Living my Religion

Giveaway – Halftees

I have a special post for you
in honor of my 38th birthday.

Happy birthday to me.

I’m giving away a halftee.
It’s the layering piece for everyone.
Cute little tees for all purposes.
They have new styles up on their site today
so go and pick your favorite
and leave me a comment
with your name, e-mail, and desired style/color
(we’ll save your size for private)
and I will give a halftee
to one lucky reader
at the end of my favorite month:
November.

Why halftee you ask?
Well let me tell you.
As you know
at our house
modest is always hottest.
That’s why we loved trying out Halftees.

The other day I walked outside
to find this message written on the sidewalk.

Be still my heart.

It looks like we are getting through to our girls.
Modesty is a principle of protection.
And our girls do it well.

One time my mother-in-law took them shopping.
She came home praising my name.
Our girls, on their own accord,
did all the tests before
deciding whether or not they should buy something.

Bend over.
Reach your arms up.
Slouch down.

No shoulder shots.
No butt shots.
No boob shots.
No belly shots.
No thigh shots.

O.k. grammy. Can we get this?
No hoochy mamas around here.

Halftees, a Utah based company,
are a great way to compensate

for the lack of covering in clothes on today’s store racks.

And guess what my wonderful readers?

You can get 20% off of all of your orders
until November 9th by using the code IMSOFUNNY.
(I would use the discount now, you know,
before you forget and
just in case you don’t win the giveaway)

Halftees come in a bunch of colors and styles.
As you can see we prefer the white ones.

Go and check them out.

I’ll be picking up some more for Christmas.

Even winter dresses are all sleeveless nowadays.

I am thinking about buying some

for some of the girls at church

When they wear sleeveless,

my kids don’t understand.

I thought it was a church-wide standard

to cover our shoulders?

I will leave you with Sophia’s part
for the upcoming Primary program.

She wrote it by herself.

LG and I love the part about “the fronts”.

Notice the plural fronts.

Hilarious.

Dressing modestly shows respect

for Heavenly Father and myself.

We should never wear anything that is

tight or short shorts or miniskirts that reveal

our shoulders or your back and fronts.

When you dress modestly

you show Heavenly Father that you love Him.

Dressing modestly is important to you

and everyone around you.

Oh and one more:

More Than a Hero: Muhammad Ali’s Life Lessons Presented Through His Daughter’s Eyes by Hana Ali

When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father’s suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day.

My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You’ve got to work hard to get to them.”

He looked at me with serious eyes. “Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.”

Mormons and Music

A few weeks ago we attended

Abigail’s informal

choir performance.

I was astounded!

For just a few weeks of school,

this 7th grade choir

sounded amazing.

I love how in this song

Abigail misses the first clap.

And seriously,
this middle school has enough talented pianists
to accompany all their choirs.
Astounding.
Check out this accompanist.
She’s so young
and
wonderful
and inspiring.
Watching her accompany the choir
made me emotional and proud
and she isn’t even my kid.

I am grateful that our girls have the opportunity to go to school in Utah.
The choral music programs here are remarkable.

As evidenced by the recent Mormon ties
in the popular show Sing off.

Everyone knows that there is no better choir
in the world than
The Mo Tab.

What about The Osmonds?

The Jets are my personal favorite Mormon musicians.

I recently read about Brandon Flowers,
also a Mormon musician.

There are so many amazing Mormon musicians that I could do this for months.
I haven’t even gotten into Mormon contemporary music.
I recently shared Hilary Weeks and Michael McLean.

The Hinckley brothers are personal friends.

Here is one of my new favorite singles
by a new favorite Mormon musician, Stephanie Mabey.
LG and I had the privilege of seeing her in concert recently.
I really liked this song.
Weird but catchy.
I dare you to watch this
and try not to find yourself singing
along with the lyrics
“If I were a zombie,
I’d never eat your brain.”

Do enjoy some less known Mormon music on me.

I have a thing for the smooth harmony
that only Polynesians can produce.
These Polynesians must be Mormon
because they are singing two of our most beloved hymns.

Here are 21,000 Mormons singing together. Powerful stuff.

