Captain Jack and His Lady Friend

Chantry and I went to an elementary school tonight to attend a pirate themed literacy night. Since Chantry does such a good impression of Captain Jack Sparrow he was asked to come and read a book and talk to the kids. He asked me to come along and dress up with him. It was really fun to see how excited the children were and to make reading fun. Here are some pictures we took right after ( I forgot to take my camera to the school).

Random Thoughts

I have been having alot of random thoughts this week that I would like to share. So here goes nothing. I hope that these thoughts make sense to more than just myself.

First of all, my heart goes out to my friend Heather and her family. After 3 months of being in a coma her father has passed away. She has been through so much in the last three months with not only her father but soon to be father-in-law, grandfather-in-law, and being robbed by gunpoint. All the while planning her wedding that will take place in about a month. She has shown a great strength through all of this and I hope she knows how much her Heavenly Father loves her along with all of her friends and family.

Sometimes life sucks. It can suck the big one. Things don't always go the way we plan. Unexpected things happen in our lives, but there is one thing I have learned in the last few months while watching others struggle and dealing with my own struggles. LIFE ALWAYS GETS BETTER! It may suck right now but it will get better. We have been struggling with an issue in our lives for a year and a half now. It is not something that I feel able to share with many others at this point. Maybe one day soon but not now. Somedays I have felt like climbing into bed and never getting out. Then it got better because I got down on my knees and prayed for strength. I immediately started to feel better. It has taken many months and not much has really changed in our situation but I feel the strength of the Lord. He has blessed me to have new projects and goals that have helped make my life better. I can see that Heavenly Father definitely has a hand in our life.

Stress is a funny thing. Some people it makes them eat or lose sleep. Lately I have realized that stress makes me do one of two things. Either want to sleep all day or clean. Since sleeping all day messes me up really bad I look to cleaning. I find it very therapeutic. Whenever I tell people how much I love to vaccuum I get the wierdest look. I love to scrub the heck out of my tub when life is stressful. I may not be able to control life but I can control that shine. I am so wierd I know.

I am so grateful for the gospel. To know that there is life after death. To know that we will see our loved ones again. It truly is a blessing in my life.

Also wondering, where is the sun shine? I miss being able to go outside. Oh well.

Memorial Day Flowers

Since my mother-in-law has been so busy with her new grandbaby I was asked to do the flowers for Memorial Day for their family. I did five this year. One for each of her parents, father-in-law, grandmother-in-law, and baby boy. This is how they turned out. I think that they look pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Continue in Patience

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a talk about patience in the last conference. This is one of my absolute favorite talks. Since it was given at the priesthood session I did not hear it live but Chantry came home and told me to watch it online because it was so good. Not only did I watch it online but as soon as I got my Ensign I opened it directly to this talk. Apparently Heavenly Father wanted to make sure I was paying attention because my visiting teachers also picked this talk for me. So here are some things I learned from this talk:

Waiting can be hard
" Patience-the ability to put our desires on hold for a time- is a precious and rare virtue....Nevertheless, without patience we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace." What really spoke to me with these sentences is that sometimes I think that I know what is the best for me. What I struggle with is that sometimes what is wanted is not always the best for me at that particular time. My desires could even be righteous desires but the timing is all wrong. That is why waiting can so hard. The timing doesn't always match my plans...but what about Heavenly Fathers plans. He wants what is best for me and knows what I can handle and when I can handle it. He also wants me to be the best I can be. Why would I not want that? I will be happier and more peaceful.

Patience isn't merely waiting
"Patience means active waiting and enduring. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well.". Patience is all about attitude. How can I possibly grow if I am angry and brooding all the time about not getting what I want? It can be so hard. The only way to overcome these feelings is through prayer, forgiveness, and staying close to the Lord. If I do all that I can to be patient and pray to the Lord for help I can be strong. I can overcome all of my negative feelings. In essence, I can endure well. I can be happy while being patient.

Patience requires faith
"We must learn that in the Lord's plan, our understading comes line upon line, precept on precept. In short knowledge and understanding come at the price of patience.". I may not always be able to understand why I have to wait for my righteous desires. In fact, I believe most of the time we don't understand until the trials and waiting have passed. That is when we can most see the hand of God guiding and shaping us. That is why I must have faith. I must trust Heavenly Father to help me through and know what is best for me.

Patience, a Fruit if the Spirit
"Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. Patience is a process of perfection.". Patience makes us more like Heavenly Father. It is also a choice. We can choose if we want to perfected and become like Christ. I can choose to be upset or I can have courage, grace and faith.

