We send to all our friends, far and near, this year's Christmas card, with love.
You can see the other Magpad Christmas card through the years by clicking here.
Magpad
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
The Ideal Courtship
We got engaged 41 years ago this month. Whenever we described our courtship to our children, we always said that it was "the ideal courtship." To celebrate our 25th anniversary our children gave us this card.
Forty one years later, the adventures continue!
I love my eternal companion!
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
In Praise of Those Who Save
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave an inspiring talk in the April 2016 General Priesthood meeting titled "In Praise of Those Who Save." I went through his talk and highlighted my favorite parts below.
As we emulate the Savior’s love, He will surely bless and prosper our righteous efforts to save our marriages and strengthen our families.
The great enemy of charity is pride. Pride is one of the biggest reasons marriages and families struggle. Pride is short-tempered, unkind, and envious. Pride exaggerates its own strength and ignores the virtues of others. Pride is selfish and easily provoked. Pride assumes evil intent where there is none and hides its own weaknesses behind clever excuses. Pride is cynical, pessimistic, angry, and impatient. Indeed, if charity is the pure love of Christ, then pride is the defining characteristic of Satan....
...The way you treat your wife or children or parents or siblings may influence generations to come. What legacy do you want to leave your posterity? One of harshness, vengeance, anger, fear, or isolation? Or one of love, humility, forgiveness, compassion, spiritual growth, and unity?...
...Set aside pride.
Sincerely apologizing to your children, your wife, your family, or your friends is not a sign of weakness but of strength. Is being right more important than fostering an environment of nurturing, healing, and love?
Build bridges; don’t destroy them.
Even when you are not at fault—perhaps especially when you are not at fault—let love conquer pride.
If you do this, whatever adversity you are facing will pass, and because of the love of God in your hearts, contention will fade. These principles of saving relationships apply to all of us, regardless of whether we are married, divorced, widowed, or single. We all can be saviors of strong families.
Dieter F. Uctdorf
Here is a clip from his talk
You can watch and read the full talk titled "In Praise of Those Who Save" by clicking hereSaturday, May 19, 2018
Our Royal Wedding
This morning the news boasted of a royal wedding which took place today.....that of England's Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
I'll have to say we had our own royal wedding which took place a few weeks ago in the Billings, Montana Temple....that of Makelle Worthington and Sam Magnusson.
Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I'll let them tell about our royal wedding.
I'll have to say we had our own royal wedding which took place a few weeks ago in the Billings, Montana Temple....that of Makelle Worthington and Sam Magnusson.
Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I'll let them tell about our royal wedding.
This short video shows a sealing room and explains why Sam and Makelle chose to be married in the temple.
The sealing room in our temples is a very wonderful and special place. It's a wonderful and a remarkable thing to look into the eyes of a man and a woman who are about to be married. They love each other with all their hearts. When two people are getting married, they can't imagine the idea that this beautiful, loving relationship would ever end.
So it's an important part of Mormon teaching that it doesn't need to end at death. This marriage can go on into the eternities, and a loving God intended it to be that way. So He gave us this power and authority.
It's actually what Jesus was giving the Apostles in Matthew chapter 16, when Jesus put His hands on Peter and the other Apostles and conferred upon them the authority to have bound on earth and have it be bound in heaven. That's what was happening there. Jesus was giving the sealing authority to His Apostles. And that's utilized in the temple, in the house of the Lord, where a man and a woman can be sealed together for eternity.
When you've been married in the temple, you've been sealed in the temple, then your children who are born into this marriage are part of that sealing. And they are yours forever, so long as everybody lives the commandments.
Now, you might say, "Well, what about those who were married before?" They can go to the temple and receive those same blessings. The children would come with the mother and father, and they would also kneel at the altar. And it's a beautiful, sacred thing to witness, particularly with little children, to see them kneel at the altar in the temple next to their mother and father, holding hands together on the altar, and have them sealed together as a family for time and for all eternity. That's a great blessing from heaven. It's a great blessing from God. And we believe that's what God intended, that families would be together forever.
So it's an important part of Mormon teaching that it doesn't need to end at death. This marriage can go on into the eternities, and a loving God intended it to be that way. So He gave us this power and authority.
It's actually what Jesus was giving the Apostles in Matthew chapter 16, when Jesus put His hands on Peter and the other Apostles and conferred upon them the authority to have bound on earth and have it be bound in heaven. That's what was happening there. Jesus was giving the sealing authority to His Apostles. And that's utilized in the temple, in the house of the Lord, where a man and a woman can be sealed together for eternity.
