We have been thinking about our family this weekend. Five of our children & their families are at a family reunion. There are 30 members of our posterity that are together! We would love to be with all of them but we are hoping that our grandchildren will remember that we were serving the Lord on our mission. We always hear that if we serve the Lord we will receive blessings. Our greatest hope is that we will be able to set a good example for our grandchildren & that our blessings will be transferred to our children & grandchildren. (For future reference, our sons & daughters-in-law are automatically our children. Thank goodness!)
We are not working at the desk this month. Our assignment is to work from 11 - 5, doing ordinances. Last week we were so busy. On Friday they asked us to be the shift coordinators. That means to organize all of the workers & tell them what to do when & make sure that everything runs smoothly. I have always said that I was glad I didn't have to do that job. Before the shift started, I was literally sick because I was so nervous. We didn't have as many workers as we were suppose to but everyone was so sweet & helpful. We had a wedding, a new endowment & a baby in the nursery. I was glad when the day was over & everything went well without too many glitches. Rod did much better than I did & he wasn't even nervous. He handles stress a lot better than I do.
I had some special experiences last week that I would like to share. One time I was sitting by the chapel reading the scriptures. I was the only one around & it was so peaceful as I was listening to the quiet music in the chapel & reading. All of a sudden the song playing caught my attention. It was, "I Have A Family Here On Earth". The peace that filled my heart was amazing. That was the song that we sang as we surrounded Nathan after dressing him & that we sang as a family at his funeral.
Another time I was sitting in the Celestial Room by myself. It is my favorite place to be. I was thinking about the previous experience the day before & as I picked up the scriptures I wondered if I would ever have the experience of just opening up the scriptures & there would be something just for me. I opened the scriptures & read, "And they that have slept in their graves shall come forth". I burst into tears. As soon as I composed myself I finished reading, D&C 88:97. I know that I was suppose to read that scripture. I always think of Nathan & I can see him preaching the gospel but to have such a forceful reminder that I will be able to hug him again is a great comfort.
We went to church on Sunday & this was the spiritual thought in the bulletin. Ensign, Aug. 2008, "May We So Live", by Pres. Thomas S. Monson.
"How fragile life, how certain death. We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence. And so I ask, "What are we doing with today?" If we live only for tomorrow, we'll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays. Have we been guilty of declaring, "I've been thinking about making some course corrections in my life. I plan to take the first step tomorrow"? With such thinking, tomorrow is forever. Such tomorrows rarely come unless we do some things about them today. As the familiar hymn teaches: "There are chances for work all around just now; opportunities right in our way. Do not let them pass by, saying, "Sometime I'll try", but go & do something today."
The last night I had with Nathan, I was SO mad at him for something, & I thought, "I just won't talk to him all the way home. He has got to learn to pay attention." Well, when he got in the car he was so happy & talkative & I couldn't stay mad at him. We had the best talk for that 20 min. ride. It was the last time I ever talked to him. I will be forever grateful that I didn't let that opportunity slip by.
Don't let those special moments pass. Take advantage of them. Let those around you know you love them & do what our Heavenly Father wants you to do so that we can all be together for eternity.
We love the gospel. We are grateful for the blessings that it brings in our life. We are grateful to be serving a mission for the Lord & we are especially grateful to be serving in His House, the Temple. We look forward to an eternal reunion!
We send our love to everyone.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Summer Vacation!
When I was growing up, we always had the best vacations. When we got married we were able to continue that tradition. Some of our best memories are of the things we have been able to see & do & the people we have been able to be with. When we came on our mission we knew it would be a couple of years before we would be able to go on vacation, but we were fine with that & knew that at least we could go sight seeing on our day off.
Well, guess what? Every 6 months the temple closes for 2 weeks for cleaning & our temple got new carpeting this time. So---we went on vacation!!! We got permission to leave our Temple district so we took advantage of the time we had to go to Virginia & spend some time with Dad & our families in Charlottesville. We visited Mom in the senior center & Rod had a very good experience with her. She was really tired but when he sat down next to her, she slipped her arm through his & laid her head on his shoulder. She would tell him she liked him & it was a sweet experience.
When we left Boston it was at the beginning of a week long heat wave. We thought we might be able to leave it behind but it was all along the east coast. At one point our car said it was 115 degrees. Talk about HOT!!! Thank goodness for air conditioning in our car & in our hotels.
We put about 2,000 miles on our car. We saw the Empire State Building from a distance, took Dad to the Washington D.C. Temple & went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, & saw the Amish in their horse drawn buggies. We loved it so much there that we went back after going to Virginia. On our 2nd trip there we went to a Sight & Sound Theater production of "Joseph & the Coat of Many Colors". It was 2 1/2 hrs. long, & had live horses, sheep, goats, a donkey & even a camel live on stage & going up & down the aisles. It was a great show.
