Adventure challenge date book Valentines day

 So this was our very first date... well kind of. For Christmas, I found a sweet little gift for Mesha. I stumbled on a video advertising an adventure datebook. What is that? Well, basically you have 52 different activities to choose from for that special date with your loved one. The catch is you don't know what they are until you scratch them to reveal the information about them and what the challenge beholds. Anyhow, I loved the sound of it and I know Mesha is always encouraging me to make more times to go out on dates.... which is almost impossible when you have 4 kids and you run a busy cluttered life. Well, I took the plunge and bought her this as a gift in the hope it would help motivate me to make more time for dates with my sweetheart and also make good quality memories to cherish.

So that is what I meant when I said that this was our first. Of course, we have been on many dates before, many times they are rushed, last minute and pretty much-lacking creativity. Let's go grab a bite to eat or go watch a movie kind of thing. This is all cool to hang out but probably lacks a little bit of intention or spark and therefore the motivation gets a bit low.

Today was Valentines Day and it was also the Sabbath day. This meant saddling up for Church and a mostly chilled kind of relaxing day. Luckily for me, Cheyton had a pretty bad cough last night so to avoid the funny looks at Church that this Covid-19 period has produced, I stayed him with him while the others trundled off. We decided that we would activate one of the secret dates from the book. From the hints in the book relating to the title we had decided to scratch off, it didn't require us to spend any money, but it did suggest we get a baby sitter. Enter Mum and Dad. They happily took all the kids off our hands after church without any clue as to how long we would take.

Mesha and I sat together and scratched off the "Ask your Parents" title while we both excitedly took obligatory record photos for our social media shares. The basic plot of the challenge was to call your parents or grandparents and ask them all the details about their first date together. We asked about what they wore, where they went, who asked who out and many more questions. we even quizzed further into what impressions they had of each other from the first date, what stood out to them about each other and anything else that they noticed. It was actually super cool finding out more about these encounters they had and I could tell on their end that it was a little bit exciting reminiscing about the experience they first shared together all those many moons ago. The outline of the stories was reasonably familiar, but it was quite refreshing hearing the more intimate and critical details from the foundations of their relationships.

We all shared a good laugh together on our video calls with Mesha's parent communicating with us all the way from New Zealand and my parents although only 10 minutes away, trying to juggling looking after our kids and a visit from my brother Paul and his family too. What was hilarious was them digging into those old archives about how they felt about things and about what actually mattered along with what colour mini skirt was really worn and who money, cars and pink ties were borrowed from. My parents first date was an outing to my dad's cousins 21st birthday. Dad donned on his bets brown suit and apparently, Mum in her homemade green mini skirt was followed by the paparazzi all night. Grandma was a bit crabby and as dad puts it "Grandpop was still alive" that's why. The Fawn Toyota Corona was the chariot for the night and after a wonderful evening, mum had found a return date to the wedding she was solo attending the following week. The back story details also added further enlightenment. The embarrassed grease monkey Donny picking up his sister from Mums sisters house and being dragged into the home by my Nanna to a room full of guests all dressed in Sunday best set the stage. Oh, what a Soapie.

Mesha parents were equally as amusing. The spiritual background of how a couple of prayers helped them on their collision course. This helped set the stage for what could have been a very awkward first date at a seaside restaurant in Pahia N.Z. as opposed to average fish and chips in Kaikohe. A very shy awkward young man stepped out of his comfort zone to ask the new YSA girl out and then quickly pieced the deal together by borrowing money from his parents, a flash car from his sister and a pink tie from his brother in law to impress the new lass he had his eye on. The date, of course, began with a prayer, which just about sealed the deal there and then the deep and meaningful conversations began. When Papa didn't blink an eyelid when Nanna dropped the Clayton (C-word) bomb - the child she had before her mission, the fairytale had basically just begun.

What we had now was the task of trying to recreate their respective dates. Well, we are a long way from a nice place to eat in N.Z and I don't think we could easily find a 21st birthday to gatecrash, so we had to quickly come up with an alternative plan that would somehow resemble the stories we had just been told.  couldn't find anything in my wardrobe that would replicate the Brown suit my Dad had worn and although we did have a couple of pink ties, it didn't quite match my outfit complete with classic golfers cap. Yesterday for some reason I had pulled out some salmon steaks and Mesha had grabbed a bottle of red grape juice, plus there was a leftover box of Ferrero Rocher from Christmas. The beach was a little far out of the way and the weather was hot and humid with threats of rain so we decided on a closer location in Viveash to a table on the riverfront.

