Impromptu primary lesson

I don't think a lot happened last week. George and I went shopping a lot. We went to goodwill to look for a birthday present for jon. We got a rock band game for $5 (that I thought would be fun with groups or later as a family- when we have enough older kids) and then I found two guitars and drums at goodwill (the drums just needed the stand) and it would've been a total of $20, but I didn't realize that xbox 360 instruments are not compatible with xbox one (what we have). So we got some other stuff. We went to the dollar store and got some night lights (our room here is much darker at night and it's hard to nurse when it's that dark) and to find some baskets for our cupboards. We have lots of hard to reach places, so I measured them and bought 3 baskets for each shelf, so I can just pull out baskets to get to the basket in the far back, instead of having to dig around every time. Oh and I got 8 kids books for $6 at goodwill (including "the little red hen", "the cat in the hat" and a compilation of 15 or so Disney stories).

We went swimming in our indoor pool for the first time last week and Jon and George went again this morning. And George has taken a few independent steps (no more than 3) between pieces of furniture. We all had colds last week but didn't last long, except George's nose is still a little runny.

Jon found out he's a finalist for a job he applied for (in northern indiana). It would be a great opportunity but we'd have to move. It's both teaching and performing and they're trying to expand (maybe eventually out west).

Primary- my team teacher had the lesson. In sacrament meeting I didn't see her so I read through the lesson just in case. on the way to primary I picked up crayons and extra paper. Sure enough, I was on my own. The lesson wasnt too great but it went well enough. I told the story of abinadi and how the Holy ghost testified to Alma. We then quoted Moroni 10:5 a few times. And told a story from the manual. We had lots of extra time. One boy asked what game we were playing that day and I said I hadn't planned one but if he could think of one that was appropriate for church we could play after the lesson. He thought and said let's pretend to be Nephi and go get the gold plates. (I guess they were just too shy to play that for my first lesson). I can tell they like me now though. :-) one wanted to tell a story, but then someone from the primary presidency came to check on us (since I was alone and decided to take George with me). He shyly said he couldn't tell the story with her in the room. Then they colored- they all wanted to draw boats after last week's lesson-which they all remembered. :-) and then they wanted to make paper airplanes. The rule is we use their drawing which somehow had to be related to the lesson and then no throwing them at people. At the end I did a quick review and we recited the scripture again together. To get their attention I said we were going to review the lesson so they could remember it. They looked at me funny for a second and then I said,  "cause it wasn't about paper airplanes" and I got a few giggles. The girls love George so even though he's good, he may be too much of a distraction and better in nursery. We'll see. Well that's it. :-)

New place, primary and stuff

So, we're in our new place and taking our time to get settled. We have a functional kitchen (minor readjustments to make), we can relax in the front room with the couch and entertainment unit set up and George's toys and books there. We've got a ton of laundry (both clothes and stuff used in packing ). Next step is to get the office rearranged (the closet in the had been painted/sealed shut, so that just got fixed this morning).

I now teach primary  (4 year olds). I second lesson. First one didn't go awesome. I had simple stuff to dress up and act out going to get the plates but my class is either too shy for that our didn't want to do it for a new teacher. But I think they got the main idea. I got a Co teacher assigned to me yesterday, she just got back from serving on temple square. Yesterday's lesson was about prayer and Nephi and his family on the boat. I brought a blue Sarong (with dolphins on it ) to be the ocean and a bath toy boat of George's. We talked about a few different things and then went into the story. I laid the Sarong on the ground and told them to imagine it was the ocean, then I placed the boat down and started moving it. Then I stopped to say what happened next and a little boy asked why the boat wasn't moving and I was just like, cause we're talking about what happened on the boat when it got here. Anyways, Laman and lemuel tied up Nephi, the Liahona stopped working and a storm started. So I had them all get on the ground and pick up part of the blanket and shake it and watch the boat get thrown off course (and out of the ocean a few times). Anyways, this lesson went much better. We talked about how they let Nephi go because they were afraid they would drown and then Nephi prayed for help. I shared a few examples of prayer in my life, two goofier ones (losing my cat and keys) and a more serious one- one I witnessed- a prayer of a 4 year old girl. Then we finished off with coloring and paper airplanes for the last ten minutes.