Last but not least,
some crazy Mormon missionaries.
Their mothers probably died when watching.
It’s a miracle that these 19 year old boys don’t all kill themselves.

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous.
Isaiah 24:16.

One really has to think for a moment about the possibility of the Mormon church truly being inspired.
How else could it motivate so many to sing such glorious praises?
And we do it so well.
In my humble opinion.

Beautiful Heartbreak

I’ve experienced heartbreak.
More than one.
I remember vividly a day years ago when my friend Lindsey
walked in my front door
to find me completely debilitated,
inconsolable, defeated, and heartbroken.
I was on my couch crying uncontrollobly
while my three small children
were running around neglected.
When I told Lindsey what was going on
she cried too.

Earlier in the day, I had tried to go to the library
to escape the pain,
my toddler was a monster,
surely responding to her mom’s emotional state.
A mean old man confronted me
and told me I was a horrible mother.
Of course, that day I was a horrible mother.
It was all I could do not to shoot myself in the head.

He didn’t see all the other days.
The good days.
The days before the crippling pain.
But the other mom did.
She was usually by my side for weekly storytime.
She rushed out to my car and prayed for me
while I bawled some more at the wheel of my car.

You may think I am just some dramafied attention mongrel,
but you will never know.
The heartbreak is one I have shared with very few.
But it was awful. It is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

I have worked for years to overcome that pain.
The only thing that finally gave me solace
was turning it over to the Lord.
Over and over again.
I have become
an expert at handing it over.
So much so
that I have become a new person.
A better person.
A stronger person.
A happier person.
A more peaceful person.
And a person who seeks the Lord.

I have experienced a beautiful heartbreak.
More than one actually.
I have experienced a repeated heartbreak
until I gave it to my Lord
so many times that it
became beautiful.
Just because I shared it.
And He turned it into beauty.

So, I loved this song this morning.
Even if Hilary Weeks
stole it from this life-changing blog post.

I hope we can all be Lindsey’s
or praying moms,
but really sometimes we may
be moms who neglect our kids
or ornery old men who are mean and critical.
And hopefully other people will just remember
that we might be at the bottom,
or trying to hike our way out of the
beautiful heartbreak.

But even though I don’t have a video made about me
or I am not an inspirational speaker
or a famous blogger,
I can testify
with all the honesty of my heart
that God will bring us through
our worst pain.
He may even take us through it on purpose
so that we can have a new and beautiful vista
when we reach the top
where we have learned to
stay right by His side.

P.S. Help DeAnne not to experience the heartbreak of coming so close to first place as HeroMom of the year and not winning. Please go vote now. If you get someone else to vote, besides you, leave me a message and tell me who you got to vote and I will add you into a real special post coming up very soon.

What I love about Mormonism

If you know me personally
or have been reading my blog
for any given amount of time
you are right to guess
that this is going to be a long post.
There are so many reasons
I love my church.

I love The Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints.

There are so many reasons why,

but the main reason is that is makes so much sense.

Intellectually, I have not found another religion that answers my questions

about the universe as well as mine does.

Another reason I love my church is

I believe it to be exactly what it claims:

The Church

Jesus Christ.

My 18 months as a full-time missionary

teaching people about the gospel of Jesus Christ

harbor some of my fondest memories.

Lately, the Mormons have been receiving a lot of national attention

due to Pastor Jeffress’

claims that we are an Un-Christian cult.

(btw – this is not a new mindset.

Many people agree with Jeffress)

I thank the First Baptist Church of Mayview

for their disagreement

in church sign form.

You know how I love the church sign.

Here is another Baptist church sign.

It’s not as supportive.

Yet it’s funny.

I was recently impressed with this news story in Knoxville.

Thank you to WATE and my favorite reporter Josh Ault

for reporting the Mormon side of the issue.

Normally in the Bible belt,

Mormons aren’t given much of a voice,

so this story was emotional to me.

All kinds of people have stepped up

to stand with the Mormons

in our claim that we are Christian.

Some of my favorites have been

Anderson Cooper,

this Muslim comedian,

and

a Catholic reporter from Florida

who claims to not have attended church in 45 years,

but says

even though he could never

give up coffee and alcohol to become a Mormon

if in need of spiritual guidance

he would

go to our own

spiritual giant

Elder Nelson

over some judgemental

and closed minded Baptist preacher any day.
(his own words)

[SMILING]

Each of these stories were touching to me.

