Life changes

Tonight was our evening/adult session of Stake Conference. We have Elder Piper visiting, who is in the Seventy, and serves over the Middle East area. I shook his hand twice. I loved his humble spirit, and his teachings.

During the meeting they also asked six members to come up and bear their testimonies. Some were converts from recent years, some have been members for quite a while. One was a former home teacher of ours that just lost his wife in August. His testimony, and his ability to endure without her touched my heart. All of the testimonies touched me, of course, as did the talks by our Stake Presidency.

What touched me the most, though, wasn't what happened in the meeting. It was what took place just prior to the meeting. One of the sisters in our Stake used to be a youth in Manteca. She had some struggles in her teen years, and later. I had the opportunity of being in her home a few years back when we made visits in her ward. She was also at a bunko night that I attended a few months back. Pat saw her at the temple last night (I was home not feeling well, naturally) and was so excited to see her there. She and I talked for a few minutes before the meeting, in the foyer. She had been invited to give the opening prayer and didn't want to go up to the stand yet since there was no one else up there. We chatted for several minutes, she was concerned about how I was doing since being released.

She is a sweet sister, and I love her. I am grateful to witness the changes she has made in her life; to feel of her testimony, to know the strength that she has. She is a wonderful example to me. For any of you out there (if anyone reads my blog, that is) who wonder if people judge you for what you did in your youth now that you have made the changes that bring you true happiness - wonder no more. All you have become makes you an inspiration to people like me.

Health

Today someone in our ward had to attend the funeral of their father. This is someone that recently moved in, that we don't even know. They are foster parents of two little drug baby girls, they needed someone to take care of them while they attended the funeral, so our RS president and I did just that. This post is not about the service given; rather it is how grateful I am that our children and grandchildren are all healthy. These little babies will have problems throughout their lives because of the problems inflicted on them by another.

I am grateful for health, the word of wisdom, and the guidelines we have.

on demand

today i spent the day watching tv, something i don't normally do, but i didn't feel well, so i opted to do that rather than anything else.

i am grateful that we have shows on demand - it just makes the being sick thing much better...but i do need to get away from the tv for awhile now...so overloaded.

Trees

Our landscaper, Steve, came today and put a new tree in our front yard. Then he put one in the back yard, there are 3 more to be planted! I am super excited about this! It means our yard is going to come together...FINALLY! He is also going to be removing the liquid amber on the side of our house that drops these funky spindly round balls. :)

Then we are going to get another shed to put all of the excess stuff out there and have the garage much less crowded. We are also getting a mow strip (concrete) around the grass. This is really going to be great!

Why do these things make me happy? I have no idea, but they do.

I am grateful for our new trees, and all the improvements we are making. I love smiling about the simple things in life. =)

food

yes, today i am very grateful for food. i am on my first day of the juice fast and i am missing food. so, i am grateful for it...very much.

Fettuccine Alfredo

We have a 'family' recipe that goes back a long ways, I think I received the recipe when we were married from Pat's mom. Wherever it came from, it is a hit! Everyone in our family loves it - for the taste, and for those of us who actually cook it - for the ease.

I am beginning a 3 day juice fast tomorrow (wish me luck) and wanted to have something I would enjoy tonight. "Chini" (as Amy used to call it) won out over everything else. It's just the best. I love it. I am grateful for it on so many levels. I am sharing the recipe...you will thank me, maybe not personally, but whenever you eat it, I am positive you will - it is that good.

Recipe:

1 pkg. egg noodles (or whichever you prefer)

1 cup whipping cream

6 T margarine or butter

1 ½ - 2 cups freshly grated parmesan

Cook egg noodles.  Drain.  Add butter, mix in.  Add whipping cream and mix.  Finally add the parmesan cheese tossing with two forks. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Insights

I finished reading the Book of Mormon last night. I could have finished it a day earlier, but I wanted to end the year on a positive note. So, with about an hour left in the year I finished it...again.

Oh, how I love that book. How I love the Prophets, the testimonies, the examples of good, righteous faithful saints. They inspire me.

Last night as I was reading the final chapter in Moroni, I read -

 18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that ^aevery good ^bgift cometh of Christ.

 19 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the ^asame yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the ^bunbelief of the children of men.

 20 Wherefore, there must be ^afaith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.

 21 And except ye have ^acharity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.

 22 And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in ^adespair; and despair cometh because of iniquity.

 23 And Christ truly said unto our fathers: ^aIf ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me.

 24 And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be ^abecause of ^bunbelief.

As I read I was thinking in terms of goals for the coming year. I thought of all the goals that I have made and not kept...and I thought that as we apply these principles we should be able to meet those goals. First, we need to have faith - that we can accomplish said goal and that we can attain help through the Spirit, hence our Savior, Jesus Christ. Second, that we need to have hope in accomplishing said goal. Third, and finally, that we need to have Charity - the pure love of Christ - for ourselves. That was the clincher for me. So often when I find I have failed at my attempts at goals I berate myself - I am not kind nor understanding of my personal weaknesses.

As I considered this I realized that Christ would not berate us -He would lovingly (figuratively speaking, of course) take us by the hand, help us get through whatever obstacles we have placed in our paths, and help us along our way. Somehow we need to do that for ourselves - to be more kind, less judgmental, and certainly more understanding and accepting. We need to celebrate the accomplishments we have made, realize that perhaps we hit one of those obstacles and not use it as an excuse to stop our progress, but rather find a way around that obstacle, with faith and hope that we can achieve said goal.

I apologize for being so long-winded. I am not an eloquent person, and I hope this has come through the way it was intended. I am grateful for the insights found in the scriptures, for personal revelation, and for the opportunity we have to testify to one another, and to hopefully, help each other along life's paths.