The Finger of God - Sept. 13, 2015

On Sunday, July 26th, a couple weeks before Katie left, I was in Sactrament Meeting. During the Sacrament I thought I would read the sacrament prayers. I opened the Doctrine and Covenants and was flipping pages.  For some reason I stopped at Section 100 and started reading. It warmed my heart to know that the Lord is there and He loves me. I'm going to insert my name. (verses 1,2,12 & 15).

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friend, Jo Dee, your family is well; they are in mine hands, and I will do wih them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power.

Therefore, follow me, and listen to the counsel which I shall give unto you.

Therefore, continue yur journey and let your heart rejoice; for behold, and lo, I am with you even unto the end.

Therefore, let your heart be comforted; for all things shall work together for good to them that walk uprightly, and to the sanctification of the church. 

Today as the opening prayer was said I heard the words "Our kind and GRACIOUS Heavenly Father". I thought what does Gracious mean. If someone is gracious they are giving, of esteem. I looked in the Bible Dictionary and didn't find Gracious, but found Grace. "The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ. 

It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by his atoning sacrifice, that mankind will be raised in immortality. It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts. 

It reminded me of the talk from Brad Wilcox, "His Grace is Sufficient" that I now want to reread.

The speakers then spoke on Grace. 

I know as a parent you give your child more than they deserve. As soon as they have the slightest appreciation, desire, achievement or even a change in attitude you want to give them more. You want to give them everything you can. I'm sure this is how our Father is.

What is the Lord trying to tell me? Teach me?  Are tough times ahead? Are there things He wants to give me? I don't know.

I know that we can see the hand of the Lord in our lives, but more often we see his thumbprints. Today I feel like I saw the finger of the Lord. I'm going to try to grasp it and maybe someday I will walk hand and hand with the Lord. Until then, I know He's there.

xo Mommy

PS And He loves me!

Impressions From the Week - August 31, 2015

Jamie thinks she's the only one that looks at the blog, but she's not. And I don't write as much as she does, but I do write.

I don't know if I'll always do this, but instead of a travel log/journal entry (like Jamie does), I'm going to write some impressions that I've had this past week.

- This time of year, being the beginning of the school year, I think of priorities, schedules and things that need to get done. I remember hearing a story once where someone got up and did all the little things they had to do and THEN tried to fit in the things they wanted to do. It never fits.
This is an object lesson where you take a big jar and you put things like sand, rice, small pebbles for the little things that consume our daily lives. Then you try to fit in the bigger rocks and they don't all fit. But if you put the big things in first (prioritize), all the little things fit. So remember to do the things that are most important eternally and surprisingly, you will find time to fit in the little things.

- During the Sacrament today there was a few moments where the song ended and the Priests hadn't finished breaking the bread. I was touched by the Spirit when I wondered what it felt like when the Priests were tearing the bread. We are all broken. We come to Sacrament to come/worship Jesus Christ. We let him in by partaking of the bread and water and it is like a medicine, he heals us.

- Erin Chismar gave her homecoming talk. She said one time she was having an interview with her mission president and he said, "You don't know Jesus Christ." She was so hurt by that. Of course she knew him. She was a respresentative of Jesus Christ, she testified of him daily. But she listened. She didn't let Christ help her, change her. There's a lot of time we don't know why something is happening, but that's alright because we need to know that Jesus Christ will help us. He loves us and always wants what's best for us. Sometimes it may not be what we want or like, but it is always best.

- And concerning your choices on the Sabbath Day, you can always ask yourself this question, "What kind of signal do I want to give to the Lord by this action?"

I hope that if anyone else reads this that it may stir up some thoughts in you.

...and Jamie, I'll just say "I love you" (since it's just you and me kid).

xo Mommy

Fort Wayne

Alright, so this week was busy. Monday- spent the day with a friend and her boy while jon taught in Illinois (the friend lives about an hour away from us and Illinois but it was oh the way from Jon's job in Illinois to Fort Wayne). We got to Fort Wayne late Monday night (we were staying with a host family for Jon's audition/interview process). Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were similar. George and I drove around town looking at apartments  when he wasn't sleeping and we occasionally hung out with jon. They did a recital that we went to and a tour. I know they were trying to sell us on the city and it worked. Parts of it are growing but there's the historic section as well. They have a great library with kids section- the second best genealogical library (next to salt lake). They have an awesome baseball stadium (though it's a minor league team, but that also means cheaper tickets). Johnny appleseed was buried there and they have a park for that. They have an interactive botanical garden with stuff for kids. They're currently making enclosed pedestrian walkways throughout downtown so you don't have to go outside during winter. They have a really good zoo (as of next summer, they will be the only zoo in the US with Tasmanian devils). And they have a lot of music stuff. There's a sales company for musical instruments that people travel to (they sell everything but they're best known for their guitars ). The church also seems strong there. There's two wards in town but 3 others close by that claim parts of Fort Wayne.

Jon was definitely the best tenor, but we still have to see what they decide. Everybody loved George and our host family would love to have us move there. Jon's dream is to perform. And his patriarchal blessing says he will be placed in front of large audiences. Performing though is not great for family life here in the states (Europe, you can actually get hired by a company and not have to move or leave for months at a time for rehearsals). Anyways, so he's been getting his doctorate to teach (more stable) and planned to perform on the side. This company would allow him to perform full time. They want singers with a classical background who can sing opera, but they want to do everything (from classical/opera to jazz to pop to Broadway to kids ). They aren't asking for a long commitment but they're hoping people will join the group setting it as a possible career. So we don't have to commit to more than a year but if it's working out we can stay for longer. They hope to expand more on the future and Jon already mentioned that if they pick him and want to expand further he's sure there would be a market for it in California/Utah and he'd be willing to start it up ;-) . But if this works, we're looking to stay in Fort Wayne for a few years. They won't expand nationally until they know it's working with hiring full time vocal artists and performing regionally.

