Truth & the Gospel

Brian and I just finished reading the Book of Mormon together (for the second time probably) and started going over “Preach My Gospel” (the new missionary manual) for our evening study. Last night we started answering the questions from a chapter: “What is my purpose as a missionary?” and “What is the gospel?” We planned to get further than that, but we spent a lot of time dwelling on these answers. It was very enlightening to have these discussions with Brian. I learned from describing the things I felt to be true and he helped me realize new things through scriptural references (I love how he learned all these wonderful things on his mission and how his little blue scriptures are so marked up with good stuff.). So, I had a marvelous epiphany last night….

“What is the gospel?” At first I was thinking that the gospel was a set of commandments for us to follow and return to Heavenly Father. But that’s really not the half of it. Brian says the gospel is the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I never really considered that as the full gospel. However, when you think about it, the gospel is all things we believe to be true (pertaining to the Kingdom of God, I suppose). Truth is the way things were, are, and are to come [D&C 93:24, John 14:6]. The Plan of Salvation describes the way things were, are, and are to come. Therefore, the Plan of Salvation is the Gospel because it encompasses all truth. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the key to the plan of Salvation because it was through this Atonement that we can be saved (hence the name: the plan of salvation). If it were not for this sacrifice, we would all irrevocably be sentenced to perdition [Alma 34:8-10, 1Nephi 10:6].

Now that I realize these things, I’m able to view the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation in a new, all-encompassing light. More so than I had before.

Another thought: A commandment isn’t: “you have to do this.” A commandment is: “if you do this, this is where you’ll go or the direction you’ll go in.” [D&C 82:8-9]. I like that perspective. It shows that we still have our free agency in the matter, but it is obvious that if we follow the commandments of God, we will have a great reward/consequence. Life is all about choices and consequences, whether they be good or bad.

Last thought: I usually try to find Bible references to all the truth and knowledge we have so that others not of our faith may more likely accept it to be true; when in reality, that’s why we have the Book of Mormon!!! It has brought us MORE light and truth (not all of it can be found in the Bible). The important thing is that it does not contradict the Bible (as long as the Bible has been translated and interpreted correctly). I’m beginning to love the Book of Mormon more and more and not be ashamed to accept all that is contained therein, whether or not it is accepted by others!

This gospel is true and is straight from our Father in Heaven!!!

Hmm.

Funny. I was going to sit down and write in my journal (on the computer), but for some reason I just don't feel like it. It sounds like a lot more fun to write a blog! Good thing I can just transfer my words to my journal when I'm done.

Today was... alright. Some good, some whatever. What did we even do?? I can't even think. This is how I feel about my days sometimes. I wonder how it is that all my time gets used up and it feels like I have nothing to show for what I did. Or if I even did anything. Which I know I did.

[Avery Sleeping Longer]

Enough babbling. I know Avery had a good night last night. I've decided to not feed her in the nighttime unless it's been at least 4 hours since the previous feeding. A few nights ago, I let her cry it out when she slept for only 3 hours on the first go-around. Best thing I ever did. The next time she woke up was 5 hours later (meaning she went EIGHT hours without food!); I can get used to this!!! Ever since, she's been sleeping for longer increments. By and by, she'll be sleeping all the way through the night! What an awesome thought.

[My morning. This part is sort of boring.]

So Avery woke up at 7:30 like usual and I decided to get up with her instead of let Brian babysit while he got ready for school and me sleep in. I was feeling awake. She wanted to be back in her crib after about 15 minutes, so I guess she wasn't done sleeping for the night. Fine by me. I got to take care of some business on the computer (like write emails, search for coupons for shopping, etc.) and do the dishes and write a grocery list. (Don't you just love this detailed account of my morning? ... Don't let me bore you.)

