a bit of ongoing research … please advise

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one day my mind pondered this question …


really … if i know who I am as a daughter of God …
how is that affecting my decisions,
attitude, etc about life and challenges?
Am I letting it guide me as it should?

I’m giving a lesson on this topic in a few weeks.
I’d love to hear any thoughts my dear friends and family have on this subject.
A few thoughts I’ve had seem to be quite break-through for me personally so I’m excited to hear from you.
Also any resources of fabulous talks/quotes you’ve come across would be welcome.

Pioneer Principles

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“It is not enough to study or reenact the accomplishments of our pioneers. We need to identify the great, eternal principles they applied to achieve all they achieved for our benefit and then apply those principles to the challenges of our day. In that way we honor their pioneering efforts” -Dallin H. Oaks

“We are all needed to finish the work that was begun by those pioneering Saints…We need to believe as they believed. We need to work as they worked. We need to serve as they served. And we need to overcome as they overcame.” -Elder M. Russell Ballard

“There is something about reviewing the lessons of the past to prepare us to face the challenges of the future. What a glorious legacy of faith, courage, and ingenuity those noble early Mormon pioneers have left for us to build upon.” -Elder L. Tom Perry

TEMPLES: this makes my HEART happy

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Summer Idea: pictures of famous places around the world on our laminated maps. Learning in a fun way!

This is a photo from long ago. Now, we have oodles of little red stickers indicating LDS Temples. It takes a long time to find all 150+ temples. Someday it will look something like this.

Anyhoo… back to the famous places. These are the ones I found with Creative Commons license (free for personal use). Yeah – I know they are small on this collage. In real life, they will print as 2×3.

It was fun to discover new cool places. It will be fun to see where they are located on the world map.

But… my soul knew something even better was missing. I knew we needed something MORE. I found some temples for free download on the church’s site. I only got 149 of them, but figured it would be a good representation. These images have 6-9 images per 4×6 card so they will be smaller – but oh so great.

Now – this – is – cool!! 149 temples all over the world. What LIGHT! What POWER!

When I was at Ricks College – oh, in 1995 or so, I decided a grand goal would be to visit all the temples. I believe there were fewer than 50 at the time. I don’t think this goal is very feasible now … so pictures will have to do.

I’ll take a picture of our maps, when we get the new little pictures put up. MY HEART LOVES TEMPLE POWER!

The Book of Mormon

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We had an exciting celebration tonight when we read the last 3 verses of the Book of Mormon as a family. Wahoo!

I love this picture because it shows what family scripture study is really like… kids being kids – nobody holding still. Eliza is happy, by the way (and she crawled right out of her pants during scripture reading. ha-ha).

Occasionally we have a heart-felt conversation about what we are reading and the older kids “get” it. But we’ve had lots of rushed evening scriptures when little ones are restless. Overall, reading the scriptures together as a family is good. And I’m counting on blessings for our perseverance (is that bad?).

We can’t remember exactly when we started reading the Book of Mormon as a family. We used to read the summarized scripture story books with pictures. We cruised through those so fast. I believe it was when Hannah was in Kindergarten (2008) that we decided to start reading the actual book with the kiddos. Max & Truman repeat what we say and they love having their turn. I remember when Abe started reading verses on his own. Cute memories.

We read one column a night… with 530 pages, that would take 1,060 nights of reading = about 3 1/2 years give or take a few. Wow… that’s a long time. But we accomplished our goal. So now what? Hannah wants to read the New Testament together. I guess we’ll see. I know it’s so important for us to all read the Book of Mormon daily so maybe it’s a good time to better encourage personal Scripture Study for the tots.

I was thinking about President Benson tonight. I love hearing his voice. I put together a few clips from one of his talks about the Book of Mormon. I love how he says “The Book of Mormon.” What a great message!

Today during morning devotional I shared the story about the Nephites living in the land of Helam – and how they were in bondage to the Lamanites. We talked about how they prayed in their hearts… the Lord blessed them to bear their burdens with cheer and patience. And then they were promised that they would be freed on the morrow. What a miracle. There was no way they could have escaped from the Lamanites except with the Lord’s help. They just walked out of there while the Lamanites slept. I only read part of the story and the kids were anxious to know how it ended. I was glad they were into it. There is power in Book of Mormon Stories.

a little uplift

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This quote from Thomas S. Monson about the temple strengthens me.

it’s a journey

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i’m all over the place these days.
we have oodles going on…
summer is sunny.
summer is hard and an adjustment.
but summer is good.

there is a lot i want to document like birthday, baptism, family outings, daily happenings, etc. etc. etc.
life is busy right now and i’m trying to simplify.
{keyword: trying}
relief society is busy right now. lots of stuff to organize, training to do, inspiration to receive.
my calling is hard for me. i’m growing every day.

