As we prepare for this mission (you can click on the link to see the blog of our 2015-2017 Brasil Vitória Mission) we gathered our family from the four corners of the United States (i.e. Bettendorf IA, Knoxville TN, Sahuarita AZ, Broken Arrow OK, Spring TX and New York NY) in accordance with the proclamation on the family. "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."
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| Burkinshaw Family Portrait, 17 March 2018 at Bartlesville, OK. Shown are 16 grandsons, 11 granddaughters (with number 12 in utero, due in mid-June), 7 children, 6 children-in-law and us. (Picture was taken at Oklahoma Wesleyan University on a cold morning.) |
2018 Burkinshaw Family Reunion
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
3:00pm Check-In at Towne Place Suites Broken Arrow
6:00pm Dinner on your own – lots of restaurant options or rooms have kitchenettes.
9:00pm Meeting in Lobby to review schedule and meal preferences
Thursday, March 15, 2018
11:10am Movie: Peter Rabbit (Cinemark Broken Arrow)
1:00pm Lunch on your own and Minature Golf at Hotel afterwards
4:00pm Activities at Renaissance Park
6:00pm Dinner at Kathleen's home with Birthday Cake for Benson
Friday, March 16, 2018
10:00am Check out of hotel
10:45am Wheels and Thrills Owasso - Laser Tag, Roller Skating, Indoor Play Area
1:30pm Lunch on your own
3:00pm Check in at Fairfield Inn, Bartlesville
4:00pm Bowling at Phillips Rec Center
6:30pm Pizza at the hotel followed by swimming
Saturday, March 17, 2018
9:00am Family Portrait
10:30am Woolaroc – Petting Zoo and Museum
12:30pm Lunch – picnic at Woolaroc Pavillion near Petting Zoo
3:00pm Activities - Aunt Julie and Uncle Ryan's (horseback riding, four-wheeling, s'mores)
6:00pm Dinner at church / Family History Activities
Sunday, March 18, 2018
9:00am Bartlesville First Ward Sacrament Meeting
10:30am Return to hotel, change clothes, check-out, depart for home
Our farewell talks were as follows:
Our farewell talks were as follows:
Developing
Christ-like Attributes
By Stacey Burkinshaw
We appreciate the sacrifice of
our family and their efforts to be here today.
On June 6, 1994, the day after
Howard W. Hunter was set apart as the 14th President of The Church,
he extended two invitations. Speaking with a tone of gentle encouragement, he
said:
“First of all, I would invite all members of the Church to live
with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ,
especially the love and hope and compassion He displayed….I also invite the
members of the Church to establish the temple of the Lord as the great symbol
of their membership and the supernal setting for their most sacred covenants.
It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church
be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of—and
carry—a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow
immediate or frequent use of it….Let us be a temple-attending and a
temple-loving people.”
These two invitations from President Hunter
speak first to the theme for sacrament meetings this month, Christ-like
attributes and second to the importance of the temple.
The first invitation was that we become more
like the Savior. PMG chapter 6, titled “How Do I Develop Christlike
Attributes?” it says, “The restored
gospel enables you to become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Savior
has shown the way. He has set the perfect example, and, (as shared in 3 Nephi
27:27) He commands us to become as He is.”
PMG reminds us that, “Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They
come as you/WE use your/OUR agency righteously.” (A Message given in the
words of the song our family will share in a few minutes titled, I Will Be What I Believe).
PMG goes on to share a list (although not complete) and discussion
of the Christlike attributes of Faith in Jesus Christ, Hope, Charity and love,
Virtue, Knowledge, Patience, Humility, Obedience and Diligence. It then says, “As you study and seek to develop the
attributes described in this chapter and other attributes found in the
scriptures, the following pattern may be helpful:
·
Identify
the attribute you wish to develop.
·
Write a
definition and description of the attribute.
·
Record
questions to answer as you study.
·
List and
study thoroughly passages of scripture (and I would add words of latter-day
prophets) that teach about the attribute.
·
Set
goals and make plans to apply the attribute in your life.
·
Pray for
the Lord to help you develop the attribute.
·
Evaluate
your progress periodically.
