Happy New Year!!!

hey y'all....!

look- we're at a NEW YEAR. amazing stuff! i've been thinking about it- seems every magazine has some article about healthy ways to approach new year goals.

dr. phil...i can hear the groans! but, he has some wonderful self examining bullet points to aid us in evaluating for change. he asks:

1. Is what you're doing in your life working?
2. Are your payoffs healthy?
3. Are you getting in the way of your own success?
4. Are you making everyone happy except yourself?
5. Is the most of what you're doing too high?
6. Are you living with a chip on your shoulder?
7. Has it been too long since you relaxed?
8. Have you gotten too comfortable?
9. Are you being spiritually fed?
10. Are you low on your own priority list?

the usual suspects aren't on this list but if you read between the lines, you will find wherein you know you need to make adjustments.

funny enough, i got to thinking of this list while i was in my vinyasa yoga class this morning. our instructor reminded us that stressful/painful/unhealthy memories are held in the hip joints. she led us through several poses to loosen the areas and then repeatedly asked us to exhale- deeply and vocally. it was interesting to me that at that moment i did feel different and invigorized to do more.

i wake up each year knowing that i want things to be better than the last. i'm thankful that as the years have progressed my goals have matured- this year no exception.

at the end of a good yoga class, the instructor will advise the group to get in 'corpse' pose. laying on your back, hearing the calming exercises for the mind to also rest, most participants lose themselves- almost drifting off to sleep. today the instructor walked around through the group and selected some here and there to nourish. i don't know what else to call it... and what she offers differs from one to another. when her feet approached our area i knew that she was coming to stand by me. i didn't have anything covering my eyes- which most in the class like to have- so she placed a warmed towel over my eyes, then gently pressed her hands into it, then to my shoulders, doing the same, and then finally letting her hand rest on my forhead. after she walked away i felt a tear dropping off my cheek.

we carry many things around with us each and every day- every moment- on our shoulders, on our minds, in our hearts. that small act of giving just touched me. and i realized that i need to find where my goals, dreams, and hurts are and address them.

along this line of thought- Randy Pausch (i'm sure you've heard of him)gave a lecture that ended up being on demand, picked up by tv, book rights sold, and moved into my world. i saw the advertisements, watched a bit of the special that was on tv, and heard the announcement of his death.

and, was given the book to read, which i did over this past week. i copied this summary from the website regarding what all the fuss was about:

"A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?"

to summarize even further- his book talks about these bullet points:

1. Always Have Fun
2. Dream Big
3. Ask for What You Want
4. Dare To Take a Risk
5. Look for the Best In Everybody
6. Make Time for What Matters
7. Let Kids Be Themselves

it's a great book. he's funny and full of life and how he lived it- and how he'd love to see his children get to live theirs. great perpective and, definitely worth reading!

and that's it! i'm done being all new yearsie in this post! yea!!!

to add: i've placed tay's 7th letter on his blog. check it out and be a dear and leave him a comment. he loved the last ones! :)

i wanted to share a pic of a gift i received from michael, my friend from israel. he wanted to give me a christmas gift- i dare say it was the first such gift he's given. so cute, too, kept saying 'merry christmas' days after christmas was over. the reason i'm posting this is- he had many observations of being here during the holiday. he didn't think that our area seemed to really celebrate. he told me that christians love the jews- but most people 'don't love us so much'. i try to show him what being christian is, outside of what he sees working here in america. anyway, he gave me this:



he explained that he bought the necklace in israel when he was home last, and that it 'wasn't so much but thank you for being my friend.' he further explained that he didn't know who he would give it to- but that he had decided he wanted it to go to me, adding, he didn't understand why i wanted to be his friend. well, i just do.

it's sterling silver, the star of david, and as you may have guessed, the gift was perfect for me. i love it!

i found this interesting too... he forwarded this to me from his jewish friends. it had made the rounds in their peer group- and after i translated the hebrew (sample בן ביקש מאביו "אבי, האם תשתתף בריצת מרתון איתי?", האב אשר למרות היותו
סובל ממחלת לב אמר "כן". הם הלכו והתחרו במרתון ביחד. יום אחד ביקש הבן
מאביו "אבא, בא נשתתף בתחרות איש הברזל ביחד". האב אמר כן. כדאי להזכיר
כי תחרות איש הברזל כוללת שחיה בים למרחק של 3.86 ק"מ, רכיבה על אופנים
למרחק של 180.2 ק"מ וריצת מרתון של 42 ק"מ. האב ובנו התחרו בתחרות ביחד.
עכשיו תראו את הוידיאו המדהים הזה של שניהם מתחרים) to english found that they researched the story, added details AND LOVED the message. (yeah, i get a kick out of it translating what i can w/the help of a website) you just have to watch it to see why it's so interesting (and again, blogger won't let me just add a link so copy and paste plz):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMbk9dtpdY&eurl

and finally, out of the blue, i was released from my church calling as a primary teacher and was not extended a new one. (i think the comment i made a few months back about single moms being called to teach primary was overkill) sigh. lol.
love ya and Happy New Year!!!