George went to nursery with dad this last week. Jon had a test this morning and feels pretty good about it. And we're just working. George is starting to take a few independent steps. (Like a total of 3?) When we went for grandma Ann 's funeral he was a favorite. His girl cousins loved him. He has a second cousin whose name is Cal-el. He loves electrical sockets and climbing stairs (crawling up stairs is new too). He also loves eating whatever I'm eating. If he's upset (he gets upset a lot with learning to walk and climb) he calms down with nursing, reading books or singing "five little ducks" or "five little monkeys". Sometimes snuggling will work. Oh, and one BIG scare. We were packing up the kitchen and could see George. In practically no time at all though he got ahold of the thermometer that had been in the fish tank, whacked it against a shelf, broke the glass and stuck the broken glass side in his mouth. We called 911, who then gave us the number for poison control. We talked to them about the thermometer (not knowing if there was mercury or anything in there ). The lady didn't seem concerned, so I asked her what symptoms I should look for if there was a problem. He was fine. He never cried even when we were panicked.

On Saturday we went to a ward activity where jon provided the music. He's been thinking about putting together a solo kid's act and Saturday was our trial run. The kids seemed to like it alright, but they didn't know some of the songs and got bored, not bad, but we decided we need some type of visual aid or hand movements to get them more involved in the new songs. The song line up started with "if you're happy (and you know it)" and then:
2. Field mouse (old poem that Jon put to music)
3. Down by the bay (Raffi -older song)
4. Skinnamarinkidinkidink  (old song some of the parents knew)
5. Little sheep (old poem jon put to music)
6. Poisoning pigeons (Tom lehrer- more for the adults)
7. Do as I'm doing
8. De colores  (Raffi )
9. Guinea pig (old poem jon put to music)
10. Twinkle, twinkle little star (with a second verse with higher vocabulary: "scintillate, scintillate, globule lucific. .."
11. Baby beluga (Raffi)
12. Head, shoulders, knees and toes (normal, slow, fast and faster)
13. Bear snores on (a book George likes that jon turned into a song)
14. Banana phone (Raffi )

Ideally, I think jon and I would like for him to teach at a university during the school year and then do the children's performance in the summer for fun.

Anyways, life is pretty good, just settling into our new place. I can't wait til he gets a permanent, or semi permanent job and we can settle in, knowing we won't be moving in about a year.

Crawling and moving and going crazy (almost)

So, I think I missed a week. I've been trying to pack things little by little, but I didn't go as wicking as I wanted to. But I did get 2 goodwill bags together and have thrown away at least a bag worth of stuff. But no more time to keep going through things, now I just have to pack it.

George is crawling! He's also kind of walking. He's a pro at walking around the coffee table and along the couch. He sees crawling as a means to get to the next standing up point. He's been cranky the last day or two which makes packing hard. He's usually content with standing up against the cabinets but recently has decided he needs me to hold both of his hands and walk with him. Reading almost always calms him down as well. He's still better than most babies but he's been VERY cranky for him. And he has started screaming when he wants something, so I'm trying to help him learn to show me what he wants so he won't feel the need to scream. (I.e. I'm teaching a few baby signs or showing him to crawl to what he wants, like crawl to the books so I can read to him. He might be catching on. He now walks to the front of his swing and then turns to look at me when he wants in his swing).

