Young women and their trials

Life has dealt some of my young women some hard obstacles these past couple of weeks. Being their leader, teacher, friend, I just want to take away the pain. Any parent with children knows that feeling. But the hardest thing is they have to endure it alone. Sure I can be there to support and help and love but it doesn't take away the hurt.

I have one who is moving right before her senior year of high school. I vowed I would never move if my parents decided it was time for a change. But she is courageously going with her family. She is my expert snipe hunter and I'm not sure how girls camp will function without her.

I have one who had her tonsils out this week. Poor thing is getting to eat all the ice cream she wants. She is being brave and mending.

I have one who desperately wants to make the ballroom dance team. She has worked for over a year to improve herself, taking extra dance classes. Tonight she'll find out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I have several who are in the thick of cramming for AP exams which commence on Monday. I know it's been nonstop study sessions at my house for Kiersten who almost thinks of prom tomorrow as a burden and a hindrance to her studying.

I have one who had major facial surgery a month ago only to have to go in on Monday to repeat it. This surgery involves breaking her jaw and wiring her mouth shut for 8 weeks. She's the one that breaks my heart the most. You know that for this second surgery she knows what she is in for -- the pain and the recovery. She has been such an inspiration to everyone, but especially to our young beehive with the tonsils taken out.

I didn't know when I got this calling as Young Women President that it would stretch my heart like it has. I didn't know I could love these girls just like I love my own kids. They are my family. Their successes are my successes, their hurts my hurts, their triumphs my triumphs, their pain my pain.

I've tried to minister to them a little more diligently this week as our Savior would. They have become an extension of my family. Instead of five kids, I have thirty-five. I try to attend and support them in their activities and I hope they know how much I love being a part of their lives and how much I pray for them individually and collectively.

This is one of the busiest callings, one of the hardest callings I've had but also one of the most rewarding. I absolutely love rubbing shoulders with the young women of this gospel. They are so strong and full of goodness.

Good things
unbrella
Bandaids
priesthood blessings

Erik's week

A couple of weeks ago Erik took the ACT test for the first time. I had suggested he do an early one to give him a benchmark. He came home that morning telling me how rough it was. He had put the answers to the reading section on the science section, so then he spent some of his time on the science section copying answers over. He didn't feel like he did well at all in the reading. SOOOOO . . . . he was hoping for just an average score.

On Tuesday he sent me an email in the middle of the day: I got a 32!!!!!!!!! with a screenshot attached.


I was dumbfounded and sent him back a quick congratulations reply and then thought more about it.

A little more than a week was a quick turn around for scores. Kiersten has waited at least 3 or 4 weeks before finding out. He was pulling my leg. I was sure he was in math with his friends who had all decided to pull a fast one on me.

So I emailed him back that I wasn't sure if he was serious because the screenshot didn't have his name. Well, another one came back with his name attached.

I'm still in shock he got such a fantastic score his first time. That sure alleviates the pressure. I'm still a little skeptical, checking the mail daily, waiting for that final notice to come.

He also moved up to first singles in varsity tennis and played a winning match against Tooele. He's got a couple of home games and then region play. Grandma Jules and Katie came to watch. My family is so supportive of my kids and their activities.

Friday I came home to find a heart of tennis balls on my floor. Erik got asked to a dance. The Last Chance Dance. My heart sank a little because Erik still has a month before turning 16. I told him this was going to be his choice, his decision to make.

In the meantime I looked up the date of the dance -- May 21, his 16th birthday. That is pretty much the last chance for a dance since school ends the following Thursday. So I guess that makes it an easy decision.

I wonder if she knew it was his birthday and safe to ask. She's been to our house a couple of times, bringing Erik cookies. And this is not the same girl who brings him cookies to math when he loses tennis matches.

Ah, first date, first dance. I think he's not entirely thrilled about it being on his actual birthday but he'll still have fun and we can celebrate on another day. He spent Friday night working on his answer.

