<-Matt with his new Spanish Bible
<- McKade on the drums
<- Camile was hiding since she hadn't showered yet. Who showers on Christmas? Really. ;)
<- Matt got ahold of the camera :)
<- Playing with all of the new toys
<- Becky
The Christiansen party was on McKade's birthday! ->
Lucky you - I didn't feel like Photoshoping ->
McKade and Mom ->
<- Greg and Mom
A picture that at least Matt looks good in ;) ->
Elisabeth was so pretty, even if she wasn't looking at me :p ->
<- The usual chaos
Checking out the new game ->
<- The look on her face is awesome :)
Granny about cried she was so excited to get the Susan Boyle cd - she'd been dropping hints for months ->
<- Grumpy with his "Old Guys Rule" hatThe day after the Covalt part was the Biggs/Christiansen party. We ate yummy food and caught up with more relatives. Then we got to go downstairs for the gift-giving :) Grandma JeanAnn has been updating our family records and gave us a family history binder with some charts done. We had lots of fun.
Christmas eve was the Wilson party, as usual. We arrived quite fashionably late, but weren't the last ones. After quite a bit of waiting (during which my cousins and I played Christmas mad libs - so very entertaining), we had dinner. Then the younger cousins contributed to our program. I had no idea Casey and Ryker were playing stringed instruments! Debbie's daughter and her two kids were up visiting as well. Watching them open the presents Grandma got them was so cute! But we're not to presents yet in this timeline...
After the program, we sang some Christmas songs, followed by the traditional Luke 2 story and Silent Night. I did not cry this year - though I had a couple reading issues (oh well, can't be perfect). For anyone confused, my mother, being the oldest, would read the Christmas story while Koreen would play Silent Night. When mom died, I took over that responsibility. I'm pretty sure every Christmas since, I have had a really hard time getting through the story - but this year, I did not cry! Fifth time's the charm I guess.
After we sing Silent Night, we distribute presents and the subsequently get opened. One of Caleen's kids (sorry, I don't remember who!) had Matt. He got a Walmart gift card, Mountain Dew, and Snickers. My cousin Kim had me - and she loves me :D (that or she's observant of my FB statuses and my hints for everyone at Thanksgiving) - she got me Owl City's latest cd. LOVE IT! We eventually made it home. Matt went to sleep, and I wrapped gifts :)
Christmas morning, we woke up at a fairly decent hour. Matt opened his one Santa gift (we've been pretty broke these last couple months, and the few things I got on black friday, Matt was there to see - so he only had one gift from me). He got the Spanish Bible since the church has gone through and done the foot notes and cross references and such. Then we headed down to Payson to Matt's parents.
They always have such fun things :) There were little helicopters flying around, tanks that shock you, nerf-like darts, and of course, the Wii! (okay, so I just wrote that in all caps for emphasis and decided to change it - Wii becomes WII - add another 'w' and it's World War II! thought you should know.) Santa informed us ahead of time of the plan, so we brought our two wii-motes. Santa also brought them the Beatles Rockband, but they ended up getting the wrong kind of microphones :( They still had two guitars and the drums, though. We discovered that the Beatles were pretty crazy in their later years - I suppose drugs will do that to you. Mom and Dad also got us a tabletop grill, cute Christmas cross-stitch, family pic, a Thomas S Monson book (favorite quotes of, not so much written by him), our own helicopter, gift cards, and candy. Yes, it is quite possible I forgot something. We hung out playing with the new toys and had breakfast.
That afternoon, we went to my parents' house for dinner. We hung out talking for awhile before making it back home. Mom and dad gave us a card with a much appreciated check. We also got the (now) traditional Kleenex and toilet paper - good timing too because we were on the last roll :). My step-sister Makayla's family also sent us up a present - a cute little snowman, Christmas mugs, hot cocoa mix, and Sprite. No, I did not let Matt spike his hot cocoa with Sprite.
