Conference!

It's late and I need to get to bed, but I just wanted to do a quick post about Conference today. I love General Conference! There is always such a beautiful spirit there, and I always feel so grateful to be led by men of God who are Prophets, Seers, and Revelators for our day, and who give such beautiful messages of hope and inspiriation. Because of my job, I got to go to both sessions today, and it was just amazing. I went to the first session with Jan, and we loved getting to watch everyone walk in--we especially love watching the Apostles come in with their wives (especially Elder and Sister Holland, who are so cute). And, it is always so neat when the First Presidency walk in. I've had some contact with the brethren through my job, and have seen more than ever the sacrifices they make to serve us and Heavenly Father, and I know that they are all such good men, and called of God. I just felt so grateful to be able to be there.

For the afternoon session, Karla and Stace came and met me up there (Jan worked as a Church Health Unit Nurse). I am rather obsessive about getting to Conference early, but today it was a good thing, because for the second session we got to sit on the front row on the side. Karla and Stacey had some trouble getting there, but thankfully they made it and both were able to sit close by as well. It was so fun to go with them, and afterwards Karla got these pictures below:

What a blessing to be close enough to see the expressions on their faces, and to feel of their goodness close up. There were so many good messages today--hopefully I'll have time to post some of them soon. But the theme for me today was how much God loves us, and how much He wants us to keep the commandments so that we will have joy in this life, and so that we will be able to return to Him someday. I'm so grateful for His love and guidance in my life.

I'll write more tomorrow!

Post to the wrong blog...

Hi to all of my five blog readers. I just deleted the last post that was there because I signed in on Mom's computer and somehow didn't sign off, so Mom posted on my blog. So, Lori, "Mither" is actually my Mom, and I haven't picked up the paintbrush in a few years, although I have done paintings with my Mom in the past. I'm actually in the middle of a Gethsemane oil painting that I need to finish--so now you've inspired me to get working on it again. :)

Anyway, I got Mom's post moved back to her blog, and now I'm heading off to General Conference. Watch for a post about that later on--I LOVE conference, and am so excited to get to be there and see the brethren!

Guest Post From Jan...

Hi, this is Jan. I have thought from time to time that I should start a blog to let people know what is going on with me, but I haven’t ever done it because 1. I have a hard time getting around to non-essential things and 2. I am so busy I don’t know how often I would post 3. Jen and I do a lot of stuff together so I figure people know what is going on anyway 4. Most of what happens at work I can’t post about because of patient privacy… Is that enough excuses yet?

So a few weeks ago, I came up with the idea of just using Jen’s blog occasionally. Jen, being the nice twin that she is, said that I was welcome to post on her blog anytime I want, and even showed me how to do it. Isn’t she great?

So, I thought for my first official guest post, I would share some scriptures and thoughts I had while I was studying last night after I got back from the Temple. So here goes…

One of the many things I love about working in the Temple is getting the opportunity to hear from the Temple Presidency. Last night, President Brown gave a wonderful thought about the power of the Temple in our lives. He shared many scriptures as part of his talk. I went home and looked up those scriptures and found a few more and had some thoughts from studying that I wanted to share. (So these are my thoughts, not President Brown’s.)

The first scripture I want to share is D&C 109:22 “That thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power…” Think about what that really means! That we go to the Temple to be endowed with power, but then we leave the Temple armed with that power to help us face a world full of trouble and temptation.

Now this next scripture is interesting. I have never really thought of it in this way, but it is from Genesis, after Adam and Eve have partaken of the fruit, and then the Lord comes and asks them to account for what happens. This is what the Lord says to the serpent, or Satan, in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” If you look at the footnote says, “crush, or grind.” So, Satan will have power to bruise His (meaning Christ’s) heel, but He will have power to crush his (meaning Satan’s) head.

I think the reason that struck me so much is because it seems sometimes like Satan is winning in the world today, but I need to remember that Christ has power to crush the influence of Satan! So of course I want to be standing with Christ.

