It Burns

I took the boys up to the Lake on the Hill today so they could get some swimming and play time in.  I brought along some fishing gear and sat down on the rocks and fished.  I didn't come close to catching anything, just casting and reeling which is what I'm good at.  Catching fish seems so overrated anyway.  I'm not going to eat it and would merely be catching and releasing so this way I avoid getting my hands slimy... yep that's it, that is my excuse.  Anyway, the boys had a good time though they fought over a tube I let them bring.  I guess I need to learn that they each need their own and thus we can avoid the fighting over whose turn it is .  It was a good time for the most part and then we left and then I felt the burn.  I'm not talking the socialist running for president.  I'm talking sun burn to the extreme.  My knees are fried along with the insides of my shins on both legs.  It is beet red and it is not feeling all that comfy.  Oh well, just working on my color, the hard way.  Should make for a good trip.  That nice long drive with sunburned arms and legs is going to be fantastic.  I need to remember sun screen a little better. 

Playhouse Down

We've got a playhouse down!  The old playhouse that Jay made years ago has been taken down.  Well, mostly taken down.  There is still some work to do but the playhouse or fort as it was once known is not there any longer.  I have the floor framing to take down and then the corner posts to remove.  There is also the job of stacking the old wood.  I think we will have a good amount of firewood from the project.  I am also reusing a lot of the wood to make a shed or sorts on the side of the house that we never use.  basically the shed will come off the house and will provide a nice covered and partially enclosed area for tools and equipment.  I don't have an exact design in my head just yet but have somewhat of a vision for what I want to do.  I also have to figure out what to do in the corner where the playhouse was.  I am thinking a new trampoline for the kids.  They have missed the old one and it might be time to give it another go especially since I will have a stationary place for it to be.  Moving it around the yard constantly to mow the lawn and to avoid damaging the lawn was not my favorite thing to do so when Dan went through it last year my feelings were not hurt, in fact there was some quiet rejoicing going on inside.

Jack and I got up early this morning to go and deliver flags with the young men.  I think he manged to get a few flags in the holes.  It was a good time and there were many hands so the job went fast.

Following that and having much open time I took apart a kitchen-aid mixer and was able to clean up the points so that is now functioning properly.  I found that to be exiting.  Hopefully we will get a lot of time out of it.   

Talk by Natty on the Atonement

Natty spoke in church today.  She did a great job.  Here is a copy of her talk.

In Moroni 7: 41, it reads “And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.” I like how this scripture says that we shall have hope through the atonement.  Sometimes we only think of the atonement as a way to overcome death and sin and we forget that it is the ultimate source of relief from our infirmities, our sorrows, our struggles. As the Savior carries us through our hardest trials we can be filled with hope.   

            In Elder Oaks talk, strengthened by the Atonement, in the October 2015 general conference, he says, “in mortality we have the certainty of death and the burden of sin. The Atonement of Jesus Christ offsets these two certainties of mortal life. But apart from death and sin, we have many other challenges as we struggle through mortality. Because of that same Atonement, our Savior can provide us the strength we need to overcome these mortal challenges.”   Now, I’m assuming we’ve all felt weak and completely alone, I definitely have. I find it comforting to know that I can turn to God with anything. I also find it comforting that He will always love me, no matter how much I mess up. 

            My mother left the church several years ago. She’s still a fantastic lady and a wonderful mother, but she has made several choices that I know Heavenly Father doesn’t approve of. I know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, she can choose to let Christ back into her life and be forgiven. Like my mom, those who have strayed from the path can return as they make changes in their lives.  I really enjoy these thoughts from Brad Wilcox in his talk His Grace is Sufficient about how the atonement can help us change.      

In the past I had a picture in my mind of what the final judgment would be like, and it went something like this: Jesus standing there with a clipboard and Brad standing on the other side of the room nervously looking at Jesus.

Jesus checks His clipboard and says, “Oh, shoot, Brad. You missed it by two points.”

Brad begs Jesus, “Please, check the essay question one more time! There have to be two points you can squeeze out of that essay.” That’s how I always saw it.

But the older I get, and the more I understand this wonderful plan of redemption, the more I realize that in the final judgment it will not be the unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, “Let me stay.” No, he will probably be saying, “Get me out of here!” Knowing Christ’s character, I believe that if anyone is going to be begging on that occasion, it would probably be Jesus begging the unrepentant sinner, “Please, choose to stay. Please, use my Atonement—not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you want to stay.”  The Savior loves each of us, he wants us to change and he wants each of us to return to him.  Lehi bears a powerful testimony of the atonement and the love of the savior for us to his sons in 2 Nephi 2:6-8. 