[Selling on ebay!!! ...and other errands]

Okay, it's already after lunch time (I hate how it takes so much time to fix up lunch, honestly!) and we get out the door to go shopping! First hit up the bookstore to mail off 3 DVDs we sold on Half.com. Whoohoo! Makin' money! We decided to start selling some of our stuff so we have money to do Christmas this year. So far it's proving to be working. I hope this continues! Avery was good while I went shopping for a gift for the Olsen gift exchange, but one of these days she's going to get really fed up with how long it takes me to do my shopping. I'm so very indecisive. By the time we got to the grocery store, she held in there, but she was probably the most honory she's ever been. I had to pick her up for the last 10 mintues. Poor child. I know it's my fault. You couldn't believe how happy she was when we go home!

[Going off about Halloween]

On our outings, I picked up a pumpkin for $1.20 (impressive, I know) and a black tablecloth on sale for $1.19 to make a big top hat for Brian's costume. Since Avery is a bunny, Brian will be a magician and I will be his assistant. Brian truly wants to be the top hat itself because he doesn't want to wear a suit. I don't blame him, but c'mon! Be a sport. Brian and I have very differing opinions about Halloween. It was pulling teeth for him to allow me to spend $5 total on our Halloween expenditures. I agree that we don't have fluff money to spend, but Halloween is important, right?! Ok, ok, I totally see his point, but I'm glad he let me spend money anyway. I did good, right? $5? yeah? Tonight we went to a neighborhood halloween party. Our top hat wasn't done and Brian agreed to only wear his costume one night (being Halloween, not tonight), so Avery was the only one to dress for the occasion. I put on green pants and an orange shirt to semblance a carrot for tonight. We pinned some white, lacy church socks to Avery's butt for a tail because I forgot to glue together some cotton balls. We thought it was hilarious! A little brown eye shadow on her nose and she just made us laugh! I like her bunny ears, too.

Yikes! It's past time for me to get ready for bed. I guess you've heard enough of my day anyway. I had fun telling you about it. Have a wonderful night! I feel like Santa Clause.... "[Happy Halloween] to all and to all a good night!" Oh, this makes me excited for Christmas now!

Enlightened

Every Sunday I feel enlightened at church. What a blessing. I’m sure some of it has to do with my preparation to be taught (like reading scriptures each day and praying for the spirit), but the other part of me thinks that I still fall way short at my preparation to be taught. Perhaps I look forward to being taught and I look forward to discussing or writing about what I’ve learned and that’s what makes me teachable. So for whatever reason, I am very grateful for the blessing of the spirit at church and those who prepare to teach.

During Sunday school, we are learning in the D&C (sections in the 80s). We talked about the word of wisdom, and the importance of prophets and revelation. I know that prophets are important and I know that we have the prophet Thomas Spencer Monson as a living mouthpiece of the Lord today. I know that he has stewardship over the whole church and will only lead us closer to Christ. I’m grateful that the Lord has given us guidance through the spirit and the prophets (the living prophet and apostles). I think I’ve taken for granted what this means in my life and what it means to have a church so unified and so true. There are often times when I look around me and see the faults of other members, but when I looked around today, I was struck by the valiance of these people, regardless of their struggles in life. This is the true church of God and these are the people who believe and are here to continually be taught the lessons of God and be one with him and his people. We DO have the truth and we are a people of the Lord. This is magnificent! We are not insignificant beings pludging along life’s road, pretending that we’re something special because we go to church on Sunday. “Going to church on Sunday” is such a trite expression to me. We are not just going to church on Sunday; we’re becoming a God-fearing, faithful, obedient, and diligent people—unifying ourselves and struggling for righteousness and closeness with our Father in Heaven.

In Relief Society, Sarah Lott gave the lesson for “teachings for our times” and she spoke of Elder Holland’s testimony at this last conference. It was very powerful and full of conviction and the spirit. He gave his solemn witness of the Book of Mormon and of its truth and reality. It’s times like these that I realize, yes, these men must know it for sure. They cannot lie. God has given them this witness and wants it to be a beacon to us that we might want to exercise our faith too and follow the example of these blessed men. I know that all of the things that they testify of are unmistakably true. That means that the Book of Mormon is true and everyone who has born witness of it is also true. I thank the Lord for Joseph Smith and his efforts to bring us this marvelous work from God. I thank all of the prophets who wrote these spiritual things down in the Book of Mormon for us to learn from and grow.

