One day not long ago, I was in the temple. I love to be in the temple on Wednesday mornings! All of us over the age of 12 try to make it to the temple that morning. In fact, one day in the last couple of months, Brad and I had been upstairs at the temple doing Endowments. Samuel, Brinley and Sara were in the Baptistry, doing baptisms and confirmations for our family names. As we were waiting in the baptistry for the names they had done that morning, the gentleman who had taken the names to the recorder asked who the other Harr was? What other Harr? He said that the temple recorder while he was there waiting was recording names for a Harr who had just finished a group of family names in the Initory! It was our oldest son Jed, who got up early that morning, and went by himself to do Initory! What a beautiful blessing it was to have that many ordinances being done on one day for and by our family! To find our children in all areas of the temple, drawing on the Priesthood Powers therein! I am so blessed!
Oh so the other morning I sat down to write about was a day that I had recently been frustrated by activities in the Stake Young Women's Presidency. We were called in the fall of last year, it is now June, and we are just still struggling. I find myself constantly hoping that they will be committed and all in the good ship, but there are many issues and items that I find them speaking negatively about. They don't want to help with the Relief Society activity on the day of the General Women's Conference because that is not in their job description. They don't want to help with Seminary Graduation - anything because that is not their job. We have scheduled a time to go to the temple, once per quarter was what they decided they could work into their busy schedule, and then when the day approached, it got cancelled and never rescheduled. It has just been one thing after another! Every week our stake holds Mission Prep. We encourage all the kids over 15 to attend so they can begin preparing for a mission, whether or not they know if they are really going to go. We encourage them to attend. I am the only one that ever shows up to that! It is just frustrating. One of the ward YW presidents voiced my opinion about that meeting one day, she said "I come because I can't think of a better place to spend a Sunday evening than learning from the Stake Presidency, and because I ask my Young Women to come, so I should set the example and be here." She is there nearly every week. But the current YW presidency never comes. Once and a while the President will stop in for a few minutes, but it has been rarely and only if she is there for another meeting. In addition, once a month we have a stake temple morning for the kids to come. It is lead out by the Stake Youth Council. The last presidency was there as an entire presidency when I went. I don't know if that happened every time, but I know it happened the months just leading up to Girls Camp last year. Our Presidency refuses to go to that. A couple of times the President has come, but that was only when I specifically mentioned that it was stake temple week, and she offered to bring treats. I think in the 11 months we have been called she has come three times. The 1st counselor said that she will not ever make it. The secretary is just always busy.
So I was frustrated. for all these reasons. We have youth conference coming next week, and the planning for that has been, oh I can't even describe it. It has not been good! I don't know how it will pull off because it is nothing short of a mess!
Anyway, I was in the temple frustrated with all these details, and trying to not judge. I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and just trust that I need to do my job, and leave their parts to them.
As I left the temple, I was getting on the freeway for the short mile to get to my house, and the car in front of me, even as we are getting on the freeway with a speed limit of 60 (because we have construction there right now) was only doing 5 miles per hour. Yes, 5!!! I was behind him for a bit, and then when I could get around him, I pulled out. I realized that was like our experiences here on earth. We have all been given a body of a vehicle. We know the rules of the road, or we should learn them. Some of us choose to carefully but speedily get to our destination, while others are going at such a snails pace! I couldn't make that man speed up his car (although at such a terrible slow pace a police officer may ask him to get off the road completely!) I can't control their steering or their direction. I can only control my car. I get to choose the speed and direction I travel.
A couple years ago Elder Holland came to St. George and spoke to the youth. I didn't get to go, but I try to learn what is said through my family members who are in attendance. Brad reported that he told the kids "we know who wins! We know who the winning team will be! What jersey are you wearing? Don't take off the right jersey!"
I hope that I can keep the right jersey on! I hope that I will safely, but speedily drive my life to the destination eternal life! I am so grateful for opportunities to show my Heavenly Father that I love Him! I am grateful to trust Him! I am grateful to give my all to His service.
I have been mocked, ridiculed, and harrassed for being willing to serve Him. I don't care. I will keep volunteering, and giving my all!