christmas!

talk about your untraditional celebrations!

em and i decided to celebrate on christmas eve (day) being that she was spending christmas eve and day with her dad.

she's so cute- she woke up early on c-eve morning thinking that we'd open gifts WAY early. i only slowed her down a tiny bit- made her wait while i finished putting bows on her gifts. i also wanted to deliver our neighbor gifts with her before we got started...

she helped me put them together and off we went...to our elderly widow next door who is just CUTE. she had full make-up on (em says it must be a goal to get the make-up in the vacinity of where she would like it to be) and was dressed up head to toe in christmas green...with matching eye shadow. so CUTE. i complimented her on how festive she looked and she confided, "well, you know, i have so many christmas outfits that i changed three times yesterday to get to wear them!" so CUTE. :)

our other two stops were to neighbors that in their small way are good to us through the year... watching out for us while we're out of town, bringing the garbage cans in, edging my yard... just nice. and this year, one of those neighbors and i began talking again after years of strain. it's a beginning. i'd like to think one that added straw to Christ's manger.

when we finished, em opened her stocking and gifts. she was so excited to get her new rant phone and digital camera...amongst other fun things.



i did a couple of things for myself- a new dress and boots, along with buying a copy of the book that i made and gave to mom and dad, along with both sets of grandparents. as a teacher i receive so many fun things to treat myself- and gift cards to share as a family, too. mom and dad gave me my first digital frame- a large one that i absolutely LOVE. i'm putting together a wall grouping with it. :)...me and my photos!



darlene had em and i over to dinner after i got em's phone all set up. we helped with the dinner and then off em went.

my christmas day was spent, off and on, with Lori- another single mom spending the day alone.

we went walking first thing in the morning and then i hurried home and did a few things waiting for my elder to call. when he did it was so exciting to hear his voice again. makes me get emotional just remembering our convo. he's such a good boy. one wonderful thing that happened- i got to talk a minute with the mom of the family that has the missionaries living with them. she seemed to be so warm and sweet and yet i could tell she was lively and fun. she was so gracious with me- i had sent their family a christmas card and she said it made her cry, and then she went on to compliment me for how young i looked. blessings come in ways you never expect! first i get to learn first hand how wonderful the family is that tay gets to stay with- sister gardner was so kind regarding what she had to say about our boy...and i even get to hear a compliment about how young i look. it was a good exchange. :)

anyway- i'm posting that convo on tay's blog sometime this evening... i would love for you to leave a comment for him. he LOVED the last comments that were left!

lori and i then spent the day in a movie and at dinner. we were very lucky to find a place to eat- i mean, the news said many places would be open on christmas day- but we only found one: the golden corral. lol. it worked. :)

and finally, the day ended with phone calls to and from family. i love you guys! i'm so blessed!

below- tonight em and i finally got around to cooking a holiday meal...even if it wasn't on a holiday! it was fun and super yummy- we made a turkey with all the trimmings, homemade bread and a new traditional salad: field greens and spinach, fresh pear and slivered almonds with a homemade dressing to die for. fun!

ready or not...!

love this jibjab stuff- too fun! although, i'm trying to find a way to save and post so that em isn't cut off by my page limits...! (turns out that jibjab must be overloaded and so rather than deal with them- i took a pic of our design, and added it instead. it's not as good- but much more reliable!)

tay emailed AND sent a letter with a few pics... it's now on his page and ready for you to see! :)

Kenneth Cope

...made this 'O Holy Night' video in conjunction with Liz Lemon Swindle's art work. i found it to be wonderfully done and so i wanted to share!

blogger won't let me make it into a link- so just copy, paste, and enjoy!

http://www.foundationarts.com/christmas_2008_ecard_high_def.htm

Christmas Naughties

this is what i am not so lovingly referring to the abundant amount of goodies that are passed around at this time of year.

at my house there is a rule: "enjoy it for a day (12-18 hours)then throw it away."

yesterday was the last day of preschool and it was fun, as always! and as always, there was left over pizza and cookies and plenty of gifts that included treats.

some of those left over cookies made it to our home, and today em decided to make up one for me:



do you see the i (heart) u? so cute! so caloric? so NAUGHTY. and actually, she knows that i don't care for lots of frosting but she did it anyway. just so you can see how thick it is:



i told her i loved her and then i put on my walking shoes, grabbed up a gift i needed to deliver, along with some mail- and walked to the post office and on for another hour. i feel much better! just looking at that cookie made my blood sugar go up... :)

okay- so tay finally sent another letter and i'm going to write and paraphrase it a bit on his blog because there were things in there that he wanted kept private. all i can say is that it choked me up good. i've held myself together, well, until i read this last one.

