember the lesson I personally learned that night. We just can't praise these young adults enough and they really have worked their way into our hearts.