Who Was the Prophet When You Were Born?

As I was looking through the Ensign from Dec. 1976, I came across an article with the title
Spencer W. Kimball. You can read it at this address- http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=a0d81f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1
I'm not sure if I realized he was the prophet when I was born.

For those who are not familiar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that "From the beginning, Heavenly Father has called prophets to testify, record His word, and provide His plan for His children on the earth. The teachings of prophets are found in sacred books called scriptures ( Amos 3:7)."
Ephesians 2:20).
(http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/the-restoration-of-truth/god-is-your-loving-heavenly-father)

After the death of Christ, the Apostles were killed resulting in the priesthood being taken from the earth. Since the church was no longer led by someone with the proper authority, incorrect teachings were introduced into the church and the church established by Christ was no longer on the earth. This was known as the apostasy. Centuries later, the church was restored to earth through Joseph Smith who became the first prophet in these latter days, thus continuing the pattern of calling prophets. After the death of each prophet, a new one is called. We believe that these men are called of God to be Prophets. Thomas S. Monson is the current prophet. By listening to and following his teachings, and through prayer, we can know for ourselves that he is the one God has choosen to be His prophet.

I am thankful that God has given us prophets. This is a time where there is much confusion in the world and if we are not careful we can be led astray by false teachings, just like the people during the time of the apostasy.

For more information go to: http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/the-restoration-of-truth/the-great-apostasy

Not Sure What To Call This Post

As I was on LDS.org I decided to look at old Ensign articles from December 1976, when I was born. I found this one and thought it was interesting. It is titled
Our Father’s House:
What You Can Do to Help the Church Custodian
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=5d981f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Since Todd is incharge of making the assignments to clean the church building, we often have the opportunity to go help clean. Helping clean the building really does make you think about trying harder to keep the building clean.

I have often had the opportunity to clean the glass doors. Every time I go to clean them there are tons of hand prints. Those doors are also sooooo hard to clean. You think you have a door clean and then you look at it from another angle and you see more hand prints. This experience has brought me to the decision that my children will Never touch the glass doors. I have also cleaned the chapel and have been suprised at the mess people leave. Many of these messes are left from the snacks people bring for their small children. These messes have led me to make the following list of snacks my kids will not be aloud to have in church:

Gummy snacks ie. Gummy Bears or Gushers
Crackers or Cheerios

This is all I can think of right now. I'm sure my list will grow as I fulfill more building cleaning assignments.

I didn't mean for this post to sound negative, but it's just a reminder for all of us to remember that the church buildings belong to the Lord and we should treat them how we would want others to treat our houses. Also, for those of you who have never cleaned the building, you should find out who is in charge of making the assignments and sign up. It really makes you think about the way you treat the building. Also, if you are asked to help clean the building you should willingly accept and actually show up for the assignment or make other arrangements. Again, since Todd is in charge of making these assignments for our ward, I get to see how frustrating it can be when people are unwilling to accept the assignments or don't fulfill their assignments to clean the building.

Heaven

I was on lds.org looking for a conference address from 1908 and found out they only go back to 1971. I decided to look at an article from 1971 by President Kimball and thought it was really good. Here it is.http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=8856945bd384b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

The article is about a man who asked President Kimball if he had seen Heaven. President Kimball says, "Yes." and then tells him of earthly experiences that have given him glimpses of Heaven.

My glimpses of Heaven:
-Being in the temple
-On my mission in Bolivia having people who had virtually nothing share their food with me.
- Spending time with my family
- Cuddling my son
- Hearing my son laugh and coo

Have any of you had glimpses of Heaven? I would like to hear about them if you'd like to share.

Congratulations Class of 2008

I just wanted to give a shout out to my sister in law Alysha. She is graduating from high school tonight. She has done really well. Just like her older brother Todd, my husband, she is really smart. She also participated in choir and high school musicals, no not the movie but musicals at her high school. She has a great voice and is an awesome actress. We have enjoyed going and watching her perform. We will miss that. On a side note, I thought it was cool that Dick Van Dyke has visited her high school and they have performed at a show that he sponsored.

In the fall, Alysha will be attending Brigham Young University. We will miss you Alysha. Keep up the great work!

Kids Ask the Darndest Questions

Lately Spencer and I have been taking morning walks. Yesterday morning a little boy and girl, probably about three or four years old, passed us on their tricycles (Their moms were a ways behind). The little boy, looking at the stroller said, "Is that a new baby?" I said, "Yes." I was not prepared for his next question. He asked me, "Where did you get him?" Not sure how to respond I said, "The county." He then asked why the county gave him to me and I told him because his mom was unable to take care of him. After a little reflection I realized I should have said, "God gave him to me." Would anyone else have answered him differently?

Diaper Crisis

Last week I went to my school's open house and took Spencer with me. I really enjoyed seeing friends and some of my students. I was really impressed with all the things the sub was doing with the class. I was worried about what would happen to my class when I took my leave of absence. I guess the sub that is with them had previously taught special education for 1 1/2 years, so I am glad they are in good hands.

For a few days after the open house, I was feeling a little sad. The reason for my sadness is that I will no longer be my students' teacher. I love my class and truly have enjoyed being their teacher. My students have brought me lots of joy and laughter. Some of these students I have had in my class for over a year. I won't miss all of the testing and paper work, but I will miss the kids and my co workers. Nevertheless, my new job, being my son's mother, is far more important and I think he deserves to have me full time. I love being able to give him my full attention and I know if I was working outside of the home I wouldn't be able to do that.

Now on to the diaper crisis. As I took him out of the baby carrier to put him in his car seat, I noticed that his poopy diaper was leaking. It was one of those diapers where if we were at home I probably would have put him in the bath. I didn't even know where to start to clean up the mess. As I was taking him to the other side of the car to change him, he got some on his hand. So now I had to try to get a wipe out before he put his hand in his mouth (he's at that stage where his hands are always in his mouth). Thankfully I had a changing pad in the car and managed to change him with out a mess. It was one of those situations that you just have to laugh about later. Has anyone had a similar experience?

The Weigh In

I am a little ashamed of this post=( Well, a few posts back I had challenged Todd to a friendly little weight loss competition. Well, as today was the deadline, we weighed in and here are the results.

Todd lost negative 3 pounds and LynMarie lost negative 6 pounds.

It didn't help that Spencer bought me See's Candy and Todd bought me ice cream for Mother's Day. And yesterday on our way home from the Temple we went to the Carl's Jr. drive through and it wasn't until we got the food that I realized Todd didn't order anything for himself. Oh well. Life goes on.

Congratulations Todd on winning=)