thank you, again and again for loving and supporting him. :)

and, i'm sending my best vibes your way that the remaining time you have to spend preparing for Christmas and to be with your family doing fun things... that time will be splendid!!!

love ya!

tay's mission president letter arrived

with a pic and map and... i've posted it to his blog. ( a small map on the sidebar and a larger one you'll find by scrolling to the bottom of his page) check it out!

to catch up a bit!

the biggest and saddest news i have to share is- miley is no longer our dog.

when tay left- and the care for her planted itself on this working mom's shoulders- well, i thought i was doing okay. but i guess miley didn't.

she started showing defiance for the new schedule by messing in her kennel- even with me getting up throughout the night to let her out- i'd wake and she'd have done it again.

it didn't help that the temps were in the 20's and 30's while i'm out trying to clean it out and start again.

so... i went out and bought a better collar and toys and a dog coat- and took her for long walks and she still tortured me with the messing.

i mentioned my problem to a friend who knows dogs and i was told that when i was ready to say goodbye to miley, that a new home would be arranged for her, by people that love dogs more than they love people.

this reassured me... but still i tried.

and it got me no where.

so, now miley is in another home- we know nothing more.

and we will miss her.

on a brighter note: i received the letter and picture from the mission president and his wife. i plan on posting that tomorrow, k? it's good stuff! (something to look forward to, right?)

and today i had an opportunity that was fun, and hopefully works out, too. Scott (from elm fork) asked me to shoot some head shots for a poster that his tv show is needing. this show is going to be on the outdoors channel and will be called, Beretta's Raw and Wild. if they can work with the photos that we took then i'll have something of a TV CREDIT.

add that to Wal Mart insisting that one of my families get my approval for copyright on their family portraits photos... :)

packages are sent out and cards are almost done. shopping is done! and now the organizing and cleaning begin!

i spent 10 hours of my life today at elm fork and i'm whipped. goodnight y'all!

letter 4 arrived

check it out by following the link 'Elder Barron'. AND want you to know that i had two pages of comments to send him this week in my first letter to california. THANK YOU for taking the time to write a comment! BIG hugs :)

Look Out...

rhonda's (yes that's me) bought and decorated a tree! and i love it! (as much as i can love doing something that i'm not really into.) it's a nine foot, pre-lit beautiful tree and replaced a tree that barely made it through the last season. honest to goodness- if it hadn't have been tay's last Christmas at home, i would've kicked that tree to the curb the day we put it up. in humor and some disdain, we called it the leaning tree...

aside: if you could help me figure out why i'm so loath to get into decorating anymore... how i got to be this way... i'd be forever grateful. :)

Christmas is a wonderful season and i remember days gone by where i made the most of every carol or Christmas CD. not only did i decorate- but i worked on decorations months in advance. a couple of those decorations i use and love, still. such as our stockings and the tree garland.


the stockings i made...


the garland to match...


we each have a new ornament to add to the tree, this is em's.


i've always collected nativities...


taylor was not here to choose an ornament this year... so when i came across this indian and eagle one, and it brought to mind tay's eagle scout ceremony, i felt it was a wonderful find. head's up friends and family- next year i want to find a missionary ornament. if i can't find one i guess i'll make him one :)

the other tradition that we have is to collect (and this will make you wonder even more about me-) ornaments from our vacations. yes, even though i don't like to decorate for Christmas, i go out of my way to collect ornaments in every town we travel to. but, it is a fun collection! here are two we have from hawaii:



i want to pass on a trick i have- i keep all of my ornaments throughout the year in the christmas gift boxes that can be bought in stores- it takes a couple of boxes for each of us- and yes i separate them out when we bring the tree down, so that the following year we can easily see who's belong to each of us. after we decorate the tree i place the boxes under the tree. it looks like we have presents under the tree- and as funny as this sounds- everyone who comes over is impressed with that! let's just keep that amongst ourselves!

as i was working on this post i listened to The First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. i love the stories, the music, the Spirit. it helps and it heals.

i heard to reach out and serve- and that will be my goal the rest of this season, at least!

for all of you, from me- i hope that you are loving this time with your family, that you are enjoying the festivities, too- and that you feel the Savior's love! xoxo

tay wrote again...

and he's officially in CA as of yesterday morning! (For those of you who missed this- Tay has a link on my sidebar where i am posting his letters!) leave a comment and i'll be sure he hears from you when i send my letters. :)

a holiday review

hey family and friends!

i hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving- lots of yummy food and time with loved ones. :)

em and i were invited to Jeanie's home and with their large and wonderful family, we had a great time. that family knows how to cook! the food was delicious and there was easily enough for double the crowd.

about 1 a.m. miley decided to start whining. i couldn't comprehend it then but when she began again at 4 something i hopped out of bed to take her out. sure enough she had 'issues'.

