Where to Start

I have no clue where to even begin. I can’t believe I have been so bad at blogging our family stuff. I have no real excuses, but the fact that I have been blogging like a mad woman over at My Soul Delighteth probably has something to do with it.

That and the fact that I was teaching our co-op preschool every few weeks, coaching soccer, and teaching a toddler Mommy and Me piano class every Monday. Life got busy.

And I like to read. Reading = I don’t do anything else.

Lately I’ve been reading BYU Devotionals, Women’s Conference talks, General Conference, blog articles, etc and I get a little … consumed. I have been blogging a little bit about all the things I have been studying, but most of the thoughts are still either in my head or in my little composition notebook that I carry around. Writing out my thoughts has always helped me process them.

I have pretty much nothing to do tomorrow so I am going to make a goal to do some marathon blogging on the family blog. I was going to do that a while ago but I got distracted.

If you don’t follow the front page you should so you can get updates, since when I blog past events I usually back date them so they show up in the right order on the blog. I will post on the front page when I actually post the old post, and I’ll link to it so you don’t have to go find it.

Get ready for a Rowley Family Marathon! Woohoo!

A Mother Heart

I love these guys. So much.

I got stranded in Wyoming last night,
and I didn’t see these precious faces until this evening.
I just couldn’t get enough of them!
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There’s something really special about being a mother. Something that makes me love it.

You know what else I love?

Watching complete strangers being awesome parents.

Today at Kohls’ I walked by a young couple with a little one or two year old boy in the mother’s arms crying. The father got close to the little boy’s face, and in the sweetest voice said, “I know that’s really fun to play like that, but you can’t ___.”
(I think the blank was something about being in a crowded store and running away from mom and dad being dangerous – I was mostly out of earshot by the time he got to that part)

I just loved that the dad was so in tune with his kid – the kid did think that running around the busy store was fun! But he also needed to understand how dangerous it can be not to obey mom and dad, and not to stay near them. Overhearing that exchange in the store lit up my face. Seriously. I smiled for almost a minute afterwards. I see too many moms and dads dragging their kids around public places, snipping at them, saying mean things to their kids, or even spanking them in the middle of the store (sometimes I am guilty of this behavior – not so much the spanking part, but definitely being impatient with my kids in public places). The way this father spoke to his son was so sweet, so loving, so tender. I’m sure that little boy had no doubt in his mind that his daddy loves him and that all his daddy wanted was to keep his little boy safe.

What a great dad.

I’m married to a guy like that.

He’s a great dad.

Great dads make great kids.

That’s why my kids are fabulous.

I Love to See The Temple

On Sunday I found an 11am ward meeting and took the kids. In all of my careful packing I had completely spaced bringing any of our church stuff. No books, no crayons, nothing. I did have a few toys, so I brought them hoping we could get through sacrament meeting without too much trouble. Apparently that was too much to ask of my travel weary children. They fought and screamed so much I had just about decided to leave church altogether when a really nice sister from the ward caught me as I was getting the kids into the car. She introduced herself and asked if she could help. I was in tears I was so frustrated. She offered to sit outside in the grass with Vincente so I could go in an listen to the meeting. My tears changed to tears of gratitude. She was so sweet. She even got Vincente ready for Primary and helped me find the class. I can’t for the life of me remember her name. I should have written it down somewhere! I felt really loved by Heavenly Father that day. He basically sent me an angel.

After church we went back to the hotel and met up with Meg (Geoff had left already) to have lunch and then head to the temple in Littleton. I had been trying to think of things to do while we were traveling that would help us keep the Sabbath day holy. Church took a good 4 hours, and a trip to see the temple grounds would be another couple of hours, then we could watch a Church video and have dinner and the kids would be ready for bed! It was a perfect plan, and other than the slight hang up at Church (which ended up with a beautiful blessing) Sunday was a perfect day.

It was fun to take Megann to the temple. She didn’t know much about the temples, so before we left I told her a few things and showed her the Church temple website and some pictures of both the inside and outside of the temple. On the drive to the temple I got to talk to her a little more about the temple and share my testimony of the temple. I love going to the temple. Even just being on the grounds feels really special to me. It melts my heart to see my children eagerly looking out the window trying to see the angel Moroni at the top of the temple as we got closer to it. I love that they love the temple so much. It was fun to find a new temple to visit.

There was a family of little bunnies hopping around the temple grounds. The kids got a kick out of that. The bunnies weren’t nearly as fond of the kids as the kids were of the bunnies.

We took some pictures at the temple and then headed back to the hotel and watched The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd (a movie that always makes me cry and is highly recommended – you can buy it here).

It was actually one of the best Sundays ever.

I Love to See the Temple

This year the Primary is singing “I Love to See the Temple” for the Sacrament Meeting Program.

