Our New Sunbeam

Colton turned 3 in July. With the coming of a new year, that meant that he is now old enough for Primary. On New Year's Eve, one of his teachers came by with a goodie bag and introduced herself to him. He was shy when he met her. We talked about going to Primary a couple times throughout the week. I thought I'd be met with hesitation from him and that he'd want to stay in nursery. There weren't any signs of it. He easily went into Primary when Sunday came. Colton was all smiles after church and said that he loved Primary. He even started to sing one of the songs, "I Am a Child of God." I think he's going to love Primary. It's just hard to believe that he's too old for nursery now!

Going to the Temple

A few months ago during the 5th Sunday lesson, our new bishop gave the lesson. He asked us to list all the blessings that come from temple attendance. The list was quite long, with at least 25 things listed, ranging from increased testimony to peace at home to prayers answered. How I wish I had written all of these things down! The bishop then asked, "Is it worth 30 minutes of sleep to miss out on all of these promised blessings?" The obvious answer is heck no! That point totally hit home and helped me to realize that I totally need to boost my temple attendance, even it it means that I would have to wake up early and maybe miss 30 minutes to an hour of sleep. Did I do anything with that wonderful knowledge? Unfortunately, I only kept it in the back of my mind and continued my same, crazy lifestyle, rationalizing that I am too busy.

A few months later, I was listening to a conference talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland, which brought tears to my eyes. He was speaking of how grateful he is for all the members of the church who are so willing to serve and give of themselves. He said, "I am grateful for...osteoporotic couples who trundle off to the temple at 5:00 in the morning with little suitcases now bigger than they are." For some reason this also made an impact on my view of temple attendance. The elderly people in the church seem to be so willing to serve in the temple despite the myriad of health problems they might have. My health is fine and I don't use it to serve in the temple, like I should.

Between the two different thoughts, the one from my bishop, and the one from Elder Holland, I set a goal in December to go to the temple three times that month because 1. I am completely capable of going and don't have any health limitations to prevent me from going 2. if the elderly can go to the temple so early in the morning, so can I and 3. I need all the blessings I can get.

I am happy to say that I accomplished my goal. I went to a 7:30 am session one Saturday, and a 7:00 am session another week. On the last day of the month, not that I procrastinated, but I wanted to go with Eric, so we went together to a 9:30 session. It is a joy to serve in the temple. It is such a peaceful place. So, for the new year, I set another temple attendance goal. I will go to the temple two times each month.

Yesterday I made it for the first time this month. It was so good to go, even if it means waking up at 5:30 to get there (I forgot to set my alarm, but automatically woke up at 5:32. Usually I wake up at 6:00 on my own). It always seems that when I go, I see someone that I know. In December, I saw a dear friend, my sweet sister, and our wonderful old stake president. How I love to sit in the celestial room, after the session, and watch the early morning sun coming in through the beautiful windows, reflecting off the sparkling chandeliers, casting such a beautiful light in the whole room. I am excited to go again, to feel the peace, and to serve.

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward's Christmas party was different than any other that I've been to. Our ward is very large, and wouldn't fit in the cultural hall at the church (I'm guessing). So, the party was held at our old bishop's house. (There is a county island within our ward boundaries where the members have acreage and animals.) Because of all the animals in the ward, there was a petting zoo. We had a nice dinner, with the ward suppling bbq pork sandwiches and the members potlucking sides and desserts. After dinner, there was a small program. A stage was set up with a backdrop and even an "angel balcony." The primary children were all included in the program. Most of the children sang. The children from one primary class were the angels (which Logan will get to do next year). Another class was the nativity people, which that happened to be Spencer's class. Spencer was asked to be Joseph. Against his wishes, we agreed with the primary leaders that Spencer would do it. He ended up being a cute Joseph.

Temple Groundbreaking

We are so excited! A temple is going to be built 1/2 mile away from us!!!

