Faith bandaids

Our backpacking trip was so much fun.

But little did KJ (that's our little nickname for the two of them at our house) know what was just around the corner for them. They were all ready a little down and out about a bad car purchase, but when Jason landed (no pun intended) in the hospital

for three days from a nasty fall off a truss he was working on,

they began to wonder why bad things happen to two kids just trying to get a little ahead in life.

The Lord was looking out for him that day. He didn't land on his head, neck, or back. Any of those could have killed him or paralyzed him. He didn't land on feet which may have resulted in a broken leg or two. He didn't land on his right side where he had a pocket full of nails that could have done some damage.

Instead, he landed on his left side with his elbow taking the brunt of the concrete floor he came in contact with. For some reason, I just don't think his elbow is supposed to look like that.


This is what is looked like after surgery.

And today he was informed that he didn't need surgery to fix a break in his wrist nor did they need to cast his elbow from all the metal holding it together. Those two bits of news were a couple of tender mercies.

All this happened the week I was watching four extra kids, one in a wheelchair. I packed them up and we went to visit where Kiersten showed the kids the rock that was extracted from Jason's knee.

Not only is he out of work, but he also didn't have insurance. Watching these two struggle with this latest setback has just tugged at my mother's heartstrings as I've cried and hurt right along with them. When they were little, I could wipe away the tears, put a bandaid on the owie, give them a big kiss, and send them back out to play. The older they get, the bigger the owies. And I'm afraid I just don't have a big enough bandaid to fix this one.

But I know who does.

One morning as I was traversing seven miles through Lake Point, the question came to me, "Do my kids have enough faith to maneuver through whatever hard things will come their way? Do my kids have enough faith?" They are to the point that they can no longer rely on my faith.

And it scared me a little. Do my kids know Who has all power to fix the toughest of situations when no earthly person can. Do they know Who to turn to when their nights become even darker. Do they know Who will help them conquer those towering walls of doubt and discouragement and fear.

Faith in Jesus Christ.

That is the bandaid that will help heal these adult owies.

Christ is the master healer, the fixer of all hurts, the instiller of hope, the greatest miracle worker. Trusting that he will make things right when the world says otherwise brings the greatest peace to one's life.

I know.

I've been there.

I've experienced some of those adult owies and they can be painful.

I am eternally grateful to my Savior who is there to pick me and put me back together, metaphorically, and in the case of Jason, even literally.

Backpacking in the Uintas

On the 4th of July, Tyler and I,

along with Kiersten, Jason,


Natalie, and Kurtis set out on a backpacking trip.


The original plan was to hike to Red Castle, but due to a cool, wet spring, there was still quite a bit of snow in that area. So our last minute change of plans had us hiking a shorter hike.

In hindsight that was a good thing.

With 30 pounds on my back, traversing over logs and rocks and taking "short cuts" (link to article about cutoffs) that might have been quicker but much harder, took a toll on my legs that first day.

Five miles was the limit of what I was willing to do. The next day was a restful day hanging out at camp, reading my book, watching Jason carefully negotiate a log to rescue Tyler's hook,

and experimenting with fish "tacos."

The fishing was great. I can't say I've ever gotten into fishing despite growing up with a dad who loved the sport.

Once we started going to Lake Powell to fish for striped bass, trout fishing just didn't hold any appeal.

Kiersten caught her first fish 


and the scenery was surreal.

We hiked through burnt out forest that I imagined a war zone might feel like.

And our camp was perched on a cliff with a waterfall not more than a 100 yards away.

The only downside to this trip was all the downed timber on the trail we had to negotiate around. Tyler is repeatedly telling the kids on every hiking expedition we go on, "Don't step on what you can step over. Don't step over what you can step around." I didn't pay too much attention to that and on our way out I didn't want to "step around" and I face planted as my foot didn't quite make it over the log. I came home with a nasty bruise on my leg and forehead. I also came home with a numb toe that I think will fix itself eventually.

I haven't been backpacking in a quite a few years and that was just what I needed this summer. I loved getting away, getting some exercise, getting no reception, and hanging with some fun people.

Looking forward to next summer's trip.

Where did my summer go?

I've got three weeks left of summer and the kids have four and what do I have to show for it? Apparently not much because I haven't documented one thing. So this might be a super long post in an attempt to recapture my summer before school starts again or it might be segmented into chunks.

We've had a couple of guests move in with us temporarily, hopefully temporarily for some. There have been the snakes that give us the heebee jeebees as they stealthily move through the grass. One lives under our sidewalk outside our bedroom window

and the other is in the honeysuckle behind the pergola.


Nieces and nephews came to stay for a week while their mom and dad were on Trek.