Vincente didn’t like to sit with his class in Primary. He much preferred to sit with me at the piano (I am the Primary pianist in our Portuguese ward). So one Sunday as I was playing “I Love to See the Temple,” I looked down to see Vincente taking everything out of my bags and stacking things up. I asked him what on earth he was doing.

“I’m building a temple!”

Look – Lightening McQueen is even going to the temple!

Captain Moroni and the Standard of Liberty

In preparation for Independence Day (and because Vince love swords and fighting and armies and war…. son of a solider? I think so) we talked about Captain Moroni for Family Home Evening a few weeks ago. We even made our own standard of liberty. 

We re-enacted the scene of Moroni tearing his cloak and fastening it to a pole and talked about why he did it, and why they fought.

Then we talked about the founders of our country, what they did, and why they fought. We recited the Declaration of Independence (well, this part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”) and talked about George Washington and what the American flag means, and how it is like the standard of liberty that Captain Moroni made. We hung our standard of liberty and an American flag on the wall for a little while (until the tape failed and they fell down).

Playing soldiers wouldn’t be complete without making helmets and having swords. Russ has a super cool sword he got for Christmas when we were first married, and Vincente has his little foam sword Grandpa Victor got for him last summer (because Vince kept trying to use the knife sharpener for a sword…) and we made helmets out of boxes and tinfoil. They were awesome.

I’m glad we got to talk to Vincente about both the standard of liberty and the American flag and what they stand for. The kids love pointing out American flags (almost as much as they love pointing out the temple) and always tell me when they see one. We’re trying to teach our kids that there are times when fighting is okay – but it is only when we are protecting our freedom, our families, and our religion.

I am so grateful for the example of Captain Moroni – especially for my children because we are a military family. We can help them understand that their Papai is fighting for a reason – that we don’t just fight because we want to, we fight to preserve freedom – and freedom is indeed a very important thing to fight for.

wisdom

Remember this recent post, and this one?

Sometimes I think Heavenly Father likes to build us up before He allows us to experience trials. That sounds kind of mean – seriously, it’s almost like a really mean joke. “Here are a bunch of blessings. And now I will try you beyond anything you’ve ever experienced.” I’m not sure if He is teaching me to appreciate my blessings more, or if He just wants to give me extra strength to get through the hard times.

But I know that Heavenly Father just knows so much more than we do. Our little human minds can’t even begin to fathom the duties and blessings He has in store for us.

In the talk from Elder Cook that I quoted in my last post, he goes on to recite this passage from Doctrine and Covenants – when Joseph Smith is in jail and cries to God, and Heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom and mercy comforts Joseph with this powerful promise:

“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”

Recently in our family scripture study we have been reading 2 Nephi 2, where Lehi teaches his family about opposition and gives an excellent logical argument for God existing. Elder Cook teaches us (in that same talk) that an essential gospel doctrine “is that there must be opposition in all things for righteousness to be brought to pass.”

Well, we’re definitely experiencing that.

“We know from the scriptures that some trials are for our good and are suited for our own personal development. We also know that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. It is also true that every cloud we see doesn’t result in rain.”

Right now, what we are experiencing is a very very ominous looking cloud. It hasn’t rained (yet) and we hope that it won’t, and fortunately, this cloud is the kind that we can blow away if we have enough faith and work hard enough.

But the best part about having trials?

“Regardless of the challenges, trials, and hardships we endure, the reassuring doctrine of the Atonement wrought by Jesus Christ includes Alma’s teaching that the Savior would take upon Him our infirmities and ‘succor his people according to their infirmities.’”

Being able to partake of the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, and feel its power in our lives, and feel the Savior succoring us, “according to [our] infirmities.”

And how sweet that feeling is.

General Conference Prep

I played the Prophets and Apostles matching game with Vincente again today. He did really well remembering the names! He even got Elder Hales and Elder Scott straight (I really struggle with those two when I see them – hearing them I can differentiate, but their pictures look a lot alike, especially in black-and-white printer paper quality).

While we were playing, Vincente says to me, “I was the prophet when I was telling you what to do.” It took me a minute to remember what on earth he was talking about, but then I remembered for Family Home Evening last Monday we had Vincente pretend to be the Prophet, and Russ pretended to be Heavenly Father – Russ would tell Vincente something to tell me, and then Vince would come around the corner and tell me (“put your hands on your head” “sit down” “stand up” “fold your arms” etc). I couldn’t believe that Vincente remembered that lesson! He has been surprising me left and right with his gospel knowledge. I worry, because we attend a Portuguese ward, and sometimes I think he doesn’t understand what is going on in Primary. On top of that, he doesn’t have a long attention span and never looks like he is listening, so half the time I think we’re just talking to ourselves. But then he goes and says stuff like this, and reminds me that prophets talk to Jesus, and I’m just floored. Over and over again.

Anyway, I was getting excited for Vince to see the General Authorities at General Conference in April, and then I remembered that he has never really heard their voices. So I hopped on to LDS.org and looked up the “General Conference Highlights” and showed him this video:

He actually did pretty well naming them while he was watching.

