Today's letter - Prophetic Priority, Anna's Bridal Shower, The Lord Magnifies

Sunday, July 05, 2015

Happy birthday to my big brother Tyler!  I just got back from visiting with him and his family.  A few of the kids and I took him some chocolate cake.  I sure appreciate him and his good family.  I love them.  I remember the summer Tyler came home from his mission.  Almost every morning he would come and jump on my bed and wake me up (I had moved down to the basement).  He would tell me, “the sun in up, the sun is up” and then I’d tell him, “so what” or some other teenager response and then he’d tell me I had bad morning breath. 

The last two weeks have been fun.  We went camping June 24^th -27^th at Bear Canyon Lake.  It was a blast.  Our friends the Wilcox’s, Sorenson’s, Bowen’s, Judd’s and Tsai’s joined us on 25^th -27^th and Jace and Macaia joined us on 26-27^th.  It was perfect.  We got to spend time alone with our little family the first day and night and then we had a fun group to hang out with the rest of the time.  We kayaked, swam, fished, played games, visited, cooked over the fire, etc.  It was a fun vacation.  You can see pictures of our camping trip HERE.

Last week in ward council we learned about the Prophetic Priority for this year.  My nephew Jake also mentioned it in his last letter and he did such a good write up about it I’m going to copy and paste his summary.  “The prophetic priority is what all of the council of the 12 and the 1st Presidency focus on for the year. Usually they all meet together and think of the principles of the Gospel they need to focus on for the next year, and then they instruct all of the members of the 70, who in turn go and instruct all of the stake presidents and mission presidents. Normally they have about 10-20 different things to improve on that will help every member of the church. The cool thing is this year, they only have one. And that one principle is Sabbath Day Observance. Pretty important if that is the only focus they have as the general authorities of the church! In Preach My Gospel it talks about the observance of the Sabbath day and its importance. ‘Our Sabbath-day behavior is a reflection of our commitment to honor and worship God. By keeping the Sabbath day holy, we show God our willingness to keep our covenants. Each Sabbath day we go to the Lord’s house to worship Him... When a community or nation grows careless in its Sabbath activities, its religious life decays and all aspects of life are negatively affected. The blessings associated with keeping the Sabbath day holy are lost.’”

Monday this week I finished up all of our camping laundry.  That was BIG job.  I looked online for some ideas for food for Anna’s bridal shower that I hosted on Thursday night and I asked Brenda, Macaia, Jennie, Susannah and Shannon to each helped with the food.  Thankfully they were all happy to help.  I knew they would be.

Tuesday Spencer had an orthodontist appointment.  Things are going well and it looks like he won’t have to have the braces on any longer than the 10-12 month the originally predicted.  Later that day, I dusted the house and cleaned and organized my computer desk to get ready for the bridal shower.  That evening for mutual the laurels did random acts of kindness.  We took cookies to a few people in the ward, wrote sidewalk chalk messages on the driveway of a girl who came to camp with us last year, taped quarters on the water dispenser at Walgreens so people could get free drinking water, bought drinks at sonic and paid for the people behind us.  It was a really fun evening.

 

Wednesday the kids and I went with Brenda and Anna and Tyler to Basha pool for Grammy Days.  It was fun.  I paid the bills that afternoon.

Thursday the kids and I finished cleaning up the house and porches for Anna’s bridal shower that evening.  The shower was well attended and Anna got a lot of nice gifts.  It was fun to celebrate with her.  I’m glad I got to host it.  You can see pictures of the bridal shower HERE.

Friday the kids and I tubed the lower part of the Salt River with a few friends from our ward.  That part of the river doesn’t get many other tubers.  It was fun.  Tilly and I rode together in our little 2 man blow up raft.  We tied Marlee to us and Karalee was tied to us for part of the time until she decided she was brave enough to go on her own.  It was a really fun day.  That evening the whole family stayed home, picked up panda express and watched movies. 

Yesterday was the 4^th of July.  I took the kid’s swimming at the Bowen’s while Chad worked on his Elder’s Quorum lesson.  Then we all went to watch the movie “Inside Out” and ate at Café Rio to celebrate America’s birthday.  We got invited over to the Hicks’ home, our neighbors, for fireworks that evening.  You can see our 4^th of July picture HERE.

