The past two weeks have been quite a whirlwind! I can't believe how fast things come and go in life!
So, two weeks ago was Stake Conference. It is so interesting to see the direction that each stake has for their wards. Our new stake president says, "Be passionate about life!" and "being excellent requires a price." He talked about how a lot of people are good at things that don't really matter. We should be putting our time into things that matter most.
After church, we had the Neff family over to see our house! It was so fun to have them over and play games in the yard! :)
Monday was an adventure! We went to Education week classes all day!
The first class that we went to was one about the founding fathers and the lord's hand in founding this country! Elder Perry says, "The evidence is overwhelming of God's hand in the establishment of this nation!" These men were well versed and very prepared! Especially George Washington. I recently was at Deseret book and loved reading the quote by George Washington that says, "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor." This man was always praying and was strengthened by the spirit on numerous occasions! He knew that this country could not have been saved had God's hand not been a part of it. There were some incredible stories told of how the weather, although it was bad, was a blessing in many instances where the American people should not have won the victory! The West Point Chain story is a particularly incredible story of faith when George Washington claims to have solely relied upon the spirit of the Lord to know when this chain was to go across the river to stop the British from passing! What an incredible story!
I think the most incredible story, was actually the story of when Wilford Woodruff was in the St. George Temple and the founding fathers came to him and asked that their work be done! George Washington was the spokesperson for this conversation and it is on the records of the church that George Washington is a High Priest, the same office as a prophet. His worth for this country and his passion and love for God were known and acknowledged both in heaven and on earth.
A few other wonderful big ideas from Monday were:
"Learn as if you were to live forever."
"Skate to wear the puck is going to be instead of where it is right now."
"Never apologize for preparation or the lack thereof."
That night we went home
On Tuesday we went to more classes! The first class that we went to was actually a class specific to President Lincoln. He was also an incredible man of God! Some incredible things happened at his time in conjunction with the Saints, but the few things that stood out to me were that he checked out a couple of books from the library that were anti-mormon literature and he returned them only after four days. He also was known to have had the Book of Mormon for 8 months. There are no accounts that he actually read the book, but the character of president Lincoln tells me that he had to have read that book.
He also had an appointment on his schedule that was that the Mormons were meeting for their Sunday service in a building near by. It is not confirmed that the Lincoln's were in attendance, but he was very aware of the Mormons and their culture.
When Joseph Smith died and Brigham Young took the saints across the plains, it is known that Lincoln wrote a letter and said, in regards to the civil war, that if the mormons wouldn't bother him, he wouldn't bother the mormons. Brigham Young was ecstatic! He loved the fact that he didn't have to fight with government. There were even a few times where Lincoln wrote asking Brigham Young to help with some indian problems they were having and President Young and his men were willing and able to help out!
We then had the privilege to hear from Elder Anderson in a devotional. He was awesome. We heard about how loving and ready both Packer and Perry were to pass on to the other side of the veil and be reunited with their maker. The love they both had for the church was tremendous and loving! Anderson said, "These are days of looking forward in beautiful anticipation. This is our day!"
Some other great key points from Tuesday were:
"Simple is better."
"Live your life as if you'll be here forever."
"Learn to say, 'No.'"
My favorite class all week though, was Brother Johnson. He is a seminary teacher and his talk was about coming unto christ through daily decisions. The first day was incredible! I learned about how we are all teachers every day to the people around us, especially the kids that we are around. They watch our actions and the things we do every day!
He showed us this picture of this man:
He asked us about him. Who do we think he is? What do we think we know about him? We all discussed thinking he seemed like a nice guy, very pleasant face, happy, genuine, etc. Then he told us of his story.
He then asked us to look at the photo again and asked us to describe him now that we knew his story. We said new things like, courageous, heroin, leader, teacher, friend, etc. As we got to know him better, we understood him more.
His next slide was a picture of christ.
He asked us the same questions that he asked us about Todd Beamer. We said things like, savior, redeemer, sacrifice, love, happiness, brother, etc. As we talked, it became apparent to me that we should know his story! Christ died for us and we should want to know him and talk about him as if we understand him more than anyone else. Brother Johnson said that sometimes when he shows this to seminary students they say words to describe him are beard, red jacket, white shirt, not smiling, etc. What an amazing difference in perspective! We should desire to know him so we can describe him as our brother and our savior and not just physical descriptive words.
I also loved that brother Johnson talked about "Van"mily home evening. That sometimes they didn't always get the most incredible family home evening done around the fireplace, but that sometimes they did family night while on the way!
He also talked about how the savior taught! He taught by looking, listening, acknowledging, praying, etc. We want to teach like the savior and in order to do that, we must follow his example. So powerful!
After his class, we went to dinner with the whole family at Ed Week! Then after that we got to see the play "Crazy for You!" It was a fun musical and we loved being there with the Roylance's! They are a terrific bunch!
Wednesday was my first day back for the 15-16 school year! We actually had a phenomenal teacher/speaker who heaped us to understand that we have true influence in kids' lives and that we can always be better than we think! She talked about great coaches and that teachers are coaches! She also talked about how teaching is about actions. They speak louder than words, right? She also said to always be, "Magical and Awesome!" I love that!
