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................! :)