Enzo's Baby Blessing

The Merrills blessed their wonderful little (I use this word loosely) baby boy today. It was a beautiful blessing, a great fast and testimony meeting, and the company was fabulous as always. I love this family, and their families are always great company as well. They are some wonderful people, and I am so glad to know and rub shoulders with them.
It doesn't matter how often or how little I see them, every time we do it's a good time. And each time we do, we get the biggest kick of our babies together. Right after sacrament meeting when I went with Cecelia to see Sarah and Enzo, we sat next to each other on the bench and Enzo grabbed Cecelia's hand and put it to his mouth like he was kissing it - such a gentle man. I'm sad we didn't catch that on camera, but we got a bunch of other great moments.

Cecelia is wearing the dress the Merrills gave us a gift when she was born.

Happy Easter

 I love Easter Sunday - church is always enjoyable, the weather is usually starting to get nice (and is definitely beautiful here today), and it's always a day spent with family. I love the holidays. Each one that comes I always say "this is my favourite holiday" so I won't say that this time, but it certainly one of the most enjoyable days of the year.

Everyone was wearing the same lovely colour green today. I love this colour, and to see it on all these beautiful people was quite enjoyable (photo bombed by naked Max).

Leaning on Him.

We spent our fast Sunday this month thinking about our baby and hoping he/she comes safely. Mostly we are hoping, as mentioned, that I go in to labour naturally and safely. We are praying that the delivery goes well for all involved - me, baby, Eric and the doctors. We are getting so close and getting so excited.
I know and have faith that bringing the Lord in on our plans and our wishes for the next couple of weeks will give us all the strength to just trust things as they unfold. Exercising faith and showing sacrifice - us and all our family  and some friends together - will help us to know that our Heavenly Father is with us and watching out for us. It helps us to know that when He is on our side things will go the way they are supposed  to go. Things will work out the way that He knows is best and we can find peace and comfort in that. We know where we can draw strength as we face bumps or challenges along the way. We know who we can turn if things get hard, and who we can be so grateful for as all the good things that are on the way come to us.
I love my Heavenly Father and I know He loves me. I feel closer to him these days than I have in a long long time, and I as I am about to receive one of His beautiful children I know that He is looking out for me now more than ever and that He is always close by when I need help from Him.

My favourite conference talk

For the month of January I was asked to contribute a bit about one of my favourite conference talks to our was Relief Society newsletter. I took the time yesterday morning to sit and think about it and write it, and I'm grateful for the chance I got to do it. I don't know that I necessarily have a very favourite talk, but this one I think is the most vivid in my mind, and easiest for me to remember.

***

One of my favourite conference talks - or at least one that always seems to come to mind - is The Way by Elder Lawrence E Corbridge, from the October 2008 session of conference. He says quite simply, and in many different ways, “there is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. Jesus Christ is that way.”
Jesus Christ plays so many roles in our lives. He is our perfect example of how to live our lives here on Earth, that we may be able to return to our Heavenly Father some day, Striving to live as He did and to develop Christlike attributes, helps us to overcome trials and struggles we are faced with in this life, and shapes us to become our best selves. 
He is our redeemer. When we make mistakes or we have challenges or we feel lonely, we know that He knows who we are and what we need. Elder Corbridge says, “ He is the Savior of the world. Either we accept the blessings of His Atonement and are made clean and pure, or we don’t and foolishly remain alone and filthy still.” All that is good and sustaining and holy comes from God. He is the source of these things, and in order to benefit from them and to be worthy of them, we must follow Jesus Christ.
My favourite part of the talk is in his conclusion. He says “The Lord’s way is not hard. Life is hard, not the gospel.” The Gospel is what helps us to overcome life when it is hard. That is sometimes a hard thing to remember. Life gets in the way of the gospel, not the other way around. The gospel is how we should be striving to live in all that we do, and when life creeps in and makes it hard to do, we have Jesus Christ and His example and forgiveness to turn to and lean on.
Elder Corbridge says, “Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never, ever give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. You don’t quit, and you will make it.” I love to hear the prophets speak so boldly and  with such conviction. When my testimony waivers in certain concepts or principles of the Gospel, I love to listen to these brothers speak - I know they know, and that helps me to remember and strengthen my own conviction as well. I am so grateful for living prophets and for the strength and direction they provide me in my life.

