family ties

{the Husband's side of our family}

this was a very special day...

my new niece Dru was blessed about a month and a half ago at church.

for those non-mormon readers out there:

in the LDS faith, individuals are not baptized until they are 8 years old...

the age of accountability.

 babies, rather than being baptized, are given a very special blessing at church, typically by their father.

at 8, you know right from wrong, you can make choices for yourself.

you can CHOOSE to be baptized.

the LDS church believes strongly in agency, or the right for individuals to make choices for themselves...part of the learning and growing process.

i know many faiths disagree with this and feel that if you are not baptized before you die you go straight to...

well...you know.

but i disagree.

why would a loving Father in Heaven condemn children to that if they are not baptized?

what about the children who die during childbirth?

i know Heavenly Father is lookig after those children.

i know he cares more for us than to let that happen.

don't you?!

getting worried.

as the presidential election draws closer, i seem to be getting a little more nervous.

i am not a political person.

by any means.

in fact, i have never voted {gasp}

the husband gets so upset with me for that...

so when i say that i am getting nervous, it is not because of who the winner is going to be,

rather it is the negative media and attention that is being drawn to the LDS church because of Mitt Romney.

don't get me wrong, his campaign has stirred up a lot of good with the bad but...

i hate all the rumors.

i hate all the lies.

i hate that individuals who leave the church 

{or those who are excommunicated}

take it upon themselves to fabricate stories. 

it hurts my heart.

it makes me feel sick to my stomach to read about what people think "we believe". 

i know i shouldn't let it bother me.

but i cannot help it.

i am praying for strength.

i am praying that my loved ones will come to me with their questions,

and they will ignore the rumors and the garbage on the internet.

for now...
i just will enjoy the rest of my summer break with the husband...
i feel like the fall is pulling at my feet! 

the husband and i at the ocean

fourth of july

how was your fourth of july?

mine was fabulous.

bbq

fireworks

 and...

CHINESE LANTERNS! 

they were so magical! 

i loved every minute.

{check out the video my husband made to watch all the magic happening!}

confessions of a convert

so i have a HUGE confession. although in actuality, it isn't a confession at all... it's really more of an apology. 

i confess, i dropped of the face of this crazy planet {and no i do not feel good about it}

the last 10 months have been ridiculous. but they are now behind me.

i am a year older. i have a year of teaching under my belt. and my life is quickly de-stressing.

i have not felt this happy in a long time.

i also want to admit something else... and it's a little tough to say, but the point of this blog is honestly right?

in the chaos that is my life the past few months i have struggled a little with church-ly things. 

with my desire to want to read scriptures.

with talking about anything church re-lated.

with my calling.

and even at times not wanting to go to church. 

i hate it. 

it makes me feel like i am doing everything wrong. 

it felt like years since i had felt the comfort or love of the spirit. 

then i was reminded by a friend at church today of something very important.

{although she doesn't realize she helped me}

you cannot sit around waiting for someone or something to help you be spiritually uplifted.

specifically, you cannot just sit and wait for the spirit to find you.

 you need to be proactive and do things to help bring the spirit back into your life.

i have been sitting around waiting. 

{hoping to magically feel uplifted}

not reading the scriptures.

not giving my all to my calling.

not letting my husband talk about church. {oops}

just waiting.

and that doesn't work. 

trust me.

if you want to feel the spirit in your life, you have to do something about it. 

thank you mindi.

your testimony today helped me more than you'll ever know.