at that point i couldn't go back to sleep, even tho i tried in vain. i looked over at the clock and it read 5ish. i decided to get myself up, dress, and head to best buy for the black friday deals.

i honestly didn't expect anything to be there that i had seen in the ads. but- i got VERY lucky, starting with a front row parking space.

to make it short- i found everything i wanted, didn't have to wait in the crazy lines ( a trick i learned a few years back) and was back home by 6:30.

it was great!

how about you- did you do the crazy shopping thing? any luck? did you say no way? :)

TWU

i had such a wonderful time working at TWU for the Music Dept. this past week! i spent two days with some amazing kids and a very welcoming admin, along with their professors.

it was so entirely awesome that honestly, i felt at home.
as in- when can i get back in school???

i sat in classes that sang, group instrumental classes and in private instruction.

the final class i attended just touched my soul... it was a classical guitar group, that included one student that also played violin. it was so beautiful watching and listening to them play- - - - :) and interestingly, the class was all men- and just one young lady. at texas WOMEN'S university!!!

p.s. i'm hoping to get a letter from tay monday afternoon!

hey!

i'm back and have lots to say... as if you didn't know that... but wanted you to know that i'm working on Taylor's Missionary Blog.

He's listed on my links as Elder Barron.

today i posted his first letter home!

if you write him a comment, i'll be sure to add those comments to my letters that i send him. :)

the MTC

cutting the pocket stitching...



adding the name tag...



officially official :)



grandma and uncle ryan with the newest elder at the mtc!

pics to capture these memories

i love my elder!



taylor, and a friend, michael, from age 5! :)



tay is the oldest grandson and gabe is the youngest- son of bj and rochelle.



...with beej, rochelle, and gabe.



tay and his grandparents, ron and sue.



tay with candice, andy, mandy, and ally.



tay with dani, kirk, braden, kimmie, rissa. and tanner.



tay and grandpa stan.



this is the silly version of tay and the girls...



and then they gave this nice one!



tay and grandpa on the way to the BYU vs San Diego. (we stomped)

countdown

it is monday- and i am thinking a lot.

i have two more days with tay- to complete getting him ready, to look at his face.

it has been a wonderful trip so far.

at the airport we met a woman who has sent out 5 sons on missions. she was so warm, and enthusiastic with tay about his serving- kind to me in some coping advice.

upon arrival we met another woman- who approached tay with such openess- and it turns out that she lives in the carlsbad california mission. she raved about the mission- it's members, the beauty of the area.

these interactions were like hugs. we recognized them as blessings.

we met mom and dad (so good to be here with them!) and grabbed a bite at our favorite place only to be approached by another- this time a young man that had returned just the day before from his mission. the brotherhood that these young men must feel was touching to witness.

we were so happy to see candice and the girls for a few minutes before we hurried off to the mall to get tay's shopping done.

at mr. mac's we were introduced to a salesman- who had served in the carlsbad mission just one year previous. he spoke with love and assurance to tay regarding the people and mission president. and then he helped us pick out the items tay would need.

at the end the manager gave us an additional discount because mom and dad knew him from years back- and again, all these things we recognize as blessings.

tay has seen most of the family now- and has said his goodbyes. it has been hard to observe these very tender moments.



em, she had the hardest time when reality hit her. she cried for hours, starting with the meeting when tay was set apart and not ending until she fell asleep exhausted.

james had a hard time, too. they (em and james) are hanging out together this week.

today we meet with james' family for dinner. i was invited along and i was happy to accept. it has been since i was married that i have been with all of them. i hope to fade back, take pictures for tay, and let this be all about him.

anyway, counting down- grateful, emtional, grasping at each potential moment.

tay told my uncle jc that he was ready to go- but was treasuring each of these moments leading up to wed.

he sits next to me at every opportunity. i rub his back- i pester him with mom type questions.

he puts up with my camera at his every turn. it is almost comical!

and so... onto the day. love from utah! ...rhonda

leaves, and leaves

this week has been beyond the usual in crazy- but when an event is coming and it feels like you're standing on the track at a station and your feet feel the rumblings of one approaching...

anyway- it was nice to make an excuse to get outside, which i did for a bit to take a few pictures of a new friend, michael, and a bit of texas leaves.



i took pictures at a friends 40th b-day party, too.



when i return, i'm tentatively scheduled to do two days of works for TWU's choral dept. they want to update their website, so i'm going in and capturing what happens during the day in the classes- sounds a bit fun, eh?

i also have a few families wanting photos, along with individual portraits upon my return- so, i'll return and hit the ground running!

today we finish getting ready to leave for utah. i'm sure i can pack and clean and make my kids a bit nuts today... i'm not sure that i can wrap my mind around tay leaving for two years until we walk in the mtc. i'm bring my own box of tissues-!

tay gets set apart tonight...

i'll share his testimony that he bore last sunday re his car and job.