We most definitely had a merry Christmas :)
The saturday following my birthday was the Hadfield Christmas party - at which we got to go on a "two-horse open wagon" ride :) I had been looking forward to this and was so excited we actually got to go this year :) The whole family piled into the wagon/sleigh and we went for a ride - it wasn't too cold, but by the end, it definitely was chilly. We sang songs and chatted, while looking at the lights and other attractions. After the ride, we warmed up and had dinner. After which, the brother who owned the horses and wagon bore his testimony of families - it was special :) It was good to see and visit with family again. It's been awhile :)
On Thursday, the 17th, Cinco went to No More Homeless Pets to be neutered and get his booster shots - totalling $49 as opposed to $82 for boosters alone up the street at the vet, or $209 for boosters and neutering. He's recovered well and is possibly even more of a terrorist at times. At the moment, though, he's laying contentedly in my lap :)
That same day was my work Christmas party. Bowling, Costa Vida, and prizes :) Good prizes, too. Too bad I didn't win any. Katie came as well, and even though they tried to randomize the lane assignments (pick a number), we fudged and Katie used my number to get put on our lane :) Aimee (read: eye-meh) came to our table to eat with us too. She didn't bowl seeing as how she is pregnant. We also met Camila and Nathan. Good times. After food and bowling, we congregated in the pool hall/arcade for the drawings. Like I said, I didn't win anything, and neither did Katie. Melissa and Shannon from our team both won WW snowcone makers, though. For a taste of how amazing these prizes were, I'll list a few (yay for working at corporate!). Xbox 360s, Wiis, PSPs, iPod nanos, $100 gift cards, digital cameras, 12" digital photo frames, camcorders, etcetera. Notice all of those are plural, there were at least two of all of the above. As a nice surprise, though, the CEO got a $20 In-n-Out gift card for everyone. Matt has already used some of ours :)
Lastly, that brings us up to yesterday, the Covalt Christmas party. We started with dinner then did a white elephant. We totally rocked ours. Thank you Old Navy sale! $1 cozy socks - and all they had were yellow when we walked in (there were some that apparently didn't get sold that an associate brought out as we were there, but Matt made us leave :) ) After that, we sang and played Christmas carols (on metal pipes of varying length). After that, Matt and I went up the the Orem FedEx Office to pick up our Christmas cards. Just about no where lets you print totally custom 4x8 cards, fyi. Yes, I know it's pretty late, but deal with it :) They're adorable and need to be shared.
As previously mentioned, the 5th was my birthday. The sad day I enter my mid-20s (I'm now 24 for anyone wondering). This year, my birthday was on Saturday. It was a good day. Matt and I went to training (which is always good), during which my dad called to wish me a happy birthday (he and Gloria were in Phoenix because Jaycie was getting baptized, and then the following Saturday Belle was baptized). After, I called back and we chatted a little. As we got home, Zack texted me happy birthday. Apparently there was going to be embarrassment at training, but Zack forgot :) That evening, Matt's parents took us to dinner to Olive Garden. They were so kind and got me a card and a cd (which is really good, btw, I finally listened to it the other day :) ). Our waitress was super adorable too. I ordered my standard 5 cheese ziti al forno, and it was slow getting out, so she talked to her manager (preemptive move there! not like I was going to complain though), so I got a free dessert! (black tie mousse cake - yum!)
Thanks to everyone who called, texed, or facebooked me on my birthday :) (Or after my birthday, Jake ;) ) Loves!
Now to get around to the updates that are sorely needed. We had a lovely thanksgiving. We went to dinner at Matt's Grandma and Grandpa Covalt's. The turkey was delish and I definitely filled my plate too full :) Afterward, we played Bingo. Prizes were involved. I got some little bungy cords, and Matt got a package of three rubber balls (which worked out perfectly because Cinco, aka Illegal Kitty, loves them - we had no toys for him when we got him...) After Bingo, we headed to Spanish Fork where the Wilson side was congregating. There, we had pie and visited with more family. Toa brought the kids up from Brazil - I can't believe how big Meleseini is now! We also looked through the ads to prepare for Black Friday.
