“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted.

It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as

Patience, faith, fortitude and humility.

All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, 

more worthy to be called the children of God…

And it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven”

-Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle-

Friday Letters

Dear Children, another week full of gymnastics, cheer, ballet, basketball, scouts, mutual, appointments, homework and on and on. We all need a break. Dear Parenting, you are hard. I have a rough time knowing what consequences are most effective for so many different personalities and different offenses. Kids keep you busy and thinking and praying and worrying. They also make you mad and sad and frustrated and humble, but happy. Dear Ranell, I hope you had the best Birthday. I hate not getting to be with you to celebrate. I am missing everyone's b-day lunches;( You should feel very good about all that you have accomplished in the last year. I admire you. I Love You Sis! Happy Birthday! Dear 2015, so far I am not a fan. Dear Will, it's your long stretch of closing everyday. Although I am sure it is more fun to be at work than a house full of kids at times. Dear Self, sometimes life is just really hard and I would like to be able to turn off my heart for awhile. That is not a talent that I have. Trying to make my brain remember things and be able to be tested on them is also not a talent that I have. I am really bad at timed tests cause...I run out of time. I would like to turn my brain and heart off for awhile and take a nap. Naps are special. And that is the kind of week I have had.

“Petitioning in prayer has taught me, again and again, that the vault of heaven with all its blessings is to be opened only by a combination lock.

 One tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness; and the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is, in God’s judgment – not ours – right for us.

Sometimes we pound on the vault door for something we want very much and wonder why the door does not open. We would be very spoiled children if that vault door opened any more easily than it does.

 I can tell, looking back, that God truly loves me by inventorying the petitions He has refused to grant me. Our rejected petitions tell us much about ourselves but also much about our flawless Father”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Friday Letters

Dear Children, weekdays are so busy! I am looking forward for you to have some time to just play. Dear Sun, it's hard to believe there were blizzards raging this week. We were in the 70's with sunny skies. Birds were singing and kids playing. Dear Rain, raining all day after a week of sunshine. Sounds good to me. Except when I need to go grocery shopping. Dear Kade, you lost one of your orthotics. This is a way bigger deal than it sounds like. $500 kind of big deal. Aching feet, back pain, struggle running in basketball kind of big deal. Stuff a kid shouldn't have to deal with. We prayed that we would find it. We searched. I prayed some more, a lot more. After a month and just two days before casting for new ones Hazel found it! You told her you loved her and gave her some sour skittles, a rare occurrence. Dear Avary + Hazel, you two decided to make a volcano together. You made the play doh and spend a lot of time shaping and decorating your volcano. It was so cute watching you two create it together. You both are excited to erupt it. Dear Will, you played basketball twice this week, not counting when you play with the kids. I'm sure you will be sore. Are you sure that making yourself so vulnerable is a good idea going into the weekend with all the kids home? They may be able to overpower you. Now I have to choose sides. Dear Self, I have had so much spoken to my heart through scripture study this week. It is always such a hard thing to fully explain what happens to your heart/spirit. It can't be explained really, It is meant to be felt.

Real Prayer

The struggle to find and express one’s real desires under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

 Praying in this manner requires that a person eliminate vain, trite, or insincere repetitions and to pour the deepest desires of his or her heart into words. Each phrase becomes an expression of yearning and desire to do God’s will. Such prayers are assisted and guided by the Holy Spirit,

“For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intersession for us with the groanings which cannot be uttered”

 (Romans 8:26)

Friday Letters

All my Peeps

Dear Children, we had a great weekend together just hanging out, going to the park and roasting marshmallows over the fire. The days are so busy with everyone going in different directions all the time. Some of you may be getting sick, but I'm still trying to convince myself that it may just be a cold and not the flu. Please don't be that yucky flu that's going around. Dear Cold, the weather was so nice and then all of a sudden it is painfully cold again. I keep putting the grocery shopping off cause I get so cold. Well, that's one reason. Dear Gas, as in gasoline. The prices have definitely dropped, but we are still at $2.09. Why is it so much higher here? Filling up for under $100 was nice though. Other than appts in Mesa I am glad I don't have to drive a whole lot. Dear Temple, you bring me peace when there are storms. I am always reminded of how precious our bodies are and how lucky I am despite the limitations my own body has. Dear Sleep, or lack there of. I would like to sleep for three days straight in a quiet dark room. Can someone arrange that for me? Dear Joanna, Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great day. How old are you again? ha Dear Will, I have prayed for you just about every day since we met. And I will forever cause I love you. I hope you know I love you. Dear Self, despite what some people think my life is full of trials, ones that are really hard for me. It keeps me seeking the Lord because I need Him so much. I would like to have a calm patch for awhile, but I know that rarely happens for anyone. No ones life is as simple as it appears on the outside. We are all fighting our own hard battles. Be a little kinder. Love a little more.

Friday Letters

Dear Children, at least one of you have an activity every single day of the week. I'm looking forward to the holiday this weekend to have a day to just stay home. Dear Hazel, you had your first ballet class this week. You were beyond excited. You have asked to be in ballet pretty much your entire life and you where absolutely the cutest thing I ever did see. That was a happy moment that I will always remember. Dear Phone, not having a working phone for a day or so was actually kind of nice. But when I got the new one working we spent a ridiculous amount of time making slow motion videos. Our whole family sat and laughed our faces off for hours. So funny. Dear Willie, I enjoyed our date in the desert shooting guns this week. And I am really looking forward to having you around this weekend since you are good entertainment. Dear Self, I love that sense of peace that comes when you act on a prompting. I am happiest when our house is full of children and our family is together. This time of our life is priceless.

 Never stop hoping 

for all of the righteous desires 

of your heart. 

Friday Letters

Dear Children, we are back to the busyness of school and activities. I'm happy you all enjoy school. Dear House, you need a good cleaning. Especially the kids bathroom, I don't even want to go near it. Dear School, it's only been maybe 17 yrs. I don't like math. Dear Coldness, it has been so dang cold. My body is not handling the cold temps very well, I am always freezing. I can't seem to get my hands to work in this chill and they just hurt so bad. Things as simple as grocery shopping or using a pencil are slow and seem like torture. You can add typing to the list. Painful! Dear W+B, I am so grateful for your friendship these many years. It means a lot to me to know I can always come by and have you to talk to and confide in. Love you guys! Dear Willie, you have made me laugh a lot this week with your weirdness. Nothing new there. And I don't understand why you are always warm and I'm freezing. And no, it's not my cold heart. Dear Self, we will see how much I can handle this year. I go from determined to wishing it was nap time pretty quickly these days. And even though I already know, I am still amazed at how quickly the Lord can calm a fearful, sorrowful heart and replace it with calm, peace and love. I could never live without the gospel and the Savior in my life cause I have to start over every day. Sometimes more often than that.