There and Back Again: Week 31 House of the Risen Son

GREAT NEWS!!! My back stopped hurting last Sunday. After two weeks it was such a delight to get out of bed and not be in pain!!!!! Thank you for all your prayers. So because I was well, we rearraged the house and made this room our COUNCIL ROOM. Where we could council together in love and righteousness and make maps of our Carthage site, list our duties, mow schedules, blow schedules, etc.

OK, I'm not going to lie...it was our goal, but it started out rough. We were frustrated with each other, contentious, and had to go back to our corners...literally different rooms and breath, humble ourselves, pray for help and come back. THEN it got better, then it got GOOD! As a result...we were organized, had a plan, and called it our first experiment. We will reconvene this Sunday and talk about what worked, what great ideas we had while working and what needed further pondering and review.

Because we followed our "first experiment plan", things went OK. Like having time to paint weathered and cracked wood on the visitor's center. Last Friday was the FIRST day since we moved here that we didn't feel chaotic and worried about all we had to do, all we had been doing, and what did we not know about that we should be doing! We have 4 or 5 different "bosses" here because we have so many responsibilites. They have all been extremely kind, calm, compassionate, humorous, forgiving, and supportive. Immensly supportive.

While cleaning bricks of bird poop, I thought to myself. WHY are we doing this when literally the birds are pooping behind us as we clean?! Then I thought about my life and why I need daily repentance. If we just cleaned the bricks once a week, or once a month it would look SOO bad and be so much harder to clean. Cleaning it daily keeps it looking great for a longer period of time. Additional repetitive big splats are taken care of by us or the site missionaries when they are seen. It's like when I get contentious...big splat...stop and repent...clean that up right away. Eventually, unlike the bird poop, it's going to stop. LOL

One of the BEST blessings this past week was being asked to help provide lunch for a visiting general authority! Elder Kyle McKay and his wife, and the mission president Daniel Mehr III, and his wife. Sister Workman was in charge and we had so much fun making delicious food and presenting it nicely. OF course our husbands were right there beside us making it awesome.

Elder McKay and his wife were so fun, funny, and deeply spiritual and loving. I loved everything he had to say. This one line stayed with me. He said that with any church calling including being a general authority, that when he is doing it he feels both incapable and strongly confident. He knows that if he's doing what the Lord wants, even if he's never done it before he's going to get good at it because God will help him. I LOVED that. I have experienced it myself.

Last night at the missionary Welcome/Farewell Dinner some of my friends and I performed a song that I wrote the lyrics for to the tune of House of the Rising Sun...one of my favorite tunes. Elder Cullen ran the slide show for us. You can see it at the link below It was very well received and we got great compliments from it. So until next week...continue to repent daily, be creative, try new things in the confidence of God. I love you. Alma 60:25,26 25 -I will leave the strength and the blessings of God upon them, that none other power can operate against them— 26 And this because of their exceeding faith, and their patience in their tribulations. I love these verses because it shows that we don't have to be perfect to receive blessings and strength from God. We just need to have faith in Jesus Christ and strive everyday to be better, and more like Him.

There and Back Again: Week 30 And a Little Child Shall Lead them.

In the New Testament Christ said, "Do as you see me do." In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin told his people, "When you are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your God." He was teaching his people to not boast in the works or service that they do, nor expect anything in return because everything we do is for Jesus Christ, The Messiah, our Lord and Savior. If I tie your shoe for you because your back hurts and you can't reach it, I hope you know that I love you. More importantly, I hope you know that I love Jesus and that HE loves you and wants you to be served, so I serve you whether you like me or not, or whether I agree with you or not, because it's not about us, it's about the Savior. FUNNY thing, when you put God first in your thoughts and actions, He immediately blesses you so it's all a festival of goodness. This past week, Spring and her family were here with us the entire week. Caluna, their 2 year old, was so eager to serve me and work with me. It made me feel loved and our relationship deepened. We had so many fun moments working, singing, telling stories and such.

I thought to myself..."Caluna is 2, her 'work' isn't really anything I couldn't do for myself, in fact I can do it better and faster BUT it was her best effort and it increased our relationship and our love for each other grew because of it. This reminds me of me and Jesus. Anything I do to help you, my family, or my community, God could totally do better, faster, and perfectly. But that's not the point. As I practice serving like Him I am becoming like Him. Just as Caluna works beside me and does her best, she becomes like me, a good worker." I am a child serving my Father in Heaven and Jesus, I may run out of energy before They do, I may be distracted by bugs and birds in my life, I may not be as strong and fast as They are, but I am encouraged and warmed and delighted by working along side Them by serving others. I like being in Their company and helping Them to do Their work which is to bring to pass the imortality and eternal life of man. I feel their love and you can too! If you need more chances to help others go to JustServe.org to find opportunities in your local area.

