Youth Temple Trip

Saturday was the Youth Temple trip. Carl and I went with the Youth. This is Clayton's 2nd time to the Temple, and first time with the Youth. We took him right after he turned 12. It's Michael's 4th time to the Temple. Once with just us family and 3 times with the youth!

This picture is courtesy of our Young Men's 2nd Councelor, Brother Kruger. He posted it on his blog and I saved it my computer!

He's a great photographer!

(To protect the identity of our Youth, I won't disclose names or which Temple we went to. Since there are 5 Temples in the area, I think I'm relatively safe in keeping the identity harder to find).

But anybody who knows me, knows which 2 Deacons are mine!!!!

A look back....

A look back at Gordon B Hinckley with the late Mike Wallace. Great interview. I like Mike Wallace's viewpoint and questions and I love President Hinckley's answer.

Mormons aren't ashamed to be Mormon or ashamed of our beliefs even when being mocked by others.

We believe we are the Church that Jesus Christ set up in ancient times. Jesus Christ is our Keystone.

CBS 60 Minutes Interview with Gordon B Hinckley, click here to watch

Awesome stuff!

David Archuletta

Did anyone else think that was cool seeing David Archuletta sing at

 General Conference with the MTC Choir???

Resurrection

Happy Easter!

Acts 4:33, King James Version

"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all."

I believe it is the witness of the Resurrection that truly gave them their strong conviction that Christ was their Lord and Savior, their King. Remember, they wondered who had taken their Lord from his tomb once the stone was rolled away. It was not their first thought, that Jesus had in fact, risen from the dead. They had to remember that He said He would rise on the third day! He did overcome death. He proved to man that their is eternal life, and that death is not where our journeys end. Christ is the Living Christ!

My son Clayton came across this verse as he was writing his talk on the Resuurection for church tomorrow.

1st Corinthians 15:17, King James Version

"And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain;

ye are yet in your sins."

Without this Resurrection, the Atonement doesn't mean what we think it means. Not having the Resurrection means the Atonement would be in vain.

3rd Nephi, Chapters 11-17

(Both photos above are the from the photography of Mark Mabry. I only show these to dispaly his awesome work and do not own the rights to these photos.)

Pray: I close my eyes and I can see a better day...

I just can't sleep tonight

Knowing that things ain't right

It's in the papers, it's on the TV

It's everywhere that I go

Children are crying

Soldiers are dying

Some people don't have a home

But I know there's sunshine behind that rain

I know there's good times behind that pain

Can you tell me how I can make a change?

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

I close my eyes and pray

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

I close my eyes and pray

Pray: by Justin Beiber

Such a simple song and yet so powerful to me.

It has power because of the times we live in today. There was a time in this country when the only songs people knew were church hymns. People didn't need a song to remind them to pray. Justin Beiber, a young man, sings a song about prayer when so many people in our world are trying to ignore God or deny the existence of our Heavenly Father. I commend him for having the courage to even sing a song about prayer to mainstream media and mainstream radio. Such a great young man. (Quite honestly I don't actually know ONE thing about this man) But becuase of this song that he sings, I know he believes in our Father in Heaven and I know he believes in Prayer. To me, that says enough. I don't need to know anything else about his character. He proves his good standards by his actions and words.

If we all close our eyes and pray, we can see a better day. The Lord will make it so.

Today in my Stake Conference, Pesident Mikel Anderson asked us to dedicate our next Fast Sunday, March 25, to our community. He asked us to pray and fast for our families, our neighbors and all the members of our community. Help keep us safe from harm. I believe this is an awesome way to show our faith to our Heavenly Father that we put our trust and faith in Him and we believe that

we can see a better day!

"Here I Raise My Ebenezer"

I love Emily Freeman. She is an author that I have seen a few times speak. She has an awesome blog on a Daily Scripture Readings. I love to hear her perspective. And I love that she is a busy mom who is able to find the time to not only do her daily scripture readings, but has the time to blog about it!

Click Here to view her thoughts on something interesting she found in the Book of Samuel from the Old Testament

Not real until it's real....

You know how things aren't really real until you actually have it in your hands????

That's how I felt about General Conference this spring. I had decide about a week before General Conference in October that I wanted to go. At this late point, the Stake President said he had 2 tickets left for one session only. Well we needed 4 tickets. He said, you could always go and stand in line....I have seen that line....no I couldn't do that! That line starts at the Conference Center and extends all the way across Temple Square and starts to curve at the mall down the sidewalk....

No....I could not do that line. But my instistance on actually having tickets for Conference, meant I got on the list for tickets for Spring Conference early.

So I got tickets for Saturday and Sunday this Spring. So excited....but it didn't feel real until I had the actual tickets in my hand. Even an email from the Stake Executive Secretary saying he had the tickets for me wasn't real. Only now that I have the tickets in my hand, does it finally seem real.

Now I am really excited!

The last General Conference I went to was in October 2007. It was the last General Conference President Hinckley would ever preside over. I knew it would be his last. I told my husband if we don't go to Conference, I will never see him in person. I was right, he died before the next General Conference in Spring, at the age of 98.