do you recall a year ago? i called it my black october. my health was giving me issues, the fridge went out, and tay called to tell me he was arrested- and a few minutes later the missionaries were supposed to be coming over for dinner.

so i continued to prepare for the dinner as i waited for the officer to call and tell me i could come pick tay up- as long as i brought (was it?)$800. about then i tried to slice my finger off with my cutco knife.

it called for an ER visit. okay so- add up those expensives- and guess at the cost of the others, and you'll see that i was a bit stressed about what was happening with my budget, my health, and more importantly- my son.

it was at that point that taylor quietly turned to his Heavenly Father and asked for His help. tay desired to obtain a job, and with the help of a car he depended upon, which would need to be reliable, he prayed for the car too.

tay spent a year working every opportunity and quietly saved his money. it was rare for him to spend any of it. once in a while i'd see him grab take out, or come home with a new game- but that was it.

fast forward to this past sunday, when tay stood up and walked to the front of the fast mtg and stood to tell a 'fantastic story' as he called it.

he told that he worked his final night of delivering pizzas, woke the next morning, and his car wouldn't start. tears filled his eyes as he bore his testimony that he knew that Heavenly Father had answered his prayer- that everything would come together so he could save and go on his mission- and that he was blessed exactly that way.

after the mtg i had so many people come up to me and hug me- all of us with tears in our eyes- and then they expressed their happiness for taylor and that he's such an amazing young man. one family asked 'how do you raise a son like taylor?'

you know that it has been bumpy- and that no one knew what might happen in his life. but i am telling you, and this is my testimony- i did nothing. i loved tay, sure. and i fought for him with everything in me. but the reason tay is who he is and where he is today, is because Heavenly Father wants this young man and has plans for him. i have felt the angels fighting in his behalf- using me and others as necessary to reach him, and to secure him. i'm so grateful.

Taylor, Happy Happy Birthday!!!

i wasn't home yesterday to put this up- because after i got em to school i grabbed up tay and spent the morning with him at the temple and having lunch. i then went to the gun range to run leagues...and work on the next three mornings of subbing in seminary! whoo hoo what fun!

anyway- tay is such a great kid and i love him through and through. :) he's so prepared to teach. i asked tay why (because in all my wisdom i had a couple of thoughts on this) the Prophet, his mission president, and our local leaders had asked him to attend the temple often until entering the MTC.

tay- just being 19 had figured it out: that he needed to have a working knowledge and testimony of the eternal nature of families if he was going to be teaching about it. also- the more that we attend, the more we are able to lead others to the temple. i explained tha many of the missionaries will not have had the opportunity- for one reason or another- to have attended much. he'll have the opportunity to help and teach them as well. he may even have missionary opportunities within the MTC.

he's sober of mind and great in spirit and has such empathy for his fellow brothers and sisters. i'm just glowing inside!

i love you tay!

voting-

i, along with many other north texans, decided to early vote this past tues.

it felt good to make a decision and to be done with it!

and i encourage everyone to make their vote count too.

lately i've become acquainted with some people that do not have a right to vote in this country- all for varying reasons.

no names, to protect the innocent! so let's start with D.

D is from Africa. he came from an area where he fought in the national service until his life and that of his family, became in danger. they fled- made it to canada, tried to apply to the US for protection, and were told that if their lives weren't in danger in canada, then they could stay in canada. in the US northeast, late at night, and while they feigned being asleep, a friend drove them over the border and into america. shortly after, D's wife was admitted into a center for those emotionally ill. D cries as he tells his life story. the good news for him- they are now citizens, legally, and his wife is much better. they will be able to vote in one year's time.

K is from England. he 'online dated' girls from the US until he found someone that he felt was a keeper. she flew to England to meet him and after three dates she asked him to marry her! he came to the US with permission to stay 6 months, and in that 6 months he had to get married or return home. A visitor such as he cannot work here. and, it takes 6 months of marriage before you are eligible to work here. K's friend did the same thing...although, his online girlfriend wouldn't marry him and he's at the mercy of her and his friends until he meets someone else. i asked K why they went through all of the trouble to get here- i was wondering why someone in england would be so desparate to get here. he claims that it's impossible to get ahead in the UK- that there is no future there. and just so you know- he has an engineering degree- he's no slouch!

recently i met a group of people, 20 somethings from Israel. The group is here working for R at a store he co-owns. all of these young men and women served an amount of time in their homeland army. they all speak Hebrew, Arabic, English, and some Spanish. i inquired why they were here...and again it is said- America is the land of opportunity. they earn money and send it home. not one of the group can vote here. they didn't talk of the dangers in their homeland- dangers we know exist.

this list of people does not include the people i know from mexico that are here and working illegally, that also send money home, and that also cannot vote.

we take so much for granted. we are so blessed that we cannot even recognize the blessings we have because we've never known the kind of desperation that each of the above has faced.

even i- with my hardships and discouragements cannot even begin to comprehend life with my family's lives in danger- my children being schooled in warfare- the corruption that goes on in other countries, right on down to what happens at the post office when you try to send a package to a missionary. and yes, we have hungry citizens- but not a government that posts gunmen at delivery points to stop people that are trying to help.

please recognize the value of your vote, and then vote gladly!

taylor's farewell talk

i won't add much to this post- i'll just say that once again tay did a wonderful job of preparing and giving this talk titled, "Testify of Christ".