She told a story called, "The cookie thief!" Go look it up if you haven't heard it! I was totally laughing and I loved the story! Sometimes we have to remember that we may be the one in the wrong sometimes!
Then we headed back down to Ed Week and we got to hear more from Brother Johnson! I loved hearing from him the most! He was able to touch my heart in a way that I hadn't been touched in a long time! Today he talked about what we should be doing daily to come closer to christ! The first thing was to keep a record! I love to journal. Sometimes a little too much! I love this blog too, because I can type way faster than I can write, but I do love the hard copy too! One of the awesome things that he wrote down was his kid's prayer one time. He said something to the effect of, "Bless we won't have any dreams about witches, or monsters, or dinosaurs and tell satan and his buddies to get the freak out of my head." How brilliant is this kid? I mean really! He was like...6? I wanna say? And he knows that Satan is the stupid one in his head! If he hadn't written that down, would he still have remembered?
He talked about how all the Youth pamphlets all have temples on them! Well, duh? Why didn't I see that? So cool! I loved how he talked about the temples! Christopher and I have made a goal to go on Tuesdays every week! We know we may not make it every week, but we are going to schedule it in and we are going to go more often! I have missed the temple!
He quoted D&C 109:22 and it says..."go forth from this house armed with thy power." Wow! We will be literally armed with power as a promise from God, if we attend his holy house! I mean seriously!
He also told of a really cool interview he had a with a young women while being a member of the bishopric. He talked about how this gal had no friends and was complaining about how everything in her life was bad and terrible and horrible and depressing...and he didn't really know what to say until he felt inspired to ask her about her scripture study. She said it wasn't good, like everything else in her life. So, he asked her if she would read one. She said, "I don't have them." He said, "Here! Use mine." She asked which one to read and he replied saying, "It doesn't matter. Ready, set, Go!" He timed her. She finished and she had done it in 6 seconds. He then asked, "Can you dedicate at least 6 seconds a day to him who loves you and died for you?" She reacted surprisingly well. She said to him, "Ya, I think I can. Can YOU?" taken aback a little, he knew what he should do and he has not missed a day of reading since! Wow! How powerful! For BOTH of those amazing people! I want to dedicate at least one verse a day! How powerful!
We went to a class after that which was kind of amazing and kind of hurt my brain. I basically felt like I was being thrown up on with all of this DEEP doctrine...in which my little brain is not quite ready for. I pulled a few things out of it, but really....I was a little lost.
The next class was entertaining and also quite insightful! Hank Smith talked about the power of trust! He talked about having "low-risk interactions," with people that we are trying to build trust with! We need to be taking time to show them that we ACTUALLY care about them and sometimes...it's not convenient, but it build trust! You can't fake it! They know if you are "fake listening." You have to have compassionate listening!
He told a story of an OB doctor who had a wing in his hospital that had an extremely high death rate. It was sad to say the least. He didn't realize that he was actually the problem, because he was downstairs working on dead corpses and then coming up to work on the live patients as well. We need to look inward and allow us to recognize that we are sometimes our own issue.
He also talked about a mistake made by someone at NASA and their boss celebrated the fact that they were willing to come forward with their mistake because if he would have hid the fact that he messed up, it would have taken them much much longer to figure out what the problem was! He rewarded the trust!
On Thursday of Ed Week, we actually weren't able to go down to Ed Week classes. I went to dinner with Darcie, and Kelsey, my fellow AFY counselors. We went to Ichiban of course!
Christopher was nice enough to take Eric and Skylee's kids up to Boodocks for aunt Seuss' work party where Darcie and I met up with them after dinner! We played mini golf, bumper boats, jungle gym and funny arcade games! What a fun night!
Friday was one of the most incredible lessons ever in Brother Johnson's class! Because it was so amazing, I want to show you some pictures! So, he talked about how we need to think of ourselves as a building. He went straight into talking about the provo tabernacle as a person and how they felt throughout different points of it's life.
First it was like this. Sturdy, new, excited for life, ready for adventures.
Then it was remodeled. It now feels ready for new adventures, happy to be renewed, blessed, etc. It feels happy.
Then a terrible thing happened. It caught fire. How does it feel now? Sad, lost, falling apart, etc.
Then this was after the fire. Empty, destroyed, a mess, etc.
The first presidency decided to keep the structure! And work through it to make it better than it once was! So they put it on stilts. Was this the easy thing to do? No! How do you think this building felt? Like he had something to offer? Like it was needed? Like it was a good thing?
And now it is going to be a temple! Something that is of more value than it could ever have known! What an incredible building!
Something that is interesting is that this painting survived and how it survived is incredible! This man is the most important part of this earthly plan and he loves us so much that he was willing to suffer for us who are weak and he is there for us when we go through the fire and when we feel that we have no worth. He is there to build us into the temple that we didn't have the courage to see ourselves as. He see's our potential and what he can build us to become!
