New Friends

This weekend was quite eventful for me. I attended Time Out For Women, a religious event held annually. I've never gone before, but my new friends in my church encouraged me to go, so I did. I had NO idea how wonderfully I would be spiritually fed. It was absolutely wonderful.

Friday night 3 speakers participated: John Bytheway, Virginia Pierce, and Macy Robison. John Bytheway is ALWAYS fun to hear. He makes me laugh so much. That night's topic was marinating yourself in the good. (You might have needed to hear the talk to get the topics...) Virginia Pierce is the daughter of President and Sister Hinckley, she SO looks like both of them. Her topic hit me RIGHT between the eyes: forgiveness. It was absolutely wonderful. Then Macy interspersed the evening with song and her story. It was wonderful as well. I left feeling VERY uplifted and thrilled for the next day.

A little aside, I was a carpool driver for ladies in my ward. I'm VERY new, and don't know where people live....yet. I was left alone with my last person, who happens to be blind. SWEET, sweet woman. Anyway, I had picked her up earlier in the day, so I had a general idea of where she lived. Anyway, I took her to the house and told her that I was dropping her off in the driveway. She was fine with that, and I waited as she walked to the house, felt around a bit, then turned and walked back. I asked her if something was wrong and she said, "That screen didn't feel like mine, I think we're at the wrong house." Oh, my GOSH!! I was so thoroughly embarrassed. I quickly found out that I had dropped her off one house too early. (If there was a forehead slapping emoticon, I'd use it here....) She was very sweet about it, and I literally laughed the way home. It was QUITE funny, and I can now say that I will NEVER forget where she lives....EVER!

The next day I had breakfast with my ward ladies and then we went to the event. The whole day was just wonderful. I thought for SURE that it would drag on, but it went by super quick. The rest of the speakers were: Jericho Road, Emily Watts (substituting for Kris Belcher, who I HOPE to hear someday....), Mary Ellen Edmunds, Kelly Ogden, Merrilee Boyack (who I was SO excited to hear from, she wrote a book that literally changed my marriage....and made me laugh at the same time) and finally Emily Freeman. All the talks were inspiring and wonderful. The theme for the whole weekend was "Seek the Good." And truly, I found good and want to keep it always.

I will touch a bit on Merrilee's talk. I have wanted to hear from her since I saw her name on the line-up. She is one of my favorite authors. I actually REALLY want to read my book by her again, just so I can laugh and learn at the same time. Anyway, her topic was wonderful. She talked about giving out the good and spreading it around. I can't remember her exact phrase-ology, but it was something like, "Give out just 5 nanoseconds." It doesn't take much to make someone else's day. Saying a simple, "I love you and appreciate what you do." Or "You're so pretty/handsome/beautiful/funny...." Or "I'm so glad you're my friend (or in my family)." Those things don't take much time, but a purposeful count of 5 is what she made us raise our right hands and promise to do. I will say, that my morning was FABULOUS, because I'm using my 5 nano-seconds on my boys and husband. Cameron just about beamed out of his clothes with the simple praise I was giving him. I truly appreciated her message, and was lucky enough to go squeeze her and tell her that I appreciate her. She again encouraged me to do my 5 nano-seconds, and I said that I was most eager to do it on my boys and she said I reminded her that we could get our children doing it as well....she then thanked me. I have to say, I was a bit star-struck, and honestly, no one really truly would know her if they didn't go to TOFW or know her from her books.

I bonded quite well with ladies from my ward and have made some absolute GEM friends. I'm so blessed.

What a great weekend. I can't wait to get my DVD copy of it so I can relive all the wonderful words/feelings and thoughts of this weekend.

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Today we had some friends from church invite us over tonight to play games. I'm SO grateful they did. We had a blast. The boys had fun as well (Jake's decided that their daughter is his girlfriend.....SO cute!) Anyway, I think we're settling into this ward VERY well, and I'm so grateful.

Being Led By the Spirit

I've had a few experiences in the last week that have shown me that I can truly help others when I follow the Spirit. It's been quite humbling and exhilarating at the same time to realize that I've been the way Heavenly Father has been able to answer others' prayers.