Because our mission call is to serve in the
London Temple for the next 18 months I would like to share some thoughts today,
having used the pattern set forth in PMG, on the Christlike attribute of
DILIGENCE particularly as it relates to President Hunter’s second invitation
“Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people” and the blessings
that come from diligently making the temple our focus.
PMG defines diligence as a “…steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the
Lord’s work. The Lord expects you to work diligently—persistently and with
great effort and care….”
There are many scriptural references to
DILIGENCE and of diligent individuals, but because I was more specifically
looking for diligence as it relates to temple work or temple worship I decided
to study recent conference talks. If you did a search on the word temple for
the October 2017 General Conference you would find that it appears in 21 of the
talks that were given.
Elder Christofferson taught, “If we yearn to dwell in Christ and have Him
dwell in us, then holiness is what we seek, in both body and spirit. We seek it
in the temple, whereon is inscribed “Holiness to the Lord….This suggests the need
for a mighty striving on our part. We cannot be content to remain as we are but
must be moving constantly [forward].”
Elder Cook spoke of the Kirtland temple and while
there receiving direction to call Apostle Heber C. Kimball to take the gospel
of Jesus Christ to “England…and open the
door of salvation to that nation.” Elder Kimball was concerned and felt
burdened by this call. Elder Cook shares, “Nevertheless,
he undertook the mission with absolute faith, commitment, and humility.”
The diligence of Elder Kimball in sharing the gospel in England brought my own
ancestors into the Restored gospel. I share a welding link because of their
diligence (at great sacrifice) to receive temple blessings that would bind us
together for generations.
Elder Bednar taught us about the blessings that
come to those who diligently attend the temple, he said, “A principal purpose of the temple is to elevate our vision from the
things of the world to the blessings of eternity. Removed for a short time from
the worldly settings with which we are familiar, we can ‘look to God and live’
by receiving and remembering the great and precious promises whereby we become
partakers of the divine nature….the temple powerfully and repeatedly focuses
our attention upon our Heavenly Father, His Only Begotten Son, the Holy
Ghost, and the promises associated with
the ordinances and covenants of the Savior’s restore gospel.”
A number of years ago I had had a particularly
difficult couple of days and I was physically, emotionally and spiritually
exhausted. My morning walk listening to EFY songs had not lifted me and after
Jeff left for work and the girls left for school I went into my bedroom feeling
like I just wanted to curl up and go back to bed, like forever. After throwing
myself across the bed ready to do just that I had a distinct impression that I
should get up, get ready and go to the temple. What a blessing my “earnest,
energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work” that day was for me. I was “removed for a short time from the
worldly setting and had my attention powerfully focused on my Heavenly Father
and His Only Begotten Son”. I was reminded that the Savior could heal all
wounds.
At an even early time in our married life when
our children were very young our Stake President/s started a temple bus to the
Dallas temple. For Jeff and I that was a wonderful blessing. It took diligence
on our part to plan for the time and the cost, but we made a commitment to
attend monthly and we were blessed because of it both while living here in Bartlesville
and in Houston before there were temples in OKC or Houston. Interesting side
note –Elder Southward then President Southward’s solution to not being able to
fill one temple bus a month during that time was to do two buses and we filled
them both.
Both Elder Haleck and Elder Evans shared
experiences of those they knew who after years of diligent preparation under
very difficult circumstances made it to the temple.
Quoting Elder Haleck, “After they cast in their
‘all’, the greatest day came when they were sealed in the temple as an eternal
family.”
Quoting Elder Evans, “….As they knelt at the
altar and the sealing ordinance was performed, this wonderful, patient
(diligent) woman who has searched for so long had a private spiritual
experience by which she came to know that the temple and the ordinances
performed therein are true and real.”
As Jeff and I often shared a temple message
with members in Brazil, we used a video of the early saints in Manaus and their
first trip (caravan) to the São Paulo temple. It was a 2,500 mile trip that
took 3 days by boat followed by 3 days by bus. The people were diligent and
sacrificed much, and were blessed several miracles during the trip and 30 years
later with a temple of their own. On one visit to the home of a returned
missionary (married to a member, had a young son, but not sealed in the
temple) the spirit was particularly
strong. He expressed how the faith of these saints had touched him and given
him an increased desire to get his family to the temple.
