Family

So it has been a very busy few weeks! Work never ends and when that miracle finally comes to pass it seems there is always something to be done.

Anywhooo, a week ago I participated in a good friends wedding; my best friend from high school to be more specific. It was such a dream! I was very privileged to be involved in such a precious event. The joining of two lives together is something that needs to be commemorated as well as celebrated for sure! and nothing could do that better than a big fat honkin' cake!!! JK, as well as being the go to baker for her wedding cake I was also one of her bridesmaids. Quite an aggressive combination of responsibilities but I made it out alive. The ceremony was so gorgeous and the bride was nothing less than a fairytale come true. Its funny cause seeing so many relationships toying with the idea of marriage, sometimes I feel that in this life there is such a series of events that need to take place to arrive at that actual "point of marriage." Age old statistics like "50% divorce rate" lingering in the background lead to the conclusion that there is no wonder the actual marriage percentage has sunk like a bad souffle. I don't know that the planets aligned and the stars fell from the heavens the night my friend and her husband met, but it seems that that is the prerequisite for this union because it is rare to see a relationship so beautiful.

I have such faith in family. It is one of the only things that we can take with us after this life (auf wiedersehen to "til death do you part," Im speaking about the eternities). No matter what we do we are only given one. This realization has been such a blessing for me the past few months. I didn't get to choose the family I was born into and I have come to believe this is for my benefit. Sometimes we find ourselves disappointed or frustrated with those in our family but it is this love and learning to love that helps us understand the love the Lord has for us. So many times I have belittled myself because of the mistakes I have made, thinking "wow, I have surely disappointed my Heavenly Father." but it is the understanding of His love that helps me to know that though I may not have made the right decision at the time, it will not be held against me. This life is a time for me to move to correct my errors and go forward to choose the right, and the Lord's never changing love is the tool we are blessed with to help me gain my reward in the end: an eternal family.

For all those friends who are married I continue to wish you all the best. As we move away from our born families and continue onto our married families I hope that we can remember the Lord's blessing of having our loved ones with us for all eternity. It may not always be the easiest, best, sweetest, enjoyable, content, blissful time in our life but if we learn to love as the Lord loveth we will gain our eternal reward.

Of course I will have to wait for a few months, 18+ to be exact, and so it is...

Preparatory Work

This week was wicked busy once again, but I feel so repetitive saying that so I'm over it, its a hair flip.

This week was fun. Well, I don't know that you can really call the whole week fun but it averages out above a 5 so it works :). Hmmm, Monday...Wednesday, Thursday, found it! FRIDAY!!! was a great day. Geralene and I woke up early and made our way to el Temple (you know I don't speak spanish, but I try hehe). It was a great time and sadly the last time before Newport closes for the next couple of weeks, sad day; I guess Im just going to have to go visit Marci in San Diego, which I'm never mad about. Anyway, It was a nice time and not too busy so that's alway a plus. Leaving we found that the sun finally decided to come out. It's weird. We are not getting any sun at all this summer which is really making me sad. Not that I would be at the beach everyday, but the thought is always nice, haha. So on our way home we decided to stop off at some grocery stores to pick up , in my case, greatly needed food supply...good thing we did cause we discovered this amazing Persian grocery along the way!!! I have to say, its been a while since I've had falafel and hummus that good. The produce was great and the variety was soooo ridiculous; anything you could imagine they had. Uh, just another reason I culinarily prefer CA over some other places, ie Utah. My palate just gets spoiled and treated to all the varying tastes of the world!

Moving forward, so later on that day the missionaries had called me to help out with a first discussion they were giving that night. They call me every once in a while so that I have the opportunity to experience some of what I will be doing for he next few months :). We had an appointment with a guy named Nico. The story of how this appointment came about is the missionaries were walking back to their apartment one night and one of the Elders put his thumb out as they walked along, just joking of course haha. Low and behold, the young man Nico we were going to teach pulled over and shouted out "Hey Mormons, want a ride?!" No introduction needed right?!! So as they drove they talked about how this young man was just thinking earlier in the month how he felt there was some soul searching that needed to be done. As he later stated during the lesson, "he felt there was more out there."

So I had the privilege of teaching the first discussion with the elders to this willing young man. He was so inviting of the Spirit and ready for the message we were sharing with him that night. As we had introduced him to the church and filled him in on a bit of background, in turn we were delighted to know that he had known some LDS members in the past. He expressed his past opportunities of getting to know the church had come and gone and that he was very excited about this new availably he had to go to church with us. Though he has work for the next couple of Sundays, he was very interested in us returning and teaching him more about the Gospel. We even set a goal of August 28th! It was great to see how touched by the message of the First Vision he was. The Spirit speaks truth loudly when the heart is softened.

As the night ended, we concluded with a prayer and an invitation to some of the activities that were going on in the upcoming week, which he greatly accepted. It was obvious the Spirit had been preparing him for this moment for some time now. It just goes to show we are not in this work alone. For those who "ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ" (Moroni 10:4-5), he will deliver his message to you. The work is real! and amazing at that. I just look forward to more instances like this in the near and coming future. :) Time is dwindling down to none, and so it is...