Ward Calling: Nursery

I was super happy when we got this calling yesterday. Its where I have wanted to be for a long time! I think Dan will adjust as time goes on, but he did really good yesterday with the kids. Thankfully one of my Young Women's leaders (way back when) is the Nursery Leader, it helps me feel more comfortable having her there.

Yesterday was tough because it was the first time I have stayed at church for all 3 hours since my morning sickness started well over a month ago. I was not feeling well, but I made it. I know there are plenty of people in my ward who don't know I am pregnant and I am just keeping it like that for awhile.

Salt Lake Temple

We finally were able to go through a session at the Salt Lake Temple last night with Dan's parents, Mark & Kathy, and Uncle Jon and Aunt Mary and Dan's cousin Tim.

We went to a really old fun restaurant called Lambs that is downtown and then went over to the Temple afterwords.

It was a great evening, with great family and a great experience! If you ever get a chance to go through the Salt Lake Temple, you should! I cannot wait to get sealed there in just about 3 weeks!!!

Happy Wednesday!!

We are off to a good start for Spring quarter! I started my internship at Jamestown yesterday and it is so much fun! I love being around elderly, they have so many fun stories and experiences to share, not to mention they are so sweet!

I have already finished 6 of my Physical Science online assignments... just 2 more and then I have to take my 1st midterm! Its definitely NOT an easy class, and there is a ton to remember, but I will do it and I will finish! As far as Biology goes, I just submitted my petition to substitute a higher level PDBio class for a lower level one. Cross your fingers that they accept it and I don't have to complete Bio 100... cause its a stinker too!
We also were able to go to the Provo Temple this morning and do our first session there! It was lovely and I was so thankful for this sweet woman who saw that I was lost and helped me the whole time!

Dan and I also decided it would be a great weekend to go to Rexburg, Idaho and visit Matt and Kandace, as well as Dan's cousin Sean! I am so excited!!

Going through the Temple!!

Going to be the Best Weekend Ever?

Its taken me 5 long years to graduate and I cannot believe that my graduation is this week!!! I am so excited that Dan and I are going through the Temple on Saturday. I feel so blessed. I am so glad we made this decision and never thought this weekend would come!It has taken well over a year to get to this point since we decided that we wanted to go through the Temple and be sealed. It has been a long road and I know the next 2 months before our sealing will feel like forever, but I am so excited, regardless! I know the past few months have seemed to drag by. Since Saturday every minute seems to go on forever. Sunday morning I woke from a wonderful dream that it was Saturday April 25th and we were going to the Temple. I was sad when I realized it was just a dream. Just a few more days and my dream comes true :)I am really thankful for everyone who has helped us and encouraged us. We know we moved into our apartment for a reason and were blessed with such a wonderful and supportive ward. We have felt so welcome and loved. I am going to miss the friends I made this year, it has been so wonderful! I don't think Dan and I could have asked for a better Bishop! He has been our number one fan since the first day he met us! I adore him!

YAY!!!!!

Mount Timpanogos Temple

On Friday afternoon, my friend Mary and I were delivering some fliers to places in American Fork and decided to head up to the Mount Timp temple to take some pictures. I went up a week or 2 ago with Dan to look at it because I was excited and we were bored! I am really excited that Mount Timp will be where we are getting our endowments out at in April.

Friday was a wonderfully cloudy rainy day, but the sun came out just for a few minutes while we were there and showered the temple with light. We both got some awesome photos (Mary's an artist and her's were better but whatever!) Another 11 weeks and Dan and I will be getting our endowments out here!!!I am also very excited, on Tuesday, Kathy, Mark, Dan and I are going through the Draper Temple open house. The last time I was inside a temple was the summer of 2005 when I went to the Newport Beach Temple open house. Ironically that is the last time and place Dan was in a temple too.

Daniel's Amazing!