Today we (Eric, Lindsey, Spencer, Logan, and me) went to the groundbreaking for the new temple. Our seats weren't very good and we couldn't see much of anything, even the actual groundbreaking. It was still very exciting to see that the process is finally starting.

A New Calling

My first activity - a stake activity

So after being in the ward for three months, I finally got a call from one of the bishopric counselors. It had been really nice to have a break and get settled in, but at the same time I was wanting to have a calling so I could serve and get to know other people. Eric and I speculated over what the calling could be. I even had a dream about what calling it would be - young women's secretary. So I was surprised when Brother K asked me to be an activity days leader over the 10-year-olds. I was excited about it because I thought that this is something I can handle and won't push me too much out of my comfort zone.

Shortly after I was called, there was a stake activity for the girls. The stake did a fantastic job, so much so that I had to take some pictures and wanted to share it with the parents. I started a blog. You can read about our adventures here. It was a little weird showing up at the activity and not knowing who "my" girls were.

I do have a partner who helps me. We rotate months. It was my turn the first month. We had 11 girls. That's a lot of girls! In our old ward, this would have been the entire group, so I was quite surprised that this was just the 10-year olds. The girls definitely have me stumped so far. They are good girls, but they also have vibrant personalities, and all want to share them with everybody. I think my biggest obstacle will be trying to teach them (a lesson) and have them listen to me. We'll see how it goes.

Speaking

I do not like getting up in front of people in church whether it's to read a scripture, say a prayer, help a child with a Primary talk, share a testimony, or give a talk. It has always been a huge hurdle for me. I would always get very nervous about it. My hands would sweat, my voice would quiver, and my knees would shake. In all of my married life at our old house I gave a talk two times. The first time was when we moved in, and the second time was when the boundaries were realigned and we were put with a new ward. Since then, I developed a huge aversion to speaking. I would not and flat-out refused to speak in church. Two bishoprics knew that I do not speak in church. They knew not to ask because it just wouldn't happen. Even the stake presidency knew that I don't speak in church.

About 3 years ago my attitude shifted ever so slightly. It started when I first attended Women's Conference at BYU. My testimony was so incredibly strengthened that I felt that I needed to share it, and that I did. It was difficult and my legs shook and tears flowed. The following year, I put off sharing my testimony after Women's Conference. Instead I got up the Sunday we blessed Colton and bore my testimony. My whole family was there so I wanted to get up because I don't think any of them have ever heard my testimony. I did it and survived. Then, just before Women's Conference and our move, I got up and bore my testimony. The thing that got me up there that time was that my institute teacher, Sis. Gardener, had spoken about testimony bearing and that it only takes 30 seconds to bear your testimony. That stuck with me and I convinced myself that I could get up there for 1 minute and share my testimony.

The neat thing about each experience is that every time I got up, my testimony was strengthened. It was uncomfortable, but I did it.

So, once we moved in to our new house, sure enough, we were asked to speak in church. I didn't want to. I was able to get it pushed back a couple of weeks, but was not able to get out of it.

Throughout the week, I listened to the conference talk (which I was asked to speak about) about 5 times and read it just as many. I procrastinated slightly and couldn't start writing the talk. So, for our date night, after Eric and I hadn't been able to write our talks, we went to dinner and then to a park where we worked on our talks. The weather was nice and the park was beautiful. I found many distractions, but was finally able to get a good outline of the talk written. I typed it up Saturday and made a few changes Sunday morning.

Through it all, I wasn't worried (except for the brief stomachache Sunday morning). Eric kept on trying to give me a hard time about it all. I brushed his comments off because I felt unusually calm about it all. I got up and gave my talk. I felt really good about it all and did a lot better than I could have hoped for.

I'm not quite sure why I have done a complete 180 with regards to speaking in church, but it is so strange and amazing! I really do think that it came from me realizing that every time I have gotten up to bear my testimony, that it has been strengthened. I also believe that I have learned that my testimony can get me through anything. It's a very weird attitude change and scary too (considering I don't have a calling yet).