Look at the cross-reference I found in Romans 16:20, “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Again the footnote says, “break the power of, crush.” I love how the footnote says, “break the power of.” Even though it may seem at times that Satan is winning, Christ is able to break his power.

I really liked this scripture in D&C 62:1, “Behold, and hearken, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted.” So, not only is Christ able to crush Satan’s power, but He knows how to succor each of us who are tempted by that power. Think of the word “succor” and how much love and compassion that implies. I know Christ cares very much about each one of us individually and wants to help us succeed!

This next scripture is perfect for me since sometimes I have struggled with fear of the future. It is in D&C 3:7, given to Joseph after he gave the plates to Martin Harris, “For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God.” I was thinking of that scripture in context of what I had just been studying. Do I trust God more than man, or more than the power of Satan? Do I trust that He can help me through any trial or through anything that Satan can send?

OK, I promise this is the last scripture. It is from D&C 27:15-18 where it talks about putting on the armor of God. President Brown read it last night and as I listened, I was struck again with what a shield and protection the Gospel is in our lives:

“Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand.

Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you;

Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come.”

President Brown talked about the shield of faith. He said that often people talk about whether we have enough faith. He asked, “How much is enough faith.” He then said it is not the quantity of our faith that really matters, but if that faith is focused on Christ. I loved that! What I really need to work on is making sure that my faith is focused more fully on Christ; to believe that He will succor me, no matter the trial or temptation; that He will always be there to help me. To believe that He is stronger than Satan or anything that can happen to me. I am so grateful for the protection of the Gospel and especially for Christ who is the author of the Gospel, and for His suffering that made that protection possible.

So, that ended up being a long first post. Sorry if it was too long. After I finished studying last night, I just really felt like I should share what I had been studying. Hence, my first guest post. Maybe one of my nice, crafty (crafty as far as coming up with cute things, not in personality...) sisters will someday help me get around to doing a post of my own…

Well, I am off to work. Happy Friday!

Jan

Happy Birthday Dannan and Mieka!!

Now it's 1:00, and it has been a crazy morning. I started downloading pictures for this post at 8:00 this morning while I was getting ready, and thankfully Jan dowloaded the rest for me. But this is the first time I've had time to sit down and work on this post. We had our Stake baptism this morning, and then I found out someone from our ward was being baptized, so I stayed for that. So now, finally, I can get to this blog post for my two darling nieces!

Dannan and Mieka are our youngest girls (so far), and it's so fun they were born on the same day. Since Dannan is older, I will start with pictures of her.

Dannan

Here is a picture of me holding Dannan the day she was born. We were so excited that she had brown hair, and we swore she would have Seth's hazel eyes (her three brothers all have blue eyes like Karla). We were right about the hazel eyes, but she turned out to have beautiful blonde/brown/strawberry hair (depending on the light).

Here she is at 2 months old. Karla was so excited to get her little girl, after three boys. And, even though she looks small here, Dannan is a tough one (she has to be, with three older brothers! : )

Here she is with her dad, (my baby brother Seth. I can still call him my baby brother, even though he's taller than me).

Here she is at Artic Circle with cousin Brayden when she was six months old.

And here she is, a month before her first birthday. Here's where her eyes were starting to turn hazel...

Eating her cake on her first birthday. So cute!

This is also her first birthday party, but I had to put this one in as well. I love her big eyes!

I love this one. Here she is with her mom, looking at cousin Mieka, her birthday buddy, on Christmas Eve 2007.

And here she is again with her mom. Doesn't she look great in pink?

And once again with her mom (lots of cute pictures of Karla!). I love Dannan's expression in this picture.

This one is a little blurry, but I wanted to put it in anyway. This was Thanksgiving last year. She had gotten hurt, and came to cuddle with me on the couch. I think it's so cute!

And here she is with her dad at Grandma Spendlove's funeral this spring. Her hair is just such a beautiful color!

Here she is playing with counsins Jenni and Emma.

This was with me on big brother Ethan's baptism day. She's so darling with her hair all done up!

