My testimony of Easter

This Easter Week has been a very spiritual one for me.  On Monday I felt inspired to make up this little collage for my fridge going through each day of the week leading up to Easter and what Christ did on that day.  Putting it together was an incredibly spiritual experience as I read the scriptures, watched the videos and pondered what lessons I would want my kids to learn on those days.  

My parent's got divorced when I was 9 years old and although I was still an active member of the church the teaching I received at home was lacking.  I remember doing family scripture study and family home evenings sporadically before that but never after.  I only remember our home teachers coming to our home once and that was when I was 15 and living with my Dad.  Because of this lack of teaching in the home as I grew up I really feel like I'm learning right along with my kids sometimes.  

I am very grateful for my knowledge of the restored Gospel, it has made me who I am today.  I am extremely grateful for the scriptures especially The Book of Mormon because without it I would be lost.  But I am most grateful at this time of Easter for The Bible and the testimonies of Christ that are recorded there.

I have a testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that He lived on this earth and went about his father's business teaching throughout his entire short life.  I know that He died on the cross for us.  And I know that on the 3rd day He rose from that tomb as a resurrected being.  This knowledge is why I live each day striving to better myself.  So I too can live with Him someday.

Phoenix Temple Open House

I've had the opportunity to do several shifts up at the temple open house.  Each time I go I have a different experience, I do a different job and I meet different people.  There are so many good people in this world who are striving for good and I feel so blessed to have met so many of them.  Yesterday I was working with a sweet lady probably in her 80's and during a quiet time when nobody was coming through she walked over to me and said that while she was watching the video of the temple at the beginning of our training she was overcome with the feeling that The Lord is very pleased with this building.  I thanked her for sharing this with me and hugged her.  I have had my own confirmations of this same thing in different ways while I've been serving but it was so nice to have a perfect stranger but someone with a common bond of the temple tell me she had this same confirmation.  We are all in this Gospel together.  There are so many moving parts and puzzle pieces but we all find each other and support the same thing, which is God and his church.  The song by David Archuleta "Glorious" says, "it's like a symphony, just keep listening and pretty soon you'll start to figure out your part."  We really do need each and every person that comes into our lives.  We learn and grow from every experience that we have, whether good or bad.

Disneyland Bound

When the kids got home from school today we surprised them with a trip to Disneyland. The note said "Pack your bags, we're going to Disneyland".


They were SO excited! Yay for fun surprises!!!

First Day of School 2014-15

Costa Maya - Chacchoben Ruins

 I was excited to see the Ruins in Costa Maya but I wasn't prepared for how amazing it would be.  The minute we stepped onto this grassy area everything got very peaceful and quiet.  The spirit was strong and I took it all in.

 The architecture was amazing and the symmetry of the buildings was so neat.  

 The time period that was on the signs stating when these ruins were to believed to have been built and lived in was the same time period as the Nephites and when Christ visited them in the Americas.  I took the opportunity to read 3 Nephi 11 while we were walking around and the experience I had at these ruins was so amazing!

 This was definitely my favorite day of our cruise

Our Epic Cruise - Jamaica, Costa Maya, Cozumel

 Our cruise left out of Miami so we spent the first night in a motel on Miami Beach

 We went with our good friends Lindsay and Keith

 Jamaica was our first port

 Jamaica didn't give us the best feelings.  The people are very pushy and if you don't come into their stores to buy things they call you names as you walk away so when I saw this sign for a moment it brought a little peace into the day!

 The Dunn's River Falls were better because it's a tourist attraction run by the government so the people  were a little nicer there and it was beautiful!

 Russ celebrated his 37th Birthday on the ship

 Cozumel