New Year's
New Year's Resolution
By Chris & Sarah Jones
One of the most common New Year's traditions is the New Year's Resolution. So common that most people now just pay it lip service and are breaking their resolutions within a week of making them. Something Sarah and I have picked up along the way is "The Pursuit of Excellence".
The Pursuit of Excellence is a pamphlet that encourages you to achieve excellence in your life and focuses you to set goals and challenges in specific areas in your life that are in harmony with our church beliefs.
Follow the previous link to find it available on the Church Distribution center for just a fraction of a dollar. We order a new one each year for each member of the family old enough to understand it's purpose. We like to fill it out together on New Year's Eve and then keep the pamphlet with our scriptures. The goal would be to review it on Fast Sundays to remind you of your goals and progress. Then next year on New Year's Eve, you share your goals with each other and how well you accomplished them before starting the process over again.
Early New Year's Eve
By Richard & Kathy Russell
We are not real night people. So for the last couple of years we have celebrated New Years Eve at the same time as the people in Sao Palo, Brazil. That is where Rich served his mission!
We make Brazilian food and play a few Brazilian games, listen to Brazilian music, and count down with the Brazilians via the internet. In the end, we get to go to bed before midnight. Maybe for variety we'll choose a different country next year (as long as they are at least four hours ahead of us.)