My intent was to be there early - we're pretty broke at the moment (soon to be remedied - woot!), so deals were of great import. The plan was to awake at 3am to get to Walmart and try to get a couple things at the 5am deal. Well I was up late playing Assassin's Creed. Matt finally went to sleep. It was to the point that if I went to sleep, I wouldn't wake up, so I kept playing (my contacts were bugging me so badly!). I opted to let Matt sleep a little longer since he fell asleep pretty late, and I knew he'd have the same problem. So at 3:30am, I went to wake him up. It wasn't happening. Then I fell asleep. We did venture down to Walmart at like 9 or something and got a few things that I was hoping for, and some I wasn't planning on (Black Friday is the best day for movies...).
Then Matt decided he needed to get me a birthday present, and GameStop had a deal on the New Super Mario Bros Wii with two qualified trade-ins. I told Matt he didn't need to trade his games in (out of the relatively long list, we owned 3 for Xbox 360, and one I am still playing... should finish that, eh?), so he decided to get rid of his non-compatible Xbox games - and then the Xbox since we obviously don't use it and it struggles. So we go stand in line at GameStop to find out they don't deal in stuff that old, but Mario's in the Provo mall does. So we opted to drive up there since we had all the stuff in the car. She took all of the games and three of the controllers for around $30 (they give you a little more if you do in-store credit, but there was nothing of interest there). One controller was aftermarket, so she didn't take that. Then she couldn't take the Xbox either because Matt and his brothers had opened it to try to fix the laser when it was going out. It worked better for a little bit after that... So now we have 1 Xbox and 1 controller and some Xbox games (the ones that are compatible with the 360).
I had told Matt that I'd rather Assassin's Creed II than Mario Bros. at some point during the day, and on the way back to GameStop, Matt said he thought he had enough to make up the other half of Assassin's Creed II. So that was my birthday present. At first, he wasn't going to let me have it until my birthday (the 5th), but then he really wanted to see it played, so he let me have it early. However, I was not quite done with the first Assassin's Creed, so he and Garth had to wait until I finished that a few days later. (Since it was my birthday present, I wasn't allowing anyone to play II before me :) ) And yes, I have finished Assassin's Creed II also now . . . like a week ago :)
Though for anyone who checks the actual blog page - you'll notice that I did come in and update it with my adorable Christmas background and header. I made those, thank you very much. And those stripes were a pain! I used shapes in PS to make my holly - so I can't take full credit there. Then the stitching came from a scrapbook download. But other than that - it's all mine! Just wanted to point that out ;)
So my mother-in-law kindly hinted that I need to post. This I know. For awhile, I didn't feel I had anything blog-worthy. Then a week or two later, I thought of some things I should post about, but I was feeling the ennui and didn't want to. Then I mostly either haven't had the time or haven't taken the time (like finishing up my life insurance test... sigh.) So I promise I'm around and will blog . . . eventually.
I should have posted this a couple days ago when I was all giddy and excited over this stuff . . . and when I remembered them :)
400 South is open! Woot! It opened Thursday at 5pm. I got off early that day, but I still got home a little after 5pm so I could drive on the new road :)
Even more exciting - the lights on the interchange were working! I thought the interchange would still be a mess, but it's not :)
Friday I got through 2.5 chapters for my life license. 2 more to go!
Saturday, Matt was able to go with me to training. That hasn't happened ever since Matt was always working Saturdays at the shop :)
Hopefully more good things come our way this week. I guess they always do, it just depends on how strong your microscope is. That probably didn't make sense to anyone. Oh well, that's okay.
I just thought I'd share how annoying I find playlist.com or any other site's streaming music feeds on people's blogs. Don't worry, all of my followers who are at fault, I still come to read . . . but it's so obnoxious! Especially if the player is near the bottom of the page (conveniently located near the top in the right column is acceptable). I have to scroll past, typically 7, posts that may be who knows how long - just to shut the thing up. It's not so much that we have different tastes in music (though, Nicole, I love the music on your blog, and I generally don't pause it), it's mostly that there are other things going on in my house when I read others' blogs - and the sudden burst of music is a pain. If I'm home alone, sure, I'll probably let the thing play, but I hate having to either turn off the speakers, adjust the volume of my speakers, or go find the player to shut it up.