The leisurely stroll to our solid wooden table was lovely. This had been a spot we had come to recently to discuss a couple of serious matters that had been affecting our relationship, but we had also come here for a family burger night during the covid period and on several very hot days had ventured down to swing off the rope swing into the river. As the Sandalford winery boat cruise began its launch on the other side of the bank, we laid down our stark white table cloth and began pouring drinks and setting up our delicious glazed salmon steaks, salad, fruit and chip luncheon. Attempting to recreate the perfect Instagram photograph before indulging in our homecooked meal, Mesha placed on of the glasses on a rocky bit of the table causing it to tip over, spilling the freshly poured juice and shattering the glass. We did not let this spoil us as we polished off the delightful food and finished it off with a  couple of slightly melted chocolates. With the bright sun reflecting on us and the ants advancing we decided to call time on the date and ventured home for some more cuddles.

What a beautiful date and a very sweet and enjoyable Valentines day. As the days began to near, we travelled up to my parents to pick up our kids while also sharing a recount of our adventure with my parents, my brother and his wife.

Until our next adventure, which won't be too far away at all. By the way, Mesha gave me a "Smearkin" I loved it.

My Testimony and challenge for 2018

I have set this challenge to myself to share something that I hold very special and sacred with some of the dearest people I know and care about.

When my mother left India she came to a country with a wealth of opportunity and some exciting prospects. She was 18 years old and was raised in a good home that barely had sufficient for their needs. Due to their poor circumstances she along with her siblings were forced to board at a school so her parents could afford to live. Coming to Australia opened up opportunities to work, attain an education and have the freedom she had yet to experience in her life. Over the next few years she met my father a good hard working man who was and helped whoever he could, when ever he could. My father was renowned for his kindness and service and it was this that attracted my mother to him.

My mother was introduced to two missionaries teaching about a restored gospel and church to which she was instantly drawn and to this day fully believes that this was the sole piece of the puzzle that was missing form her life and the reason for the Lord to lead her to this country. When we took her back to town of birth many years later, I realized that this was indeed true.

My Father eventually embraced the same conversion that my Mother had instantly made and they raised Myself and my four siblings in this church with good Christian values and plenty of wholesome opportunities. I could not say that my upbringing was perfect, nor could I say that I was not a rebellious and troublesome teen. The church I was raised in felt ok to me and I had friends and familiarity but I certainly was no saint. From a very young age I pondered deep meaningful questions. I remember being only 3 or 4 years old and being troubled because I could not understand where we came from or how we came to be. I could not understand my Fathers logical explanation about the existence of a God or the way in which he came to be.

Through a constant outpouring of my parent’s love and humble prayers I was able to negotiate through the difficult trials I had placed myself into to. When I came to this point I kept thinking about the whether the explanations and direction they had provided for me were the course in which I should take. I was moving quickly toward independent adulthood and wondered where my spiritual course would take me.

I knew and felt the presence of a God or a higher being. I felt there was some further purpose to our existence on earth and my mind became curious to what was required of me. I made progression to reading the scriptures I had been taught from and practicing a better way of living. The defining decision came to consult with this God who I had been taught was a Heavenly Father to me and would answer my curiousity if I was willing to follow his guidance and counsel.

I felt these feelings that I had never felt with so much power before. At some times in my life when I had made a good decision, had helped someone, loved someone, done some greater good this feeling had come. When I had felt saddened, lonely or afraid and had pled for relief, I had felt this feeling of warmth, love and peace come upon me. I didn’t know enough about what this feeling was, but I knew that it was from my God. It was a message to connect with me.

I continued to communicate with my Father in Heaven, building up my faith continually until there was clarity in the messages I was receiving. I knew then as I know now that there is a God on high and he is a Heavenly Father to me and to all. Through further study and prayer, I then came to know that his Son was Jesus Christ and that he was a Saviour to me and to us all. I had been taught many things about Jesus growing up and for a while considered him a gentle, kind, loving man who did so many good things for other people and yet was so hard done by, hated, hurt and eventually killed for reasons of jealously and pride. I now new he was as kind and loving to me as he was to the people of his time that he healed and blessed. But I also discovered that in the most loving way he was my personal Saviour and the personal Saviour to all mankind.

