My random gospel newsletter...

I wish I had no place to go!

2010-01-30T12:40:00.000-08:00

"It's difficult to build the kingdom of God, lift and serve others, and give of ourselves to those who need us if we are burned out or 'sapped' of all spiritual, physical, and emotional strength. Jesus often 'withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed' (Luke 5:16)," said Elder M. Russell Ballard. "We need to do the same thing occasionally to rejuvenate ourselves spiritually as the Savior did."

I'm reading "Keeping Life's Demands in Balance" and it explains that we do not need to feel guilty or selfish in pulling back to regroup in any way, because there is a strength that comes from sometimes just being home (p. 14). When I was teaching Special Ed, I used to make up poems for all my kids because they loved when I would use their name in a funny poem, and then they would make me keep repeating the poem and laugh for so long- haha, I miss them! So I decided to make up a poem for myself that goes along with what I'm learning from this book, and how I need to be changing my life. Hopefully you'll laugh as hard and for as long as my little kids used to!!! =)

The happiest nights that I've come to know,
are the nights I have no place to go.
And I get to say when the day is through,
"Tonight I have nothing to do."
The joy of relaxing and the peace untold

Of sitting 'round in my slippers old.
Drinking my Diet Coke in my favorite chair,
Loving the fact that I'm not going anywhere.
I don't have to hurry to eat my meal,
Or force a smile that I do not feel.
But I can watch a movie from my bookcase shelf,
And sit back to relax, and just be myself.
I love those nights but they are very rare,
Nothing on earth could ever compare!
And I'm sorry for anyone who doesn't know,
The happiness I feel in having no place to go!!!!!!!!
~Carrie =)

I also love John Lubbock's quote on taking a break.... "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass listening to the waterfalls, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time."

Apples and Coconuts

2010-01-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

Girls are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. The boys don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they get the rotten apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy to reach. So the apples up top think something is wrong with them when in reality they are amazing. They just have to keep sitting up top and waiting for the boy who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree!

P.S. I kinda want to be a coconut tree instead =)

The end of the best

2010-01-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

I give up on tv!! Law & Order has been my favorite and only watched tv series for the past 3 years. But after what I just saw, I might end up selling my tv and canceling DirectTV. I was watching an episode from 2008 with my favorite Detective Lupo (Jeremy Sisto), and the episode was called "Lost Boys". It mentioned in the summary of it that it was about a polygamist group, but I didn't think anything of it because I love Lupo so I was going to watch it. OH MY. One of the scenes was a polygamist boy trying to run away and the detectives grabbed his shirt to stop him and it tore his shirt off. And do you wanna know what was underneath his shirt????!! A white t-shirt with hand drawn marks on them, permanent marker drawn symbols. MY SYMBOLS!! OUR SYMBOLS! Symbols that should NEVER be aired on public television. So the next scene was the detectives looking up on a so-called 'Mormon' website that explained what each symbol represented and why they had drawn them where they drew them on the shirt. I was mortified. It was so unbelievably wrong and even though they finally agreed that the boys weren't Mormon because Mormon's go to movies and accept black people but the boys did not, those hand drawn marks were horrific to see on my favorite show. On any show! I have no idea what happened next because I turned it off, but I pray with everything in me that anyone who watched that episode will never remember what they saw or heard about marks on a shirt and that they'll think it was something made up by the polygamist boys. OH MY. I have nothing to watch on tv now =(

FAREWELL TO LAW & ORDER
You are now buried in my past.... =(

"Big Love" =(

2009-12-23T22:37:00.000-08:00

I was caring for one of my Down Syndrome patients and her Mom mentioned a few of the patient's favorite shows before leaving for the night. After getting sick of watching John & Kate Plus 8, I decided to watch another favorite show of hers that had been recorded. Knowing absolutely NOTHING about Big Love, I turned it on and will never forget how the feeling of the room changed. It instantly changed and still not understanding anything, I started watching the show. OH MY! Are you kidding me? I was appalled at what I was hearing. Temple covenants, garments shown, and being ex-communicated on the spot???!!!! WHAT? SERIOUSLY??! I was so completely offended, and all I wanted to do was start bawling. A public television show, shown for the last year, is lightly and carelessly talking about the things I cherish the most in my life? Keep in mind that the patient I was watching TV with is non-speaking and mentally challenged, so she had no clue as to why I was sitting on the edge of the couch with my mouth hanging open. WOW. I had no idea such a show existed! I've seen protesters and anti-Mormon websites, but a TV show? It was so sickening to me that I had to leave the room, and I don't think I felt the Spirit for quite awhile after that because I was so confused and in awe of the things I had just heard.

Anyways, the point of my horrible experience is that I found a website/blog called FairMormon.org, and it lists several things that the show is portraying and compares it to the truth of what we believe. I had to stop reading some of the comparisons because I was getting furious!! The show misquoted President Packer, they called the disciplinary council a love court, and they got kicked out of the celestial room because their 15 minutes in God's room was up??!!! And those are just a few of the things I read before I threw up. OH MY! It makes me SOO completely angry! So I wanted to share the website with you because it offers the comparisons that are greatly needed because of this wretched show, and it also provides a topical guide of how to answer Anti-Mormon questions without arguing or causing contention. My invitation to everyone that might be reading this is to turn the station to K-BYU and never change the channel. =)

http://en.fairmormon.org/%22Big_Love%22_and_the_temple

http://en.fairmormon.org/Topical_guide

In order to get rid of my hatred and anger of what the
world is doing to the things I love,I'm giving you the
link of my favorite EFY song, Stand In Holy Places,
that shows pictures of temples all around the world.
I love the Gospel and will defend it 'til the day I die!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QxJW9FnevQ

FILLING OUR DARK SPOTS WITH LIGHT

2009-12-22T20:15:00.000-08:00

Nothing is more constructive than a
good, powerful, and pure personal life.

I'm reading Jeffrey R. Holland's "Broken Things to Mend" and have loved every page I've read. This is what I've been working on and praying about lately, and I wanted to share it with you so we can all individually shine.

"What we are shines more brightly than anything we say or do. If we are to fill the world with light, we must first face any tattered remnant of darkness that remains in our souls. Our work is to divide the light from the darkness by lighting more and more candles in our personal lives. I can think of a few ways we could begin to do that. First, let us be clear about the holder of the candles. I find it interesting that the first thing light reveals when a candle is lit is the hand that's holding it. The Lord made this fascinating observation about personal light in Luke 11:34-36. The candles we hold up for others to see ought to be extensions of the light within ourselves. I invite you to join me in regularly turning inward to confront there anything we wouldn't want others to see. It may not be pornography, but it may be impatience, vanity, jealousy, hatred, or any number of other flaws we need to remedy. Whatever it is, let us trim our lamps, add oil, and make those changes necessary that allow us to hold up a brighter candle and a purer light. Each of us must be the best person we can be in every way we can. In order to do this, we have to focus on the dark and hidden things about ourselves that others might not be able to see. Since darkness is the absence of light, surely the most powerful way to confront the darkness is to fill it with light. As Elder Robert D. Hales has observed: 'Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time, whether a tiny or large amount of space. Light dispels darkness and when light is present, darkness is vanquished and must depart.' More importantly, the darkness we find in ourselves was only able to conquer the light because we let our light diminish or depart in one of our characteristics or beliefs. If we simply stop doing something, or refrain from going places, we still are not FILLING THE VOID WITH LIGHT. We all have heard about the gospel principles which are able to light up our lives, and we are also aware of the number of principles we need to strengthen in order to fill our spots of darkness with light. We all have spots of darkness, yet we all have been invited to stand in confidence with Christ. My prayer is for us to fill our dark spots up with the light of our Savior."

~Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

(Let me know if you want page numbers of things he said because
I mixed a couple of my thoughts in with his thoughts,

and then let me know how excited you are to go buy his book!!)

Temple Square

2009-11-10T06:15:00.000-08:00

The link is a fun website that gives you panoramic views of Temple Square, both inside all of the buildings and the view from the grounds around the Salt Lake Temple!

http://www.utah3d.net/GalleryTempleSquare.html

Autism

2009-09-06T00:48:00.000-07:00

I've been taking the kids I do Respite Care Work for on tons of field trips and this picture is a perfect explanation of how most of our adventures go. My Autistic kids find their own things to focus on!

I absolutely love my job! =)
~Carrie

Putting my education to use =)

2009-07-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a Program Design & Proposal Writing class where I'm learning how to write grants. Over the last 2 months, I've become a respite care worker for 3 disabled kids and I've decided to write grants for the business I just made up! Lisa didn't approve of the last company I tried to create, but hopefully she'll like my new creation a little better!! I'm working for a company that takes disabled individuals out into the community everyday and I absolutely love my job. My respite hours are separate from the company I work for and I put in hours for the 3 kids after work, so I thought I could create a business for night hours that is a copy cat of the company I work for during the day. Respite means that I'm giving the parents a break from having to care for their child- pretty much a government paid babysitter! For my new company, I would still take the kids out in the community, such as parks, bowling, swimming, movies, malls, etc., but it would be respite night hours for Autistic kids. Right now I work at night with a girl who has cerebral palsy, an Autistic boy, and a brain injured hemianosia little girl and of course they would all be invited as part of my new business, but I will focus on Autistic children ages 2-18. My company is called Pieces Of the Puzzle, which provides after-school Autistic awareness needs. POP (Pieces Of the Puzzle) services would be from 5-9pm Monday through Friday, and 9-3pm on Saturdays. We will do different activities everyday in the community and have social skills lessons. Since Autism affects the motor skills and street smarts a child could have, POP would benefit the children by teaching them those needed skills. Plus, it's respite hours for the parents to have a break. So tonight for my homework I'm going to write a grant where I'm asking companies to donate a vehicle or provide money for a bus.... I'll let you know how it goes!!! =)

What He has said

2009-07-18T12:14:00.001-07:00

I got to be a part of the BYU Women's Conference this year and I loved it! This is the booth that we came up with to represent Christ.....

http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2009/sharing_stations/1.cfm

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shares his testimony on how we can read about everything He has said, but God's words have never ceased and we can still know what He is saying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_xl_AR0IR

Cliches are definitely not my thing =)

2009-05-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

I've been teaching my kids how to understand the meanings of phrases and what certain things are implying. We've read about a million quotes and sayings, but I totally skipped over the cliche part of the lesson because I don't understand those AT ALL. Like someone's bark being worse than his bite....ummm- humans don't bark. And a cat's meow?? Yep- no cats around. But the dumbest one is people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones... why would you ever throw stones in your house anyway? So I don't teach that section! But I have found some really good quotes as we've been studying the comprehension packets. These are some of my favorite quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson-

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
The best effect you can have on a person is the feeling they have after you've left their presence.
The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation.
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.
What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could and it's over now.
Every great and commanding moment in your life is the triumph of enthusiasm.
All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all that I have not seen.

A glass house with NO rocks =)

Shall I falter, or shall I finish?

2009-05-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

“Finishers Wanted”

By President Thomas S. Monson

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=543227cd3f37b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Here's a quick summary of what the First Presidency message is about...................

Times change and circumstances vary, but the true marks of a finisher remain. Note them well, for they are vital to our success.

1. The Mark of Vision. It has been said that the door of history turns on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. We are constantly making small decisions. The outcome determines the success or failure of our lives. That is why it is worthwhile to look ahead, to set a course, and at least be partly ready when the moment of decision comes. True finishers have the capacity to visualize their objective.

2. The Mark of Effort

Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;
Beginners are many, but enders are few.
Honor, power, place and praise
Will always come to the one who stays.

Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;
Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;
For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile
Will come life’s victories after a while.

3. The Mark of Faith. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” (Ps. 118:8–9.)

4. The Mark of Virtue. “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.” (D&C 121:45.) This counsel from the Lord will provide staying power in the race we run.

5. The Mark of Prayer

6. The Mark of Courage. Have the courage—

To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go.
To right the unrightable wrong,
To love, pure and chaste from afar,
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!

And you will thus become a finisher.

TIMING

2009-04-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

"Commit yourself to put the Lord first in your life, keep His commandments, and do what the Lord’s servants ask you to do. Then your feet are on the pathway to eternal life. Then it does not matter whether you are called to be a bishop or a Relief Society president, whether you are married or single, or whether you die tomorrow. You do not know what will happen. Do your best on what is fundamental and personal and then trust in the Lord and His timing." ~Elder Oaks

A great talk on Timing by Elder Dallin H. Oaks,
where he talks about the Lord's timing, the agency of others,
application to our lives, and the importance of timing.

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=73523883748&h=zrSwK&u=40ypI&ref=nf

I love kids!!!!

2009-04-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

Since I have no kids of my own to brag about, I want to pretend that I've been able to adopt all of my Autistic kids so I can brag about them!! I love them so so so much! They are completely different from another, yet are all labeled as Autistic. Because it's Sunday, I'm going to relate it to Mormons. We're all labeled as Mormon, but none of us are anything alike in our personalities or characteristics.... =) I love the days when I figure something out about them or understand why they do a certain thing- like today. I was teaching our group how the "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" song works and of course was singing along while I was doing the actions. One of the boys kept turning the music up extremely loud and another one kept holding my knee....?????? It was definitely distracting me because I couldn't do the actions with him hanging on, and I was getting a headache from the loud music. I decided to stop singing and just play the song, while I took the one who was holding onto my knee and helped him do the motions in order. All of a sudden everyone was following along and loving it! So I started to sing along again and you know what happened? He turned the music up even louder!! He was doing it because he didn't like my singing!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! And the other one kept holding my knee because he didn't understand what I was doing or what the order was. Cute, huh??? It's so much fun to figure these things out because when none of them are able to talk, I usually have no idea what they want. But each of their mannerisms and their personalities are so revealing as to who they are and what they want, I just have to remember to slow down and pay attention to every characteristic they're acting out. I LOVE AUTISTIC KIDS!!!!

This is their FAVORITE song and every time I play it,

they all start laughing and dancing!! It seriously is the cutest thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIlMyNXmfcM&feature=related

Book of Mormon

2009-04-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

"There is a power in the Book of Mormon which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the straight and narrow path, and you will find it in greater and greater abundance." ~Ezra Taft Benson

Great blessings are promised to individuals and families as they study the Book of Mormon. Now, for the first time on convenient DVD, you can listen to the word-for-word narration of this sacred book while you follow along with the highlighted text on your television screen. Listen and watch while exercising, working around the house, or relaxing as a family. Studying the scriptures has never been easier. Other DVD features include:

Gospel Doctrine reading assignments--a special menu helps you study the specific chapters for each Sunday School lesson.
Reading calculator--this chart helps you see how soon you will finish the Book of Mormon by studying for a specified number of minutes each day.
Interactive menu system--quickly navigate to any book or chapter with the click of your remote.
Bonus audio talk--includes the classic talk by President Ezra Taft Benson, The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God.
Over 25 hours of Dolby Digital Stereo Audio narrated by Rex Campbell.
Randomized Play option for a different chapter each day.

3 DVD Set/5 VHS Set

Length: 6 hours

http://deseretbook.com/store/product/4674999

None were with Him

2009-04-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

This is a great video, not just for Easter, where Elder Jeffrey R. Holland describes the Savior’s solitary journey to overcome sin and death and testifies of the resulting blessings to all mankind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0

REMINDER: Conference talks are now available online and I've already used some of the talks in my lessons because I couldn't wait until next month's Ensign. Conference gets better every year! =)

http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-1032,00.html

Mosiah 2:17

2009-04-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

"..when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

This is the cutest book that one of the Special Ed teachers bought for our social skills lessons. It's so funny!

Autistic behaviors

2009-04-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

The Kirton's are a family that lives in Murray and has 6 Autistic children. They have the most biological Autistic children in one family in the USA. (They are also neighbors of David Archuleta!!) There's a family in Orem that adopted 9 children that are deaf, but this family in Murray gave birth to 6 kids who are on the Autistic spectrum. The Kirton's are LDS and I first figured it out by the names of their kids- Nephi, Ammon, Emma..... All 6 of them are labeled as Autistic but are on different levels of the spectrum. Some of their kids speak and some of them don't, some of them read and some don't, some still wear diapers at older ages but others are potty trained, and their family proves that no two Autistic kids are the same. However, they do share some of the same characteristics. Autistic children are known to become easily obsessed with an item or an action and constantly repeat it. My little guy is obsessed with turning pages. Every page over and over again, even when we're not reading a book! He'll just hold it in his lap and turn pages while I talk to him- it's so cute!! Ammon, one of the Kirton children, is obsessed with doors and one thing you should notice about him in this video is how intrigued and mesmerized he becomes as he watches the door open and close. My little boy becomes just as intrigued and mesmerized as he watches the pages turn. And then I become intrigued and mesmerized as I watch how involved he gets in his page turning!!! It is the most fascinating thing in the world to watch how stimulating these things can be for Autistic brains. So this video is of Ammon at the zoo, caring less about any animals because he found a door!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbdkstTZhOE&feature=channel

I took my little guy to the gas station the other day and he ran around like he was at the circus! I then had to chase him around and around and around the store because he kept putting candy bars in his pockets and running faster!! hahaha- I love him!! In the video, the Dad had to keep calling him back and that's exactly what it's like being with Autistic children. They become so engrossed with something and then they're done, so they run. We'll be playing a computer game and he'll just get up and leave right in the middle of it. Autistic kids have a lack of focus, as well as short attention spans, so they don't know how to do just one thing and stick with it. I love watching him open and close that door! The next video is a Channel 2 news story they did on the whole family. I think the parents say mean things about their family and they have a website called Autism Bites, which I think is totally rude, but maybe you'll have a different opinion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4BitBkaE_Q&feature=channel

P.S. They live in an 1100 sq ft home with 1 bathroom......OH MY!

Seven Pounds

2009-04-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the central character demands the payment of a pound of flesh from those who are in debt to him. The 'pound of flesh' refers to an onerous debt, one that is either unable to be paid (but demanded), one that is far in excess of the amount owed, or one in which the payment is set to adamantly exacting standards.

Before Seven Pounds was released in December 2008, the studio refused to reveal the details of the movie in the early trailers. Now that the movie is out, it's become common knowledge that Will Smith is playing a man who arranges to donate parts of his body ("seven pounds" of his flesh) to individuals in need of transplants, as atonement for the death of seven people in a car accident that he caused. Ben has a debt to repay for the seven lives he took, so the phrase is both metaphorical and literal since the debts are repaid with his actual "flesh".

I wanted to include the synopsis, but that would give the whole story away and I want all of you to watch it. Watch it as many times as you can!! There's one scene that I fast forward (due to my comfort level) but other than that, it is sensational. I want my whole life to be like Will Smith's character and serve others. You'll notice in the movie that he doesn't look for beautiful people, rich people, educated people, or the most healthy people, he chooses the ones who are in need. It doesn't matter what they look like or what they may be guilty of (some of them haven't paid taxes in years), he narrows it down and chooses those with a kind heart. He says several times during the movie, "You deserve it because you are a good person. You heart is pure. If you wonder why I've chosen you, don't. Just be you and live life to the fullest." MAN- if the whole world worked like that!!!! If everything was based on our good intentions and who we really were! I can't wait for the next life!!!! =) I loved the role he played and how he spent everyday getting to know people by serving them, and by serving them he came to know who they really were. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. It makes me want to work harder so that I have more to give others. Then I'll be able to spend my life prioritizing their needs, and not judging them by any other factor of their life. GO WATCH IT!!!!