In our small branch in Teófilo Otoni,
Presidente Costa (Márcio) testified of the spirit that the few branch members
able to go on the annual week-long temple trip brought back with them. These
members made that trip with great diligence and sacrifice and brought back a
spirit that could be felt by all.
In the March Ensign there was a story of a
young couple from Peru in 1979, “From Coast to Coast: Our Journey to the
Temple. This story was particularly touching to me because of our experiences
in Brazil both with our young missionaries and many of the young couples in the
wards and branches. Elder Rodriguez said, “Although we had little money and a
perilous journey ahead, my wife and I knew that we had to be sealed in the
temple.” That meant a 10 day trip from Peru near the shores of the Pacific
Ocean to Sao Paulo on the Atlantic coast of South American. As the temple was
new they were the first couple from their area to travel by land to the first
temple dedicated in South America. Quoting, “We had planned to make the
round-trip journey in 10 days, but in the end, it took us almost 30 due to a
dangerous political climate. I didn’t know how it would work out—all I knew was
that I had made a promise to God that after my mission, I would get sealed to a
worthy woman….When we finally arrived at the Sao Paulo temple….the temple
lodging was closed. Resigned but happy, we made ourselves comfortable on a
couple of benches outside the temple. There it was, just as beautiful as we had
dreamed it would be….It was now midnight, and we cried as we hugged, tired and
wet from the falling rain. We didn’t feel the dampness, the hunger, or the
cold, just an indescribable sense of happiess for being so close to the house
of the Lord. We had been obedient and there was our reward.”
In true missionary style I extend an invitation
to each of us to set a goal to be more diligent in our temple work. To evaluate
often our efforts and prayerfully seek the Lord’s desire for us in regards to
temple work. For each of us that will be different. For me attending the temple
often will not be a problem. I recognize however that although I have moved
from doing temple names to taking family names using the TAKE A NAME app I will
have a wonderful opportunity to live where many of my ancestors lived and I am
determined to get to know them better and make sure that their families
ordinances are complete.
President Hunter, “Let us hasten to the temple as frequently
as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our
kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship,
for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and
consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of
revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy
unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us.”
President Monson, “Those who understand the
eternal blessings which come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too
great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those
blessings. There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to
overcome, or too much discomfort to endure….” Ensign, 5/2001, 92.
President
Russell M. Nelsen, “The temple is the house of the Lord. The basis for every
temple ordinance and covenant—the heart of the plan of salvation—is the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. Every activity, every lesson, all we do in the
Church, point to the Lord and His holy house. Our efforts (diligent efforts) to
proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead all lead to the
temple. Each holy temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, as
a sign of our faith in life after death, and as a sacred step toward eternal
glory for us and our families.” (April 2001 GC, Personal Preparation for Temple
Blessings).
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Grandchildren and some of Adults accompanied by Grandma Stacey. Everyone had it memorized and did an awesome job!!
Acquiring Christ-like
Attributes: The Temple
By Jeff Burkinshaw
The Gospel restored
through the Prophet Joseph Smith teaches that our life’s quest is to become
like the Savior. Jesus asked the
Nephites “… what manner of men ought ye to be?” then answered “… even as I am.”
(3 Ne 27:27)
Chapter 6 of Preach
My Gospel teaches missionaries how to acquire Christ-like attributes,
thus helping them become more powerful and effective ministers of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. These attributes are taken
from section 4 of the Doctrine & Covenants, which sets forth the
qualifications to be a minister of the Savior.
“And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of
God, qualify him for the work.” (D&C 4:5)
Last April,
President Russell M Nelson told us that he “read and underlined every verse
cited about Jesus Christ, as listed under the main heading and the 57 subtitles
in the Topical Guide.” As a result of this
focused study of the Savior, he proclaimed, “I am a different man.” (“Drawing
the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives”, GC April 2017)
President
Dallin H Oaks taught that this is more than just learning about the attributes
of the Savior.
