Brothers and sisters –
I’ve been thinking about the phrase “don’t get to” a lot the last few months. With my daughter, Kate, graduating from high school in May, it seemed like that was part of every conversation she had for a few weeks.
“Oh no, you don’t get to have a Prom.”
“You don’t get to sign yearbooks.”
“You don’t get to march with your fellow graduates.”
In more recent weeks, I’ve continued to hear about things we don’t get to do. Summer vacations have been altered, mission calls have been delayed or adjusted, community events have been postponed or canceled. Even at church, we don’t get to meet in Sunday School and we don’t get to sing together in Primary.
However, this time of pandemic has brought many things to light that we still get to do. We still get to spend time as families. In fact, for many of us, we get to spend more time with them. We get to enjoy warm weather, take the sacrament, recreate (responsibly) and help one another in myriad ways.
As we continue through these trying times, we will all be blessed by focusing on what we get to do instead of focusing — and enjoying the uniqueness of the experiences they bring.
For example, instead of my daughter having a traditional graduation and Prom, she instead had a one-of-a-kind graduation experience that will set her apart from other classes at Spanish Fork High forever. In her words, it will forever be “part of her story.”
May we focus on the unique blessings that come from this experience. May we focus on what we get to do including taking the sacrament (sometimes at home), simplifying our lives, nurturing relationships beyond activities, and most of all, developing a personal, self-sufficient relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ.
For this week, we look forward to seeing those families whose names end in H through P. For others in the ward, I am again authorizing the sacrament to be administered at home by worthy priesthood holders of the appropriate office. Again, if you have any questions about that, please reach out to me.
I love you all and pray for you.
Bishop Bennett