So this last week Jon's Grandma Ann passed away. They are having the funeral this Saturday (which is when we were going to move). We can't get the keys to the new place until Friday and we have to be out by Monday. So with going to Utah for the funeral, we are now renting a uhaul on Wednesday and having the elders quorum help. Thursday Jon's parents are paying for a cleaning service to come. We will clean whatever they won't clean and do the other things that are expected of us for moving out. Then we will fly out early Friday morning. Jon and I are doing a musical performance for a nursing home where his other Grandpa now is. (His grandma Gwen is in charge of weekly music there and asked for our help). A viewing that night and then the funeral on Saturday. Jon is singing and it will be an interesting funeral if everything gets approved by... Bishop Blair Henderson (from NP). That evening people will come over for pizza and swimming. Then we'll fly back Sunday, clean anything else that needs to be cleaned before our checkout at noon on Monday. I don't know when the elders quorum is helping to move things out of the uhaul, but either Monday or Tuesday.

As of last week, I'm a primary teacher for half of the 4 year olds. The ward choir performed today, the last time til September. Today's lesson didn't go entirely as planned but I didn't have to use my second backup plan of wiggles videos.  It was the story of Nephi and his brothers going back for the plates. I had simple dress up props to act it out. My class isn't shy, but they were acting shy. We had another lady be Nephi and two girls be a Nephi's sisters- Lamanita and Lemuelita. I played the other parts. I had intended to have the whole class participate which would've also taken more time, but oh well. We had an object lesson, told the story, played telephone and related it back to why they needed written scriptures and not just a prophet to say things orally. Scattered throughout the lesson I asked questions, so hopefully they would remember the important parts. Then we had extra time so we went to my first back up plan which was an activity suggested in the manual. I had them draw something that could be found in the scriptures. One drew a picture of praying, another drew his family and we talked about how God tells us to have families and be nice to them in the scriptures. And then one drew the story from the lesson. I can't remember the other pictures, but that took up the rest of the time.

We were also extended another calling (a stake calling) which we discussed our concerns and in the end turned down after praying about it and found out that the ward has another calling in mind as well.

Well I'm excited to be in our new place but not looking forward to the next few days.

Spiritual thought: in sacrament meeting someone gave a parable of making bread, and since I love bread, I liked the analogy. To make bread you start out with ingredients that kind of taste gross by themselves. Then you mix them together. Then you knead it and work it. Then you leave it alone for a little while and let it rise and just when it starts to feel good about itself, you punch it down. And then it starts to rise again and you throw it in the fire. There are lots of ups and downs in life, and sometimes we are worked and worked until we feel tough and like we can't take anymore. And sometimes we feel like we're just getting the hang of something and life punches us down or throws us in the fire. But in the end we have an amazing loaf of bread that is, oh so good!

P.S. I don't know if I mentioned it on here but Jon got me a bread maker for mothers day and it's great to have fresh bread.

Domingo en Puerto Maldonado - May 17, 2015

It's almost 5pm and I'm sitting in the hotel. Katie got a sharp pain in "her lower area" so we are resting a bit. It's a nice "r" hotel, actually nicer than the one in Lima. So I thought I'd spend a little time and write.

We expected Puerto Maldonado to be hot and humid. It usually is. It really hasn't been too bad. It's rained quite a bit and it seems that rainy season is lasting longer this year. It's obviously been humid, but not overly hot and actually nice. (I'm wearing jeans at the moment). 

My first impression of Puerto was "wow, this is really poor". Everything looks old and dirty and almost falling down. The moto cars are run down and dirty too. People didn't seem to be smiling much. Kind of depressing and thinking, "What did Carly think when she was sent here for her first area? She was expecting a quaint, old, historical city with the temperatures around 70. She must have been in shock and I didn't even know. All I remember is Dad telling me everyday what the "real" temperature was and that her goal of being the cute missionary was out the window and the new goal was drink lots of water." I felt bad.

