Recommitted

Over the last few weeks, I have received a strong impression that I need to do better about recording our family history. I'm pretty good about writing about the big events... the trips, the birthdays, the reunions, etc., but when it really comes down to it, our lives and testimonies are rarely based on the huge events, but more often the every day, sweet moments with our family. If not written down, those most important events are forgotten. So, when it comes right down to it, I need to be more consistent. I still hope to sometime go back and fill in the gaps where I have gotten busy and slacked, but for now I want to start today and move forward. The posts may be more mundane, but I know they will be valuable for me and my posterity.

NEW CALLING

At the very end of last year, I was called as the new Young Women's President for our ward. I have been in several presidencies, but never in the role of president. I was immediately overcome with self-doubt and wondered if I was what the girls in our ward needed. The week after I was called, I was supposed to decide on counselors and submit names to the Bishop. I went through every method of receiving revelation I could think of and tried so hard to find out who Heavenly Father wanted as my counselors. I made myself a little crazy and doubted everything I thought.

During my call, the Bishop suggested one name, Sydney Kimball, and I immediately felt that it was right. I never doubted that name, but the others were so difficult. I went back and forth for days trying to decide. One night, we were supposed to have a small Relief Society get-together. I was feeling tired and anti-social, but I felt like I should go because perhaps some of the people that I was considering would be there and I would receive revelation. When I showed up, no one was there except two of the RS counselors. I almost left to go back home, but I was impressed to stay. Slowly, a few more people arrived, but not the people that I was hoping to get to know. I went home very discouraged. 

Days later while I was still struggling, I went back to some of my original names. One name, Kim Bennett, I had crossed out because she had so many very young children, and I didn't want to overwhelm her. Then I realized that Kim was at the activity, and perhaps I had been blind all along. Perhaps Heavenly Father wanted me to reconsider her and give her the opportunity to decide for herself whether it was too much or not. No matter how much I tried, I could not let her name go, so I finally submitted it. 

Lastly, I needed a secretary. I wanted to consider some of the new, younger sisters in the ward who did not have callings and who were not part of the "regular crowd." I went through name after name, but none of them felt right. When I pictured my secretary, I kept seeing my friend, Jessica, but I was worried that was too easy and it was just me wanting to call someone I already knew well. After many prayers and even some tears, Jonathon could tell that I was struggling. He said, "Maybe this doesn't have to be hard. Maybe you already know who it should be." Deep down, I did, and I submitted her name. 

Thankfully, our Bishopric approved all of my names, and we got sustained the following week. The last four weeks have been a wild ride getting everything set up, learning the ins and outs of the calling, and getting to know my counselors, but it has been so good. I know that I chose the right people, and I am so excited to see what comes. 

I haven't spent a lot of time around young women (I grew up with mostly brothers and now live in a home with all boys), but the young women immediately showed me so much love. They hugged me, told me they were excited, and even that they loved me. I don't know what I did to deserve their love, but I hope they feel it in return because they are remarkable young women. 

TENDER MERCIES

It was actually the call to Young Women's that has really been key to me wanting to write more frequently. As I have prayed hard to know what we need to focus on, I came to the clear conclusion that we need to focus on the Book of Mormon and recognizing the tender mercies of the Lord in our lives. We are reading the Book of Mormon together as a class, and every Sunday we are starting by sharing tender mercies that we have seen in our lives that week. I want all the girls to record these tender mercies, so I need to do it too! I'm hoping to have lots of tender mercies to look back on in the future.

GROWING UP

Today Christian had an interview with the Bishop. Not only did he get his temple recommend renewed, but he started the process to receive his patriarchal blessing and started his mission papers. Every time I think about it, I have so many mixed emotions. I can't believe we are already at this place. Where did the time go? Is he ready for this huge step? How am I going to endure two years without him? But I also know that this is exactly what I want him to be doing. He is an amazing kid with a testimony and a desire to serve. He will do great things for the Lord. Being a mom is hard at all stages of life, but this one feels pretty intense right now.

