Goodbye President Gordon B. Hinckley

At the passing of President Hinckley, I wanted to say goodbye and share a few thoughts with all of you.

President Hinckley has always seemed like "my" prophet. He is the man I remember as the leader during my teen years. I have always loved him and his sense of humor. I will miss that.

I have always believed in prophets, but when right after we sustained him as prophet, seer and revelator, we sang "We Thank Thee, Oh God, For a Prophet". As I sang and looked at President Hinckley on the screen, I received a sure testimony that he was the prophet of God! I knew it and I knew that I always would.

President Hinckley has done so much for the Church throughout his long life. He has served in many callings and since he was prophet he has done a lot of good. He has helped get "Mormons" in the news in a good way. He has been a driving force to build so many temples. He had the Conference Center built. He has been a strong advocate of good relations between all religions and people of the world. He was involved in giving us "The Family: A Proclamation to the World".

I know I missed a ton of things that he did in his life. These are just things that stick out to me. If you want to know more, go check out the news article on lds.org that is about his death. There are also links there about his life and accomplishments.

He will be missed!

***For those of you that are not LDS, you are welcome to check out information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at lds.org or mormon.org.

Story Request

I am giving a lesson in church, soon, about achieviing friendships, sociality and especially sisterhood through service.

My request is that I'd love to have some original stories about ways that you have gained relationships through service. It can be from someone serving you, you serving them, or from serving together and bonding that way.

If you have any personal (or family or whatever.. :) ) stories, would you PLEASE send them my way! It would help me a lot!!

Thanks!!!

SMILE

A while back a friend shared this with me. I thought it was really neat. If you aren't LDS, here is a link to the Book of Mormon online at lds.org. (Or just click below to go to the full reference.)

2 Nephi 9:39

...Spiritually-minded is life eternal.

What a wonderful reason to smile!! We are here to grow and learn and also to prove ourselves worthy of eternal life. If we attain that, we will be eternally happy!

Also, here in life, if we are spiritually minded, we will be happy!

General Relief Society Conference

I was able to go to Salt Lake for the General Relief Society Conference* at the Conference Center. We were given tickets for the balcony section, but they had open seating and we got wonderful seats on the floor. I've never been able to attend in person before and it was a great experience!

I think two of the talks are going to be great for the lesson I have to teach in November. I want to talk about the importance of women and ho we can be better wives, mothers and sisters if we are first whole and complete people. I'll post my lesson when I have it done. It is a topic that has been on my mind for a long time.

I started feeling sick before the conference and now I am staying home from church. I hope I feel better, later.

*Relief Society is the organization for the women of our church. We are able to be organized to learn from each other and serve others.

September 11, 2001

I was just thinking the other day, that both of my kids were born after September 11th and that they would hear stories about that day, just like I always heard stories of where people were and what they were doing the day that John F. Kennedy was killed.

I want to tell my story, here.

We had recently moved to Pullman, Washington for a job for Aaron and school for me. Aaron had gone on a business trip, so I was home alone. I woke up early and had a morning prayer over the phone with Aaron. A little bit later, I turned on the TV and a plane had struck the first tower. They didn't know what was going on and it was devastating. I saw the second plane hit!! I was totally blown away, and glued to the TV. Slowly, the story unfolded and they knew that it had all been planned.

I had been suspecting that I was pregnant, and found out later that I was. It was hard to think about raising a child in a world where atrocities like that could happen.

Life changed that day. I think we all went from a sense of false security. We thought we were too powerful to be attacked and hurt. But we were all wrong. Any of us could have been those people doing our jobs, going through a "normal" day, and then...it is all over.

Life is fragile and short! We need to take the time we have and use it to the best of our abilities.

I really believe that if you want to do something, you will find the time for it. If you don't, you'll always be too busy. There are so many wonderful opportunities, things to learn and people to help. All it takes is a little thought and good use of time.

A Sense of Wonder

A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantements of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of out strength. Rachel Carson--From "The Sense of Wonder," 1965

I saw this quote on the wall when we went to the aquarium. I took a picture of it, so that I could use it later. I can't wait to read her book!

I think it is such a wonderful thought. So many of us lose that sense of wonder and love of the world around us. We get caught up in all the things we need to do, places we need to be, money we need to make and all the rest that it is hard to notice the flowers blooming and the amazing world we live in.

