Mormon Bloggers

Last night when we had Family Home Evening, I remembered a video with a message I loved so much.  I searched for quite some time until I found it.  It was President Gordon B. Hinckley’s talk “Lessons I Learned as a Boy“.  I love the videos the church has made to go with the wonderful stories shared.  This one touches me especially and I started to cry as I read a comment from someone thanking those who have “put silver coins in their boots”.  I look around at our home and realize everything we have been given that we didn’t have the ability to buy ourselves.  There was a company that contacted our school and wanted to sponsor a family at Christmas time.  They were so generous, also with things that were not needs like video games, but with the gift cards they gave us, we were able to buy a decent bunkbed for our boys and a pull out bed to go underneath it.  A friend’s mom was thinking of selling her couch, but when she found out we needed... Read the rest of this entry »

Our church leaders counsel us often to live within our means and not try to keep up with the Jones’s.  As we search for a home, we have to ask ourselves what is truly a need and we remember how much less others have and our relatives who came before us.  It used to be common to squeeze into a small space.  My father-in-law said he had exactly one drawer when he was growing up for his clothes because there were so many kids in his family, but he was happy.  Living in an apartment hasn’t made us miserable, but according to the rules, we are supposed to only have two people per bedroom.  We would stay and save money a while longer if it weren’t for the worry that our manager would kick us out, although she doesn’t want to.  This is our third time attempting to buy a house and though lenders have been under fire for the housing crisis, it seems nothing much has changed.  We were frustrated to receive a lot of pressure from our realtor and lender as they tried... Read the rest of this entry »

In our church, we talk a lot about researching our family history, but the other part is making our own, leaving journals, pictures, etc. for our relatives to see.  When I was a kid, we got together a few times to watch some old film my grandpa took of the family with no sound.  Years later, my uncle had a VHS tape made with a soundtrack including family favorites, but also recordings of our relatives singing.  It is one of my most valued possessions and it has become a little worn from overuse.  A bunch of us were given copies and I finally transferred mine to DVD this weekend, although I think my uncle could provide another one that is in better shape. After my daughter watched Dora for the millionth time, my son put in a DVD and I wondered what annoying movie he was putting on.  He’s 9 and I was very surprised to see that he wanted to see the DVD we just made.  All of the kids watched with interest.  “There’s Grandma and Grandpa getting married!”  “Are... Read the rest of this entry »

My daughter is about three and a half and I love the things she is starting to understand.  I made two lasagnas earlier this week because a friend of mine will be in the hospital until her baby is born, which will be six weeks at the most.  She has placenta previa and it is extremely dangerous for her to go into labor.  She can’t take care of her toddler at all and she had to have a phone by her at all times in case she had any contractions.  If so, she had to be rushed to the hospital.  Considering my third trimester was like one long labor, I wondered how long she could go without having contractions.  It wasn’t long after that when she was admitted.  They also have two teenage daughters with a very busy schedule and Dad still needs to go to work. Of course, I couldn’t explain this all to my daughter when she asked why I was making two lasagnas.  I just told her my friend was sick and in the hospital.  That she did understand and she said, “This will make... Read the rest of this entry »

My 8-year-old came down with croup this weekend and it was heartbreaking.  I realized there were a lot of blessings in it though.  Because I had friends whose kids had experienced it, I knew what to look for when my daughter got it.  Because I knew exactly what it sounded like, it didn’t take me long at all to figure out he had it.  Usually kids don’t get it after their toddlers years, so I’m pretty sure I would have mistaken it for an asthma attack and called 911.  I quickly moved him out into the cold air and within moments he was able to breathe better.  It was midnight when he came out of his room with a terrifying cough, gasping for air.  He spent the night taking showers and sleeping close to the open window all bundled up. I am grateful for a pediatric clinic that has Saturday appointments so I didn’t have to endure the ER or Urgent Care.  All night on Friday, I was prepared to take him to the ER if needed, but he was surviving with home remedies so... Read the rest of this entry »

Our budgeting challenge for our sons continues.  In order to save money, they need to cook some things from scratch.  My 9-year-old wanted to buy a package of frozen hamburger patties, but that was going to be way outside of his budget.  I haven’t attempted to make my own since my husband and I were newlyweds and needed a refresher, so I looked it up on YouTube.  My son could buy a one pound package of hamburger for $3 vs. $8 on a package of frozen burgers. He was thrilled with the results and declared it the best burger he has even had.  This challenge is good in so many ways.  He feels very proud of himself and it just makes him want to learn about cooking even more.  When my boys move out someday, I want them to be able to cook at least ten things from memory rather than resorting to buying expensive, pre-packaged food from the freezer section, which is also less healthy.  I want them to be very helpful to their wives, who I’m guessing will most likely work at least... Read the rest of this entry »