You see, I lived in Knoxville TN

for the past 8 years of my life.

And every day I had to defend my claim

to be a true Christian.

It’s not the first time that politics have brought attention to the church.

I recently heard JFK’s address from
way back when at

the Mormon tabernacle in Salt Lake City

and fell even more in love with the man.

A while back I sent an e-mail to a friend about my beliefs.
I kept feeling God nudging me to do so.
It didn’t turn out so well.
She got upset with me and I felt really bad.
I don’t go through my days trying to offend people,
but I do try to follow the voice of God on a daily basis.

After her e-mails condemning me and my church
I took comfort in the verse of the Bible that talks about
how Christ was persecuted so why should we not be persecuted for His sake?

I can honestly say that I don’t know of any church out there
that today receives more persecution than mine?
It’s funny because in a way that is an even greater testimony builder for me.

I know I open a can of worms here,
and I know that I lose readers on my blog
because I talk openly about my faith,
but I choose to lose readers
because when this life is over
and God asks me about my blog,
I want to look at him with a clear conscience
when I say that I tried to make every aspect
of my life a testament to Him.

Here are some of the doctrines I love the most about my faith, straight from The Holy Bible.

1 Peter 5:22(Mine is the only church that I know of that no one receives any money for filling a ministry) ^aFeed the ^bflock of God which is among you, taking the^coversight thereof, not by constraint, but ^dwillingly; not for ^efilthy^flucre, but of a ready mind

John 20:17 (Jesus and His Father are seperate) Jesus saith unto her, ^aTouch me not; for I am not yet^bascended to my ^cFather: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my ^dFather, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

John 17 (Why would Jesus pray to His father if they weren’t distinct individuals?) The Intercessory Prayer

Amos 3:7 (God designed a pattern of dealing with his children on earth by calling prophets if he is the same forever why would he change that?) Surely the Lord God will do nothing, ^abut he ^brevealeth his^csecret unto his servants the ^dprophets.

1 Corinthians 15:29 (baptism for the dead – do you know any other church who practices it) Else what shall they do which are ^abaptized ^bfor the dead, if the dead ^crise not at all? why are they then baptized for the ^ddead?

1 Corinthians 15:40-41 (three degrees of glory compared to the sun moon and stars – any other church you know of talk about this) ^aThere are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the ^bcelestial is one, and the glory of the ^cterrestrial is another. There is one glory of the ^asun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the ^bstars: for one star ^cdiffereth fromanother star in ^dglory.

Hebrews 5:5-6 (Do you know any other church that has the lesser priesthood Aaronic and the higher priesthood Melchizedek?)And no man taketh this ^ahonour unto himself, but he that is^bcalled of God, as was ^cAaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my ^aSon, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a ^apriest ^bfor ever after the order of ^cMelchisedec.

Malachi 4 (this talks about the prohet Elijah appearing to open the work of sealing – the hearts of the children turned to their fathers – sealings can only be performed in God’s temple – do you belong to a church with a temple? What if I told you that Elijah already appeared and that this work was already happening preparing the way for the Second Coming? You wouldn’t believe it because it is just way too spectacular, right?) Behold, I will ^asend you ^bElijah the prophet ^cbefore the coming of the ^dgreat and dreadful ^eday of the Lord:And he shall ^aturn the ^bheart of the ^cfathers to the ^dchildren, and the heart of the ^echildren to their fathers, lest I come and ^fsmitethe ^gearth with a ^hcurse.

Here is another little ditty that has been in my filing cabinet for years.
If it doesn’t get you thinking, I don’t know what will.

