Messes, Mischief. and Missions

Well, this is me giving up. Max thinks he is now "too big, too old, too independent" to be fed by mom. I just had to walk away and count to ten which left him to attempt feeding himself. Hmmm. Wish I would have taken his clothes off.

Max loves dog food and now when I say no he jumps up and runs away laughing and screaming. I swear he is thinking, "If I run away fast enough she will think I was never there"! This is the current trend for anything he is not supposed to get into. As for buttons he is not supposed to push... He has perfected the "hurt" face. He doesn't even attach a cry to it which makes it more hilarious. Max had his first birthday this month! He was so confused when we turned off the lights and started singing. He ate the frosting off his cake one pinch at a time so it took about 40 minutes to make a dent in his cake.

We have just entered the temper tantrum phase and soooo, I just had to let Max cry himself to sleep so I could shower and this is what I found when I checked on him later.

Guess he was really working hard to resist sleep.

As for Kent and I, I have another calling in addition to my usual. I just got called as the Stake Music Chairman (chairwoman) and am now on a mission to round up a Stake choir. May not seem like a hard task, but considering our stake is made up of several small towns some distance apart it seems to be like pulling teeth to get them all to participate. Too bad. Kent "mission" now teaching the 12 and 13 year old Sunday school class. One Sunday I was in the hall with Max and could hear Kent in his class playing Gospel Jeopardy I think. His "ding!, ding!, ding!" and "We have a winner!" noises were very audible for all who walked by and he seemed to be enjoying himself, so I guess he likes teaching - I wonder if his class feels the same about him or if they just think he is a little out there. Just kidding Kent, I am sure they love you.

I just had the opportunity of directing a community choir and the local symphony for an open house performance of the new stake center and family history center that was just finished here in town. It was so fun and I was so pleased at how it turned out. We had a great turn out and a really powerful spirit there. It was a great missionary opportunity and there were a lot of non-members who turned out to tour the buildings and seee what we are all about.

The Christmas concert we did went really well. I don't know who edits our local paper, but there were two articles about it in the same edition.

Ward Music Chairman (Chairwoman)

I just received a calling as the ward music chairman. I am so excited and a little overwhelmed with the responsibility. Unfortunately there is a limited number of musicians in the ward. There are only three people who can play the piano (one of which is me) and one person who can play the organ. The bishop has offered me a key to the church and asked that I start practicing the organ. That's a little intimidating! Guess I had better get to it.

I do wish I had been called a little sooner, there is nothing planned for Christmas and we do not have a ward choir. I am supposed to throw together a musical program in the next four weeks. Hmmm. I have some great ideas, but I do not know many people in our ward yet so finding volunteers is going to be a challenge. Thank heavens for Sally DeFord!

I just pray that the Lord will bless me and the ward to be able to come up with something that will invite the spirit and make Christmas special.

Women at The Well

I just got invited to sing in a local musical production of Women at The Well. It is a great program about the women in the scriptures and their relationship with Christ. I felt really inspired as I prayed that the spirit would be able to communicate Christ's love for his daughters as we sang about these faithful women.

I had a distinct thought pop into my mind that just because we were not there to witness Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, or to reach out and touch the hem of his garment, to see his empty tomb, or to wash and anoint his feet, does not mean that our relationship with him can not be every bit as personal and significant.

I have often felt like having a relationship as personal as Mary and Martha did with the Savior would be impossible for me, but as I listened to the songs and narrative in this program, the spirit bore witness to me that I could indeed have that dear friendship with Him as they did.

I hope to be able to live the kind of life needed to be worthy of that friendship. What an amazing experience this has been. I am very grateful for the opportunities I have received and talents I have been blessed with that enable me to participate in inspired programs such as this. I hope you all have the chance to see it at some point. It is amazing.