“In contrast to the institutions of the world,
which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become
something.” (“The Challenge to Become, General Conference, October 2000)
We just heard a choir of our children and grandchildren sing “I Will Be What I Believe.” If we believe in Jesus, we will strive to become
like Jesus.
The Apostle
John wrote “Beloved, now are we the sons [and daughters] of God, and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall see
him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
Alma taught what the Savior is by what he
would do. “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and
temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which
saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may
loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their
infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, … that he may know
according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”
(Alma 7:11-12)
His loving example
caused John the beloved to write “We love
him, because he
first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
Sister
Burkinshaw and I have appreciated over the years and more particularly during
our recent service in Brazil the wise counsel shared by President Henry B.
Eyring.
“When I was a young man, I
served as counselor to a wise district president in the Church. He tried to
teach me. One of the things I remember wondering about was this advice he gave:
“When you meet someone, treat them as if they were in serious
trouble, and you will be right more than half the time.
“I
thought then that he was pessimistic. Now, more than 50 years later, I can see how well he
understood the world and life.” (Henry B
Eyring, “In the Strength of the Lord,” GC, April 2004)
At the
beginning of his ministry, the Savior read from Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:8) explaining his Messianic
mission. This scripture has taken on new
meaning as I look back at our proselyting service in Brazil and look forward to
our temple service in London and the requisite Christ-like attributes.
I preface this
scripture with counsel from President Dallin H. Oaks, who said, “…the
scriptures are not the ultimate source of knowledge, but what precedes the
ultimate source. The ultimate knowledge comes by revelation.
…Th[is] … opens
the door to the truth that a scripture is
not limited to what it meant when it was written but may also include what that
scripture means to a reader today.” (“Scripture Reading and
Revelation”, Ensign, Jan. 1995)
And so, even though Isaiah was prophesying of the Savior’s Messianic
mission, I have been inspired to understand this as the Lord’s instruction to
all his ministers, and specifically to us, as a missionary couple.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;
because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
“… to comfort
all that mourn;
“… to give unto
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness; (Isaiah 61:1-3)
In a seriously
troubled world, where half of everyone we meet are in “serious trouble”, teaching
the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel and their application in
daily life can rescue them from the bondage
of sin, comfort the brokenhearted
and bring joy through understanding. And
that is exactly what full-time missionaries do.
The follow-on
verses in Isaiah 61 point towards the greater blessings of eternal life and exaltation
as a family, which await us in the House of the Lord.
“But ye shall
be named the Priests of the Lord:
“… and I will
make an everlasting covenant with them.
“And their seed
shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all
that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord
hath blessed.
“… for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of
righteousness …” (Isaiah 61:
6, 8-10)
President Russell M. Nelson recently taught
new mission presidents that: "Missionary
work should begin and end with our minds focused on the blessings of the holy
temple. Missionary work is all about gathering people out of the world,
ennobling them, and enabling them eventually to dwell with God forever. This is His divine desire. Simply summarized,
God wants His children to return home to Him. What else would you expect from a
loving Father? Missionaries have a
solemn responsibility to act on God’s fondest hope—that His children will
return home to Him. If we will help Him, He will help us." (Russell M.
Nelson, June 2014 New Mission Presidents Seminar)
“The family is the fundamental
unit of society” (Proclamation on the Family) and “…that same sociality
which exists among us here (in this mortal life) will exist among us there (in
eternal or celestial life), only it will be coupled with eternal glory…;” (D&C
130:2)
Thus, family should be at the
center of our lives and is the preeminent institution of eternity. President Ezra Taft Benson said, “Fathers
[and Mothers], yours is an eternal calling from which you are never released.