My kids have gotten really bad about wasting food, overeating other foods, and complaining about what I make for dinner.  After another cup of milk went down the sink because someone didn’t end up drinking it, I finally followed through with my threat to make the kids buy their own groceries.  Of course, I didn’t make them pay for it.  I divided up our family budget and figured out how much it would cost to feed one person.  My kids are on free or reduced lunch at school, so I decided I wouldn’t make them pay for that – just breakfasts and dinners for the next seven days and lunch on the weekends too. Any money they have leftover can be used on whatever they want, but they have to make it through the week without having to go shopping again. My youngest son’s first thought was to skip meals so he can buy lots of candy.  That idea was promptly shot down.  No, you have to eat something for every meal and you have to have a fruit or vegetable with each... Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday was one of my hardest days as a parent.  My son told a lie and made things worse and worse for himself.  Once I found out what he did and everything he did to cover it up, I was so upset.  There have been other minor issues in the past and I don’t like to dig up old behaviors, but I had to show him that he was displaying a pattern of this kind of behavior.  I told him if he’s dishonest as a kid, he could grow into a dishonest adult.  When his brother knew what he was doing, he even told him he better not talk about it.  That’s just adding more to his consequences.  He knew it was impossible to hide it from us forever and he chose to lie about it anyway.  He’s twelve and he definitely knew what he was doing.  No excuses. I can tell he feels bad, but I’m not sure if it’s because he did something wrong or because he got caught.  I don’t know how severe his punishment should be.  I need to be harsh enough to teach him a lesson,... Read the rest of this entry »

I had a pretty rotten week.  It became apparent that my computer had a virus and I tried everything I could to solve the problem.  My antivirus said it quarantined a trojan, but then Windows crashed anyway and files started disappearing.  Thank goodness I had at least backed up everything important!  I wasn’t able to update any security features and it told me I had a connectivity problem.  I couldn’t do any Windows Updates that were security related or update my antivirus definitions.  It was extremely frustrating and I wished I knew more about computers so I c0uld get rid of it without installing Windows all over again.  When something popped up telling me to “buy now” in order to fix my hard drive, I knew for sure it was something malicious.  The most annoying thing is that I don’t know where it came from. I spent the next two days starting over, doing many restarts and installs.  The kids and I passed the time playing video games together and then... Read the rest of this entry »

Being invited to another church for anything can be a little intimidating, especially if you don’t know what to expect.  My best friend sang a duet with me at church and she didn’t have time to be nervous about the music because she was so scared she would do something disrespectful by accident.  Now she knows there was nothing to worry about, so she’ll enjoy it a lot more next time.  I wish I had written a post about what to expect so she would feel more at ease, although she didn’t exactly give me a heads up about the collection plate at her church.  The pastor said, “It’s time for the offering.”  I thought, “Oh, that sounds nice!”  I had no idea what that meant.  When we pay tithing at our church, we put it in an envelope addressed to the bishop and either hand it to him later or mail it, so I was totally clueless. My son was recently baptized and I invited some friends who aren’t Mormon.  I realized that they might... Read the rest of this entry »

Mormons have a special appreciation for our bodies and place an emphasis on the resurrection, believing we will literally be reunited with them, but in a perfect condition.  There is a scripture in The Book of Mormon that always gives me comfort and is etched in stone near the graves of my relatives.  Alma 40:23 says: The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame. We have so many reasons to rejoice in what our bodies can do!  More and more, I have taken the focus off of what my body looks like and just appreciate the many miraculous things it can accomplish.  I created life four times with my husband.  I can sing, play the piano, dance, cook, swim, and more.  Some things have become harder as my body ages, but I know this is just a short part of eternity.  I will get to enjoy a perfect,... Read the rest of this entry »

Our church has counseled us for many years not to get into debt unless it’s to buy a house or perhaps for a student loan.  It was very frustrating when we exhausted our savings and felt we had nothing left we could do except to use a credit card.  Medical expenses came up along with a major increase in gas prices.  My husband’s company was sending him very far for work and didn’t reimburse him for the gas or mileage.  Suddenly we were paying $800 a month for gas.  It was either put it on the credit card or don’t go to work.  I look back and don’t know what we could have done, but we’re still kicking ourselves for it. We went from having $10,000 in savings and no debt to almost no savings and $10,000 of debt in just a few years.  Putting that money in our savings took a long time and I knew paying off that much plus interest would be even worse.  My husband’s next job brought a pay cut, but also a work vehicle that he didn’t have to... Read the rest of this entry »