Spring Cleaning

2009-03-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

BETTER HOMES & GARDENS Spring Cleaning Lists
http://www.bhg.com/homekeeping/cleaning-and-care/cleaning-advice/weekly-house-cleaning-made-easy

Even though it's snowed the past few days, every calendar is marked that Spring has begun. So it's time for Spring Cleaning!!! To my family- I promise I will only spring clean MY stuff! There's a talk by President Hinckley that I love, called "Be Ye Clean", and he talks about different aspects of what spring cleaning is. The talk is somewhat long, but don't skip anything because it's all great. Here are some of the things he talks about:

-Pres. Joseph F Smith presenting himself as clean
-Pres. Hinckley's spring cleaning story of his house
-Being clean in dress and manner and in mind
-Our bodies are the crowning creation of Deity
-Having a clean and pure heart
...with so much more!!!

President Hinckley "Be Ye Clean"

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=12047cf34f40c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

What Superhero are you??!!

2009-03-24T23:36:00.000-07:00

Teachers at a Special Needs school in Bangkok alerted authorities when an Autistic student, scared of attending his first day at school, crawled out on the third-floor ledge and refused to come inside. The eight-year-old ran out onto the ledge after he had a panic attack, and neither his mother nor teachers could coax him back inside. Despite their many efforts to beckon the boy inside, he refused to budge. Until his mother mentioned her son’s love of superheroes, which prompted a fireman, Sonchai Yoosabai, to take a novel approach to the problem. Yoosabai pulled on a Spiderman outfit ,which was kept by a school guard for alarm practices. The Autistic boy ran back inside as soon as he saw his hero at the door of the classroom, and giggled as he threw himself into Yoosabai's arms!

WHAT SUPERHERO ARE YOU???

http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/

Monday- March 23, 2009

http://autismparents.net/spiderman-saves-boy-with-autism

Laughing

2009-03-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Power Of Laughter
by Gary K. Palmer, Brigham Young University

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=17429cf12df64110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Everyone has a unique laugh, unique because they are the only person who laughs that way. I know some people who giggle, some who snort, and some who chuckle. My laugh is loud, because I also talk loud, and I usually end up taking lots of deep breaths because I can't breathe when I laugh! I tried to change my laugh on my mission so I could come across as calm and collected, but serving with Tongans only made me laugh louder and longer!!! But the time has come for me to change my laugh.

My cute Autistic boy that I teach, we'll call him Tristin, learns how to do things by mimicking and mirroring others. He is only able to do things after watching me or copying what the others are doing. It's been so much fun to teach him sign language, but sometimes he won't remember what to sign so he'll sign something he does remember. For example, after I give him a piece of candy, we're working on how to sign THANK YOU. Sometimes when I do give him the candy, he'll look at me because he knows he's supposed to sign something, but since he doesn't remember what, he'll sign NAME. Hahaahha- he's so innocent, it's adorable!!! Anyways, he learns how to act by watching others so he'll mimic how his sisters walk, or how they are sitting, and if I'm shaking my leg (a nervous habit of mine!) he'll shake his leg, too. If you ever want to know what kind of faces you pull or what hand motions you use while you talk, sit by him and he'll mirror everything you're doing!! And that's why I'm going to change my laugh......

Tristin doesn't talk and one of the teaching techniques I use is music, to help him hear sounds and mimic those sounds to hear his own voice. We try humming, singing along, and he absolutely loves music so whatever song is on, he always has a huge smile on his face. This past week we've been practicing making different noises and putting a finger on our throats because it helps to understand the different sounds (every activity is a hands-on learning process). He is so cute when he does it and 2 days ago, he learned how to make gurgling and growling noises!!!! It's the funniest thing in the world- imagine a 13 year old boy, holding his throat, and growling as loud as he can, while smiling and laughing the whole time he does it! Now that he's learned how, he won't stop making the sounds and it's so funny to watch him that I start laughing. And that's when he started mimicing my laugh. OH MY- I never knew I sounded that bad!!! =) He gets really high pitched and even does the deep breath intake!!! HAHAHA!!!! So I'm done- no more laughing like I normally do. I tried to giggle but can't, I only chuckle when I'm fake laughing, it hurts to snort, and now I'm running out of options of how to change. I Googled how to change your laugh, but ended watching the funniest videos on YouTube, so I've posted some of those laughs on here. If you have any other suggestions, PLEASE send them my way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtntiRgFLM4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HttF5HVYtlQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_mBLWpdwnI&feature=related

I'm celebrating life!!!!

2009-03-17T00:47:00.000-07:00

This seems like a strange picture to post, considering that today is in fact my birthday!!!! YEAH FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!! But since I am now 26 years old and have learned so much from this life changing event, I wanted to make some goals in memory of May 2, 2002. In six weeks, it will mark the 7th year reunion of that horrible, but blessed, event that changed my whole life. I am very grateful for the testimony I've gained because of all that happened, and I've tried to think of ways to celebrate life, in hopes that it will be giving thanks for all that I've been given. I have made 6 goals, to complete in the next 6 weeks, that are in celebratory thanks of being 26 years old and still alive!!!

In 6 weeks, I will....

1) Do temple work for 26 of my ancestors
2) Run 26 miles-but not at the same time!
3) Volunteer 26 hours at the LDS hospital
4) DI 26 things that will better someone's life
5) Donate $26 extra dollars to my fast offering
6) Write 26 letters of thanks to friends and family

The Smarty Pants Dance

2009-03-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Accountability

2009-03-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

"For those that live shall inherit the earth,
and those that die shall rest from all their labors,
and their works shall follow them;
and they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father,
which I have prepared for them." D&C 59:2

The day will come when we will have the opportunity to stand before God to be judged in terms of the decisions we make and the deeds we perform in this life. " 'It is requisite with the justice of God that me should be judged according to their works,' Alma says, 'and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.' (ALMA 41:3-4). The kind of body gained in this life and restored to a person in the resurrection determines the degree of glory inherited in eternity. Thus men are 'their own judges,' Alma concludes, for by their daily acts they judge or choose 'whether to do good or do evil' (ALMA 41:7)." (Elder McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 403-404)

"Are we not the framers of our own destiny? Are we not the arbitrators of our fate? It is our privilege to determine our own exaltation or degradation; it is our privilege to determine our own happiness or misery in the world to come. Each of you has an eternal calling from which no Church officer has authority to release you. This is a calling given you by our Heavenly Father Himself. In this eternal calling, as with all other callings, you have a stewardship, and "it is required of the Lord, at the the hand of every steward, to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity." (D&C 72:3) This most important stewardship is the glorious responsibility your Father in Heaven has given you to watch over and care for your own soul. At some future day, you and I will each hear the voice of the Lord calling us forward to render an account of our mortal stewardship. This accounting will occur when we are called up to stand before the Lord at the great and judgment day." ~Elder Wirthlin

Focus and Priorities by Elder Dallin H. Oaks
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=dd0b8d00422fe010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

You have to enter their world to help guide them into yours.

2009-03-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I realized I had 11 days left until my quarter of a lifetime breakdown and I immediately became depressed in anticipation for my depressing breakdown! Turning 25 wasn't a big deal at all, but on March 17, I will turn 26. 26. I haven't graduated yet, I haven't written a book, I'm not a sign language interpreter, I'm not an Institute teacher, and I haven't started my Special Ed Living and Loving Life clinic (details will come later).......all my goals and NONE accomplished. So I am officially at the beginning of a horrible quarter life meltdown. People at work told me it was no big deal because lots of worse things happen in life and 26 is still young. I'm sure they were trying to make me feel better but I wasn't comforted at all, so I took a break and bought some Oreos. Those were definitely comforting!! The point of me telling this sad, pathetic story is that on Saturday, my new purpose in life was discovered. It's not a goal in life because as you can tell from my list, I never actually accomplish my goals, but I now have something to look forward to and a little excitement in being old!

Everyone has heard of a horse whisperer, and some may have seen the movie back in 1998. (Don't start to worry that I'll become one because I still hate animals and have no plans to become a pet trainer). A horse whisperer is a horse trainer who adopts a sympathetic view of the motives, needs, and desires of the horse, based on natural horsemanship and modern psychology. The term goes back to the early nineteenth century when an Irish horseman made a name for himself in England by rehabilitating horses that had become vicious and intractable, due to abuse or accidental trauma. People who managed to observe the horse whisperer noticed that he would stand face to face with the troubled horse. They seemed to think that he must be saying something to the horse in a way the horse could understand and accept because the horses were quickly gentled by his mysterious techniques. A whisperer then calms the horses by whispering in their ears and caressing them with extraordinary effect.

Because I have no interest in animals, I won't ever seek out a hobby that involves them, but a horse whisperer gives the most appropriate example of my new calling in life. I, Carrie Leigh Christensen, am going to be an Autistic Answerer!!!! Autism is a brain disorder where some children never learn to talk at all. I work with an Autistic child who is is severely limited because he is unable to communicate or interact with others. When he needs something, he has different ways of telling me by using physical actions. For example, if he gets scared he'll put his foot on top of mine and then I know he wants a hug. If he starts to sway back and forth in his chair, it's because he has to go to the bathroom. If he's hungry, he'll use his hands to sign MORE to me because of the sign language words I've had to teach him. It's funny because if he's excited to do an activity, he'll start slapping his neck and laughing hysterically, but the cutest thing he does to me (besides playing footsies to get a hug!) is that when I start laughing, he'll start sniffing my shoulder!! It sounds weird, but when someone's telling a joke other people usually laugh, right? Well, autistic children have trouble understanding humor and irony, so if I'm laughing at my joke or laughing at the computer game, he doesn't understand why I'm laughing but he wants to be a part of it, so he'll sniff my shoulder!!!! Cute, huh? Maybe you have to be there....... =)

By not being able to talk or communicate in other ways, self-inflicted injuries are by far the most frightening aspect of having a child with autism. Autistic children sometimes bite themselves repeatedly or violently bang their heads against a wall whenever they feel stress or anxiety, because they have no way of telling you what's wrong or why they're upset. On Saturday I was with my Autistic boy and when I had first come to his house, I could hear him moaning and groaning and mumbling. When he came into the room, I knew something was wrong, but of course when I asked him he had no way of answering me. We sat down at the table to start our social skills lesson and his face scrunched up and he started whining and whimpering. I put my arm around him and asked him what was wrong, and that's when he started crying. Tears were streaming down his face and he was so helpless in telling me what was wrong, that I started crying too. So there we sat crying, while he kept whimpering and suffering in silence, with me not having any idea of what was wrong. He had never cried to me before so I decided to get him a snack, and a drink, and his toy, to see if he wanted those, even though he hadn't let me know like he normally does. He cried for another 20 minutes and after he had stopped I tried to start the lesson, but he laid his cheek against the table and I knew we weren't going to get anywhere. I took out his favorite puzzle and we worked on that until he took the pillow and started pacing the living room. I knew we were done but I sat there and watched him, aching to know what he wanted, and that's when my quarter life depression ended and I knew what I needed to do. I am going to be an Autistic Answerer and I am going to figure out what these severely Autistic children need when they have no way of asking for it or telling someone. When they scream, I'll answer because I'll know what they want. When they cry, I'll answer with whatever they're struggling with. When they laugh, I'll answer by loving them. I will be the one who knows what they need when no one else can tell- I will become the horse whisperer who can tame a wild and scared horse by looking at them face to face and calming them. Of course this will mean decades more of school because I'll have to get a Master's Degree, and a PhD within the Autistic spectrum, and I'll have to work under Autistic professionals, but HERE I COME!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-03-05T20:13:00.000-08:00

I am amazed each time I go through the Draper temple- I swear it gets prettier every time!! And more crowded..... =) Here are some construction photos of when they first started building it. If you haven't gone through yet, GO!! I can't wait for the dedication and I'm so excited to live even closer to a temple than a 12 minute drive to the Jordan River one!!

http://www.lds.org/temples/construction/0,11437,1940-1-590,00.html

Special Needs Adoption

2009-03-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

Special Needs Adoptions

I was driving to Lehi and my next mission was clear to me when I saw a billboard that said,

"Be a branch in someone else's family tree- ADOPT."

Oh my! I loved it!!! This past week I've found out horrifying and heart wrenching facts about the home life of some of my Special Ed kids that I teach at the elementary school, so I've decided to adopt every single one of them. Even the boys in my after-school Autistic group. I've even come up with their new names.

Colby

Tristin
Tanner
Chase
Landon
Taylor
Jacob
Brooklyn
Madison
Melody
McKenzie

Then I really could create the house I talked about a couple months ago in the post that Lisa thought was the dumbest idea ever!!! haha =) It's ok though because I'll have my new family to love and I'm sure the state would help out with finances somehow!!

But in the meantime and in reality, those of you that can adopt SHOULD ADOPT!!!!
http://www.providentliving.org/ses/adoptivecouples/specialneeds/0,12475,2194-1,00.html

My Bishop

2009-03-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

I've always had respect for my Bishop because of the person he has and how he lives up to his callings, but this weekend was an even clearer confirmation of why I sustained him as Bishop. One of my precious Primary boys told me something of a serious nature, dealing with him and his family. I was very concerned and thought about it all day long, not knowing who to tell and how to get him help. I couldn't get a hold of the Primary President or any of her counselors, so I called my Dad to ask him what to do. He assured me that it was the Bishop's responsibility and no one else's, so I should call the Bishop immediately. I thought maybe that would be jumping steps but I called the Bishop at his house, and you know what he did? He put back on his church clothes, left his family dinner, called the family involved, and went over to the church the second he hung up with me. I knew he had been at the church all day long and I figured he would make an appointment later in the week with the family, but he dropped everything he was doing at that exact moment, to reach out to this family. I know that he was called of God and I know that he is a worthy man fit for his calling. I have so much more love and appreciation for him and gratefulness that we have such noble stewardship over our wards.

This is a talk by Elder Eyring, titled Rise to Your Call,
that applies to every and any calling, whatever and wherever it may be.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=d10bee9ba42fe010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Missionary Prep Classes

2009-03-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

We started Stake YM Missionary Firesides 6 weeks ago and have had a speaker every Sunday night teach about Preach My Gospel, along with other missionary stories. It has been so much fun and a much needed reminder of everything we accomplished on our missions. I haven't set goals and reported in on them in a long time, so it's been fun the past month and a half to be in a district again, where we have made goals individually and together, then meet Sunday night and share our testimonies on the progress of our goals. Last year for the YM Missionary activity we just met in small groups every night for one week and played fun scripture games. But this year has been so much more spiritually strengthening and motivating. I miss practicing so much accountability and being responsible for every hour of my day. I'm so proud of these young men for coming every Sunday night (even on SuperBowl Sunday!!) and preparing for the best decision they can make at this point in their lives.

This is one of my favorite songs from my mission, it's meaning and the fact that it's a Polynesian song, and the talk is a great one on prioritizing our days.

"How Can I Be"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjDkQI2OO-w

Little Things Count

by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=cf8782178cb9b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

My testimony of the Sacrament

2008-12-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

Savior of the World:
His Birth and Resurrection

I went to 'Savior of the World' a couple weekends ago and had the time of my life. It was spiritual, entertaining, and intellectual. I learned stuff about Mary and Joseph that I never knew before and now totally respect. One of the main things that stood out was the sacredness of the Sacrament. I've looked for the particular story in the Bible but can't seem to find it (it was a play and maybe they made this part of!!). It was a very meaningful representation to me of who Christ really is. He isn't just a man walking down the street, or someone in town to talk to, or a friendly neighbor- He is the Christ. An actor playing one of the disciples was explaining to his friends and family that he had walked down the path with a man and had told this man all the excitement in the town that was going on, the signs that had been seen, and all the prophesies foretold. He followed this man to the Upper Room, still not realizing who he was walking with, and this actor explained, "It was then that we knew who this man was. This man standing in front of us was Jesus the Christ. He let us touch his wounds and he passed the Sacrament. It was then that we knew Him." I remember being so touched by this part because that is seriously how we know Him. If not by any other way during the week, along any of the paths we're walking, we will come to know Him by the Sacrament.

This past weekend was Stake Conference and I have a whole post dedicated to everything I learned and felt and witnessed, but I wanted to share something that Elder Jensen, in the Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventies, spoke of relating to the Sacrament. He was talking about when the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple and all that they learned from Him. Elder Jensen said, "Next Sunday He may not appear at the pulpit, but you can still hear His voice." You can hear His voice as you partake of His Sacrament because you will hear Him say, "Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice." (D&C 110:5) It is then that you can walk away ready for the week, feeling uplifted, strong, and rejoicing because of the mercy of your Father in Heaven, who sent His Son to bring you back. By partaking of the Sacrament, you can hear that every week. You will hear Him.

Ensign » 2008 » November

Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament

Elder Dallin H. Oaks Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

My cute kids =)

2008-12-02T17:37:00.001-08:00

I was teaching the lesson in Primary and we were reading from Ether. One of the names of the brothers is Com and when we read it, Will raised his hand. When I called on him, he asked, "Is that where we get .com from?" HAHAHAHAHA!! I said, "Nope- modern day technology definitely doesn't come from Book of Mormon names." !!!!HAHAHA!!

I have a rule that no one can raise their hand to share something unless it has to do with the scripture story. They all have so many pointless stories to share and it wastes so much time!! But Spencer raised his hand in the middle of the lesson and when I called on him he said, "I promise it has to do with the scriptures." I asked him if it had to do with the lesson but he said, "Well, no. But it has to do with the scriptures, so it's okay to tell. Remember when we were studying about the Nephites who will never die and are on earth somewhere but no one knows who they are? I met one of them." Of course I'm interested at this point and I urged him to continue. He said, "So my Mom's friend's son is already in his 2nd year of college and he's really really young. No one could be that smart and so young but he is because he's one of the Nephites." SO CUTE! He also had to add in "And his wife always makes too many brownies for us to eat!".... which probably confirmed the fact that this man was holy!! It amazes me every time they remember a lesson and are able to apply it to the lesson we're learning or in Spencer's case of actually knowing a disciple of Christ in college!! I LOVE THEM!!!!

HEAVEN SENT- Filling Your Empty Buckets

2008-11-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

"Let all they doings be unto the Lord,

whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord;
yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord;
let all thy affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
Counsel with the Lord in all they doings,
and he will direct thee for good..."
Alma 37: 36-37

I've decided what I'm going to do with my life. I realize that when I graduate, in whatever it is I'm majoring in, I'll still have no idea what I want to do. And since I'm SO sick of working 2 jobs and having the whole day be entirely gone with me getting nothing worthwhile accomplished, I've finally come up with the end result of why I'm going to school and working so much. During the day I will teach piano lessons and teach Seminary classes to the Special Ed kids, but the best part of my day will be what I'm going to offer/work for at night. It uses every attribute I've gained and studied about as a social worker.