“Wherefore, “redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

Behold, he offereth  himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of god, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.”

I know that this church is true, and I know that Jesus Christ died for us so we could live with him again. I’m thankful I had this opportunity to speak today, in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Random Acts

Had some friends stop by tonight, Jason and Cindy Murray and their kids.  They just came over and brought a guitar in with them.  After a bit of visiting they played a song for us.  It was actually really cool.  They also brought by a little note telling the kids to have fun in Alaska and to share some thoughts with Natty who spoke in church today and did a great job.  They also told Jack how much they enjoy seeing him pass the sacrament.  It was a random act of kindness that was awesome.  We talked about various things and had a good visit.  Sure enjoy the Murray family.  They are wonderful people and I am grateful to know them.  I told them they would have to come back with another song. 

Jack Caught a Fish

We've had a fine Saturday here in Cedar.  Worked on a few different project but one major one was cleaning out the toy room downstairs.  Jack and Andy and I got to it and got it done.  It looks much better and it looks like we are going to be making it into Jack's bedroom.  He is excited to do some things with trains in the room and we had a couple of good ideas for other bedroom necessities.

For some recreation this evening we went up to the Lake on the hill and Jack somehow managed to snag his first fish.  He was way excited and very proud that he did it all on his own.  The fish was small but it was a perfect catch for Jack.  It was a good moment. 

I am asleep here and am just struggling to write what little I have written.    I am calling it a night..

. 

Schools Out For Summer!

Last day of school and it is done.  The kids are excited.  I am excited.  I was out working on the little honda and saw Annie Draper across the street, she teaches school and she was very excited.  There were a lot of excited people out and about today.  I had made a run into The Home Depot around 11 this morning and saw the Cedar High football coach who also teaches, he was walking around in shorts and picking up things on a to do list and he looked excited.  The last day of school... it is wonderful.  Natty has been hanging out with friends all day and I actually let her go to her first sleep over with 3 of her closest friends tonight.  I may live to regret this decision.  Actually, when I found out about it a couple days ago I had a brief conversation with her and told her it wasn't going to happen.  She begged and laid a guilt trip about how I don't trust her and blah blah.  That kind of cemented my decision at that point that she would not be going.  Anyway, she continued stating her case and I, wanting to get out of the conversation because I was done conversing about it, I told her she better pray about it that I will have a change of heart because it wasn't going to happen otherwise.  This morning she said she was going and would be staying over night.  I said that I hadn't given her permission and she said "You told me to pray about it and I did and I felt good about it so I am going".  I clarified what I said and what I meant when I told her to pray about it.  Oh my gosh, she is a handful sometimes.  Glad she prayed about it though I wonder how much she had to struggle with the spirit to get the answer she wanted?  Funny. 

Frustration

I am not having the best of times right now.  Just going through something, a little down, a little frustrated and not really feeling all that great.  No one to talk to about it really and don't really know what to say or how to identify my frustrations so here I am.  Just wanted to write something, get something out me.  I don't know if there is going to be anything therapeutic about it but maybe. I have been doing this single dad thing for 6 years now.  In some respects it has gotten a lot easier and then it has also grown harder.  I walk alone.  Okay, no, not really, there is the Savior and all that, I understand and I don't mean to sound like I am discounting that part of my life, I am not.  I am saying that there is some loneliness that exists and it can be hard sometimes.  I am getting ready to take my kids to Long Beach to fly out for two months.  If I thought I was lonely right now it is about to get a lot quieter here. I used to just fill my time with work and dealing with employees and situations there but that is now different and after a message sent to me earlier today it seems it will be far more different.  I feel like this thing that has been a huge part of my life for the last 5 years is being stripped away and I am being told I can't do the things I have done in the past.  Well, isn't that just wonderful. I'm just pressing forward trying to figure things out.  I don't know what else to say, just feeling down, feeling low, feeling alone.  It will pass and all will be fine.  Sorry to be a downer.   