MISSIONARY PARENTS

Speaking of missions... my parents received their mission call. After Elder Rasband's talk about desperately needing senior missionaries in October 2023 conference, I knew that my parents would be thinking about another mission. Their first mission to Brisbane, Australia was cut short due to Covid, and I just knew that they would heed the call from an apostle. Sure enough, a few weeks later, I learned that they had already completed most of their paperwork. They are so adventurous, so the list of places they put was pretty exciting. Fiji, India, Guam, Indonesia, etc. My mom wanted to go somewhere warm, so all of those places fit the bill. Some missions were doing MLS (member leader support) others were office specialist or family history. When they got their call, we were thrilled to hear that they were called to the Micronesia Guam Mission for Family History. 

They assumed that they would be in Guam because that is the largest, most populated island, but a few weeks later, they received a phone call from their mission president saying that they would spend a good portion of time on the tiny island of Pohnpei (in the Federated States of Micronesia) in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They would be helping members there write down their family history and take pictures of family cemeteries for record keeping. The adventure keeps getting wilder, but it feels so perfect for them. My mom and dad have spent a lot of time learning how to do family history and have visited Eastern Idaho, Mississippi, Scotland, Wales, and England to see ancestral sites. My mom loves cemeteries, and I know they will do much good. It will be crazy hard because they will have to learn the Pohnpeiian language on the fly, but it will be a remarkable experience for them. Maybe we will even get to visit!

HOUSE REMODEL

I love our home, but there are a few things about it that have always bothered us. Jonathon has always hated the color of the walls. They were a very brown color that was very popular in the early 2000's when the house was built. He liked to compare it to living in a mud hut because even the ceilings were brown. Haha! They weren't really that bad, but they did make the house feel darker. We also really wanted a bigger area to have company over. We didn't have a lot of seating, and whenever our families would come, it felt very tight. 

We looked into options of moving. Our dream lot came open next door to us, and we looked into how much it would cost to build a house on it. With interest rates high and housing prices high, it just didn't seem like we could do it. The half-acre lot itself was selling for $300,000. By the time we put a house on it, we would be up to $1 million. That was scary to even think about. We decided that the timing wasn't quite right, so instead of moving, we decided to use some of our savings to fix up our current home. My sister-in-law, Kym suggested a new layout for our living room. If we moved the TV to a different area, we would have enough room for 3 couches. The TV, however, would be against the stair railing, so it didn't look great. We decided to have a wall built where the railing was so that the TV could be mounted there, and then have the entire house repainted. It was a lot of money, but after all was said and done, we love it so much! We even bought 3 new couches that look amazing in the space.

Choosing a paint color was hard, and I went through about 20 different colors before we finally settled on parlour taupe. Can you tell I struggle with making big decisions? Since it was a lot of money,  I didn't want to be wrong, but we really love it. With the lighter walls and the white ceilings, the house feels more open and airy, and everything looks fresh and clean. Then for Christmas, Jonathon bought me a fireplace to put on the new wall. I adore it so much! Our home feels so welcoming and cozy now. We still need to change out the carpet in the near future and get a new roof, but those things will need to wait a while for us to save up so more money. In the meantime, we are very happy with the remodel.

BASKETBALL

Both Andrew and Hyrum are in the middle of basketball season. It is a busy time with all the practices and games, but they are both enjoying it so much. They love to play and are making big improvements each week. Unfortunately, both of their teams are mediocre at best, so they have lost most of their games. That has been challenging for them, but I think it is a good learning opportunity. Andrew's team has especially had a hard season. The high school teams that they have played against have been some of the worst behaved kids and fans I have ever seen. It is a rough age where kids feel like they need to act cool, but aren't mature enough to handle themselves properly. This has led to a lot of rude behavior directed toward Andrew and his teammates. I am grateful that his team is respectful, but it is awfully hard to sit in the stands and listen to all the garbage that is thrown out toward them. For these reasons, this may be the last year that he plays organized basketball, but he still really enjoys going to play with his friends on Saturdays and after school.

BREAKTHROUGH

Jonathon's new company, Wasatch Biolabs has been working like crazy to try to get their new tests ready and solve some of the problems they had been having with their techniques. They have been working on them for months now, and just this week, they were finally able to solve their barcoding problem. Most of the scientific stuff goes way over my head, but I know how hard he has been working and how much this means to him, so we definitely celebrated the success with his favorite bbq for dinner. Some day, these techniques and tests he is developing may help solve a lot of medical problems with Alzheimers, dementia, Lyme's disease, PKD, and more. Our biggest hope is that the lives of many people might be saved or at least made easier. There is still a long road ahead for their fledgling company, but it is a fun and exciting ride to be on.