Because there's a possibility of long term, Friday I showed jon my top 3 apartment complexes but we also met up with two realtors. The market is really good there and the town is growing. Buying would mean lower monthly payments (than renting) and since it's growing, it should be easy to sell when we move. We aren't completely sure yet but we've been praying to know what's right.

Oh George and I went to the zoo in Fort Wayne. They had lots of monkeys and lots of babies. George got really excited with the monkeys, giraffes and the lion, which was shooting really close to the glass.

Sunday was the Indianapolis indiana temple dedication. Jon sang in the choir for the cornerstone ceremony. George and I got to go. Eyring and Ballard came. Then we drove home and Jon attended a broadcast at 12 and I went at 3 (George wasn't allowed to the actual dedication part ). Eyring said he liked the detail inside and that he's never felt so much detail drawing his eyes up before as a symbol of where we're going. One person mentioned how temples are a war memorial and we remember the war in heaven, the battle at Gethsemane and the cross where Christ won the battle over death, the ongoing war between Satan and the righteous. It was an interesting take on temples.

Eyring told a story of his ancestors in Nauvoo. How when the persecution got bad Brigham Young said they were to leave the temple and leave the city. The story goes that Brigham left the city. Eyring chuckled as he said his ancestors were disobedient but they loved the temple. In the end, Brigham was inspired to return and they did work in the temple before leaving. A story was told of a family traveling from Southern Mexico to Arizona to receive their endowments and be sealed. Their bus broke down. They had a very unique and rare radiator that broke. They all prayed and they found (in the middle of the Sonoran desert ) off the road, the exact radiator they would need, just propped there. Anyways, it was a really good experience.

Father's day

So this week was busy. Jon went with George and I to once upon a child (a second hand store just for kids stuff). We got two swimsuits for George, a book (a new version of little black Sambo - the boy and the Tigers who took his clothes and then melted), some gear toys  (George loves the gears at the library and I've been looking for a set worth a good deal), and since I don't think anyone reads this- I got Michelle and danny a few toys.

I honestly don't remember much else. Oh, I had an eye appointment (I have to wear my glasses all summer- my eyes are oxygen deprived and need to recover). Oh and it was Jon's birthday!  I remember more! We went to lunch and the avengers for his birthday. George slept through most of the movie. Then jon went to work.  I made dinner and then tried these personal lava cakes that turned out well.

Jon found a recipe for pretzel bread and we made some rolls from it. We had three babies born in our ward this week. Molly Jane (she came with her family to golden corral for Jon's birthday and we dropped off some pretzel rolls for them), Judy Hakes (sat behind us in church today and we took them some pretzel rolls too ) and then another family we know but not as well.

Saturday we invited people to golden corral and then to our house after in honor of his birthday. We had a good showing. :-) I read through my primary lesson but didn't plan it until after people left Saturday night. So I went to bed around 2. But my lesson went alright. My kids are 4 but great for that age. The lesson today was kind of three mini stories. We used the recommended activities in the manual, which weren't my favorite but kept them focused for the most part. They are actually remembering the lesson from the week before, so either they're really smart or I'm doing something right. They asked to play Nephi getting the plates again, so we had 10 extra minutes and went through that story again.

So a few thoughts about father's day. I have many memories of dad. Him being a horse, playing in the pool with us, flying kites, playing softball, coaching my softball team, church basketball and 7-11 after. I remember him coming to dance  recitals, piano recitals, band concerts, and choir shows. I specifically remember him coming to a band concert when mom was in Ireland. He taught me how to do "updating" which I loved to do and helped with many math problems. I remember him telling me a few times to go to bed, and I thought, but I have to finish my homework and I don't get it. How will that help me? And then I'd wake up and look at the problem (that seemed Greek to me the night before) and it would make perfect sense. I remember working for him my senior year and the summer after my first year of college. He taught me how to file things and write rough drafts of wills and trusts. I loved going to lunch with him and Grandpa. :-) I remember going on my mission. Mom cried in the hotel room and I was fine. They came to a video (cause they did one then) and I was fine. It came time for my last goodbye and mom was fine, but dad was crying and I lost it. I remember getting to go when danny left on his mission and watching danny. He was like me, perfectly fine. Then he saw dad crying and lost it. When I gave him my last hug I remember saying something like, I was the same- I lost it when dad did. We watched a Mormon message today (I think,  "earth father, heavenly father") and it said a lot. Fatherhood is like motherhood- there's a lot that goes unseen and unnoticed. Dad has provided us with food, vacations, encouraged us to spend his money on music lessons and sports related costs and dance costumes. There are lots of sacrifices both mom and dad have made and it's the times I've seen the sacrifices that I remember. Like dad- he has bad knees, but he didn't want that to stop us from getting horsey rides (though I do remember the horse needing a break from time to time). Dad, who doesn't love the heat, or a car that's 85 degrees, would sit in my car until it heated up before seminary, because he knew I liked my car warm. I'm sure there have been many other sacrifices, but those ones I know and will always remember.

Jon. I'm grateful to jon. I had a rough night last night, so instead of Jon getting a nap on father's day, he tried to take George for awhile so I could get a nap. Jon cooked his father's day dinner (and we had the missionaries over). I'll have to try to make it up to him. Jon will take George swimming and I can tell by George's love for him, that Jon does a good job when I'm not looking.

Well this week will be busy. Last minute errands and then driving across the country with George. I have yet to pack-yikes! Wish me luck!

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. 

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