Today has been a wonderful Sabbath Day.  I love Sundays.  Even when I have a lot of meetings I still feel the blessings that come from this Holy Day and I still feel rested and rejuvenated to go about my responsibilities the rest of the week.  We had ward choir at our home this Sunday; we normally don’t host it, but just subbed for the family that usually hosts it.  Last week the bishop changed around the time for all of our ward council meetings so the ward council could support and sing in the ward choir.  He called me out and said that he had me in mind when he changed everything so that I would be able to go.  So basically I just got a new calling to sing in the ward choir, along with my other callings of YW president and ward organist.  J  That’s ok.  I love to sing.  I’m happy to offer what I can.  We fed the missionaries tonight.  I found out last night that today was Elder Mauclair’s birthday.  He is from France.  Last night I asked if they traditionally do cake and ice cream in France and he said they do.  I asked him his favorite, and he requested chocolate cake and cookie dough ice cream.  I love it when people make requests.  It makes life easier.  We served hamburgers, French fries, zucchini and oriental cabbage salad.  Then took videos and pictures of him blowing out candles on his cake and emailed them to his mom.

My quote today comes from a talk by Elder Faust, Five Loaves and Two Fishes.  “It has been said that this church does not necessarily attract great people but more often makes ordinary people great. Many nameless people with gifts equal only to five loaves and two small fishes magnify their callings and serve without attention or recognition, feeding literally thousands… Some without formal training but greatly magnified, always learning, with a humble desire to serve the Lord and the people of their wards. … A major reason this church has grown from its humble beginnings to its current strength is the faithfulness and devotion of millions of humble and devoted people who have only five loaves and two small fishes to offer in the service of the Master. They have largely surrendered their own interests, and in so doing have found “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philip. 4:7). I wish only to be one of those who experience this supernal inner peace”.  This is my wish too.  I love that the Lord can magnify my small offerings to bless others.

Love,

Mindy

Letter from June 21st - feeling the love of the Lord, what it takes to teach faith

June 21, 2015 

Happy Father’s day!  I am thankful for my wonderful Dad and wished I could give him a hug today.  I am thankful for the things he taught me and for the wonderful home and childhood he and my mom gave me.  I got to see my dear Father-in-law tonight and give him a hug so that was very nice.  I am thankful for Art and for his positive influence in my life and in the lives of Chad and my children.  He is a talented man and fun to be around.  I am especially grateful to celebrate Chad’s role as a father to our children today.  He loves being a father and is a wonderful father.  Also happy birthday to my big brother Brandon today, I am thankful to be his sister.  

I forgot to report a couple of things worth mentioning in my last letter.  Chad and the girls had a big ward Daddy Daughter outing on May 30th.  It was put on by the Elders quorum and since Chad is in our EQ presidency he helped out a lot with it.  They had the activity at Bartlett Lake.  They had horseback riding, several kayaks, and 3 speed boats for wake boarding or tubing.  I think they might have had other activities too, but I don’t remember them.  Our EQ President thinks big.  He is a wonderful blessing to our ward.  Our girls had a wonderful time.  They especially loved the kayaks.  All the girls and young women had a good time and they felt good that they got to have a special ward activity just for them.  I think they plan on keeping it a yearly tradition like fathers and sons. 

The second thing I failed to mention was an experience I had when I got to go with our ward youth to serve at the Randolph House on Sunday, June 7th.  The Randolph House is a state run facility for special need adults.  Fifty two stakes around the valley area take turns providing a worship service for the celestial individuals at the Randolph house each Sunday.  Usually each stake gets the opportunity to go once every four years or so.  (However, there was a special need this summer and our stake gets to go again in August.)  The worship service we help give them is like a big primary.  The individuals have lived at the Randolph house their whole lives.  They are all 40 years old or older now.  It is such a wonderful experience to go serve there.  We get way more from the individuals there than we give to them.  While I was there I was asked to help with a lady named Judy.  She was in a group that doesn’t like to have youth helpers.  When I met Judy one of the first things that I said to her as we were walking into the building was, “I love you.”  She stopped, looked directly into my eyes and said, “I love you too.”  It was a very special experience.  I felt as if it were the Savior telling me He loved me.  This all happened a few days before my miscarriage.  A few days after that, I realized how the Lord was showing His love for me that day to help me through that trying week.  I was promised in my patriarchal blessing that in times of challenges I would be able to sense the love my Father in Heaven has for me, know that he knows me by name, knows what I need and stands ready to bless me with every needful blessing.  That promise has been fulfilled in my life so far and I feel confident that it will continue to be fulfilled as long as I am faithful.  I feel like that as Heavenly Father has taught me and molded me and shaped me He has been right there with me through all the joy and pain.