Even more annoying? MORE THAN ONE PLAYER! People, do you realize these things just start playing when I get to your blog? If you have TWO players, I get TWO different kinds of music (which, of course, are TWO different genres that don't even go together!) That makes it IMPOSSIBLE to read your blog without either turning off the speakers or scrolling to the bottom and shutting them both down.
PLEASE visit your own blogs to assess your current layouts and music. I love you all - and, like I said, I'll still read your blog - but consider your readers, please :)
Friday, my boss's boss's boss came back from lunch . . or a walk . . I don't know . . with a kitten. Apparently the poor little thing was partially buried under stuff (leaves and what else, I don't know) and just meowing his little heart out. So Tim brings the cutie in, we all gawk and get him some milk. I knew I was taking the kitty home. Marie mentioned if no one else would, she would take it, but she didn't really need another kitty. So I totally jumped on this. (For the record, we are only allowed birds and/or fish in our apartment.) I figured I would figure something out, or maybe convince Grandpa to let me keep him. HA! Boy howdy - I don't know what I was on. I heart my kitty. Matt won't let me name him yet until something is figured out. Things may end up that he goes to live with someone else. So if anyone knows of a cheap ($600 or less monthly), pet-friendly apartment in Utah County - please leave a comment! However, the Boulders has already been scratched. But anything that might be not listed on the net anywhere (I check KSL and Craigslist and any complexes I can find websites for), please let me know! I don't want to give up my cute little furrball.
New season = new blog decor :) The background is my creation. The leaf bouquet is pulled from some free download - as is everything in our header (less our picture, of course :) )
Thanks to Halloween being on a Saturday, I was able to take down Halloween and put up Thanksgiving on November 1st - I'm quite proud of this fact :)
As for Halloween itself - it was rather uneventful. Training was fun because everyone was dressed up. I wore my corset and fangs etcetera because I figured that would elicit a better reaction. Then I came home and changed into my poodle skirt and spend the day cleaning. We went to Matt's parents' for some dinner, then came back home to hand out candy to our 2 trick-or-treaters. Aw well. Matt's family came over to visit, and our Xbox got some good use (not like it doesn't usually....). We also managed to finish rearranging our living room. Nothing too drastic, but it sure was a hard thing to figure. I like it - now if I could just finish getting it clean!
And now for the fun part - pictures!
They decided the car really is under warranty, and there is an engine on they way. When Matt bought the car at Legacy Mazda 2.5 years ago, they didn't do whatever was necessary to transfer the warranty to his name. We stopped by the dealership the other night,but the guy to do that wasn't there. Yesterday, Matt got to the dealership and got it put in his name so they can do the work. Hopefully that engine gets here soon!
The last post was #100 - and I totally didn't acknowledge that milestone! So here's to 101 posts! Woot! lol
Car dead.
Due to the weather (stupid rain and cold), we didn't do the couple activities I had for outside. And the one thing I had for indoors didn't get finished because I had to go into work on Saturday. Thanks to that fact and that I still had to stop at some stores to pick things up, I was running late! I got to Caleen's about 4:30 probably. Fortunately, our family has a tendency to run late too :)
So once I got to Caleen's and hauled all of my stuff in, I got started on the soup. Now I'd just like to note that I do NOT cook. Matt is the cook in our house. I bake if anything - and I've done limited easy things from scratch, and I can do things in boxes. I have generally felt I could probably follow a recipe, but never took the time and effort to prepare and follow through. Being a picky eater my whole life didn't really help the cause, either. However! I was in search of festive foods for a main dish and a punch - thank you Taste of Home.
I made this delicious pumpkin soup. A lot of people were like, "I've never had pumpkin soup before," and I'd reply, "Neither have I!" However, it turned out really well. Lots of compliments. Even my littler cousins enjoyed it. Since I was busy making soup, Grandma made the punch for me. It's supposed to be slushy, but we didn't have time to freeze it. It was yummy all the same.