We headed up to New York & wanted to see where the Priesthood was restored on the banks of the Susquehanna River but we couldn't find it so we went on up to Rochester. Brad had just moved there for his job & was in the process of getting an apartment for them when Amy comes out. It was so good to be with him & take him to the Sacred Grove & the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Rod served his mission in Cumorah which covered all of New York, except New York City, so it was fun for him to be able to go back & show me some of the things I hadn't seen. We went to the Peter Whitmer farm where the church was organized. It has changed so much since Rod was a tour guide there. We decided to go back down to the Susquehanna River & we finally found the sight & saw the gravesites of Joseph & Emma's infant son, Alvin, & Emma's parents. Then we went to church in Schenectady, New York, where he served his mission for 5 months.
I had my second homesick moment. The first was when Tyson was born. The next was when we were watching the fireworks on July 3rd. I was thinking about the tradition we have of going to the Eagle River fireworks with everyone early, visiting, playing games & how I usually have a couple of grandkids on my lap. Boy did I miss them all!
July is a hard month for me with all of the memories of Nathan. From the 1st to the 18th I am always thinking about what happened 3 years ago on each day. It's not something I plan to do but it just happens. I am doing okay for the most part but some days are harder than others. On the 13th we went to the play of Joseph because I wanted to do something memorable. When Jacob was crying & said he had already lost one son & couldn't lose Benjamin too, it was really hard. Then when we went to church on the 18th, it seemed like all of the songs brought my feelings to the surface. One night I was thinking about him I guess before I went to sleep & sometime in the night a thought came to me. It was that knowledge brings peace.
Knowledge of the gospel brings peace.
Knowledge of the Plan of Happiness brings peace.
Knowledge of families being together forever brings peace.
Knowledge that we will see Nathan again brings peace.
Knowledge that the Savior lives, brings peace.
This is our testimony! We send our love to everyone!
Well, guess what? Every 6 months the temple closes for 2 weeks for cleaning & our temple got new carpeting this time. So---we went on vacation!!! We got permission to leave our Temple district so we took advantage of the time we had to go to Virginia & spend some time with Dad & our families in Charlottesville. We visited Mom in the senior center & Rod had a very good experience with her. She was really tired but when he sat down next to her, she slipped her arm through his & laid her head on his shoulder. She would tell him she liked him & it was a sweet experience.
When we left Boston it was at the beginning of a week long heat wave. We thought we might be able to leave it behind but it was all along the east coast. At one point our car said it was 115 degrees. Talk about HOT!!! Thank goodness for air conditioning in our car & in our hotels.
We put about 2,000 miles on our car. We saw the Empire State Building from a distance, took Dad to the Washington D.C. Temple & went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, & saw the Amish in their horse drawn buggies. We loved it so much there that we went back after going to Virginia. On our 2nd trip there we went to a Sight & Sound Theater production of "Joseph & the Coat of Many Colors". It was 2 1/2 hrs. long, & had live horses, sheep, goats, a donkey & even a camel live on stage & going up & down the aisles. It was a great show.
We headed up to New York & wanted to see where the Priesthood was restored on the banks of the Susquehanna River but we couldn't find it so we went on up to Rochester. Brad had just moved there for his job & was in the process of getting an apartment for them when Amy comes out. It was so good to be with him & take him to the Sacred Grove & the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Rod served his mission in Cumorah which covered all of New York, except New York City, so it was fun for him to be able to go back & show me some of the things I hadn't seen. We went to the Peter Whitmer farm where the church was organized. It has changed so much since Rod was a tour guide there. We decided to go back down to the Susquehanna River & we finally found the sight & saw the gravesites of Joseph & Emma's infant son, Alvin, & Emma's parents. Then we went to church in Schenectady, New York, where he served his mission for 5 months.
I had my second homesick moment. The first was when Tyson was born. The next was when we were watching the fireworks on July 3rd. I was thinking about the tradition we have of going to the Eagle River fireworks with everyone early, visiting, playing games & how I usually have a couple of grandkids on my lap. Boy did I miss them all!
July is a hard month for me with all of the memories of Nathan. From the 1st to the 18th I am always thinking about what happened 3 years ago on each day. It's not something I plan to do but it just happens. I am doing okay for the most part but some days are harder than others. On the 13th we went to the play of Joseph because I wanted to do something memorable. When Jacob was crying & said he had already lost one son & couldn't lose Benjamin too, it was really hard. Then when we went to church on the 18th, it seemed like all of the songs brought my feelings to the surface. One night I was thinking about him I guess before I went to sleep & sometime in the night a thought came to me. It was that knowledge brings peace.
Knowledge of the gospel brings peace.
Knowledge of the Plan of Happiness brings peace.
Knowledge of families being together forever brings peace.
Knowledge that we will see Nathan again brings peace.
Knowledge that the Savior lives, brings peace.
This is our testimony! We send our love to everyone!
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