Kirtland

We usually visit Ohio in the winter, and aren't able to explore or be outside too much. We decided that we would do a little road trip with Eric's mom and sister. We crammed so much into 3 days. I'm laughing now as I type this, because it was crazy, but worth it. We'd wake up and get going (kind of late like 11:00 am) and head for the areas we wanted to visit. We'd visit them, and then have to drive some more. For the two nights we stayed at hotels, we did not check in before midnight. When we finally made it back to Eric's grandparents' house, it was 2:00 am!

Kirtland, Ohio Temple

Aunt Nikki, Logan, and Spencer in front of the Whitney store

Spencer, newest employee at Whitney Store

We left Columbus, and headed for Palmyra, New York. We stopped along the way and ate our picnic lunch at a rest stop. There was a grassy area there. Beyond the grass and into the "forest" there was water. I convinced the kids (well maybe just Logan) that was a swamp where alligators lived. The fence (which was metal) was actually electrified to keep the alligators out of the rest area. We found some dog poop in grass; I told them it was an alligator's and that one must have gotten loose and could be up in the trees. It was fun making up a silly story.

We stopped in Kirtland, Ohio. We were able to go inside the Kirtland Temple (after paying $2 each). It was neat to go in the first temple built. It was sure different than temples, now though. We then went to the area owned by the church where the Whitney home and store, and a few other buildings are. Unfortunately, we only had enough time to go into the Whitney home and store. Things have been refurbished, so we were able to see what life was like back in Joseph Smith's time. I loved being in the same places that are mentioned in the Church History. I particularly loved sitting in the room above the store, knowing that was the room where the prophet received revelation about the Word of Wisdom. I've been working on reading the Doctrine and Covenants this summer, so it has been neat to read the summaries, and connect the locations mentioned to some of the places I visited this summer.

We drove to Rochester, New York, stopping in Buffalo to eat. Our hotel was in a neighborhood behind a gas station. It was an interesting location.

What a Release!

Eric has been released as the second counselor in the bishopric in the Kingsborough Park Ward.

This happened yesterday, June 29th. It all started the Sunday before that, the 22nd, we received a call from the stake requesting us to come in and visit with them. Right when Eric told me, I felt a weird pain in my stomach and thought, "no, it's not time yet." Eric knew, after asking the bishop who he should have speak in sacrament meeting and being told that the bishop would take care of it, that something was up. After the phone call, he knew that he would be released.

We visited with President Fleming, who I love. We talked about our feelings and experiences we've had during the last four years that Eric has served as second counselor. We had originally planned to move 4 years ago, and after talking with Pres Fleming (who has been Eric's scout leader and bishop), we felt that we should stay where we were and broke the contract for the new house. Shortly after that, Eric was put in the bishopric with Bishop Judd. After two years Bishop Judd was released (and Eric) and Eric was called again to be a counselor to Bishop Johnson.

Having Eric serve where he has served has been one of the most difficult things I have done and been through. But with "trials" we are blessed. We have been blessed immensely by his service. Both our testimonies have been strengthened.

As part of Eric's calling, he has worked closely with the Scouting program. He built great relationships with the boys he worked with. It was hard at times to see how much work and effort he put into the boys (and not be jealous), but it has been amazing that he could be such a good influence for them. There have been issues with some of the scout outings, some where we've thought they were all lost (they were never lost; they knew where they were), helicopter rescues (two, one of the times Eric was the one who was severely hurt and in critical condition), and other minor issues. I've spent many sleepless nights while they would be gone on outings, hoping and praying for their safety. As a result, my testimony of prayer has grown incredibly.

It has been a very hard week for us, knowing about Eric's release. Eric had to get up and speak yesterday during sacrament meeting. It was very difficult for him. He did a fantastic job sharing his testimony and experiences. I am grateful for Eric's worthiness and being willing to serve (even though he was scared of doing so). It's been quite a blessing to our family.