I am so proud of my sweet husband! After years of Dan's parents hoping that he would become an Elder, he became one today! I feel like Dan and I have been waiting a while for this as well and am so happy that Dan did it at the right time for him! It was so nice to see how much support we have in our ward. I honestly believe that we were supposed to live in this ward. We have felt so welcomed and loved. Our Bishop has been such a blessing and help to us. We have a wonderful calling and we are surrounded by such good people. I am visiting teaching companions with the Relief Society President and she is so encouraging to me and teaches me so much. Dan is lucky to have the Second Counselor of the Bishopric as a home teaching companion. I really know that we have been blessed to be a part of this ward!

It was also so wonderful that Dan's Dad was able to do his ordination today. I am really happy that Dan's parents were able to be there and be a part of it because I know this is something they waited a long time for. I know they really wanted Dan to serve a mission but it is wonderful to know they support us in everything we do. It was also neat to talk to Dan's Dad afterwards and find out more about who gave him the priesthood. Dan received it through his Dad, who received it from a Stake Patriarch (I need to find out his name), who received it from President Joseph Fielding Smith, who received it from Brigham Young, who received it from Joseph Smith!

Anyway to say the least I am proud of Dan. I am excited to go to the temple and receive our endowments and look forward to being able to go back as often as we can and I cannot wait for the day (in June hopefully) that we are sealed as a family for time and all eternity! We have both made our own mistakes but doing this together and getting sealed is one thing I can say is a huge blessing to us. It has taken us a little longer than others to get where we need to be but we are happy none the less.

Emotionally Drained

Sweet Susan Mortensen Turley passed away from Colon Cancer on Friday at her home in Tempe, Arizona with her family at her side. She documented her journey through colon cancer on her blog and she will be greatly missed. She was a track and field star at our High School as well as the University of Arizona. She and her husband Justin got engaged right after Dan and I did last year and were married the first week of January. She comes from an amazing family and their faith will always resonate within me of what the gospel truly means. Sweet Justin has lost his beautiful wife far to early in this mortal life but not for long in the grand scheme of the eternities thanks to the sealing of families for time and all eternity in the Temple.

The following is something Susan's father shared with her and her family.

"… the tests of life are tailored for our own best interests, and all will face the burdens best suited to their own mortal experience. In the end we will realize that God is merciful as well as just and that all the rules are fair. We can be reassured that our challenges will be the ones we needed, and conquering them will bring blessings we could have received in no other way.

If we constantly focus only on the stones in our mortal path, we will almost surely miss the beautiful flower or cool stream provided by the loving Father who outlined our journey. Each day can bring more joy than sorrow when our mortal and spiritual eyes are open to God's goodness. Joy in the gospel is not something that begins only in the next life. It is our privilege now, this very day. We must never allow our burdens to obscure our blessings. There will always be more blessings than burdens—even if some days it doesn't seem so. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Enjoy those blessings right now. They are yours and always will be."

As of yesterday, I realized there are some decisions I need to make. I have had lots of things happen to me while in college and right now I feel like I need to make my health, happiness, and sanity a priority in my life. I never anticipated having to make these decisions about my job and school, but now I am faced with deciding how I want to spend the next 6 months of my life.

I hate to let people down, but for some reason I never mind letting myself down. Hmm...

Dan is taking me out tonight to get my mind off things. We are going up to Salt Lake to see the Temple Lights and go to Cafe Rio. I love my sweet husband. Whenever I start to get anxious and stressed about life, he brings me back to reality. He reminds me that no matter what choice I make we will be just fine. I love him.

Live and Learn

Something I have learned over the last 5 months is the fact that I know less than I thought I did. Go figure. I have learned over the last 10 months that I know a lot less about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I have had an interesting journey over the last years with the Church and have learned a great deal from the "journey" I have been on.

We have been preparing to go to the temple since February and it will have been almost a year and a half since we decided to go when we get to go!

