Emily painted Natasha’s toes! Aren’t they super cute!?
Yes, they are!!
Super Cute Toes!
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Monthly Archives: March 2012
Family History Friday: A Sad Story
-Grandpa Bill-
Both of my Grandpa’s were alcoholics. My Grandpa Bill’s dad was an alcoholic too.
They say it is in the genes. When my Grandpa Bill was just a young dad, his father, John was kicked out of the house by his mother. She must have been frustrated with him. It was winter and cold. My Grandpa was called by the county hospital and told that his dad was in the hospital, he had pneumonia and it was very serious. She said that if he wanted to see him, he needed to get to the hospital. My Great-Grandpa John was a hard man. He wasn’t always kind when he disciplined his son, but Grandpa loved him. Grandpa got to the hospital, and as he was getting on the elevator, he passed an orderly bringing a deceased person down to the morgue. As he got to his father’s room, they told him he was too late, his father had passed away and they had already taken him. It was his father who was being taken off the elevator when he got on. It was Grandpa’s daddy’s 50th birthday. Grandpa cried and cried. He didn’t get to say good-bye to his father.
That story has always been hard for me to hear. Even when things don’t go just right in a family, they’re still our family. My Grandpa Bill still loved his dad. I’m sure they have had a chance to get know each other, and love each other better in the next life. Families are forever. If I learned anything from this story it is this, love each other, work hard on relationships, spend time with each other, never let an opportunity to say “I love you” pass by. If your relationship with your family wasn’t quite the best, and someone you love is gone, forgive yourself, and do better from now on. I believe my Grandpa’s heart was broken many times because of his family. I feel sad about how things were for Grandpa Bill, but because of him I will never have those same sad experiences, because of what I’ve learned from him. On the positive side, Grandpa married the sweetest Grandma alive and became the daddy to my mom and my aunt, and had a vey wonderful life with his little family. He was a very generous and loving man, and was always trying to do better. I love you Grandpa!
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy
One word “Pinterest”.
I’m sure you’ve all heard of it by now.
All I have to say is, “Wow!”
It is amazing.
First of all, you have to be invited to join.
Once you’ve been invited, it’s over, your life will never be the same. I try to avoid going there, because if I do, I am stuck there for days (of and on, of course), but it is so fun, addicting, entertaining, funny, helpful, educational, and beautiful.
Try it! I must warn you, enter at your own risk.
You can find it by going here.
City Creek Center!
We rode the Frontrunner down to the new City Creek Center Mall.
It was Kathryn’s Birthday!
Emily, LaRae, Kathryn, Nancy, Melanie, Sydney, and Me!
It was packed with people! This was Saturday, and the Grand Opening was Thursday.
It is so beautiful!
I love how they made the Creek look so fun!
There were several fountains!
Fun ladies!
Lunch at The Garden restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Building.
Very yummy!
It was such a fun day!
The City Creek Center is beautiful.
I think my favorite thing about this new mall, is that they will be closed on Sunday’s. Keeping the Sabbath day holy! Very nice.
Totally “Fort Worth” It!
Hermana Kesley 14:1 -email-
Dearest familia,
Como estan? Espero que todo esta bien con ustedes!
Things are great!! I am not getting transferred!! We got our calls this morning, and I thought for sure they were going to tell me I was getting transferred, but they didn’t. Sister V. and I are staying together for another transfer. Sister A. (my comp from Arlington) is training though, which is crazy. She’s awesome though. She’ll do great. Our zone leaders are getting white washed out, which means that they are all leaving, and two other completely new people who don’t know the area at all are going to be coming in. Transfer weeks are always CRAAZY! Lots if big changes. They are also putting in another set of missionaries, so there will be 8 spanish missionaries serving just in our ward. :O It makes me think that maybe at some point they will split the ward and either make two branches, or two wards. But who knows. That will probably be some point in the future.
Mom: That is crazy they have a mall that is closed on Sundays now. But really cool too. I can’t wait to take trips on the Frontrunner to Salt Lake again. I had some fun times doing that. 🙂 We will definintely be needing to be taking a trip soon after I get home. 😉
1-Investigators? How are they progressing and what can we pray for on their behalf?