Now after being in the jungle a couple days and seeing things and learning things it's different. There's a respect for things. Like Monkey Island - it's a natural reserve, but the guides take you there and you feed the monkeys bananas. It's pretty awesome. Then some monkeys are more aggressive and you have to be careful. Now the monkeys know that when the people are there they will be fed. More monkeys are coming and they are staying in that area. They are interbreeding and when that happens they become extinct. And we were at an ecolodge. I'm sure there are other places that don't respect nature as much. I know there are many wonders of the Amazon. Trees that need sunlight to survive. Walking trees that form roots to move and let others die, trying to get to the sunlight. Only the strong survives. There are many uses and natural medicines that come from the jungle. We ate suri last night. They are a thick worm that grows in decomposing aguaje palms. Dad and I only ate one - gooey and when I got to the crunch I knew what that was. Carly and Cassie ate five or six. They are suppose to be good for everything respiratory. There are similar plants and flowers and trees and density like Hawaii. 

We spend most of the day yesterday with the Condori Family. Carly lived there as an Hermana. Sis. Condori, "Mamacita" has a little market and then a family room with a long table like ours. The chairs and couch aren't really comfortable and are closer to the ground. Then there's a kitchen area and then a patio/hallway area. Beyond that it is rooms and the missionaries live in one of the rooms. One of the first things I noticed was on the wall was a picture of her and her husband. To the left is a picture of the First Presidency and to the right, the picture of Christ knocking on the  door. Good people and great family. I felt love for each other, for the missionaries, for their friends that stopped by and for us. We laughed and had fun as we went in the back of a truck to a reserve area where there is a lookout tower and ate lunch. It was really quite beautiful and a resort area feel. In the evening we watched the finale of a show called Yo Soy. I guess like American Idol, but they impersonate famous singers. It was quite funny and very melodramatic. We've rode moto cars and walked a lot. Some paved streets and lots of gravel muddy streets. I'm sure we stand out. We get lots of stares and smiles. We look odd I'm sure. I seemed to get more out of church today, wrote in my journal and read the lessons during Sunday School and RS. In RS at the beginning everyone stood up and raised their hand and recited "Charity Never Faileth". It never does. Everyone is so friendly and of course expressed how wonderful Carly was. To think after 3 years (she's been home a year and a half and this was her first area so she came here almost 3 years ago - in August) everyone still greets her and remembers her. Everyone comes and greets us too. I wonder, "Why don't we do that in our wards back home?" I think we do to a small degree. One man who spoke was a drunk three years ago and was going to leave his pregnant wife. He spoke of having fhe with his family. The change that the gospel brings into our lives! There are five branches here. There's not enough worthy priesthood although it seemed there were at church. Carly says that tithing is a hard thing here. There are really good people here. Good families that need the ordinances of the temple. I found myself crying during the sacrament (surprised huh:) ). I want the Lord to bless them, but then a peace came over me when I realized he already is. And some of those blessings came through the service of my daughter, Carly. I feel humbled and honored and grateful. 

I'm so grateful to have this experience where we can meet the people that live here. That changes everything. Instead of thinking Puerto Maldonado is poor and dirty I think "This is really a cute, little town. I would like it here." 

When I think of what a couple days has done and meeting a few people, it gives me hope. The Lord judges us by our hearts. HIs perspective is already changed and he sees us differently. I am not poor and dirty. I am loving and strong and serving. 

Sent from my iPad

Miracle

So, instead of recounting last week I'm going to share one experience and highlights on George. George does this crawl thing where he is on one knee and one foot and he can go a few inches forward and kind of crawl, but he doesn't think he can, so if he looks up and sees me he gives up and starts crying. He is also gaining a LOT more balance as far as walking goes. He has stood by himself (for a very short amount of time) with no help from Jon or I or furniture. He can also walk along the edge of the couch and can sometimes walk with only holding onto one hand of ours for help. He may have a breakthrough with walking and crawling on the same day! We'll see though. He can also get from his tummy to a sitting position- and from a sitting position he can pull up on things- so we had to lower the mattress in his crib so he doesn't tumble out. (When I went to get him one morning he was sitting up- facing the wall luckily, but that was the day we lowered the mattress).

