Kiersten is 18

As I was helping a neighbor clean her home in anticipation of a new adopted daughter arriving, one of the other ladies wondered if there were tears associated with Kiersten's birthday and upcoming graduation.

Honestly, there really aren't any tears. I will be extremely sad to see her go to college and see our family dynamics change. But I am exuberant about what lies ahead for her. She is entering a phase of life that is characterized my much fun and independence. It was a time of my life that I would go back and relive if given the opportunity.

When she made me a mom 18 years ago, I wondered what kind of person she would grow up to be. She has far exceeded my expectations. This mom could not ask for a better first child. She has set the bar high for the rest of her siblings who so far seem to be following her example of goodness, of dedication, of righteousness, of stalwartness. Kiersten is the cream of the crop, the cat's meow, the apple of my eye, the bomb-diggity-bomb.

Welcome to the world of adulthood.

Planted

This is a must read for anyone struggling with their faith, struggling with Mormonism, and even more so for those whose faith is still strong.

I wish I had this book many years ago when dealing with a loved one who chose to not only leave our joint, religious upbringing, but who also chose to leave God. The book can serve as a great bridge builder between both sides. It helped me as the reader gain a better understanding and compassion for those who have left and perhaps their reasoning for doing so. I believe it can also point those who are teetering on that edge of jumping ship or staying in the boat to some good evidence to WHY they should stay. It's a day and age where we not only decide every day what we believe, but why and whether we will still remain steadfast in our beliefs.

Two of my favorite sections: (1) "Those of us who are American don't always like what our elected leaders do in Washington, but not many of us choose to leave the country. We don't always like how our family members act, but we are not going to disown them. We don't always like our coworkers, but we don't usually quit our jobs over that. We don't always like all our teachers or what they teach us, but we typically stay in school until we earn our diploma. In short, we regularly recognize the limitations and flaws of many institutions of which we are a part, but except in the case of egregious abuses we normally stay and try to make thing better rather than washing our hands and walking away."

(2) "The organization of the church into strictly enforced geographic units compels us to love our neighbors as we find them, not to choose the congregation that we feel best fits our personal tastes. The church thus caters to our needs far more than our wants. We are subjected to other people who don't always think like we do and who sometimes publicly offer misinformed  and prejudicial notions as authoritative fact. We are asked to follow leaders who are untrained amateurs, who occasionally make bad decisions and say or do thing that are hurtful and possibly even constitute unrighteous dominion. . . . We are asked to visit people whose opinions, grooming habits, childrearing techniques, or wall décor are odious to our tastes. In turn we are visited by other people, often at inopportune times, who endlessly recount their latest in a string of unpleasant medical maladies or their judgment about the state of our souls -- or in a really efficient visit, both.

All of this unpleasantness is precisely the stuff of discipleship. As England observes, "Church involvement teaches us compassion and patience as well as courage and discipline. It makes us responsible for the personal and marital, physical, and spiritual welfare of people we may not already love (or may even heartily dislike), and thus we learn to love them. It stretches and challenges us, though disappointed and exasperated, in ways we would not otherwise choose to be -- and thus gives us a chance to be made better than we might choose to be, but ultimately need and want to be."

Patrick Mason also gave a great speech at FAIR Mormon that you can find here The Courage of Our Convictions.

Many years ago we planted a garden without having any way to regularly water it. I was gung-ho and told myself it would be easy to go out and do a quick watering job every day. I started strong but as the cool, spring weather turned hot and irritable, I found my watering became less and less frequent.

You can probably guess what happened. Those poor plants thrived for a little while, then started to wilt and struggle until they eventually succumbed and ceased to exist.

My point in all this is: We choose every day whether or not to water. And we choose every day WHAT we are going to water. Do we consistently and deeply water our faith and hope or is it doubt and skepticism that get the nourishment. For me, my testimony and faith is nothing more than my personal relationship with God and how I experience him. For whatever reasons, I, like Nephi, have been endowed with the gift of faith. Religion comes easy to me. Believe has always a part of my life. Church has been a comfortable place to be. And I am now just understanding that this is simply my story. For others, belief and belonging do not come as easy.