On Sunday we mixed things up with our church schedule. Usually we go to Sacrament meeting, Sunday School and then Relief Society/Priesthood. This week we switched the last two hours. In Relief Society we watched a beautiful video about working on our own family history....finding those of our family who belong to us. I "leaked" through the story about a couple with four teens. They were struggling and the husband admitted that they might get divorced. The video was following actual people, so it wasn't a story that someone had written. Anyway, the couple worked on doing their family history together and began to get closer. Then at the end of the video the couple ended up getting sealed in the temple. It was absolutely a beautiful story.

Then we went to Sunday School. I hate to admit, but all through church, I was feeling sleepy and thought I might fall asleep if I had to sit still through one more class. We started out with a very good discussion talking about whining vs. murmuring vs. speaking up. One brother talked about how his young son had whined that he didn't want to go to his Primary class, then at that moment we heard loud whining in the hallway. His wife was out trying to wrangle that little boy and keep him happy and calm. We all kind of giggled at that, and went on. As we were going on a thought came to me, "You need to go out there and help." It was VERY strong and VERY persistent. I calmly put my scriptures away, gathered up my big bag and went into the hallway. I saw the look of frustration on the mom's face and asked, "Can I help you? I feel like I need to." She laughed and said that another sister said the same thing. We went to a table and pulled things out of my giant church bag. The things I had in there weren't necessarily things I would usually have, because I don't like taking treats to church, but I took them because we were supposed to have choir practice and my boys get a little whiny and rambunctious during that time. I gave this little boy some animal crackers and he instantly stopped crying. The other woman and I shooed the mom off to Sunday School and we proceeded to play with this little guy. We played cars, raced them, laughed when they drove off the table and then talked a lot. He didn't scream again for the rest of the class.

I honestly don't know why I needed to help him, other than I THINK that he would have kept screaming if I hadn't gone out with my cookies. But his mom got to enjoy Sunday School with her husband and not worry about her little boy.

Last night I had a voice mail from the lady that helped us do our lending. She sounded quite frantic and frustrated. She said she was trying to track down a check that our insurance company had sent for $412. She wondered if we had it.

I called her back, leaving her a message, that yes, we had gotten a check for $412, and that it was sitting quietly in our escrow account.

Here's the whole story.

A few weeks after we'd moved into our home, our homeowners insurance company sent us this large check. Steve had checked the mail, and was pleased that we were blessed with this extra money. He hid it from me, planning on surprising me with a Kindle Fire or an iPad for Christmas. Well, he couldn't hide it for long, and after 3 days showed it to me. I was INSTANTLY worried. I knew that we shouldn't be getting an extra check, and that we had JUST bought the home. I worried that we might lose our insurance or something else would happen.

I called the insurance agent and he suggested that we call our mortgage company and have them put it into our escrow account. I called the mortgage company and sent them the check. This was well over a month ago, and I haven't thought a thing of it since.

At the same time another couple, who'd just bought their home, got a cancellation notice on their homeowners insurance. Their premium wasn't paid at all. This was a more than a little frustrating to them, I'm sure, and they called our friend Julz.

Apparently, the title company accidentally paid OUR insurance (which is the same company) with THEIR money.

At the time I was putting the money back into escrow, I never felt good about *just* spending it. I only felt peace once it was safely tucked away, where we couldn't spend it.

Again, the Spirit works in mysterious ways.

My friend told me that I was one in a million, because anyone else would have spent that money. I explained the situation to her and how I knew it wasn't right to spend it. She said that it was a miracle, because they never hear about those kinds of things happening.

I don't know why I was so blessed to be the one to help others, but I'm grateful and happy that I listened.

I Think I Forgot To Mention....

...that after a few months in the Primary Presidency....I got released.

I knew it was coming, the current president had been in for 3 years, but I was SO sad to lose such a fun, wonderful, fulfilling calling.

Because the bishopric member knew about the house hunt, he hesitated to extend me a new calling, so as of right now, I'm without a calling. I haven't had THAT privilege since we first moved into this ward....EIGHT years ago.

I am, however, keeping busy. There's a class that has no teacher and while they find one, I'm the "permanent" substitute. I don't mind it at all...I'm just glad to still be in Primary.