The thing that struck me, though, was how quiet he was during the first clip of President Monson. I could tell that he was feeling the Spirit while he watched. After a minute, I started explaining what each apostle was talking about in Primary terms - “He’s telling us that we need to obey.” “He’s telling us that we can have the Holy Ghost with us to teach us.” “He’s telling us to be like the Savior.” “He’s telling you to keep the commandments so that you can have the Priesthood, which means you have the power of God.”

Then, on one of the clips of President Monson, Vincente says, “Hey, President Monson! Do you talk to Jesus?” And then, Vince changes his voice (to sound like President Monson, I assume) and says, “Yes, I do.”

It was a really humbling experience for me to listen to that sweet (if somewhat silly) testimony of my not-quite-four-year-old son, affirming that he knows that President Monson is a prophet, and that President Monson talks to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

When Elder Oaks talked about the two lines of communication with Heavenly Father, I tried to reinforce the testimony and explained that Elder Oaks was telling us that we can talk to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father when we pray, and that we can also listen to the prophets because they talk to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and tell us what to do.

I plan on playing the matching game with Vincente more, and then also playing the “highlights” clip from last year’s General Conference. During the six months following April’s General Conference, I’ll play the new “highlights” clip for him every now and then. I think the “highlights” clip is probably the best tool yet for exposing little kids to General Conference. There is gentle background music, and the clips are short (1-2 minutes) and it’s only 16 minutes from start to finish. Vince was just about done at 12-13 minutes, but I tried to help him stick it out. It’s just perfect for his attention span – 4 two hour sessions is going to be entirely too much for him right now, but this will help get him ready to sit and listen to longer talks. And later as he gets older, we can play clips of the talks by the apostles in longer segments.

I think we will have him sit and listen when the Prophet addresses us. I haven’t decided what to expect out of him for the rest of it. We’ll try to get him and sit with us (by me explaining what the speakers are saying – in Primary terms), but I don’t know how much he’ll care to sit through, and I would like to be able to just sit and soak up one or two sessions. We’ll see how it goes.

Segue O Profeta

 
Last week for Family Home Evening, we made a matching game with the pictures of the prophets and apostles. I just printed the pictures from the November 2010 Ensign on cardstock (two copies) and then cut them out to make pairs of each prophet/apostle’s face. I had to resize the pictures of the First Presidency, but that was pretty easy.

Both of our kids love matching games, and this one was no different. At first it was a little hard for them, because there were 15 pairs (30 cards) and they are used to 8-10 cards. But Vincente still did really well, and Joseline even found a few matches on her own! Next time we will probably do them in smaller sets – 4-5 pictures at a time.

As we flipped over the pictures, we practiced saying the names of the person pictured. This was good for Russ and myself as well… I’m ashamed to say we’re not as good as we thought we were at remembering all the names. The leadership has changed so much since I was a teen! I still remember listening to Elder Maxwell and President Faust. It seems like it was just yesterday that they were speaking to us – but it’s been years, hasn’t it?

I hope that this will help our kids enjoy General Conference more when we watch it in a few weeks.

A Little Backwards

I have been trying really hard to get my life in order. I have been working on being more productive, getting more things done, and taking better care of myself and all of the temporal needs of my family.

In all that quest to be an “effective mother” – meaning, having a clean house, a stocked pantry and fridge, and dressed and bathed children – I realized that I have been seriously neglecting the thing that matters most.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said this:

“As we turn to our Heavenly Father and seek His wisdom regarding the things that matter most, we learn over and over again the importance of four key relationships: with our God, with our families, with our fellowman, and with ourselves. As we evaluate our own lives with a willing mind, we will see where we have drifted from the more excellent way. The eyes of our understanding will be opened, and we will recognize what needs to be done to purify our heart and refocus our life.” (emphasis added)

I studied this talk back in January on my scripture study blog, My Soul Delighteth, but I think that maybe back then my mind wasn’t as willing to see where I may have drifted from “the more excellent way” – but last night as I prayed for the Lord to help me be a better wife and a better mother, I prayed for help to “do the most important things.” And then something President Uchtdorf spoke about came to my mind.

“...it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives.” (emphasis added)

I am a list maker. Ask my husband. I have your usual grocery lists and menus, but it doesn’t stop there. I have priority lists of things to buy, projects to complete, debts to pay off, books to read... even that list goes on and on. My to-do lists are complex and list every possibility for my day. Well, they did until last night when I realized exactly why I am experience that “increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in [my life].”  It was because of the darn to-do lists. Sure, the laundry needs to be done, and the dishes need to be washed, and lunch and dinner need to be served, and groceries need to be bought. But the most important thing to do is spend time with my little ones. “We build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family home evening and by just having fun together. In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e,time.”