1. We are teaching a lot of really cool people right now. First, H., who is 78, and from Peru. She is such a sweet little old woman. I attached a picture of her and I in her home. Sister V. said that it looks just like Peru with all the decorations and everything. She is getting baptized on Sunday at 7 o’clock after general conference. 🙂
Second, we have J. He is so awesome, I cannot even explain to you in words. He practices something called rastafari, which if you want to look it up, I bet you would know more about it than I do, but he is so great. He has such a desire to learn, and to change. He used to smoke, but he gave us his cigarettes last Sunday, and has been trying to quit since then. And…he came to church yesterday!!! It was soooo awesome! He told us that he has been asking for work off on Sundays, but his boss wouldn’t let him. Then yesterday, he was working and because they weren’t very busy, she let him leave early, so he got to go to the priesthood class. He was asking us if he could borrow other church books from the library there. He is just soaking it all up. He is like UNREAL! I can’t even explain him to you.
Third, we have M., he is definitely willing to learn. He lost his wife, his kids, basically his life, because he was addicted to Facebook! Beware of Facebook. He is also a little socially awkward because of is. It is very dangerous. But he has been reading his Book of Mormon everyday, and we set a baptismal date with him for the 28th of April. He also works on Sundays, but he is going to talk to his boss, and see if he can get them off. 🙂
2-Favorite thing about your area? Why?
2. Favorite thing about my area?..That would have to be the ward. They are so awesome, and willing to help in whatever way they can. They give us referrals, which are awesome, and they come out on exchange with us a lot. Also, just the atmosphere is so awesome. Hispanic people are just so loving and warm from the minute you meet them. 🙂 They just invite you in and want you to eat with them, and talk to them, and they hug you, and love you. It’s great. 🙂
3-Weather? Hot? or Cold?
3. The weather is getting hot. It’s been in the mid 80’s this week, and it’s only March. It is going to be a hot summer. 🙁
4-Favorite activity on P-day?
4. Playing soccer at the church. I wish we could play football, but we don’t have a field available anywhere to use to play football outside.
5-What is a lesson you learned this week? How did it happen?
5. A lesson I learned this week is about not worrying. There was a quote that an Elder shared with me in the MTC that goes, “Most of the things you worry about never even happen.” I am such a worrier now, and I worry about everything. But everything always works out, and I don’t need to be “borrowing trouble” as they say. I think I am turning into you, Mom. 🙂 Ha ha. But that is something that I have been trying to work on.
Special question:
6-How can we have effective prayers? How can we know Father is listening and answering?
6. Praying with faith is something that is essential. If we pray without true intent, and believing that we will receive an answer, we won’t receive one. We know if our Heavenly Father is listening by the way we feel after we pray. I have see a lot of times with people who have never prayed before, and they pray for the first time and feel so much different. They feel the spirit, and if they haven’t felt it before, it is new for them. But it is great to see someone pray for the first time. You see and hear them really talking to their Heavenly Father, and building a relationship with him. 🙂
Dad: That is great you played tennis. I still think we might play, but we will have to find out where to get rackets from. 🙂 The Best Two Years is one of my favoritest movies ever! I have the soundtrack for it here on the mission, and it makes me so happy. I am excited for when I can go home and be friends on Facebook with all the people I have met on the mission. I’m going to have a lot of friends. 🙂 Ha ha.
Ileray: Que honda dude? How’s life? How is work, and army stuff? And my sweet Tashers!? Mom sent me a picture of her, and I couldn’t believe it was her! She is getting so big! It’s weird. She was just a tiny little thing when I left, but now she is a big girl. 🙁 How’s everything else? I hope things are great.
Janet: Hey Janet! How are you doing? I hope things are great for you. Quiero hablar en espanol por que yo puedo contigo. 🙂 Wow! Que chido que fuiste a un actividad para primervera! Ja ja. Pienso que era bien chistoso a ver tantas personas con chalk en todo lugar. 🙂 Man, necesitas ensenarme slang en espanol, porque yo quiero ser un nativa. Ja ja. Estoy jugando! Pero realament yo quiero aprender mas cosas en espanol. 🙂 Si puedes ayudarme, seria muy bien. 🙂 🙂 Pues bueno. Creo que esto es todo. 🙂
Emmysaurus Rex: Hey seester! I thought you weren’t going to shorten sist anymore? Ha ha. Jk jk. It just makes me sound like something really gross. 🙂 Ha ha. But yeah, things are good. That’s cool you did a talk in church, and that everything went well with that. Ha.
Well I gotta go now. I love you all SO much. Be safe and do good things. 🙂
Love, Kelsey
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Howzit-Elder Flexy!
Elder Flexy 21:3 -email-Family
sorry guys i’m gonna have to do one big one i had to do a survey for the mission tour coming up. so that chowed my time but i’m doing good this area is very hilly and we are walking so i’m have lots of fun. we will be having a baptism soon. can you pray for R. weather is stil warm but not like my last area that place was rediculous. anyway thanks to Riley and Janet for your support. anyway gotago. Love you all sooo much
Love Elder Flexy
(We all laughed that Alex called this email “one big one”! What a funny guy!)
