Mormon Bloggers

This week was full of exciting, yet stressful things. As of Monday I was coming home for the summer, by Wednesday I was considering staying, and by Thursday it was Offical. Yes that is true. I am Staying in Idaho for the summer(spring) semester. I had an interview to be the Newest Fitness Director for Fitness Activties and I got the position! Because of this job I will be able to stay the summer. I am the director over fitness groups and activties. At first I was in complete shock when I got the call but now i’m so excited I can’t Handle it! I have no many great ideas for this summer and I hope they all will work out! Here are some my ideas, tell me what you think

• Hot Mommas- A work out Group for expecting mothers
• Dam Runners- A marathon Training group for the Dam Marathon in June(which I Plan on running, well at least a half marathon)
• Relief Society Fitness Groups
• Married events, and workout groups.
• Any more Ideas are Welcome!

Its going to be such an awesome summer. I am going to miss my family so much, but i hope this will give the good opportunites to grow and learn as a leader. Thank you heavenly father for this chance to grow and the opportunity to Learn. With Christ all things are possible.

So as a reward to myself for getting this job i bought myself the cutest running out fit and it was on Sale! so here is my pic, Its a cute pair of black running capris as well as a white runners jacket! I hope you like!

I’m 34 today!  Today should be wonderful.   One of my best friends is coming up from three hours away because she wants to watch my kids and send me and my husband out for dinner.  I never realized that she loved me quite that much.  I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Being outnumbered by all the boys in this house, today I am making all movie watching decisions.  Yes, if they are in the room, they will have to watch The Princess Diaries, Little Women, and possibly Pride and Prejudice (which my 6-year-old calls Pride and Poo Poo).  I suffer through Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Bob the Builder, and other boy shows all the other days of the year.

I’m going to have a nice long shower with no one bothering me, possibly take a nap, do a little shopping by myself with my birthday money my mom gave me, and tonight we’ll play some board games together.  I’m even willing to play Pirates of the Caribbean Life to thank my sons for suffering through my girl movies.

My mom took me to lunch yesterday and we had a great time.  My two kids we took with us were angels, the food was delicious, and we played Sorry with my youngest son before Grandma went home.  She also bought all of my boys fun jammies that light up, which was like a gift to me because I love to see the excited look on their faces.

I’m going to set some goals for myself.  This is going to be the year I finally get this place decluttered and make an organized space.  This is going to be the year I write a book whether anyone wants to publish it or not.  For the month, I am going to finish the story I started writing about the week my first son was born.  I am also determined to become self-reliant and finally get out of this apartment.  I don’t care anymore if we have to rent a house.  At least we would be in a house.

I’m grateful for my life.  It has been great, full of interesting and wonderful experiences.

We rented and watched the latest Speed Racer and all I have to say is Rent This Movie! It was awesome and had crazy special effects, crazy racing, and crazy fight action! We missed it in the theatre and I don’t think it did very well, probably because it was released the week after Iron Man and before Narnia and Indiana Jones. Not very good timing or I’m sure it would have done better. Definitely rent and see this movie.

This picture is a small sampling of everything our church makes.  It has a brand called “Deseret”.  About 8 years ago, it was a tough financial time for our family and we received help for a while then and yesterday I was amazed to see how many products the church makes now.  They make dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, tubs of butter, pork roasts, beef roasts, bologna, ground beef, ground sausage, hot cocoa mix, maple syrup, pancake mix, fruit drink mix, macaroni, canned tomatoes, applesauce, spaghetti sauce, various soups, lasagna noodles, cheddar cheese, macaroni and cheese similar to Kraft (which made my 5-year-old extremely happy), soup mix, and so many other things.  I’m not sure if the produce comes from church farms or not, but I am curious to know the origin of everything they offer.

When my older sons got home from school and saw the refrigerator was packed full of milk, they were so excited.  My 6-year-old asked, “Mom!  Where did you get the money for all of this food?”  Things have been very tight and we had to limit how often the kids ate cold cereal because we were running low on milk.  When it snowed yesterday, I was worried we would have to go another day without it, but luckily it was short lived and I was able to make the trip there.  Gratefully, it is about 30 minutes or so away from me.  

Attached to the storehouse is the cannery.  Church members (and I think non-members can do this too) go there to purchase items that are typically a better deal, many of which are used for food storage.  Part of the experience is doing the canning yourself, also canning products for those who are receiving church welfare.  As soon as I can, I want to go and experience this myself and give back.

What a blessing this is!  I don’t know how we would survive without this help.  I am eager to get back on our feet and help others.  As hard as it is, this is a reminder as to how so many people suffer every day just trying to feed their family.