I love this one--her mom and dad are doing a "Dannan sandwhich" at one of the barbeques this summer. She's having so much fun!

And finally, here she is with cousin Joe-Joe at the Spendlove reunion last month. I love my little Dannan! I'm so grateful for her cute smiles and little hugs--and her fiesty little personality!

Mieka

Now we turn to Mieka, born exactly one year after Dannan....

Here is little Mieka on her birthday, with me and cousin Emma. She was such a sweet, darling little thing!

I love this picture of big sister Annika holding her. They are so cute together, and Annika has always been so protective of her little sister.

Here she is playing with Aunt Janice on Christmas Eve, 2007. I love her little smile!

And here she is with her dad in March of last year, when she was six months old.

In June of last year, when she was nine months old, I got the opporunity to watch Annika and Mieka while I wasn't working. It was so fun. Here she is on one night after I gave her a bath. She looks so cute in her ducky towel!

This is from the same week--she was trying to learn how to crawl, and almost made it. So cute!

Here she is with Aunt Jan and sister Annika right before her 1st birthday.

And here she is with me in December of last year. I love the red bows in her hair, and she has such expressive eyebrows! (She really was happy that day--even though she looks rather solemn in the picture!)

Here she is in January this year--I had to put this in, because it was when she started doing her "Ahoy Matey" smile when she's getting her picture taken. It is so cute!

And here she is with Uncle Dan in March. Her hair is starting to get so long!

And here she is bowling with her mom in April. She looks so darling--what a big girl!

Here she is sitting on her dad's lap eating cake. She just has such cute little expressions!

I love this one of her and grandpa at one of our swimming parties this year. Again, she looks so cute in her ducky towel!

Here's another one of her cheeser smiles. I just can't get over how cute they are!

I love this picture of her reading a book. She actually can't read quite yet, but is so smart that I'm sure she'll pick it up in no time!

And finally, here she is just a few days ago, holding little duckies and with a cute little smile!

So, there you have it, finally--my post for Dannan and Mieka. I know I say this all the time, but I am just so grateful for my neices and nephews. I still ache at times to have my own babies--I know I always will. But I can hardly feel sad when I am surrounded by so many little ones that I love so much, and who give me so much in return. Truly, "my cup runneth over!"

Happy Birthday Dannan and Mieka--preview...

It's 11:50, and I was planning on staying up late, as usual, to do a birthday post. But I've been up late almost every day this week(working on Stake Primary, canning 85 quarts of peaches and pears, etc) and am so tired, and we have two birthdays tomorrow, so that's going to be around 30 pictures. Blogger is going really slow tonight, and it would probably be after 1:30 in the morning before I got it done. So, even though I already feel guilty for not having the post all done for their birthdays, I think itwill be a better post if I wait until I'm not dead tires. (I was just reading over this post to make sure it made sense, and realized I said, "dead tires," instead of "dead tired." I think it's a good thing I'm not finishing this post tonight. Who knows what would come out of my mouth?)

So, as a preview, here is a picture of Dannan, who is turning three, and Mieka, who is turning two, and who were both born on September 26. Aren't they cute?! Mieks is doing her standard cheese face, and I love Dannan's folded arms.

Watch tomorrow for a longer post about each of them (but I have a Stake baptism in the morning, so it probably won't be until afternoon sometime). But rest assured, there will be a great post about my two youngest neices!

Until then, goodnight...

Some more good quotes...

I had the chance to read some BYU-Idaho Devotionals today, and was really struck by two quotes, so here is another post with uplifting quotes. I love beautiful words and how they speak peace to my soul and bring me the comfort of the Spirit!