I am going to rent a house, not a large one but one that has a basement and a large kitchen, and I'm going to name it HEAVEN SENT. I'm going to charge people $20.00 a month to have free access to this home from 5:00-11:00pm, Monday- Friday. There will be a different movie playing every night, rated G or PG, and there will be study rooms, an exercise room, with other rooms that will hold classes and workshops. Every night will have a different class offered: Monday night of course will be FHE, Tuesday could be a Sign Language class, Wednesday might be Spanish class, Thursday could be a music class, with Friday being piano/organ lessons. Those are all the things I want to learn more about, but never have time in my current outrageously scheduled life. This way I will get to learn as I go the classes in my own home and learn as I teach. Well, actually I'd be the one teaching an Institute class every night before those classes started and I wouldn't hire any professional to come and teach, but the classes will be run by other people who belong to Heaven Sent. That way it will be a huge family circle, with family teaching family, teaching and sharing something they know and are good at. People could even come on dates to these classes or eat dinner with us in a family setting- then the couple could learn and grow by taking classes and being spiritual together, which no dating couple I know ever chooses to do these days!! =)

Individual people can come to any class, at any time they choose, and on any night they want to come. There will be no restrictions, no competition because everyone learns at a different pace, and there will be absolutely no pressure to be anything you don't want to be. My house would provide a spiritual safe haven. Kids with troubled families who dread going home can come to my creation of a house, or kids with parents that work all night can come stay at my house, in an uplifting environment. Of course this is not a babysitting night-care. No child under the age of 12 is allowed, without an older sibling with them.

Each person who joins my house will have their picture taken and put on the wall, just like houses have family portraits. There will be no Ipods, computers, or MP3 players brought into the study rooms because I don't want any bad music, bad thoughts, bad shows, or anything from the world brought in. It won't be an after-school program, a community clubhouse, or a gym- it will be a home. An uplifting one where dinner will be cooked (so the smell will be in the house!) and everyone can gather around and eat, talk, laugh, and just relax- for as long as they want. If you want to be downstairs watching the movie, fine. If you need to be in a quiet room studying, so be it. If you want to be part of a class going on that night, great- go to it!! If you want to be eating dinner and talking with whoever is upstairs, come join us. There will be so many different wholesome activities going on to choose from, no one would ever feel left out or pressured to do something they're not comfortable with, or be talking when all they want to do is relax and not be bothered. This will provide kids with an uplifting, spiritual, and safe place to come every night where they can better themselves by learning, growing, and feeling the Spirit.

The Heaven Sent family would be praying together, getting an education, reading scriptures together every night, and continually be making goals to better ourselves and always stand in a holy place. I'm pretty sure I can get some government funding and maybe people will donate to my charity house, but all I know is that I'll get to teach the gospel everyday, I'll always have a family to come home to, I'll be learning and growing every night of my life, and my rent would be paid by my new family! Hahaha! GREAT PLAN, HUH????!!! =)

"Finding time for spiritual growth in our everyday lives shouldn't be that much different than finding time for other activities." ~ME!

Priesthood Session Conference Talk

2008-11-25T21:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Lisa for this great reference!!

"Lift Where You Stand" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-18,00.html

Every calling is a perfect calling!!!

2008-11-25T19:25:00.000-08:00

"Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life,
it will rise with us in the resurrection."
D&C 130:18

I love going to the temple and I'm very grateful to be surrounded by temples in Utah. Since my mission was the best mission on earth, I was also surrounded by temples in California and was able to attend the Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and Newport Beach temple. Tonight I got to do sealings and I wanted to share my testimony on the sacredness of callings. I love to find out what calling someone has or to find out prior callings a person has served in. I think it's the coolest blessing that we are each called and given the power and authority to magnify that calling by being set apart. I've always said I wanted to be a temple president's wife because that calling would mean the world to me, to be a temple matron!! But as I sat in the sealing room tonight, I know that the sealer was called to be in that room at that time and perform the sacred ordinances. His calling was so overwhelmingly spiritual to me tonight that I've changed my mind, and now I want to be the wife of a sealer!! HAHA!! To think that this man was found worthy to seal together family members of ours that have been waiting for hundreds of years, and to know that he was qualified to be in the presence of the angels in the House of the Lord. WOW. I have a new respect for all callings and I know that each one brings us closer to the Savior, whatever that calling may be. We all know what blessings will come when we faithfully serve or when we fulfill our callings, but tonight it was so much more than that.

"...that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand..." Moroni 10:19

Like the scripture says, we really will never lose the spiritual talents we gain from our callings. The sealer tonight was the most spiritual man to me and I know that every person who lives up to their callings, is just as spiritual. When I was at church on Sunday, I remember listening to the testimony of my Bishop and thinking what a perfect person he was to get called as our ward's priesthood leadership. The Bishop before him will always be one of my best friends because he blessed me continually through all my accident turmoil and he was the one who sent me on a mission, writing to me every month. I thought that no one could ever live up to all that he's done and I bet everyone probably thinks that of every Bishop they've had. But I know that my current Bishop took his place and filled his shoes, only because of the fact that he's fulfilled and lived up to every aspect of his calling as Bishop. I love the organization of the gospel and I know that we each have more potential than we've ever dreamed of, but are capable of reaching that potential by magnifying the calling we are in.

Funny comments by cute kids!!

2008-11-23T20:06:00.000-08:00

I was teaching Primary and we were talking about when the Savior comes again. My Primary boys were acting out how the earth will shake and how loud the thunder will be, and they were saying the funniest things I have ever heard relating to the 2nd Coming!!!! One of my boys said, "I think when I see the Savior again, He'll ask me, "Are you smarter than a 3rd grader?" HAHAHAHA!!! And another boy was talking about some of the signs that his Mom had told him are happening now that let us know something is coming. He said, "It's kinda like when we are singing the 3rd song in Sacrament, it's a sign that Sacrament is FINALLY over!!!" HAHAHAHA!! I love them! =)

2008-11-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

"I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power,
and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man..." Ether 3:4

If any of you have seen House, you're aware of Dr. House's belief that people will do anything they can get away with, and that no one really puts others before themselves. He believes that the things people do are only to gain something personally and is always a selfish act. And remember on Friends, when Phoebe tries to prove that there really is an unselfish act so she lets herself be stung by a bee to do something nice for the bee?? Joey then informs her that now the bee is dead because bees die after they lose their stinger! The point of the show was that no one can ever do anything entirely unselfish and for the benefit of others. My point of bringing those shows up is because someone hurt me this weekend, and it helped me become a true believer that people only do things to get what they want. What this person did was so huge to me that I'm not exactly sure I won't be able to think about it every minute I'm with them, if I ever choose to hang out with this individual again. So Saturday night was not a very pleasant night, and Sunday came without any glamour or excitement. Until I went to class.

I don't want to brag and I've talked about it a million times, but my Primary class has honestly taught me more than I've learned in any other class, or in any other calling, and has to be the most perfect class organized by the Church!! Ok- that's a stretch, but you get my point. I taught the lesson on the brother of Jared and my six little 9 year old boys wanted to read every single verse of the chapter because they were so into the story. They were asking questions the whole time and adding tidbits from other lessons we've had. We ended up not drawing pictures or having an activity because they loved reading the scriptures, and we sat there in a half circle with our scriptures on our laps, and read every verse together. They loved the monstrous waves the Lord created to push the barge, and they acted out the Lord's finger touching the stones. They thought it was the coolest thing that the Lord stood in a cloud and talked!! It was so much fun and was a very moving & spiritual experience for me to sit with my favorite 9 year olds and have them explain to me what they think the verse they just read meant. I absolutely loved it. Every second of it. I am the most blessed person in the world to be called to teach those little boys and they are what I consider friends. They love me unconditionally and do the cutest things for me. Being around them makes me a better person, and I know that's what makes a true friend.

To make the story even more of an answer to a prayer (and a little more sappy!!), 2 of them came over to see me at my house today. Isn't that the cutest thing in the world??!!? They said they just came over to say Hi, but I think the fact that I still had leftovers from the treat in class today helped make the visit a priority!!!! It was so much fun to have them over, even though I know my sisters are going to make fun of me because the only people I hang out with are under the age of 10! But anyone older than that ends up hurting my feelings, so I'll stick with the younger crowd!

I'm grateful for my calling and even more grateful for the pure love of children.

-I love little children with a perfect love- Moroni 8:17

2008-11-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

"There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear."

1 John 4:18

Today was a rough day at the elementary school with one of my little boys, but a great lesson was learned and my class was such a good example to me. I'll change his name so I won't get arrested for privacy issues =), and Aladdin seems suitable- except he doesn't need a rug to fly on because he can definitely fly all by himself! Aladdin is a 9 year old who is diagnosed with hyperactivity-impulsivity and has to be the cutest little boy in the world (well, other than the 6 boys in my Primary class). Just to give you an idea of him: He is unable to stop his immediate reactions, he blurts out inappropriate comments at any given moment, and displays his emotions without restraint. And if you were around Aladdin for any amount of time, you would fall in love with him and think he is the most adorable and frightening child you'd ever met! I only say frightening because you can honestly NEVER know what is coming next from him, but it's never been too out of the ordinary....until today. I always learn a lot from my kids, more than I could ever teach them, and today was one of those days where I appreciated how much experience I'm getting from being a babysitter of 12 kids!!!

I was doing a reading lesson with a couple kids at my table, when one of the children made a comment that the picture in the book looked like the Grim Reper. I'm not exactly sure what/who that even is, I think it's a Halloween thing, but something triggered in Aladdin's head and suddenly he was standing on top of his desk, gurgling and growling at the top of his lungs. Of course the whole room had completely stopped working and was watching him, but he wasn't listening to anything I was saying or paying attention to the other teacher. After he was finished leaping from desk to desk, he crash-landed on the ground and started crawling around, still growling at the top of his lungs. Miss Halls kept trying to grab him and I was pretty much offering him whatever he wanted if he sat back down, but there was absolutely no recognition or control on his face. He wasn't about to listen to anyone. Miss Halls started gathering all the kids together and led them out of the room, asking me to stand guard until his manic moment ended. Aladdin has never been a danger to anyone and we weren't concerned he was going to harm someone, but the rest of the class was getting all riled up just watching him, and we needed to get everyone out. So the rest of the class left, while I just stood there watching Aladdin. I had NO idea how to get him to stop!! He was kinda scaring me and I'm an adult, so I have no idea what the other kids were thinking! I seriously just stood there for 5 minutes watching him, and he just kept going..and going...and going....and going.....gurgling, growling, crawling, climbing desks, and never stopping. The only thing I could think of was music and Playdo, but every time I said his name or asked him a question, he just ignored me and kept on going.

I finally decided to turn on the CD (it has a bunch of kid songs and rhymes on it), I got the Playdo out (the disgusting smelling ball of germs that every kid in the world has touched!), and I just sat there and pretended to have fun. He was still growling, but quieter now, and he just stood at the table and stared at his favorite thing that I was now playing with. I think a Mary Poppin's song was playing on the CD, but I wasn't paying attention to that because I was trying to anticipate what his next move was. And you know what he did? He stopped growling, put his head down, crawled up on my lap, and said, "It's just the monster in me. He likes to come out sometimes." And he picked up the Playdo and played quietly until the bell rang an hour later. OH MY!!! Miss Halls had poked her head in the class to see if it was okay to come in, and when the rest of the class came, he still kept doing his thing while everyone finished the work they had been doing before the interruption. It was incredible!!

After he was dismissed for recess, we talked to the rest of the kids about what had happened, to make sure they weren't scared or confused. And that's when the perfect lesson, from a tiny little 7 year old, was learned. One of the 2nd graders raised her hand and said, "It's okay when he gets crazy. We still like him." Can you believe that? I could never be as kind and loving as they are. The kids kept working, went to lunch and recess, and came back to class without anyone ever mentioning it again. It was like it had never happened!!! And Miss Halls and I are still freaking out about it! Of course we had to write it down and document what had happened in his IEP and in his behavior history, but the other kids honestly never even thought about it again. Nothing has ever happened to that extreme of a manic reaction from Aladdin before, so it wasn't like they were used to it happening- they're just perfect and loving enough to never think anything bad about Aladdin or hold something against him. WOW. Do I not have the best class in the world?? I can pretty much guarantee that Miss Halls and I will talk about it again because it was a huge deal (and scary) thing that affected the whole class, but how much I wish that a person's actions would never change how much I loved them. My kids should write a book!!! They are truly the most Christlike people I know.

"I fear not what man can do;
for perfect love casteth out all fear."
Moroni 8:16

Dedicated to Lisa =)

2008-11-05T20:51:00.000-08:00

Here are more random quotes because Lisa appreciated the last ones so well...........

CTR= Current Temple Recommend

Living with Saints in heaven is celestial glory,
Living with Saints on earth is another story!!

A cure happens immediately, healing takes time.

There is no healing without kneeling.

He had the ability to see Christ in every face he encountered and he acted accordingly.

If you have forgotten who you are, you have forgotten me.

To ask how much time it will take is telestial,
To ask why you have to do it is terrestial,
But to do it valiantly is celestial.

You can't break the commandments- you can only break yourself against the commandments.

You haven't repented, you just stopped doing it. ~Elder Neal A. Maxwell

THE GARDEN I'M PLANTING
First plant 5 rows of peas,
Preparedness
Promptness
Perseverance
Politeness
Prayers
Next to them plant 3 rows of squash,
Squash Gossip
Squash Criticism
Squash Indifference
Then 5 rows of lettuce,
Let us be faithful
Let us be loyal
Let us be truthful
Let us love one another
And no garden is complete without turnips,
Turn up for Church
Turn up with a smile
Turn up the hymns!

Tidbits from the best mission ever.... =)

2008-11-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

"Father, where shall I work today?"
And my love for Him flowed warm and free.
He pointed out a tiny spot and said, "Tend that for me."
I answered quickly, "Oh no, not that! But no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done, it's too little of a place for me."
And the word He spoke, it was not stern, "Art thou working for them or for me?
Nazareth was a little place, and so was Galilee."

The comfort and answer isn't found in taking you out of the problem, it's found getting you through the problem.

If you whisper in love, I hear better than if you shout at me in anger.

FAITH- the part of your testimony more sure than sight.

Be careful how you live; you may be the only Bible some people read.

It's never too late to be what you might have been.

The most important law to live by is the one you're struggling the most with.

People who think they know everything are particularly aggravating to those of us who do.

Hire a teenager while they still know everything.

Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, that the power to work is a blessing, and the love of work is success.

We all have moments of complete assurance and peace where we undoubtedly feel the Holy Ghost. But those moments are often rare and probably make up 10% of our time. However, the other 90% of our time should be governed by the simple, yet profound, 10%.

Fast and Testimony Meeting!

2008-11-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

Sacrament Meeting this morning turned out to be really good. We have about half a million little kids in our ward and only about 1/4 of them actually went up to share their testimony, but one little girl said one of the best testimonies of the day. She was probably 4, maybe 5, and instead of saying the usual, "I know the Church is true, I love my family....." she started her testimony out by saying, "I believe in temples." Cute, huh? Keep in mind that I could barely see the top of her hair because she wasn't tall enough to stand any higher than the podium! She said, "I went to the temple for FHE and my Mom said it was okay to sing 'I Love To See The Temple' the whole way there. My parents were married in there but I don't remember and I can't wait to go when I get old. I believe God lives in the temple because it is His house. Amen." Sooooo cute!! And she said it like she talks everyday in front of 800 people! The Bishop even commented on it at the end and said that she was a tribute to the Draper Temple and that's how we should all feel about temple work. She was precious, even though I never actually saw her face, only the top of her head.

One Brother bore his testimony and it was incredible. I've always considered him to be a very spiritual person and his testimony only confirmed it. He said that he knew being married and being a father was the closest he would come here on earth to standing in the Savior's footsteps. He told us that he was who he was today because of all that his family stood for and that when he sends his sons off on their missions, they will represent the finished product of what he created within his family. I love that idea!! He mentioned that of course his sons will have a whole life ahead of them, but to teach them to serve the Lord and go out into the world, would require them to take everything they learned from home. He also said he was blessed to be married and that he hoped those who weren't blessed to be married would get the opportunity he's had, but I didn't take offense to the unblessed/unmarried comment because the rest of his testimony rocked!!!

A Sister shared her testimony and said that she wasn't first married in the temple because her husband hadn't been a member and when they first married, she would always ask him what hope she should have of him ever getting baptized. His answer had always been that it was a 50/50 chance of happening. They had been married a few years and after realizing she couldn't have children, they decided to adopt a child from Chile. They turned in the adoption papers and waited almost 6 months before they finally got a call to let them know that their new little boy had been born that morning. She said she ran around the house, screaming and jumping on the beds, because her husband wasn't home from work to be excited with! Since her husband couldn't take off work to get their new baby, she flew out there all by herself. After she arrived, she learned they had the opportunity to adopt a 5 year old little girl, along with their newborn son. When she called her husband to tell him the news and had cried with him in pure joy that they finally had their own family, she said her husband paused for a really long time and then said, "It's a 51 percent chance now." YEAH!!! They were sealed a year later and she was actually able to get pregnant right after his baptism, so they had a family of 5 in under a year!!! What a cool story!

Then there's my perfect class of the most celestial 9 year old boys walking on earth today!!! 3 of them got up to share their testimonies in Sacrament and one of them stopped in the middle of his testimony and said, "Um, I forgot. Amen." hahahaha. They're SOOO cute! Another one was saying the opening prayer for us in our classroom and instead of asking for the Spirit to be with us, he said, "We pray that the gospel will be with us." How adorable!!!!!! And yes- we DO hope that the gospel will be with us!

I Love To See the Temple

2008-11-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

Draper Temple NewsletterDraper Temple Newsletter

“What began as a big hole in the ground on Sept. 5, 2006, now, 26 months later, rises to a majestic height crowned by the Angel Moroni. A beautiful and magnificent structure, how blessed we are to have had the opportunity to use our talents and abilities to assist in the building of the Lord’s House.”

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE TEMPLE:

The Draper Utah Temple will be open for public tours from January 15 to March 14, 2009Draper Temple Newsletter......IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!!

On July 8, the Statue of the Angel Moroni was placed upon the Draper Temple

The Angel Moroni weighs 350 lbs and is 13' 8" tall

Draper Temple Newsletter

During the month of October, final finishes were the main focus of the construction effort. Installation of the carpet was completed in the basement and on the first floor. The pews were put in place in the chapel and the chandeliers were hung. The decorative painting and gold leafing was applied to the ceilings on the first floor. The final coat of paint is being applied to the walls and trim on the second floor.