He then talked about Sister Lee. A woman who was a sweet sister that dedicated her life to serving. She came into the seminary one day and asked how she could help. She says, "How I help you today?" Brother Johnson had no reason for someone to help him and waved her off but she came back the next day insisting that she help. He decided to have her help and she helped everyone in the seminary. She served and served and served some more. She was selfless in her service and always willing to help.
Don't you quit! You keep walking!
Hank Smith taught another class that we had the privilege of attending about patience minus contention equals happiness or patience-contention=happiness! there were some really great things, but he tells about how we can "submit cheerfully" like they did in Mosiah 24:15. What a powerful message to submit to something that we may not be all that excited about, but do it cheerfully. We don't always have to be happy about it, but that we should do our best to submit with a cheerful heart.
He told the story of the Endurance-Shackleton's incredible voyage where him and his crew were stranded and were all returned home safely after an incredible amount of trust and love was shown. What an incredible and trying journey of faith and love! WOW! I kind of want to read it! He says, "Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all." I mean seriously! You were in antarctica freezing your fanny off and you say that difficulties are "just things to overcome?" I mean who is this guy? WOW!
Oh and with our leftover BYU cash, we got a selfie stick, so I had to try it out!
That was our incredible week at Education Week at BYU! What fun we had! I loved being with family and spending time learning more about my Heavenly Father!
And after a really hectic week, we decided to be SUPER lazy that Saturday! We watched Arrow...one of our favorite shows! I actually super loved having a lazy day! Then we went and played some games with Eric and Skylee and Seuss! We played a new Ninja game that was kinda interesting! We're looking forward to playing it some more! :)
Sunday, we had the opportunity to fast for Skylee! We are hoping that she is going to get better soon with her foot and that everything goes well! We went and had dinner with Kevin and Kacee and played some WiiU! They had us bring rolls which is kind of a funny story because we we terribly out of it with lack of food and there was an ad covering part of the recipe, so I forgot to put in the liquids and the first batch turned out terrible! Then the second batch, I forgot to put the bread maker on "dough." I put it on "bake" instead and so ....we caught it, but it was kind of an adventure! I love those rolls though! Man they are good!
The next day was my first day with kids. It was 7th grade orientation day which means that they didn't have all that much to do, but my room wasn't quite ready yet! We had just enough time to introduce ourselves and kind of say, "Yo! Hi, I'm your teacher and don't be a ding bat!" It's kinda funny!
That night, we went and saw Cokeville Miracle at the dollar theater! It was actually kind of amazing! The incredible story of faith and protection proved to be an incredibly faith driven film. I am amazed at how protected these people were in this fire and that none of them were killed in this bombing. It was amazing the stories and the love that you felt from this story!
Tuesday was the first real day of school! AH! So crazy! I am excited for this school year! Many adventures to come! On my way to school, I saw this beautiful sunrise! Just the start of a new school year! New horizons!
Then we went to the temple after school. What an incredible place to be! Our goal is to try to go once a week, but for sure twice a month! I love this place!
And then we went to Red Robin for dinner! YUM! Christopher's burger was AMAZING! Mine was also really yummy, but holy cow! Christopher got their super special one and now we know why it is super special! Way to good!
Then after meeting with the bishopric and receiving callings; me in sunbeams and ward chorister and Christopher as Cub Master, we saw a rainbow! A reminder of God's love! Even when we feel like we have no idea what to do for our callings!
Wednesday, Christopher got to go play games with Jason and I went to dinner with my mom, Sabrina, Alan, my dad and sister. The power went out and it was kinda crazy! I got this fun necklace when we went shopping though! It says, "Fearless." I super love it! And I super love my friend Sabrina!
Thursday was back to school night! So, after a full day of working, we were there for dinner and families came to meet their student's teachers! It's fun I guess! It's just a really long day! Christopher got to go play frisbee! :)
Friday was definitely a Friday! Another super busy week here with the Neff's and so, I got to go to see Cinderella in the dollar theater as a girls night with Skylee and Cindy Kay! It was fun! And on our way home, we picked up a pizza and some soda and had dinner with their family at our house!
That night, when Eric and Skylee had headed home, Christopher and I played a game of croquet in our yard and hung out with Moose, our loving/feisty kitty cat! What a blessing to have our own home! We love it so much!
Saturday was busy as usual! I went to a couple yard sales. I didn't have a lot of success though. Just christmas lights for our house and a tool/drawer thingy :) That's all. Then I came home and helped out in the yard a little bit. Christopher did such a good job with helping in the yard and getting it mowed and weeds gone! We still have some work to do, but it's so great! Then I went and got some LuLaRoe work done at my mom's house and then we went to the What Women Want Expo down at UVU...which was totally lame. I did get some cute shoes, a jacket and some earrings and a shirt, but the vendors really weren't all that great....And then we went to my cousin Mandy's shower! Super fun to see family getting married!
What a week! And then today we went to church, taught sunbeams and then went to the Roylance's for dinner and FHE! Talking about Sabbath Day observance is always such an interesting topic! :)
We love our family! :) Here's to another great week!