When you've been married in the temple, you've been sealed in the temple, then your children who are born into this marriage are part of that sealing. And they are yours forever, so long as everybody lives the commandments.
Now, you might say, "Well, what about those who were married before?" They can go to the temple and receive those same blessings. The children would come with the mother and father, and they would also kneel at the altar. And it's a beautiful, sacred thing to witness, particularly with little children, to see them kneel at the altar in the temple next to their mother and father, holding hands together on the altar, and have them sealed together as a family for time and for all eternity. That's a great blessing from heaven. It's a great blessing from God. And we believe that's what God intended, that families would be together forever.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
National Nurses Week
We are blessed to have a nurse in our family - Rachel!
The Deseret News newspaper did an article featuring Huntsman Hospital's annual Blessing of the Hands event. The article featured Rachel.
SALT LAKE CITY — Rachel Magnusson has worked as an oncology nurse for 12 years, six of which she's spent in the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
"Oncology is a hard field. … And a lot of our patients are terminally ill, and so it can be very emotional, taxing. But at the same time, with that intensity of emotion comes, I think, a great capacity to bond and connect with people," she said.
Magnusson, who says the "intense connection" she forms with patients keeps her in the field, is one of more than 500 nurses who work at the hospital.
Many nurses, patients, family members and other staff members had their hands blessed by faith and spiritual leaders in the Huntsman Cancer Institute on Friday during the hospital's yearly Blessing of the Hands during National Nurses Week.
As musicians played peaceful woodwind background music, several nurses were teary-eyed as they went through lines and spoke with leaders from an array of faiths, including Catholic, Episcopalian, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Latter-day Saint and a Native American healer.
"You will see many tears here. You come into this thinking, you know, 'I don't have anything to cry about.' And then spiritual leaders may ask you a question or two about how difficult your job is, or the patients that you've lost," said Sue Childress, director of nursing at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
The institute sponsors the hand-blessing event every year as one of several ways it helps its nurses deal with compassion fatigue, something experienced by many people who give much of their time and energy to caring for others.
"They're dedicated to caring for patients and making sure that they're safe while they're getting their treatment here. They're compassionate, smart people, and we want to honor them with blessing their hands and recognizing the work that those hands do every day of the year here," Childress said.
Magnusson says compassion fatigue is a "real thing," experienced by people in her field as well as many other fields, including teaching.
Terresa Newport, a Presbyterian chaplain at the institute, explained how she blessed the hands of those who attended the event.
"We ask that the Divine come through hands as they're anywhere in the world," she said.
Fred Wenger, a Jewish rabbi, said he begins by asking people what they do and then tries "to find something spiritual to share about what the challenges of their job are.”
He then tells them about the "shortest healing prayer in the Bible," in Exodus when Moses says a healing prayer for his sister, Miriam.
"Dear God, heal her," Rabbi Wenger quoted.
"Ultimately, we simply pronounce blessings, but it's God who does the blessing," he explained.
The blessing of the hands gave Robin Roberts peace and inspiration.
"It's releasing," she said.
Roberts is a caregiver for her husband, a cancer patient. Friday was his last day at Huntsman Cancer Institute before he checked out of the hospital.
"I love all of them, what they all have to offer," she said of the spiritual leaders.
"Especially when you're a caregiver, when you have someone close to you like your husband, you have just a lot of emotions. And it's really reassuring to get the messages from them, because they're the messages that you know.”
She said the spiritual leaders gave her guidance to help her find peace, wisdom, inspiration and guidance.
After having her hands blessed, Magnusson said she spoke to the rabbi. Though she is not of his same faith, she "appreciated his thoughts and sincerity.”
"I find that in my work as a nurse, there's a lot of spiritual questions that come up with patients. … I think this event kind of embodies that, that we're all of different faiths and beliefs and backgrounds, but everyone here is here of their own accord. They feel drawn to events like this," she said.
Blessings for the hands that heal at Huntsman Cancer Institute
SALT LAKE CITY — Rachel Magnusson has worked as an oncology nurse for 12 years, six of which she's spent in the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
"Oncology is a hard field. … And a lot of our patients are terminally ill, and so it can be very emotional, taxing. But at the same time, with that intensity of emotion comes, I think, a great capacity to bond and connect with people," she said.
Magnusson, who says the "intense connection" she forms with patients keeps her in the field, is one of more than 500 nurses who work at the hospital.
Many nurses, patients, family members and other staff members had their hands blessed by faith and spiritual leaders in the Huntsman Cancer Institute on Friday during the hospital's yearly Blessing of the Hands during National Nurses Week.