Tonight was another frustration with the presidency. I don't think any of them came to stake conference. I am SO grateful I got to be there, and not just alone. I took a single mom and her two daughters along so they could help in the nursery. We sat together. I got to help with a newborn baby, and spent the last talk in the hallway jumping so that cute mom and dad could listen to the powerful message of President Jensen! I loved his message! We should not be distracted by the cunning one! I want to stay focused on the destination! I want to focus on the front sight (another story)!!! At the end of the night I got to take some 14 young women to icecream. At the end, I gathered them outside, and thanked them again for their willingness to serve! They didn't say yes, or volunteer because it was in their job description or because they were going to get icecream. They did it because they choose to! They did it because they wanted to show by their actions that they loved Heavenly Father and would serve Him. I testified that He noticed! I testified that the blessings He sends for our simple obedience like saying yes to tonight are ABUNDANT! He will bless us because we show that we want to follow Him! I know that is true! I don't care who laughs or ridicules! I don't care who mocks me for standing for service. I love to show my Heavenly Father that I will be His helper! Jumping a baby, driving a car, taking a dinner, making cookies. I will! I am so grateful for the Abundant blessings He sends! I know that He works miracles beyond what we can comprehend!
The trip to California was one of those blessings! We wished once that it would be neat to associate with those people. We wished for a bit that we could afford to go. The price tag was $25,000 per person! Then we talked to them, and they said we could go for $16,000 for both of us. The call that we got two weeks ago, was to come for the price of one hotel night... yes just $575.00. Someone else had paid the rest. That someone was my Savior! I know that He indeed paid the price! (BTW, we did end of up paying $8k because we can and we felt better about being there, but the message was loud and clear to my hears that believe.... He knows the wishes and righteous desires of our hearts, and He will work miracles so we can have our dreams come true!) It was a great conference. We don't know what the long term picture looks like with regards to that group of amazing people. We know that we were with very wealthy, very amazing people who have seen mir
acles work in their own lives! I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn from them for three days!
So, I get to drive my car! We were looking at a new car before the California trip. Brad has picked out a Mersadies E350S for me. The car was in, it was exactly the right colors - white with a beige interior. We went into drive a used one, and it was a C series, not a E. We decided it was not the right one. We drove the E, and it was so amazing! I hope that we get to get it, but not today. The miracle was that we can! My car, our Ford Excursion has 361,500 miles on it this month! It just goes and goes! I took all the girls to icecream in it tonight. This week it will be driving kids all over town as part of youth conference. I am so blessed! I know that it keeps going on prayers! One year, must have been about 5 years ago, Brad had told someone in the stake they could use my car at girls camp to transport the girls. That morning, someone I don't even know came to pick up my car from camp to drive back and forth to the climbing wall all day. As that older man pulled out in it, I was really scared for my car. I gave it to the Lord, and told Him that I was trusting Him to bring it back so I could get the 8 girls I had to drive home in it later that week. I want to give my Life to Him! I will wear it out in His service! I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life!
I testify that I can't drive 5 mph! Those are my initials - mph. I like to go and get things done! My car won't do more than 90mph, but it does that often! It might be dangerous for me to get a car like the one Brad is looking out because I might indeed put the peddle down and go! I am grateful to GO in lots of good directions with miracle help!
Laus Deo!
Oh so the other morning I sat down to write about was a day that I had recently been frustrated by activities in the Stake Young Women's Presidency. We were called in the fall of last year, it is now June, and we are just still struggling. I find myself constantly hoping that they will be committed and all in the good ship, but there are many issues and items that I find them speaking negatively about. They don't want to help with the Relief Society activity on the day of the General Women's Conference because that is not in their job description. They don't want to help with Seminary Graduation - anything because that is not their job. We have scheduled a time to go to the temple, once per quarter was what they decided they could work into their busy schedule, and then when the day approached, it got cancelled and never rescheduled. It has just been one thing after another! Every week our stake holds Mission Prep. We encourage all the kids over 15 to attend so they can begin preparing for a mission, whether or not they know if they are really going to go. We encourage them to attend. I am the only one that ever shows up to that! It is just frustrating. One of the ward YW presidents voiced my opinion about that meeting one day, she said "I come because I can't think of a better place to spend a Sunday evening than learning from the Stake Presidency, and because I ask my Young Women to come, so I should set the example and be here." She is there nearly every week. But the current YW presidency never comes. Once and a while the President will stop in for a few minutes, but it has been rarely and only if she is there for another meeting. In addition, once a month we have a stake temple morning for the kids to come. It is lead out by the Stake Youth Council. The last presidency was there as an entire presidency when I went. I don't know if that happened every time, but I know it happened the months just leading up to Girls Camp last year. Our Presidency refuses to go to that. A couple of times the President has come, but that was only when I specifically mentioned that it was stake temple week, and she offered to bring treats. I think in the 11 months we have been called she has come three times. The 1st counselor said that she will not ever make it. The secretary is just always busy.
So I was frustrated. for all these reasons. We have youth conference coming next week, and the planning for that has been, oh I can't even describe it. It has not been good! I don't know how it will pull off because it is nothing short of a mess!
