Saturday, October 10, 2009

Families are Forever

We had a wonderful day today. Matthew performed the sealing of Tryon Stringham to his parents, Anna and Talon. It was a fun reminder of 2 years ago when Matthew sealed their older son, Treydon to his parents. There were 60 people in attendance, some from our ward, but mostly family members were there to celebrate this long awaited day.

Matthew started out by asking the following question, “What is your first memory or experience of learning about Jesus?” You could see everyone’s faces as they searched their memory for that moment when they first became aware of the Savior.
He talked about how we learn to admire, adore and eventually emulate Jesus from the songs, scriptures, pictures and testimonies of others.

He related the following story. He talked of being 10 years old in Basalt, ID, in 1962 playing with his best friend Clay Stringham. Clay’s mother and dad walked in the door. Matthew noticed that Forrest, Clay’s dad, had on a white shirt, tie and a dark suit, but he was wearing white socks. Matthew asked Clay why his dad would wear white socks with his suit. Clay said his parents had just come home from the temple and that they attended the temple every other week.

Matthew has remembered this example of temple attendance for 47 years. We are all so blessed to have examples in our lives of people who admire, adore and emulate the Savior. How do we teach our children to emulate the Savior, by setting the example in our home. When children see their parents attending the temple on a regular basis, they will want to attend the temple too. When they see their parents serving others, they will grow up being of service. When they see their parents read their scriptures, take the Sacrament or serve in their callings, they will do the same.

The Coil family has been blessed by the example of the Stringham family. Generations later, Forrest Stringham’s white socks continue to have an influence in our lives.

We had lunch with Clay and Cathy following the ceremony. It was a wonderful day. Love my Matthew for his desire to admire and adore the Savior.

2 comments:

Erin said...

That is such a cute story about the white socks! You and Matthew are amazing examples of faithful temple attendance. The temple is so beautiful and peaceful, I love the feelings I have when I'm there.

The Perks of Life! said...

We are so lucky to have the gospel in our lives and even more lucky to have the sealing power on Earth today. Dad is an amazing person who married an amazing woman. And how lucky am I to be their daughter?! So lucky. Thanks for sharing the cute story. I noticed D has her no empty seats poem on the wall, I'm wondering if anyone else does? I think I need to work on some of the frames still. Do we know what happened to everyone's?