Good things
rain
Sunday talks
Elder Vizzini's "Be Still My Soul"

San Diego

Ah, this week has been COLD! I'm missing my 74 degree San Diego weather.

Tyler wanted to take me somewhere for my 40th birthday. I opted for spending it with my kids during spring break. We headed south to one of my favorite places on earth. Alex is at a fun age where I knew the older kids would love seeing Sea World and Legoland through his eyes, and I wanted some beach time.

There are a few traditions we have when we go south. We are on the road by about 2am so breakfast in Vegas at Palace Station is a good place to recoup. They have a pretty good breakfast buffet for cheap.

Sea World


The second day at Sea World we hit the rides first, namely Shipwreck Rapids. I had never been on it, there was no line, and we were excited our entire family could ride. The kids kept it from my knowledge how completely soaked I would get. I must have been sitting in just the right area of the boat because I came off watered down from head to toe. Our next destination was a whale show where I wrung out water from my socks and spent the rest of the day basking in the sun in an attempt to warm up and dry out.

Legoland


We have a favorite little restaurant on a pier in Oceanside that we like to eat at when we've been to Legoland. Ruby's is a fun, family diner atmosphere and if you hit it at the right time, it's a great place to watch the sun set.

San Diego Zoo
This zoo is pretty much the bomb. Definitely one of the coolest zoos I've been to. The volunteer at the entrance suggested we ride the sky ride over and see the pandas first since the lines for this tended to get long.

 

Aren't big brothers the best when the day gets long and your feet get tired?

Sunday
I packed Sunday clothes which honestly can be a nuisance since they take up space and you only really wear them for one hour. Sometimes we pack more formally and sometimes I tell the boys to just throw in a white polo shirt. However we pack I'm always glad I pack for Sunday. It makes vacationing over the Sabbath that much better when we've attended sacrament meeting and recommitted ourselves to living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We found a ward about 15 minutes from our hotel and got there a little early. As we were sitting and waiting for the meeting to start, a young deacon approached Erik and Nate and asked them to help with the sacrament. Nate was wearing his informal polo shirt so this deacon's dad took off his tie and let Nate borrow it until after the sacrament. I loved that the church of Jesus Christ is the same no matter where we end up. I'm glad this young boy sought out two strangers and asked them to be of service. I was kind of kicking myself though for not packing a little more formally.

We checked out and before heading home we made one last stop to the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center. This one little stop meant we didn't get home until 2:30am, early the next morning but it was a place I remember going to as a kid and wanted to visit again. It was actually a stall tactic. No one really wanted to go home to school and work.

On the way home I scored a seat in the back where I got to reread one of my favorite books: These Is My Words. I also got a glimpse into how Erik operates in the backseat. He scores as much food as he can from the breakfast buffet at the hotel and carefully secures his load to be eaten on the way home.


Good things
warm weather
good health
pain relievers

Baptisms

Last Tuesday our youth went to the Salt Lake Temple to do baptisms for the dead.

How lucky we are to live so close to so many temples. My parents talk about how difficult it is for the people in their mission to get to the Fiji Temple and how hard it is to get home some times. One man missed the boat, or something like that, and ended up having to wait six months to get home.

Thank heavens it didn't turn out quite like that for one of our little deacons.

Deacon Josh and a some of his friends were playing in the elevator and Josh got separated and couldn't figure out where he needed to go to get back to the car. 

Meanwhile, the rest of us are scrambling into cars and making our way to the exit to not miss ice cream at the Arctic Circle. Before leaving the temple grounds I had reminded all the drivers to make sure they had their parking token. So I couldn't figure out what the hold up was with Brother Fryer in front of me. You could see them searching and looking under seats. One girl got out and continued to scour the car. This went on for about two minutes while we waited patiently.

The attendant finally made her way over and let them out. I paid my token and Kathleen and Liz, my two counselors, were in line behind me to leave the parking garage.

Now remember, at this point I had no idea Josh was lost.