So we had dinner - my cousins made adorable festive desserts. The BYU game was on in the other room. Gestures was played in the kitchen. And I was not the only one to dress up :) I was beginning to wonder at first, but the beardalls were nicely decked out :) In all the hustle and bustle, I didn't grab my camera. Then when I tried to take pictures with my cell phone, I didn't have enough memory. Weird, cuz I swear I recently cleared it... Oh well. We had fun - and names got drawn for Christmas :) Next time I plan a party, I'm doing it with more than a week in advance.
After what, I feel, was a pretty good sprint of blog posts, I've been feeling like I have nothing blog-worthy. However, that's not too fair to anyone who checks this with any consistency. I've started work on another scarf. Double crochet this time. (I need to learn the basics before I can even think of following patterns for anything!)
Also on the agenda - this Saturday, we're having a Halloween party with my mom's side of the family! Koreen and I were thinking how we really needed to get together. If we don't do something now, we'll have to wait until Thanksgiving to draw names for Christmas! I want more time than that, thank you. So I've kind of thrown something together. It won't be maybe the most well-planned as it could have been, but I still think it will be fun :) I also designed the invitations. :D Here it is - with the pertinent info purposely blurred.
Matt and I are SO blessed. :) Yesterday, Matt ends up with no oil in his car and a slight knocking noise - we're looking probably at $1-2,000 to fix the poor car. Thank goodness for family discounts (thanks Dusty!) Also yesterday, Matt was too lazy to put his ankle brace on before playing basketball and dislocated his ankle. Oh, and we still have no money - even less so this month between not selling anything and lack of work on my end. This is going to be a tight month.
On the plus side, Matt did finally sell something today - 2 generators. Yay for some money! Sigh.
I've known Google had a calendar, and I've used other computer/web calendars before, but I decided to give Google Calendar a try. I love monthly calendars - I apparently visuallize my week best. I've been printing monthly calendars for awhile now. (Visualizing really helped with due dates and planning how long I could procrastinate any given assignment :) ) However, with having to set appointments and collect addresses and the like, I was thinking rescheduling would be easier in an electronic format. So I've played with Google Calendar a bit, and now that I'm understanding it a little better, I think I'm going to thoroughly enjoy it. I just discovered how to color-code things. :) The appeal also lies in the fact that if I can get used to it, I won't have to carry my little folder around with my calendars since I have internet access at work, too!
So now for a recap of what went on when conference wasn't on. Saturday between sessions I hung out and listened to/watched the between stuff. I also showered and started straightening my hair since we were doing Biggs family pictures in Payson at 5:30. After the afternoon session, I finished getting ready, grabbed Matt's stuff (he was coming straight from work) and headed down. After pictures, the boys all went to Preisthood and the girls hung out at home. Jenn came in my car, and we took a Wal-mart detour :) We looked through the Halloween decor (and didn't find anything I was looking for) so we looked for yarn and a crochet hook. I found some cute yarn . . . and no crochet hooks. We also found no knitting needless as we continued wandering all over the little sewing section. The Payson Wal-mart is now getting the remodel (ha ha), so everything is all mixed up. We finally asked a worker, and she was just putting them in the back. She was kind enough to let me rummage around in the box they (and the missing knitting needles) were in until I found what I wanted. After a quick look at frames, we checked out and headed to Matt's parents'.
My mom had taught me to crochet a little a long time ago, but I failed. :) I didn't have the patience to redo rows over and over and over.... you get the idea. I think I made a couple hot pads, and I was working on an afghan for a little while. However, my mom had to eventually finish the afghan because I got off somewhere and was too frustrated to go back and try to find where I'd messed up.
Well, since being out of school, I've found extra time that I'm usually pretty bored with. I like reading, but I don't always want to sit and read a book, and sometimes my house is too noisy for me to do that anyway. Facebook is only entertaining for so long, and when my TV is in use (usually the same time my house is noisy), I cannot watch it, a movie, or play a video game. I needed something somewhat active to keep me busy. So with this new yarn and crochet hook, Matt's mom re-showed me how to start and chain. While the boys were at preisthood, I started on a scarf. (It's the same idea as a hot pad, only longer and way more practical for me because I already have LOTS of hot pads that I hardly use :) ). We all chatted and hung out, then had ice cream when the boys got home as they told us what they'd learned at Preisthood session.