December 1st

December 1st is one of my favourite days every year. It's the beginning of the end of a year. It is the official and acceptable start of the Christmas season, and it is always just a reflective day for me. I really start to think about Christ and the true meaning of the season, and kind of survey the year in my mind as it starts to come to a close - what else do I want to accomplish this year that I have not gotten to yet.
This December 1st was especially nice, as it fell on a Sunday. It was the first Sunday that we sung Christmas carols in our meetings, and on top of that it was a fast Sunday. In our church we use the first Sunday of each month as a chance for all members of our congregations who wish to share their feelings about the church and our Savior and religion in their lives. messages were shared about all sorts of Christmas traditions, and about really trying hard to remember and incorporate Jesus in to our lives.
We spend (in the church, and in our home) so much of our daily lives thinking about and worshiping Jesus. We commemorate his life and ministry every week in our Sacrament services, and we are trying to be close to Him and to learn from Him, and to be like Him every day. Believe it or not, this has in some ways made it harder for me to keep Him in the front of my thoughts throughout the whole Christmas season. I am going to try this season, and in to the new year, to not let my worship become a routine. Yes I do love Christ all year round, but why not take all the extra little moments I can to appreciate and think of Him more. I love Eric all year round, and still pay extra special attention to Him on His birthday. It should be the same this Christmas season, with my Savior. Yes I love Him all year round, but maybe I should take extra care at this time of year to do what He would have me do.
All the decorations and lights and glitter and wrapping has started coming out, and I sure am going to enjoy all that, but here's to learning to multi task in my Christmas joy this December.

Speaking in Sacrament Meeting

Eric and I got the chance to speak in sacrament meeting today. I got the phone call and was given the topics, and I was the one asked to speak second, for longer.

Eric was asked to speak on how the members of the ward can get to know the youth in our ward. This was kind of a tough topic for him to speak on because there's really only so much to be said, and on top of that it's a bit weird for a sacrament meeting topic. But he chatted with his friend who just served as the young men's president in his ward. They decided that the main idea was fellowship. And so that's what Eric spoke about today; the importance of fellowship and specifically fellowshipping the youth. 

It was a great talk, and I always love listening to him speak, but it was only about 8 minutes long, and then it was my turn. 

My talk was a really enjoyable subject for me to study and speak on. It was something I needed to consider for myself, which are the best kinds of topic assignments. I spoke today on making the sacrament more meaningful to each of us. 

I can up with 3 ways to make the sacrament more meaningful to me. 1. Learn all I can about the sacrament ordinance and the meaning of it. 2. Come prepared each week to partake in a holy experience. 3. Be grateful for the opportunity to partake. These seem like such simple concepts, but somehow it's been tough lately to put them into action. Sunday mornings seem rushed and uneasy, and that's something we're really trying to work on in our household. 

Does anyone have any suggestions, powerful or simple, for ways to make Sunday mornings more peaceful and inviting of the Spirit? I'd imagine it only gets tougher when a baby comes, so this is something Eric and I really want to master right away. 

I am so grateful for Sundays. I'm grateful for my calling at church, and for the day set aside from the others to think of Christ and to be with family. It's just the mornings that are a little shaky sometimes. I want to make Sundays even better than they are now.

I love my families

This Sunday I took the opportunity to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting. I haven't done this in as long as I can remember, but thought it was a good way to start the new year.
I am not 100% stable in my faith these days, and especially in the action element of faith. I am finding it hard to get back on track, but I certainly do have things to be grateful for.
I am grateful today for family. Grateful for the blessing of generations. Eric and I are serving together in nursery right now, and I am just loving it. Max (our nephew) is in there with us right now, and it has been so fun to have that time to spend with him, teaching him and watching him grow up a bit. I love all of the kids in there as if they were my nieces and nephews. Each brings a special light, humour and energy to the group.
We are trying hard to find a place to live within the ward boundaries so that we can keep this calling. I've been in need of a spiritual nurturing lately, and when we got called to the nursery I thought all hope of finding it was lost. It has been completely the opposite experience though. Serving here is like getting back to the very basics, and it turns out that's just what I needed all along. It's also forcing me to get myself to church, even on weeks that are hard. I just love getting there to see each of them. They bring a special spirit I just don't find anywhere else.