The true church must have the same organization as Christ’s Church (Ephesians 4:11-14)
The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Ephesians 2:19-20)
The true church must claim divine authority (Hebrews 5:4)
The true church must baptize by immersion (Matthew 3:13-16)
The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17)
The true church must practice divine healing (Mark 3:14-15)
The true church must be a missionary church (Matthew 28:19-20)
By their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:20)
The fruits:
I don’t know of any other church that has grown as fast. From 1 to 12 million members in 200 years.
I don’t know of any other church that gives as much community service or humanitarian service.
I don’t know any other church that has teenage kids that go to Bible study at 6 am on school days worldwide.
I don’t know of any other church with 10’s of thousands of missionaries serving throughout the world at any given time.
I know a whole lot of really good people (the best) who are members of my church.
I don’t know of any other church that is completely run by unpaid volunteers.
I don’t know of any other church that teaches self-reliance and emergency preparedness like mine.
Our church welfare system is a-maz-ing. Heads of states and countries look to it as an ideal.
Mormons are known for their focus on family and the strength of their families.
How about that Mormon Tabernacle choir?

Anyhow, that is probably enough for today. I could go on and on about all the great things about my church. I could sit here for weeks and talk scripture and philosophy, but if I know one thing it is that when it comes to God, nothing can teach a person better than the Holy Ghost. He testifies of all truth. So I will leave you with the testimony that I have gained through the power of The Holy Ghost. I have prayed, fasted, and studied diligently to receive answers from God, ever since I was a kid. My testimony is a culmination of my life’s efforts and with this I will leave you.

My testimony is this
I do belong to The Church of Jesus Christ
I believe that Christ’s original church was lost in apostasy
when Christ himself was crucified and all of his original apostles were murdered.

I believe that this same Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind,
appeared to a 14 year old boy named Joseph Smith
in a grove of trees in upstate New York in 1820.
Jesus Christ told Joseph Smith to join no existing church
because as prophesied they all draw close with their hearts but not with their hearts.
Christ then called Joseph Smith to be a modern day prophet
and modern day prophets have been on the earth ever since then.
I listen intently to the words of these living prophets and apostles every 6 months
and try to change my actions according to the counsel that they give.
They are truly inspired leaders and testify of Christ in word and deed.

I get mocked for these beliefs,
but I could never deny them
because my religion is true.
The Holy Ghost testifies this to me repeatedly.

We are nicknamed Mormons because we have The Book of Mormon,
The Book of Mormon is a second witness of Jesus Christ
and takes nothing from the Bible but adds to it.
It is through the teachings of both the Bible and The Book of Mormon
that I have tried to build my life on the rock, who is Christ.
One of the scriptures in The Book of Mormon prophesies of a day
when people would say, “Bible Bible, we’ve got a bible”, as an argument
against The Book of Mormon,
but to me all one needs to do is consider that
The New Testament built on the Old Testament
and think about the hundreds of sects that
all believe differently from that same Bible
to know that additional revelation is needed for clarification.

I believe that one of the greatest blessings I have
as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ,
besides eternal salvation through Christ,
is that my family has been sealed together
for time and all eternity
in the temple of the Lord.
I can’t imagine living a day
without this knowledge.
It buoys me up
and has helped so many
stand strong in faith
after they’ve lost a loved one.

Most of all, I believe in Christ.
He is my King. He is my Jesus.
He lives. He is my best friend.
He has given me a flawless example
of how to live my life
and he atoned for my sins
by giving His own life.
He thought of me and my struggles
and worries while he bled from every pore
in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He suffered so I don’t have to.
I have witnessed Jesus Christ work miracles in my life
and the lives of many others
and I would be lost without Him,
in this mortal life and in the immortal life to come.

Grandma, why can’t I wear bloomers?

Abigail won an award at school

for this project.

I have found it interesting how her ideas

keep showing up all over the internet.

What a smart girl.

I guess we are only partially American,
because Abigail is never really wearing that,
even if the rest of America is.

Modest is hottest.

Thanks Sheila for the youtube share.
Love this video.

How to raise girls right.

Growing up I never understood that my friends were allowed

to come and go with their boyfriends as they pleased.

As a parent, I am even more perplexed by the parents

who not

only let their young daughters date,

but encourage them to do so.

It’s crazy and foreign to me.

Just like my mom and dad

and LG’s mom and dad,

we will stand by the no dating until 16 rule.

We want to keep our girls innocent and pure,

and have every expectation that they will

live according to God’s command

and follow in our footsteps

and save themselves

until marriage.

Read on for some really great rules to raising girls right.

This time General Conference was especially special for me.