I was working in Boston at the time. I flew in on the red-eye to Salt Lake. My husband and the boys drove down from our house in Montana. They picked me up at 3am from the airport. We stayed in American Fork at Carl's parent's house. By 8am we were back in Salt Lake looking for parking. We had tickets for all four of us and 4 additional tickets. We asked for 4 and we got 8. It was the last tickets our Stake President had and gave them all to us. He just asked that we made sure they got used. Apparently your Stake gets tickets based on how many are used in the past. If your Stake doesn't use the tickets then they go to other Stakes that do use them.

It was so awesome. I had only been a member of the church for a year. I had started going to church in July of 2006. Baptised in October of 2006. So one year later, October of 2007, I was at Conference seeing my President. Your first President has to be your favorite, right? He was my favorite! (Then I read Thomas S. Monson's biography and of coarse that changed my mind. Now they are both my favorite). But Gordon B. Hinckley will always be my first President. He will always be my boys' first president too!

He left such a legacy behind him, that all future generations will know how great he was! However, greatness isn't what he wanted to be remembered for. He only wanted all the glory to go to the Lord. His life of service was all in the service to the Lord. These wonderful men that the Lord calls, do not just wake up one day and become President. They spend a lifetime dedicating their lives to the Lord.

Here is some memories from my last Conference experience.

Yes, I said I took the red-eye out of Boston, with 3 hour time difference all not on my side! I was a zombie!

Clayton checking things out!

Michael checking things out too!

Me and Michael, he was 9....

Here was the group we took along. Heber, Beverly, David, Michael, Clayton, Carl and Cameron, David's step son. Cameron had just gotten home from serving a Mission in Spanish Speaking Oakland.

Heber and Beverly. This was the first time they had ever been to Conference in their entire life! People who actually live in Utah, do not get tickets like people who don't live in Utah. Ironic huh? The people who live there don't really get to go unless they endure the hard, long line. For my in-laws at their age, lines aren't in their agenda.

Carl and David and Michael peeking out!

Me and the boys in the Conference Center

Michael he was so excited he must have had to pee!!! haha....

no really....he was cold!

Clayton! He was 8. He thought this Conference thing was way cool!

Ever wonder why during that first session of Conference people were laughing. Apparently it was not shown on television. But if you were in the Conference Center you would have seen what we saw.

This was President Hinckley "knighting" Elder Eyring. Elder Eyring was called to the First Presidency after the death of President Faust. It was so cute. The whole Conference Center burst out in laughter. So now you know what the laughter was all about, in case you ever wondered...

President Hinckley

In loving Memory

Just Us.....and everybody else....

Here I am....Almost 1am....can't sleep....in Wenatchee...here for the "Apple Cup"...I really hate this hockey tournament above all hockey tournaments that ever was and ever will be. Last year was a horrible experience. I said I would NEVER come back and this town and this Hockey Association would NEVER get a dime from our family again! Anddddd....here I am....at the Apple Cup.....again! I must have not learned....and I forgot to run by Dell's Farm and Tractor Supply before I left town so I could buy a COWBELL!!! Yes, I said a COWBELL! These hockey players out on the farm out here use cowbells instead of clapping for their beloved little cheatin' hockey players. I'm deaf by the end of a game because they seem to love to clank those dang things every moment of every minute...While their little spawn devil hockey players are elbowing their opponents in the head and cross checking from behind and boarding from behind and tripping from behind....the "roughing" that occurs is the only time the opponent sees them coming. They actually want you to see their faces as they are "roughing" (for all non-hockey players....roughing=punching)....Anyways, enough about the cheaters....Every bantam and peewee hockey players from our organization is here, except the Tier 2 Peewees, but even some of them are here due to siblings....I brought Clayton. He somehow thinks he can talk Juston into letting him play in the tournament...(he can't do this of coarse....because no Tier 2 player is allowed to "play down" in Peewee C league...Oh wait, this is Wenatchee....they do that all the time....yea, now I know where he gets the idea it's allowed, it's because he is in....Wenatchee....) Yes, last year, they had their Tier 2 players playing in this tournament even though they advertised the Tournament as Peewee C Leagues. Then when they were called on it, they said "well, we just wanted to have enough teams for the tourney. We needed to make 2 teams, otherwise we would have had to cancel the tourney"....(double the cheating)....YEA!!! Because NOONE wants to come to this tournament! I don't know how they managed to get 8 teams this year to come. Ok enough about "them"! I know I said that already. But really....enough already.....