The senior missionaries for the Draper Temple bank at Wells Fargo!! haha! =)

"..even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal. ..." Abr 2 :11

2008-10-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

Our week was filled with a lot of fun, friends, family, hugs, and tears, but since I don't want to ramble on about all the things that happened, I'm going to highlight some favorites:

-Sunday blessing with our family and the Murdocks'
-Going to the temple Tuesday night and knowing Grandma was happy
-All the flowers people sent and the phone calls when it had only been a day since she passed
-Wednesday at Grandpa's house and decorating Grandpa's living room
-Sleeping on Grandpa's couch for 4 days and loving it more than my own bed!
-Bereavement Paid Time Off by Wells Fargo =)
-How many people from our ward brought food and drove to Orem for the viewing & funeral
-The 297 pictures that I took!!
-How everyone was very cooperative and never complained of my picture taking...haha!
-The spiritual musical number at the funeral by Jill's roommate
-Colton (my nephew) screams when people start singing hymns!! HAHA! Poor Colton.....
-All the stuff we learned about Grandma when she was a librarian and traveled everywhere
-The funny stuff the grandchildren all wrote about the things Grandma used to do
-The Spirit in Grandpa's house
-The luncheon the Relief Society prepared for us when we didn't even know them
-The incredible amount of funeral potatoes that were consumed
-My cute pictures!
-How beautiful Grandma looked in her casket
-The gorgeous flowers at the viewing, funeral, and the spectacular arrangement on her casket
-How Grandpa never stood taller than he has in the past year as he took care of Grandma

Our Spiritual Family Week

2008-10-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

We love you, Grandma!!

2008-10-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Irene Beardall 1930 - 2008

Billie Irene Blake Beardall, 78, passed away October 21, 2008. Irene was born on September 17, 1930 in St. George, UT, to Reed E. and Ethyl Harris Blake. She married Clyde LaVoy Beardall on May 28, 1949. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. They recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. Irene attended St. George schools, and in high school won three state championship tennis titles. She graduated from BYU in Home Economics. She earned her Masters Degree also from BYU in Library Science, taking some of her classes at Long Beach State and Cambridge University in England. She taught in Provo School District for 25 years, at Dixon Jr. High and as the Media Specialist and Librarian at Timpview High School. She was a wonderful cook and enjoyed many things including traveling, shopping with her children and grandchildren, quilting, and crocheting. Irene was an excellent seamstress and quilter. She also played in Contract Bridge Tournaments, but her passion was reading. There wasn't a book that she hadn't read, and she always had a new book to suggest to anyone interested. She and Clyde enjoyed years of traveling the world together. Their congeniality attracted many life-long friends. She took pride in the beauty of her home and had a talent for interior decorating. She never met a house or room she didn't want to decorate. Irene is survived by her loving husband Clyde; one son, Douglas, two daughters, Gayle (Bryan) Christensen, and Lisa (Bruce) Murdock; 11 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren; siblings Reed H. (Katie) Blake, Kathleen (Robert) Mitchell, and Karen (John) Frei. The family extends a special thanks to the compassionate caregivers of VistaCare Hospice, for their loving care. Funeral services will be held Friday, October 24, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. in the Suncrest 10th Ward Chapel, 90 North 600 West, Orem. Family and friends may attend a viewing on Thursday evening from 6-8 p.m. at Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary, 495 South State St., Orem and at the church on Friday one hour prior to services. Interment will be in the Provo City Cemetery.

It's brought us closer......

2008-10-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:38-39

Seeing my Grandma in her casket, wearing a beautiful white dress and her ceremonial clothing, was a reminder of how much love we've all felt this week and how much stronger our testimonies are of the truthfulness of His gospel.

"Angels have never ceased to minister unto the children of men.."

2008-10-19T20:17:00.000-07:00

Today was a perfect Sabbath day where I was a witness of something too sacred to explain. It started off with teaching my Primary boys about how the Savior blessed the children in 3 Nephi and how He prayed with all of them and for all of them. My kids loved learning about the angels coming down from heaven encircled about with fire, and even acted out what they would have done if the the angels stood in front of them. But I never would have thought, in a million years, that in that same day I would get a glimpse of the spiritual power we had read about and the holiness of a heavenly presence.

My Grandma has not passed away quite yet, but we're only counting minutes until it happens because of her physically deteriorating body. I went to visit my Grandma yesterday after Jill called and told me that Grandma only had a couple days left, but visiting her today was a new experience for me that I was only slightly prepared for after teaching the lesson this morning. My family had dinner at Jill's apartment (she lives in Orem) and then we all headed over to my grandparents house, so my Dad could give my Grandma a blessing. My Dad had worried and prayed all day about this blessing because of the type of blessing it would include- would it be an anointing to cure an illness or would it be to release her from pain that she would pass away?? When we showed up at their house, the Bishop and one of his counselors were there and while we were being introduced, a hospice nurse showed up to check on things. Everyone left the house to give my Grandma privacy to be changed and give the nurse an opportunity to check for certain things and as we stood on the lawn waiting, some of my cousins showed up, along with my Aunt and Uncle. While everyone kept standing outside talking and after I had seen the nurse leave, I figured it would be okay if I went inside the house. And that's when it hit me.

The complete difference of visiting yesterday from today was the feeling in the air- my sister joked that there was "death in the air", but there was something else there too. I quietly sat down in a corner chair so I wouldn't get in the way, and I watched my Grandpa hold my Grandma and tell her how much he loved her. I watched as my Grandpa looked at her like she was the most loved person on earth and tell her that he would take away the pain if he could. I'm not even sure if he knew I was there, but I just kept watching. And to see him baby her and care for her and love her, when she had no idea what was going on or who was even there, I was witness to a feeling and an outward expression of pure love that I wish every person would show towards one another. I sat in the corner crying and I watched as every family member walked through the front door; Mom, Dad, Jill, Lisa, Joe, Colton, Derek, Becca, Gage, Lisa, Bruce, Melissa, and Keven. Everyone gathered around my Grandma's bed and my Uncle asked my Grandpa for his permission to say a family prayer before the blessing was given. There was no mistaking the Spirit as we all bowed our heads and prayed for my Grandma and for His presence to be with us. I will never deny the power of family prayer and I will never in my life deny the miracle that happened next.

The prayer ended and the men, reverently and perfectly silent, gathered at the head of my Grandma's bed. As they placed their hands on top of each other's, it was almost as if the half circle they formed glowed with a visible spiritual power. We all bowed our heads again and as my Dad started the blessing he got choked up, and in the split second that he stopped to catch his breath, the overwhelming feeling of priesthood power and the presence of something heavenly was felt by all of us. To be standing there, watching my very own family members bow their heads and worthily give a powerful and spiritual blessing to comfort my Grandma, was something I have always underestimated. It was honestly as if "they were encircled about as if they were in a midst of flaming fire, that filled the whole room with a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory." What happened in that room was my own personal 'pillar of light' experience and only 3 Nephi 17:17 could even give an idea of how powerful and spiritually moving the blessing was, "No tongue can speak, neither can there be written by man, and neither can the hearts of men conceive the great and marvelous things we saw and heard." I can't tell you what was said during the prayer and I will never be able to explain the power and sacredness of the words spoken, but I can promise you that angels have never ceased to minister unto the children of men and that today was the day I caught a glimpse of the glory of celestial families.

A Piece of String

2008-10-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

One famous short story is the masterpiece written by Maupassant, "A Piece of String." The story's central figure is a peasant named Maitre Hauchecorne. One day as he was walking through a busy market place, the frugal old peasant saw a bit of twine lying on the ground. He bent down to pick it up and was later accused of having picked up a wallet that had been lost at that spot. He protested his innocence and exhibited the string as evidence, but he was arrested and taken to the police station. The next day the lost wallet was found and he was released, but Maitre Hauchecorne was unable to forget the insult and he began to brood over it. He told all of his friends about the incident and called all of his family members to tell them, until finally the piece of string became an obsession. He neglected his farm to go about telling strangers how he had been mistreated and wrongly accused, and he neglected his normal daily life to go around spreading the story. Eventually the old peasant died of a broken heart. And in the delirium preceding his death, he was still mumbling something about a "piece of string."

This story touches one of the most serious weaknesses in our lives. Sometimes a fault or grievance gets caught in our minds in such a way that we can't forget it, and often it stays there until it has ruined our lives. The Bible contains several hundred scriptures advising us about the importance of memory. We are told to 'always stay in remembrance' and yet we can't always seem to remember our blessings or our duties or our debts. But isn't it an interesting fact that creditors have much better memories than debtors? Sometimes we're too busy concentrating on how we've been "robbed" instead of living up to what we owe. How ridiculous to go around with our pockets full of Mr. Hauchecorne's string to remind ourselves of all of the grievances we have against the world- our greatest danger often comes from our own resentments and poisonous negative thinking.

But as serious as is our problem of not being able to remember, we often have an even more serious problem in not being able to forget. Because Maitre Hauchecorne couldn't forget the injury to his pride, he had fallen down in his work, made himself ill, and finally died of an unhappy and broken heart. Millions of other people also allow their own grudges and grievances to ruin their lives, with or without cause. Usually we make our own selves mad and we sometimes allow ourselves to become so touchy that every little thing upsets us. In a single day, a person might have a dozen experiences that may not be to our liking, but with the right kind of protective armor, those poisonous arrows will fall harmlessly to the ground and never be found still sticking out of our backs.

EPHESIANS 6:13-18
"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance."

Sister Pfeiffer

2008-10-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

This is dedicated to Sister Pfeiffer, Newport Beach 1st ward, a trio-companionship, adapting to real life, and everything we've learned together since then!!!!!! =)

Within my earthly temple, there's quite a big crowd;
There's one of me that's humble, and one that's proud.
There's one that's broken-hearted and sorry for my sins,
There's one that's unrepentant, that simply sits and grins,
There's one that loves my neighbor as I truly love myself,
There's one that only cares for glory, fame, and pelf.
But after much love and patient care, I finally will be free-
If I could only determine which one was really me!

I learned so much from Conference =)

2008-10-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

These are some of my Conference pictures and I hope I'm not violating any Copyright laws by posting these!!! I just wanted to show how cool it is to be neighbor's with the prophet's secretary and get hooked up with the best seats ever =) I learned SO much from the Saturday sessions (I got to sit in both of them!), but Sunday was hard for me because it's completely different not sitting right in front of them. Look how the speakers just glow when you're sitting so close!!! I LOVE THIS CHURCH!!!!!!!! Oh and P.S.- I look kinda scary in this picture....

2008-10-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

I love Conference!!!

2008-10-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Yes- I did take my camera into Conference. But I saw other people's flashes go off too, and at least I turned my flash off!!! So don't judge me for trying to capture how perfect the moment was =) This was when the First Presidency was walking off the stage and I also tried to capture how many millions of kazillion people were there, but now it kinda makes me sick to watch this because the screen keeps moving!!!

BITTER SWEET SERVICE =)

2008-10-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

I have a problem- a major one. And I have no idea how to stop doing it. Since I don't remember anything from my childhood or pretty much anything before 2002, I have no idea if I have always been this way or if I became like this because someone told me it was cool to be a pushover. I do things for people, seriously- anything they ask, I do. When I'm told to do stuff at work or if someone tells me how to do something or if I'm asked to do extra stuff for my callings, that's totally different. I'm talking about when people ask me to hook them up with something, or when they ask to borrow money, and when they ask me to give them things, or any other ridiculous and selfish favors. Maybe I think people will like me more if I actually do it- I HAVE NO IDEA. But it is going to change because I hate when people use me and expect things from me, when there's no rhyme or reason for me to do it. There's no point in telling the dramatic and tragic (in my mind) and deceiving experience that has finally pushed me to the hatred of being asked favors, but I wanted to share some perfectly descriptive words and actions of the human beings that I seem to be associated with. I learn a lot from Google.

HOODWINK- hood·wink
verb....to influence by slyness, swindle, conceal, mislead, deceive or trick - To conceal one's true motives by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end.
"Hoodwinked with kindness." --Sir P. Sidney.

BAMBOOZLE- bam·boo·zle
verb......to deceive or get the better of (someone) by trickery and flattery
They bamboozled us into joining the club.

FATUOUS- fat·u·ous
adj.....Foolish or silly, especially in a smug or self-satisfied way
'Don't you like the poor lonely bachelor?' he yammered in a fatuous way" --Sinclair Lewis

VACUOUS- vac·u·ous
adj....devoid of significance or point; "empty promises"

AVARICIOUS- av·a·ri·cious
adj.....characterized by avarice; greedy; covetous
The avaricious eagerly grasp after it at the expense of others.

SANCTIMONIOUS- sanc·ti·mo·ni·ous
adj....making a hypocritical show of religious devotion, piety, righteousness
"a solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old man that looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity" --Mark Twain

PERFIDIOUS- per·fid·i·ous
adj.....deliberately false, disloyal, deceitful, and tending to betray
"Involved in this perfidious fraud with this perfidious lover." --Milton

Okay- now that I'm done with my new vocabulary list for the day, I'll remind myself of what I have a testimony of.....

Hymn #232 Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words
"Let us oft speak kind words to each other
At home or wherever we may be.
Oh, the kind words we give shall in memory live,
And sunshine forever impart.
Let us oft speak kind words to each other;
Kind words are sweet tones of the heart.
Let’s oft, then, in kindly toned voices,
Our mutual friendship renew,
Till heart meets with heart and rejoices
In friendship that ever is true.

EPHESIANS 4:29-32
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

THE GOSPEL ALWAYS WINS IN THE END! =)

Taking the first step with them means serving too

2008-09-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

So I'm still dying of the worst head congestion and sinus pressure you could ever imagine, and I can't even bend over or laugh because my head tightens up and I think I'm going to explode from the pressure in my face. With that in mind, you can only imagine my day in a Special Ed freakishly tiny classroom with everyone making too much noise that's way too loud for my head. And then for me to go to Wells Fargo and be the only one at the drive-thru on a horrendously busy Monday. I was miserable. I also found out that I was a couple sales short of a goal that I had and tomorrow is the last day to reach the goal, but because I was helping the whole state of Utah in one drive-thru, I had no time to sell to anyone and reach my goal.

When we put all those pieces together (my head exploding, kids practically screaming in my ear all morning, no lunch or breakfast cuz I can't even taste the food anyways, not meeting my sales goal that I've worked for 3 months to get, and managing 3 lanes on a Monday Mad-Rush), you'll understand that I completely crumbled. I cried for a straight hour. I was at work, at the drive, and struggling to see the computer screen through my tears so that I could do the transactions. Sometimes I sobbed, but it was mainly just a turbo streak of never ending tears streaming down my face. I wasn't doing it for attention or to have people feel sorry for me, I just couldn't do it anymore. I was done. They were short tellers in the lobby so no one came to help me, and my managers were off helping the long line out the door, so it was just me. And all I could do was cry. I don't think anyone in the drive could actually see my tears, but if they asked me a question and I tried to talk back, I would start bawling when I tried to talk and I think I scared some people!!! OH MY. I was a mess. No one else in the branch noticed because we were all too busy to even breathe, but I finally got the chance to ask one of my managers to stand in my spot. I walked out to my car, crying the whole time, and I sat in my hot, stuffy car and I sobbed/bawled for another 10 minutes. Then it was all out and even though nothing had changed, I was able to walk back inside and take my place again in the most dreaded spot I have ever stood in. So the point of my pity party story brings me back to a very important part of Acts 3 and what I've read recently in the Ensign. It's a beautiful story.

I read again and again the experience of Peter and John as they went through the gate on the way to the temple. Here was one who had never walked, impotent from his birth, begging alms of all who approached the gate. And as Peter and John approached, he held out his hand expectantly, asking for alms. Peter said, "Look on us" and, of course, that heightened his expectation. "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." (Acts 3:4,6) Now in my mind's eye I can picture this man, what he might be thinking: "Doesn't this man know that I have never walked and yet he commands me to walk?" But the biblical record doesn't end there. Peter didn't just command the man to walk and then turn away, but Peter "took him by the right hand, and lifted him up" (Acts 3:7).

Can you see the picture now of that noble soul, the chiefest of the Apostles, with his arms around the shoulders of this man, probably saying, "Now, my good man, have courage; I will take a few steps with you. Let's walk together, and I assure you that you can walk." Then the man leaped with joy! What a beautiful description of showing someone the way and then letting them go out on their own with your blessing! He didn't just command him to stand up and walk, he helped him stand up and get started. That's all I wanted today- HAHAHA- I was so overwhelmed!! After asking a dozen times for some help at the drive, and asking for a chance to go take some more medicine, I would have gladly accepted even 30 seconds of someone's time!!
I'm definitely not trying to take any glory or miracle from this story to say that I was in the same situation as this beggar at the gate, but I want to focus on the meaning of the story- that he helped him get started, took a few steps with him, and then assured and praised him as he walked on his own. How many times do I see some of my Special Ed kids trying to learn something and I leave them to learn it in their own time or assume they'll understand it tomorrow when we review it. MAN- how wrong I was. I need to be there every second for my kids and helping them. I shouldn't do it for them because the story never said that Peter lifted the beggar up and carried him- he simply took a few steps with him to get him started. I'm going to change my whole teaching schedule tomorrow and make sure I have individual time with every kid in my class! I know it will be more beneficial than any lesson I've ever taught to the whole class. So this is my new found testimony- TIME. It's essential and it means the world to people. 2 minutes of my time might mean 2 decades of success for someone! Okay- maybe that's a little dramatic but I want to serve people by giving my time and meeting their needs in a timely manner. Maybe one of the worst days of me working at Wells Fargo actually turned out to be a growing experience =)

Listening to others

2008-09-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

Listening to testimonies in church today, I was reminded of how grateful I am that the gospel isn't just a part of my life but that it is my life. I have been blessed with a million spiritual experiences that help me understand better how to walk not only in His footsteps, but with Them everyday. I had such an experience recently and since I don't think it's something I should freely tell, I'll just share what I learned from it!! =)

I haven't been able to sleep this past week due to a stuffy/runny nose that does not allow me to breathe and because my head has so much sinus pressure, I'm waiting for my face to explode. Having so much twilight time, I've read a ton of church books and talks on dreams & personal life experiences of our apostles. To some extent everyone is a dreamer. Even though I don't remember 3/4 of what I dream every night, I have realized that dreams are very important to have and to understand. In one of Oscar Hammerstein's songs he says:

You've got to have a dream,
For if you don't have a dream,
How are you gonna make that dream come true?

I don't normally talk about dreams with my friends, even though sometimes they're actually in my dreams, but what I learned this week includes several scripture stories of when dreams were followed or when God spoke through a dream. When our mental images are guided by reason and motivated by some righteous ambition, we usually have our own interpretation of the dream that we can take into our lives and learn from. But we can also profit from the dreams of others. It is significant that neither the dreams or the interpretations are always given to those for whom the benefit is intended. And the interpretations are rarely accepted by those who have the greatest need for them. I'm excited for Conference next week and for the dreams and visions the apostles may have had in knowing what to talk about. The idea wasn't necessarily for them, but it's for us- for us to listen to and act upon. And some of us don't accept it, when we are truly the ones with the greatest need for it. When an inspired message comes to a prophet, each of us is supposed to support its good for our own benefit. Sometimes, like King Nebuchadnezzar, many of us not only forget our dreams, but we also lose track of the interpretation. This made it necessary for Daniel to dream Nebuchadnezzar's dream over again for him. Joseph also did most of the work on Pharaoh's dream. The Apostle John was called "the Revelator" because he revealed divine messages to others. But we have to put these messages into operation if we expect to get the maximum benefit. Many great men have done a lot of inspired dreaming and constructive thinking, with us written in as the beneficiaries of the dream. The Psalms of David and the Proverbs of Solomon contain messages given for our benefit. It was also just for us that God thundered the Ten Commandments from the top of Mount Sinai.