What is Needed

Sometimes when I hit the day it ends up being filled with a wide variety of things.  Today was one of those days when I just had to do what was needed at the time.  This morning I ran into work to hang pictures up on the wall.  These pictures were sitting on the bar and needed to be hung before we opened so there I was, hanging pictures.  I headed home afterwards to walk Jack over to the high school for his field day.  It was a good time and I got to stay and watch him participate in the 100 yard dash and then a softball throw.  He ran hard in the race and earned some points for his class and then he threw the softballs a decent distance for his non ball playing skills.  He was a little winded after his run so I actually stood in the line for the softball throw for him.  It's what was needed.  Actually, he had kind of freaked out about a line and someone who cut in front of him.  He was letting him have it.  I went over and managed to get him through it.  He needs to relax a bit on some of these things. Anyway, I decided I would stand in the line and he could cool off a bit.  That worked out.  He managed to find someone with a boxer puppy and hung out and played with the dog the entire time I held his place in line.  He could have done that all day.  When we got to the shop I was asked to roll silverware, done.  I was the one free person that could handle busing some tables.  So I did some of that.  Got to help unload the new range/oven.  Had to do it.  It is a wonderful and welcome addition to the kitchen.  Ah, the roof.  Had to get the swamp cooler functioning.  That is a fun job.  It's done.  I'm done.  Ready to pass out, it is needed. 

Feeling Tired

I have been exhausted for the past week.  After the best of state night when I ran up to Salt Lake and back and then followed it up by another very late night cleaning the hood, I've just been dragging a bit.  I don't know what it is but I have been very tired.  If I sit down I want to sleep.  So the trick is to continually be moving.  It just seems that I am in a bit of a funk right now and I've got to snap out of it.  There is a lot happening and I need to be up and alert for it.  Not always easy. 

We are down to three days left in the school year.  We probably could have had a more productive year of school but I think the kids did fine.  We will have to put forth a bit more effort next year and make sure everyone is a little more organized and dedicated. 

I am grateful for my family and the good people they are.  They help me to continue pressing forward even when times are tough.

Cleaning

I believe we are still in the season of Spring.  I hear no objections therefore I can conclude that today I did a bit of Spring cleaning.  Not a big deal really.  Natty had cleaned out much of her stuff and put it in bags to go to DI.  I was folding laundry this morning and had a ton of boys clothes to try and put away somewhere in their room.  I had been saying to the boys that we would need to go through and get rid of some things.  Today I did some of that.  The boys clothing situation is looking much better.  We dropped off one large bag of boys clothes along with four white kitchen bags.  It feels good to part with things that you simply don't use and that are just taking up space especially when there are many  that are in need.   

Much Needed Nap

I don't know if there is anything I like more on a Sunday afternoon than a good nap.  After a few very long days I was able to take a bit of a nap.  I didn't even go lay down.  I sat down in my chair, put my feet up, and whatever I intended to do at that moment didn't happen because I was out.  I have no idea what the kids did during that time, don't know if anyone came to the door, there was no waking me up.  It was wonderful.  A couple hours later and I got up and made some cookies that were practically perfect.  I also knocked out some french toast for dinner because that was an easy meal and I want easy meals on Sunday. 

The day was not all nap but it was very much welcome.  I had two home teaching appointments today.  One with the Arnold fam and the other with the Scholes.  Love these families.  We also attempted to drop some cookies off and the folks house but they were not home.  We ended up going on a drive out Lund Highway to the Three Peaks area and then up and over to the highway.  I wanted to see how the little car would do and it did just fine.  It even has functioning cruise control and drove fairly smooth on the highway.  I was happy about the performance of the vehicle.

It has been a great day of rest... and work. 

Driving Practice

Ahhh, driving practice.  I am not talking about a bucket of balls at the driving range.  Just good old fashioned driving around the high school parking lot.  I took Natty out and let her practice driving around in the honda.  She was excited to drive and though she almost killed us on a curb she managed to avoid any accidents.  After driving and parking practice Natty jumped out from beside the wheel and I drove us home.  Driving practice was a success and now I must sleep. 

Panic In the Kitchen

I managed to get in bed sometime after 4 AM.  It was wonderful.  I was exhausted.  Tonight I am also exhausted.  I thought I would have a relaxing day and be able to catch up on some laundry.  It was all going to be great.  After I got Andy off to school I went back to bed.  A little over 2 hours later I got a call, it was Jack and he was letting me know he didn't like what they were having at school for lunch and asked if I would bring him something.  As I was walking into the middle school I got a call from Hailey.  I dropped off lunch for Jack and then headed for the brick hOuse.   Laundry... not done. 
Sorry, I can't keep my eyes open.  I've got to call it quits today.  There was some panic in the kitchen today. I kept a level head and we were able to manage our way through it.  I really have to sleep now. 