After 9 glorious days, we took the Bufords back to the airport to fly home. Thanks for all the help and all the love and all the lessons Spring, Calen, Caluna, and Lillian!

There and Back Again: Week 29 FAMILY FROLIC GALORE!!!

OH MY GOODNESS, THIS WEEK! FULL OF MOVING, A BAD BACK, and a GREAT FAMILY VISIT! The Happiest thing I have ever done was be a mother. This week I was super grateful that my children loved their brother in law, Aaron so much that they all came out to celebrate his graduation from medical school... ALL four of my kids and their kids and spouses. But then sadly, Aaron had to attend an emergency funeral of his best friend in Missouri! So we were there and he was not! We will be cutting and pasting him into our family photo!! He is doing OK.

That same week we had moved to Carthage. So Thursday we upacked our last box, I made four loaves of bread, and Friday we went up to Iowa City, then everyone came home with us to Carthage Friday night except Autumn and Aaron who left early Saturday morning for Greece. We took their boys home to be with cousins.

Due to the new chores of taking care of carthage, my lower back went out with the weeding and push mowering...so while it heals, I'm consigned to scrubbing the bird dung off the paver bricks with a wet broom, cleaning the statues and monuments sweeping the parking lot, picking up sticks with the "picker upper thingys" and driving the tractor mower while Elder Cullen works the mower, weed whacker, and blower. It's a big big job.

The grand kids helped! And shouted and cheered Grandpa as he drove back and forth mowing the lawns across the parking lot. I just have to share some of the peaceful, joyful times we had. It's such a miracle that on this mission we are seeing our children more than we do at home! It's truly an unexpected miracle.

OK you made it this far...if you know my kids these pictures will delight you, if you don't, I hope they still delight you. I will leave you with these two thoughts. Marriage is ordained of God, and when both partners keep their covenants it can truly be wonderful, even with all the irritations and learning experiences. ALSO a quote from Gerrit W. Gong (Apostle) "You may wonder if your Heavenly Father loves you. The answer is a resounding, absolute yes!"

Happy Mother's Day PLUS FAMILY HISTORY FUN

Our Carthage Adventure has begun. I consider driving this mower as a Mother's Day gift. It's a very fun job. It takes about 3.5 hours to mow the lawns and it's very satisfying. Speaking of Mother's. I feel that any woman who loves, protects, teaches, comforts, and nurtures another human being is a mother. I have been mothered by women who have never given birth. I am grateful for the women in my life who have made me feel loved and needed. I love the example of my little cousins and nieces who nurture each other and are there for each other.

Recently while down at the Mississippi, My friend Elder Rassmasun had a really good camera. We were both taking pictures of an Eagle family. I had been observing them through my binoculars. He took some great photos and shared. It exemplifies the family structure.

I'm grateful to my mother for all she has done over the past 59 years. As a Mother of four, I can't say enough about Fathers too. That fishing Eagle reminds me of my dad. I could not be the mother I am if my husband wasn't such a protective and nurturing Father. As we nurture each other we are able to focus our best efforts at nurturing and protecting our children.

I love this picture. I took it while cleaning out a house on the Mississippi. It was such a lovely calm Spring day, and the Mama and Daddy Geese were taking the babies out for an adventure. I loved the protective positioning of an adult in front and an adult in back. No one gets lost. Sometimes we lead, sometimes we bring up the rear, both are needful as we protect each other and all in our stewardship.

This cute man is my cousin, Matt. I used to babysit him back in the day. The tatoo is of our grandmother and grandfather PERONA! One of our other cousins made these tatoos at our last family reunion. It was hilarious and since grandma Perona was very against tatoos...it's even more hilarious that now she IS one. What I love about Matt is how much he loves our family, living and dead. He has spent oodles of time, resources, and energy to take family members to Italy to help gather family names from churches, graveyards, and family bibles. He has stirred up a glorious spirit of connection. His father, my uncle Cliff, and our Uncle Anthony and Aunt Marcia went on missions to Italy so they could help the non Italian speakers communicate with each other and get work done. They have brought back thousands of Italian names and are uploading them into familysearch.org so that anyone can access them, see their graves, old photos, etc. He just sent us a picture of himself with this tatoo to remind us to HELP with the indexing and uploading of family names into family search AND to take our own family names to the temple to seal them to each other for time AND all eternity. Families can be together forever, for some that may sound like a nightmare! I think most DO want to be together forever and for those who don't God will sort that out and everyone is going to be very happy. Get on familysearch.org it's FREE! It's EASY. If you text me I will help you get started. Find out who you are and honor the people who have gone before you; the criminals, the creatives, the workers, the shirkers, the saints, all the types of people. You will find your life blessed because they will help you when you remember them.

PS I LOVE the recent cartoons that have come out focusing on family....COCO and Encanto!