Even the mistakes made by the world's worst sinners contain a message intended for us, and some of them have been written down so that it wouldn't be necessary for us to make these same mistakes personally. But we can also make ourselves the beneficiary of every good thing that ever happens. The great atoning sacrifice was also made in our own personal interests, and yet some people will lose many of its benefits because they don't get the right interpretation of its importance. What a terrible tragedy will be revealed on Judgement Day if we discover that great blessings are missing from our lives, because we never listened and learned from what other's are saying. For Conference next week, I hope I get tickets to every session so I can sit there at the feet of our latter day apostles and learn from their dreams and visions, and soak up every word that they've been inspired to say just for me. I can't wait!

Last summer I went to an Institute class where we read the Conferences talks for our lessons. That way we were always pondering the messages of Conference and remembering what we were supposed to be working on and learning from. My goal for this Conference is to never forget or lose what I learned from it. I personally know that most of our serious problems come because we lose things. The Bible speaks of the lost sheep and the lost coin. Frequently our salt loses its savor. The lights go out in that city built on the hill. We often lose our faith and the spirit of our success. Because their oil was missing, the foolish Virgins were not permitted to attend the marriage feast. And we will definitely not be permitted into celestial glory if our necessary virtues are missing. But with the right kind of dreams, a copy of Conference talks with us at all times, and our consistent reading of the scriptures, we can hold onto and never lose our faith, our wealth, our health, or our eternal inheritance. =)

Random info on my new fave singer-

2008-09-21T01:38:00.000-07:00

Brian Stokes Mitchell:

He sang "Through Heaven's Eyes" in Prince of Egypt
He's been in a million plays, movies, and tv series
He sang this song at the concert but the YouTube clip is him acting in Man of La Mancha.....
(this is the song Pres. Eyring gave a solo standing ovation to!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZE4KGB6Wt4

Saturday Night Drama =)

2008-09-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

I went to the BEST concert in the whole entire world tonight and had the most amazing time!! Let me first give you a background of my week before I tell the most inspiring concert story EVER! Last weekend I was very sick and thought I was going to die from the flu, but I soon discovered that I wasn't dying from the flu, I was actually dying from a cold that encompassed and overwhelmed my whole entire body. I couldn't hear, I couldn't smell, I couldn't taste any food, my nose ran 24/7, I couldn't sleep because I couldn't breathe, and my throat was swollen 3 times its normal capacity! So in a nutshell- I was miserable. I missed 2 days of school and work and when I was actually at work, I hated my life because I was too congested to care about anything else. Anyways, Sister Crawford randomly called me on Thursday while I was home being deathly ill and wallowing in self pity, and she offered me 2 tickets to the Conference Center on Saturday night. I don't remember what event she said it was or even what I said back to her because I was too heavily medicated, but I ended up getting 2 tickets to some random concert. I forgot about it Thursday night and on Friday, but she left a message on Saturday and that's when I remembered that I said I would go. I thought of a million reasons to get out of it, whatever "it" was because I still didn't know what I said I would go to, but I didn't want to be rude after she had called me when she could have called anyone else. So I went and had a night that I never want to forget.

O. C. Tanner Gift of Music Concert,

An American Songbook
The repertoire includes favorite selections from American choral literature

I went with Becky and after we finally found a random parking spot, we walked in the building and I could NOT stop smiling. When we first walked in, some senior missionaries were standing there among all the volunteers with suits and name tags on that were standing around to help people. Besides the Spirit always being so incredibly strong at the Conference Center, to see missionaries with those sacred name tags on reminds me of how perfect this Church is and how much I loved being a missionary. We walked in and it was completely packed with millions of people everywhere, but we showed our tickets and were guided to the very front. Keep in mind that Sister Crawford is the Secretary to the First Presidency and hooks me up with the closest seats you could ever imagine. We were taken to the 4th row, where our reserved seats were, and I kept smiling like I had never been there before!! I was so excited for this random concert I was at, though I still had no idea what it was about! =) So we're sitting there waiting for it to began and as we start to look around, we realize that Sheri Dew is a row in front of us, who's sitting next to Elder Russell M Nelson, and Elder Eyring is only 2 rows in front of us! WOW- this concert already rocks! We were trying to find other spiritual figures around us, when it gets so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone around me stands up and is completely and reverently silent as President Monson walks in. PRESIDENT MONSON!!! Oh my!!! Seriously- what concert am I at???!!!!!?? He walks in with his wife and sits down as the orchestra continues tuning and warming up. And you wanna know where he sits down?? YEP- right across the aisle from us!! =) The audience is hushed once again as the entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir walks up on stage, in beautiful baby-blue colored and shining beaded satin gowns, with the men in tuxedos.

The concert then begans as the Utah Symphony, with the Mormon Tabernacle, performs An American Songbook concert. They played songs from South Pacific and Man of La Mancha and other great American classics. Lisa and Jill would have been so mad at me because I didn't recognize even one song, yet they would have known all the songs and the movies they were in because I swear they know every song that was ever invented- I did recognize Climb Every Mountain though, but that's because it's on one of my MoTab CD's!! There were 2 guest singers, Brian Stokes Mitchell (my new fave singer) and Denyce Graves. It was incredible!! No, it was more than that- it was sensational and enchanting and magnificent. The orchestra was moving, Brian's voice was miraculous, the MoTab was inspiring, and Pres. Eyring was so funny as he danced in his seat to some of the songs they were playing!! He was so cute to watch with his family and at one point, he loved the song they were playing so much that he stood up as he clapped as hard as he could. Maybe because he's a member of the First Presidency or because the audience didn't want him to look weird as he stood up by himself, but we all stood up and helped Pres. Eyring give a standing ovation!! It was so much fun!!

What a spiritually fun night with very spiritual people. I love music, I love the Church, I love Sister Crawford's hookups, and I love going with Becky because she appreciates these Church events as much as I do. It was incredible and I am the luckiest girl for sitting elbow to elbow with the greatest men on earth. Oh ya- and I'm grateful for the makers of Tylenol Cold Daytime because my ears weren't clogged too bad and I was able to hear the music!

Gadianton Robber Roasting Party!!

2008-09-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

I promised my class we would have a marshmallow roasting party because they were the cutest Gadianton Robbers ever. They decided to bring the things they hate in their lives and we would roast them, because the Gadianton Robbers killed and attacked the things they didn't like.

Spencer decided that he was way too old for Elmo, so he brought his childhood stuffed animal to burn. He said that a Gadianton Robber would NEVER be caught dead with Elmo!! Cameron brought a box of animal crackers because he hates them and Ian brought his little sister- I'm pretty sure he doesn't hate her, she just wanted to come. =) They all decided to call it the "Sacrificing Party" as they destroyed the things they hated. So here are our fun pictures and the video of Spencer burning Elmo!!! The next day in church, it was Fast and Testimony meeting and 2 of them bore their testimonies and mentioned how much fun they had at the class party. I was dying the whole time because I just knew one of them might give details and say something like we sacrificed animals in the Christensen's backyard!!! Hahaha! But don't worry- it was all very spiritual. =)

We each have our own standards, whether high or low!!

2008-09-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

"Questionable scenes come on tv all the time. What do you do? You get rid of it. You delete it. You’ve got to have a delete button in your life. You shouldn’t have to sit there and say, 'Should I look at this, or should I not?' You can’t rationalize and say, 'Well, maybe just once. Maybe I ought to experience or see a little of it so I know what it is.' You simply turn it off." Elder Hales

Last week in one of my classes, the professor played a movie for us. It was an HBO film and it was very intriguing to watch. The movie was "The Iron Jawed Angels", with tons of famous actors and actresses, and it represented 1920 when women gained the right to vote. So we're all into the movie, when the "love" music started playing, and you could tell what was coming next. The professor said, "Oh ya- I forgot about his part. If any of you don't want to watch, just don't look for the next couple of minutes. Is everyone ok with that?". Silence. Dead silence. No one said a word, so it turned out to be the most awkward moment EVER. The professor said, "No one's going to answer? Good- because we are all adults and are not childlike enough to not be able to handle it." OH MY. I grabbed my purse and said, "I think it's time for a drink." And I left. There was no way I was sticking around to watch some pornographic bathtub scene! You can call me a child all you want!! One of my classmates told me later that it was only a couple minutes long, but whether it was 2 minutes or 20 minutes, it was way too long for me to sit there and feel uncomfortable. So that was that and I got my drink, taking my time, and went back like 15 minutes later. We finished the movie (it really was a good show), had a test on what the video represented, and went home. One friend from class said he was surprised I left and my sister told me I was dumb for leaving (hahaha! I love Jill!), but it was over and done with so I forgot about it. Until my grade came out....OH MY.

2 weeks ago I had a 96%, but now I definitely DO NOT have that anymore because I got an incomplete for the test. WHAT?? I didn't make that big of a scene when I left- I just left. And I came back, so it's not like I didn't watch the whole thing. OH MY- I guess I should have stood up and starting giving a talk on abstaining from sexual relations!!! =) Seriously though, I don't care that everyone else watched it- I just hate feeling uncomfortable like that and I didn't want to watch it. Even if it was only 1 scene. So now I'm freaking out that I won't get any credit for the test and I hate the world and I hate school and I want to live in the temple all day long! I know, I know- it's a little dramatic. But I'm scared to talk to the professor and ask her why there's no grade for the test. BLAH! So I'm guessing that this is the part where I have to learn how to be proud of my standards (even if they are a little high!!) and I need to make sure I did everything I could have for the test. I hope there's some other mistake that I'm not thinking of and if I really did offend someone by leaving, I guess I just accept the Incomplete grade and know that I did what I knew was right for me. Man- I wish I was still on my mission. =)

ONE DECISION AFFECTS THE NEXT by Elder Robert D. Hales

'This cumulative process occurs when people lose their standards. They say, “I’ll just have one social drink.” Taking one drink makes it easier to take the second, and they keep rationalizing their behavior, and eventually they lose their priesthood, the influence of the Holy Ghost, and their values. It’s all cumulative. Pretty soon they’ve lost everything. You don’t know that the first drink may lead you to become an alcoholic. You don’t know that the first pornographic image you look at may become an obsession and may take your life from you—your mind, your spirit, your body. You may think, “I can take one extra pill, right? That isn’t going to hurt anything.” By your very conduct, people will know who and what you are. They will know what you will accept and what you won’t accept. It’s how you dress, it’s your demeanor, it’s how you conduct yourself."

The blessings never end

2008-09-10T21:35:00.000-07:00

"Our words, deeds, & their external effects are merely consequences of our mental actions. To bring peace and insight to the world, we must learn to purify our minds; and if with a pure mind we speak or act, then happiness will follow us as a shadow that never departs."

I work part time at Copperview Elementary as a Special Ed teacher and one of my 2nd graders, Kaitlyn, suffers from an eating disorder, among several other disabilities. She actually learned how to be bulimic from watching TV and yet the parents have no motivation to teach her differently or take the TV away. Anyways (because I'm not gonna start judging!), last year a school nurse was assigned to eat lunch with her and walk her back to class, in order to watch her movements and make sure she actually eats the lunch. However, the nurse quit and they haven't hired a new one for the school year yet. So yep- you guessed it! I am now the one assigned to sit in a stinky, greasy, booger infested cafeteria with 200 sweaty kids coming in from recess and eating fried chicken with 2 week old french fries and a dried up roll!! AAAHHH! I leave everyday smelling so disgusting!! I've started bringing a change of clothes with me so I can change in the car as I'm driving to Wells Fargo. I'm pretty sure my co-workers at the bank would gag if they had to stand around me and smell elementary cafeteria all day!!!

But of course my judgment of the whole situation was proven wrong and now I absolutely LOVE my 20 minute cafeteria sitting!!! Oh my!! The kids that come and sit with me are adorable and tell me the funniest stories. Kaitlyn comes across as "weird" to all the other kids so she always sat alone at lunch, but when they saw Kaitlyn and I laughing and telling stories, some of the other kids wandered over. Now there are 6 of us who sit at the "loser" table and it is the best 20 minutes of my day!

So there's this 3rd grader, Latisha, who is bigger than she should be at her age, and is a black girl who wears pigtail dread-locked braids everyday. I swear she's half Tongan because she eats like a horse and laughs louder than all 6 of us put together! When she first introduced herself to me, she came over to the table and said, "I'm gonna sit here but I can't look at you because I know you can read my thoughts." HAHAHAHAHA!!! I was laughing SO hard! And she really did come sit down next to Kaitlyn, with her back turned to me!! Kaitlyn kept asking her why she was sitting at our table and why she wasn't with her friends, but she would whisper back to Kaitlyn saying, "Shhhhh- she can read my thoughts." Hahahaha!! Then yesterday this little boy, the cutest blonde haired and skinniest boy ever, came and sat down to warn me that if I ate anyone's food it would be poisonous, and that he couldn't sit by anyone else because the poison might get on his food!!

That should give you a good feel for the people at our lunch table and this is where the whole point of the story comes in. Today started out to be a pretty rough day but ended so differently than what I could have ever expected. It was a crazy day in my classroom because one of my Autistic boys had an episode, so I was 10 minutes late to my lunch appointment. As soon as I walked into the cafeteria, a bunch of kids practically ran up to me and as they all talked at once, they told me how the school bully, Tyler, was being mean, calling people names, and talking about disgusting things (I can't BELIEVE how much trash these kids learn from TV). For those of you who know me well enough to know how much I HATE dirty jokes, it won't be a surprise that I totally yelled at the kid and made him go sit all the way across the lunchroom, away from my precious kids, and threatened that I was going to tell Principal Shaw (I just made that part up to scare the little punk).

So after he had moved and everyone was calm again, one of the boys told me that Tyler had said some really rude things to Latisha and had made fun of her. I stood up, ready to walk over and get mad at Tyler again, when Latisha rushed over to my side and motioned for me to bend down, so she could tell me a secret. And what she whispered in my ear was the most profound thing I have ever heard from a child, or from anyone else I know. This little pigtailed 3rd grader said to me, "I'm God's child. It doesn't matter what Tyler says." She plopped back down at the table and started talking to someone else while she finished her expired & watered down peaches, but I just stood there because I was stunned. I don't know if I was more shocked than I was speechless, but maybe those things always go together! The bell rang and everyone ran to class, but I think I stood there for a couple minutes before I realized that everyone had left the cafeteria. What a blessing it is in my life to learn the most sacred and important things from little children. I still can't believe that an 8 year old understands something that I haven't accepted in my life yet. It doesn't matter what people say to us or how horribly they treat us because we are God's children- and that's all that matters. I realized today that I am the luckiest girl in the world because I get to eat lunch with 200 hundred greasy & obnoxiously loud angels!!! =)

Mission Flashback

2008-09-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

"Each one of us has been given the power to change his or her life, and in some ways all of us need to change. That is, some of us need to be more kind at home, less selfish, better listeners, and more considerate in the way we treat others. Some of us have habits that need to be changed, habits that harm us and others around us." ~President Faust

I mentioned a couple days ago that I've been reading from my mission journal lately, and I read something tonight that reminded me of what happened on Tuesday night. It was probably halfway through my mission when all the chaos happened and it totally changed who I was. I was a harder worker, a more forgiving person, and a very loving missionary. I don't know what happened to all those traits or where they went but I'm a changed person after tonight!!! I PROMISE!! =) Anyways, I was serving in Newport Beach and assigned with a Tongan companion who struggled with getting up in the morning and getting any work done during the day. Something felt different being with her then any other companion I had but it took a couple weeks to figure out what was so different. Turns out she was sneaking out every night while I was sleeping and was involved in immoral activities. I'll spare you the details of how I found out or how I caught her and what a horrible, awful mess it all was, but I only served with her for 3 weeks before she was shipped home. President Harmsen pulled Sister Chu, who was in a companionship of 3 Sisters, and had her be my companion for 2 weeks. Then transfers came and President assigned me with Sister Hall. So I had 3 different companions in less than 2 months and I can't even began to explain how rude people were to me! No one had ANY idea of what happened, not ward members or other missionaries, so everyone assumed that I was the horrible companion that no one got along with and that I kept chasing off all my companions. There was some rumor that went around with the other missionaries that I had told Pres. my companion kept calling home, so she got sent home early. Man- they were WAY off!!! And the ward members stopped inviting us over for dinner, or appointments, or pretty much anything. Literally, we went from having dinner every night with a family to going without dinner appointments for a month and a half. People would actually come up to me and say, "I guess you're the companion everyone hated on their mission. I remember the ones I hated", and "Wow, you definitely need to learn how to be a better person or else no one will ever want to be with you" and the best one (that the Ward Mission Leader said) "We're praying for your companion and hope she's going to make it. I bet she's already counting down until the next transfer." So you pretty much get the gist that everyone judged the situation as something SOO completely different and all I could do was smile and work harder than I ever had. Actually, I stopped eating, I couldn't sleep, and I cried every night because I was so scared of what had happened and I felt like I didn't have control of anything. But I worked from sun-up to sun-down because that way I didn't have to think about what was happening or how people were treating me. By working so hard, I finally had an unshakable testimony that I was there to do the Lord's work and nothing else mattered. I served, without any success, for another 6 weeks and was finally transferred out of the area. No one ever knew the real story and none of those ward members ever opened their home to me because of their perception of the story, but I grew to be the strongest person because I knew I was working for the Lord and not for the world around me.

So I was reading about all the horror from those months of my mission and it dawned on me that the same situation had happened on Tuesday night. I work at Wells Fargo and there's this man who always comes and is SOO incredibly rude. Seriously, he makes you feel like the dumbest and smallest person alive. He never smiles and one time he made this huge scene in the lobby because he had waited for so long and was going to take his money to another bank and bla, bla, bla. On Tuesday night I went to the Jordan River Temple with another coworker, and guess who was the temple worker of our session??!! The mean man!!!! He was very surprised to see us there, but I'm pretty sure I was way more surprised to see Grumpy the Bear in a perfect bright white suit, talking in a holy voice! Oh my! This is like when I saw the teacher I hate, in her white temple dress.... maybe I should switch temples!! =) The coworker I was with recognized him too because she was the one who calmed him down when he freaked out in the lobby. And do you know what I found out? He was trying to get control over his business, didn't really know how things worked, and wanted to make sure he was doing everything the right way, which happened to make him a very uptight business man. And ya know what? Because I understand what situation he's in, he's a totally different person to me now and I treated him differently when he came in today. How amazing it is to understand what someone is going through or what their situation is- it changes how we act and what we say. What a flashback it was to my Newport Beach dilemma- if only people understood my situation, I would have had a totally different experience in that ward.