Sunday Best!
“When things go wrong in our lives, it is easy to lose a sense of perspective. We forget our divine inheritance, when we should remember that we came from heavenly parents who love us. We are impatient for instant solutions, when often it is the passage of time that will allow things to work out. We ignore or down play our strengths and abilities, just at the time we should be recognizing and applying them.”
-David S. Baxter
Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy
My Favorite Planner!!
I have used many planners throughout my life.
I would be lost without a planner.
I have used a planner for as long as I can remember. I like to be able to look at at least a week at a time, so my cell phone doesn’t work for me. I did have a “Palm” at one time, but there again, I couldn’t see the details of the whole week or month at the same time. I did play a lot of “Bejeweled” though. The other problem I had with some of my planner‘s was the size. I like seeing the whole month or week, which makes them sometimes a little big.
This was fine, unless I wanted to go somewhere.
I would need a large bag or purse. Well, I don’t really care for large purses, and had a tendency to leave my planner home, which defeats the purpose of having one. I would run into someone I know and try to make a plan, and nope, I’d say, “Let me call you when I get home!” So after much time and many planners, I discovered the best planner for me! Here it is: My Moleskine Planner!
My planner is 3 1/2″ X 5 1/2″, and not quite 1/2″ thick. It fit’s nicely in my purse and I have a small purse. It is always with me! Did you see the little colored dots on the left of the weekly schedule? I have all of my daycare kids color coded. On the day each child is coming, I put a dot. That way, I’m not using a ton of space to keep track of what I’m doing that day. I love it! The planner also has a ribbon bookmark, and an elastic to hold it closed when not in use. I am so glad I found my Moleskine planner!
Family History Friday: Charles Elmer White
I remember my great-grandfather Charles Elmer White. He was alive when I was young. He was a very kind grandpa. I remember being amazed he was my great-grandfather. He was 83, I think, when he died.
One of my favorite stories about Grandpa White was a story about when he was in charge of gathering the cows. This is the story in his words:
“I grew up in St. Johns and went to school and as I got older I had many chores to do. My folks usually had a bunch of cows and we would turn them out on the hills in the daytime and as I got older it was my chore to go out in the evening, round them up and bring them home. I had a little pony named “Billy”. I’d saddle him up and take off into the rolling hills and hollers, find the cows and bring them home.
I remember well one night I went out and I looked and looked and I rode all over and I could see a bunch of cows here and there and I’d go to them and no cows. We always had a bell on one of them so we could hear it. I just couldn’t find them.
It was getting late and it was almost dark and I was worried and I remembered that I had been taught by my parents, by my Primary and Sunday School teachers to pray to our Heavenly Father when we needed help. So I didn’t know which way to turn, I got off my pony, I knelt down beside it and I prayed to Heavenly Father that He would help me and guide me to the cows. So I got through and got on my pony and was about to leave when all of a sudden I heard the cow bell. I rode over the ridge and down in the holler and there lay the cows. They had bedded down for the night, there was no movement so I didn’t hear the bell. I guess right at that moment the cow with the bell on throwed her head to scare the flies or something and I heard the bell. I was so filled. I got off my pony, knelt down and thanked the Lord for helping me and I went on home happy as could be.”
My favorite part of that story, is when his prayer was answered, he got off his pony and knelt down and thanked the Lord for helping him. What a sweet story. I am so glad we have that story. I am so grateful to Grandpa White for being faithful and full of gratitude.
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy
Focus!
Our Relief Society had a birthday party tonight. It was a fun time.
Our president is my friend Kathryn. She is an amazing lady, and I love her.
She was talking about how as women sometimes we focus on our flaws. I have been guilty of that lately. I’m not sure why, maybe I’m so amazing that satan has been working overtime on me. 😉 But seriously, what she said really struck me.
Why do I do that?
Why do we do that?
What she recommended was to “Focus” on our strengths! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that, but I needed to hear it last night. I’m so glad she reminded me. I find myself comparing the things I’m not great at with the best qualities of other women. My worst against their best! How could I possibly feel good about myself. But, if I look at the gifts that Father has given me, focus on them, and not compare, then the times I feel inadequate will be less. If I focused more on my strengths, than I won’t be overwhelmed and sad, I will feel like I can do more, and work on the things I don’t feel confident in.
I am going to “Focus” on the good things about me!
I think you should “Focus” on your good qualities, too!