The Lord Blesses Us for Our Patience
The Lord does hear and answer our prayers. It may not be the way and when I want him to, but he always does. If I am patient I know that I will be blessed. I will grow in ways not imagined and become more Christlike.

I learned so many things from this talk. It has helped me to know that Heavenly Father does care about each and every one of us. He hears and answers prayers and wants to help us and comfort us when down. He truly wants what is best for us.

The Primary Funnies are 1,2,3...

I am not sure that I have mentioned this before but I am Primary Chorister. I have been for about 6 months. It has been one of the hardest callings for me. I don't like to sing in front of other people and I have a hard time being in front of other people sometimes. Even though I have struggled I have really come to love the calling because of the growth I have seen come from it. I have also had prayers answered on how things should be done. It has truly helped me grow and now I can say I truly love it.

The best thing I love about being Chorister is the children. They warm my heart. They give me the best smiles each week and I love to see each and every one of them. They also give me the best stories to tell each week. This week is no exception. I will start with one that the sunbeams teacher told me happened in class.

There is an incredibly personable 4 year old in our primary. She is outgoing, so cute, and at times a little adult. She says the funniest things in earnest. Most of the time it is towards the end of primary she yells out " are we done yet?". This week her funny story came from the prayer she gave in class. She started out like a normal prayer and then she goes on to say, " please bless my dad that he may have a good day so he won't be so pissy all of the time...". Her teachers said she was absolutely serious and not joking at all when she said this. What a character!

The second funny I have for this week was during sharing time when we were talking about how Joseph Smith translated the Book Of Mormon. The counselor asked the primary what tool he used and the answer that was shouted out was " The Urine and Thummin".

It sure was a day for kids saying the darndest things!

Underwear Brothers

I heard the funniest story the other day of something that happened at a family members house. I will change to names to protect the "underwear brothers" as they are now called. We will just call one, little boy, and the other big daddy. If you are a visual person and need to see this, picture big daddy as Kevin from the Office and little boy as that short kid from The Middle.

Little boy loves to come and stay over the weekend at big daddy's house. They play video games, watch movies, and laugh all night long. Well on one of these nights big daddy got little boy laughing so hard that the unthinkable happened. He peed his pants. This was the only pair of underwear little boy had brought so it was quite the dilemma. So little boy and big daddy put their heads together and decided what to do. They took the underwear to a sink and rinsed them out ( or so we hope, no one really know for sure). Then they decided to put the dirty underwear on the space heater in big daddy's room to dry off (gross, I know). They then fell asleep. A little while later big daddy's daddy was upstairs and smelled something funny and burning. He went down to big daddy's room to investigate. There he found a pair of little boys underwear burning on the space heater. He woke up little boy and big daddy to ask what was going on. They told him the story and then he asked the question we were all thinking. If little boy's underwear was burning on the heater then whose underwear was he wearing? Big daddy loaned him a pair (hopefully clean, no one knows about that for sure either). I feel I must explain the height and weight of these two. Little boy is about 4'2" and about 54 pounds. Big daddy is about 5'6" and 280 pounds. I guess it was quite a sight to behold seeing little boy wearing big daddy's underwear. Apparently, he had tied the top off with a pair of shoelaces. After he got done laughing, big daddy's daddy took little boy to the store and bought him some underwear. It was now time for little boy to go home so he was told he could take the new underwear home. His response, " I think maybe I should keep a couple pair here for the next time I come over, just in case."

When these two get together it is always an adventure.

New Project Anxiety

I have a new project! I love new projects but I always start them with anxiety. I wonder if I can really do this and if they will turn out okay. For those of you who don't know, I do flower crafts and have done several weddings with my mother-in-law. Chantry's step cousin is getting married and asked us to do ALL of the flowers for the wedding. This is something that we have not done before. We have done centerpieces and flower arrangements and one bouquet but never all of them. It is a really big project. We are doing the centerpieces, all of the bouquets, extra flower arrangements around the tables, flowers for the arch, boutonnieres, and the hanging arrangements that go down the aisle. It is not that it is a big project that worries me. It is the fact that my sister-in-law is pregnant and due with her first child three weeks before this wedding. My mother-in-law is going to be FULLY preoccupied with helping her so I told her to let me do more this time then I have before. Hence, the extra anxiety. This week I am going to start on the boutonnieres, bows, and bouquets. I have never done boutonnieres and bouquets before so I am really excited but nervous. I love helping with weddings. They are such a special day and I love to help. So a'craftin I will go this week. Wish me luck!