I'm still thinking of what reminder I can have everyday to not judge- kinda like a CTR ring, or the YW value necklaces. I need a "Love and don't judge" ring! I obviously struggle with remaining a changed person because I always fall back into being judgmental and inconsiderate, but this time it's different! My goal this week is praying to have a continously loving heart, so even when I have no idea what situation people are in, I can be more considerate and loving. That means people can call me and tell me anything they want, and I won't judge them or jump to a conclusion!!! =) HAHA- wait a few more weeks and I'll be better at my new goal!

I love them to death!!

2008-09-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

Oh my- I love my Primary class more and more each week!! This past Sunday I was teaching about the Gadianton robbers and of course they LOVED learning about killing, stealing, and lots of bad things (I have a class of all boys!). There are usually 5 or 6 of us every week so we sit in a small circle together and take turns reading from the scriptures. Knowing I love to talk and since I'm the one teaching the lesson, after someone reads a verse they all look up at me and wait for me to explain what it meant. It's so cute how they all look up at the same time after every verse because they know I'm gonna want to tell them some mission story or something else that relates to what we're reading. Anyways, so I'm explaining to them about the secret signs and secret codes that the Gadianton Robbers had and how they used to do bad things in the village and then go hide out in the mountains. One of them asked, "Can we have a code?" and all the boys were SOOO excited that our class could come up with a code that unless people knew what it was, they couldn't come to our parties or even be around us. They all agreed on Helaman as the code word (we were reading from Helaman 6) and we moved on to the rest of the story.

It was probably 15 or 20 minutes later when Sister Luper, from the Primary Presidency, came to give me our part for Sacrament meeting next month. She kinda tapped on the door as she was opening it, and then walked over to me and started telling me exactly what we were supposed to do. From the second she even tapped on the door, all 5 of the boys were frantically saying, "What's the Secret Code? Give us the the Secret Word!!!" and they all had this stricken look on their face like they couldn't believe she would come in without knowing the word. So Sister Luper is still explaining things to me, totally oblivious to what was going on around her, and one of my boys whispered, "She doesn't know it- DESTROY!" and they all made pretend dart guns with their hands and started blowing darts at her!!! Seriously, all 5 of them were blowing as hard as they could into their hands to see who could shoot her with the most darts!!!! I wasn't listening to a word Sister Luper was saying at that point because my class had to be the cutest Gadianton Robbers in the whole wide world! She finally stopped talking to look up and see what all the commotion was, and that's when I told her we were the Gadianton Robbers and since she didn't know the Code word, they were in attack mode. She started laughing really hard and I was more proud of my boys than I ever have been!! They were determined robbers though and were still blowing darts at her, never stopping until she finally left the room. Then one of them ran and put his ear up to the door, as if he could really hear her in the hallway, and he turned to the rest of the class and said, "We did it- intruder destroyed." HAHAHA- I love them SO much!!! I don't think I stopped laughing all day!!

At the end of the lesson, I always give them a couple minutes to draw a picture of what they remember from the lesson and if I could scan it and put the pictures on here, I would. They all drew themselves, holding their dart guns, with arrows shooting at a stick figure with long curly hair (Sister Luper!)!!! They are so perfect!! I told them that we could have a party this Saturday because they are my most favorite people in the world. =)

A scripture answer

2008-09-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

Last week I was reading from my mission journal, and I realized how much I missed the power of serving and the feeling I had when someone's life was changed because of the gospel. So I decided I wanted to start volunteering, or serving somewhere, or go back to the temple (I served at the temple last year). On Saturday I had to work and it was a slow day (thanks to a holiday weekend!) so I started making a list of everything I was involved in now and the hours I was committed to something. I wanted to be able to see what hours I could put in to my new surprise mission work and see when I had spare time to fill.

I was counting all my hours and thinking of what my next service project could be, when one of my co-workers asked what I was doing. I explained to him how I wanted to ration out my time and see what extra hours I had to fill up with a new service project. The look on his face was priceless!! He did NOT agree with my process of managing time. AT ALL. He told me that we are not required to be serving or working every second of the day, but that we should be giving our all to the point of life we're at. He explained that there are different points of life that need all of our focus. At one point we go to school, or get married, or work, or have kids, or serve missions, but they are all at different times of life and we should be focusing only on the point of life we are in. That means giving our best and our all to what we are doing, and not trying to do all of those different things at once. (When he started going off, I just stood there and smiled because he wasn't stopping anytime soon!!) He pointed out that at the end of the year he was going to start his residency, and the hours and work that were required would take 90% of his time. Being that it was the point of life he was at, he knew he needed to focus on it and put all of his effort into doing the best he could. That's when I cut in and pointed out that his wife that's 7 months pregnant with their first child should be his focus!!!! OH MY! But he argued and said that the focus and time he will put into his residency would be for his family and their greater good. I couldn't argue with that and I couldn't think of any other argument, so my list of daily hours was destroyed!! HAHAHAHA!! I hate not being able to think of an argument fast enough!!!

But my true answer came later that night, when I was reading my scriptures. Remember when Alma said he would like to be an angel so he could “speak with the trump of God, … to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!” (Alma 29:1). He then said, “But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me... Why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?” (Alma 29:3, 6). My answer was that I don't need to add anything, but I should be focusing and putting my all into what I'm already doing. I am not called as a missionary anymore, no matter how much I want to be, and I am sinning like Alma did because I should be content with the 4 callings I have and be happy with the point of life that I'm in, which is getting an education. I am so grateful for the scriptures and the testimony I gained this week of performing the work which I have currently been called to and not desiring anything more. Hopefully one day we'll all be happy with what we have and quit wishing for something else!! =)

"In These Three I Believe"- By President Gordon B. Hinckley

2008-08-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

The first article of faith is surely familiar to all members of the Church. It is the pivotal position of our religion. It is significant that in setting forth the primary elements of our doctrine, the Prophet Joseph put this number one: “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost” (A of F 1:1). The preeminence given that declaration is in accord with another statement the Prophet made. Said he: “It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God” (History of the Church, 6:305).

I've had a couple of experiences in the past week that I thought about sharing in Testimony meeting next week. But then I couldn't decide what my new strengthened testimony really was about or how I would say it- I thought about saying how I know that the power of prayer is real and that prayers are really answered, but that wasn't really the understanding I gained this week. It all started with prayer but the truth of it is, is that the Spirit is real. Heavenly Father's hand in my everyday life is real. Being worthy to walk with the Savior is real. But it was only through prayer that I realized it. Of course I'm grateful that my prayers were answered, but I was even more grateful that I came to the absolute realization that Their presence is real. And by "Them" I refer to asking for Heavenly Father's help and seeing it all unfold by having the Savior's example all around me. and feeling the power of the Spirit in all of my activities. I've always had a testimony of being worthy now to live with Them later, yet I never tried to comprehend that we should be worthy now to have Them part of our lives right now. This kinda sounds loony as I read it over and I now know I shouldn't bear my testimony next week cuz I'll end up rambling!!!! So just remember that prayer is simply the means to have a relationship with the Godhead, and that relationship is confirmed by the Spirit. Wow- I definitely butchered this explanation!! Maybe this thought should remain only as a personal journal entry!! HAHA! =)

"I was baptized in the name of these three. I was married in the name of these three. I have no question concerning Their reality and Their individuality. And so I believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. It is that perfect unity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost that binds these three into the oneness of the divine Godhead. Miracle of miracles and wonder of wonders, They are interested in us, and we are the substance of Their great concern. They are available to each of us. I bear witness of these great, transcendent truths and I do so by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ." ~President Hinckley

My surprise date tonight!

2008-08-24T01:35:00.000-07:00

I had the best surprise tonight! I'm at home and the doorbell rings, and I open to see 3 of my Primary kids that I teach, standing there. One of them said, "Well, we know how excited you get when you see us, so- we're here." HAHAHAHA!! I couldn't stop laughing!! And he said it in the most matter of fact tone of voice- it was SOOO cute!! They were all in their swimsuits so I asked them what they were doing, and Ryley looked up at me with huge eyes, very surprised and innocent, and said, "We're here to play with you." Well- alrighty then! I guess I'm spending my Saturday night with a bunch of 8 year olds!!! They were all in their swimsuits because they planned on sitting in the hot tub as they "played with me". Cute, huh? So I pulled a TV outside, propped it up on a laundry basket, and we watched Monsters, Inc.

The movie ended (they stayed in the hot tub the whole time!), but when they put their clothes back on, they were in no hurry to leave. They actually had NO plans of leaving and asked me what I wanted to do next!! HAHA!

They started playing Ghost in the Graveyard and other crazy hiding/running/tagging games, but since I'm not really into those games, I decided to make use of my outside time. So I mowed the lawn. HAHAHA!! There I am, mowing the lawn at 8:30pm on a Saturday night, with 7 boys running around the yard, screaming to death and tackling each other. (There were now 7 boys with us because some neighbor boys wandered over.) But no matter how funny looking it must have been for everyone driving by (I live on a corner) to see that I was mowing the lawn on a weekend night as I hung out with 8 year olds, it was the best date night ever!!! =)

Being proved wrong- again and again and again!!

2008-08-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

"For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged
and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
Matthew 7:2 and 3 Nephi 14:2

So I have to confess another major fault that I have- it has nothing to do with speeding this time, though I still struggle with that one! This problem is that I judge people and when I don't like someone, I don't try at all to resolve the difference between us. That's why I am called to repentance almost daily and why things keep happening to remind me that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do!! OK- so there's this teacher that I work with at the elementary school who is very strict and always sounds like she's commanding people. That would be a great attribute for a teacher, but for heaven's sake- we teach Special Ed kids!! They don't need to be commanded or reprimanded for not following all her rules, as precisely and exactly the way she wants them to. For all who know me, rules are NOT my thing and I fly my own way, at my own speed (I'm not proud of that, by the way!). Anyways, I never cared that she didn't like me because I felt justified in hating her. But that's when I was chastened- and at the temple of all places. I was going to do Sealings and had my own family names, so I was way excited to do the work. So I'm riding the escalator and reading my family names, when all of a sudden she's standing right in front of me! And there was the teacher, who I despised and looked down on her teaching methods, standing in a beautiful bright white gown, and just glowing. She was a worker there (of all surprises!!) and was such a COMPLETELY different person as I stood there and talked to her. I think I prayed for forgiveness that whole night (when I was supposed to be concentrating on other people's Sealings) and I felt awful for thinking so poorly of her. I know now what a good, honest person she is and that she never intentionally means to ruin other people's lives!! Haha- just kidding. I just feel awful for having such a hate for her.

Ok- so after I was proved totally wrong in that situation, I promised myself to envision everyone in their white gowns, faces glowing, and full of the Spirit. That way I can always look for the good in people. Yeah- it didn't last long. So there are two people at work that I totally struggle getting along with. We don't fight or argue or anything, I just have never felt comfortable in their presence. Last week, my work schedule seemed to have me working with these people, I swear, like everyday. I had been praying extra hard, gone to the temple for help, tried to erase any thoughts from my head to get the hatred out- nothing was working. But that's when it turned out like my teacher story. One of the people I struggled with came up to me at work (we had not actually spoken more than 2 words in the last month), and he asked if he could talk to me. I was too shocked (and scared) to actually speak, but I followed him to the breakroom, where he bought me a Diet Coke (the peacemaker of all peacemakers), apologized for everything that had happened, and asked if we could start all over again. OH MY!!! What on earth was happening? I still don't remember anything I said back to him, or if I even talked at all, but now we are great friends and we laugh everyday together!!! Oh my- it's still too weird to figure out how it happened!

So you'd think my judging stories were over- but they're not. There is a certain individual (who will remain nameless) that totally gets on my nerves, says the dumbest things, and always reminds me that I'm single by saying that I'm not doing the Lord's work because I'm not married and having kids. AAAAHHHH. Anyways, I ended up at this certain individual's wedding reception and of course was chastened once again. The reception was beautiful, the outfits were gorgeous, their temple story was amazing, and they were both so happy and so perfect for each other that you knew that they were doing the right thing. The Spirit, once again, reminded me that people have so much good in them and that I should forget all the rude and dumb things that they do and say to me!! HAHAHA- just kidding!! Everyone has such different special qualities that I've always been too judgmental to notice and I tend to use myself and my experiences as a frame of reference for judging the behavior of others. I'm now trying to have a different perspective on everyone because of all the witnesses I've had, proving to me that we truly are God's children and can rise up to be like Him. And ALL of us can- not just the ones I like!! =)

As a nineteenth century clergyman noted,
“Only God can form and paint a flower,
but any foolish child can pull it to pieces.”

REPENTING =)

2008-08-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm on the freeway, the wind is blowing, my gas light is on (of course!), I'm listening to 80's love music, and driving home on I-215. In my rearview mirror, I see a sweet looking Harley catching up to me very quickly and for those of you who have driven with me before, I usually try to dominate any area that I am traveling in. =) Realizing that I was totally going to get passed up, I started to speed up. He was still getting a lot closer to me even though I was traveling at an EXTREMELY fast speed by this point. Well, the nice looking Harley flew by me and since I had already passed 90mph, he had to be doing 110mph at least!! And that's when I lost all self control and my natural man took over any Spirit that I had with me at the moment! I figured that if there was a cop, the motorcycle old man would get pulled over first because he was still flying way ahead of me, so I pushed the gas and FLEW!! At 100mph, my car was literally gliding through the air- Jetta's freaking rock! My car seriously is the best car ever created by mankind- Volkswagen's are literally a work of magic art! Anyways... the motorcycle old man was cruising, gaining more and more speed every second, and had to have at least 15 miles on me because there was nothing stopping him. But at 113mph, I lost it. I was too scared of my car blowing up and the guilt that I was feeling, so I slammed on my brakes, and slowed me back down to 70mph. You guys- I'm teaching Sharing Time tomorrow and of all subjects, I'm teaching REPENTANCE!!! Oh my! Here I am driving at ridiculously dangerous speeds, breaking every driving law possible (I never used my blinker and sometimes crossed more than 1 lane at once!), and then I'm going to turn around and teach the Draper 15th Ward Primary about repentance and making sure we always do what we're supposed to do.....OH MY GOODNESS- who do I think I am???!!! I need to fast for 72 hours to make up for this, I need to be grounded from my car, and maybe even schedule an appointment with the Bishop!!!!

So my message today is to live what you are teaching and live what we believe. Actions speak louder than words- especially when your actions are completely opposite of what you're trying to say!!! Don't pretend to be something you're not and from now on, I will always remember the example I'm supposed to be for my cute little 8 year olds, that I have taken on Christ's name, and that a Christlike person would NEVER do something as stupid as I did today!!!

JAMES 1:22

"But be you doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

Law of Consecration

2008-08-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

The law of consecration continues to this day to be required of the elect, but in a different way than was attempted among the early church members. In those days, the Saints were required to dedicate, and actually transfer their material possessions by legal means, to the church. In our day, the dedication required of us is spiritual, rather than material. It is a law given by God which requires a total dedication of not only physical possessions, but of self, family, life, or any other earthly possession. It is the highest degree of personal commitment and dedication to which the mortal soul can ascend. For the people who actually understand and live by this law, the things of this world will become only meaningful to sustain life and to benefit the Lord's work. Those who live this law can be the happiest people on earth because their minds and hearts will be centered on promised glories and rewards that are guaranteed later on.
On my mission, a fun and easy way to explain the plan of happiness was presenting a 3 act play. We used cute paper cutouts and little stick figures to represent the pre-mortal life, our earth life, and the 3 kingdoms in the next life. If we could only have taught this law, because the concept of consecration adds such a profound celestialness to our made-up drawings! For those that are living the law of consecration down here on earth, this world is a stage, where we are playing a role and reading a script written by the Lord. The props on the stage belong to the Lord, and even though He has written the script that allows us to call certain things "ours," those things in fact still belong to Him. And when the play is over, we will all walk off the stage with the same amount of "things" we walked on with- NOTHING. But those elect few that have lived this law, will walk off the stage with a smile, never turning back to see what they've lost materially. So there really is no point in accumulating excess stage props, unless the script calls for it. To abandon the script and start rounding up "things" in order to have more props to call "ours," would be to lose our leading role in the play. And after gathering the props we were never instructed to gather, we would then not be true to our own script, and we would become uninvolved, even completely unaware, of the play which was still being performed righteously all around us.

The covenant of consecration is preparatory to profound blessings which await us, but only when we're ready. When we finally are spiritually ready, and after we have been tested and found valiant, unswerving, and true- that's when we will humbly lay all of our belongings on the table, and with a glorious smile, turn around and walk away from all of our earthly/worldly possessions. The glorious blessings will then be bestowed and override any feelings of loss or defeat of what we considered to be "ours."

Dylan Melton

2008-08-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

Oh my- I had the coolest thing happen last night!! One of the little boys in my Primary class is almost 9 and hasn't been baptized yet. He comes from an interesting family because his Dad is in jail and his Mom lost her custodial rights, so his Aunt and Uncle who live in my ward adopted him, and his 2 brothers and sisters. He doesn't know any of the scripture stories, he can't sing any of the Primary songs because he doesn't know them, and he won't pray because he said he hasn't ever done it before. He is the cutest little blonde haired and blue eyed little boy I have ever met, who is more humble than most of the people I know!! =) Of course I got all excited I could be a missionary again, so I sent the missionaries over to his house to start teaching him. He (Dylan) says they come all the time but I haven't gotten a hold of the Elders to find out any other details.

Every week before class, Dylan goes to the library to borrow a Book of Mormon because he doesn't have one, and when the missionaries come over, he told me he just uses their scriptures to read from. On Sunday I had an overwhelming thought that I should go get him his own scriptures, so yesterday I went to the Distribution Center and bought him his own set. I wanted to put FUTURE MISSIONARY on them but I thought he might not like that, so I just made sure his name was printed on the front. I was driving down the block and couldn't remember what house he was now living in, but then I saw him standing in the window with such an excited look on his face, as he pressed his face as hard as he could against the window!! His Aunt told me later that he likes to sit by the window and wait to see if his parents were ever going to come back....oh my gosh- could my heart break anymore than it did last night? Anyways, so I walked up to the door and I heard him yelling to everyone in the house that "Sister Christensen is here!!" So I'm getting all pumped up and so excited to give it to him, but what happened next is something that I was not prepared for and made me cry the whole way home.

He took the package, all excited that I had brought something just for him, then he set it down on the couch and just stared at it, trying to peek in it. By this time, all the other kids and his Aunt had gathered in the room- they have 6 little kids in that house now, so there were quite a few people in the tiny room! Dylan finally took the scriptures out of the package and was grinning from ear to ear, with the biggest and happiest smile I've ever seen. And you know what the first thing he said was, as he hugged his new scriptures to him??? He looked up at me with his perfect blue eyes and he said, "Now I don't have to go to the library anymore." OH MY GOSH- I couldn't hold my tears back any longer! The Spirit was so incredibly strong in that room, it took me back to all my missionary moments where the Spirit was converting those perfect people that I got to teach. His Aunt started crying and all the little kids kept trying to touch it, while Dylan just kept repeating, "It has my name on it!" WOW- who would have ever thought that a set of scriptures with his name on it would be the coolest thing a 9 year old could get?? He never stopped smiling the whole time, and when his Aunt was talking to me, he kept hugging the scriptures and then leaning them out so he could look at his name again, then he would hold them against his chest again, and smile even bigger (if that was possible!). There's a scripture in Numbers that totally explains what he looked like last night. Numbers 6: 24 says "...The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee..." Dylan was glowing!!! He even interrupted his Aunt and pointed to the scriptures and said, "That's my name!!" Man- what I would give to be a missionary again. I just don't get those moments here in Utah because everyone's already a member!!!!

