Sunday, October 18, 2015
Happy Birthday to my wonderful Grandma Flake and
Aunt Cleone! Sadly I didn’t remember it
was their birthday until I read my Mom’s weekly letter but its better late than
never to remember them now. Oh how I
love my Grandma Flake. She was good,
kind and an angel here on earth. Each of
her eight children loved and respected her.
She is the only grandparent I ever had the privilege of meeting. She was fun.
She served the community with her gift of music and was well respected. She made the best ice cream sandwiches and
could always fit “one more person on that couch.” I also love my Aunt Cleone. She and I got to be stand partners in the
Silver Creek symphony when I was in high school. We both play the viola. I still remember her accordion. I wish I could have taken lessons from
her. How cool would it be to know how to
play the accordion!! She makes the best
pear leather I’ve ever tasted and was so nice to share it with us when we would
ask her for some when we’d stray from Grandma’s house next door to her
house. She has a love for horses and the
outdoors and is such a fun aunt. Tonight
I am missing the days when we’d visit Grandma Flake each Sunday evening. I wish Chad could have experienced that with
me a few times. Those were good
days. I’m sure we’ll get a chance to do
that in heaven when we all make it there.
We’ve enjoyed our second week of fall break this
week. Monday all three girls got
haircuts. Marlee cut her hair about 7-8
inches to her shoulders. She was tired
of me combing out so many rats. Tilly
and Karalee just got their hair trimmed up a about an inch or so. Later that day I took the kids to Pump it Up,
an indoor bounce house place. We got in
for free with our Pogo passes. It was
fun.
Tuesday Chad had to leave to the airport early to
go to Dallas for some work meetings. I
asked him to type up the story he told me about his mortgage CEO when the CEO
was asked what his typical day looks like.
I’ll include it as a PS to this letter.
The kids and I were sad that Chad was gone, but we got along alright
without him. We’re quite independent,
but sure prefer to have Chad around as much as possible. Late Tuesday morning we went swimming at the
power ranch pool with some families in our ward. The water was nice because the pool is
heated.
Wednesday the kids and I found a good movie on
Netflix called “The Perfect Game”, popped some popcorn, and had a movie theater
at home. That night I went to a craft
night with several of my friends. I painted
a Thanksgiving sign from a cute stencil my friend made with her vinyl machine
and I also made a teal wreath. It was
such a fun girl’s night out. Chad got
home from Dallas while I was still at craft night. It was so nice to pull into the garage and
see his truck inside.
I don’t remember what we did Thursday. Friday morning I went to Zumba. I haven’t been for a long time. I think I’ll start going again
regularly. I like Zumba WAY more than
running. I’ve never liked running, unless
it was in a basketball game.
It has been a nice Sabbath Day. It was sure nice to be able to take the
sacrament today after missing it for two Sundays since we had general
conference and stake conference back to back.
I needed the power and cleansing the sacrament brings. Today in ward council we went around the room
and shared our favorite parts of general conference and stake conference. It was a very nice, inspiring meeting. I shared that one of my favorite parts of
general conference were the talks by Sister Marriott and Elder Lawrence because
they were a direct answer to my prayer.
A few weeks before conference I remembered that it is good to have some
questions in my mind that I would like answered as I listen to conference. I thought for a little bit, but I didn’t have
any questions come to my mind so instead I decided to pray for something
different. I prayed that the Lord would
show me what I needed to improve in my life as I watched general conference. My prayer was answered in the first session,
not once, but twice as Sister Marriott and Elder Lawrence spoke of how we can
improve ourselves by asking “Father, is there more?” after we pray for
forgiveness of sins and by also asking, “What lack I yet?” on our course of
steady improvement. I’ve already been
taught by the spirit that I need to stop raising my voice so much to my
children. I’m concentrating on
that. I know that with the Lord’s help I
can improve.
Chad has knee surgery on Tuesday. Since today was our fast Sunday we fasted for
him. He also got a blessing from our
home teachers tonight. We pray that all
will go well. My nephew Abe’s
complications from his recent surgery have me a little more worried than
normal, but I feel peace from the Lord.
My quote for today is from Sis. Marriott’s talk, Yielding
our hearts to God. “When we open ourselves to the Spirit,
we learn God’s way and feel His will. During the sacrament, which I call
the heart of the Sabbath, I have found that after I pray
for forgiveness of sins, it is instructive for me to ask Heavenly
Father, “Father, is there more?” When we are yielded and still, our minds
can be directed to something more we may need to
change—something that is limiting our capacity to receive spiritual guidance or
even healing and help.” I know that
there are lots of things I can do to improve my life. I also know that the Lord is pleased with me
and my efforts and as our bishop shared with us in ward council today sometimes
it is good to ask the Lord, “What am I doing right?” I’m glad that the Lord knows my hearts and my
desires. I wish my actions could always
be in line with his teachings though. I
know I can improve myself a little each day with the Lord’s help and
forgiveness.
Love,
Mindy
P.S. Here
is the story about the Chase mortgage CEO Chad typed up that I promised to
share:
This week I had a business conference in Dallas
where the Lending Managers from all over the country came together. We
heard from senior management and our Mortgage CEO Kevin Watters came for a
little bit and spoke. There was a question and answer portion and someone
asked him what his typical day looks like and how he manages his time to get
everything done he needs to. He said he is very regimented with his
time and picky about what takes up his time. He wakes up at 4:30am and
unloads the dishwasher (that’s his chore at home). Then he goes for a run
for around 8-10 miles. He gets back and gets ready for work and eats breakfast
and gets on the train around 7:00am. He doesn’t schedule anything for the first
hour of the work day so he can get caught up on any emails that are in his inbox.
He has meetings or calls most of the day but he blocks out an hour for lunch,
unless he has a lunch meeting and then he blocks out an hour in the afternoon
to get caught up on stuff. He then finishes by around 6pm and jumps on
the train to come home. Sometimes his teenage daughter is at dance practice in
downtown NY by his work so he will head over there and they can take the train
home together. He then has the evening with his wife and kids and then is
in bed by 10:00 or 10:30pm. He is very picky about the meetings he goes
to. He gets the presentation a day or two in advance to go over so he is
prepared. He doesn’t want to go to a meeting where someone is just
reading power point slides to him. He wants a meaningful efficient
presentation/conversation. He has no issue walking out of a meeting if he
feels its wasting his time. Time is his most valuable resource.
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