Weekly Letter

Sunday, January 26, 2014

This week has been fun.  We’ve been much healthier than last week.  Good health is such a blessing.  I am so thankful for my body that can heal and do so many wonderful things.

I forgot to record that I started teaching Karalee piano lessons over Christmas break.  She is doing pretty well.  Usually I wait until my kids have started 2^nd grade so they are really good readers before I start teaching them piano, but she is reading well now so I started her earlier.  I hope she’ll love it and progress well.  I also forgot to record

that on Monday, Jan. 13th Spencer’s good friend at school had a seizure in the middle of class.  It was really scary for Spencer to witness.  Spencer was pretty sad about it when he got home.  As soon as he walked in the door I could tell something was wrong and he tearfully told me all about it and said how scary it was.  He said he was shaking when they had all the kids line up in the hall while the school nurse came upstairs to check things out.  It helped Spencer not be so scared when he talked about it with me and we also said a prayer together for his friend and asked that Spencer wouldn’t feel so scared anymore.  I am sure glad I was there for Spencer when he came home, that I noticed something was wrong, and I was available to talk about it with him.

As I recorded in my last letter, on Monday Chad and the kids had the day off work and school and we went to the Gilbert Temple open house. 

Tuesday the kids went back to school.  I worked on the YW lesson that I taught today.  It was my first time teaching.  I LOVE the Come Follow Me Youth curriculum.  It is so personal and provides good, thought provoking discussion questions.  We heard last week in sacrament meeting from a member of our stake Sunday school presidency that they are going to be changing the church’s adult curriculum to be more like the youth Come Follow Me curriculum since it is so good.  Tuesday night I taught the YM and YW in my ward the temple cultural celebration songs for the last time.  I’m relieved to be done with that responsibility so I can concentrate on spending more time with the YW and getting to know them better.

Wednesday I had visiting teaching appointments while the girls were at Grammy Days.  I love being a visiting teacher.

Thursday afternoon I had a member discussion with Puring and the missionaries.  The lesson went well except at one point where Puring told us she wants to die.  She said she is so tired and is ready for God to take her home.  It reminded me of how my Grandma Flake was ready to die for so many years before she was actually called back home to Heavenly Father.  I feel sad for Puring.  We are going to work on some of her family history though.  She is interested in having temple work done for her mother and Grandmother.  Hopefully that will give her a purpose and make her life sweeter.  Thursday night Chad went to dinner with his Dad and his brother Jace.  He had a nice time eating and visiting with them.  I took Bryant to weigh in his pinewood derby car and to turn it in to his leaders until the race.  We had to make one little adjustment since it weighed 5.1 pound when we got there and the limit is 5.0 pounds.  Chad told me how to take a little bit of weight off if it ended up too heavy though so it wasn't a problem. 

Thursday morning Tilly went pee pee in the potty for the first time ever!  I'm hoping to start potty training soon, but we haven't had any more successful attempts at going potty except for Thursday morning.

Karalee LOVES to play Phase 10 now.  She's in a Phase 10 phase.  She asks to play several times a day.  :)

Friday after school I had all the young women come over for a little get together.  We had lots of cookies and had a fun time visiting and getting to know each other.  I printed off a long list of fun getting to know you questions and we asked each other some of them.  It was fun to have the YW in our home.  Friday night Chad and I went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday’s then we went bowling at Flip Side for our date.  It was fun.  When I got home I answered the interview questions about mine and Chad’s courtship and marriage that Hayley asked me for an essay she’s writing in her marriage and family class and emailed them to her.  I posted them on my blog too if you’re interested in reading about it.  

This made over 16 dozen cookies!!!

Yesterday was Bryant’s second pinewood derby.  His “Perry the Platycar” was fastest in the bear den.  He was so happy that it did well, so as a result we were happy too.  Our ward tells the boys which car was the fastest overall, and which cars were the fastest in each den.  I took Spencer to a merit badge clinic for citizenship in the community right as the pinewood derby ended.  He said it was REALLY boring.  I asked him if all the merit badge clinics were boring and he said no, but this time the teacher talked really slowly it seemed to drag on forever.  Yesterday we were lucky to have two groups come to our house to change clothes and visit us after the Gilbert temple dedication.  Travis came and brought his teacher’s quorum around 9:30 and Kari and Alden came around 1:00.  It was sure nice to have them visit for a while.  Late yesterday morning we also had some of the young men in our ward come over to help Chad put some dirt around our basketball court so it will be flush with our yard.--Chad spent Monday afternoon and several evenings this week installing new sprinklers around the court.--The young men stayed and played basketball for quite a while and had lunch with us.  They introduced us to the McKraken sandwich they made up.  When you put a McDonald’s spicy McChicken sandwhich in the middle of a McDouble hamburger it becomes a McKraken.  It was pretty good, but I think I prefer to eat them separately. 

I was assigned to give the spiritual thought in Ward Council this morning so I’ll use it for my quote today.  

Marriage has been on my mind a lot for the past few months.  A couple very close to Chad and I have separated and are getting a divorce.  It is incredibly sad; a tragedy really.  It has really been a wakeup call.  Chad and I have always had a close marriage, but with divorce hitting so close to home, we’ve resolved to make our marriage even stronger.  I’ve spent a lot of time doing sealings in the temple and listening closely to the sealing ordinance.  I noticed that when a couple is sealed together in the temple the man covenants to do six things.  The woman covenants seven things.  I am really trying hard to live up to what I’ve covenanted to do, and I know Chad is too.  In the last conference, Elder Eyring gave some great counsel regarding marriage.  He said,  

“It is only with the companionship of the Holy Ghost that we can hope to be equally yoked in a marriage free from discord. I have seen how that companionship is crucial for felicity in a marriage. The miracle of becoming one requires the help of heaven, and it takes time. Our goal is to live together forever in the presence of Heavenly Father and our Savior” (2013 October General Conference, To My Grandchildren, Sun. Morning Session - By Henry B. Eyring).

Aside from our relationship with God, the relationship between a husband and a wife is our most important relationship and should be given our best efforts and our highest priority. When we are happy in our marriages in helps our children feel more secure and will help them progress and gain testimonies.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Love,

Mindy