A few weeks ago my kids asked if I was watering our plants. I told them I didn't need to since Mother Nature was taking care of it for me in the form of rain.

This too can be detrimental to our faith when we are going along in life not really feeling the need to "water" and nourish it ourselves. It's easy to fall into this life of ease but also stagnation. Spirituality is very individual. Not every person is going to worship the same. This is simply how I choose to keep my faith vibrant, healthy, and growing which may not be the same for someone else.

I choose to "water" my faith and testimony by consistent, daily immersion in the scriptures. Most days I listen to the scriptures as I get ready in the morning. Our family scripture time is 6:45am. Some days it's just me and some days we have most of the family there. On Fridays we watch a general conference talk from the previous session.

I choose to "water" my faith and testimony by consistent, daily, meaningful prayer. When I start to get casual in my prayers, I know my life is too easy and comfortable for growth. I really try to have mighty prayer that is felt and more of a conversation I might have with someone sitting next to me. My favorite place to pray is in my bathroom sitting on the step by my tub.

I choose to "water" my faith and testimony by consistent service to others. Most days I try to ask God to open my eyes to someone who might need my assistance. It might be nothing more than a compliment.

I choose to "water" my faith and testimony by surrounding myself with goodness. Good literature. Good media. Good people. Positivity. Wholesome activities.

AND . . . I simply choose to believe.

The church is true . . .

Even in Grantsville.

I've been privy to the information for some time that our ward house was going to be remodeled. None of us expected it to come as soon as it did. We had a fundraiser planned that has now been put on hold. Apparently the Relief Society room was condemned which necessitated us no longer being able to use the building. They had plans already to remodel it somewhat to accommodate the growth in Lake Point.

Our options were to attend a closer ward building at three o'clock or a further building at one o'clock. As a ward council we opted for the closer building. I think we all must have been out of our minds. Thankfully our stake president forgot what we requested and gave us the one o'clock time in Grantsville.

It takes us 20 minutes to get to church and 20 minutes back. One of the blessings is that it is not in the winter time. I really don't mind the commute and I think a lot of teenagers enjoy the extra sleep time.

This past Sunday we pulled into the parking lot right in front of this beautiful tree with all its blossoms. I pulled out my phone and a kind friend was good to get a photo of all of us.

Don't you love how we even color coordinate and look so good under that tree (minus all the shading on our faces).


The drive has given us good conversation. The topic this last week was astrological signs. I started by reading all about Erik. Even though he and Kiersten's birthdays are only 4 days apart, they have different signs. Boy did we have a good laugh.

Melanie and Personal Progress

Last week was unforgettable.

Melanie received her Personal Progress necklace, something that has been a joint effort between two wards. When her family moved into our ward 4 or 5 years ago, we inherited her book which contained value experiences girls in the other ward had worked on.

It was passed to me when I became the young women president almost three years ago. For several years I attempted to have girls work on it but it started to stall.

Then I had an epiphany one day. This should be her Personal Progress as much as it could be. Melanie has down syndrome which allows us to personalize the program as much as we need to. I started looking at things she had already done or was doing and started marking things off. She works at a doctor's office; she's competed in a pageant for special needs; she leads the music in our young womens each Sunday; she helped us make bread for the sacrament. Last October we decided as a group to try and have it completed by her birthday in March. Our activities and lessons going forward were centered on experiences we needed to finish to help Mel complete this awesome program.

Her birthday came on March 23 with only a few things left to complete. I am so proud of all the girls who helped make this a dream come true for her. Melanie feels like she is one of us now, wearing that necklace with pride.

She loves unconditionally and has a contagious laugh. Also don't get between her and her diet coke or you will get the evil eye.

What a privilege and blessing it has been to have her be a part of our young women group. What a privilege and blessing it has been for me to know her, and because of that relationship, I am a better person.