We made it to Arctic Circle where Liz had to tell me what happened after I pulled out. Kathleen repeatedly tried to put her token in the machine and it kept spitting it out. Again, the attendant made her way over and kindly told her she was using a quarter instead of the token. Sheepishly, Kathleen found her token. But before putting it in, Josh comes running across the parking lot to their car. It was then that he explained how he had become separated from his group and couldn't find anyone. He was a lost boy.

None of us knew he was lost (except his leaders who were driving round and round the parking garage trying to find him). But the Lord knew he was lost and needed to get home. I believe these two separate token issues -- one in front of me and one in back of me -- gave Josh enough time to discover his way out.

Don't you just love how the Lord works? Don't you just love the tender mercies he gives us each day? He is so aware of our circumstances and needs and always finds ways to bless us. God is Good!

*And to his credit, Brother Fryer did have his token. He had handed it to the girl in the passenger seat who accidentally let is slip between the seats. And no, that is not Josh in the picture above :)

Good things
temples
light
teenagers

Egg drop

Monday I was asked to substitute at the elementary school for Ms. M. Due to rain last week, Ashlyn's egg drop had been postponed to that very day.

*The egg drop is where every 5th grader has to make a contraption with certain dimensions that will house a raw egg to be dropped from off the school roof. The idea is to not have your egg break.

I was a little bummed that I wouldn't be able to see how Ash's egg performed. I was right next door and figured she would come and tell me when it was all over.

I got to school and was reading through the notes for the day. Ms. M. had crossed out what she had planned at 2pm and said to take them to the egg drop instead.

That made me a happy momma. She was Ashlyn's teacher for 2 years in a row and I think she knew I would like to go.

I left her a nice note thanking her for allowing me to take her class to watch.

The Lord knew how much I love supporting my kids in their endeavors and found a way to make it happen on Monday. That was a sweet, tender mercy.

P.S. Her egg made it intact!

Open your mouth

The phone rang and the caller id displayed Breast Cancer Of or BCOF. Kiersten chuckled and asked if we should answer the phone to try out our missionary efforts. During our recent general conference, Elder Mervyn Arnold had relayed a story of Sister Reeves sharing the gospel with each telemarketer who called. Maybe we should try it once to see if they'll let us be.

The Lord wants and expects us to open our mouth and speak. To stand and declare. To bear witness. This is no easy task. For many years I was terrified to open up and say what was in my heart. I've gotten a little bolder each time I've stood and testified. It is no longer as great a weakness as it once was.

Today I was put in a missionary situation where I wasn't asked to defend my beliefs but to answer questions put before me. I was subbing a ROTC class where the students really take over and are in charge of the entire class leaving me free to read or fill out my grocery list or talk to the French teacher whose classroom we were in.

The students were outside and Mr. C. and I were inside chatting when the conversation took a turn toward religion. We had been discussing how knowing languages is an important skill for the job market. I mentioned to him how Tyler had taken three years of German and ended up in Korea on an LDS mission.

Immediately he wanted to ask a question about missionaries and the church.

I said a silent prayer that I would be able to answer whatever came my way.

"Why aren't missionaries allowed to pick where they want to go? They pay for it. And yes, I know about God sending them wherever they end up."

Not too hard. 

I explained that they can put down a preference whether they'd like to stay in the states or go foreign. Mental and physical factors also play into it. I also explained how this church is a large worldwide organization with somewhere around 80000 missionaries. They are sent where there is a need. If 1000 potential missionaries put down they'd like to go to Paris, France, chances are 1000 missionaries probably wouldn't be needed there.

This was an okay answer but didn't quite seem to satisfy him.

At this point I wasn't sure what exactly he believed. I think if you're going to do missionary work, a good place to begin is to find out what they do believe in. My next response couched a reference to God in there to see if he at least believed in a supreme being. That's kind of a basic doctrine to know if you're going to talk religion.

I went on to explain that I believe in a God who knows me way better than I know myself. He knows my strengths and weaknesses. He also sees things on a much larger scope and knows where to put missionaries to use their strengths to further the work.