Anyway, I was in the temple frustrated with all these details, and trying to not judge. I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and just trust that I need to do my job, and leave their parts to them.
As I left the temple, I was getting on the freeway for the short mile to get to my house, and the car in front of me, even as we are getting on the freeway with a speed limit of 60 (because we have construction there right now) was only doing 5 miles per hour. Yes, 5!!! I was behind him for a bit, and then when I could get around him, I pulled out. I realized that was like our experiences here on earth. We have all been given a body of a vehicle. We know the rules of the road, or we should learn them. Some of us choose to carefully but speedily get to our destination, while others are going at such a snails pace! I couldn't make that man speed up his car (although at such a terrible slow pace a police officer may ask him to get off the road completely!) I can't control their steering or their direction. I can only control my car. I get to choose the speed and direction I travel.
A couple years ago Elder Holland came to St. George and spoke to the youth. I didn't get to go, but I try to learn what is said through my family members who are in attendance. Brad reported that he told the kids "we know who wins! We know who the winning team will be! What jersey are you wearing? Don't take off the right jersey!"
I hope that I can keep the right jersey on! I hope that I will safely, but speedily drive my life to the destination eternal life! I am so grateful for opportunities to show my Heavenly Father that I love Him! I am grateful to trust Him! I am grateful to give my all to His service.
I have been mocked, ridiculed, and harrassed for being willing to serve Him. I don't care. I will keep volunteering, and giving my all!
Tonight was another frustration with the presidency. I don't think any of them came to stake conference. I am SO grateful I got to be there, and not just alone. I took a single mom and her two daughters along so they could help in the nursery. We sat together. I got to help with a newborn baby, and spent the last talk in the hallway jumping so that cute mom and dad could listen to the powerful message of President Jensen! I loved his message! We should not be distracted by the cunning one! I want to stay focused on the destination! I want to focus on the front sight (another story)!!! At the end of the night I got to take some 14 young women to icecream. At the end, I gathered them outside, and thanked them again for their willingness to serve! They didn't say yes, or volunteer because it was in their job description or because they were going to get icecream. They did it because they choose to! They did it because they wanted to show by their actions that they loved Heavenly Father and would serve Him. I testified that He noticed! I testified that the blessings He sends for our simple obedience like saying yes to tonight are ABUNDANT! He will bless us because we show that we want to follow Him! I know that is true! I don't care who laughs or ridicules! I don't care who mocks me for standing for service. I love to show my Heavenly Father that I will be His helper! Jumping a baby, driving a car, taking a dinner, making cookies. I will! I am so grateful for the Abundant blessings He sends! I know that He works miracles beyond what we can comprehend!
The trip to California was one of those blessings! We wished once that it would be neat to associate with those people. We wished for a bit that we could afford to go. The price tag was $25,000 per person! Then we talked to them, and they said we could go for $16,000 for both of us. The call that we got two weeks ago, was to come for the price of one hotel night... yes just $575.00. Someone else had paid the rest. That someone was my Savior! I know that He indeed paid the price! (BTW, we did end of up paying $8k because we can and we felt better about being there, but the message was loud and clear to my hears that believe.... He knows the wishes and righteous desires of our hearts, and He will work miracles so we can have our dreams come true!) It was a great conference. We don't know what the long term picture looks like with regards to that group of amazing people. We know that we were with very wealthy, very amazing people who have seen mir
acles work in their own lives! I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn from them for three days! So, I get to drive my car! We were looking at a new car before the California trip. Brad has picked out a Mersadies E350S for me. The car was in, it was exactly the right colors - white with a beige interior. We went into drive a used one, and it was a C series, not a E. We decided it was not the right one. We drove the E, and it was so amazing! I hope that we get to get it, but not today. The miracle was that we can! My car, our Ford Excursion has 361,500 miles on it this month! It just goes and goes! I took all the girls to icecream in it tonight. This week it will be driving kids all over town as part of youth conference. I am so blessed! I know that it keeps going on prayers! One year, must have been about 5 years ago, Brad had told someone in the stake they could use my car at girls camp to transport the girls. That morning, someone I don't even know came to pick up my car from camp to drive back and forth to the climbing wall all day. As that older man pulled out in it, I was really scared for my car. I gave it to the Lord, and told Him that I was trusting Him to bring it back so I could get the 8 girls I had to drive home in it later that week. I want to give my Life to Him! I will wear it out in His service! I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life!
I testify that I can't drive 5 mph! Those are my initials - mph. I like to go and get things done! My car won't do more than 90mph, but it does that often! It might be dangerous for me to get a car like the one Brad is looking out because I might indeed put the peddle down and go! I am grateful to GO in lots of good directions with miracle help!
Laus Deo!