I was trying to get into a strict, “efficient” routine that would help me feel like I had accomplished a lot during the day. But those accomplishments were temporal, not spiritual – not eternal. They were things that were going to last only in this life, only in this moment, and would not be as significant as the relationships that I can form with  my children right now while they are small.

From my journal last night: So I am going to try something new. Something completely different. Before the kids wake up, rather than trying to scramble and get things done, I am going to spend time with Heavenly Father and myself, meditating and studying the scriptures. Then, when the kids get up, rather than attemping to distract them so that I can complete yet more items on my to-do list, I will simply BE with my children.

It won’t be horrible if I actually get some chores done. It will be especially good if the kids help. They can sort laundry, fold laundry, help empty the dishwasher, help wash the table, help cook. I have had a little bit of a disconnect between being a mother and being a homemaker. I think that I felt like I could only wear one hat at a time (I could be a mother, but not at the same time as being a housekeeper, and neither of those at the same time as being a cook, or a courier or chauffeur). But really, the only hat I have is mother. And it is by far the most important.

The most frustrating (or rather, enlightening) part of this whole ordeal is that I just read and studied this talk barely a month ago! Why didn’t I figure it out then? I’ll tell you why. I am one of the most stubborn people in the entire world, and it takes an average of 3-4 months for me to admit that I was ever even wrong. Seriously. I think it used to take a lot longer than that when I was younger, but I have improved – probably thanks to my sweet, patient husband.

So far the past few days have been great. I have been spending more time with the kids, and less time doing dishes and laundry and washing toilets and vacuuming and cleaning up,  but you know what, my house still looks fine (not pristine, like I might like it to be, but it’s not unsanitary or cluttered or anything like that). And my kids are happier (especially Joseline – she has been a little cranky child for a looooong time, and finally she’s been pretty happy, only throwing the normal toddler fits, instead of just being ornery all the time.Vincente is being more helpful and loving.

And I feel more relaxed, and closer to Heavenly Father.

Vincente and Joseline playing on the air mattress with a friend. 

But who wouldn’t be closer to Him

around these little angels?

Fact Sheet

Back in 2008, shortly after the talk was given, I posted several of these “facts” from Elder M. Russell Ballard’s General Conference talk.

I’d like to share some more of the facts today, and I will actually be posting one fact each day on my Facebook page until I run out of facts. And then when I run out of facts, I’ll probably start posting the articles of faith.

First, “Mormon” is a nickname for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members are often referred to as “Mormons,” “Latter-day Saints,” or “LDS.” The term “Saint” means “member.”

Second, the Church was restored in 1830 in upstate New York with Joseph Smith as its first prophet and president. Today it is headquartered in Salt Lake City, with President Gordon B. Hinckley as the present prophet.

Third, there are now over 13 million members in 176 countries and territories. About 6 million of these are in the United States, making us the fourth largest Christian denomination in America. As one of the fastest growing Christian faiths in the world, we complete a new chapel every working day. Members pay a tithe, which is 10 percent of their income, making this and other programs possible.

Fourth, local congregations are led by volunteer, unpaid members. Both men and women serve in assigned leadership positions.

And fifth, Mormons are well represented in politics and government. (In the United States, for example, there are 16 members in Congress, from both political parties.) Members also serve in high and trusted positions throughout the world in business, medicine, law, education, media, sports, and entertainment.

We believe in the eternity of the soul, that God is the Father of our spirits, and that we can return to Him after death.

We believe that Jesus Christ is our personal Savior, and we try to model our lives after Him and His teachings. We commemorate Christ’s atoning sacrifice in our Sunday worship services, similar to taking communion in other churches. We accept as fellow Christians all who believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and the Savior of all mankind. Many Christians do not understand that we have much common ground with them. Joseph Smith taught that Jesus Christ is the core of our belief, and everything else is an appendage to it (see Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 44). The name of the Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We believe the original church that Jesus established was lost and has been restored again in our day. The priesthood, the authority given to man to act in the name of God, with apostles and a prophet to lead us, has been restored as have all necessary ordinances of salvation.

We believe in and we use the Holy Bible, both the Old and New Testaments.

And we believe in the Book of Mormon and other books of scripture which support and authenticate the Bible and testify of the ministry and divinity of Christ and of God’s ongoing revelation to man. Indeed, the Book of Mormon is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.”

Mormons place particularly strong emphasis on family as the basic unit of the Church and of society. We have a deep commitment to marriage (defined as a union between one man and one woman). Polygamy, a limited practice in the early pioneer days of the Church, was discontinued in 1890, some 117 years ago.

Families and individuals, whether members of our faith or not, can attend Sunday services in our chapels. Here we worship together, instructing one another from the scriptures.

Latter-day Saint families are encouraged to hold family home evenings weekly, usually on Monday nights. This provides a regular and predictable time for parents to teach values to their children and to have fun together. We invite those not of our faith to adopt this practice with their own families.