The Hood

It has been a day.  I have not felt 100% today as my stomach was out of it after the dinner last night and the driving snacks.  I did not eat until later in the afternoon today because of it.  Anyway, I survived.  I am completely beat at the moment.  I had a late night last night and then a full day, though I did get to sleep in for a bit this morning.  Actually I was up getting kids off to school and then once Andy departed for school I worked on a couple of things and then sat down and took a nap.  I might need to do the same tomorrow.  It is 3:30 in the AM and I just recently got home.  We decided it was time to clean the hood at the Brick House.  It was brutal.  It also isnt perfect but we did a decent job. Started at 8 and finished at 3.  I am beat.  My body is hurting.  It was an intense operation to clean the hood.  There is alot to it.  The boys made work out of it.  I must sleep. 

Best of State

For the third year in a row the Brick House Cafe has won best of state for local diner.  We learned this news a few weeks back and tonight was the awards dinner.  I made the drive up north to be there.  It was a good time.  Got to hang out with the folks for the dinner as well as two more couples on our table who also won for different things.  One of the couples were neighbors with Jim and Clo at BYU.  Thought that was cool. 

Anyhow, I got to go up and be awarded the medal.  A very attractive woman put it around my neck and I said "what, no kiss?".  Yep, no kiss.  Little known fact.  Once you have your medallion you go to the back where you take off the medallion, put it in a basket to be used again on stage.  Then you pick up a packet that has a medallion inside of it.  Wonderful.  It was good to go.  Saw my friend from Sonny Boys BBQ up there after their 4th win.  Anyway, good food, good entertainment and good company.  Maybe we need to win again next year. 

I did get to stop off at Jay and Sara's this afternoon on my way up.  Had a great visit with them.  It was a reminder of the old days when we were neighbors and how nice it was to walk next door and be able to hang out. 

Well, it was a long day of driving and I am ready to call it a day.  Time to go crash out for a few hours anyway. 

Not a fisherman

Andy was wanting to go fishing.  He is the only one young enough now days to go fishing without a license.  The rest of us are required to have one.  I got online this evening and purchased one for each of us.  Ran me $55 to make this happen.  So, we packed up some gear and headed to the lake on the hill here in Cedar City.  Things were not all that fabulous.  One of the rods we took was old and used to belong to one of my younger siblings I'm sure.  It has sat around for years and no longer works.  We tried.  It sucked.  We set it aside and I tried to get the boys all put together, it went in waves because as soon as I had one done I'd have to sit down and do the other one.  That cycle just kept repeating itself and so I didn't personally get to enjoy much fishing at all and by fishing I mean casting and reeling.  I don't usually catch fish. 

Natty was doing a great job on her own and managed to catch a fish.  It was a tiny fella but she caught it.  Awesome.  I had one or two little nibbles was all in the very limited time I had to fish.  I also managed to fall into the lake.  There I was with a rod in my hand and fixing to do a bit of fishing when I slipped on a rock, lost my balance and ended up in the lake.  This provided some comic relief to the boys who had endured some rough fishing.  Glad I could do my part.

Well, I am completely beat and a bit bruised as well.  It is definitely time to retire for the evening.

Snowy River

Natalie had a band concert tonight at the high school so I ventured over to watch it.  They did a good job and then the Symphonic Band got up and they played The Man From Snowy River.  It was absolutely amazing and it took me back to my childhood and the summer I saw that movie in the theater.  It was sometime in the early to mid 80's.  I might have even gotten a bit teary eyed as I listened to that song, thought about that movie and reflected on my childhood.  That represents so much that was good in my life.  I really enjoyed that tonight and have to say the band nailed it.  It was beautiful.

Sunday School Pres

For the last year or so I have been serving as the Sunday School president in our ward.  I have had the opportunity to serve with some fantastic men that I look up to and admire a great deal.  Jake Whetman, Gary Scholes and Will Bagnall.  I love working with them and look forward to being able to continue to work with them as we strive to do our best to help the work of teaching the gospel move forward effectively in the ward.  We had our presidency meeting today and we are in the middle of a logistical challenge with wifi and classrooms and a special class that is needing to be taught.  It is a lot of stuff.  We have the challenge of not having enough space for everything that is going on right now and that is a good thing.  We will press forward doing our best to facilitate the needs of the ward. 