Did I say I can't sleep? Well, got up really early. Packed. Barely made the ferry by like 30 seconds....Prayed Obama's trip to Everett didn't mess with our tight schedule. It didn't. I guess he flew out of town from somewhere else instead of Boeing Field. (that's all I needed....to have "that guy" ruin my day). Went to Seattle Temple....now that was AWESOME!!!! Clayton's 1st Temple Trip. We saw so many people we knew. We were leaving as many of our friend's were coming in for Stake Temple Session. I even saw Sister Anderson (one of the Temple Matron's and my Stake President's mother) coming in as we were leaving. She looked at both boys and said....."the soccer players?" I laughed...."no...hockey players".....she said "oh that's right"....She is one of the kindest ladies I know....The Seattle Temple is lucky to have the Anderson's serving their mission there!!!....I wish I had a nickel for everytime someone has said that to us though....No child in Africa would be hungry. I'd be so rich, I would feed them all! (After I put the first Ice Hockey rink in the middle of the Congo of coarse)....I had a friend from my ward take pictures of me and the boys in front of the Temple for this magnificant day for Clayton! I promise I will post the pics, as soon as I charge my Ipod ....that's where the pics are....Yes, I packed the camera in my suitcase and only had my Ipod Touch to take pictures with....I know....lame....but I did get some!

Then off to LDS Distribution Center, then off to Deseret Books....where I spent way too much money....but I did get bargains and that's what counts right? Winter Clearance Sale....I GOT DAVID BEDNAR's new book there!!! Yea me!!! Normally I would Kindle that baby, but it comes with an Interactive DVD and if you don't buy the "real....hand held" book, you don't get the DVD.

Just in case, you want to run right out and buy such an awesome book and be as cool as me, here is the link.

http://deseretbook.com/Increase-Learning-David-Bednar/i/5072000

Click the link to see the book that makes me so cool right now!

Then, of coarse...Yep, you guessed it....Chipotle for dinner!

In Issaquah! If there is a Chipotle, I can sniff it out no matter where we are!!!!

Then we spent so much time, out and about, it started getting dark and raining. Raining hard....Carl said we better get to Wenatchee..."It will be snowing in the pass".....Huge Understatement.....It snowed all the way to Wenatchee...Roads were slick bad. Icy and we even saw a car hit the barrier wall at the Snoqualmie Summit and we saw a truck jacknifed on the 2 lane highway after you get off the Interstate to go North. Got to hotel, to find out, we are like the last of our hockey group to get here and all we wanted to do was go to bed....but no we stayed up. I visited with Marlene (another hockey mom....a Canadian nurse....eh?)....she's great! I love hanging with her! She drives this cool Orange with a black racing strip Charger that is like smokin' hot and she looks way cool in it! Clayton and Michael want so much to ride in her Charger! What's up with that? Boys and cars??? She gently let them down (when of coarse they asked if they could ride to one of the games with her family) and told them, the Charger is at home. Her hubby drove the truck....Just like mine did! lol....4 Wheel Drive or no way was anybody going to get here at this time of night. You would've had to come up during the day to make it here without 4 wheel drive.

Ok....well....I have typed my way into being really tired! So goodnight all! More to come from the new blogger who has left facebook to have more time away from computer just to find myself blogging now instead!!!! Hmmmm.....does this mean I should go back to Facebook????

Noooo.....Never.......Bad Facebook.....way to many games and Zuckerberg needs to quit changing stuff on those silly whims of his!

Anyways....hope to find a good apple around here....I mean IT IS the Apple Capitol of the WORLD....so they say.....

A Temple Trip

My son, Michael has a hockey tournament in Wenatchee coming up this weekend. His first game is Saturday morning and we have all day Friday to get there. So we made plans!!!! haha

We are going to go the Seattle Temple. Clayton has never been to the Temple. He just turned 12 in January and was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood on Jan 15, 2011. In my church, you must be 12 to enter the Temple (unless you are directly involved in a Live Ordinance). There is a Youth Temple Trip in April, which the boys will attend. But we want to take Clayton before then. So we find that the opportunity is presented to us to take them to the Temple on the way out of town. We are in no hurry. It will be awesome to explain the Temple to Clayton. I made appointments today for 1pm. Can't wait!

This is a picture from Michael's 1st Temple Trip Last Year. This was Michael's friend, (the other Deacon in his Quorum....haha) and his two Advisors, Bro Hoecherl and Bro Butherus. I won't mention the name of his friend to protect his identity and privacy. (But we know who he is!)

I will add photos from Clayton's 1st trip this weekend after we go!!!

Life is not to be endured, it's to be enjoyed!~~Gordon B Hinckley

Find Joy in the Journey

General Conference Address by Pres Monson, Oct 2008, Click here to read!

Standard Works Reading Chart for One Year

This is from Emily Freeman's blog. She has a Reading Chart for all the Standard Works for one year, 7 pages a day. We are doing this as our Family New Year's Resolution. Wish us luck! I have a Link on the right side of my Daily Journaling about the readings we will be doing. So if you actually want to hear my thoughts on the Bible and the Book of Mormon and all the Standard Works, that's where you will find it!

http://dailyclosertochrist.com/

A Witness of Christ

Henry B Eyring, First Councelor, First Presidency and 10th Sr Apostle of the Quorum of the 12

This was so touching!!! I am so proud to be a member who sustains this Amazing Man!