The Church has auxiliary programs for women, youth, and children as a support to the family. These programs provide such things as religious instruction, opportunities for Christian service, sports, drama, music, and Scouting.

And there is also much focus on extended family, genealogy, and personal family history, providing young and old with a stronger sense of roots, identity, and belonging. The highest and most sacred ordinances of our faith relate to our families, both living and dead, and some of these ordinances take place in our temples.

One of the fruits is a longer life. Studies show that practicing Mormons are healthier and therefore live longer than the national average. In 1833 the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the Word of Wisdom, which is the way to live in order to enjoy a long and healthy life.

Second, those who are married in and attend the temple regularly have a divorce rate far below the national and world average.

Third, we achieve an educational level that is higher than the national average.

Fourth, over 70,000 members volunteer at their own expense to serve for 18 to 24 months in humanitarian efforts, Church service assignments, and full-time missionary service throughout the world.

And fifth, we place strong emphasis on self-reliance and a solid work ethic. We encourage active involvement in our communities and in providing service to others. The Church continues to donate substantial money, goods, and services to humanitarian causes around the globe, including untold hours of labor donated by members to assist in disaster cleanup and relief.

I think I will be going more in depth about these and some other facts on my scripture study blog. Maybe I’ll do a “Mormon.org” type series or something. Hmm...

Monday Musings... on Saturday

It’s been a while! I have been meaning to post a few things on the blog – what we’ve been up to lately – but the being “up to” has taken up all our time, which leaves not much for blogging!

Today I have a training class for getting our foster care license. My awesome sister Christy and her husband are coming over to hang out with the kids while I’m gone, since Russ is at some more job training for about two weeks. Hopefully I will be more on the ball this next week (not to mention not having a husband, so I’ll probably have a lot of time to spare...) so I’ll post Christmas pictures and get more regular again.

My goal this year is also to print the last 3 years of blogging into blog books. I will probably print one for each year. When I started posting pictures, that was the idea – that I would print the blog to make a journal/scrapbook... mostly because while I used to LOVE scrapbooking, being a mom has kind of taken up most of my time. I may even add in entries from some of my other blogs – combine them into one big book.

My other goal is to get all of our family videos (all the clips I took over the past several years) organized and edited and put on to DVDs so we can have easily-watchable family videos.

It’s going to be a year of personal history for me. Personal and family history. Preserving today’s memories and experiences for our kids.

Above are the gingerbread houses we made with some friends before Christmas. I will be posting about that over on Child’s Play. I will also be posting a tutorial for Borax snowflakes over there.

Feel free to check out my scripture study blog for my thoughts on October 2010 General Conference – my topic of study right now. Also, here is an interesting blog post (from someone else’s blog) about President Packer’s talk from General Conference.

Other than that, we’re just hanging out. I’ve got lots of Christmas pictures to post, and thoughts about that – and I need to post our Christmas traditions somewhere for next year (along with my thoughts about how to make next year a little more... smooth sailing, and help us remember the reason for the season).

And, to end on a happy note – a picture of Joseline (taken by Vince)

Monday Musings – A House of Order

Sometimes this is what my life feels like. Messy with little bits of life strewn all over. I’ve been doing pretty well keeping my life and house in order, but the weekend was pretty crazy (thanks for coming, all you who came to warm our house!) and I felt like I was getting further and further behind on life – leaving little scattered pieces of life lying around for people to step on. It was tragic.

Thanks to my sweet husband, he picked up all the scattered pieces and delicately put them back together for me, while I slept most of the weekend off. It was great.

Then we had an uplifting evening with some new friends on Sunday, and today had Family Home Evening – a beautiful lesson about God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost (the Godhead). We sang the First Article of Faith song (in Portuguese – Regres de Fe) and we’ll sing it every day for the rest of the month, and hopefully Vincente will learn to recite the first article of faith himself. We’re going to make a sticker chart to “pass off” the articles of faith as we learn them (everyone, me, Papai, Vince, and Joss). We’re going to learn one a month, starting with the first this month (since it’s such a short article of faith, and the month is over half done, we figured it was a perfect time to start, instead of waiting until January – “New Years” resolutions can be made at any time of the year, in my book!)

So, now that the house is mostly back in order, and I got 8 full hours of sleep last night (plus a 1 1/2 hour nap! Which I wasn’t planning on taking...) I think I will be able to keep the little bits of my life from getting too scattered.

And Family Home Evening always puts me in a good mood – especially when they are followed with conversations like this:

Me: Vince, does Heavenly Father have a body like ours?
Vince: Yup.
Me: Does Jesus Christ have a body like ours?
Vince: Yep he does.
Me: What about the Holy Ghost? Does he have a body like ours?
Vince: Except, he don’t.

Love it. He soaks stuff up like a sponge (and I’m extra impressed, because FHE was entirely in Portuguese – which means he understands more than we think he does!).