And to address the 8 year comment, yes, it's absolutely true. We moved into this apartment when Cam was 3 years old and one month. He'd just started preschool, and I had to wait to put him into the new school district for over a month.

This means that I have EIGHT years of accumulation to go through and purge and pare down. This will NOT be an easy job. BUT I am hopeful that a lot of the boxes I've neglected over the years are easily de-junked and tossed. I can do this....I can do this....I can do this....

Sharing Time Update

I think Sharing time went well. The message was "reading, watching, and listening to wholesome things helps keep my mind clear." The manual had only 2 paragraphs to fill the 15-20 minutes I have to teach this concept. Seriously, it wasn't enough.

I found some great ideas from this blog and used the Sunday Savers book. I had two glasses of water, one with mud and gunk in it, the other clear. I asked if they wanted to drink from the muddy cup, and one boy in senior primary ALMOST did...gross. Then we talked about how we want our minds to be clean and clear. Then we had several scenarios where you either had a good thought or a bad thought. We separated the thoughts into happy and sad bags. For the kids to pick out of the bag, they had to wear my goofy glasses. I found some giant sunglasses at the dollar store, popped out the lenses (you couldn't see through them anyway...) then I taped ears onto the side. I even had a hat that I taped a "clear mind" to. The kids absolutely LOVED it!! They didn't want to stop playing when time was up.

Anyway, I think it went well. I already love those kids, and now I just have to teach them. I think I'm going to be okay.

(Oh, and Kim, I'm not so sure teaching would have worked out for me....I don't have much patience past an hour or so of time. ;)

Help Comes To Those Who Ask

I've been given a HUGE blessing in the form of help with Sharing Times. My cousin, who is SO wonderful, has given me many websites with TONS of help. I'm going to post them on my sidebar, so we ALL can share in them.

I'm just grateful for people who are creative and make ME look good. ;)

New Jobs....Old Loves

A few weeks ago (while I was out of town) I was called to be in a new calling at church. Since becoming an adult (18 years old...) I've held MANY callings: Primary teacher (11 year olds and 5-6 year olds), Primary chorister (twice...two different wards), Cub Scout Den Leader, Visiting Teaching Coordinator, and Relief Society Meeting board-member. They've all been challenging in their own way, but my love was (and still is) Primary. I love hearing the kids bear sweet testimony of the gospel basics. Don't get me wrong, I've absolutely LOVED being in the adult classes, but found staying awake in class a little difficult. *giggle*

Anyway, new calling, right? I'm now in the Primary Presidency. I had a feeling it was coming when the previous counselor announced that it was her last Sunday. Then that same day, I went down to our Primary room for my calling, and realized that it felt comfortable. I KNEW that calling was coming, but I didn't say a word. Not to anyone....

Then, when Brother R, from the bishopric, called to come and visit with Steve and I, we began discussing why he was coming. Steve started saying, "I JUST got my calling (he's teaching the 9 year old kids, he is struggling, but seems to like it well enough.) It can't be me!"

I calmly looked at him and said, "It's for me."

He huffed for a minute, and then asked me why, and I said I'd discuss it with him after the calling came.

Sure enough, it was what I had thought and I accepted it (I think I'd accepted it when I felt like it was coming the previous Sunday).

I have been anxious about it since receiving the call...mostly because I've never been in a presidency before and don't really know what to expect.

After a quick run-down from the Primary President (a VERY good friend) and spending this last Sunday in Primary I'm no longer worried. I'm excited and ready for the current challenge. When I was set-apart (a special blessing given to those who are called, giving them the rights and blessings associated with the new calling) I was reminded over and over that Heavenly Father WILL hear and answer my prayers. He will guide me and help me say what the children need to hear. My family will be blessed, and most importantly I will be blessed (both spiritually and physically) as I serve.

I'm hoping to share some Sharing Time ideas on my side-bar, just like I did with my singing time ideas. Sharing is my best kept secret. I'm not that creative on my own, really....but I can play up someone else's idea like you wouldn't believe.

Who Are You?

My friend shared this video with me today....I'm literally in TEARS!!!

Sending all of you my love, and God's!