Testify of Christ

In answer to the question, “What are the fundamental principles of your religion?” the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” I was asked to speak about testifying of Christ. The first thing I asked myself was what does it mean to testify of Christ? Webster’s Dictionary gives two definitions to the word testify 1. To make a serious declaration to substantiate a fact; bear witness or give evidence and 2. To be evidence of.
To testify of Christ as we should, I believe that we need to address both definitions. We need to be missionaries with the purpose of declaring Christ’s name and we also need to emulate Christ ourselves.
In Doctrine and Covenants 11:21 it says, “Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men.”
So in order to testify of Christ we must study and work to become more Christ like ourselves. Christ like attributes come through righteous living, obedience, and charity. If we want to become great missionaries and examples to our friends who have not yet had the gospel in their lives then we must first embrace the gospel ourselves. To develop interest in our church we can show the light of Christ acting in our own lives.
Ammon was a great example of Christ like attributes. When he went to teach the Lamanites he went as a servant. The King of the Lamanites received him as a servant and asked Ammon to tend to his sheep. When the servants were attacked Ammon knew he had been given his chance to testify to the Lamanites because of his faithfulness. He knew that he had been promised protection by the Lord during his ministry to the Lamanites. So Ammon fearlessly drove away the attackers and showed the Lamanites the power of Christ. The astonished servants excitedly told King Lamoni what had transpired and the King became curious because of Ammon’s bravery and diligence. His heart was opened and Ammon was able to convert him to Christ that day.
Just as Ammon testified of Christ to the Lamanites we can testify to our friends. My favorite part about that story other than the chopping off of arms is that Ammon never tried to force a gospel conversation on King Lamoni. Often we can be a testament to the truthfulness of the gospel through our actions. The Latter Day Saints are a strange people to the world and the world watches us. Often the best way to start missionary work is through actions. An example of this is the commitment of time and talents our youth put into this church. Seminary five times a week at 6am, mutual once a week, three hours of church on Sunday and it is not uncommon for youth to be engaged in a meeting or other extra activities over the weekend. 7+ meetings a week. You really just do not see that anywhere else and I know that the youth open many hearts through their actions and are wonderful at testifying of Christ through their example.
The other thing we must do as latter day saints to properly testify of Christ is to open our mouths and testify when we have the chance. Christ taught not just those who were eager to hear and learn from him but he also taught those who were his enemies. He spoke to everyone who would listen.
In Doctrine and Covenants 100:5-8 it says:
Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, the very moment, what ye shall say. But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things. And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shat be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.
While not every conversation we have with a nonmember needs to be about Christ and our church we need to be open to missionary moments when we have the chance. We know when we have opportunities to testify of Christ and of our church. We just need to have the faith to take advantage of them.
Samuel the Lamanite was a great example of testifying of Christ when it might have been a scary thing to do. He was asked in Helaman 13 that he should return to the Nephites, after he had already been turned away to prophesy the things of his heart. The Nephites even tried to kill him as he preached from the city wall yet he continued to preach the words of God to them. As we know, the Nephites decided to remain wicked but at least Samuel showed a great example of missionary work.
Another example of a prophet being asked to testify to people who he thought would surely turn him away was Jonah. Jonah was asked to call the Ninevites to repentance. He was so opposed to the task that the Lord caused him to be swallowed by a whale before Jonah consented to do what was asked of him. To Jonah’s surprise the wicked Ninevites did repent and the Lord did not need to destroy them.
Both prophets Jonah and Samuel were asked to testify of Christ. When they did they had different results. They were obviously both men of God yet one people received the gospel into their lives and one did not. What I draw from this story is that the Lord may ask you to bear your testimony of the divinity of Christ even though he knows that testimony will not be received. Also, I know that even if I testify with the spirit and the Holy Ghost I may still not be received and that is ok. As long as I do my part and bear my testimony I do not need to be ashamed if a friend does not accept the gospel into their lives.
With all the full-time missionaries of the church it might seem like missionary work is exclusively for missionaries. This is not true. Every member of the church should seek out and pray for missionary opportunities. President Hinckley taught:
“So many of us look upon missionary work as simply tracting. Everyone who is familiar with this work knows there is a better way. That way is through the members of the church. Whenever there is a member who introduces an investigator, there is an immediate support system. The member bears testimony of the truth of the work. He is anxious for the happiness of his investigator friend. He becomes excited as that friend makes progress in learning the gospel.
“The full-time missionaries may do the actual teaching, but the member, wherever possible, will back up that teaching with the offering of his home to carry on this missionary service. He will bear sincere testimony of the divinity of the work. He will be there to answer questions when the missionaries are not around. He will be a friend to the convert who is making a big and often difficult change…. The process of bringing new people into the church is not the responsibility alone of the missionaries. They succeed best when members become the source from which new investigators are found.”
As President Hinckley said, it is a much better situation when members of the church are active missionaries. It is important when investigators come to church gatherings that they have a friend and an outlet to help them feel more comfortable. It is also important to members themselves to reach out and bear their testimonies often.
In Doctrine and Covenants 84:61 it says “For I will forgive you of your sins with this commandment- that you remain steadfast in your minds in solemnity and the spirit of prayer, in bearing testimony to all the world of those things which are communicated to you.”
It is implied in this scripture that the Lord will forgive those who bear testimony of that which the Spirit teaches us. Because it is also written in the scriptures that the Lord cannot look upon sin with the smallest degree of allowance I believe that when we bear our testimonies we are perfected. President Joseph F. Smith said in Doctrine and Covenants 138:12 that “the spirits of the just” were those that “had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality.”
In contrast, when describing the terrestrial kingdom in Doctrine and Covenants 76:79 Joseph Smith says, “These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.” From these scriptures I conclude that it is necessary to engage in missionary work when we can. In order to become perfected in Christ we must be valiant in our testimony of Him. I know that in my lifetime I have felt the regret of passing a possible missionary opportunity and I would not with that feeling of disappointment on anybody.
I have heard that a great talk ends with a challenge. I want my talk to have been great so I challenge you to pray this week for missionary opportunities in the morning and at night every day this week and act on any promptings that may come of it.
(2 Ne. 25:26.)