We have been taking a Temple Preparation course from a fantastic couple in our ward and really enjoy meeting with them. We currently are getting ready for Dan to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood (possibly this Sunday!) I thought that we would just pick a Sunday and that would be it. I didn't realize that Dan would have to have multiple interviews and some counsel would have to approve it. I feel like I don't know enough about the Priesthood. I read this article and helped me feel better. What Every Elder Should Know - As Well As Every Sister!

Anyway I am so proud of my sweet husband for the steps he has made!

BYU 25th Ward Indexing

Just trying to do my part! But seriously, its easy and worthwhile!

"Hello Sisters!

I just wanted to send out an email about indexing, to get you all a little more familiar with the goal our stake has set & what indexing is. Indexing is the churches efforts to digitize old historical documents like birth records and what not. You can work on a batch over time and do it here and their. One batch can take about 30 minutes and has up to 50 names, this alone can help us reach our monthly ultimate stake goal.

Indexing is explained best in these terms "Volunteers extract family history information from digital images of historical documents to create searchable indexes that assist everyone in finding their ancestors." If you have already started indexing that is wonderful! If you started in a different stake and need help switching your information to our stake let me know and I can help with that.

We have a few computers reserved in the family history lab during Sunday School every Sunday for couples to come in and learn or just to spend some time indexing. The lab is just past the library in room 103. You can also index from home or pretty much any computer using FamilySearchIndexing.org

Once again if you need help signing up or have any questions, I am here to help.

Lastly, If you have not heard about our Stakes goal for Indexing it is a great project! Our goal is to have indexed 1 million names by June 2009. They started this goal back in June 2008 and we want to keep going strong. For us to succeed each ward should try and meet 10,000 names a month.

Here's the info about November from Sister Dicou:

"The BYU 18th Stake is having a terrific month for indexing. Four of Nine wards met the 10,000 name per month goal. This keeps us on track for a million."

The current numbers as of the 29th of November

25th- 4,791
29th- 24,494
59th- 8,512
85th- 7,110
139th- 3,420
147th- 11,083
170th- 21,212
199th- 13,481
200th- 3,767

Giving Thanks

My sister in law Lisa sent the family an email this morning asking us what we are grateful for. She is giving a talk on Sunday on Gratitude... I have been in the dumps for the past few days (maybe even weeks) trying to make it through School, Work, Health and personal issues. Seeing Lisa's email helped me remember that there are so many things I can be grateful for!

I am a freak about Lists so in the spirit of Thanks Giving:

1. My adorably sweet patient and kind husband!
2. My Mom and Dan's Mom, both are willing to listen to me talk about what is going on in my life and give advice! (Not to mention Dan's Mom coming over to help me do dishes when I was freaking out the other day!)
3. Our siblings. I love my brothers and Kate as well as step siblings Scott & Penny and Steven & Mindy! I also feel like one of the great bonus' of marrying Dan was inheriting 6 more wonderful friends who have been through so much and I can learn from them and enjoy being around them!
   
4. The Gospel and the Atonement. This is what makes it possible for Dan and I to get sealed in the temple and what gives me hope for a better future. For the first time in my life I feel like theres no way I would want to miss church for any reason. Going to church on Sunday gives me a spiritual recharge to make it through yet another week!
   
5. My sweet little friends and cousins Chainey and Carley. They give me hope that someday I can have kids like them!
   
6. My friends! All of them! They support me and lift me up and make me laugh! I love them!
   
7. My education! As much as I moan and groan I am so thankful that I am nearing the end of my time here at BYU and I am so proud of myself for getting to this point and for making it to the end even though their have been times when I have wanted to give up!
8. My health!!! I am so quick to complain about my current health status but I cannot give enough gratitude to my heavenly father for the fact that my greatest health problem, (or what seems to me to be my biggest struggle) Pseudotumor Cerebri, was not in fact a brain tumor! Just a pretend one!
   
9. I am thankful for the Weight Watchers program because it has helped me so much in my struggle with losing weight in order to be a healthier person!
   