Going to General Conference

I've never been to see Conference live, but I've always wanted to. I was able to go to a Young Women's broadcast, but that's not QUITE the same. So when our bishop announced that he had tickets for Conference, Steve, without even asking me, got some tickets for us. Jake is too young to go, so it was just Steve, Cameron and I.

We dropped Jake off with my parents early Saturday morning, and off we went. The drive was VERY pleasant and drama free.

We arrived in Salt Lake City JUST as the first session of Conference got finished. We went downtown and ate lunch at Subway. We watched throngs of people walking down the street. It was quite the sight. People after people....it was awesome.

We finished our lunch, and decided that the sooner we parked and got to the Conference Center, the better.

Parking was almost a nightmare, but because we had a pass, we were safe. We quickly found a spot, parked and off we went for our long walk.

Once we got to Temple Square the people were OVERWHELMING! I'd forgotten that people use General Conference time to protest our church. One man was holding a sign, I never really read, but he began yelling, "You cannot enter heaven unless you are born again! HAVE YOU BEEN BORN AGAIN, YOU MORMONS!? Jesus saves, but you must believe in him!" He went on and on....I wanted to laugh at him, I mean, the NAME of our church is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." His name is RIGHT there!

We went to the door our ticket said to enter through, and were told by many helpers that we just needed to find a door, the door with the shortest line....

We went through the metal detectors, had my purse searched and went to find our seats. Cool enough, our section is on the second level almost STRAIGHT across from the rostrum.

I kept telling Cameron that when the Prophet came in, we'd stand in reverence and wait for him to sit, and to remember the feeling he felt when the Prophet came in. We sat excitedly for a while, talked with a few members of our own ward who'd gotten tickets as well....then there was silence as people stood. If you've never experienced being in the place where a prophet of the Lord is, it is truly special. The Spirit is SO strong.

Once he was seated, we all sat and waited for the Conference to start.

I will say this, if you're prone to fall asleep watching Conference at home, it's NO different in the Conference Center. I found myself nodding off. I didn't want to do that, so I doodled. I ended up doodling a whole page of curly-cues.

The messages were wonderful (like always) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

At the end, I felt like we should just go straight home instead of following our plans, but then I brushed off my thought and didn't say a word. Little did I know, Steve had the same "thought...." What we NOW know was truly an impression from the Spirit we should have heeded.

When it was over, we visited some friends who'd moved to Layton, and stayed to play while Steve went to Priesthood session with our friend. By the time they got back, it was late, and we HAD to leave. It was raining buckets, but we were okay. Once we got to the Idaho boarder though, it was snowing, HUGE, FLUFFY snowflakes. With the lights reflecting off of the snow it looked like we were driving through space. You know how warp speed looks on movies and television?? Yeah, we were going warp speed....except it was only like 40 mph. We had to stop at a rest area to get our bearings, because the normal night-time tunnel-vision was 100 times worse with snow. We said a prayer, and slowly made our way home. We followed some sweet person most of the way through the snow and eventually made our own way once the snow dissipated. What's normally a 3 hour drive took us over 4 hours. But we made it home by midnight.

It was a great day, and one I wouldn't mind doing again, MINUS the snowstorm.

Ever Have One of Those Sundays??

Do you ever have one of those Sundays where EVERYTHING you hear at church seems directed at you? Every prayer, every talk, every lesson seems applicable to YOUR life? This was my Sunday.

Sacrament Meeting went well. Lately I've tried to make a conscious effort to concentrate on the Savior during the passing of the sacrament, and today, it just totally slipped my mind. When the deacons were returning the water trays, I remember thinking to myself, "Wait! I forgot! Can I have a do-over?"

Once the speakers started, I DID get my do-over. The first speaker talked about being Christ's hands and responding quickly to promptings. He talked about how we say our prayers praying for someone to help us and they come and DO help us, why can't we be the answer to someone else's prayer?

Then our choir sang one of my favorite songs, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." I sang with the choir, and before going up I warned my boys to be good....Jake followed us up onto the stand and then stood at the front and peeked over the edge. Nice, my son is the ward's entertainment.