The best place to start…. at the beginning….Chapter 1 of the book of Isaiah. I found a wonderful article, by LDS author, Hugh Nibley, entitled “Great are the Words of Isaiah” it is an address given at BYU’s sixth annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium on January 28, 1978. He goes through Chapter 1 of Isaiah verse by verse. Be sure to check out the entire article HERE

“The quickest way to get an overview of the immense book of Isaiah is simply to read the first chapter. Scholars have long held that this is not part of the original book but a summary by a disciple. If so, that makes it nonetheless valuable, and indeed it is remarkable that this, the most famous chapter of Isaiah, is never quoted in the Book of Mormon. Let’s take it verse by verse.

1:2. The people of Israel are God’s children—he is their Father. This is the doctrine they have forgotten, and they will be in no condition to receive it again until they have undergone the moral regeneration that is the burden of Isaiah’s preaching.
1:3. That doctrine they have rejected: they refuse to hear it.
1:4. Because they can’t live with it in their sinful state, they have run away from it. This is inexcusable; God does not look upon it with forbearance. He knows that they are quite capable of understanding and living by the gospel. Accordingly, he is more than displeased; he is angry.
1:5. Yet it is not he who has been giving them a hard time. They decided to go their own way, openly revolting against him. And their system is simply not working. They are not able to cope with the situation mentally nor do they have the spirit to carry it through. Men on their own are a pitiful object.
1:6. The whole thing is sick, sick, sick. Every attempt to correct the situation fails miserably. Nothing works.
1:7. The result is internal depression and international disaster.
1:8. God’s chosen people are holed up, trusting in their miserable defense, trapped by their own walls.
1:9. The reason they survive at all so far is that there are still a few righteous, a small remnant of honest people among them.
1:10. So it is time they were considering the alternative, which Isaiah herewith offers them.
1:11. You are not going to appease God by trying to buy him off, by going through the pious motions of religious observances, your meetings and temple sessions.
1:12. It is not for you to decide what to do to please God—it is for him to decide, and he has not required all this display of piety from you.
1:13. Your most dedicated observances, even following my ancient prescriptions, if done in the wrong spirit are actually iniquity—not to your credit but to your loss.
1:14. God is not impressed but disgusted by it.
1:15. Even when you pray I will not hear you. Why not? Answer: Because there is blood on your upraised hands.
1:16. The blood and sins of this generation are on you in the temple. What blood and sins? Your evil ways.
1:17. What evil ways? What should we be doing? Answer: Dealing justly, relieving those oppressed by debt instead of collecting from them, giving a fair deal to the orphans and assistance to the widow, in other words, showing some thought for people without money.
1:18. God is not being capricious or arbitrary. He is eminently reasonable. Is his way the only way? Let him tell you why, and then see if you do not agree: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.” Then a surprising statement: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Plainly God does not take pleasure in these rebukes, he does not gloat as men would (for example, Thomas Aquinas) over the punishment in store for the wicked; he loves them all and holds forth the most wonderful promises for them. There is a way out, and that is why Isaiah is speaking, not because he is a puritanical scold.
1:19. Have they had enough? They need only to listen and to follow advice and all will be well.
1:20. But you cannot go on as you have been. You will be wiped out by war if you do. “For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” The “consumption decreed” (D& C 87) is another quotation from Isaiah.
1:21. You can do it—because you once did. And then you lost it all—went over to unbridled sex and murder.
1:22. And for what? Property and pleasure, for silver that is now as worthless as garbage and wine that is flat.
1:23. The leaders set the worst example. They work with crooks, everybody is on the take: “Every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards,” while the poor don’t get a break in court and a widow can’t even get a hearing.
1:24. God wants nothing to do with such rascals; he is going to get rid of them. They have made themselves his enemies.
1:25. This calls for a thorough housecleaning. All that dross must be purged away.
1:26. To bring back the old order, “restore thy judges as at the first” (as quoted in the well-known hymn). It is still possible, and God is going to bring it about. There will yet be “The city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
1:27. There is going to be a Zion redeemed with many of these same sinful people living in it, along with a lot of converts from the outside.
1:28. All the rest will have to go, but not because God chooses to throw them out. They will walk away from safety right into destruction; with eyes wide open they will forsake the Lord and be consumed.
1:29—31. These verses are the only references to paganism—popular cults that will wither and be burned up—not be destroyed, however, because they follow pagan manners or forms, as the doctors, ministers, and commentators love to tell us, but because they were part of the cover-up for avaricious, hard, and immoral practices.

Please read the entire article HERE. LDS author, Hugh Nibley, also examines why we should study Isaiah today, and why it is sometimes unpopular …. “The book of Isaiah is a tract for our own times; our very aversion to it testifies to its relevance. It is necessary to remind us of its importance, however, because Isaiah’s message has not been popular, and he tells us why.”

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Normally, I don’t do Giveaways. But this week is an exception, and it’s a different kind of Giveaway. I’m calling it a Give-and-get.

The normal Giveaway turns out like this:

1) Someone pays for something to be given away in the hopes that word will spread and people will use their product or service.