"When I come to the Savior with my burdens, my problems, my challenges, He doesn't hand me an off-the-shelf, one size-fits-all yoke. He knows me intimately. He loves me infinitely. Therefore, the help that He offers me will be perfectly fitted to my needs, my abilities, and my circumstances. How profound are those words. “Take my yoke upon you.” …There is no burden, no sorrow, no suffering that He doesn't fully understand. And because of that, there is nothing we can take to Him that brings a response of, “I'm sorry. I don't understand.” …

Why would He willingly offer Himself as such an infinite sacrifice? It was because He was meek and lowly of heart. He was submissive to the Father. Even in the hour of His darkest need, pleading to escape from the bitter cup that lay ahead, He immediately added these words to His prayer. “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). Thus, as Abinadi taught, His will was swallowed up in the will of the Father (see Mosiah 15:7). …

If we who labor and are heavy laden come unto Him, and if we do so because we understand that His meekness and lowliness of heart brought about the Atonement; and if we take His yoke upon us and learn of Him, then the promise is very clear: And you shall find rest unto your souls.

Here again is the promise of rest, but here we learn that this rest is not just for the body, not just for the mind, but for the soul. The soul is the whole man, the body and the spirit knit together. It is our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions all wrapped together. What a promise. “Ye shall find rest unto you souls.”

Brothers and Sisters, I testify that in the Savior Jesus Christ we can find rest to our souls. We can have our burdens lifted. (Elder Lund, BYU-I Devotional, "Come Unto Me," September 23, 2008).

"He is there for you and for me. He knows our needs, our desires, our circumstances, and our challenges. He stands ready to succor us, to strengthen us. His promise is sure and is extended to each of us—individually, personally:

. . . for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your [heart], and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. (D&C 84:88)

It takes faith and effort and a bit of practice to see the hand of the Lord in our individual lives. We can begin cultivating that ability by taking time each day to ponder the following questions suggested by President Eyring last October in general conference: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch [me] or [my] children or [my] family today? . . . Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life . . .?”

I promise that as you consistently reflect upon these questions, evidence will come that the Lord loves you—individually, personally—and that He is involved in the very details of your life."

(Betty Oldham, BYU-I devotional, July 1, 2008)

When times are tough...

There are some people in my family who are going through some hard times right now, so I thought I would do a quick blog post of what I've been thinking about today. I've been thinking about how Christ is able to heal even very difficult situations. He can bring good out of things that seem incredibly hard. He is over all, and as President Hinckley used to say: "Things have a way of working out." We never know when Heavenly Father might be ready to work a miracle in our behalf.

I've been thinking about how important it is to trust in in Heavenly Father, who is always there for us, and to remember that Christ suffered all things, and including my pain and sorrow, and the pain and sorrow of every person on the earth. He knows through personal experience what we are suffering.

I've also been thinking about how many loved ones we have on the other side of the veil that care about us and are still watching us, and who are doing all they can to help us. I was in the temple yesterday, and wishing that I could feel the presence of those who have passed on and still love me. But just knowing they are there gives me strength to keep going.

Here are a few quotes that I found today that go along with what I have been thinking about:

"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help, and you have it from both sides of the veil. You must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike, and they will, you must never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye could see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection (see 2nd Kings 6:16-17). They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed." (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "For Times of Trouble," BYU Devotional, March 18, 1980)

"...we knew our Elder Brother and our Father in heaven well. We rejoiced at the upcoming opportunity for earthly life that could make it possible for us to have a fullness of joy as they had. We could hardly wait to demonstrate to our Father and our Brother, the Lord, how much we loved them and how we would be obedient to them in spite of the earthly opposition of the evil one. And now we're here--our memories are veiled--and we're showing God and ourselves what we can do. Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar his face is to us.

God loves us, he's watching us, he wants us to succeed, and we'll know someday that he has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew that there are heavenly hosts pulling for us--friends in heaven, whom we can't remember now, who yearn for our victory. This is our day to show what we can do--what life and sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly bring to God. If we give our all, we will get his all from the greatest of all." (Jesus Christ--Gifts and Expectations, Ezra Taft Benson, BYU Devotional, 1974: The whole talk is amazing, and can be found here: http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6019)

I'm grateful for the comfort of the gospel, and the knowledge I have that we are never alone in our struggles. God truly will help us if we will turn to him!