The second talk was about forgiveness. I come from a long line of grudge holders, and have perfected this trait myself. In fact, I've been struggling lately, but I haven't really mentioned it here, but I will now, because I need some help and perspective to get past it.

About a month ago, on one of our many Family Home Evenings, I had a blow up with my step-grandma. She is constantly telling me what to do, and treating me like a little kid. She's not very nice about it, and acts like she's my mom and I'm an incapable child. Well, that night, she tried to tell me something (at the same time that my own mother was telling me the SAME thing) and I got frustrated. I've held in my true feelings for years. And unfortunately, I blew up. I yelled and screamed and basically acted like a baby. I told her that I was an adult, and that I did NOT need her to tell me what to do. I can take care of my own family and she didn't need to get in the middle of it.

Now, the message is one that she might need to hear (since she is a butt-insky and is always trying to micromanage everyone around her....) but my presentation was HORRIBLE! I felt terrible. I wanted to apologize to her for yelling, but not for my message. So after consulting with some friends, I decided to email her my apology, but tell her that I will not put up with her treatment of me anymore. I meant what I said, but that I felt bad about yelling and acting like a little kid.

That was the single most SCARIEST moment of my life. I did NOT want to hurt her feelings, but I felt like I needed to stand up for myself and let her know where I stood. A week went by...she had not responded. I felt like things were going to be okay, and she was just going to let this blow over. I was relieved that we were "okay."

Unfortunately that is NOT how it ended. By the end of the week she had sent me a very nasty email saying that I was a horrible mother and wife and that she needed to tell me what to do because I was so incapable of doing it on my own.

I was hurt and angry. (Truth be told, I'm STILL hurt and angry.)

I have not seen NOR spoken to her since then.....it's very odd, and I have guilt that she is keeping herself from the rest of my family because of me.

When I heard the forgiveness talk today I KNEW that it was Heavenly Father's way of telling me that it is time to forgive her and move on. I just don't know how....it's so hard to forgive someone who refuses to forgive me (yes, in the email she told me that she will NEVER forgive me....) and someone who treats me and my family so badly. (I've been thinking over and over at how she treats my sweet Cameron....and it brings Mama Bear out EVERY time.) Someone told me that I need to let go and stop stewing over her, especially when I haven't seen her or talked to her in such a long time. That it is Satan trying to get me into his nets.

I admit that I should, but I am SO good at holding grudges. I mean, I'm amazing at holding grudges.

All through his talk I felt the Spirit tell me, "You need to forgive her. Forgiveness will make you feel so much better and you know it."

I know I do, and so in the middle of that talk, I said a small prayer that I will be able to find a way to forgive her.

Sunday School was great as well. The teacher spoke of parables and how we need to change ourselves to be receptive to truths. (Hello, I must need to do a lot of changing, because forgiveness is one of my weaknesses....)

Relief Society was probably the place where I was touched the most. I will tell you, I love my ward. LOVE them. And I've been trying to sit in different parts of the room to get to know every body and to switch things up. I sat by one of my favorite people and settled in to enjoy the lesson. Our opening song was "As Sisters in Zion." Again, a hymn that I love and that means SO much to me. I didn't have a book, so I felt the power of the words coming through my heart. It was very special.

Then the lesson was about Charity. This is something I wish I had a better grasp of. Charity is something I wish that I had for everyone, but I've been learning that I am very judgmental and I don't love everyone the same way Christ does. I've been trying to change. It's started a while ago with my younger brother, who has made so many wrong choices. One day I commented that something he loves is for "weird people" and he chastened me by saying "no, it's for people who are judged...." I have been quick to judge first and not to love as quickly. I've tried to change this about myself, and can truly feel stronger love for my brother.

During the lesson today I realized, "Charity is the answer to your forgiveness.... You need to learn to love your step-grandma the way that Christ does. Not only do you need to find Charity in your heart for her, but you need to share this love with your husband and children. They are the ones who are most deserving of your love and understanding. Treat them ALL better and you will be happier."

