Standing by the witnesses we have already received

I was just perusing the February 2020 Ensign and these dates struck me.  

It was three years after the First Vision until Joseph Smith had another heavenly visitor.  Three years for him to stand alone with his testimony before getting another visit. 

Then it was four years after that until he could actually aquire the plates, and ten whole years from the first vision until the publication of the Book of Mormon and the organization of the Church.  

What strikes me is that we often have to stand by our testimonies holding on to the witness we have been given, standing in the face of doubts and opposition before further witnesses come or before anything physical comes of our faith. 

Are we willing to stand by the witnesses we already have today as we wait for more assurances to come in our personal lives? 

Joseph Smith continues to be a humble example to me. 

Also I love the Palmyra Temple and the experiences I have had there!

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The Fighting Preacher

I finally watched The Fighting Preacher, and I was absolutely touched. I knew the story which is amazing in and of itself, but they really knocked it out of the park. 

It's a fun, funny, light-hearted, and deeply moving story with a message for us all. I streamed it on Amazon. Actually, I bought a digital copy.

Here's a preview: https://youtu.be/8zbNxrkDUAw

Today, the Stake Presidency Member who works on the Communication Council with me and I are meeting with the government leaders of our town.  Similar to the subject of this movie, we're looking to build new relationships on behalf of the church in our area this year!  

No punches will be thrown (even if my "companion" for this meeting is a former NFL defensive lineman!)  Wish me luck!

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New Mid-week Activities

These girls are off to church activities this evening....the first time for Honor. She's a little excited! Autumn is moving up to the Young Women's program with Scarlett and by the time Scarlett is a Senior in HS, all three girls will be in YW together. I love that they can support and mentor one another along their journey. Love my good and happy girls!

I also love the great deal of care the Activity Days leader (I know it's called Primary Activities leader now) has done and continues to do for our girls!

This week Honor came home with a poster of her name symbol in Chinese. Then I realized it was just that her name is the word Honor...not that each girl got one of their name. But I wouldn't have been surprised if they had done that!

But what I'm most impressed with is that she really ties everything back to a spiritual teaching. When they celebrated Chinese New Year she taught them about our "worldwide church" and some how connected it to missionaries serving from our Ward in counties where Chinese New Year is celebrated.

Anyway, I'm super grateful for people who out their heart into their callings. So thank you!!!!  No effort is wasted to the parents of the kids you teach!!

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one day they grew up

I was recently telling my Mom that our struggles with technology with my oldest made it hard for me to blog as much as I used to, just because I can't have the computer laying around anymore.

Then I told her that I mostly post on Facebook now because I can easily post quick updates and thoughts from my phone.

Duh!  I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but I realized there's probably a Blogger App for that...and sure enough there is.  So I'm going to try to catch up with some posts here for a while.

And you're welcome to come find me on Facebook at "We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice on Christ" to be sure to get those posts as well!

Meanwhile, here are my girls! Haven't they grown up?!  We did a family photo session during Christmas time, and this is a picture that I snapped of them relaxing between "takes"!

They are all heart and bring me a lot of joy and encouragement!

We made a quick grocery run one night in December. I think we were getting ice cream after Autumn's Band Concert.  

When we checked out, the cashier, a young man, looked to be late high school, said, "Have a nice evening, ladies!"

I was like, wow, that's a first! 

All those years at the grocery store with my girls as kids we only ever got comments like what sweet little girls, etc. This young man was treating them as the young women that they truly are. It was very innocent and very sweet.

And it was a milestone for this Mama.

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Children and Youth (AND Mom) Goals

How are you kids doing on their Children and Youth Goals?

We're getting a slow start but when my child shows an interest in learning something I try my best to jump on it, like the Sunday afternoon I spent with Honor "sewing" this doll. (It was a kit she got for Christmas). 

Can you see the pride in her face? She is beaming. I remember that feeling as I did my personal progress as a teen and I want my kids to experience that joy as well. It brings with it a lot of self-confidence!

One way I try to keep tabs on their goals is to meet with each child on just about every other Sunday to check in on their progress and brainstorm things they can do to make progress that week.

Another thing I am doing is trying to work on my own goals.

So far this year, my kids have witnessed me working on my goal to crochet, read for pleasure, and become more physically fit.

I have always been a goal-setter but I'm excited to focus on some goals this year that will help BOTH me and my family!

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Exploring Differences at #FHE

During #FHE tonight we explored differences, different abilities, disabilities, different ethnicities, races, religions, etc. And that some disabilities are harder to see. We talked about what makes us different and what commonalities we all share. Namely that we are all Children of God. 

We sang "I'll walk with you" from the Children's Songbook. We watched a few videos from YouTube from a guy who interviews people with different abilities. We learned from the way he spoke to his interviewees with love and genuine interest.  We role-played making friends with people who are different from us and how we might defend others given different social situations.

We talked about my Uncle Johnny who spent a lot of his life befriending people in wheelchairs. At his funeral a line of people in wheelchairs braved the frigid, icy January weather to pay their respects at his casket.  

We want our kids to have many people stand up when their lives are finished to testify that they were a friend to those who felt different or left out. It was a good lesson, and I'm grateful my Bro-in-law was here because my kids acted and participated better! 

In the pictures we were doing various physical challenges to introduce the idea of differing physical strengths and abilities (like doing a tripod or balance on one leg).

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we're all in this together

I think of Laman and Lemuel as representative of "The Natural Man" and Nephi and Sam as the Spiritual Man or Woman who has tamed their inner self-centeredness. Guys, we've got both "characters" living inside each one of us. And as I'm learning, painfully so, we've got both living in our families as logically follows. We are all struggling to make our Spirit dominant over our natural tendencies as human beings to harden our hearts against things that are meant for our good. My daughter wrote this note to me this morning, and it was a good reminder that we truly are "all in this together". Our individual families and our entire human family. We are on the journey of a lifetime to return to our heavenly home. Lehi's family is a great example to me in the struggle that is raising a family! I hope to do my best and to remember that this is a team effort!  We want everyone to return and to return with honor. And we want to show love, regardless.

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