Week 16 - August 13-19

Friday evening we decided to go grocery shopping at the Japanese grocery store, Sage Market, in Salt Lake City.  It is a short distance from the Family History Library.  We were sad to discover that it closed at 6pm.  We arrived at 6:20pm.  We then decided to then go out for dinner.  Elder Koberstein thought tonkatsu ramen sounded good so we went to the Kobe Japanese Cuisine in Salt Lake City and enjoyed ramen.  

 Saturday we sent the day with a Rick College roommate in Heber.  I was privileged to meet her while attending the Provo Temple.  I felt like Alma the younger when he met Ammon after their 14 year mission to the Lamanites described in Alma 17:1-2.  

1.  "And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying toward the land of Zarahemla.

2.  Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord.... " 

We caught up on the past almost 50 years.  Our lives took different turns as we married and raised our families but we are still sisters in the gospel.  

While in Heber we took the opportunity to check out the Historic Heber Valley Railroad.  We wonder if some of our grandchildren might enjoy a ride on the train during our family reunion next summer.  

The train was even held up but no valuables taken, it was all in fun. 

  This is a picture of the trains engine.

Our train switched directions by the engine disconnecting and running along a side track from one end of the train to the other and reconnecting.  We then went back the way we had come.  The seats in the train also changed directions so we could always be facing the way we were going.  It was fun to switch your seat as the train switched directions.

The ride was about 45 minutes long. 

THOUGHT FOR YOU
The thought this week is from our Mission Conference keynote speaker Elder Bradley D. Foster.  The theme of the conference was discover your story.  We were encouraged to write our life story.  Keep a journal and leave tracks so our posterity can know who we are, what we believe and things we are part of. 

GRANDFATHER’S ADVICE

     When the world was young and new, people thought everything should be young and new. So when a man got old, and could not do his share of the work any longer, they had no use for him.

     It was the custom to get rid of those old fellows who were only a burden.

Now there was a man who had an old father and a little son. “The old man is useless,” the man said to himself. I should have to get rid of him.”

So he took the little son’s sled and piled the old grandfather onto it.

     “What are you doing with Grandfather?” asked the little boy.

     “I am putting him on your sled,” said the man.

     “But where are you taking him?” asked the little boy.

     “To the forest,” said the man.

     “Whatever for?” asked the little boy.

     “Never mind!” said the man. Even though it was the traditional thing to do, he did not quite like the idea either.

     “Let me come along!” begged the little boy.

     “Come if you must,” said the man angrily.

     So the little boy hopped along after the sled.

     Finally, they came to the forest. The man dropped the rope which he had used to pull the sled. It seemed a hard thing to do but it was the custom. And who is brave enough to go against custom?

     His little son tugged at his coat. “You mustn’t leave Grandfather here in the forest,” he said in a small voice. “He will surely die.”

     “He is too old to work,” said the man. “It is the only sensible thing to do.” He began marching homeward. The little boy ran after him, and pulled at his coat.

     “What’s the matter now? The man asked.

     “Daddy, you mustn’t leave my sled there!”

     “And why not?” asked the man.

     “Because when you are old and worn out, I’ll need the sled to carry you to the forest to die!”

     “Perhaps when I get old, my son will do with me as I have done with his grandfather.”

     So the man turned to his son and said, “You are right, and I am wrong. We’ll go fetch Grandfather home again.”

     So he went to fetch the sled and grandfather. He did not let the neighbors know that he had brought the old man home again. After all, he was going against custom, and that was a risky thing to do. So he hid the grandfather away, and took him food and drink in secret.

     Now it so happened that not long afterward, there was a famine in the land. Certainly nobody was going to be bothered feeding the old fellows. Nobody but this one man. He kept taking food to the old grandfather in his hiding place. But he took smaller and smaller portions.

     The old grandfather noticed this and knew what was happening, but said nothing.

     The famine was a terrible one. They ate their wheat down to the very last grain. Nobody knew what to do next. If they had not gotten rid of the old men, they might have asked their advice. But the wisdom of the old had died with them.

     One day, the man who had kept his old father hidden, took him his dinner with a sorry face. The dinner was nothing but a piece of bread—and it was a small piece.

     “There is a famine,” said the man. “There is no flour to make bread with. There is not even a grain left for planting a new crop.”

     “Well,” said the grandfather. “You have a roof of wheat straw on your house. Take half of the straw off the roof and thresh it well. You’ll find that quite a bit of grain has been left in the thatch. That will give you enough grain to feed us until harvest. Then take the other half of the roof, thresh it, and it will be enough grain to plant your crop.”

     So the man did, and in good time he grew a fine crop. When the neighbors discovered his good fortune, they came crowding around to ask him how he had found his seed grain.

     “I got advice from my old father,” said the man.

     “How can that be?” they asked. “You have no father!”

     “Oh, but I have!” he answered. And he brought the old man out of hiding.

     “That’s my grandfather!” said the little boy proudly.

     After that, nobody thought of getting rid of the old men. They were respected for their wisdom, which the old keep just as the thatch keeps the seed.