Tay then bore his testimony to conclude the talk.

i was/am very proud of him!

our trip to the temple

it was a beautiful day and i am thankful for the wonderful experience that we all had together.

because of the sacred nature of being there- it's best left at that!

Michael Buble'

Hands down this was the most talented, genuine, entertaining time i have spent at a concert.

Michael's talent isn't in doubt... but when i asked tay and em if they wanted to try and get tickets em was enthusiastic and tay was doubtful at best, but because he's brave, he surprised me by answering, 'sure.'

i'm not so brave but i am adventurous, so when the time came yesterday to get the kids together to go- i sent tay a text to see if he hadn't managed to have a conflict.

when the three of us got on our way, gps guiding, the feeling that this really was going to happen began to creep into my mind.

we got there, bought our t's and took our seats (great btw) just in time for the opening comedy act to begin.

the guy wasn't prepared for our group- and he pretty much bombed...

but that made michael's concert even the more sweeter.

honestly- if tay could be blown away by the experience, which he was, then i really don't have to add anything more- but i want to.

em yelled and cheered like he was a jonas brother. both of my kids saw me behave like i might've as a teen.

and three times when the conference center was completely quiet, i whooped or told michael that i loved him. i didn't even blush.

he sang and danced- his band played their hearts out- he enteracted with the audience, and at the end- even after singing all the fave such as 'lost', 'everything', 'home', 'you know how i feel' and many surprises such as 'mrs. jones' and 'ymca', i found the very last sounds he sang to be the very most memorable.

i want to add that michael seems to be a very nice, funny guy. many times during the concert he would just begin to talk and have us in stitches over something- but at the end, he became serious and said he didn't want to end things on a downer- but that he and the band recognized that this audience came to see them on gas money. that families with college children were their paying good money for the seats. that the countries we loved were in bad times... so he thanked us and teared up in the end saying that good friends of his were canceling concerts because people just didn't have the money to attend. he thanked us and said he'd come back as often as we would have him.

Michael came out upon our encore request and sang, 'a song for you'... and on the last few measures, dropped the band, dropped the microphone, stood at the very front of the stage (which immediately we all sensed) and finished the song acapella. it was heart stoppingly beautiful.


I've been so many places in my life and time
I've sung a lot of songs and I've made some bad climbs
I've acted out my life in stages with ten thousand people watching
Oh, but we're alone now and I'm singing this song for you
I know your image of me is what I hope to be, I've treated you unkindly
Oh, but Darling can't you see that, there's no one more important to me
Baby, baby, can't you see through me, 'cause we're alone now
And I'm singing this song to you, you taught me precious secrets
Of a true love withholding nothing, you came out in front
When I was hiding, yeah, yeah, but now it's so much better
If my words don't quite come together, please listen to the melody
'Cause my love is in there somewhere hiding
I love you in a place where there is no space or time, I love you for my life
You are a friend of mine, and when my life is over
Remember, remember, remember when we were together
And we are alone now, and I was singing this song to you
We were alone, and I was singing, yeah singing
We were alone, and I was singing this song for you
Singing my song, I'm singing my song for you


don't miss the opportunity to see him if you ever have the chance!