What kinds of things throw your life off track? Do you ever feel like you’re leaving bits of your life strewn around? How to you clean up and get back on track? Do you have a sweet husband (or good friend) who helps pick up after you when you can’t seem to hold it all together?

Monday Musings – He Will Come

Last night we watched The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd as a family. Complete with popcorn. It was the best Sunday movie night we’ve ever had.

As usual, I bawled during practically the entire movie.

I know the Savior came, taught, lived, died and was resurrected for us and I know that He will come again. I hope that when He does come I will be prepared to meet Him. I want to be like Helam in the movie (and many people I’m sure who were actually there) and live my entire life waiting, watching, and preparing for the coming of the Savior.

I can’t think of anything more wonderful than to finally see the Savior. All I can think about during that movie is how it will feel to see Him. How it will feel to be with the multitude who will fall at His feet and worship Him. I think it will be kind of like the feeling I get when I see Russ after some long military training that takes him away from me. Only times a million, because the coming of the Savior is much more significant. I know that I will cry and cry and cry and kiss His feet and hands and tell Him how happy I am that He is finally here.

Now I just need to live each day so that when He comes again I will be worthy to walk with Him.

Monday Musings – Follow the Prophet

On Sunday, October 3, 2010, President Boyd K. Packer, whom members of the church sustain to be a “prophet, seer and revelator” gave this talk.

As a prophet, President Packer’s responsibility is to call the world to repentance – much like Noah did in his day as he built the ark, like Lehi in Jerusalem, and like many other prophets in the past.

Unfortunately, as they did with Noah and Lehi, the world has rejected the words of the prophets, and have even gone so far as to petition him to withdraw his statements. This is not a new thing. It has happened again and again throughout history, and God’s word has always remained unchanged. As President Packer so bluntly put it:

...there are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of God’s laws and nature...There are both moral and physical laws “irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world” that cannot be changed...To legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day.

I respect everyone’s right to an opinion. But I also believe in God’s word, and I firmly believe in God’s prophets who deliver His word to us – especially in these latter days.

Satan is stirring up the hearts of men. A war is waging. “Who’s on the Lord’s side, who? Now is the time to show...” This particular battle hits really close to home for me. I have had to make some really difficult decisions about some people who are very dear to me. All I can think about is how to “love one another” while still being devoted to righteousness, and not “look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” This article, a Q&A with Elder Oaks and a member of the 70, has been particularly helpful.

In response to the petition I mentioned earlier, the brethren had this to say:

Much of this was not new, but there were a lot of really great things said. A few of my favorites:

“As a church, our doctrinal position is clear: any sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong, and we define marriage as between a man and a woman.”

“None of us is limited by our feelings or inclinations. Ultimately, we are free to act for ourselves.”

“The Church distinguishes between feelings or inclinations on the one hand and behavior on the other. It’s not a sin to have feelings, only in yielding to temptation.”

I don’t believe that people are homosexuals or “gay.” I know that people will disagree, and that is fine. I believe that people have same-gender, or homosexual, attractions, and that they can sometimes be very strong. But they are still just children of God to me. If they choose to participate in homosexual behaviors, or live a homosexual lifestyle, then that is what they are doing. I believe that there is nothing fundamentally different between someone who struggles with same-gender attraction, and the rest of God’s children who struggle with something else. We are all children of God experiencing trials and struggles on this earth with Satan tempting us and trying us. We inhabit imperfect bodies with imperfect emotions and chemical make ups. We all face trials. (read more about that here)

God made man and woman. He created them specifically different – to fulfill different purposes. From The Family: A Proclamation to the World, “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”

As I write this, I realize that I am not writing it to an audience of people who don’t believe in Christ and the atonement. I am writing it in hopes that someone who feels unsure about the word of God on this issue can maybe read my testimony and perhaps feel the spirit and have a little better understanding of God’s word.

It is not easy to stay true to the Savior. Especially in today’s social and political climate. There is so much of the Adversary’s influence in our societies that we can be easily confused by the arguments out there.

Sometimes I get very discouraged because the world is getting more and more wicked – good is called evil, and evil is called good. But I know that there is hope and happiness available to those who live the gospel – for those who earnestly call on God in the name of His Savior, Jesus Christ and ask for a confirmation of that which is true. The Spirit will guide us. I know that because I beg the Lord for His Spirit to be with me as I raise my children and feel like I don’t know anything.

If there is one thing I know is absolutely true, it is that God lives and loves us and has given us living prophets on the earth to help guide us when we become confused about how to live in the world and not be of the world.

And I hope and pray that you will try to get that testimony for yourself.