10. Ok this may sound dumb but I am so thankful for Blogging! It has been a great way for me to journal this year having limited time to sit down and write in a journal... instead this is something I can do between classes (during classes) and when I have a minute on the computer here and there! I also LOVE reading blogs! Its so much fun!
    

Game Night!

Last night we did a game night with the Cranes, Fillmores and Hubners! It was so much fun! Jon decided we were only true Americans if we had a blind democratic vote on which game to play. Like for Obama, the votes were predominately for the Celestial Companion Game. I was a little skeptic of a "Mormon" game but I have to say it was hilarious and so much fun. It was a good way to get to know the other couples better! We were in last place (by a third of a point)... But we had a blast!

Indexing!

Dan and I received our first church calling as a married couple. We are now the Indexing Specialist of our ward... You may ask how in the world people who have never indexed can be specialist? But I guess in this case the Title comes before the actual expertise. We will be teaching the class in our ward and will be helping encourage other couples to index (I think).

The indexing project, for those who don't know, is the churches effort to take microfilm and census' and other historical documents and digitize them so that they are easy to search through online so that people can find their family names. Our stakes goal is to complete 1 million names in 1 year (so by this June 1st). We have completed almost 400,000 and have 7 months left.

Indexing isn't hard, it just takes some time and you just have to try and figure out sometimes messy handwriting. YAY for family history!
These cursive letters are helpful!

Pumpkins!

But not the kind you carve and make a mess with! I actually went to a relief society activity and I can't tell you how many years its been since I have been to one (or now that I think about it, if I have ever been to one!). It was fun to get to know some of the girls in our ward. I am still trying to learn names and meet people.

Protecting Marriage?

Marriage in the United States has become so sad in and of itself. The statistics show that more and more people are getting divorced and of those who are still married, many are unhappy in their marriages. I have seen people here at BYU marry people they don't love, knowingly marry untrustworthy and dishonest partners, as well as marry simply because they want to fulfill their animalistic need for sexual intimacy. I won't even go into how I feel about the youth of the church haphazardly entering into sacred temple marriages, because honestly thats a whole nother volume in my encyclopedia of thoughts.

At church on Sunday the Neiswenders in our ward (who are also our neighbors) gave very good talks about friendship and fellowshipping. I really enjoyed hearing Haley reiterating what Bruce C. Hafen of the seventy said in 2002 in his talk entitled The Gospel and Romantic Love when he said that we should "be friends first and sweethearts second. University professor Lowell Bennion once said that relationships between young men and young women should be built like a pyramid. The base of the pyramid is friendship. And the ascending layers are built of things like time, understanding, respect, and restraint. Right at the top of the pyramid is a glittering little mystery called romance. Now, you don’t have to be very smart to know that a pyramid won’t stand up very long if you stand it on its point instead of its base. In other words, be friends first and sweethearts later, not the other way around. Otherwise, people who think they are sweethearts may discover they can’t be very good friends, and by then it may be too late."

If we want to protect marriage we need to start in our own homes looking inwardly rather than outwardly. I feel that more people would live more fulfilling and happy lives if we spent more time evaluating how we are doing in our lives, how we are treating our partner and how our marriages are doing as a whole. Thats how I want to protect my marriage, by staying best friends with my husband and not letting the world defile our love and devotion to each other. Does anyone need to vote on that? No.

Right now a hot topic in regards to marriage is California's Proposition 8. I am not one to get into great debates with people. I don't voice my political opinions much. This being said I have been very saddened by the recent publicity amongst the youth at BYU and in the church over Proposition 8. It saddens me to see families put at arms because certain members support Proposition 8 and others do not. I believe we all have a choice in this battle. I feel that those of us who do not live or vote in California have even less of a say on what is happening with Proposition 8.

