I LOVED the Face To Face event with Elder Cook and two Church historians, Kate Holbrook and Matt Grow last night. I always cheer for Brother Grow. He is the father of one of Tim’s friends.
You can view it here:
They answer questions about transparency in Church history, the accounts of the First Vision, polygamy, translation of the Book of Mormon, and more. The historians’ words are eloquent and full of faith.
In recent months, it has become very clear to me that empathetic people are powerful influencers. I think one of the things my sons have learned through my Relief Society service is empathy. They have been great supports these past 3 years, and this week, they had the perfect words to say in response to something that happened to me. Then they helped with dinner.
I found him. Can you? This image is from the Mexico MTC Facebook page. Let me be clear: I am NOT going to be a Facebook mother, offering opinions about what’s going on in his mission with other mothers. I guess this is a thing (smh). It is fun to see this huge group that entered the MTC with him, though.
There was a knock on the door during my Relief Society presidency meeting this week, and it was two members of the Elders Quorum presidency coming to update me on a few ministering changes and to talk to Richard. I invited them to join my presidency meeting and we addressed a lot of issues. I can’t tell you what a blessing this was. This conversation lifted a handful of burdens. Ministering takes a lot of coordination and teamwork, and I am grateful for the new direction in the Church, but also for an Elders Quorum president who shows us over and over that he wants us to be a team.
Kindness is the most difficult thing to take right now because it brings out emotions I think I have already dealt with, but kindness also reminds me that I am understood. I may not be answering the door, but I am doing well. I am out each day doing Relief Society work. I have taken the kids to the mall and Costco and up the canyon for driving practice. I am preparing meals and cleaning the house. I am not crying all the time, but I am not yet myself. I am thankful for friends, whose gestures cannot all be pictured here. From eighty-five year-old neighbor Stanford called to check on me, to sixteen-year-old friend Lillie who decorated a cake for us, they represent many ages. Another special friend has left a succession of packages throughout the week. We were invited to dinner and received many flower deliveries. We have felt love from many states. There are friends from Texas and Arizona and high school who have taken time to write words of excitement for us. These gifts of consolation add up to quite a celebration, which is appropriate, considering we have a son who is worthy and willing to be a light.
We decided to attend the temple as a family, all six of us at the same time. My parents came with us and we did ordinances for some particularly dear family members who are deceased. Some spent time in the baptistry. Mark had names he had discovered himself at the family history library plus one other special name we have been waiting for permission to do. Others spent time in a session. Daniel and Richard carried names Daniel found when he was twelve years old. It was an especially sweet day at the Payson temple. The name cards had been well-traveled, with some ordinances in Arizona, others in Draper, and now Payson. I was really affected by the experience and I was glad that I still had tissues in my pocket from a different day in the temple. I wish we had taken a picture, but we got separated and things were a little hectic getting there. My mom figured we had some challenges getting to the temple because it was the right thing to do. Amen.
Paige came home from New York last night and Daniel spoke in sacrament meeting today. We had a lot of family join us for the meeting, so we gathered for breakfast before church at our house. Daniel’s friends ate breakfast leftovers after church on our back patio. We didn’t get photos of everyone who came, but we are thankful for those who showed their support. It was a good day.
Richard was here, too, but he is not pictured. I am grateful for the leaders and for the adventures the boys have each summer, even though it means I mask my fears to allow them to go.
Not pictured in this post: the faithful Scoutmaster who took these photos.
Summer is Richard’s favorite season. He lives it fully and then crashes. This was the day after scout camp. Adventurous, fun, uncomplaining, and dedicated are words that describe him. Our dog knows who the best human is in the house.
Richard and Mark left for Scout Camp this morning at 6 am. I got up to wish them goodbye, and now I can’t seem to make myself happy or get going. The trade-off for missing Richard is that I know Mark will be ok with his dad around. I miss Mark already. He is my companion most of the time, and he pats me on the back while I shop for groceries and he likes to fix me little things for lunch.
Some days are bad days for me, just like anyone, even if I don’t vocalize it.
It takes a lot of family and leader effort to get a scout to a beautiful Eagle Court of Honor like we had last weekend.