October Here and Gone

It has definitely been a FULL October.
We started the month with General Conference (the big and anticipated semi-annual broadcast from church leadership for the world). It was delightful and raised my spirits in knowing we are working hard to stay on the path of happiness.
I also had a Relief Society class to help teach sisters to sew (not a big turnout, but with the ability for each person who wanted to to be able to go home with a finished project).
Then, Eric and I celebrated our anniversary by holding a garage sale and making some good moola (trash to treasure!) and then having a whole day to ourselves as the girls stayed with their g-rents for the day AND night! Besides the annual Winner's Circle event, Eric and I never leave our children and even then we are surrounded with people. It was so enjoyable just to be a couple without any worries or obligations (minus the massage appointments we enjoyed that morning).
Finally, we had our Fall Festival at church which was...interesting. I hosted it with a small committee and I can definitely say that it was quite the learning curve. I hope I can remember the things to change or request or follow-up on next time so I can figure out a few more pointers. That is, if I am ever asked to host again.
Now it is Halloween itself. The last day of my favorite month of the year. I love Halloween and it is sad that it is almost gone already. One of our carved pumpkins rotted on the table (the other is WELL on it's way to complete decay, but we are hoping we'll still get to light it tonight). BUT, my house has recovered from last weekend's chaos AND I have a whole family of scarecrows sitting at my front door ready to great...well, us...because no one knows to come around the bend in the road to the rest of the cul-de-sac.

Enlightened Journey

The weather has turned cool again. Okay, so after checking what the temperature REALLY is, it actually can be qualified as cold. It's 38 degrees in my town this morning. Due to this, I bundled up my girls in the bike trailer with blankets and made sure the cover flaps were down to keep the wind off of them. I, too, bundled myself as comfortably as possible to ride my bike. Just last week I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt on this same trip!
As I rode down the street, I thought about how the trees are now keeping the sun off of me. It is amazing the perspective change I have, because I was previously grateful for the same shade because it kept me cool. Now it is too cold and I would have the trees line the other side of the road.
This got me thinking. There are none of God's creations that are bad. He created only good things. In the scriptures we are told that even the winds obey God. This is significant because we, as mortal men, don't always obey. He gave us an incredible gift that I am only now beginning to understand. Agency. We have the ability to choose. It is with this gift that we put good or evil into action. It is by US that things become a blessing or a curse, often by our perspective which causes us to choose.
These trees were giving the same gift: shade. However, in my current state I saw it as a curse. There was nothing that changed with these trees and their shade, only with me. Granted, the weather has changed, but that is on a continuous cycle and is influenced by the laws that are found in nature. I was the variable in the equation.
As we go about our days, we can recognize the great trust God placed in us by giving mortal man the opportunity and the responsibility to choose for themselves what they will do in this life. When a missionary, I was often confronted by people who would ask "why would God allow..." this terrible tragedy or this sadness. I wonder why they try to make God responsible for what man does. It is through the gift of agency that good and evil is enacted upon this earth, and it is done by man. God will not take that gift of agency away. He is a god of choice and truth and love. Only by making good and bad decisions do we grow and change and prove our mettle. Only by recognizing our ability and responsibility to choose do we gain the ability to change the world.

Conference Chat

I love to learn. Part of my joy in learning is to talk about the things I learn and to hear how someone else understands the same thing, but perhaps in a different light.
I invite you to join me in learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We recently enjoyed General Conference and my sister and I have decided that we want to review the talks. So, we are going to talk about a talk each week and I'll try to post some of our review thoughts on here. I'd love to hear your thoughts about each talk, too!

Elder Richard G. Scott's The Power of Scripture
Love that memorizing scripture is like building friends. I felt huge pat on the back because we have chosen and have been memorizing scriptures as a family. It has increased the love of God's words by doing this together. I love hearing the scriptures from my children's lips. It has a beautiful power this way. It has brought us closer together.
I wrote in my notes that we need to read The Book of Mormon every year. This was further enforced when the Georgia Atlanta Mission President came down this past Sunday and issued the 90 day challenge to our ward to read The Book of Mormon completely in the next 90 days. I've learned so much already. The scriptures open up new windows of knowledge each time we read because we are different people in different situations because, as mortals, we are constantly changing.

Breaking Rules...In Fun

Before you think that I don't have fun or even know HOW to have fun, let me assure you that I do. It's not the crazy I-can't-remember-exactly-what-happened kind of event...I rather prefer remembering the things I do and KNOWING that I enjoyed every minute of it because I can recall with clarity what went on. Along with that, I also believe that having fun can happen by keeping all "rules," "laws," and social "etiquette."
My daughter recently participated in "Hat Day" at school. We gave her the option to do this as it was a fundraiser the school participates in. I get that. But still, I am a little leery of these kinds of events because it teaches that if you PAY you can break the rules.
So, now we are coming to school spirit week. Again, there will be a hat day and a camouflage day. Both of these items are prohibited by the school's rules. I just really wonder why we are teaching children that an occasional lapse from the rules is okay. It isn't. Or, if it is, then the rule was ridiculous in the first place. Take your pick.
I'm constantly hearing from older generations about how my generation and those under me are full of disrespectful people. In fact, it has been publicized that we live in an "I deserve society" and I deserve it "NOW" without having to put in the hard work. Well, then, I ask, who taught us? Where was the bending of the rules that allowed us down this path in the first place. It isn't like we had a big social revolution where my generation fought for these changes. They were allowed to happen, which means some leniency granted from the previous generations.
And so, I look at these little social things that we do in our schools, our churches, our clubs, and with our friends and family that bend the rules on some point of justification. Is it really helping the kids to teach this, or could we, with a little effort, teach them how to "let loose" the correct way and not break rules just because they are the obvious choice for "freedom".
What are your thoughts? What do these things really teach our kids?...and please explain your point of view.

Something You Should Read

I really wanted to post a couple of articles from the most recent General Conference, but they are not all available in text format (you can still watch them or listen to them, though!). So, I decided to do it a different way.
Today I will share this talk. It was given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a counselor to the Prophet. I love the way he uses real life images to help me remember the things he teaches. And, there are several of the points that we ALL need to remember. Enjoy his words!

Can't Wait!!

Okay, I just couldn't wait for another session before writing about how much I love and appreciate the words of the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am so uplifted and energized right now that I am near to bursting with love, joy, gratitude and excitement.
Don't miss out!! Watch it online here or on BYU TV or at a local meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It broadcasts a new session at noon MST today and then two more sessions tomorrow at 10 am and 12pm MST.