This last week and a half have gone well.  Friday June 12th I went to lunch with a few friends for my friend Chelsea’s birthday.  Later that afternoon my nephew Porter came over and I helped him make cinnamon rolls so he could sell them to earn money for scout camp.  I was glad Macaia and Collin came too and that we were able to visit while we baked.  I love them. 

Saturday the 13th and Thursday the 18th I helped some of my young women make cinnamon rolls so they could sell them for Father’s Day breakfasts to make money for girl’s camp. 

This week has been pretty low key.  I ordered Chad’s Father’s Day gift on Monday.  He had already bought a Kayak for our camping trip which counted as his Father’s Day gift, but I decided to get him some casual shorts that he’s been wanting too.  Later that morning I took the kids to Makutu’s Island, an indoor play place.  It was free with our Pogo Pass.  Tuesday I had an appointment with my OB/GYN to make sure everything was back to normal after my miscarriage.  Everything looked good so I was given permission to start swimming again which made my kids very happy.  (When I told all the kids about my miscarriage they were so understanding that I had to take it easy and that I had some restrictions like no swimming.  They were extra nice to me all week.)  We have gone swimming every day since the doctor gave me a good report.  We are so lucky to have several friends who let us go swim any time we want.    

Last Sunday I worked on Faith #2 in personal progress.  I started a discussion on Facebook to “discuss the qualities a woman needs in order to teach children to have faith and to base their decisions on gospel truths.”  These are the points from that discussion: 

• A women needs to do her best to know and apply the gospel of Jesus Christ in all situations and relationships in her life. She has to live and model what she is teaching. Children can quickly spot hypocrisy and will not give much credence to what is being taught. To teach a woman needs to show and speak about the joy that comes from a life of following Jesus. She needs to seek the Savior and continually seek to know Him by following Him.
• I think it's important that when we make mistakes, which we will because we are not perfect, that we openly admit our mistakes and model the repentance process. In other words, it's important for kids to know their parents aren't perfect and that's ok because we are all I this road to perfection together.
• Mostly I think the basic answers; prayers, scripture study, and listening for the Holy Ghost are how I base my decisions and remember my faith.
• Follow the Prophet
• First and foremost, a woman needs to gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. She needs to have unshakable faith in those truths. Then, she needs to do the things every day that will keep that testimony burning bright, like reading the scriptures and prayer. Sharing her testimony with her children will help them grow in the gospel and gain testimonies themselves.
• Modeling the repentance process by being humble, showing love and asking for forgiveness is key. It is important to let those you teach know you are trying your best. Also granting forgiveness and showing love while others are going through the repentance process is essential.

What are your thoughts? 

I’ll close tonight with a quote I really liked from our gospel doctrine lesson last week.  “Elder Joe J. Christensen said: “There are those who wake up every morning dreading to go to school, or even to a Church activity, because they worry about how they will be treated. You have the power to change their lives for the better. … The Lord is counting on you to be a builder and give them a lift. Think less of yourself and more about the power you have to assist others, even those within your own family.”

Love,

Mindy

Letter from June 10 - Catch Up

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

It has been a month since my last letter.  We in now in our 3^rd week of summer and we only have 6 weeks of summer left since our school has moved to the year round schedule now.  I am kind of bummed we don’t get much summer, but I am really looking forward to having two weeks for fall and spring breaks though.  We will be able to go and do fun outdoor activities in the nice weather. 

I won’t be able to catch up on everything that has gone on in the last month, but I’ll write about a few of the highlights.  My nephew Levi finished his 2 year mission in Guatemala.  His flight plan home changed at the last minute due to some elders sleeping through their alarms (not Levi) so instead of flying into Show Low he ended up flying into Phoenix Sky Harbor on Thursday May 14^th.  We were hosting an end of the season basketball party for Bryant and his Wham team that night in our back yard so we didn’t get to go see him come off the plane.  I was really sad about that because watching a returned missionary greet his family is one of my favorite things to witness.

May 15^th Chad and I went out to dinner with our friends Chani and Josh.  It was fun to catch up with them again.  I sure am grateful for their friendship.  We can go for a long time without seeing each other, but still pick up like no time has passed. 