As musicians played peaceful woodwind background music, several nurses were teary-eyed as they went through lines and spoke with leaders from an array of faiths, including Catholic, Episcopalian, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Latter-day Saint and a Native American healer.
"You will see many tears here. You come into this thinking, you know, 'I don't have anything to cry about.' And then spiritual leaders may ask you a question or two about how difficult your job is, or the patients that you've lost," said Sue Childress, director of nursing at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
The institute sponsors the hand-blessing event every year as one of several ways it helps its nurses deal with compassion fatigue, something experienced by many people who give much of their time and energy to caring for others.
"They're dedicated to caring for patients and making sure that they're safe while they're getting their treatment here. They're compassionate, smart people, and we want to honor them with blessing their hands and recognizing the work that those hands do every day of the year here," Childress said.
Magnusson says compassion fatigue is a "real thing," experienced by people in her field as well as many other fields, including teaching.
Terresa Newport, a Presbyterian chaplain at the institute, explained how she blessed the hands of those who attended the event.
"We ask that the Divine come through hands as they're anywhere in the world," she said.
Fred Wenger, a Jewish rabbi, said he begins by asking people what they do and then tries "to find something spiritual to share about what the challenges of their job are.”
He then tells them about the "shortest healing prayer in the Bible," in Exodus when Moses says a healing prayer for his sister, Miriam.
"Dear God, heal her," Rabbi Wenger quoted.
"Ultimately, we simply pronounce blessings, but it's God who does the blessing," he explained.
The blessing of the hands gave Robin Roberts peace and inspiration.
"It's releasing," she said.
Roberts is a caregiver for her husband, a cancer patient. Friday was his last day at Huntsman Cancer Institute before he checked out of the hospital.
"I love all of them, what they all have to offer," she said of the spiritual leaders.
"Especially when you're a caregiver, when you have someone close to you like your husband, you have just a lot of emotions. And it's really reassuring to get the messages from them, because they're the messages that you know.”
She said the spiritual leaders gave her guidance to help her find peace, wisdom, inspiration and guidance.
After having her hands blessed, Magnusson said she spoke to the rabbi. Though she is not of his same faith, she "appreciated his thoughts and sincerity.”
Rachel with her niece when she worked at City of Hope in Duarte, California
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Heavenly Father's Plan Gives Comfort
Even though we are far away from our home, we keep up to-date with the stories from the United States. We were sadden to hear about the school shooting that left 17 dead and several others injured in Florida.
The content for this post is from an article from LDSLiving.com. The article and more pictures can be found by clicking here.
At least a dozen Latter-day Saints were at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when a gunman opened fire on February 14, killing 17 and injuring another 14.
Among them was 14-year-old Alaina Petty, who was killed when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz allegedly opened fire on students in Parkland, Florida.
After the passing of their daughter and sister, the Petty family released the following statement:
We are heartbroken by the loss we feel in the tragedy that unfolded yesterday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Our hearts go out to the families of all impacted by this tragedy, and our prayers are for their comfort and healing. We wish to thank our family, friends, and the community for the love and support demonstrated to our family.
It is important to sum up all that Alaina was and meant to her family and friends. Alaina was a vibrant and determined young woman, loved by all who knew her. Alaina loved to serve. She served her community through her participation in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas JROTC program and her countless hours of service as a volunteer for the "Helping Hands" program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Alaina was part of hundreds of volunteers that rushed to the most heavily impacted areas of Florida to clean up and help rebuild the lives of those devastated by Hurricane Irma. Her selfless service brought peace and joy to those that had lost everything during the storm. While we will not have the opportunity to watch her grow up and become the amazing woman we know she would become, we are keeping an eternal perspective. We are grateful for the knowledge that Alaina is a part of our eternal family and that we will reunite with her. This knowledge and unabiding faith in our Heavenly Father's plan gives us comfort during this difficult time.
Over the past 24 hours, our family has been touched by hundreds of acts of service. Words cannot convey the gratitude we have in our hearts for each of those acts. We wish to thank the staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the bravery that we understand they showed in protecting and ultimately saving many lives. We would also like to especially thank the first responders for their courage and bravery by running toward harm's way and for bringing an end to yesterday's violence.
The content for this post is from an article from LDSLiving.com. The article and more pictures can be found by clicking here.
Among them was 14-year-old Alaina Petty, who was killed when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz allegedly opened fire on students in Parkland, Florida.
After the passing of their daughter and sister, the Petty family released the following statement:
We are heartbroken by the loss we feel in the tragedy that unfolded yesterday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Our hearts go out to the families of all impacted by this tragedy, and our prayers are for their comfort and healing. We wish to thank our family, friends, and the community for the love and support demonstrated to our family.