Recommended reading:

Cleansing the Inner Vessel by President Boyd K. Packer
The Q&A with Elder Oaks and Elder Wickman
The Response to the HRC Petition
Many of These Articles
This Proclamation
Another Good Article by Elder Oaks

Reverent Reflections

Last night after dinner I was playing an iTunes mix – just a bunch of random stuff, 99 Luftballons, Dust in the Wind, Brand New Shoes, Falling Even More in Love With You, Letting the Cables Sleep, You and Me, Piano Man, The Times They Are A-Changin’, This Side, She’s Got a Way, and the last one we danced to – Dacing’ In the Moonlight.

Of course, my precious kids started dancing, and I snapped some video clips of the joyful, carefree moment. It was beautiful. And I thought of how much I love my children, and I how glad I am to have them.

A memory came to me of watching home videos with my family in Seattle after my brother passed away. I remember watching him as a little three year old, singing songs into the microphone – carefree and joyful. I watched as he played with his little baby brother, Wayne, and as he opened presents on Christmas morning, and as he rode his bike up and down the streets.

I couldn’t help but think about my parents being in this exact same situation, 20 something years ago. Watching their babies play and dance – catching it on tape because it was so precious.

Then it hit me – the pain my parents must have felt as they watched their son slip away. How they must have felt as they recorded those moments years and years ago – never knowing, never even anticipating that their oldest son would precede them in death.

I cried as I realized that every moment with my children is fleeting. Any moment they could be taken from me. God’s will is bigger than me, and I can’t stop Him from taking them from me, if He wants them. For a moment it was scary – in fact, it was downright frightening. Especially because the one person who would understand what I was seeing as our children danced is not available for shoulder-offering. I know he would offer his shoulder, if he were here. And we would probably sob together.

So I danced with them.

I twirled and spun and leaped and sang and kissed my babies and hugged them because for all I know, they may not even wake up tomorrow. Of course, I hope they will, and I don’t imagine they won’t.

But what if they don’t, and I didn’t dance with them? I would regret for the rest of my life not dancing with them last night.

Every moment I have with them is so precious, so fleeting, so sweet and special to me.

Then comfort. Comfort because I know that even if they are taken from me – even if Heavenly Father calls them home – because I made covenants with Him, I can have them again when I leave this world.

I feel so blessed to have the knowledge I have of eternal families. Nothing could make me feel more right – more safe – more comforted.

As I danced and held those sweet babies, I felt the Spirit testify of that truth.

And the pain went away,
and all that was left was peace.

PofE – “We write according to our prophecies”

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

~2 Nephi 25:26

A few weeks ago, I posted about my goal to write in my journal more often. Really, it was a goal to have a habit changed by the end of September. The habit change was to write in my journal every day.

Here’s my progress:

The week of Aug 29-Sept 4, my goal was to write in my journal twice. I wrote in my journal once.

The week of Sept 5-11, my goal was to write in my journal four times. I wrote in my journal three times.

The week of Sept 12-18, my goal was to write in my journal five times. As of Sept 17, I have written in my journal three times. If I write tonight and tomorrow, I’ll make my five days.

Next week my goal is to write in my journal six times. I think I can handle that.

This morning for scripture study I studied that scripture at the top (2 Nephi 25:26) - you can find it on my scripture study blog.

Monday Musings – Vacation

I need  a vacation.

Badly.

Thankfully we found this house to live in down in Arizona and we’ll be staying close to post. We’ll get to see Russ a little, and have a backyard, and there are some fun things to do in Arizona. I have declared September as the month of perpetual vacation.

We’ll also be closing on our house in September, which will be the crowning glory of this summer (along with Russ’ graduation).

It’s been a long summer and I’m just glad it’s almost over.

Looking back, I’m trying to figure out what good things came out of this summer. A lot of things, I’m sure. I learned a lot. I mean a lot. It has been really good for me. I don’t know that I grew a lot this summer, but I think this summer has planted the seeds for growth for the next several years.

I have met a lot of really neat people, and I have been on the receiving end of some really great service and blessings.

I have become stronger – I can run nearly 6 miles without a problem, and I could probably do more than that, but I’ve put running on the back burner right now.

I wish I could say that my testimony has been strengthened, but I think it has been mostly stagnant. I think I will spend the next few days working on that. Throw myself into prayer and the scriptures. Figure out what Heavenly Father wants me to be doing right now (rather than just “waiting” for the summer to end). That kind of thing. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes.

By the way, if you haven’t yet, go here and create your Mormon.org profile – and share the mormon.org website with anyone and everyone!

PofE – Line Upon Line

I think that maybe I was expecting too much of myself when I made my first Pursuit of Excellence Goal.

Mosiah 4:27 says:

And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

The phrases “line upon line” and “precept upon precept” are found countless times through the scriptures. It’s as if Heavenly Father is trying to tell us something!

Now, first of all, most of my “goals” are not really goals – they are habit changes. There will be no “end” – I won’t exactly “acheive” something – it’s more like I’ll be getting to a point where I have changed my habits for the better.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Simple Mom, and she wrote about the kaizen method of habit change. It has that “line upon line” feel to it, and I think I will give it a try.