Of course, the talk about how to be a good dad to girls

was totally awesome.

I am so grateful that my girls have such a great daddy.

The ideas presented by Elaine Dalton,

who just had three sons welcome new baby girls

within a three week span, are timely, true, and tender.

Make sure you go over and watch.

Then conveniently leave it open for your hubby to find.

And if you really want to be safe,

you can always use this date my daughter application

used by the father of a good family friend.

Yeah, seriously.

He was a cop once.

And he was ultra safe.

Almost even too conservative for this conservative.

But most definitely on the certifiably paranoid schizophrenia side.

After reading this application again

and chuckling, I think God was really

good to our girls

to give them a gentle giant of a father

to even out their crazy mom.

But, at least I am not this crazy:

APPLICATION TO DATE MY DAUGHTER

NOTE: This application will be incomplete and rejected unless accompanied by a complete financial statement, job history, driving record, lineage, and current certified medical report (including drug tests) from your doctor.
1. NAME ___________________________________________DATE OF BIRTH ________________ PLEASE PRINT FOR INSCRIPTION ON TOMB STONE

2. HEIGHT ______________ WEIGHT __________ I.Q _______G.P.A.____________
3. SOCIAL SECURITY # _____________ DRIVERS LICENSE # __________________
4. BOY SCOUTRANK____________________________________________________
5. HOME ADDRESS _________________ CITY/STATE___________ ZIP __________

6. Do you have one MALE and one FEMALE parent? ___yes___no

If No, EXPLAIN______________________________________________________
7. Number of years your parents have been married________________________________
8. Do you own a van? ______ A truck with oversizedtires? ______ A waterbed? _________
Do you have an earring, nose ring, belly buttonring, or a tattoo? _____________________
(If “yes” to any of #8, discontinue applicationand leave premises

9. In 50 words or less, what does “LATE” mean to you?_________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. In 50 words or less, what does “DON’T TOUCH MY DAUGHTER” mean to you? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. In 50 words or less, what does “HER FATHER IS A SNIPER” mean to you?________________

12. Church you attend _____________

How often do you attend ______________________

13. When would be the best time to interview yourfather, mother and priest/rabbi/minister?____________________________________

14. Answer by filling in the blank: please answer freely. ALL answers are confidential
(That means I won’t tell anyone -ever- Ipromise.)
a) If I were shot, the last place on my body Iwould want wounded is _________________________________
b) If I were beaten, the last bone I would wantbroken is my   ______________________________________
c) A woman’s place is in the   ______________________________________
d) The one thing I hope this application does not ask me about is _________________________

e) When I first meet a girl, the first thing I notice about her is ______________________________________ (NOTE: If your answer begins with “T” or “A”,discontinue. Leave premises keeping your head low. Running in a serpentine fashion is advised.)
15. What do you want to be IF you grow up?____________________________________

Please Review the Following Nine Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter

Rule One: If you pull into my driveway and honk you’d better be delivering a package, because you’re sure not picking anything up.

Rule Two: You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or handsoff of my daughter’s body, I will remove them. Rule Three: I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely thatthey appear to be falling off their hips. Please don’t take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose this compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big,and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off during thecourse of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely inplace to your waist.

Rule Four: It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughtersafely back at my house, and the only word I need fromyou on this subject is “early.”

Rule Five: I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, if you make her cry, I will make you cry.

Rule Six: As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time forthe movie, you should not be dating. My daughter istrying to fix her hair, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of juststanding there, why don’t you do something useful,like changing the oil in my car?

Rule Seven: The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas,or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Placeswhere there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough toinduce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater,and a goose down parka – zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay.Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

Rule Eight: Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied,balding, middle-aged, dimwitted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing,merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance totell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a sniper rifle, a shovel, and fiveacres down by the horses. Do not trifle with me.

Rule Nine: Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in thedriveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up,the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. Assoon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak theperimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, thenreturn to your car – there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.Should any of the above rules be misunderstood, and broken you may feel the need to run.

However you need to remember that I have my Sniper Dope (ranging abilities) out to 1000 yards, in low light conditions.Should you run you’ll only die tired!

