Self Reliance

Wes and I had the opportunity to speak tonight in the evening session of stake conference. Our theme was self reliance. As I prepared my talk I was reminded of the spiritual foundation of self reliance. Some of my quotes sounded political, but I was able to use them because they were printed in the Ensign. I let the quotes speak for themselves.

I enjoyed sitting on the stand and watching all the people fill the room. It is inspiring to watch the saints in our stake gather to hear the Lord's message. It reminds me of when I'm working as a follower at the temple. I'm always impressed by the faithful brothers and sisters who have come to the temple that day.

Dad gave a wonderful talk on spiritual self reliance and faith.

What follows is a copy of my talk. (Again click on the square on the top right to enlarge the document.)

Also for fun be sure to check out Wendy's blog. http://ubmaz-blacksheep.blogspot.com/2009/02/budgeting-advice.html

Self Reliance

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Ronald Reagan Quote on Government

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.”
—Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address

Quote on Food Storage

Here is a quote from a fiction book, Hearts in Hiding, by Betsy Brannon Green, page 105.

I believe that food storage is to the Latter-day Saints what lamb's blood was to the people of Moses. If there is wheat stored in your house, it's a sign to God that His children reside within.

Phone Call from Mongolian Mission President - President Anderson

Last night we received a phone call from President Anderson welcoming us to the Mongolian Mission. He was very friendly and helpful. He also wanted to know if we could start our mission earlier since an office couple is leaving at the end of March. This morning I called the Travel Department. When we will actually enter the MTC and the mission will depend upon when we receive our Mongolian visa.

I'm attaching a letter I received this morning from the mission president's wife, Sister Anderson. (Click on the box on the top right to enlarge the letter.)

Welcome Letter to the Stevens

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Learning the Cyrillic Alphabet

For those who do not know, our official mission call came last Saturday. It was postmarked Tuesday Jan. 20th and arrived Sat. Jan. 31st.

Dad and I are working on learning the Cyrillic alphabet so we can begin to pronounce words. What is helping the most is the following guide to reading the Cyrillic Alphabet. I also have a link on the right in my Mongolian Websites section.

When I was going through the alphabet in order, there were too many strange symbols. Now I take the easiest letters first. It also helped me to see that some of the letters came from Greek. When I see gamma, I know why it’s pronounced with a “g.” The guide is designed for learning Russian, but it works fine for me although there are two additional letters in Mongolian that are not in Russian.

The guide also gives words so I can try out the new sounds. Then I go to the missionary grammar guide (I sent you a copy in an email) and my YouTube links to hear the words pronounced. I'm happy to be having success today. This afternoon I learned over half of the alphabet although I do feel tongue-tied when I pronounce the words. I'm sure my combining of the sounds into words leaves much to be desired.