And we've inherited a dog this week which always thrills my kids. But for some reason she has attached herself to me. Maybe 'cause I take her back home to feed the ducks?

Alex began our summer with a scout camp. I got to accompany him on day one while we visited downtown Salt Lake and got a tour of the temple grounds

and a ride to the observatory deck of the administration building.

There were some cool views to see up there.


We finished out the day at the Fire Museum in Tooele, and the next day was spent doing things around Lake Point.

This boy also celebrated his birthday

later in the month with bowling,

miniature golf, and a pizza buffet dinner.

Who doesn't like their birthdays?

**A side note to the bowling game . . . I have NEVER in my entire life bowled as well as I did that day. Jason still won with 216, but man was I close.

Hmmmm . . . can I even say man in a sentence anymore? I read an article this week about Berkley, California. In that town, manholes will now be known as maintenance holes. Man-made is now human-made. How many years will it take before those words are no longer in the dictionary?

Double Kidtism

This week was another fantastic one here in Rockledge. 2 of the kids we have been teaching, Alyssa and Jacob, got baptized this week. That of course was the highlight. We also had interviews with President Ashcraft this week and they were super fun. I also put together a little Book of Mormon to use while proselyting, which has been a fun project.

The baptism on Saturday went well. Jacob kind of had a mental breakdown a half-hour beforehand about what to wear and Alyssa had to get dunked 5 times, but other than that it went well. They were both super happy afterwards. Also, on Sunday in sacrament meeting they sat on the front row and listened the entire time. They are usually impossible to keep still and quiet. We're super happy to see them start their journey in the church. 

On Tuesday we had our first interviews with President Ashcraft. He is going to be the greatest mission president ever. He got to know me and I got to know him a lot better. I'm so excited to serve with him for the rest of my mission. Apparently he is even going to play basketball with the missionaries in Orlando today, so that basically solidifies him as the coolest mission president ever.

I found a little pocket sized Book of Mormon a little while ago, and I finally got around to marking it up. I marked and tabbed scriptures for all the missionary lessons, doctrinal mastery scriptures, and answers to questions of the soul. I also wrote all the lesson points with the scriptures in the back. It was a big project, but it's already been useful a few times. I've been able to quicky share a scripture with someone at their door because I have a Book of Mormon right in my shirt pocket. It also really helped me know the scriptures better. I learned where to find a lot of different things as I was going through marking it up. 

Keep looking for new ways to study the scriptures. There are so many ways to study them, and going about it a little differently can be a great way to get more out of your studies. It helps me a lot. Anyway, I hope you all have a great week, pray that I won't melt this week in the heat, and hopefully I'll talk to you all next week.

Best Fourth of July Ever

It's been quite a week. I got to go on an amazing exchange with Elder Pihl, pronounced peal, who has been in Merritt Island for as long as I've been in Rockledge, so we are really good friends. It was one of my favorite exchanges. We found some new people to teach, had some great lessons, and learned a lot.

The 2 highlights of the week though were the Fourth of July and meeting our new mission president. 

This honestly was one of my favorite Fourth of Julys ever. We started the day by running a 4k and having a breakfast with the ward. The 4k was interesting because I had to stay with my companion, who is not a runner. For lunch we went to a big community event with tons of people and tried talking to people and handing out cards. It was super hot and not many people wanted to talk, though. It prepared us for that night though. 

We were going to do basically that same thing, but on a much larger scale, that night. There is a huge firework show that people come to from all over the place right here in Rockledge. We were going to have 6 Elders there talking to as many people as possible. We decided to bring water to hand out for free and then try to talk to the people we give it to. It went great. We handed out all the water and also gave away well over 200 pass along cards. We also found 3 new people to teach. And even if we didn't find anyone or hand out any cards, there were literally thousands of people who saw us with our name badges handing out water. It was a major success, plus we got to see the fireworks which were fantastic. 

The other big thing this week was that we got a new mission president. His name is President Ashcraft. He is very different from President Clark, but in a good way. He is more laid back, he is a comedian, but he also has an amazing spirit and has great plans for our mission. We had some time on Friday to meet him and get to know him a little bit. One interesting thing about it is that he has two 12 year old twins that he took with him from Idaho, so it will be interesting to see how that changes things having kids living at home with him. 

In other news, we have 2 baptisms this week. Jake and Alyssa Califano are getting baptized on Saturday. They are super excited and we're super happy, too. Should be another good week. 

I just want to end by saying that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. You will be blessed so much as you take time to read it. There are so many amazing truths in there and it holds the answers to all of life's great questions. We just need to read it! It has helped me with my testimony and helped those I teach so much these past 9 months. I don't know where I'd be without it.