We have so little time on this earth, why waste it with electronic devices and other things that don't bring happiness and don't matter??

Family History Indexing

In the August Ensign, I read about family search indexing. It is a system where people can make genealogical information available digitally. Now, it is on the original scanned documents.

It is really fun. You download the program (free) and then start. There is a short tutorial and then you are off. It is pretty easy and has a lot of built in features that make it even easier. All you have to do is type what you read. Sometimes the handwriting is difficult, but you just have to do your best. It is done by two people and then mediated if there are differences.

Another thing I like about it, is that I can help with genealogy without leaving my house!! It is great!

If you are interested, go to here.

P.S. Don't forget the contest!!

I choose to be happy, dangit!

Why do some of us feel corny when we talk about how much we love our children/husband/family/God? There is no reason to be ashamed of being happy and loving life and those that are in our lives. I have been guilty of it as well and right here and now, I am refusing to be embarrassed to say that my kids are adorable and are little joys in my life! I am VERY happily married and my husband is awesome! I love God and I am not ashamed to be a christian, a Mormon and a follower of God!!!

What is it in us that makes us feel less than what we are? Why do we sometimes doubt ourselves and what we are worth? Every person on this planet is a child of God and that alone makes us worth more than we can possibly imagine! We each have wonderful talents and things we are good at. We are not all the same. That would be SO boring. We don't have the time to be good at everything, and we just don't all have the same gifts. We should all be here to help each other and learn to get along.

Now, I'm not saying that I don't need to be knocked down a few pegs. I'm pretty sure that's a big reason why I have the challenges in life that I do. I just think that it is too easy for me to make excuses for the way that I feel. I shouldn't have to do that and neither should you!

LDS General Conference

I have been listening to the general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (The church I belong to.) It is great! I will have to read it when it is printed, since it is really hard to listen with two young children.

One talk that I really liked was by the former Relief Society general president Bonnie D. Parkin. She spoke about gratitude. The first thing that she said that hit me was that murmuring makes it difficult for the Spirit of the Lord to work in us. I am generally a very positive person, but I have a bad habit of complaining about some people in my life. I really need to work on that. I need to be more loving and understanding of people's faults. She also read a scripture (Doctrine and Covenants 59:7, I think). It says "Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things." I don't think I do that enough. Especially in the adversity I have. She said we should. I suppose I am thankful for the things that I learn when I go through adversity. She made another comment that I really liked near the end of her talk. She said that our gratitude is an expression of our faith. If we have faith in God, we will be grateful to him and thank him for the things that he has given us!

Then, we got to witness a historic event. I wish we could have been in the Salt Lake Tabernacle as they spoke about it and rededicated it for use for many more years to come. I am also really amazed that they can redo the foundation and not have the whole building cave in.

Aaron and I were at the last session of conference (before this one) held in the Tabernacle. It was really neat. We were probably the last people to get ticket since they had closed the ticket office and we were late. They took us back and still let us pick up our tickets! I remember an usher making fun of us for kissing before the meeting. We had just gotten engaged and he was telling us he was going to kick us out.

I really like the effect that the Tabernacle Choir used in the closing song. They sang The Spirit of God. This song is used a lot for dedications. They started by having one man singing a solo, then adding another and another. The three were then joined by the men and then the women. It was as if it were Joseph Smith bearing testimony then a few then the whole choir as if it were the entire Church bearing testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It was awesome!

I can't wait for the rest, tomorrow!

SMART Habit Saturday

I am so proud of myself, this week! The only goal I didn't do everyday (I don't count Sundays) is making the beds. I exercised, mostly on the bike, but once we went on a 45 minute or so hike. I figure that was plenty for me. I feel so good. It has been a really productive week for me. I also have been doing well on not wasting so much time on the computer.

I am afraid to add anything since I am doing well. I think I'll stick with what I have and only add blogging only once per day to my list, since I am doing that anyway.

If you haven't started with SMART habits, you should check out Lara's blog.

On a side note, I am really excited for general conference. In our church, twice a year we get to hear from our prophet and other leaders. I hope to learn a lot and become rededicated to becoming closer to the Lord. We bought the kids new coloring books to help them be occupied. I hope it helps!

--The Truth! I am so thankful to that I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. It is so amazing to know that I am a child of God and that he loves me enough to speak to a prophet today! I am so glad to have the scriptures and all the Truth that they contain! It is wonderful to have the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in my life. I grew up in it and have remained active in the church my whole life. It is such a blessing. It is also part of my everyday life. I don't know what my life would be with out God in it.