I have felt somewhat awkward since hearing the churches stance on Proposition 8, I simply believed that they would not make a political stance on this issue. I understand the churches stance and I feel for the issue both ways, although I feel that we should not sit on the fence because its easy. I have heard a lot of things that seem less than true about why the church supports Proposition 8 so I did some research and now feel more confident in understanding why the Church supports it and knowing that some of the rumors I had heard were wrong. As citizens we have every right to make ourselves as knowledgeable about the issues as possible.

The church made its stance at the end of June. "The Church’s teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan for His children. Children are entitled to be born within this bond of marriage."

However it was nice to read that "Latter-day Saints are free to disagree with their church on the issue (Prop 8) without facing any sanction", said L. Whitney Clayton of the LDS Quorum of the Seventy. "We love them and bear them no ill will."

Literature written by Proposition 8 proponents are freely distributed in Mormon wards, giving the impression the church approves of these pamplets, but much of it is "misinformation," said Morris Thurston, an LDS attorney in Orange County. Thurston has circulated a point-by-point response to an anonymously authored document that has been widely disseminated by Mormons, "Six Consequences . . . If Proposition 8 Fails." Thurston argues that most of its arguments are either untrue or misleading. "The general church authorities I have spoken to have been understanding and compassionate," he said. "They counsel respect, civility and open mindedness toward those who disagree with the church's position."

Mormons for Marriage

Stuart Matis

Stuart Matis 2

Relationship Violence can happen even at BYU

This semester in my Womens Health Issues class our group is researching Domestic Violence at BYU. In speaking with different people just in our class it was evident that this is a re-occurring problem at our campus even though it is not often talked about. Wymount Terrace on its own gets the BYU police called most often for domestic violence. The masters student that assists our class was telling us that in the two and a half years her husband and her have lived their they have had to call the police over 2 dozen times on different neighbors. 2 times alone last week for one couple.

Many times the police show up and offer the women a safe place to go and they offer the man the chance to go with them to the police station. After so many times the man no longer gets the choice to go, they get escorted in hand cuffs to the station.

At BYU Domestic Violence is not restricted to those whose who have made sacred vows to one another. Many girls have abusive boyfriends (or just men in their lives), that may be it physically or emotionally abusive to them and some may not even realize that it is happening to them. Having lived through this myself in both aspects of physical and emotional violence from a previous boyfriend I understand the need for advocacy in this area especially amongst the girls here at BYU.

Domestic Violence:

Abuse is a means to gain power and control. A behavior is abusive if it is hurtful, occurs in a pattern, and does not stop. Domestic violence is the single most common source of injury to women. Physical violence is estimated to occur in 4 to 6 million intimate relationships each year in the United States.

“How tragic and utterly disgusting a phenomenon is wife abuse. Any man in this Church who abuses his wife, who demeans her, who insults her, who exercises unrighteous dominion over her is unworthy to hold the priesthood. Though he may have been ordained, the heavens will withdraw, the Spirit of the Lord will be grieved, and it will be amen to the authority of the priesthood of that man.” President Gordon B. Hinckley

For more information visit BYU's Women Services.

Other Resources:
Where Home isn't a Haven by Kent Harrison
Coping with the aftermath of Abuse by Jane Lawson
Healing from abuse through the power of the Atonement by Daniel Judd
Not to People Like Us by Susan Weitzman
To Heal the Shattering Consequences of Abuse by Richard G. Scott
Church Program Helps Victims of Domestic Violence
Utah Dating Violence Task Force

Who to call for help:
Women's Services and Resources 422-4887
BYU Police 422-2222
Center for Women & Children in Crisis/Rape Crisis Center 377-5500
National 24-hour Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE

Love One Another

I was really touched by a talk I heard back in September but now I can't find it anywhere online, so I am recounting my notes and thoughts. I just wish I could read it again. However in googling it I found a women who blogged about it so well and described some of the same emotions that I felt that it was the best I could come to actually finding the publication of the talk.