2) Everyone comments saying how great it is, how they can’t live without product/service and want it desperately. Lots of exclamations are used, hoping that the most enthusiastic comment will be picked as the winner. Kind of like The Price is Right.

3) Once the contest ends and the winner is picked, no one buys anything. It’s kinda depressing.

So, I’m doing a new kind of Giveaway, where everyone that leaves a comment wins and there is nothing to buy. Here’s how it works:

1) Leave a comment with an idea of what you would like me to design next, it can be anything not just YW.

2) Then, I will email you with a high resolution file of one of my favorite church quotes for women that I’ve designed. You can print, personalize and share with your girls, friends, family, etc. I’d post a picture of it on here, but then what would be the surprise in that?

It’s that simple! We both give and we both get. This Give-and-get ends on St. Patrick’s Day.

Our church has an excellent welfare system that gives people the help they need as they move towards self-reliance.  My husband has been given almost a 25% cut in pay and we were barely making it as it was.  Today I was grateful to visit the “Bishops’ Storehouse”, which has a variety of food and other necessities for those who are struggling.  You visit with your bishop and he determines how the church can help and if a food order is an appropriate way of helping. 

After determining that we were clearly in need of help, the bishop sent our Relief Society president (she is over our women’s group) to our house and she marked down on a form the things my family needs and how many of each item we needed.  While two of my kids were at school, I went to the storehouse and they had me sit in a room with my baby and 5-year-old son while this nice elderly gentleman retrieved items from the shelves, freezers, and refrigerators. 

He loaded frozen meats, produce, deodorant, diapers, milk, beans, rice, cereal, canned fruits, canned sauces, soup, toilet paper, dishwasher detergent, pudding, flour, sugar, yeast, and many more things onto two large carts.  I wondered how many hours he works each day (he is serving a mission with his wife) and if he has many aches and pains being on his feet all day lifting boxes.  My gratitude went beyond how much money went towards these items, but the service given by these wonderful people.  He came out to help me load my van and those boxes were not light.  When I got home, I couldn’t bring them all in by myself.  My back was starting to hurt too much.  This man paid his own money to go on a mission and gives his time and energy every day to help people in need.  It amazes me.

While we were sitting in the room, several of the volunteers there stopped to talk to my children, one man giving us bananas to eat.  They even had hot chocolate available to drink.  When you’re there, you don’t feel like a welfare case.  You feel loved.

It was also humbling to see how others had it worse.  One man there was on crutches after having broken his leg in seven places.  He had no disability insurance and is unable to work and his wife was laid-off from both of her part-time jobs the same month.  They have seven children.  He’s looking at being on his crutches at least twelve more weeks and then he’ll have another surgery to remove the rods from his leg. 

It’s a scary time for so many people.  If it weren’t for the church, our rent would not get paid this month and food would be scarce.  I am so grateful and will have a lot of blessings to ask tonight for those who have helped us.  I hope we can return the favor someday.

Really, an amputee got a tail. Click here to read all about it. I think it’s pretty awesome. I’d ask for one.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.” (2Nephi 12:2, Isaiah 2:2)

I love this photo, from the Deseret Morning News, of the new Draper Temple, in the background and the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple in the foreground. There is also another temple, the Jordan River Temple, in between these two, but not in line for the camera shot. Along with the Salt Lake Temple, we now have four temples in the Salt Lake Valley! I love the verse above, from 2Nephi12:2 and Isaiah 2:2. The “mountain of the Lord’s house” is, of course, referring to the temple. And I love how it says “established in the top of the mountains”, did you know that the word “Utah” is from the Ute Indian word meaning “top of the mountains”?

Today, we are going to visit the open house of the Draper Temple again. We went on the first day, back in January, and now we’re going again and taking three teenagers with us. One of the boys we have known since he was 2 years old. He’s always been a good boy, kind and loving, but when he was 15, about a year ago, he got in with the wrong crowd of kids and got addicted to hard drugs. Through lots of prayer, intervention, a return to right-minded friends and God’s grace, he was turned around and is now back to his happy, loving and giving self. He is now helping other kids to get clean. He is an inspiration to many. Now he is ready to open himself up to the spirituality he feels inside himself. Like Joseph Smith, he is looking for which church to join. He’s met with the missionaries a few times, and when I asked him if he’d like to go through the temple at the open house, he accepted gladly, and is bringing along a couple friends. What a wonderful day!

And it shall come to pass….

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (Isaiah 9:2)

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“O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.” Mormon 9:27

Listen to the words of the Lord, ask for what you need in the name of the Father and be believing. Come unto the Lord with all your heart and work out your own salvation. Listen or heed the Lord’s words, he wants us to have those things we stand in need of. We are taught to ask the Father in the name of Jesus, but we must have faith in order to receive. We must come unto the Lord with all our heart or will, He will show us the truth of our self which will cause us fear and trembling. It is only then that we will be able to work out our salvation with Him.