Sunday, since my parents were out of town, we drove down to Payson again and did our laundry at Matt's parents' while listening to sessions. In between sessions, I started my scarf over again and made some pretty decent progress on it. Since then, I've finished my scarf and made another:
By the Sunday afternoon session - my focus was not so good. It didn't help that we tried to watch the session online, but the website was having issues. We finally just listened to conference on the radio :) I suppose it's a small blessing to those who have been reading my blog, because less focus means less impressions, which means less notes on my part :)
Elder Holland brought up an interesting point, that even good members of the church can be deceived. He also talked about the divinity of the Book of Mormon and how its teachings can help protect against deception. He put an interesting spin on an anti claim, that Joseph made up the Book of Mormon. Since the text is now online, I'm going to copy some of what Elder Holland said because I think it makes an excellent point. He just finished recounting how Hyrum (Joseph Smith's brother who was in Carthage jail with him) had finished reading a few verses from Ether to Joseph and ear-marked the page, "for which these two brothers were about to die."
"As one of a thousand elements of my own testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I submit this as yet one more evidence of its truthfulness. In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth?
"Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless. Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be 'houseless, friendless and homeless' and that their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and an untamed prairie floor. Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters of this earth that they know the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses it to be true. Disregard all of that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that! They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon."
For anyone wanting to read his whole talk, it can be found here.
Right, so apparently I lied about this being shorter. Oh well. Next to speak was Elder Cook. He taught that we should serve because God wants us to. We are each accountable to the Savior for our own sins and actions. He also mentioned two places we have stewardship, over ourselves and families; and over the poor and needy. Imagine giving a report to God after your time on Earth of what and how well you did. I also liked that he said, "Religious observance in the home is as important as providing food, clothing, and shelter." I think that's pretty powerful.
Skipping Elder Nielson's talk about missionary work (I told you I was not so focused), Elder Renlund cautioned us not to be casual with our commitments or spiritually changed hearts. (Yes, that's all I got out of his talk, too).
I also liked that Elder Ringwood said that an easiness and willingness to believe comes from following the small and simple things. I've always believed that. In fact, it sometimes bothers me when people follow the big stuff, but think the little stuff can slide. So what if it's an extra set of earrings in your ears? Oh nothing except for the prophet said you shouldn't have them. I think it's a true measure of one's commitment. That sounds judgy, and it is, but I'm also going to state that I know I'm not perfect and I commit the "little" sins too. Like swearing as a big spider runs away and startles me, or wearing a corset on Halloween. Yep, shouldn't do those things. Does that make my judging statement a little better? Probably not. Oh well. My whole point was that I totally agreed with what he taught, and if we can learn to let go of our little "pet" sins, life will be a whole lot easier in the long run.
Most of what I remember of Elder Sitati's talk was my fascination with him being from Africa.... that's horrible. Anyway, I mostly couldn't remember a time in General Conference being taught by someone black. Other nationalities, yes, just not African. My notes from his talk are simple, "covenants" and "extend salvation to all." Unfortunately, I really can't put into context what "covenants" was all about without reading his talk, so this will have to suffice.
On the upside, I did apparently listen to Elder Christofferson because I have decent notes from his talk :) He talked about moral discipline. He mentioned that laws don't do well at controlling behavior, and the more we come to rely on laws to do so, the less civilized we are becoming. He said that culture and traditions do better at controlling behavior. (Here I thought how true that was as I reflected on my inability to break a simple social norm for my social psychology class. lol) He talked about how some parents may not want to "push" religion on their children, instead letting the children decide what they want at a later date and time. This caught my attention because I used to think that was what I would do with my own children. (I have since changed my mind, and long before this talk.) In regard to this concept he said that being neutral about the gospel is rejecting God and His gospel. I don't think anyone would really want to do that if they thought about it that way.