One of the things that is exciting for us right now is a new program that is just starting Teaching in the Saviors Way where there will be monthly Teacher Council Meetings that are under the direction of the Ward Council and usually directed by a member of the Sunday School Presidency.  We are working on finalizing which Sunday of the month we will designate for these meetings.  It looks as if we will be looking at the first Sunday of the month.  This is fine with me. The program is really neat and places an emphasis on teaching the gospel by bringing teachers together to council together and to learn from each other how to best teach the gospel.  It should be a really program and we are excited about getting it going. 

We had a conversation today in our meeting where Will Bagnall talked about how much more involved it is being in the presidency then what he was anticipating and expecting based on what other people had said to him.  I think we all heard similar comments and had expectations of this being an easy calling where all we had to do was collect rolls and ring a bell.  This is simply not the case.  There is much to do and there will be much more to come as we do our best to act in the office we have been appointed to.  Anyway, grateful again for the good men I serve with and hope the work we are doing is acceptable to the Lord. 

Back Home

Yesterday was our fathers and sons campout.  I wrote about it on my phone but have not been able to move it to the blog.  We had a good night though and had a lot of fun.  We were back home at 10 AM and moved right on with out day.  Jack was going to go to a boy scout pow wow but was suffering from a toe injury and didn't feel like he could make it.  He soaked his toe for a while and it felt much better.  He didn't think he could handle going though.  I don't know that I would want to send him to a meeting of that sort when he is totally consumed by a hurt toe.  It would have been good for him to progress through ranks but that will just have to happen over a little more time. 

Also back home tonight is Natty who was able to go up north with the grandma, aunts and cousins for a girls night and sweet sixteen celebration.  She said she had a great time and it was probably one of the best weekends she's had in a long time.  I am glad she was able to go and enjoy that time with family.

Well, back at it in the morning.  Church meetings early and then a long day to follow with church, presidency meeting and then some home teaching visits.  When is the nap going to happen?  

Microwave - Check

This morning I set out to finish hanging up the new microwave.  I first had to hang the new cabinet which I did.  I didn't prepare all that well for that one and ended up holding it in place with one hand and then changing drill bits and drivers with the other hand so that I could get it installed.  I could have been smarter about it and a bit more prepared but managed to get it done.  I got it all up and looking good only to realize that I didn't trim out the hole in the back for the plug.  I grabbed the rotozip and gave it my best guess.  It was close but not quite.  My second round with the rotozip got the job done and now I have a huge hole in the back of the cabinet but hey, the microwave is plugged in and functioning.  I am happy with how it turned out.  I also managed to make some progress on the gas line for the oven.  I should be able to knock that out tomorrow.  I've got to come up with something for the legs on that thing because they scratched the concrete floor in the garage and I don't want to have the wood floor damaged inside.  Some sort of padding will have to do.  So much more to do in here but it should be pretty fantastic when it is done.

Project Delays

My spur of the moment project yesterday didn't get very far today.  I had several things to take care of at the Brick House and then when I got home I had a sales guy come by about solar panels, I was curious. then I had to take Natty to work and got her and Jack dinner.  Then it was pick up Andy from his friends house and take him to martial arts class, take Jack to the store for duct tape and a castle project he had to do, then we picked up Andy from martial arts and returned home.  I did manage to work on the project for a bit but then had to turn my attention to Jack and his castle project.  My project is delayed but we are making some progress.  Hopefully tomorrow I can move the project forward a bit more.

Spur of the Moment

I had this thought the other day about making some changes to the kitchen.  I thought I would install an over the range microwave and lose the counter top one.  Thought I might put in new counter tops to match the one that I had installed when we moved in and make the kitchen more uniform.  In order to do that I would have to make a change to some cabinets.  It all sounded good in my head.  Today I went to the home depot to look at swamp coolers for the brick house.  I decided to take a walk back and look at cabinets as well as microwaves.  I found one that was only $100 and so I bought it.  All was well until I got it home and started playing with the measurements and considering what I would have to do to install this thing.  The existing hood was hard wired in and this would require a plug - not a big deal.  As I looked at the measurements I didn't like how low it would sit over the range.  It was within the allowable distance but seemed really crammed.  I decided I would need to change out the cabinet over the range.  I went and bought a new one and set about doing the job.  I have installed the electrical outlet.  With that done I can move towards hanging the cupboard.  I think I am going to fur it out a bit for looks and so the microwave doesn't look so awkward hanging out of the cupboard area 4 inches.  Hopefully it doesn't look too tacky.  Well, spur of the moment project of the day, fun times.  Hopefully it will turn out well.   