Experience: I woke up Friday morning with extreme back pain. I've never struggled with back pain until I was pregnant and this was different. It was more painful than gall stones and recovery and C-section recovery. It was the worst pain I've experienced and it was hard to move. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to stretch, I don't think I could lift above chest height and it was extremely painful lifting anything. I nursed George lying down and then when he was awake I kinda helped him drop to the ground. I let him play right next to me on the ground and I tried using these tennis balls that I have to stretch and possibly crack my back. It didn't help much but I knew I had to do something. I felt like if I moved too quick that I would end up paralyzed (which is a foolish explanation, because obviously I have no idea what kind of pain may lead up to being paralyzed). I had Jon crack my back twice and I tried multiple stretches. We went to Sam's Club and the car ride hurt. Normal turns, small rocks/pebbles/bumps hurt. Everything hurt. My laptop is very lightweight and it hurt to carry that and nothing else. I think George knew something was up because he was a little cranky. I still held him a lot, which hurt, but I needed help to pick him up if I was going to walk with him. The walking hurt too, but I can't just ignore George. So I put up with more pain than I would've normally but still wasn't functioning very well. After trying various stretches and trying to crack my back I told Jon I needed a blessing and then if things didn't start improving I didn't think I'd be able to make the 2 hr drive to the temple. So I got a blessing. It told me that I would receive immediate relief from my temple service and was blessed that I would be able to do the necessary things in my life. Well, from that, I felt like the pain would not go away UNTIL I either reached the temple, sometime in the temple or shortly after but that I would notice the immediate relief. And by relief I felt impressed that it was not a fix but just that the pain would be lessened.

Well, we drove to the temple and we hit an awful bump in the road. The bump would've hurt just by itself but I rammed my head into the ceiling of the car (and yes my seat belt was on) and I was in extreme pain for the next half hour. It was hard to feed George (I was spoon feeding him yogurt). Anyways, we got to the temple and dropped George off (babysitting was being provided for the 10 o'clock session). I grabbed a family name for Bishop's family and then went in. Since the temple is far away and we have George now, I have not been often enough to see all the new videos. I think I've seen one of them 3 times and then I saw a new one on Saturday which I really liked. It was a good experience and I felt like I received insights for myself. I was one of the slower people dressing with my back and there wasn't any relief yet. I got to the Celestial room and I felt relief. There was still a pain. It still hurt to move, but it didn't hurt to breathe. It didn't hurt to stay still. And the moving pain was lessened. When I went to pick up George it didn't hurt nearly as much and I carried the diaper bag (Jon carried George out) with very little pain. It still hurts now as I'm typing this but I can't tell you how much of a difference I noticed. It's hard to turn at night and I feel pains here and there, but more just like a backache or like it's recovering from being pulled. And, most importantly, I can pick up and lay George down in his crib.

I also want to quickly say Happy Mother's Day to Mom! I am very glad for her example and for her selfless service to us. I know she loves us and would do anything for us.

Breadcrumbs

Alright, so this week. George is trying to walk and crawl but is unsuccessful at both. He is great at scooting backwards though and has scooted himself under the coffee table and then cries because he can't lift up his head (it's cute and almost makes you want to laugh, except he's crying). I went visiting teaching this last week. My companion lost her husband in February and is still a newer member but she's doing so much better! She seems happier and stronger and is being a faithful visiting teacher.

 

Friday night jon drove out to Illinois for his children's choir concert. George and I went to institute graduation and sang with the choir. It turned out really well, and two people fought over holding George. :-) jon did a few Raffi songs with the kids and it turned out really well. He actually wrote music for three poems and wrote another song for them as well. One of the songs is called Banana phone and he brought bananas for props. He did another song where there's a musical break and they told Laffy taffy jokes for it. Oh, also, something happened to the accompanist earlier in the semester, so we invested in a guitar and Jon accompanied all the children's songs. Jon really enjoys it and he's putting  together a routine for kids. He plans to try it out on his nieces and nephews this summer. If you hear any song that you think might be good for a children's concert, let us know. We'll have to look into copyright stuff if he goes into it officially.

 

Saturday, I went to a baby shower for a friend. George picked out the dress I got for her little girl. I was holding up options when shopping and George got all excited and practically pounced on this one. It was a hot pink dress with a Navy blue elephant embroidered on it.