--Clorox Disinfecting Wipes--I have recently started using these again and they are amazing. I don't know what they have in them (or at least I can't pronounce it) but it works wonders. I have cleaned the lid of our trash can that has been dirty for a long time. Nothing would work on it. These did! It is actually white under there. I cleaned the tops of surfaces in the kitchen. You know the ones that get a bit sticky or oily and then the dust just glues itself to them. They are such a pain, but a Clorox wipe just took it away easily. I have rediscovered an old product that I can't do without in my home. If you haven't tried them before, go grab some. They also have a new disinfectant spray that may do just as well...I haven't tried it, though.

--SPRING!!! I love the spring! It is my favorite season. The world turns from brown, dead and cold to green, alive and warm! We can go outside and play and enjoy the world as it was intended to be enjoyed! I also love all the flowers that start to bloom in the spring. I have some tulips that have begun to come up in the front. I am so excited for those! They are supposed to change colors as they develop...from yellow to peach to orange to red! They looked really neat on the package! I can't wait to see what they really look like!

--The little pencil at the bottom of each post that makes it so easy to edit a post when you are signed in. I just learned about it this morning from Aaron! It makes my life so easy. I usually notice something I did wrong or want differently after I have posted and I go through 3 or 4 clicks to edit the way I knew how. It is nice to have another person around to help with things like that!

Happily UNmarried??

I just found this article and I am in shock! I can hardly believe that the world it falling apart so quickly! If people are living as if they are married, why don't they just go ahead and do it? They are devaluing marriage. God has taught us that the family is the basic unit of society. In the LDS church, we have been given the proclamation on the family to help us to know just how important marriage and family are! I just don't understand why people so easily give up on marriage. One point that was made in the article was that women are afraid of losing themselves in marriage. They feel more free when they just live together. I don't feel oppressed by being married. I feel more free now than when I was single. Aaron has helped me work past low self esteem and low body image! He wants me to be my own person and to accomplish things outside of the home. Yes, I stay home with my children and manage the house, but I am much more than that! What I don't understand, is why is it that people feel that marriage is the thing that ties them down? It is how they define their relationship, not whether or not they are married. It is still the same person, and they can still act the same way towards each other! Marriage is a commitment that is not entered into lightly, but it is a necessary choice to keep our society together. AND unlike a comment made in the above article, marriage is forever as well, if you do it right!

Big or Small?

I've been thinking lately about all the "little" things that I am asked to do to be closer to God. I think most people look at reading scriptures, saying prayers, attending church, fulfilling callings, having a testimony and many others as things that are easy to do. Since they seem so easy and simple, I tend to let them slide. It is easy to skip small things. In Sunday school, before we got into the lesson, we were talking about the need for work, in this process. If we had to physically work to build an alter to pray on, we'd probably pray harder and not take it for granted. I think that we do need to work for productive prayers and all of the other seemingly small things. If we didn't have to work for anything, we'd get nothing. Take reading scriptures for example. If I just open my scriptures and read a couple of verses and then put them down, I'm not going to get much out of the exercise. On the other hand, if I start with a prayer, read and ponder, REALLY study, then I can learn things that are there to be taught to me. I think it works that way with all of the "small" things we are asked to do to be close to God! They aren't little things. They aren't as simple and easy to do as sometimes thought! These things are worth working for! As I was typing this, I thought of the verse that says "...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." (Alma 37:6) Things can be simple and do great work in us if we work for them and allow ourselves to be lifted up by them!

Procrastination

In our lesson in church, today, there was a section on procrastination. President Kimball said, "One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination, and unwillingness to accept personal responsibilities now." That really jumped out at me. I have really been learning that procrastination is a huge waste of time. I haven't thought about some of the habits that I have been creating lately, but I have really been working on procrastination, lately. I have been learning that if I just do most things when they come up, then they don't pile up, become late, or any other thing that I don't want to happen. It is so much easier, right now, to wait and do whatever it is that you want to do, but eventually I'll have to get to the stuff I may not want to. I think it is especially tragic when I put off the things that I don't have to do, but that I really need to do for me, my sanity and my spirituality. Anyway, I really want to get to more of the things that are sitting around needing to be done...