Courtney wrote what follows:

Elder Jensen spoke of the many "different" people in the church. He explained how there is a certain culture surrounding the gospel (naturally), and how many people do not fit in to this particular mold. The classic (but true, all the same) examples of being divorced, single, widowed make people feel as though they don't belong, but also those who struggle with depression or eating disorders or those who have loved ones who are going through difficult times. Those who are minorities or those who have physical disabilities. As he listed all these people, I started to wonder how anyone feels like they belong in this culture. And that was one of his biggest points. He said, "everyone is a lost sheep. everyone has their failings, and everyone has their differences."

More often than not, I do not feel like I belong at church. I am not naturally out-going, and I rarely feel like I have people to talk to at church. Particularly now that we are in a new ward, I wonder if we will ever find our place. But I loved how Elder Jensen spoke about how it was our duty to include everyone. I've come to realize over the past couple years that there are very few people who don't need new friends. It's still hard for me to reach out to anyone, but realizing that has helped me a little bit.

Elder Jensen opened his talk by speaking about his younger brother, who had brain damage due to birth complications. The brother was often the brunt of much ridicule as a boy, and I felt so much shock at how people feel free to mock those with obvious disabilities. Then I read this post at By Common Consent today and thought the same thing. It scares me to have kids. I don't want them to be made fun of, but I'm also terrified that they will make fun of other kids.

One of the most important things I want-- need-- to teach my children is true compassion and understanding of others' feelings. Hopefully by making this a priority they won't make fun of other kids and when they are adults, they will reach out to those in need (well, I hope they do both things regardless of being a child or an adult).

I'm not sure where the church culture comes from that makes others feel alienated. I feel like I know more people who don't fit the perfect mold than those who do, but perhaps that's because I gravitate towards normal, real people. :)

I was very happy to find this blog post because it very much reflected how I feel. I work closely with people with disabilities as well have close family members who are disabled. I think of my cousin Chainey, who had Spina Bifida, when he was born. To think that anyone could ever tease him because he walks with a walker or sometimes uses a wheel chair kills me. I want to protect him but I know he is a strong boy. I also, like Courtney, want to teach my children (when I have children) to be accepting and love others.

I have felt very awkward before in wards and currently do. Its getting a little better but I still feel like the "special guest" that sticks out in the group like a sore thumb. For the first 3 months of being in our ward, we would only attend sacrament meeting. 3 weeks ago we started to attend all of our meetings and my first Sunday in Relief Society they introduced me as the "special guest" even though I had been in the ward for 3 months and they had already introduced all the new people and did the announcements and sang the opening song. I am sure they meant well but I just felt out of place.

I know most of them know that my husband and I were not married in the temple and most probably (more than I would like) know about our previous activity in the church, to me I feel out of place and awkward somewhat because of this. I am trying to be more outgoing in our ward, I even agreed to meet at 8:20 tonight to do my visiting teaching (my partner is the relief society president) and I signed up to do the October Craft on the 29th.

I know the church is true... the people don't always have me in fits of joy to go to activities but I know the simple fact that since Dan and I have centered our life on a common goal of working towards being better people we have been blessed in all aspects of our lifes. Heavenly Father blesses us and I can feel his love. I have always been very hard on myself and find that I feel guilty about most things I do and feel like their is no way Heavenly Father could love me.

This is the first time in my life that I feel like I have made the right decisions in working with our bishop and working towards our goal to be sealed together forever and that what we chose to do was right for us and we will be blessed. As often as I have seen people rush into marriage or dishonestly go through the temple I am glad we have waited and the joy of our sealing and our marriage has been so better because of this.

Salt Lake Beauty

More Bob Boyd Beauty! I love the Salt Lake City Temple!

Salt Lake City Temple

Bob Boyd does temple photography. These are two of my favorite pictures of the Salt Lake Temple. I love this temple, every time I go to temple square I feel such a piece and comfort and a new sense of direction. I wish I could have that feeling more often.