Day 2: A Good Sunday.

Hello Eric,
Today was Sunday, and you know how difficult Sundays can be for me. I woke up two hours after the time I set my alarm for this morning. Lucky thing we have late church.
I prayed when I woke up, and I think it helped a lot with my day. I thought this morning a lot about the kids. Last night Mom and Dad went out and left me with the responsibility to get them into bed on time, and to read with Luke. This morning I realised that the responsibility I had to do that is what kept me calm last night. It made me just want to do what's best for them, and not to control them. I wanted them to be in bed by 9:30, not because they were driving me mad, but because I knew it was good for them to get the rest they needed.
Last night, and this morning have been good with them. I just did my own thing to get ready for church, and let them do theirs. When I was ready, Hannah was to so I asked if she wanted to come. She took a few extra minutes, which could have made me frustrated, but we walked together. We got there a few minutes later than I wanted, but we both were in good spirits because we enjoyed the walk together.
Sacrament meeting was really good today. I enjoyed it so much. Then some old friends I haven't seen in a long time caught up with me after the meeting, and saying hi to them was like I'd just seen them yesterday. It made me happy to see them on track and doing well.Second and Third hours were good too, I think because I was in a mind set for them to be good. These are the things I got from church today:

• why do we leave the gift of the Atonement on the table to not be touched? -maybe we don't know how to use it -or maybe we don't think it will help us
• I understand the healing and cleansing powers of the Atonement, but do I understand it's powers for strengthening and enabling?
• we all know it's for the weak and the sinners, but do we understand that it's for the saints, for the strong and the striving?
• sometimes we're able to endure much more than we think. sometimes after we've marched all day, He'll make us march into the night, because He knows we can and knows that something good will come of it.
• when we get through it, we find out that we were able to do it all along, and that He knew we were able to do it all along. 
• put faith in Him, trust Him, and live worthy of His blessings
• to trust God is to have patience and bear with the trials he sends us. to not give up on them, because we understand that they are for a reason and we need to learn.

I felt really good and strong coming out of church today, and wished that you were there for me to share it with. There's nothing quite like in the moment sharing of feelings that come from the spirit. I'm glad I wrote things down today, because even already it's tough to feel the spirit as strongly, because I'm home and I'm tired and I'm hungry.
It was a good Sunday though, and I needed one of them. It will be hard to forget the fact that I felt good, even I forget why or what was said.
I'm excited to Skype with you later, and to see your lovely face. Hope your Sunday was well, and I know that your afternoon will be nice time spent with all your family around you.

***

It was fun to try FaceTime with you today. I love technology, and the fact that I can see you, even when I'm 5000km away. (I know it's weird that this is a picture from Eric's side of things, but I wondered what I looked like on his screen so he took it and sent it to me).

I love you Eric, Goodnight!

July 1st

Happy Canada Day. I haven't always been really into the celebration of Canada specifically. For the first ten years of life it was the official kick-off for summer break, and for the last 12 years it's been my youngest brother's birthday. He turned 12 years old today! I can't believe it.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. When we walked out of the house around 10am it was already 24 degrees out! So we went for a nice walk out at the Eastern Passage Boardwalk (#20, by the way).

Luke drew this in the sand for Eric and I.

***

Now on a separate, spiritual note. In our church, 12 is an important age for a boy to turn. It's the age at which they are trusted with and granted the power of the Priesthood. This is the power by which all things in our church are administered and provided. His duty at this first level of the Priesthood is to pass the sacrament each Sunday in church. I honestly don't know as much as I should about the Priesthood, but it was exciting to see Luke receive it today, and to be excited about being able to use it. (It's much better explained over here.)

So this afternoon we had a big family celebration with some good friends, a BBQ and some cake and ice cream. 

This year I was grateful for Canada because it's home. Eric and I were away for a while at the end of last year, and with everyone we met and everything we saw, we knew that Canada was home. I couldn't live anywhere else permanently. This is where I belong, these are the people I belong with. Here were are comfortable free to be this. To be whoever we want to be, however we want to be it. And this is where I want to stay!