Sarah was explaining how Elder Holland is a very intelligent man. I’m sure he could easily give us many analytical evidences how the Book of Mormon is true and how it is different from any other book and tell us X number of reasons so we could be sure without a doubt, but then I realized, that defeats the whole purpose of the Book of Mormon. It is there for us to exercise our faith. Just read Moroni 8. We need that opportunity to find out through the spirit that these things are true. I’m grateful for that.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (www.lds.org)

I love

This one is all about Avery. I love how she always responds to my smile with another. I love how she's so happy all on her own and she likes to clap her hands. I think it's funny when she buzzes her lips as she's eating and gets carrots or bananas all over the place, then she laughs or smiles. You can't help but join in on the fun; it's hard to get angry. I love her chunkiness. I love that she's so photogenic. I love to play with her on the bed as we have a rolling contest. I love how she's willing and even happy to conform to our schedule when it should really be the other way around. I love that she's a good baby when we leave her with someone. I love watching her play in the bathtub or play with another baby friend. I love to see her curiosity and how she peers around my shoulder when she knows there's something going on. I love how she holds things in the air to examine them. I love to listen to her blab and then say "muh-muh-muh" when she needs me. Her whimpers are absolutely darling. I love to nurse her. I love to see her play with her dad and squeal. I love how ticklish she is! I love every single thing about her and I know that all of it came with her when she was born. I don't feel like I've done a single thing as a parent that makes her this good. I know there will be a day when I have a trying child, but as for now, I'm going to be thankful for this ball of joy I have in this moment! I love to give her hugs and kisses. I can't wait to take her to many places to expand her world (like the zoo, the beach, the pool, the kid's museums, etc). I want to give her ice cream and rewards for being good and learning how to do things on her own like use the bathroom. This gets me giddy inside. I love being a mom!

Eight months old

I love Avery's curiosity. She's always been very curious. I suppose all babies are this way; there's just so many new things to see and do (and put in the mouth!). Just a few days ago, she started babbling "mma-mma-mma" (or more like "muh-muh-muh," especially when she's whimpering for something); it's actually pretty darn cute. So mostly she says "da-da-da" when she's in a great mood and babbling, but says "ma-ma-ma" when she needs something. Haha, how typical! Of course, this isn't the case all of the time. I love Avery's personality; she makes it easy to be a mom!

Four and counting

You would think I treat our glasses as if they were disposable, but I promise I have no hostility towards them whatsoever. In fact, Brian and I are both very fond of this set of glasses we bought as newlyweds. Sadly, we are down to 8 (we started with 12). All four we have lost were because of ME! What bad luck! It's got to be a curse. This is how they were lost:

#1: I dropped it on our carpeted kitchen floor in Willowbrook (Rexburg).

#2: I was babysitting a friend's little boy in Willowbrook and he knocked it off our table (I should have kept it out of reach).

#3: I was here at Wymount doing the dishes with a sinkful of soapy water and dirty dishes. I had the glass upsidedown in my hand, washing the bottom, when it slipped out and cracked in two pieces on another dish in the sink TWO INCHES away! (I must have been scrubbing pretty hard on the bottom of that glass).

#4: Today as I was swinging the bagged spinach in a circle to get the twisty tie on, it knocked the glass over on the table and poof! (See picture above).

Somebody save these poor glasses from me!!!

Play Time

If anyone knows us, they'd know we love to play games. Recently, we went to the Hirschi's place to play "Power Grid." It's always a lot of fun to hang out with Jenni and Jared; we also love to watch our kids play together. Their little girl, Katelyn is not even a month younger than Avery and there's just something about watching kids this age interact with one another that you could watch them do it for hours (don't worry, that's not all we do). Anyway, we're sure glad to have friends to play with!

Hot Springs w/ the Lees

These are our good buddies, the Lees! Last week we took a trip to some hot springs south of here. I've always wanted to visit some hot springs ever since I was in Idaho for school, but never got the chance. The hot sulfur water mixed with the cold mountain falls made the water a nice luke-warm bath (and perfect for Avery to stick her feet in). In the picture, we're standing right at the mixing point where one second you're HOT HOT and the other second, its TOO cold! It's too bad that our naked man friends from Connecticut were hogging the best of the hot pools just below us (no joke!). We did, however, have a great time at the springs & on the 2.5 mile hike in and out (and making smores in our oven since we ran out of time at the springs!). Thanks for a great day, you guys!