 

Spiritual thought comes from the Sunday school lesson today which I really liked. The teacher started off asking how we can make the most of our lessons and how can we know we're applying it. I started thinking that I should go into a lesson looking for something to impress me and then make a goal, whether it's to spend more time on my scripture study that week or something. Well I don't know of I made a goal yet but I was impressed with the lesson.

 

So, first I want to write the scriptural account, and then I'll follow with some of my varied thoughts. Matthew 15: 21-28, "Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

 

First we were asked to envision this in our minds. At first the Savior ignores her, but the disciples hear her and tell Christ to send her away. We speculated that Christ probably knew what was going on, yet still he ignored her. He says He came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (and this woman is not of Israel, but Canaan). Then the woman comes and worships Him. And his response we discussed as being harsh. He basically called her a dog. We discussed what it meant to be "chosen" and what being of Israel meant. But in the Old Testament there was still missionary work done. And God is no respecter of persons. In Christ's time, the Jews saw Samaritans and Gentiles as unclean, not merely 'not chosen'. The teacher asked why Christ would appear to agree with the stereotypes of the time, when we know He loves ALL? I'm going to veer off and some of what I will say is my own thoughts and some of it came from others' thoughts from the lesson. I raised my hand and commented that Christ's ministry was a very short amount of time- just three years. He did not have time to visit every person. It did not mean He didn't love others, but He had to prioritize. This to me gives me an example, that sometimes we can't do everything. It is alright to prioritize. Christ needed to come unto the Jews to fulfill prophecy and also because there was an order to things. I wonder if Christ ignored her to test his disciples to see if any would see the need and take care of it without being told. We are told to be anxiously engaged and to not sit idly. We are told to not have to be told to do every little thing. Christ only addresses the woman after the disciples beg him to tell her to go away and then she comes forward and worships Him and THEN He addresses her. We know Christ did not consider her unclean or unworthy, because that would mean His love wasn't perfect. But yet his statement was so harsh, referring to her as a dog. Yet I think He knew what would be said. He knew what would happen. I think He meant this to be a teaching moment, even though part of it comes from the woman. Even the dogs get crumbs. Just because the children eat first doesn't mean the dogs do not. The Gospel is meant for all. Just because it went to the Jews first, doesn't mean it isn't meant for everyone. Being chosen means they were called to eat bread at the head table. It is then the chosen's job to share the bread, with others at other tables perhaps, or it becomes their responsibility to feed others. Being chosen means it is your responsibility to share the gospel and what you have. The teacher brought up how there is no explanation on this story, nor is it mentioned again. But I think it was important. I think it was helping prepare them to teach the Gentiles. Christ was not called to minister to the Gentiles but his apostles were sent out. When Peter has his dream about unclean foods and told that he shouldn't declare something unclean that the Lord has declared clean, Peter realizes this is meant to mean the Gentiles. They are not unclean and to preach the gospel to them. I wonder if this experience with the woman was preparing him for that though. A stereotype that you were raised with is hard to change in just one moment. We are taught to shampoo our hair and clean ourselves. If one day, in adulthood, we were all of a sudden told that it hurts us more than it helps, it would probably take us a little while to make the change. With this statement, Christ establishes an order of things. That order is still in effect today. The Prophet is the Prophet of the WORLD. But the Prophet, even with more than 3 years and airplanes and cars that make travel much faster, does not have time to minister to every person individually. There are Apostles, and Seventies, and Stake Presidents, and Bishops, and Home Teachers and Visiting Teachers that help divide the load and minister to every individual. Christ came FOR the whole world but came TO the Jews. The Bishop is in charge of his whole ward, yet Home Teachers are asked to serve their families when they can. In reality, it doesn't matter if we get the bread at the table or the crumbs. And in reality, crumbs are not a smaller amount, it just denotes we get it second. The blessings of the gospel do not come in smaller amounts to those who receive it second. All the blessings of the gospel can be anyone's, whether in this life or the next. I think this concludes my thoughts for now on this subject. I hope you all have a great week!