In President Monson's closing remarks, he counselled we read and study these talks when they come out in the Ensign. Always a good idea. In the same vein, as I sat down to write about this last session, I'm really glad that it has taken me a few days because I think it helped me to remember what was taught, especially when trying to recount the teachings that were important to me to whomever comes across this blog. He also counselled to daily apply the principles we learned. I suppose you have to remember them to try that, eh? :) Along the same lines that I've recounted in these posts, he said, "... we are all in this together and that every man, woman, and child has a part to play. May God give us the strength and the ability and the determination to play our part well." And since he's the prophet of God's church, I'm going to include his closing testimony, because it applies to everyone, member or not, and it's really simple and powerful. :)
"I bear my testimony to you that this work is true, that our Savior lives, and that He guides and directs His Church here upon the earth. I leave with you my witness and my testimony that God our Eternal Father lives and loves us. He is indeed our Father, and He is personal and real.
"May God bless you. May His promised peace be with you now and always."
I love you all!
Sunday morning, we headed to Matt's parents' to watch conference with them (and to do our laundry). Due to our oh-so-timely nature, we listened to the first part of conference in the car on our way to Payson :)
Love was definitely a continuing theme this conference. Along with reiterating what had already been said on the topic, Elder Eyring also taught how spouses should love each other and how children should love their parents. Very helpful advice he gave (which also echoes the advice my dad gave me once) is to make the wellfare and happiness of the other central to our lives. It's hard to be selfish or to get angry when you're trying to make the other person happy. You also don't have to worry about looking out for your needs because your spouse is doing the same thing for you :) Elder Eyring advised us to pray for the love to see the good in our companions and make their weaknesses seem small.
Elder Perry talked a little about our pioneer heritage, and how the same principles of the past apply today. We should contribute to the edification of others by sharing. We have an obligation to share the gospel. He also posed the question, "How prepared am I to give witness of the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ?" A very important thing to ask ourselves if we are to bear witness of these things :) I also liked that the Plan of Happiness is a plan for us to live, again, going back to the idea that we each have our own parts to play.
Bishop Burton talked about virtues, especially the '-ity' virtues (ie. humility, charity, integrity, etc.). He talked about how integrity is like the mother of many virtues because someone with integrity has a firm adherence to moral values. He cautioned that virtues must not be forgotten or set aside, or else we are weakened. When we adhear to virtues, we break Satan's holds.
Sister Dibb told a scary story about some people working on a bridge. Since it's short, I'm copying it here:
“Four people were killed and seven workers were rescued after clinging for more than an hour to the underside of a 125-foot-high [38-m] bridge in St. Catharines, Ontario, [Canada,] after the scaffolding they were working on collapsed” (“News Capsules,” Deseret News, June 9, 1993, A2).
She talked about how later she found out that they had safety equipment, but chose not to use it. She then likened this to our times now - we all deal with some pretty scary stuff, whether it be financially or otherwise. However, we all have safety equipment that it is up to us to choose, like prayer, scriptures, and prophets.
Elder Nelson talked about personal revelation, which is available to everyone. Aside from a firm faith, deep desire, and a sincere heart, he taught that we must really intend to follow the direction given, which can be a hard thing, I think. He also taught that personal revelation will never contradict God's doctrine.
President Monson talked about service. I liked the father who always asked his kids at dinner, "What did you do for someone today?" He talked about how we often get lost in the day-to-day living or we lose ourselves in the "thick of thin things." We are surrounded by those who need us. The Savior promised us that those who lose their lives will find it, and those who seek after their lives will find it. In my philosophy class many moons ago, we called this the paradox of happiness. When you stop worrying about yourself and start worrying about others, you become a lot happier. Pres. Monson taught that it is a mandate to serve and lift up others. It was way cute how he recounted that for his birthday last year, he had said he wanted everyone to help someone and serve someone. This year, he received tons of letters and such of people fulfilling his birthday wish. My absolute favorite was the jar of warm fuzzies sent by one primary.
