General Conference!

The General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was held this past week.  It happens every six months, on the first weekend of April and October, and oh, how we love it!  There is something about the gathering of the Saints and the privilege of hearing from apostles and prophets and other inspired leaders that warms the soul and gives one motivation and impetus to move forward with peace and hope.  Every time I wonder what they can say that can be better than the last time, and yet I always come away with the feeling that "This was the best Conference ever."  Ha ha  It's because every time we hear exactly what we needed to hear, and it hits the mark.

Jesse got to go! 

She didn't actually get into the Conference Center but she and her friends, Peter, Steven, and another boy I don't know, watched it from the Joseph Smith Building. Isn't this a great picture!  I love it.

For me, there was a definite theme to the conference, and that was personal spiritual preparation, and part of that was the reiteration of the role of the prophet and the Church.  Elder Ballard used Brigham Young's analogy of "staying on the Old Ship Zion."  One speaker talked about Joseph Smith and his role in the restoration.  In that same session, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang "Praise to the Man", and it was so beautiful!  I am happy that we named one of our sons Joseph. 

I love the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I know he was and is a true prophet, called of God to restore the gospel and Jesus' true Church to the Earth.  When I think of why and how I know this, I have two main reasons: 1) Every single time I have ever been a witness or participated in a telling of the Joseph Smith story, including the First Vision, I have felt the Spirit pour over me and witness to my soul that it truly did happen how Joseph said it happened, and that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ did indeed visit Joseph Smith in what has since come to be known as the Sacred Grove; and 2) I have seen for myself the fruits of Joseph's Smith's work, and it is good!  The Book of Mormon, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, both fruits of Joseph's work, are good, and I am so grateful to have them in my life.  They have shaped who I am and how I live, and it has been a great blessing to me and my family.

One of my favorite talks was given by Elder Jorg Klebingat.  He asked, if we were to have an interview with the Savior in one minute, how would we feel?  I would feel so happy I would probably melt in a puddle on the floor.  I would certainly fall to my knees.  Elder Klebingat then went on to address those who do not feel they are ready.  What a great list of "to-do's"!  I have in my own experience faced many of the things he listed and have made good progress on them, and that is why, I suppose, that I felt joy at the thought, and not unworthiness.  I am not unaware of how much I need to change, but I am aware of the love that Jesus has for me, and I have great hope in His Atonement and His ability to change and heal me, in every way.  I loved how Elder Klebingat spoke of repenting with joy.  Yes!

There were so many other talks that were amazing.  I urge you, if you did not have a chance to hear this Conference to click on the link above and read or listen to the wonderful talks given.  You will be inspired!

On Friday the kids were out of school.  Everyone slept in, except for Dad, who kindly went to work to provide for our family.  (Thank you Bruce!)  In the afternoon, Libby and Mary went to the Temple to do baptisms for the dead.  We also had our friends Regina and Austin come over with their three little girls.  Libby showed them the animals, including Buttercup, the calf, the goats - Buck and Lilly, and then we went next door to the pasture of our neighbors and saw Mackee and Stormy.  It was fun!

Saturday night, Peter, Mary and Libby went to a Ballroom Dance Performance.  They had a good time and performed well!

Sunday evening we had Chet's family over for dinner.  It was great to finally meet them after hearing so much about them from Mary.  Before they came, Mary and Libby cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the downstairs part of the house.  It was awesome!  Mary impressed me with her top to bottom cleaning skills.  The Norwex cloths helped.  I signed up to be a Norwex consultant recently, and we've been having fun getting experience using their cleaning products.

We ate dinner with Chet's family and then talked for awhile and played Great Dalmudi.  They are fun game players!  Apparently Chet is a gamer and wins at almost everything.  He loves to play Risk!  So that might be interesting in the future to meet up with my brothers.   Ha ha!

This week is our Cider Festival!  We are gearing up for that.  Friday night Bruce, Libby and I went out to the orchard and gleaned tons of apples off the ground.  They were big beautiful apples just sitting there.  The trees had been recently picked, so these apples were perfectly fine.  We will add some Thieves essential oil blend to the cider in case there is anything harmful in the cider, but I don't expect there will be.  Bruce and I also went out Saturday morning and got some more.  Whew - I finally feel like we have enough apples, which is the biggest worry of the Cider Festival!

Jesse said she is coming up with Peter and Steven - I'm so excited about that!  Josh can't come because it's in the middle of the week.  (So sad about that).  We are having it in the middle of the week because I had a very strong impression that this is when it should be.  It will be interesting to see if  we know why later on, but for now, I have made it a habit of following impressions of the Spirit, and have been blessed by it so far.  :)

Have a great week!

Building up Zion

Building up Zion happens in very small ways on a daily basis.  Prayers, scripture study, service, church attendance, keeping commandments, striving for excellence, wholesome recreation.

Temple Attendance is the icing on the cake.

Libby and I went together last week.

Peter and Libby and I went this week.  Here they are looking over the top of our Impala.

Being in the Temple brings such great joy!  I am so grateful for the opportunity to feel the Spirit in such abundance.

Peter is playing competitive soccer.  Bruce is the assistant coach for his team.

And Peter is playing football too!  His "B" team had a game last week, so he got more playing time than usual.  Here he is going out on the field as one of the Captains.  (He's #7)

He is the kicker on the "B" team.

Here he is playing the running back position.

Jesse was in a concert at BYU this week, singing with the Concert Choir.  We got to hear part of her concert on a live stream on the Internet.  It was a song that I'm familiar with - Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel, and it sounded so good!  Isn't she beautiful in her new Concert Choir dress?