May 16^th we went on a group date with several of Chad’s siblings.  We got to meet Hayley’s fiancé Nick.  Anna and her fiancé Tyler were there too.  I like both Nick and Tyler.  I still don’t know Tyler that well, but I’ve noticed he makes Anna happy.  Nick was really funny and seems like a great match for Hayley.  Hayley will be getting married on July 25^th and Anna will be getting married on Aug. 1^st.  I’m a little bummed to miss part of the Snowflake pioneer day celebrations, but being able to attend Hayley’s wedding is worth it.  I love that girl.  We will get to attend the Virgil and Gerda reunion on Thursday July 23^rd at Tom’s pond and the Flake rodeo, luncheon and program on the 24^th though.  So we won’t miss out on everything that weekend.

May 21^st was the last day of school.  Marlee graduated from kindergarten.  She will be going to school all day now.  I’m pretty sad about that.  We drove up to Snowflake that evening and stayed until Memorial Day.  It was a wonderful trip to Snowflake.  I love Snowflake.  It’s good for my soul to go back to that town filled with so much of my heritage and to be surrounded by siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins who know and love me.  The highlights of that trip were:

• Going to the temple with my niece Molly as she received her endowments—Chad and I got asked to be the witness couple which was really a great honor on such a special occasion.
• Listening to Levi give a wonderful report of his mission.  He gave a wonderful report.  He is a great speaker.  He grew to become better man on his mission.  I noticed wonderful changes in him.  He had a lot of rough experiences and last chance companions that humbled him and strengthened him and helped him grow.
• Visiting with family
• Attending Leah’s and Katie’s graduation
• Helping clean out the sun porch and my dad’s office and coming across some cool old pictures of the ranch families that I had never seen before.
• Branding calves – I didn’t help.  I just watched.  My kids were also content just to watch.
• Family luncheons
• Going out to eat with Chad, Crystal, Darrell, Doug, Kari and Alden.
• Walking around my old neighborhood for my daily exercise—having Bob’s dog walk beside me, stopping to say hello to Aunt Nerita and Uncle Dean, Uncle Steve (Aunt Sharla was gone) and Levi and the rest of Shon and Pam’s family.

Spencer got sick again as school let out.  (He was sick at spring break and at Christmas break too.)  He got a double ear infection.  Poor guy.  I hope he doesn’t get sick next school year every time he gets a break from school.  He’s doing better now and is away at Camp Raymond for scout camp this week.  He was really looking forward to it.  I can’t wait to hear about his experiences.  We sure miss him around here.

June 1^st we were invited to have FHE with our friends the Washburn’s.  We went to the splash pad in their neighborhood and played water games.  Our friends the Snell’s were there too.

Thursday night June 4^th Spencer met with Trever to pass off his Personal Management and Citizenship in the Community merit badges and to pass of two parts of his Emergency Preparedness merit badge that were prerequisites for scout camp.  When Spencer gets back from scout camp all he will lack for his Eagle is to do the communication, camping and personal fitness merit badges, and to do his Eagle project.  He’s mostly done with camping and personal fitness.  He’s almost there! 

Amy and David and their family have stayed with us for the last few days.  They got here Friday and will leave this evening.  It has been really fun having them here.  They recently moved up to Snowflake, but came down for a wedding reception last weekend and David had work down here two days this week so rather than have them drive two cars down I invited them to stay the whole time.  Yesterday Amy and I and our kids went swimming at the Lamoreaux’s.  By the time we were done Josh and Mary got more comfortable swimming and remembered how fun it could be.

Last night around 1:00am I am afraid I miscarried my baby.  I’m still not 100% sure but the doctor’s office said since I’m only 5 ½ weeks along all I can do is wait and see.  I found out a few weeks ago that I was pregnant.   I had similar miscarriages between Joseph and Bryant and Karalee and Marlee.  Chad and I planned this pregnancy and were really excited to have another baby.  A miscarriage is hard to deal with.  I am very sad, I am sure Chad is too, but after losing Joseph when I get pregnant I pray that if there is anything wrong that I’ll miscarry before having to go through a whole pregnancy and then lose the baby.  This was my 9^th pregnancy.

My quote for today is from Elder Uchtdorf’s talk The Infinite Power of Hope. 

“The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart. Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.

“Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear.”

I am not in despair.  I have hope and I trust Heavenly Father.  He has blessed me so much.

Love,

Mindy