I SWEAR THAT I HAVE READ ALL THE RULES AND THAT ALL INFORMATION SUPPLIED ABOVE IS TRUE AND CORRECT TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH,DISMEMBERMENT, NATIVE AMERICAN ANT TORTURE,ELECTROCUTION, CHINESE WATER TORTURE, AND RED HOT POKERS.

______________________________________________________________

Signature (That means sign your name) Thank you for your interest. Please allow four to sixyears for processing. You will be notified in writingif you are approved. Please do not try to call orwrite. If you do attempt any communication before yourapplication is approved, automatic disqualificationwill result. If your application is rejected, you will be notifiedby two gentlemen wearing white ties and carryingviolin cases (You might want to watch your back). This is your “last chance” to check your answers.Perhaps you should check your response to question#10. This guy didn’t get it!Do you still want to date my daughter?

_____ Yes, please accept my application

_____ I um, no, I uh, think I have the wrong house.

Lyrics with Lessons

I recently really enjoyed this post by Cameron Smithson. Cameron used a great song to prove his point that if you want to be loved, you need to give love. You can love without being loved, but it sure does work better when it goes both ways.

Cameron was a Mormon missionary in Knoxville when we lived there and he came from my parts of California, so of course we fed him often. I’ve loved getting to know Elder Smithson as a person instead of just a missionary through his facebook and blog.

If you happen to cross paths with a Mormon missionary, I encourage you to ask them about their love for the Savior Jesus Christ. It may surprise you how close 19 year old kids can be to the Master himself.

In the LDS culture, we often play the do you know game. Well guess what I recently discovered about Cameron? His uncle is the wave at the bus guy I told you about a while back. Cameron’s aunt and mom left me some sweet comments after making the connection on facebook. Thanks guys.

When I told LG about Cameron’s kin all he said was, “Why is it no surprise that Smithson is related?” That was said in the highest complimentary way, of course. What cool people!!! It’s the California connection.

Anyhow, Cameron got me thinking about, how, I, like him, love songs with good lessons.

Lately this has been one of my fav’s.

I would like to dedicate this song to my husband
who is learning the other important life lesson about love.
You don’t have to earn love.
You don’t even have to be perfect to be loved.
In fact I think love is
almost received to a greater depth
when people are at their worst
because that’s when they need it the most.

LG, you are perfect to me.
Even at your worst.

Another one of my favorite lyrics is:

All you need is love.

I was really bummed yesterday
when President Monson
alluded to the fact
that it isn’t true
when talking about the
60’s hippy movement.
Bummer.

We love music around here.
Remember how I used Sarah McLaughlin’s lyrics
to make these adorable framed photographs in my dining room?

What are your favorite lyrics with lessons?

Flecks of Gold

Any message with gold in it is good enough for me.
This one is especially pertinent in a world where people are more entitled and impatient.

Speaking of gold.
I am filled with inspiration this weekend,
listening to a living prophet and apostles.
Yes, the gospel of Christ is restored.
And it is my greatest treasure.

Feel free to listen along today at 10 am and 2 pm MST here.
Conference is one of the best ways
you can understand
what those crazy Mormons actually believe.

4 Ingredient Nutella Cookies

I think that this is a great follow up post to my LunchWars book review. Jennifer is a health-nut and even she makes yummy cookies from time to time.

You have to try these cookies.
I didn’t even like nutella until I tried these cookies.

Four ingredients.
C’mon, even your kids can make them.
These cookies will be the perfect addition
to your lovely crisp Fall weekend.

Millions of world-wide Mormons will be gathered
around their computers indulging their spirits.
It’s General Conference.
Go ahead and listen with us.
But beware,
the idea of living prophets and apostles will grow on you.
These men of God are amazingly inspired.
And the only way to make their messages any sweeter is with a cookie in hand.

Why not Nutella ones?
They are the easiest cookies and so very yummy.

Perfect for after school snacks.
But make sure you don’t start making them until right before the kids get home, otherwise you will eat them all yourself.

My friend Jennifer is the greatest cook.
This was her original recipe
and then it went viral.

Her blog is called A Busy Nest.
Even Pioneer Woman likes her.
Don’t get her recipe from the wannabes,
go directly to her original post.
Here’s the link one more time.