As my conviction grew stronger I committed to serve him and deliver his message as I learned more about it through full time missionary service over a 2 year period. This 2 year period of time became one of the most spiritual and the quickest growing up experiences of my life. Since then I have continued to serve in my church voluntarily and have grown a great love for my congregation and also my wider community. My service to my congregation family has been balanced with my Business activities, my further educational pursuits and the joy and happiness I experience as a Father and Husband in our home. Together these aspects of my life balance me out to be a person with a purpose of being happy on this earth and striving for an eternal everlasting glory living with my spiritual Father in Heaven.

I share this story to add some context to who I am today and from where I have come while also painting the picture of the journey of where I want to go.

I also share this because as a friend and fellow child of God, I really do care about you. This path is something I have found and I know that it is exceedingly good and I wish to share it with you.

I want you to know that I believe with all the hope in my heart that there a real living God. He is our Father and made this plan that we could progress along the journey to Eternal Happiness that he is on. He presented an option for us to come here to Earth and gain experience, knowledge and power to grow and then as part of this plan, he allowed his only begotten son Jesus Christ to be a Saviour and Redeemer of us all. With an understanding of the trials, sorrows, pains and sufferings that we would encounter in this mortal existence he paid the ultimate price for us by taking upon him our sins and sufferings and then he died to unlock the power of the resurrection so that we could return to an immortal state. His suffering for us allows us to be cleansed so that we can live with our father again. I know that this the ultimate sacrifice he gave for us.

What he asks of us is to follow him in every way. He gave us his teachings as guidelines to follow so they we can prepare to accept his gift of being cleansed. He established a Church organization for us so that we could learn and grow together and meet together often to help each other follow his example and the pathway. He stands at the head of his church and he has called a Prophet to be a spokesperson here on the Earth that gives us up to date revelation about what Christ our Lord wants us to do in these current days. There is no more direct a line than this for us to follow, than our Saviour directing us personally through a righteous living prophet.

I have come to know these things through sincere effort. And it is because I wanted to know the truth and to do something about it that my Father in Heaven has revealed it to me. He has let me know of my Saviours role and of his love, he has let me know of this wonderful plan and the direction he wants me to follow. It is by a wonderful book of ancient scripture called the Book of Mormon which details Christs dealings with a group of his followers on the opposite side of where he performed his ministry, that I have built further testimony of him. I know that the Bible is a testament of him and this Book of Mormon is another testament which he has directed us to receive and use in our lives. This book of scripture was revealed to us by the latter day Prophet Joseph Smith who we honour and respect for his work in revealing this scripture and through the Lords guidance restoring Christ’s church in its fullness back on the Earth.

I have virtually been a member of this Church among several different congregations for most of my life. Initially as a young boy attending with my parents, but in my latter years as an independent adult and leader along with my wife in our home with our children. I make this choice daily to live this way and it is constantly confirmed to me by feelings of conviction including warmth, peace, joy and comfort, which I know to be from the Holy Ghost; The true messenger and confirmer of truth sent by my Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ my Saviour.

I know the goodness of this pathway and direction and I desire all people especially the people I love and care about and can have a positive influence on have knowledge of this pathway so they too may have access to what their Heavenly Father wants them to have.

My personal invitation is that starting in this new year, that you will trust my friendship and love for you and allow me to introduce more of this testimony to you. Please accept my sincere offer as a true measure of our friendship.

I send this with all due respect and all the Love of Myself, Mesha and our children Cumoram, Kembry and Jairom.

May the Lord bless you always.

Love Brook.

Light the World 2017 Brook

Light the world challenge.

This Christmas season we have been challenged to Light the world by following the example and teachings of our saviour Jesus Christ and by serving others.

Before we began the program we met together as a family to discuss what we would like to achieve and how we would go about it. During the family home evening the kids came up with their own ideas and who we would like to focus our love towards. I really felt the spirit of this initiative and made a commitment to see it through with my family.

The first day came around and we wondered how we could give to someone anonymously. We put together $20 of our combined money and placed it into an envelope. The kids went and dropped it at the door of our neighbour who rents the small house from us and during the last few months has had a couple of financial hiccups. We really felt that he would benefit from having a few extra dollars around.

As the days wore on we continued reading the scriptures and watching the linked videos for light the world. I had also come across a 25 day reading challenge about the Saviour that related to Christmas and we began implementing that with our light the world challenge too.

Our home became a happier and more spiritual place, we were always on the lookout for ways to show love and kindness towards each other and we looked for ways to light the world in our everyday lives.