anyhoo…
i saw the cutest pottery barn ad and I wanted to recreate something like it.
turns out there is a fabulous scripture story that caught my attention
that had to do with boats, and whales, and wind, and storm, light, and such.

the brother of jared… faithful… humble… true.
so – i know this is weirdo to make a cute whale card with a scripture quote.
but i like it.

so we’re talking about the 8 barges going to the promised land.
the Lord tells the brother of jared that they will be tossed about…
there will be storms…
and wind…
it’s part of their journey… their 344 day journey.
but He will help them prepare.

i love that comparison to life.

i decided to keep reading.
i’m so grateful He shares His light with all
men, women, and children.
we are guided by truth/light through the inevitable storms.
i’m going to do more research on light & truth.
we are so blessed to have revelation, inspiration, prophets, the Holy Ghost, and truth.

anyhoo…
kept reading.
they sang praises even after 344 days on the barges.
i don’t know that i would be that chipper.
they are awesome.
they remembered and recognized the tender mercies.
we are so blessed… always.

and then you know what they did.
they tilled the earth.
they had lots of children.
they were humble people.
they were taught from on high (temple!)

a really great JOURNEY to learn from.

Pioneer Power

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I have this thing with pioneers. I’m just completely amazed by them. So often they chose to have an adventure… to dance… and sing… even though life was hard. Sometimes they cried and wanted to give up. But they had faith and kept pressing forward.

My friend Steph commented over email yesterday about how her boys were going on trek – and that she hoped they had some Pioneer Power in them. I love that! Every day I want to hope and pray for that – Pioneer Power for myself and my family.

Equal to what it brings

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Truth be told … I read this and rolled my eyes. It was a doozy of a day. I didn’t want to think about using time wisely and well… I just want to hit my pillow and sleep for a few years until Tru leaves this 2-year-phase.

But then something resounded with me… the “face tomorrow with eagerness and cheer … with certainty and we’ll be equal to what it brings.” Last night I was cranky and worn out. I knew I needed to have an attitude adjustment before morning. Sleep does wonders.

Another truth be told… if tomorrow is anything like today or other hard days, I honestly doubt that I am equal to what it brings.  Some days I’m like, “Cool… bring it on… I am strong.  I am WOMAN.”

Today … not so much.

A Gospel Principle whispers quietly to my heart… Our Savior and His Atonement make us equal to life.  We may not be able to do it alone, but we can if we rely on Him.  Oh, it’s hard to always know how to capture all of that in my daily living, in parenting, in stressful situations. I need to hear the still small voice amidst the busy-ness of a full home. I have so much to learn. So many weaknesses. Faith, Sister… Faith.

But like a quote I heard in a movie we watched tonight: the widowed dad asked the cute 7-year-old girl, “Am I doing anything right?” She replied, “Well, you’re more handsome than other dads. You still have your hair.”

So… I can be glad that I still have my hair. That definitely is one thing going for me.

perspective check

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This week I’ve been trying not to hyperventilate about an upcoming trip that we planned. You see… we were the only sibling, of 11 living, who wasn’t going to be at the Smith wedding in Maryland. We nearly choked to death on the price of 6 round-trip plane tickets totally $3700. Choke! Good thing we love FAMILY! (well… and good thing Jimmy did an extra side job that provided some funds).

Just the thought of packing makes me sweat. How do I pack 7 people in an orderly fashion … and have it stay orderly once we get there? I honestly have a hard time just throwing stuff in because I fear we’ll forget something. Simplify Heather. That is my goal for packing. Plan … organize … simplify … and then go with the flow once we get there. Is that possible for me to go with the flow? Breathe & smile. I hope.

We have oodles of fun things planned. Washington D.C. one day, 4th of July in Frederick, wedding at D.C. temple, Ocean City, Crabbing, Hiking, Swimming. Pray for zu-zu and tru-tru (oh, and me) to survive the whirlwind of activities. This is not a vacation for mama … it is a trip. An adventure … but not a vaca.

But then … you see … I start feeling a bit silly that a flight across the country becomes a stress for me. What about pioneer mamas? They did have to pack … but they didn’t have suitcases with wheels. They were packing for ‘life’. We are packing for ‘play.’ They walked over 1,000 miles … we fly for 4 hours. They would think me a wimp. But reality is that it will be tricky for us to keep everyone safe, happy, clean, well-fed & well-slept. But this perspective check is good. It might help me simmer down when I get stressed about packing, traveling, adventuring, and unpacking and doing all that laundry.

I absolutely love this quote by a pioneer Susannah Stone Lloyd. Kim Kincaid gave me permission to use this little handcart sketch on my quote card. Doesn’t it tell quite a story on its own.

I discovered the rest of Susannah’s story on LDS.org. I love the gratitude she expresses for her blessings – despite all hardship. What faith & courage!

Amazing people!!!
Ever Onward by Joseph Brickey