Humbled

It seems like the very second I think I know best about any topic the Lord feels the need to let me know how far I am from right. I suppose that is how we grow. I was missing my old ward and feeling sorry for myself that while I have met so many great people here in Cedar City that I just love, I wasn't feeling that "sisterhood" that I treasure so much. I had all these speculations for why that might be and of course none of them had anything to do with ME. HA! Maybe if I took another look I would see that it is me who's the problem. Anyways, my point is that I just met my new visiting teachers this week and they are wonderful. More wonderful than I could hope for. They made me feel like I had known them for years - like we were "sisters" and that's that. Sweet women.

I was also convinced that spring should be here and that the continued snow was just unfair. Then the Lord saw fit to dump a little more just to prove me wrong. So sorry everyone.... It's my fault. ;) We have had so many lessons, talks, and articles that involve adversity lately. I think that includes the adversity we bring upon ourselves through negative thinking. I guess it is all just hitting me and I am gaining a stronger testimony that the Lord knows best. He has shown me that he knows me, he loves me, and he wants me to grow - even if that means I have to experience difficult circumstances in life(of course we all do). I guess what I am struggling with now is wondering if I can accept the trials that He knows I need through out my life.

For FHE this week we read an Ensign article about enduring to the end. It defined the word endure in a way that I never thought of before. "Endure to the end: To remain true to the commandments of God despite temptation, opposition, and adversity throughout life." The article then goes on to teach that enduring is not just to "hang on" through unpleasant times, but to live happily despite them. Hmmm.... Food for thought.

By the way, Kent and I will have been married seven years next Monday. Boy! Where does the time go? Just as I was telling Kent's parents that it went by so fast, Kent said, "It feels like forever". I don't know how I'm supposed to take that! I think he just likes to be the center of attention. :) We all had a good laugh.

New Church Calling

I forgot to mention that I have a new calling as a Relief Society teacher. I am so excited. It has been a long time since I have been in Relief Society. I guess I am starting to grow up.

In Memory of 9-11

I feel like I should express my gratitude for all the blessings I have received and especially for havening the privilege of living in America. Although some might debate this with the current stock market, the high gas prices that just aren't dropping fast enough, the attack on families (which we are really feeling here in CA), and the very competitive election, living in America is a wonderful thing. I am blessed to work at a Christian university where service, Christianity, purpose, and high achievements are on the forefront. I was greatly moved this last September when I pulled on campus and saw thousands of flags lined up for each and every person who lost their life in the 9-11 attacks. There was no division of race, religion, or any other type for the hundreds people who pulled over to the side of the street to silently view this memorial. All felt a sense of patriotism. I met a lady I think was from France who said, "This is amazing, truly amazing."We have had so many brave, humble, and noble people fight for our liberty. I have two cousins who have recently served in Irac, one of which is going back after Christmas. I know my grandfather, who fought in WII would be proud. When I find myself feeling picked on I remind myself that I can flush my toilet paper down the toilet, I have a 40 gallon hot water heater, I have a solid roof, a nice vehicle, a stable income, and I can call my family anytime I wish. We truly are blessed - and yet I still complain when our internet goes out for an hour. I guess I just needed that reality check. No matter what happens in this country, Americans still have it better than most. I can say I am proud to be an American.

Girls Camp

Well, it has been a while since I have blogged, but not much has happened other than tons of work and the start of Kent's last semester of law school. For the first time in seven years I returned to girls camp. It was a blast, but I forgot what it is like to stay up all night talking about, well, just stuff. A really awesome experience took place for one of the non-member girls in our ward boundaries. She has come to a few activities, but when we had our testimony meeting on the last night, she got up to bear her testimony and became really emotional. She commented later that she never got it before - she never understood why we felt so strongly about our religion, but now it makes sense. It was a great feeling to see someone truly recognize the spirit in their life for the first time. To think, all this happened because her best friend, only 12 years old was courageous enough to teach her gospel principals whenever the opportunity arose and invited her to camp. The gospel is wonderful. I also got some great pictures of our level, "the cheetahs" (right) . Shawna and I were the leaders. That is us below.