Day 5 was also a very special day. The scripture from Matthew 15:4 “Honour thy Mother and thy Father” meant a lot to us. We decided to lead this one by example to our children. After dropping the kids off to School, Mesha and I went and visited my parents at their business. They were surprised to see us and we just sat there for a while talking and chatting. It was really nice. We sit with them at church and we catch each other during the week fairly often, in fact we speak on the phone most days to them, but it was nice to make an intentional visit to just chat and relax and let them know that we love, honour and respect them.

Some of our kid’s friends have troubled lives. One just recently had her Dad jailed, while another has had her Mum die and lives with her Nan, Others have split family relationships or have been subjected to fighting and abuse in the home. We have been able to reach out to each of these children and invite them to our youth program. The Youth have treated them beautifully and they have felt loved and accepted. A couple of my daughter’s friends stayed over the night and you could see the impact of being in a home where both parent love and support each other and provide a kind and loving home environment for their children. While these young people were over they looked at my photo studio and framing workshop. They were really amazed at some of the work that I had produced over the year and so we offered to do some nice portraits for them that they could present to their family/carers. We took some photographs and then we began teaching them how to frame the pictures up. On Christmas eve we delivered the framed pictures wrapped up to their homes along with a little cash to buy themselves something.

One of my Son’s friends has also had troubles in his life. Both his parents have been in and out of jail and involved in drugs for a long time. We have often had him stay at our house because he is to afraid to go home. I have met with his Mother in the past and tried helping her move forward. We decided to make their Christmas a little nicer this year and dropped some groceries and fresh fruit. We left it with the daughter, as the mother was out, but later that evening she sent me a message which read “ Just got home thank u very much n hope you have a Merry XMAS N NEW YEAR. IFwe don’t C U’s N may the Lord B wit U’s all n keep u’s safe n sound xxx.

It was a joy to here that they felt blessed from our gift.

During some work I need to attend to on site I worked in the same team as guy who I had a pretty big run in with on the last job. I was surprised to see that he was back, but was unsurprised that he was just going to ignore me during our entire time there together. During a previous job, I had pushed his buttons and although I felt I was able to move on from it and continue to work with him, he had another tactic in mind. For the entire week we barely looked each other, it seemed like the way to go so that we didn’t add any further fuel to the fire. On the last day (Day 18 – Light the World) we were on site, I pledged to take the challenge to Forgive men their trespasses (Matthew 6:14) and make amends by sincerely apologizing to him. During this job he was causing a lot of problems and upsetting many people and so this was hard to do as I was frustrated at him for this. I built up the courage to do this only to find out he had been stood down for causing problems on site with others. I thought my opportunity had passed and reasoned with myself that it was the thought that counted. Later that night we flew home and after getting off the plane I made my approach. When I first came up to him he seemed cautious and weary of my presence. I firstly thanked him for keeping an eye on me while we did a dangerous job together. I wished him and his family a safe and Merry Christmas and then I apologized for stirring him up during the last job. His reaction caught me by surprise, he thanked me for approaching him and wished me and my family a safe and merry Christmas too, then he extended his hand to me and we shook hands. I really felt the spirit confirm the goodness in this there and then and have felt that same feeling each time since when I have spoken about it. 

One of our favourite Christmas traditions is to Christmas carol at people’s homes. My parents were introduced to this when my mother first joined the church and we have been doing it every year since, which is now 40 years old. After surprisingly having to go away for work just before Christmas, I thought that the opportunity may have slipped past. With only a couple of days left on the calendar we booked in a night and sent out invitations to some dear friends to join us.
Carrying on a that 40-year family tradition, several families from the Greenmount ward gathered together in a combined light the world activity to sing Christmas carols at the homes of members in the local community. The convoy of 8 cards patrolled the neighbourhood bring good cheer and glad tidings to those who needed uplifting. A sweet spirit of love was brought to the homes of up to 20 people including several widows, one who had lost her husband at Christmas time last year. Other highlights included one last final carol to a two-time Bishop of the ward who is moving after 50 years in the area. Many tears of joy flowed and hugs were shared by all. To finish the night, the children belted out a spirited "we wish you a Merry Christmas " song to the staff at McDonald's after a final ice cream treat. 

Sharon a non-member of the Church sent a message after having carols sang at her doorstep "....Thankyou for the carols tonight. They made my sadness go away. You guys are amazing and beautiful people. We need more people in the world like you guys!!Thanks again!! Love you all.