So, since I keep failing miserably in achieving my goal of writing in my journal daily, I am going to make a goal that by the end of September (by September 30) I will be writing in my journal daily.

My steps will be this:

1. The week of August 29-Sept 4, I will write in my journal two days.

2. The week of Sept 5-11, I will write in my journal four days.

3. The week of Sept 12-18, I will write in my journal five days.

4. The week of Sept 19-25, I will write in my journal six days.

5. The week of Sept 26-Oct 2, I will write in my journal seven days.

So, by the end of September I will be writing in my journal daily. This feels like a more manageable way to change my habits and develop newer, better habits – by moving “line upon line.”

When Your Gut Screams ‘No!’ but Your Mouth Says ‘Of course, I’d be glad to.’

My mom had a sign on her mirror for a long time that said this: Stress is when your gut screams ‘No!’ but your mouth says ‘Of course, I’d be glad to.’

I feel like this is saying “We create our own stress by not being okay with our limits.” Sure, we can push and test our limits sometimes – and our limits should certainly always be expanding - but if we’re not ready to expand our limits (and we need to be ready) we should just do what we can do, and don’t do what we can’t do.

For example, we can’t redeem ourselves, but we can do a lot of righteous things, and we can believe in Christ and let Him redeem us. We do what we can do, and Christ does what we can’t do.

I know this is doctrine, because it says so in 2 Nephi:

“...for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”

This week has been really long for me. Most of you probably know that. If you don’t, read my previous post. Then you’ll know part of what I mean.

On top of that, for some reason beyond my understanding, I agreed to watch my twin nieces the same week I was bringing home two 8 week old puppies. Of course, I wasn’t anticipating my brother to pass away the day after I brought the puppies home. And I wasn’t expecting to switch my flight and get on an airplane in all of 24 hours. And I certainly wasn’t expecting to be as depressed as I have been.

Even though when I found out I would be alone watching the twins, my two kids, and the new puppies, and my gut screamed “No!” a little bit, I thought that was just my own selfishness, and that I should just work through that and do it anyway – after all, my help was needed, and I was willing to give (although I have recently learned that willing ≠ able). So I gave. But I really didn’t have anything to give.

So this week has been long. I have been stressed. And it’s not over yet. I can’t see the blue skies yet, even though I know they are there.

And next time my gut screams “No!” I’m going to take its advice.

 

PS – things are actually going pretty well with the puppies.

And the kids, for that matter.

I can’t wait to have our fenced backyard, though :-6

Monday Musings -- “Os pequeninos deixai vir a mim”

“Pois, é teu Pai e muito te-ama”

This is a line from the Portuguese translation of the song, “My Heavenly Father Loves Me” from the LDS Children’s Songbook,

(in English)

(em Português)

I have always loved this song – in English, of course – and it was one of the first songs from the Children’s Songbook that I learned to play. When we made the decision to raise our children bilingual, we realized that we were going to need the resources to teach them the gospel both in English and in Portuguese. So we bought scriptures (including the Book of Mormon stories, and recently the Old Testament stories), manuals, and the Children’s Songbook (and CDs!) in Portuguese. We read the scriptures as a family in Portuguese, and we have family home evening, and family prayer, and sing songs as a family all in Portuguese.

I absolutely love the Children’s Songs. I was raised to have a deep love for music, and for the gospel, and the music in the Children’s Songbook are just ingrained in me! They come to mind all the time when I am studying the principles of the gospel. They are a perfect simple introduction to the gospel, and the music is so sweet and beautiful, I just feel warm all over when I play and sing these songs.

When music is translated into another language, the basic underlying meaning of the music is preserved (as much as possible), but the words and expressions can be vastly different.

For example, this words of this song (My Heavenly Father Loves Me) read:

Pray, He is there, Speak, He is listening,

You are His child, His love now surrounds you.

He hears your prayers, He loves the children.

Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven.

Whereas the Portuguese translation reads:

Sim, perto está. Sim, Ele te ovre.

(Yes, He is near. Yes, He is listening to you).

Pois, é teu Pai e muito te-ama

(For he is your Father and he loves you very much.)

Com terno amor, ama as crianças,

(With tender love, He loves the children)

Pois delas é o reino, o reino do céu.

(For such is the kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven)

I think the Portuguese expression is much more beautiful than the English translation that I just wrote there, but I just love that the words in the Portuguese translation say “He loves you very much.” The words “His love now surrounds you” are very poetic and beautiful – but I am a fan of simple and direct. You can’t get more simple than “He loves you very much.” This is the testimony that I have – that Heavenly Father loves me very much and it is the testimony I want to share with everyone, especially my own children: é muito te-ama.

Please let that piece of truth touch your heart. Because it is true:

é muito te-ama.

(if you’re wondering – I use Windows Live Writer to write my blog,

and downloaded this MP3 Player Plugin for Writer to embed the mp3’s in this post)