So I fully intended to blog a snippet of what I thought and liked after each session. I started on Saturday morning's, but I had to do things to get ready for family pictures at 5:30. However, I decided to still blog by session - I can talk a little bit more about what I liked in each session this way. So, now for Saturday afternoon:
Elder Oaks talked about God's love and God's law. I like that he said we cannot be separated from God's love. We can, of course, choose to ignore this fact, but that doesn't stop God from loving us and reaching out to us. I really liked his application to parenthood. Parents should model God's plan. Love doesn't excuse us from following law. He talked about the fine line that must be drawn when children go astray. Can a parent love their child, but not allow the drugs their addicted to into their home (for example)? He also reminded us that "Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth." I'm sure any of you who have kids would agree that you've had to be the "bad cop" because you love your children and want to keep them safe, even though your kids may not have seen it that way.
Elder Hales talked about the true nature of God and Christ. I thought it interesting that he mentioned Joseph didn't know Heavenly Father and Jesus when they came to him until Heavenly Father introduced them, because Joseph didn't know that God and Christ had bodies. He made the point that we can't really come unto Christ and God unless we know them, and to know them is to know of their characteristics. I liked that he said they feel for us too. Again, he brought up feeling and recognizing the Spirit, along with creating an environment where he can dwell. If we seek Christ in humility and with sincerity and diligence, we will know that He lives.
From Jorge F Zeballos - I liked that grace is available after all we can do. I think that stood out because it's the same concept as in my favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:32-33
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot."
Another plain and precious truth was highlighted by Tad R Callister, that God is unchanging and He still talks to us today. He also cautioned to not lose the many things you do know over the few things you don't. The truths of the gospel are plain and simple. To get lost in the scientific details and discredit something because science hasn't caught up yet would be a very sad thing, indeed.
I really liked Kent D Watson's talk. Mostly because he helped me know that we're not in a position to buy a home right now. He talked about temperance and patience. Through self-mastery and control, we become stronger and better able to protect ourselves against sin. He said that peace of mind, security, and happiness don't come from buying a home or possessions for which the debt incurred is greater than our savings. (That right there told me it's okay to live here another couple years where we know we can afford to live and even have some extra to get out of debt, rather than to buy the 95K condo that I wasn't in love with, but would guaranty the tax credit and a place of our own. Rather, it's better to get out of some of our debt and be in a position to rely on ourselves when we buy a home, and not the government. Not to mention, not be totally sure even with the tax credit that we'd be able to afford to live month to month. See? Prayers ARE answered :) )
Elder Anderson again talked about love and chastisement, and how we all need to repent. He said there are many degrees of righteousness and worthiness, and we all need repentance. "Repentance is turning away from some things, and turning toward other things. It is returning to God.... The Lord tells us in our minds and our hearts what we need to change. We then are allowed to choose what we do." I really liked that. Oftentimes we know what we should be doing, it then becomes a matter of doing it. He asked, "Do we pull the shades down on our window to Heaven?" Heavenly Father and Jesus are always there, reaching out, pleading with us to change our hearts and lives and come to them. Do we ignore them and try it our own way? He said that repentance should be a daily thing. As long as we are trying, we are making progress. We may not always see it until we reach a hill and can look back at our progress. We should never lose hope. There is always greater happiness ahead.
Elder Packer taught that we are a part of the Plan of Happiness. A lot of times I've heard it and viewed it as sort of the blueprint, I guess. Never so much that I have a role within it. I suppose it's kind of like a play. The outline is written and we know the general outcome, but who will be where and how they get there is up to the players. I suppose it wouldn't be right to leave out the symbolism he used. He taught that we should invent a delete key in our minds to get rid of bad thoughts or temptations. I've heard "hum your favorite hymn," but I liked how he said maybe your delete key would be a key word or phrase from your favorite hymn - not necessarily having to be the whole thing. I think that would be easier to implement :) I absolutely loved the story of the little girl whose brother made a trap to catch sparrows. She really didn't want him to set it, but, of course, he did anyway. So she went and prayed really hard about it. Then she went to her house and told her mom that she knew he wouldn't catch any sparrows. When her mom asked how she knew, she replied, "I prayed about it.....then I kicked the trap to pieces!" What a great story! We can't expect to be given answers without first contemplating our situations and "studying them out in our minds." I also liked that we can sustain people through prayers. This, of course, followed by a request to pray for President Monson and his family. All of our leaders, church and state, need our prayers to strengthen and guide them.