Are we listening?!?

2008-08-07T09:10:00.001-07:00

As a church, as a people of God, we have largely forgotten how to hear and obey His voice. Those who do obey mostly do it instinctively. We follow our feelings and inclinations, scarcely realizing that these promptings we follow are coming from Jesus Christ. Without this essential realization, we feel free to disreard those promtpings which do not appeal to us. In order to become the elect of God, we must learn to hear and obey every word which proceeds forth from the mouth of God.

No person has ever broken a commandment of God, except he first disobeyed many promptings warning him against doing so. "And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received" (D&C 84:64-55)
What things have we treated lightly because of unbelief, which vanity has brought people under condemnation? It is the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We are too vain, and our hearts are too swollen with worldly pride to allow ourselves to be led by something as insignificant as a still small voice. Many of us want flashes of divine light and trumpeting angels, then we would obey.

The cry will soon go forth, "The Bridegroom cometh!" and it will be everlastingly too late to purchase oil with which to light our lamps. For the oil is the voice of Christ in our hearts, the still small voice, and thereafter, the greater gift of the Holy Ghost. It cannot be bought or sold but must be acquired through diligent obedience. " The powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness and then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.... and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever." (D&C 121:34-35)

I LOVE the temple!!!

2008-07-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

OH MY!! I had a crazy temple night last night and it had to be the most spiritual experience I've had since I've come home from my mission! I went to the Timpanogos temple and when I went to grab my temple bag in my trunk, I realized that I still hadn't gotten my temple recommend from the Jordan River temple, after I left it there in my locker last week. I wasn't worried though because they have everyone's name in the computer and can see that my recommend is valid. But when I walked in, the Brother at the desk said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Our computers crashed like 10 minutes ago and with all the computers down, I can't look anything up." OH MY!! He told me to go into the waiting room and use the phone to call my bishop. There were phonebooks in there so they didn't think anything of it. But what they didn't know is that I live in Draper and they only had Provo/Orem phone books, and the temple phones wouldn't let me call long distance!! So I walked back out empty handed and told them that the number obviously wasn't listed in that phonebook and I couldn't even call a neighbor to get the number. One of the brethren kept saying, "Sorry. I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do." Oh my. But one of the Brothers said, "Write your name down, write down the name of your Bishop, sit in that chair right there, and pray really hard." Hahahaha! Okay! I had only been sitting there for 15 minutes when he walked around the corner with the biggest smile on his face. He said, "You have to be the luckiest sister in the world! With the computers down, I asked anyone if they had a Salt Lake phonebook. No one had one and we couldn't find one, but then we saw a random SL Stake President list on someone's desk, and Bishop Robinson's name was right there under Pres. Ware! I called his home number and I was really excited, but then his wife told me that he was on vacation, and she hadn't talked to him yet because his phone didn't get service where they were. He was in the Logan Canyon at Bear Lake!!!!! But I was bound and determined and knew there was some special reason why I had even gotten this far, so I dialed his number. It kept ringing but no one answered. All the receptionists kept saying there was no way he would answer and there was nothing they could do anymore. But I wouldn't listen to them and finally on the 3rd try, he answered!! It was a really bad connection when I introduced myself and the dilemma to him, but I was able to catch when he said, 'Give her a hard time and then you can let her in!' "

All the brethren that were standing there were laughing and shocked, and I never stopped smiling because I could not believe how it all worked out. The Brother told me I could go in and I practically ran in, I was so excited! So I got dressed and hurried to make the 8:00pm session, which was the last session of the night. And then I walked upstairs and the next adventure began!! It was SOO packed! I've been in the Jordan River temple enough times to know what a crowded temple was, but people were actually standing up around the walls of the room because there were no seats left! I guess there was a missionary going through for the first time and a wedding, so all the friends and family came for both events. I couldn't believe it because this was the last session of the night and there was absolutely NO way we could all fit in the room. And seriously, after all the hard work to actually get in the temple- I had to do a session! So they called up the new people, then all the family and friends, and we watched as each row filtered out in front of us, knowing that the cutoff was coming soon. I was crossing my fingers and still praying really hard, and GUESS WHAT? The cutoff was the row right in front of me! If only I had sat one row up! OH MY! So all of us sat there and looked at each other because there were probably 8 more rows of people left, plus the people standing up. But to all of our amazement and relief, they were going to have an emergency extra session for us!! YEAH!!! But oh my goodness- what a night!!! While I waited for the rest of us to go to the session, I was reading the scriptures and as I sat there in the brightest white room, with everyone dressed in perfectly white outfits, I knew that I was the luckiest girl in the world. The Spirit was so strong as the fact that I was supposed to be there was confirmed by the sacredness of the whole night. My genealogy card that I was doing the work for actually wasn't even a completed one. I guess they couldn't find a lot of information on her because it was only her first name, with no parents listed, her date of birth stated "About 1831", and she was from Montgomeryshire, Wales. I didn't know if it was her work that absolutely needed to get done that night because she was waiting, or if it was because I needed to be there, in His house, knowing that there was nothing more true than His church, and that nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop His work. I love the Church, I love living in Utah, I love the perfection and beauty of the temple, and I will be a better person because of the Spirit I felt last night.

D&C 137:1-6

2008-07-22T02:16:00.000-07:00

To have the heavens opened was not a new experience to Joseph. He was not surprised at such a happening. Nor was the seeing of the Father and the Son a novel experience, for he had such experiences before. To see Adam and Abraham merits no special mention to him. The sight of his father and mother in the heavenly vision also seemed to have been most natural to his understanding. But on the other hand, the sight of his older brother Alvin caused him to marvel.

Why?

Because Alvin died before John the Baptist restored the Aaronic Priesthood and the authority to perform legal and binding baptisms. The idea of teaching the gospel in the spirit world and the performance of vicarious ordinances had not occurred to him. It was at this point that the Lord chose to lift the veil and expand our understanding of the justice of God and the marvels of the plan of salvation. How sacred of an idea that people who died before the Restoration will still be given the same chance we're given to be taught and baptized, and how much cooler that I might get to be a missionary in the Spirit World and get to teach those who didn't have a chance to hear it on earth!!!!!!!! I love missionary work!!

"And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to all people, both in heaven and in earth, and that are under the earth (meaning those in the spirit world)- for every ear shall hear it, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess while they hear the sound of the trump, saying: Fear God, and give glory to him who sitteth upon the throne, forever and ever; for the hour of his judgement is come." D&C 88:104

"Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do"

2008-07-22T01:50:00.000-07:00

What great lessons we can learn from the traditions and practices of the shepherds of any land. Each evening at sundown, for example, the shepherds bring their small flocks of sheep to a common enclosure where they are secured against the wolves that roam. A single shepherd then is employed to guard the gate until morning. Then the shepherds come to the enclosure one by one, enter therein, and call forth their sheep—by name. The sheep will not hearken unto the voice of any other shepherd but will leave the enclosure only in the care of their true shepherd, confident and secure because the shepherd knows their names and they know his voice.“But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (John 10:2–5).

My dear brothers and sisters, there are great lessons to be learned from these stirring words of the Master Shepherd. Into our hands, as members of this great Church, has been given responsibility to be the true shepherds unto the flocks of Israel. Do we understand the personal nature of the shepherd’s call? Whether we go as home teachers or visiting teachers, whether we serve as auxiliary leaders or teachers, or leaders at whatever level, we have received a divine injunction from God, through a living prophet, to become personal shepherds and ministers. No, it is not a new call; it has always been so. Do we know our sheep, each one, by name? Do they know our voice, or must they hearken unto the voices of strangers? Do we go before them, constantly reassuring and building confidence because they know our voice? Or are we strangers unto many? I promise you that you will not be a stranger, that you cannot be if you come to know the voice of the Master Shepherd, for that voice will confirm what a prophet has declared, and the Spirit will direct your efforts. And then, and only then, you will become a true shepherd in Israel. Elder John R. LasaterOf the First Quorum of the Seventy

I work at Wells Fargo and one of the requirements of my job is to use the person's name during the transaction. I hated it at first and was weird to say someone's name to them because they already know their own name, why should I have to tell it to them?!? =) But I quickly learned that the "sweetest sound a person can hear is the sound of their own name." Now when I go to places, everyone is so rude to me and so impersonal because NO ONE uses my name!!! I know I'm taking Elder Lasater's talk literally, but what a perfect way to be a loving and personal disciple of Christ then to use the person's name in order to reach their heart. I'd like to invite everyone to use people's names and I promise you that you'll make more of a difference in their lives and be a stronger influence. Good luck!

The next life

2008-07-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

I've attended several funerals in my life and been to burials before, but I've never had someone close to me die, so I'm not quite sure how it goes. Both sets of my grandparents are still living, and fortunately no other mishaps or accidents have occurred with friends or other family members. I do have to give respect for my Aunt that passed away because I don't remember any of it or even what happened, being it was a time in my life that I was still out of sorts and not really put together. With that being said, I've read some very interesting things about death and the spirit world. Most of you probably already know this but since I'm kinda new to the experience, I wanted to share what I learned.

Elder Ballard warned us saying, " Do not let any of us imagine that we can go down to the grave not having overcome the corruptions of the flesh and then lose in the grave all our sins and evil tendencies. They will still be with us. They will be with the spirit when separated from the body. Every man and woman who is putting off until the next life the task of correcting and overcoming the weakness of flesh are sentencing themselves to years of bondage. For no man or woman will come forth in the resurrrection until he has completed his work, until he has overcome those tendencies, and until he has done as much as he can do." WOW! It makes so much sense of why we need to find our mission in life, why we need to live up to who we are, and honor why we're here. It's not just the simple answers of getting a body, going on mission, marrying in the temple, and raising kids- we're here to do God's work, whatever that specific work may be. What better way to stress the importance of living up to our potential then to say what Elder Ballard said, "For no man or woman will come forth until he has done as much as he can"!!!! I definitely don't want to be trying to make up in the spirit world for what I didn't finish (or start!) here...... I gotta get to work! =)

My little Koko (aka Colton) !!!!!!!!!

2008-07-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

Just in case you forgot.....

2008-07-11T23:48:00.001-07:00

I'm an AUNT!!!!!!!!!! =)

Families are Forever

2008-07-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

I'm an AUNT!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

It started off being a normal day- Jill and I planned on going to the temple and out to lunch because we both had the day off of work. But then the unexpected and awaited day finally came!!! Lisa called me and said she wasn't feeling well and asked if I would take her to the hospital once she came to my house (her doctor is up here so she was driving from Springville). So then she gets here and as soon as she walked in, her water broke and she started having contractions like every 3 minutes. Oh my!! I am NOT a qualified nurse for these kinds of things!!
So we called Joe, my Mom, Jill, and my Dad and the craziness began- Joe drove from Springville to Draper in record timing and ended up passing my Mom and Jill on the freeway who were both coming from Orem, and my Dad drove from St. George (he was there for business) to the Alta View Hospital in like 2 hours!! OH MY!!!! And no one even got pulled over!!! Then we're all at the hospital and realize that Lisa is missing some of her medications and other random things, so Jill and I get back in the car and drove all the way back to Springville, then once again to the Alta View Hospital in Sandy. While we were gone, they had given Lisa penicillin and she ended up being allergic to it, so when we showed up they had pumped her full of Benadryl to wash out the allergy, but she was all puffed up and swollen and she almost couldn't breathe!! Well, the Benadryl knocked her out so she was snoring like a bear and apparently the baby ate some Benadryl because he was sleeping too, but because she was dialated enough to actually have the baby, they had to keep waking her up and shaking her stomach to wake the baby up!!! She was so loopy and out of it she had no idea what was going on and they would strap things around her stomach and pull on it to keep the baby awake in order to keep getting measurements and heartbeat info on him. So 9 hours later, they decided that the baby was now in the wrong position and decided to do a ceasection.

By this time, Joe's parents had shown up, Jill and I were about to lose it after 9 hours in the same small room at the hospital (hahaha! it was so much fun!), my Mom was crying the whole time, and Lisa was still sleeping through everything. My Dad, Joe's Dad, and Joe decided to give Lisa a blessing before the surgery, so my Dad went and got the oil and they ran in to give her a blessing before the doctors came to get her. (I snuck in even though I wasn't supposed to be there and I cried through the whole blessing because it was the most beautiful blessing I've ever heard- it was so neat to see my Dad blessing my sister to have my healthy nephew!!) So they wheeled her in, I took 50 pictures of her being wheeled down the hall, we made another trip to the cafeteria to get snacks for everyone, we watched So You Think You Can Dance, and we sat down to wait another 2 hours for her to come out. Actually, we spotted Joe taking Colton (my brand new nephew!) into the cleaning room so we all ran and stood at the window to watch. Lisa had to stay in the recovery room for a couple hours so we didn't see her. Only grandparents were allowed in the cleaning room but one time the door opened and no one was looking, so I ran in!!!! They yelled at me for it and kicked me out but I didn't care because after 11 hours, I finally got to see Colton!!! YEAH!! I love him to death!! He is the tiniest little baby I have ever seen and he looks exactly like Joe!! He is only 6 pounds and 2 ounces, and is 19 inches long. He is seriously SOOO tiny!!! But he's absolutely perfect and I'm his favorite Aunt already!!!

OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

So I thought I was jealous when last month Jill got called as Relief Society President, but OH MY- this is way worse!!!!!!! My Dad just got called to come on Wednesday night to the South Mountain stake center, and get set apart as a leader of the Draper Temple Open House committee. OH MY!!!! Can you even imagine???!! Elder Walker, from the Quorum of the Seventies, was the one who "under his direction" asked for my Dad to be on the committee. OH MY GOODNESS!!! Quorum of the Seventies!! And MY DAD?????? Now I'm not speaking to 2 of my family members because they get the callings I want!! I wonder what I'm doing wrong because I want to be RS President and I want to be on the temple committee.....maybe this is my lesson to be more humble and happy for others!! HAHAHAAHAHAHA! That will take a lifetime!!!!

Obedience to His voice

2008-07-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we search for a spectacular vision, some pearl of great wisdom, some unfathomable mystery, or a more profound answer when we're looking to be more spiritual. We look to those we admire, the prophets and apostles, the pure in heart, and those that glow with the fire of the Spirit, and we wonder how they did it and want to be like them. But the simple truth is this- they learned how to obey. Believe it or not, this is the great mystery that we're looking for. Obey! Obey! Obey! The exalted are eternally obedient. What is it we must obey? It is every word which proceeds forth from the mouth of God and it is the voice of the Spirit. Notice that I didn't say the commandments? This is not because the commandments are to be ignored. It's because to obey every little commandment can be overwhelming. But when we set our lives in obedience to the voice of God, we will naturally and joyfully be obeying all the commandments as we're listening and acting on what He needs us to hear. John Pontius- Following the Light of Christ into His Presence p. 101

If 1 door closed, we opened 10 more!!!

2008-07-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

So one of my companions drove from Arkansas to come to Salt Lake which meant that of course we had to go to the Salt Lake temple. Her Mom drove with her and I managed to drag Jill away from all her boyfriends long enough to do a session with us, so all 4 of us headed to the House of the Lord. Jill has never been to a live session or been through the SL temple so we were WAY excited to be there with her, and my companion and her Mom hadn't been in like 5 years. So our excitement level was very high and we knew that the sesssions only start on the hour so we drove like maniacs (I taught Jill well on crazy driving!!) to make it to the 11:00 AM session. When we walked into the dressing room, there was a monstrous line waiting to go to the session so we hurried to change but the line had gotten even longer and they ended up stoppping the line and telling us to come back at 12. We asked to do sealings and they said it was full but to come back at 1. We asked to do initiatories and they were packed until 12:30. So we're all standing there in our beautiful white dresses with no place to go and all of our hopes had disappeared. But that's when the drama began!!!! I started freaking out to the lady saying that they drove all the way from Arkansas to come to the temple and we didn't have time to wait and that we had to do something and .........(I don't know what came over me to be impatient with an old lady working at the temple!!!) But she stood right up and said, " All the way from Arkansas? You guys go to the celestial room right now and take as much time as you want." OH MY!!!!! So we got all excited again and Jill took the leader position (remember that she has never even been inside this temple before!!) and she turned to us and said, "Dont look anyone in the eye and just walk real fast with a smile." I have absolutely NOOO idea how Jill got us there but she took us the back way to the celestial room and not ONE person even looked twice at us or tried to stop us or ask us what we were doing. GO JILL!!!! So we're sitting in the celestial room and a temple worker came up and told us he had some cards left to do sealings and asked us if we wanted to do sealings!!! OH MY!!! Of course we did!!

So my companion ran down and changed into the appropriate clothes (we were all just in our white dress) and the temple worker gave us permission to come into the sealing room even though the rest of us weren't properly dressed. Then he told us all this stuff about the Holy of Holies, we got to walk up to the 2nd floor of the celestial room where no one gets to go, and we got to do the sealings in a room that was connected to the celestial room where no one else ever gets to be sealed!!!!!!!!!!! By this time, we were glowing and there was nothing stopping us so every door we saw as we walked back to the dressing room we opened, closed or not we walked into every room and got to see things I've never even imagined before!!! And Jill was still the leader of our group and just walking like she owned the temple!!! But no one ever stopped us or asked us why we were only in our white dresses and walking around like we were apostles or something!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then we were walking back to the dressing room and passed the telestial room. We all looked at each other and then we just walked right in!!! Like it was okay to go in when there wasn't a session!!!!!!!!!! OH MY!!! So Jill got to see what the rooms looked like in a session, we all got to go to the celestial room, we got to see some sealings get done, and we had a private tour of the temple....all without even doing a session!!!! It was the coolest thing ever!!! After that we walked over to the conference center cuz my friends had never been inside. We got in the elevator and pushed to go to the top, but it didn't let us cuz you have to be on a tour to go inside or to the gardens on top. So we're all squished in the elevator and it opens up on the 3rd floor and this lady is standing there and said, "Hi, guys- you wanna go to the top with my tour group?" OH MY!!!! What are the chances of that happening!!! I've got to hang out with Jill more cuz she's my good luck charm!! So we got a tour of the gardens on top and then she let her tour group go and gave us a personalized back stage tour to the inside of the conference center!!! It was the BEST and LUCKIEST day in the world!!!!!