I spent the remainder of the lesson in tears and being chastened by the Spirit. (The teacher didn't make the lesson out to be one where you feel bad, in fact, she did an amazing job! I just took the truths she was teaching and applied them to my situations.) The closing hymn in Relief Society was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's version of "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus." As I think back to that song, I'm tearing up. It was beautiful and so true....we need to" love one another as Jesus loves [us]. Try to show kindness in all that [we] do. Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, for these are the things Jesus taught." It shouldn't be so hard, it should be simple and easy to follow in his footsteps.

I've tried applying these lessons into dealing with my children, and while I have fallen a few times (yes, I've failed a few times in the last few hours since church...) things are going SO well. My boys aren't going to turn to me immediately, but I believe that if I love them with the "pure love of Christ" then things will be better and I will be happier.

The best part of the day came after the closing prayer. My favorite lady, that I sat by, leaned over and said to me (while the tears were pouring down my cheeks...) "I want you to know, that whenever people mention 'Dawnyel,' I hear nothing but good things. You are so sweet and we all just love having you here." Could there not be a better way to end the day?

So many lessons learned in such a short amount of time. It's been a fantastic Sunday.

Fun Family Home Evening Ideas

Tonight we had a fantastic Relief Society meeting with ideas for Family Home Evenings. It was so fun and FULL of wonderful ideas. I want to remember, so I'm going to share a few.

• Repentance: Have the family sit in a circle around a big bowl. Make sure they're sitting on a hard, easy to clean floor. Tell them the rules of this game are that they can pick what they want out of the bowl, if they want, but they cannot look up or they're out. Slowly drop pieces of candy into the bowl above the family. Start throwing more and more until it's a frenzy, then drop an uncooked egg. Once everyone is covered with egg, talk about how we can think we're doing something that's innocent, but can turn bad. Then wash the egg off and talk about how we can be clean again after we repent.
• Write family histories...especially good to have OUR parents write theirs. Include pictures.
• Use the Gospel Art Picture Book or Kit and tell stories from the pictures. Kids can do this really well.
• Make Family Home Evening fun and not a time for lectures. One of my favorite stories of the night, the mom was frustrated with the family leaving food, garbage, clothes all over the house, so she hid chocolate balls in one daughter's sock drawer, popcorn in another daughter's closet. That night she exaggerated making a mess finding the candy and popcorn....throwing the socks in a comical manner, then in the 3rd daughter's room, she said how warm she was and took her sweatshirt, socks and boots off, throwing them all over the room. After the rooms were sufficiently messed up. The mom asked, "When you're at school, do you drop stuff on the floor and expect your teacher to pick it up?" "Do you leave your garbage all over the lunchroom table?" "Why do you treat our house this way?" It was a good respect lesson, and not a lecture.
• Memorize the Proclamation to the World.
• Write your own Family Proclamation with goals you have as a family.
• Involve children in sharing and teaching the lesson. (This is where I struggle, personally...) It doesn't matter what they teach, as long as they feel excitement for the lesson and a sense of responsibility.

There was SO much more, but this was the few things that I truly appreciated.

They Spoke to ME

Today was our broadcast Stake Conference. (In other words, it was stake conference, but it was broadcast to each stake center in the area from Salt Lake City.) I was surprised to see President Monson was there.

The messages were FANTASTIC! The whole feel of the meeting was wonderful, but once President Monson got up to speak, I was enthralled. He was speaking directly to ME! He spoke of saving those who are lost (our lost battalions of the old and lonely, the ones who have alienated themselves from family, and the inactive members.) The whole time I kept thinking about my brothers who have become inactive. I felt the power of the prophet's words about loving them, and encouraging them to return.

I love it when I truly feel the Spirit speak to my soul! It is so wonderful!

Remembering The Important Things

I just love it when the Conference issue of the Ensign comes out. I love looking through the pictures and re-reading the talks that I either missed the first time (aka, slept through) or ones that I didn't hear because I wasn't there for it (aka, Priesthood session or Young Women's session). I was excited to hear a few talks, because when Steve got home from the Priesthood session, he was fired up and excited about them.

Thursday, instead of taking a book with me to Cameron's therapy, I grabbed the newest issue of the Ensign. I was in heaven! I am constantly in awe of the things we're reminded of at Conference...usually they pertain directly to my life. I couldn't believe all of the talks in this last session that were directed at families and especially mothers.