7 months and the Holy Ghost

So this last week- I feel like it was busy but I can't remember everything. Saturday we had a baptism and Jon did the baptism and confirmation. It was a very nice baptism and there were some very good talks. Earlier on Saturday Jon went to help a family move/clean and then went to another service project. Then I went to a baby shower. Then we had the baptism and then we had people over for Nintendo.

Sunday we had a Regional Conference broadcast from Salt Lake. There were problems with the audio and it was VERY hard to hear. I gave up on the woman speaker (she was pretty much inaudible- even when straining to hear) and didn't really get much out of any of the other talks. The whole time they were trying different things to try to solve the problem. I guess like 110 other locations were also having problems with the audio. We got the audio on in time for the last 10 minutes of the last speaker.



We still haven't heard about Jon's test- they still have another week to get back to us. But George is now 7 months and wants to walk (with help) and wants to move everywhere. He can scoot very well backwards but doesn't understand crawling forward (though at times I think he's close). We heard from the complex we will be moving into and they think they can get us in May 28th- which would be great!

George and I went to the library without Jon last week because Jon went out to Illinois for a make-up lesson day. George really likes playing with this one activity cube with a bead maze on top (the things with the wooden beads that are on metal wires that swirl around and such), and then has different things on the sides. One side has some gears glued on and George REALLY likes those.




At the baptism I was thinking about the Holy Ghost. I subbed for a Primary class back in the Westlake Ward and they had an analogy that I really liked. Imagine a boom box (with a analog radio dial). You have to be really careful to make sure you have the right station, if you go a little too far, you could miss the channel you're looking for. When you get the Gift of the Holy Ghost, you not only are told which channel the Holy Ghost speaks on, but you get a boom box- so you can take it with you wherever you go. I don't know that I believe that the Holy Ghost ever leaves you, even if you go to that party. I think sometimes when we know we are not doing something right, we choose to leave our boom box behind- but I feel it is us who chooses to do the leaving. Sometimes we choose to leave the boom box at home when we go to some party we feel isn't right, or do something we know to be wrong. Or sometimes we take the boom box with us but we turn it off. In the blessing we are told to "receive" the Holy Ghost. We have to be in tune to hear the Spirit and we have to make sure that any extra noise doesn't keep us from listening to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.

Plan of Happiness

I read a good talk this week from Pres. Uchtdorf in 2008. It was "A Matter of a Few Degrees". I really liked it and I think it's one of those that you should keep and reread every now and then. http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/a-matter-of-a-few-degrees?lang=eng

"Remember: the heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes but with those who recognized that they were off course and who corrected their ways to get back in the light of gospel truth."

In Young Women's we've been talking about the Apostasy and the Restoration. God has a plan for all His children as a whole and for us individually. WE have the opportunity of basking in the light in the fullness of times. The priesthood of God is back on the earth, the same power by which the universe was created, and the only thing which limits our ability to exercise that power is the sanctity of our lives.

And Emma Homan gave her homecoming talk today. I think I cried more than I do at my own children's talks. This sweet girl, who many of us loved dearly, couldn't see her worth two years ago. No matter how much we loved her we couldn't make her feel it. I cried out of love and joy that our Father in Heaven has for all of us. I cried because she can finally see and feel His love. And oh, what joy that brings. What joy the gospel brings into our lives. She talked about how reading at least 10 minutes a day, praying and attending Church makes all the difference. She ended with a scripture in Alma that she said kind of described her life, and then her testimony in word and sign language.

Alma 26:15-
Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.

She also said that her mission was the hardest thing she's loved to do!

My message this week is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the Plan of Happiness. It requires prayer and humility. It requires change. We live in the fulness of times and where much is given, much IS required. It is hard and we will love doing it. God loves us. We are continually encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love. We are to be instruments in his hands.

This I know.

With love,
Mommy