Jesse informed us tonight over FaceTime that her future children WILL have perfect pitch and be MUSICIANS.  In the mornings, she will play a note, and if they don't name it right, they will go on half-rations.  (Bruce and I in the background laughing our heads off).

Mary answered Chet last week, after he asked her to go to Homecoming.  This is a picture his Mom posted on Facebook of him.

To answer him, Mary left a note at his house, saying that "Sir William", as she calls him, had to go on an adventure.  He had to go find his steed (at the local saddlery shop).  Libby and I met him there and gave him a small toy horse.  Then he had to go find a horseshoe for his sturdy steed at the local blacksmith (the tire shop).  Bruce met him there and gave him a small horseshoe.  Then he had to get a good nights rest at the local inn.  Libby and I met him at a nearby hotel and gave him a camp pillow.  Then he had to go and get a good breakfast (at a local bakery).  Bruce met him there and gave him a bagel.  And then he had to go and find his Princess, which was Mary, at a shop where they got some hot chocolate.  There were a few hiccups along the way when we turned and went the wrong direction a few times, but Chet was a good "adventurer" and it was fun!  Mary said Yes!

Josh has started school at BYU-Idaho!  He made the student-led a Capella group called Apollo.  He has practiced with them twice and loves it!  He can't believe how fun it is to sing with these guys that are great musicians and singers.  I'm so happy that he is in Apollo!  They practice a few hours twice a week and will perform at various occasions on campus.   Josh is full up with work and a very challenging class load.  He is also the Executive Secretary in his ward, so that is demanding of his time as well.  But he is happy and doing well!

Joseph had to say good-bye to two of the missionaries in his District this past week, as they flew home, and it about broke his heart.  He said, "Saying 'See you later' just doesn't cut it."  He asked me to help him with coming home so that he could feel like there was something as remotely important to do at home as there is in the mission field.  Bruce actually called church headquarters after he got home and asked if he could go on another mission, so it must run in the family.  Here is a picture of Joseph and some of his fellow missionaries.

They have worked so hard together for many months in a small mountain town in Argentina.  You get pretty close to people in circumstances like that!

We had a wonderful Stake Conference last week!  I had the privilege of leading the Youth Choir that sang for the evening and morning sessions.  Mary, Peter and Libby all got to sing in the Choir, so that was super fun.  The last number they sang was Carry On!  I told the choir kids about Hermana M. and I singing Carry On! in our apartment in Huanuni with our feet in a bucket of hot water to warm them up, when we were so discouraged.  The choir sang it with some great dynamics, and they are so powerful and beautiful anyway, that it turned out wonderfully!  We had every choir seat filled and had to bring in some extra chairs.

So we build up Zion, every day in small ways, and the Lord provides the miracle!  How grateful and humbled we are by His loving care in our lives!

They've Got My Back

I did one of those Facebook surveys that are popular these days, and the question was, "What song describes me most?" and the answer I got was the song "Happy" by "Pharrell Williams".  I posted it with this status, "Nailed it!"

My happiness comes because of my relationship with the three most powerful beings in the universe, literally, on every level, on every planet, in every depth and every height.  If you want to know if there are real super heroes, these three are it.  And they've got my back.  More than that, everything they do is so that I can progress and grow and become as they are.  Does that reach you to your very core?  Because it does me.  The three Beings I am talking about are 1) Heavenly Father, or God, 2) the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and 3) the Holy Ghost.  Collectively they are called the Godhead, and they love me perfectly and think that I am worth an infinite sacrifice so that I can be whoever I choose to be, and they honor my agency in that choice.  But they also do everything in their power, which is perfect, while still honoring my agency, to encourage me to become the best that I can be.  And the best that I can be is perfect, like they are.

Joseph said the following in his letter last week:

Well, to wrap up, I was reading in Alma 34, and I reached the phrase "an infinite sacrifice". It stunned me, I couldn`t move past it, all I could do was look at it and try to comprehend how deep of a sacrifice, how Eternal could be an infinite sacrifice? It sunk into my soul for a good 5 minutes while I struggled to understand. Is there anything we cannot do because of His infinite Atonement? No. How much has he truly done for us? So much we could not possibly understand. Not even close. We will be discovering new aspects of the Atonement forever, because the Atonement itself​ is forever.

I was so touched by this when I read it.  So when I say here that the Godhead has done everything in their power, this is what I mean - that an infinite Atonement has been made for me by the Son of God, so that I can receive immortality and eternal life.  And their plan for me is perfect - down to the last detail of every day - the plan is perfect, and there are no accidents!

 

This is where my happiness comes from.  Everything else is a bonus.  My family, immediate and extended, my health, my church, my country, my home, my friends, my knowledge, music, nature, my work, my oils! ... as much as I love of all of these things, they are not the center of why I am happy.  I am happy because I am a Daughter of God, and if all these things were taken away from me, that fact would still remain, and I could still be happy.

 

With that basis at the center of my life, I can get up in the morning, and every day I can seek guidance, protection, strength and purpose from the three most powerful Beings in the Universe.  And I am safe in their care, because they love me.  They know me.  They care about me and every detail of my life.  I am KNOWN.  I have also come to know that they care more about my growth than my comfort.  Hence, this probationary time away from their immediate presence, a time for me to test my faith and ability to change (repent).  But they have not left me alone.  I can still pray, I can still receive answers.  I am loved, and I am known. And I can return to live with them after this life.

 

Another truth that is really important here, before I leave off, and that is that all that I've said here about me is the same for you, and every other human being on the planet.  Insert your name under every "I" pronoun here, and you may find the truth about who you are.

 

Much love and light to you today!