He nodded at this and said it made sense.

Mr. C., apparently, was two classes away from becoming a youth minister but changed his major to finance. I asked him, "Why the switch?"

"Academically I knew everything there was to know. I had studied just about every doctrine -- even doctrine within your church. I felt like I would be able to tell the youth about who God was but I couldn't tell them about God. I didn't have the personal relationship with Christ."

What an interesting thought. Here was a man who had studied many years to learn about God and his ways but never came to a real understanding of who He really was.

I guessed that if he had studied so much he must have read the Book of Mormon at some point. So I got brave and opened my mouth and asked.

He had and didn't have anything ill to say about it. To him it was a good book with some good life teachings.

About this time we got interrupted with students coming back in the classroom. He did mention how he never turns the missionaries away who come to his home out of respect for what they are doing.

What an interesting day. This morning I had prayed for God to help me with whatever different circumstances might head my way.

The Lord is real. He is very aware of his children. I hope another opportunity comes my way to sub the ROTC class again that puts me in the classroom of a certain French teacher.

The increasingly faster merry-go-round called Life

My life feels like a book left out on the porch, and the wind blows the pages faster and faster, turning always toward a new chapter faster than I can stop and read it.
-- Nancy E. Turner, These Is My Words

*I started another book club with the ladies in my neighborhood. I'm not sure what I was thinking, like I've got time for one more thing. But I'm excited. I love books and I love to read. Just wish I could carve out more time.

*Tyler is busy getting our yard ready for June. We signed up to be in the Tooele County Garden Tour and that means devoting some time to yard work.

*Ash turned 11. Holy moly. I can't believe next year she's gonna be in young womens with me. She scored a lunch date to Costa Vida.

*Erik is in full swing with tennis, playing 3rd varsity singles. After talking to his previous coach, sounds like that's not a bad place to be. He still has room to grow without all the pressure. Unfortunately, it also means some stiffer competition from last year. Undefeated is no longer part of his vocabulary.

*Kiersten and shopping go together like oil and water. Finding time to do it is nearly impossible. We had a date set to go prom dress shopping Friday after her piano lesson. This meant I could catch some of Erik's tennis match. Just as I was pulling out to go, she came home and her lesson had been cancelled. No tennis match for me. That extra half hour was a god send, enabling us to get to two places instead of one before they closed.

The second store was gold. She was pleased and I was ecstatic that I didn't have to find a third place to browse. She is gorgeous and will look stunning in a couple of weeks.

She also received her ACT score back this week: a 32!! 

Just what she wanted. That puts her in the running for a full tuition Presidential scholarship from USU. The science portion that she thought she bombed actually went up a couple of points.

*Nate and Ash took an international math test. Not sure they did all that great and not sure we'll do it again.

*Church basketball is over for another season. I always love when the games start and I always love when it comes to a close . . . just in time for soccer to start.

*Alex won the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies in our family for March Madness. His secret: I take time when I fill it out my bracket and pick good teams. Oh, how he has gloated. When three of us picked Michigan St. to win the whole thing, it was pretty much downhill from there when they lost in the first round. As a side note, Alex also told us how he doesn't ever want to visit Indiana. And why is that? Because they have Indians, duh!


*Nate had Solo Ensemble and Kiersten graciously agreed to accompany him so I wouldn't have to. Love having talented musicians in our family.


Our latest craze is the ukulele Ashlyn got for Christmas. I've learned enough that I serenaded her on her birthday by playing Happy Birthday.

*Me and the girls joined Grandma Jules and Natalie on an impromptu Thursday-night-school-night date. We all love the show My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The sequel came out, mom was in town for a surgery, and spontaneity was the name of the game. Sometimes those spur-of-the-moment activities are the best. The movie reminded me so much of the show Mamma Mia that I belted Abba tunes all the way home with my girls, who got home much later than their typical bed time.


*The family relished in the San Diego sun during spring break. But that's another post for another day.

Good things
sunshine
beaches
yard waking up