Changed Hearts

On Saturday night I was heading into the store to pick up some supplies for dinner.  I saw my friend Andy Nelson loading up his car with some groceries so I went and said hello.  After a brief exchange I asked if he would be teaching on the next day. I thought it was his week to teach gospel doctrine and sure enough it was.  After confirming that fact he mentioned a talk that he would be sharing in his lesson by Elder Renlund in October 2009 conference.  He said it was excellent and had to do with our hearts.  I attended his class yesterday anticipating some discussion of this talk.  The lesson talked about the people of King Benjamin turning their hearts to God and Andy tied this message from Elder Renlund in beautifully.  It was powerful and brought to mind just how important it is that we stay focused daily on the things that lead us towards the Savior. 

I listened to the talk in full this morning.  It is powerful and has such an important message.  Tonight we listened to it for Family Home Evening and then had a great discussion about the need we have to do things each day that help us keep our hearts turned to the Savior.  Below is a link to the talk by Elder Renlund.  I highly recommend giving it a listen. 

In listening to it myself I see there are areas in my life that I can improve upon and be more diligent in. I don't want to find myself being complacent or thinking I have done enough and can now relax my efforts to live the gospel. 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/preserving-the-hearts-mighty-change?lang=eng

Mother's Day Talk by Jack

Today Jack had yet another first as a deacon. The deacon's quorum was asked to speak in church today for Mother's Day.  There were a total of 5 who spoke.  They did a great job.  Jack passed the Sacrament for the second time today and then got to go up to the stand afterwards and was the first speaker.  He was a bit nervous and last night he didn't want to do it.  He had a blessing last night and I said some prayers that he would be okay and would give his talk and this morning he was okay with things and ready to do it.  He was still nervous but he got up there and did a great job.  Yesterday he and I listened to the talk that was the topic of the talks, it was Behold Thy Mother from Elder Holland in the October 2015 Conference.  Jack picked out a couple of quotes that he liked from Elder Holland, we talked about them and what it was that he liked, what they meant to him.  He shared those thoughts and we put them down on paper.  I was quite relieved that he was good to go this morning, it was indeed a tender mercy.  Anyway, he did a great job.  He lead into it with a story about living in Florida and how he would come in to our room when he should have been sleeping and would say "trains".  His mom would tell him to go back to bed that it wasn't train time and he would say "trains" again with more enthusiasm.  He really liked that story and though it wasn't in his talk he wanted to share and he did so with a big smile on his face.  Anyway, we had put his talk in writing and thought we would post it here.  Happy Mother's Day!

Mother’s Day Talk – Jack Fontano

Happy Mother’s Day –

I’d like to start out by wishing everyone a happy Mother’s Day and to say thank you to all of the women in our ward for all that you do.  As you know my mom lives in Alaska and I don’t get to spend a lot of time with her so I am grateful to each of you and thank you for your love and concern for me. 

 

Elder Holland Quotes –

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said in the October 2015 conference “that no love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child”.  

Elder Holland continues speaking about mothers and said “You see, it is not only that they bear us, but they continue bearing with us.  It is not only the prenatal carrying but the lifelong carrying that makes mothering such a staggering feat”. 

These quotes remind me that when I am going through difficult times or struggling with something that I can talk to my mom or my grandma and be strengthened.  These quotes also remind me of times when I make mistakes and how my mom or grandma still love me and are willing to look beyond my mistakes.  That is a wonderful feeling. 

 

Personal Story – 

As some of you know I have autism. My mom saw that I was a little behind in developing and she took me to doctors and specialists to get me help when I was really young.  She did so much for me to help me get the help that I needed.  I am grateful for her prayers of faith and her hard work for me when I was so young. 

Closing/Testimony –

I am grateful for my mother and for all women who are filled with charity and who “beareth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things”.  I hope we can all be filled with this love, which is the pure love of Christ.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.