It is important to sum up all that Alaina was and meant to her family and friends. Alaina was a vibrant and determined young woman, loved by all who knew her. Alaina loved to serve. She served her community through her participation in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas JROTC program and her countless hours of service as a volunteer for the "Helping Hands" program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Alaina was part of hundreds of volunteers that rushed to the most heavily impacted areas of Florida to clean up and help rebuild the lives of those devastated by Hurricane Irma. Her selfless service brought peace and joy to those that had lost everything during the storm. While we will not have the opportunity to watch her grow up and become the amazing woman we know she would become, we are keeping an eternal perspective. We are grateful for the knowledge that Alaina is a part of our eternal family and that we will reunite with her. This knowledge and unabiding faith in our Heavenly Father's plan gives us comfort during this difficult time.
Over the past 24 hours, our family has been touched by hundreds of acts of service. Words cannot convey the gratitude we have in our hearts for each of those acts. We wish to thank the staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the bravery that we understand they showed in protecting and ultimately saving many lives. We would also like to especially thank the first responders for their courage and bravery by running toward harm's way and for bringing an end to yesterday's violence.
____________________
Other comforting words at a time like this comes from a talk Elder Cook gave a talk in the October 2011 General Conference titled, "The Songs they Can Not Sing". Among other things he said:
...Sometimes tragedies are very personal. A son or daughter dies early in life or falls victim to a devastating disease. A loving parent’s life is taken because of a thoughtless act or accident. Whenever tragedy occurs, we mourn....We lament the things that will not be accomplished and the songs that will not be sung.
Among the most frequently asked questions of Church leaders are, Why does a just God allow bad things to happen, especially to good people? Why are those who are righteous and in the Lord’s service not immune from such tragedies?...
...While we do not know all the answers, we do know important principles that allow us to face tragedies with faith and confidence...
His talk continues as he teaches the principle of eternal life which brings me comfort and peace.
Click here to read the whole message or watch it below.
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Christmas in Belize!
I just realized that I didn't mention that we had Rachel, Lisa and Sam visit us here in Belize for Christmas.
I wrote a detailed post about their visit on our mission blog. You can read about our our Christmas time adventures by clicking here.
You Can Do Hard Things
I saw this video on Elder Quentin Cook's Facebook page. Elder Cook said:
I want to assure you that you can do hard things.
Elder John B. Dickson, a marvelous Seventy, now emeritus, who served with distinction all over the world, demonstrated this in a fun and unusual way. Elder Dickson was called to serve as an LDS missionary in Mexico in 1962. Before he departed, he was diagnosed with bone cancer in his right arm. He was not expected to live more than a month. However, 10 months later he left to serve his assigned mission, having had his arm amputated.
I will never forget how he taught missionaries at the MTC that they could do hard things. He invited four missionaries to come up to the stand and compete with him in a tie-tying contest. Dickson defeated all four of the missionaries using his teeth, his shoulders, and his chest in a marvelous way.
Please know that you can overcome adversity and do hard things.
I want to assure you that you can do hard things.
Elder John B. Dickson, a marvelous Seventy, now emeritus, who served with distinction all over the world, demonstrated this in a fun and unusual way. Elder Dickson was called to serve as an LDS missionary in Mexico in 1962. Before he departed, he was diagnosed with bone cancer in his right arm. He was not expected to live more than a month. However, 10 months later he left to serve his assigned mission, having had his arm amputated.
I will never forget how he taught missionaries at the MTC that they could do hard things. He invited four missionaries to come up to the stand and compete with him in a tie-tying contest. Dickson defeated all four of the missionaries using his teeth, his shoulders, and his chest in a marvelous way.
Please know that you can overcome adversity and do hard things.
You can also see the video by clicking here
In the October 1992 General Conference Elder Dickson talks about his experience of loosing his arm just as he was called to be a missionary. You can view and read his talk by clicking here.
Elder Cook gave a Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults on the same topic on September 11, 2016 -- “Fear Not … in Me Your Joy Is Full” (D&C 101:36) You can read and view his talk by clicking here.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Be a Mr. Jensen: See the Good
Back in September I shared this video on my Facebook page.
Yes! Let's all be a Mr. Jensen.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Family!
We have been blessed with many additions to our family since we left for our mission 6 months ago. We have doubled the number of our grandchildren from 3 to 6 . We will be adding one more daughter to our family with the engagement of Sam and Makelle this past December.
Baby boy J joined Janelle and Dave's family in November.
We are so happy to welcome Makelle into our family. Sam and Makelle are planing their wedding in the Billing Montana temple this April.
We love our family!
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