After the Rain

This picture could hardly capture how it felt to walk out into this after the rain. It's just the way the sky lit up in iridescence through the overlaying clouds. It was luminous and made me feel like I was in a place so wide and open-- more so than it had ever been before. Then the way the evening sun engulfed the whole mountainside and brought the vivid fall colors to life. The recently wetted earth only added to this display of God's most beautiful creations.

Ticket to Ride EUROPE!

We bought this game at Boardgame Revolution for $10 because it was missing pieces. We thought this was because the game was a rental, but actually it came to them that way from the manufacturer. I'm not sure why they didn't request the pieces themselves from the manufacturer (hmm, probably because they can't sell an open game for normal price anyway), so instead they sold it to us for cheap and said we could request the pieces ourselves. And now the pieces are on their way! Yay! I love expanding our game collection! Brian and I just used our date money to buy Power Grid as well. We are such nerds!! We just LOVE to play games with our friends!!

Under $12.50

I like to shop. I especially like finding good deals and I don't really buy anything unless it is a good deal. Yesterday I intended to buy myself some brown corduroy pants (or something like it) at Plato's Closet (a 2nd hand store for brand name clothes for teens and the like). All my pants are TOO BIG (except one pair of hot jeans I got from Jessi). I decided I could use another pair of HOT PANTS (you know-the brand name kind that are smokin' good lookin' and fit just right)! Unfortunately I didn't find what I was looking for, but I smirked when I put on a pair of skinny jeans size zero. I think they only fit because they were stretch pants and honestly I'm not a skinny jeans kind of person anyway. I think they make my feet look enormous and I hate how they don't fall over my shoes. Besides, anyone who fits into that size should really gain a few pounds (that's me). Enough about that.

While shopping, I also intended to buy Avery a pair or two of elastic pants she could grow into (hers are getting a little short). After going to 6 different stores, I racked up exactly what I wanted, and a touch more, for under $12.50! See the pic below. I even found two pairs of long-johns at the dollar store, haha!

Walk before Crawl?

It's no doubt our baby loves to be up on her legs better than on the ground. She's much better at practicing her walking than her crawling when we're there to help. At any rate, she'll get both down one of these days. Here is what she does mostly on her belly, I call it "ker-splat" while she flails her arms and legs helplessly in the air:

Sometimes she'll get up on her arms:
But truly this is her favorite thing to do (she didn't pull up on her own yet):

Hours of Entertainment

Faces of the Season

"So, Avery, what do you think of the new season coming around?"

"What?? I can't hear you under all these layers!"

"AVERY, ARE YOU EXCITED FOR THE FALL?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, you know. That's when the leaves fall on the ground and stuff. Sounds cool."

"Yep, and Halloween will be here soon and we could go trick-or-treating!"

"MMM, candy!"

"Well, except no candy for you, baby."

"But, mom, how can you resist a face like this?"

"Sorry, Avery, but when Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around, we can travel to visit family!"

"Oh boy, long hours in the car. I think I'm feeling sick already."

"I'm sure you'll love to see all your cousins and grandma and grandpa!"

"Okay, I'm listening. Does this mean presents are involved?"

"Yep."

"Yahoo! I can just imagine pulling off that bright, colorful wrapping paper and sucking on the ribbons, and eating whatever I can get my hands on..."

"... oh yes, tasty ribbons and paper... I can just feel them on my tongue now."

"Silly Avery, you know that whatever goes in has to eventually come out."

[no caption necessary]

"That's alright, though. I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun in the leaves and snow and playing with family and eating yummy baby food and rice cereal and eventually crawling and walking..."

"Crawling?? WALKING!!!!!! Oh happy day!! There'll be no stopping me then!! mwahahahaha!"

"Oh boy...here's to the coming season."