Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Dinner with latter-day apostles

I know you have all had to answer that question a time or two, "whom would you have dinner with, if you could have dinner with anyone in the world?" Sometimes you add the line, living or anyone whom has ever lived, but you get the point! I decided that leading up to General Conference, we would have a special guest to dinner every night. I also decided to go in reverse order--just to mix things up a little bit. Our first guest was none other than Neil L. Anderson himself! Josh calls me every night before he heads home from work and asks what we are having for dinner and if he needs to pick anything up. The first night of this, I simply told him that we were having a special guest for dinner. I told him that Neil L. Anderson would be joining us. He sat speechless. There is a family in our ward that is really good friends with him, and he has spoken at one of their son's "non"-farewells. He asked if I had called the Nixon's to get his phone number. I laughed and explained to him that it would be his picture on a chair.
But, that we would learn about him. Elder Anderson happened to serve a mission to France and he also served as a mission president in France so we had French toast for dinner (stretching it I know, but yummy nonetheless!) We learned that he has four kids like we do and that his wife is named Kathy. We learned that he went to BYU and Harvard. We also learned that he lived in Florida. My kids were very worried that he had been eaten by an alligator in Florida. We explained that he was still living, and was alive and well. :)
The next night we had D. Todd Christofferson for dinner. We learned so much about him. My favorite was that he had went to the Sacred Grove to pray about the church, and to gain a testimony of his own. He said that he prayed for an hour and nothing happened. A couple of weeks later he got a strong revelation that the church was true. He stated that through that experience, he knew that you didn't have to be somewhere special to gain a testimony, that God could answer your prayers even in your own bedroom! Also as a youth, his mother underwent surgery to treat her cancer. Although she survived and healed, simple daily tasks had become difficult for her. She loved homemade bread so Elder Christofferson had his grandmother teach him how to make it. He made bread on a regular basis until he left for college. So I made homemade bread and chili for dinner that night. We are only a couple of days into this, but I am loving it. I don't know if my children are getting ANYTHING out of it, but I am. I love having a special guest every night. I also thought about doing this with ancestors or historical figures. Something to spice up the dinner hour!

9 comments:

  1. Tiffany, this is the coolest idea ever. I am totally stealing this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this too, what a great way to get ready for conference. I will also be stealing this idea, Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tiff, this is so rich. I love it. I love that Josh calls before he comes home from work to pick up this or that for you. I enjoyed getting to know Elder Christofferson and Elder Anderson just a wee bit better too. How sweet about the home made bread, it reminds me of our book club that was the best book club I was in and you helped make it the best. I am connecting your blog over to mine because I want the richest blogs to connect with mine. So I'm being particular. I've planned to get yours on there for some time don't ask me why I'm such a slow poke.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this idea! I have a question, maybe it's a no brainer, but still have to ask!...where do you find the info about the apostles and all the fun stories you list in your blog entry? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am trying to remember!! I think I went to lds.org and under subject, typed in their name. For most of the GAs, when they were called the Ensign did an article on them. I should update this with links! I hope that helps!

      Delete
  5. I love this idea! We always try to learn about the Apostles and First Presidency before conference and this is a way that I hadn't thought of before! Thank you so much for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'd love to know if served something relating to the apostles for ever dinner you did. Would you mind sharing? I"m having a hard time coming up with something for each of them!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know, the food wasn't always directly related to the apostle. Like for Elder Holland we read jokes during dinner because of a quote from his son stating that they always laughed at dinner time. For President Packer, we water colored after dinner. Some of them were a little "crafty" like for Elder Ballard I made cars out of apples and grapes for a side dish. I should keep better notes this time around and post them!

      Delete

Join in the conversation!