Callings in the Church, as important as
they are, by their very nature are only for a period of time, and then an
appropriate release takes place. But a
father’s [and mother’s] calling is eternal, and its importance transcends
time. It is a calling for both time and
eternity.” (“To the Fathers in Israel”, General Conference, October 1987)
President Russell M Nelson has said, “No senior missionary finds it convenient to leave. Neither did Joseph or Brigham or John or
Wilford. They had children and
grandchildren too. They loved their
families not one whit less, but they also loved the Lord and wanted to serve
Him. Someday we may meet these stalwarts
who helped to establish this dispensation. Then will we rejoice that we did not seek the
shadows when a call to missionary service came from the prophet, even in the
autumn years of our lives.” (Russell M Nelson, “Senior Missionaries and the
Gospel”, GC Oct 2004)
“…the current number of about 6,300 full-time senior missionaries
serving today represents about 50 percent of the present demand.” (David Williams,
Global Operations Manager, Missionary Dept, “Senior Missionaries Are ‘Needed,
Blessed, Loved’,” Church News, 01 Sept 2017)
We very much missed our family during our two years in Brazil and since
we returned, we have spent close to full-time (besides working in the Oklahoma
City Temple) visiting our family. Our
family is scattered from Peoria, IL to Bettendorf, IA to Lake Jackson, TX to
Knoxville, TN to Tucson, AZ to Broken Arrow, OK to Houston, TX to Oklahoma City
to New York City and we have put more than 40,000 miles on our new car. We love our
valiant 13 children and children-in-law and our 27, soon to be 28,
grandchildren. And we have spent the
past 3 days together in a family reunion based on the principles of “…faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness,
respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” And
we are grateful to have them here with us today. Hopefully our example will be a strength to each of our children and grandchildren, when it is
their turn to leave home and family to serve the Lord and His children in the
mission field.
This is not to say we were not blessed as we served in Brazil. Four new grandchildren joined our family
while we were gone and three additional grandchildren have been born during
this past year. This makes our Grandchild
Return on Investment over 15% annually!
We hope it continues!
As we visited our children and grandchildren, we have also traveled to many
sites of the Restoration – from Sharon, Windsor County Vermont; to Harmony, Pennsylvania;
to Fayette and Palmyra, New York; to Kirtland, Ohio; to Liberty and
Independence, Missouri; to Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois; to Devils Gate and
the Sixth Crossing of the Platte in Wyoming.
We have performed ordinances in 14 temples including 8 for the first
time (Provo City Center, Philadelphia, Hartford, Snowflake, Gilbert, Tucson,
Payson and Cedar City). And while we
traveled, we listened to over 100 hours of the Joseph Smith Papers podcasts,
learning in greater detail about the events of the restoration. I would like to share a few poignant quotes from
what we learned this past year.
Joseph Smith taught “What was
the object of gathering the … people of God in any age of the world? … The
main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal
unto His people the ordinances of
His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation; for there are
certain ordinances and principles that, when they are taught and practiced,
must be done in a place or house built for that purpose.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, Chap 36 –
Receiving the Ordinances and Blessings of the Temple, p. 416)
“Reading the experience of others, or the revelation given to them, can
never give us a comprehensive view of our
condition and true relation to God.
Knowledge of these things can only be
obtained by experience through the ordinances of God set forth for that
purpose.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, Chapter 36 –
Receiving the Ordinances and Blessings of the Temple, p. 419)
President Boyd K. Packer taught, “The
temple ordinances encompass the whole plan of salvation.
“…The teaching of the temples is
done in symbolic fashion. No man or
woman can come out of the temple endowed as [they] should be, unless [they have] seen, beyond the
symbol, the mighty realities for which
the symbols stand.”
“We covenant to give of our
resources in time and money and talent—all we are and all we possess—to the interest of the kingdom of God upon the earth.” (Boyd K. Packer, “Preparing to Enter
the Holy Temple,” Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple (2002), 1–37)
·
Temple blessings skipped 2 generations in my
family
·
My temple experience – power to change the world
·
My parent’s experience at age 81 and 79 – a cold
day
·
My sister’s experience finding her way home
I close with this quote from a former temple president which aptly
summarizes how the temple and temple work help us to acquire Christ-like
attributes.
“In the temple, everything is beautiful,
everything is clean, everything is pure, everything is righteous. And so, all at once, we start to become
purer, more righteous, more dedicated, more loving, kinder, gentler, more
humble. And as a result of that we
become more like Christ.” (Seth D. Redford, Former
Temple President, "In His Holy House", Come Unto Me Video 53146)
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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