Being led by the voice of the Spirit

2008-07-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

It is not uncommon for someone to make a list of everything they feel they should be doing in their lives and then select a few to begin working on. As wholesome as this sounds, it will only create feelings of frustration. Read all the scriptures, and nowhere is there an account of someone achieving spiritual power by making lists of needed improvements, and then working the list!! They all did it by obedience to the voice of the Lord and we must also because there is no other way. What makes us more desirable to be obedient to a list than to the voice of God?!? The Lord knows the exact course our lives should take, which sin should be eliminated first, which weakness should be addressed first, and which blessings we will need to accomplish these things. There is no need for us to create a list He already possesses. Ours could never be as complete as His. If we are obedient to His voice in our hearts and minds, He will tell us what to do first, give us power to do it, and He will direct us step by step. 1 Nephi 22:2 and Enos 1:10-11 are perfect examples that things are made known to the prophets this way and are made known to us the same way. If you want to have revelation in your life, learn to hear and obey the voice of the Lord. This is the way God has ordained it. There is no other way or method. There is no other voice which leads unto eternal life.

John Pontius- Following the Light of Christ into His presence

The Holy Ghost

2008-06-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is not to have constant revelation. Revelation, instruction, visions, insights, and doctrine are given only as the Lord sees fit to do so, and as we are prepared to receive them. The most notable effect of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is a constant burning in the bosom, and a feeling of love and acceptance from God. Some people experience it as an enduring devotional or spiritual feeling, or motivation to unending prayer. The scriptures speak often of praying constantly in our hearts. They are making reference to this joyful by-product of the rebirth. Even as one enjoys the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, the still small voice of the Holy Spirit still guides in all matters of eternal consequence. The Holy Ghost speaks in his true character as a powerful revelator only when the truths communicated exceed the more limited role of the Holy Spirit. This constant companionship of the Holy Ghost has the effect of continuing to exalt and purify. Any contact with that member of the Godhead uplifts and refines. Constant companionship exalts. If one persists in their obedience, and endures their trials faithfully, they will, in time, be privileged to hear the Father's voice pronounce upon them the promise of exaltation.

Getting Answers to Prayers

2008-06-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

Life in today’s world can be at times so complicated and the challenges so overwhelming as to be beyond our individual capacity to resolve them. We all need help from the Lord. Yet there are many individuals who don’t know how to receive that help. They feel their urgent pleas for help have often gone unattended. How can that be when He Himself has said, “Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”? (D&C 4:7.)

Such difficulty results either from not following His spiritual law for providing help or from not recognizing help when it comes. Well did James observe, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” (James 4:3.) It is evident that He intends that we do our part. But what, specifically, are we to do? No one would expect to receive a result from physical law without obeying it. Spiritual law is the same. As much as we want help, we must expect to follow the spiritual law that controls that help. Spiritual law is not mysterious. It is something that we can understand.

The Savior declared, “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.” (D&C 82:10) and John taught, “whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” (1 Jn. 3:22) Nephi counseled, “Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.” (1 Ne. 15:11; italics added.)

The Lord has the power to bless us at any time. Yet we see that to count on His help, we must consistently obey His commandments. “If ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done. But know this, it shall be given you what you shall ask.” (D&C 50:29–30)

These teachings of Jesus Christ emphasize that it matters very much what we ask for and how we ask for it. I testify that when we seek His will and do it, we will obtain the greatest blessings in life.

My Father' s Day talk in Sacrament!!

2008-06-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share my testimony today on our ancestor fathers and the fathers from dispensations of our pasts. On my mission, one of our lessons we taught was a genealogy introduction to help members and nonmembers get started on their genealogy. The basis of the lesson was the scripture of Elijah coming before the day of the Lord to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers. What does it mean to turn to our fathers? It means to be sealed to all of our ancestors and our posterity forever. The promises of temple covenants turn our hearts to parents, spouses, and children. The message in Malachi 4 are the only verses quoted in all 4 standard works- in Luke, 3 Nephi, D&C, and JSH- which emphasizes the sacred importance of turning to our fathers.
Some might ask "How do we turn our hearts to our fathers?" and last Tuesday night would be a perfect answer to that question as we did the temple work for our ancestors. Last Tuesday night was our ward sealing night at the temple and what a blessing it is to have that many of us show up. It's always sad when another sealer comes in and asks for some of us to go and help another ward because we have too many people in the room. But what a proud thing it is to be from the Draper 15th ward, the ward who had too many people show up for sealings!!!
One of the 10 commandments states that we should Honor thy father and mother. I think one of the best ways to honor our fathers is by doing the temple work for them. It's an honor to have pioneer heritage that were already members but having the resources to find our ancient fathers and to keep tracking back our heritage, is another blessing that often gets overlooked as an honor to our fathers. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “God made those promises to the ancient patriarchs—Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so forth—and we undoubtedly made them to our own lineal fathers and mothers, those who came to earth before the gospel was restored but whom we promised to provide their saving ordinances”
In the Proclamation of the world, it states that "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families." I have several father like figures in my life- my fatherly neighbors calling to tell me I left the garage door open again, ones who have helped push my car out of the snow when I was stuck in my own driveway, and the midnight blessings for my sisters and I. But I'm one of the luckiest girls in the world because I'm blessed with a perfect father who I pray every day that I can be more like him and the person that he is today.............That was a sample of my Father's Day Talk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Definitely deserves a journal entry!!

2008-05-28T01:15:00.000-07:00

I had an incredible experience tonight doing sealings with my ward members! I wish I could type it all out and explain it in detail but I think it was too sacred for me to share over the internet. I just pray that everyone will take the time to go to the temple and be involved in things that allow us to be in the presence of our Savior. I know that sounds sappy and too much like a cliche, but I know it's real and I know that having faith in what will come means more than just putting up with all the hard stuff that happens now. Faith and temple experiences are what prepares us to live in the perfect gospel situation in heaven we've learned about since Primary. None of this makes sense and I think I'm starting to babble but I know that God lives and I know that He's as real as the person next to me is. I made a huge goal for the month of June and I made it so I can try to be part of the miracles that we witnessed tonight in the sealing room. I have 23 family names to do endowments for and I want to finish them all before the end of the month. Obviously I'm praying for other people to help me with the names because it's a very overwhelming project to conquer by myself!!! So I'll except any and all who want to help! Just give me a call! =)

I LOVE temples!!!

2008-05-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's the most beautiful thing in the world to drive down any road in Draper, to drive on the freeway, or drive anywhere and see the great big, enormous, bright white, Draper temple!!! It's gorgeous!!!! You know how you can see the Bountiful temple from the freeway and it's nested in the mountains and looks perfect?? The Draper temple is even better!!!!!!! It's like in my neighborhood!! You can walk out my backdoor and just stare at the most beautiful and sacred thing Draper has ever had!! It's surrounded by houses but it still rises high above everything else and is right at the top of the mountain. When you are standing in the parking lot of the temple, you can see the Jordan River temple and you can see the whole valley to the north! President Monson said it's the first time in the history of the Church there have been Twin Temples, like the Twin Towers, that are facing each other. To be able to stand at one temple and stare at the other one on the other side of the freeway is the neatest thing to me and I feel like the luckiest person alive!!!

The Spiritual High of Draper!! =)

2008-05-16T18:53:00.001-07:00

TEMPLE WORK!

2008-05-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

This past week I was able to do initiatories, sessions, and sealings for some of my ancestors. My Mom had found the names (she's the only one patient enough in our family to do genealogy work!) and I was the lucky one who got to do the temple work for them. It was the most amazing work I've ever done before. I had names from 1610!! I had other family names from 1740 and the 1800's but I've NEVER done anyone from 1610. It was even more unique that the names from 1610 were the couples being sealed to each other, which means that now we can seal the children to them once we find the rest of the family! When I was in the sealing room, the sealer suddenly stopped and said, "Sister Christensen, do you realize they have been waiting 398 years for you to come to the temple for them?" I, of course, started bawling and we were all quiet for a minute because the Spirit was so strong as we realized how sacred this work really is. The brother from my ward that was helping me do the sealings (who is also my home teacher!) was crying and said he felt very privileged to do the work. How privileged we all are!!! I LOVE the temple, I LOVE the Church, I LOVE everything about the perfect gospel of Christ, and I absolutely LOVE the fact that I have more family than I've ever imagined on the other side. Temples are forever!!!

Integrity of the heart

2008-04-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

Cardiac surgeons speak of the heart in terms of its structural integrity. The word integrity is related to the word integer, which means “entire” or “whole.” Integrity may be defined as “the state of being unimpaired.” Integrity also means “incorruptibility”—a firm adherence to a code of values. Integrity denotes a state of completeness. If any component of the heart loses its integrity, the heart is impaired and a vicious cycle ensues. An anatomical flaw leads to improper function, and improper function leads to further failure. Therefore, the ultimate objective of any cardiac operation is to restore structural integrity to the heart.
Why do I use such a teaching model? The reason comes from scripture. The Lord said, “All things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal” (D&C 29:34). Thus, temporal or physical laws that relate to our divine creation often have a spiritual application. This should come as no surprise, because “all [of God’s] kingdoms have a law given.… " Because He is the Creator of both the physical and spiritual components of our being, examples of the importance of structural integrity can teach much about the importance of spiritual integrity.

~Elder Russell M. Nelson

Righteous promises

2008-03-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 7:1 " Having therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

I love this scripture because it reminds me of how many blessings my patriarchal blessing promises me if I do the right thing. Reading my blessing reminds me of how much I can do and the person I can be if I can cleanse myself from the world and be worthy for those promises.

READ YOUR PATRIARCHAL BLESSING EVERYDAY!!!!! =)

The new Savior website!

2008-03-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

Lots of people I met on my mission believed that the LDS church only followed Joseph Smith's rules and that we came up with strict standards of what we thought sounded better than other churches.Those people obviously didn't understand that we believe in Christ, we follow Him, and that this is His church. I guess those people forgot that we are The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints!!!! With all the publicity of the Church recently, I think we are lucky to have the lds.org new addition. The Church has produced a new website that explains the focus we have on the Savior as we follow every principle of His teachings. I wish I could have referred people to this Church website on my mission! =)

http://jesuschrist.lds.org/SonOfGod/eng/

My favorite link is the Special Witnesses of Christ- they just added President Monson's testimony and Elder Bednar's testimony. It was my favorite movie to watch on my mission and it helped me want to go back to school because they are all so smart and educated!!

http://jesuschrist.lds.org/SonOfGod/eng/special-witnesses

Violence is not the answer

2008-02-18T20:52:00.000-08:00

An inspiring quote from Elder Ballard helps us all understand that no matter what circumstance you may be in, you should never act out in anger towards your sister. Elder Ballard acknowledges that violence and accidents will happen from time to time, and he states that "even if you are in a safe area, violence can happen anywhere." But may we all be guided by the Spirit at all times to prevent outbursts of anger such as this.........

HAHAHAHA!! We love our family get togethers at the cabin!!!

Resurrection and Our Restoration

2008-02-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

I'm dedicating this post to my sister Jill and her traumatic snowmobiling accident where she almost lost her eye, hand, leg, and right side of her stomach because we were having too much fun and going too fast!! Jill, your body will be healed and perfect one day!!

In writing of the Resurrection, Jacob taught the exquisite completeness of a physical restoration in which "the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal" (2 Ne. 9:13). Amulek also testified that in the Resurrection "the spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame. …And even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame" (Alma 11:43–44; Alma 40:23).

~ Spencer J. Condie of the Seventy

True Followers

2008-02-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

Elder Robert J. Whetten Of the Seventy

It’s not enough to say we believe and that we love Him; we must be found possessed with His kind of love for others at that last day. It is not necessary for us to lay down our life for others as He did, but like the Savior, we should bless the lives of others by giving of what our life is made up of—our time, our talents, our means, and ourselves.

When the rich man who came to Jesus asked, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" the Lord reiterated the commandments, and the man answered, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."

Why are missionaries happy? Because they lose themselves in the service of others. Like the converts in Alma’s time, if we are to be called His people, we must be "willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light." Each of us can think of true followers that have lifted the burdens of many through their Christlike love and service. True followers have the characteristics described in the hymn, More Holiness Give Me- "more fit for the kingdom, more used would I be, more blessed and holy, more, Savior, like thee."As His true followers, the Savior wants us to love others as He loves them—more unconditionally, more purely, more perfectly.
President Kimball taught that "God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another mortal that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom." Alone in that upper room with the eleven, Jesus uses these last teaching moments of His mortal ministry to teach: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you. … By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

He showed us that we must go about doing good, that the spiritual and physical welfare of our fellowmen is as important as our own, and that we should show genuine concern and compassion for all of our Heavenly Father’s children. Moroni defines Christlike love as charity. "And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father."

Love is the greatest blessing we can have

2008-02-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

"I have recognized three important principles: (1) I cannot solve another person’s problem (2) Loving another person unconditionally is the most powerful way I can serve (3) I must depend on Christ, the only source of unconditional love, if I am to bless others.

My first insights into how I could truly be of service to others came as I grew closer to the Lord and analyzed the ways he helps me. He gives me direction when I ask, for he knows my feelings and circumstances completely and is the perfect source of counsel. But much more often, he blesses me with a sense of his love that fills my soul with peace and hope. He encourages me by assuring me again and again that he loves me and accepts me as I am. Despite my many imperfections, I know that he has a vision of my potential that is far above my own, and that he will help me reach it.

This realization of God’s love has been the single greatest blessing of my life. I had not considered that my efforts should be focused on strengthening the person by loving them unconditionally, instead of trying to solve their problems for them. Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting. In the slums we are the light of God’s kindness to the poor. To children, to the poor, to all who suffer and are lonely, give always a happy smile—Give them not only your care, but also your heart."

~Susan Hainsworth

Pres. Hinckley's Christlike example

2008-02-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

A testimony of what President Hinckley left us.....

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

Setting goals remind us why we're here

2007-12-27T22:52:00.000-08:00

Goals that will help us become worthy to dwell eternally with our Heavenly Father may take an entire lifetime. Some goals may not even be attained during a lifetime on earth, but may require additional effort in the hereafter. In the scriptures Heavenly Father has stated His major goal concerning His work: "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). In order for His goal to be realized in our lives, we need to set goals that will enable us to make our lives productive and happy and that will help us be worthy to return to our Heavenly Father. Success should not necessarily be gauged by always reaching the goal set, but by progress and attainment.

Although each of us is individually unique, our main goal in life should be the same—to become worthy to achieve exaltation in the celestial kingdom and return to live with our Heavenly Father as a part of His eternal family. Because individual talents, abilities, and weaknesses differ, each of us needs to set different individual goals to help us achieve our main goal. For example, some of us may need to improve our ability to pay tithing, whereas this may already be easy for some. Some of us may need to learn to keep the Sabbath day holy, while this may pose no problem for others. We will not always have the same goals as others because our individual needs are not always the same.

Our patriarchal blessings will also help us understand what our individual goals should be. Achieving our righteous goals will come as a result of planning, effort, and prayer. We should remember that we will never fail as long as we are striving to reach these goals and seeking to understand Heavenly Father’s will for us. We have accepted the gospel and joined the Church to help us become like our Father in Heaven.

Setting goals will help us accomplish our worthy desires in mortality and in the hereafter. Individual goals can guide us to achieve personal triumphs. Family goals can lead us to become unified, exalted families. As we work to accomplish righteous goals, we are striving to fulfill the Lord’s commandment, "Be ye therefore perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Ponder what you want to achieve in mortality, and prayerfully seek to know Heavenly Father’s will for you.

2007-12-17T22:39:00.000-08:00

Satan is always quick to exploit the negative power of new inventions, to spoil and degrade and to neutralize any effect for good. Make sure that the choices you make in the use of new media are choices that expand your mind, increase your opportunities, and feed your soul.
A couple of months ago, NBC Television came to Salt Lake for an interview with me as part of a piece they were producing on the Church. Reporter Ron Allen and I spent an hour together in the chapel in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We discussed the Church at length. A few days later the story appeared, and in the four minute-segment that aired, there was one short quote of about six seconds from my one-hour interview. That was just enough time for me to testify of our faith in Jesus Christ as the center of all we believe. I repeat, just six seconds were used from a sixty-minute interview. And those six seconds are quite typical, actually, for the traditional TV media, who think and air in sound bites. The big difference from the old days to today is that the reporter also ran 15 minutes of our interview on the NBC Nightly News website. And those 15 minutes are still there. What we say is no longer on and off the screen in a flash, but remains as part of a permanent archive and can appear on other sites that re-use the content. People using Internet search engines to hunt for topics about the Church will come across that interview and many others.
There is perhaps no other time in its history when the Church has received more attention from the news media and on the Internet than right now. Obviously, that is being driven by the fact that one of our faith, Mitt Romney, is seeking the office of President of the United States. It’s as if a national conversation is going on about the Church. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time. May I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the New Media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration. Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true. You can download videos from Church and other appropriate sites, including Newsroom at LDS.org, and send them to your friends. You can write to media sites on the Internet that report on the Church, and voice your views as to the accuracy of the reports. Your outreach can be international. As you participate in this conversation and utilize the tools of New Media, remember who you are--Latter-day Saints!!!
~Elder M. Russell Ballard, Quorum of the Twelve, presented December 15 at BYU-Hawaii

Endowed with Power

2007-11-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

President Harold B. Lee taught the importance of following the example of the Savior as we strive for perfection:'The Apostle Paul pointed to the course by which perfection comes. Speaking of Jesus, he said, ‘Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.’ (Hebrews 5:8–9.)"Let then no day pass but that we learn from the great lesson book of Christ’s life his way to a perfect life and walk therein to our eternal goal. All the principles and ordinances of the gospel are in a sense but invitations to learning the gospel by the practice of its teachings. No person knows the principle of tithing until he pays tithing. No one knows the principle of the Word of Wisdom until he keeps the Word of Wisdom. Children, or grownups for that matter, are not converted to tithing, the Word of Wisdom, keeping the Sabbath day holy, or prayer by hearing someone talk about these principles. We learn the gospel by living it. …May I say in summary: We never really know anything of the teachings of the gospel until we have experienced the blessings that come from living each principle. The most important of all the commandments in the gospel to you and to me is that particular commandment which for this moment requires in each of us the greatest soul-searching to obey. Each of us must analyze his needs and begin today to overcome, for only as we overcome are we granted a place in our Father’s kingdom."President Harold B. Lee

A sign between the Lord and ourselves

2007-11-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here's another spiritual yardstick: How do you feel about the Sabbath day? I'll share some of my personal reflections with you. When I was your age, I wondered just what activities were appropriate for the Sabbath. I read lists of do's and don'ts, all compiled by others. But now I have a much better understanding, which I gained from two Old Testament scriptures. One is from the book of Exodus:

The Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
. . . my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. [Exodus 31:1213]
A similar message is in the book of Ezekiel:
I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. . . .
I am the Lord your God; . . .
. . . hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. [Ezekiel 20:12, 1920]

Pondering these scriptures has helped me to understand. My behavior on the Sabbath constitutes my sign to the Lord of my regard for him and for my covenants with him. If, on the one hand, my interests on the Sabbath day are turned to activities such as pro football games or worldly movies, the sign from me to him would clearly be that my devotions do not favor him. If, on the other hand, my Sabbath interests are focused on the Lord and his teachings, on the family, or on folks who are sick or poor or needy, that sign would likewise be evident to God. I have concluded that our activities on the Sabbath will be appropriate when we honestly consider them to be our personal sign of our commitment to the Lord.

Elder Russell M. Nelson