results

the results are in...!

miley does NOT have cancer- she had a very severe bacterial infection that our vet said she should recover fully from. we're doing the happy dance for miley. although all of us are scared of her at the moment. she's scary with the lampshade accessory and she's been so hungry that she's been manical.

so- to answer the lampshade issue: she's getting her stitches out monday and we're hoping that she's losing the hat then, too. if not- we're prepared to decorate it for halloween! ;)

and the hunger issue: i received permission today for miley to start to get to eat more- which is very good for her. we hope to see her calm down several notches or ten!

and finally i have one more result to announce: Tay got his ACT score. he scored a 29 and we're so very proud of him!!! yea!!! this calls for another happy dance!

now- we're off to bed- em has the doughnuts assigned to her in seminary tomorrow and tay has his temple session @ 7:30. i'll be working until late and have to put in 24 hours at the range over the weekend.

frankly, i'm tired just thinking about it! :)

i went shooting today...

shotgun shooting, and loved it!

the divas came out again last saturday to the range- and when there was a bit of a break, one of the instructors called me over with, "rhonda, get over here and shoot!" i couldn't wait to! and of course i missed a few- it's been a year since i shot last- but i hit several, too.

because of that- a couple of the shooters began to ask me to go shooting and today i had the opportunity to get out.

it was sooo fun and i can't wait for the next round!

we have some plans we're looking forward to as a family this month- we're going to see michael buble' in concert, we're going to see byu stomp tcu, and we plan on spending an evening at the texas state fair. FUN!!!

wish you were here................! :)

miley... :(

our little miley has been sick- as you know- she had a fever and undiagnosed issues with eating. i thought it might be an obstruction- as did mom, but our vet took xrays and couldn't see anything.

exploratory surgery was the only option to know exactly what was hurting her, so i took it- with a discounted price tag of 1k.

still we have no answers. they did find that her lymph nodes were highly infected and swollen along with an inflamed intestinal tract. biopsy's were taken and we should know if it's cancer or not early this week.

to keep miley from messing with her incision, she is wearing what we lovingly refer to as her lampshade. em calles her a wrecking ball because she bangs into everything with it!

and, as you can see- she has quite perfected her 'puppy eyes'. :)

Happy Birthday BJ!!!

i know, i know... late! but we love you and hope that it is the bestestest!!!

love, your texas family :)

miley...

has been sick. she stopped eating last thursday and by saturday was very sick with a 105 fever.

james had the kids and miley- so they took her to a vet. the doc couldn't find any of the usual suspects, so she did blood work and a body scan, along with giving miley an IV for the day.

still, nothing was found. so miley is home with a special diet and medicine, still being very lathargic and uncooperative in taking her medicine.

i'm hopeful- i've been able to get her to eat eggs and beef hotdogs. she really doesn't like the prescribed dog food. and honestly? i don't blame her!

changing subjects...

tay has his recommend and we're scheduled to take him to the dallas temple next friday. we're very excited!

interestingly...

i had three guys, 27 and younger, try to get dates with me, all within 18 hours. i'm not sure what that is all about- i even looked at one of the guys and said, "are you serious?" he responded with writing his name and number down and handing it to me.

so, dear family...any opinions? how about i add... they were all very nice looking and well spokien? (laughing) can't wait to read your responses!

our run-in with ike

after all of the big build up- ike moved up texas to the east of us. we experienced wind and rain (that would come with any storm) and it was actually just very pleasant.

i'm sad for the many who had the real terror of the storm. tomorrow i'm stopping in at the city to see what the outlook is of the evacuees there.

remember these people in your prayers!

Riddle: What do Hurricane Ike and Rhonda have in common...?

Elm Fork, too, is being affected. yesterday i made up the flood plan after riding with Jeanie around the property, taking notes at what we needed to move to higher ground.

we will close early tomorrow- and we had to cancel the competitive shoot, 'Dove Classic' that was to be held this weekend.

flooding at the range is always a concern- but with Ike, we're also very concerned about the wind that will be coming...





yup- they're bringing evacuees into my little world again!

i'll keep you posted...

here comes the rain!!!

The envelope please...

we are BEYOND excited to announce that Taylor has received his mission call and will be serving a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Carlsbad California Mission. He reports to the MTC on Wed. Nov. 12th. (wow-)

WHOOO HOOOO!!!!

(too see the notes on each picture, place your mouse on the slideshow)

kerry- i am so glad you've visited the blog and left a comment! i hope this means that you'll soon have your own blog! :) (for everyone else- kerry was my roomie my second year at byu. she was one of two roomies that joined the church that year- and this year she's teaching seminary in Georgia, married, and the mother of three beautful children!)