In one of the talks, I felt especially touched when I was reminded to speak gently and kindly to my children. I have SUCH a hard time with this. I need to remember it.

I've even been reading this issue in place of my usual bedtime book. It's THAT good! Last night, I even continued reading, past the time I was ready to sleep because I was SO happy and enthralled with the messages. That is something I rarely do with my scriptures or Church magazines.

I'm truly grateful that we have living prophets to guide us. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father STILL speaks through His servants and that I can feel the Spirit guiding me to understand and learn from these chosen men.

Lessons in Mothering

Sleep is far from my mind. My brain is swirling with the things I've learned at church. It was a truly great day for me. I felt the Spirit SO much, and I felt prompted in the things I've been struggling with.

First off, the sacrament meeting speakers touched on things I'm not doing, but should be. The first one spoke of consistency in the little things (prayer and scripture study). I do pray, constantly, but my personal scripture study has fallen by the wayside since I finished my goal last year to read the Book of Mormon. I need to do better.

Then in Sunday School we talked about the parallels between the story of Abraham and Isaac and Christ. The one thing that hit me was that when Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac he didn't complain, he did it obediently with no other words. What a great example of obedience.

And finally, in Relief Society we discussed Dallin H. Oaks' talk about Love and Law, how Heavenly Father is bound by laws, but that doesn't change his love. I tried to apply this to my parenting style. I've felt like SUCH a failure as a mother at the end of a trying day. I've felt discouraged when my sweet son gets SO angry with me that he storms upstairs, slams his bedroom door, and screams, "I HATE YOU!" (This was NOT what I had expected my life as a mother to be.)

The teacher, who is someone I've looked up to for a VERY long time, was talking about how Heavenly Father can't make everything in life "fair." He can't give EVERYONE the exact same things, because THAT wouldn't be fair. Then she drew a parallel between my Cameron and her son. Cameron has some pretty severe delays, he still has problems with his speech, and he can't read. Her son, on the other hand, is a typical child, and has no problems with his speech or reading in the same way that Cameron does. She was saying that we can't ask them both to do the exact same tasks, because it wouldn't be fair to either one. (Of course, as she was talking, I had already been thinking about this and completely agreed. But I felt the Spirit SO strongly, that I was bawling....) I wasn't offended, in fact, I learned SO much in that one thought that I feel like I should have learned YEARS ago.

Lesson 1: My Cameron is different. He cannot be held to the same standards as *typical* children. He can't compete, and that is okay.

Lesson 2: His delays make him more compassionate and loving. He is FAR closer to being like Jesus and Heavenly Father than I am.

Lesson 3: Even if he never "catches up" to his peers, he needs to be loved and treated well.

(See, these things are "duh" things, but things I've never really taken the time to THINK about.)

On the flip-side, I also learned some things about parenting Jake.

Lesson 1: Just as Cameron is special, so is Jake. They may not be special in the same way, but they both have great talents and abilities that are theirs alone.

Lesson 2: It wouldn't be fair to Jake OR Cameron to hold both boys to the same standards. They're different and learn differently.

Lesson 3: Both of my boys, even WITH their differences, have a great ability to love without boundaries or limits. They're a great example to ME of how to love unconditionally.

Lesson 4: I need to love both boys and parent them individually, because they are individuals.

My eyes were opened, and I am SO grateful for the Spirit that taught me SO much about me and my family. I just need to remember these lessons....always!

Special Primary

Tonight I went to see the Special Primary's Christmas Program. It was SO cute!

My uncle is a member of the Special Primary, and he asked us if we'd go to see it. He was thrilled this year because he didn't have a speaking part, he just played the bells in the bell-choir.

I noticed that despite the age difference, special primary is VERY much like children-under-12-primary. There are the ones who like to speak VERY loudly into the microphone to see everyone jump. There are the ones who are antsy and have to stand and wave to everyone. There are the over-zealous singers. There are the ones who play with their costumes so that they can't see. You have the shy ones, and the out-going ones. The singing is cute and the program is ALWAYS something that makes ME cry.

While we were sitting in that chapel, I looked over to my sweet Cameron and had a thought pop into my head. I wonder if years from now I'll have to take HIM to Special Primary and we'll be involved with them. I know Cameron isn't really *special* but in a lot of ways he IS. I don't know what the future will bring, but I do know that those special "kids" are definitely some of the choicest people I've ever met and if Cameron is found among them, he'll be VERY blessed.

Thankful November

Living Prophet

I'm grateful that Heavenly Father has not closed the heavens to the world. He does speak to men through his living prophets. I am SO grateful for the knowledge I have that our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, communicates with Heavenly Father and passes His words to us.

I am also grateful for the other leaders and "prophets, seers, and revelators." How blessed we are to hear their words twice a year at General Conference. We are also blessed to have their words written down for us to read in the May and November Ensigns.

I cannot express my love for these men and the things they share with us. My heart is so full of gratitude.

Thankful November

Scriptures

I've got a group of friends who have encouraged me to read my scriptures daily. This is something I've struggled with for years. Usually, I get motivated, and start out gung-ho, but then lose interest half-way through. Since my friends are doing it too, I'm a little more motivated this time and I'm doing well. Thanks to this website, it's easy and SO fun.

I love the stories that they tell us, and knowing that Heavenly Father has preserved these words for our day and age is something that is humbling. It's so important, and I am grateful to have them in my life.

I learn new things everytime I read them. Someone once told me that if it was something that is IN the scriptures (particularly the Book of Mormon) then there is something there for us to learn. Ancient prophets spent lots of time, effort, and sometimes even gave their lives for those words. Shouldn't it be that important to us?

Thankful November

Gospel

SO much is packed into this one word. I am SO grateful to have the Gospel in my life. I know with how rebellious I've been in my life, that I would not be the happy person I am today if I did not have the blessings of the Gospel.

I'm grateful that our Heavenly Father truly does care about each of us. He loves us so much, and he is personally invested in each of our lives. Many times I have felt His love for me, and I know that He loves all of us.

I feel blessed to know about where I came from before I was born, and where I'm going when I die. That has helped bring me calm when I otherwise would lose my mind.

I'm grateful to know what I know, and that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to continue to send revelation in this day and age to his Prophets. I feel SO blessed!

So Much Talent....And No Uploading Capabilities...

Last night was our ward's talent show. And it was HILARIOUS!! We have some pretty talented people in our ward.

Steve sang a song. (Serious, not funny) and did REALLY well. I LOVE his voice...I just wish he'd sing to me a little more.

I even volunteered to sing my little "baby" singing. It's a weird noise I make that sounds like a baby saying "doo doo doo..." Cute in small bits, but REALLY annoying when little kids do it over and over and don't stop.

Our bishopric did a funny "magic" show skit. I laughed SO hard. Who knew they were SO magical? ;)

And the two highlights of the night came close to the end. One lady did her version of the Napoleon Dynamite dance from the movie. She REALLY looked like him too. And she was AWESOME!

The final talent of the night was orchestrated by my sweet hubby. Several guys from the Elder's Quorum were "Redneck synchronized swimmers." They were HILARIOUS!! Oh....to have the video uploaded to share....but my computer is NOT accepting of the video camera.

You'll just have to take my word for it....it was a FUN night! Although, I'm thinking with all the things that happened last night, maybe next year's show should be the "un-talent" show. ;)

No One is Unimportant

"One of the greatest challenges is to overcome the feeling that we are unimportant, that we are not special and unique. Do you think for a moment that Heavenly Father would have sent one of His children to this earth by accident, without the possibility of a significant work to perform? My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to this earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but ALL of you. There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you. If you do not prepare to do them, they will not be done. Your mission is unique and distinctive for you. Please don't make another have to take your place. He or she can't do it as well as you can. If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here."

-Bishop H. Burke Peterson

Wishes DO Come True

For a while I've been bummed that I missed out on seeing President Monson's famous ear wiggle. It happened at a Priesthood session, which means only the guys got to see it. But thanks to YouTube and Deseret Book it's now available to see. YAY!! (And it's pretty funny too!)

I have to say that I think the Prophet is just dang cute!! :)

Thanks to my honey, for finding this for me!! LOVE YOU!!