One in Heart and in Name?

To our 2-year old nephew, PE and I are both the same person. He calls both of us by my name. Now my name may be easier for him to say, but he can actually say PE's name. The other day, he accidentally hit me with one of his toys and his grandparents told him to tell me sorry and give me a hug. He did say he was sorry and gave me a hug, but then he also said sorry to PE and gave him a hug. It was pretty funny.

While his mom and grandparents are trying to help him identify PE with the correct name, we actually find it flattering that our nephew considers us to be one person. Even at his young age, he knows that PE and I are a packaged deal. On the rare occasion when only one of us is there, our nephew will keep looking out the door or window waiting for the other to come in.

The bible teaches us that a husband and wife should cleave unto each other and become one flesh. We feel like we must be doing something right if even our nephew can't tell us apart. :)

Joy

I have been blessed with amazing friends in my life. Growing up, there were 4 girls who were (and still are) my core group of friends. We grew up together, experienced life together, and were always there for each other. We helped each other's testimonies grow as we experienced seminary and young women's together. Today, I was pondering how (come May), all 5 of us will have been married in the temple, sealed to a loving husband for time and all eternity. As I pondered this, a feeling of great joy flooded over me. While I have found joy in our friendships before, knowing that we will all have celestial marriages brought me indescribable joy. We will have all made the covenants needed to return to our Father in Heaven. And I know that we will continue to help each other live worthy of those covenants.

There is a quiet joy that comes from seeing friends and family in the temple.When my little sister went through the temple, it was wonderful to see my parents, grandparents, and cousins there. Just before she left on her mission, I went to the temple with her and my parents. While we were there, I saw and talked to one of my young women leaders and one of my orchestra teachers. I can't really explain it, but it felt so good to see them in the temple. It's a feeling I have only ever felt at the temple. There is joy in seeing others in the temple, knowing that you are each living temple worthy lives.

Last Wednesday, we dropped my little sister off at the MTC. She will be serving the people in the the Anchorage, Alaska mission. There were tears shed as my family dropped her off, knowing we won't see her again for 18 months. As I have been thinking about her in the MTC this week, I have been filled with joy. Joy in knowing my little sister is sacrificing 18 months of her life to serve the Lord. Joy in seeing what a wonderful example she is to my family.

I am grateful for my family and friends. I am especially grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and that we have temples again upon the earth where we can be sealed to our loved ones forever.

Proactiv

Right now I am extremely annoyed at Proactiv. Now, it has been about 5 years since I have used their products. I stopped using them because they didn't work for me, and they were expensive. Honestly, I have found that washing my face with Dove unscented soap works so much better than any acne product. And it's a lot cheaper.

So why am I annoyed with them? Because for some reason my Proactiv account was reactivated after 5 years of inactivity. And they sent me products I didn't order, and of course charged me for them. And it was set up to keep sending me products every three months. Well, the credit card they charged it on is linked to an old checking account that I still have, but seldom use. A week ago, I was checking my bank accounts, and I felt prompted to check that old account (which I rarely check). I opened up the account summary and saw that I had been charged $50 by Proactiv that very day. It was still pending activity, so I quickly called Proactiv to try and fix it. But unfortunately, Proactiv had already shipped the products and could not refund my money until I returned their products. I asked why my account had been reactivated, and they had no idea. I asked them to close my account so that this would never happen again, which they agreed to do.

Well, I finally got my Proactiv in the mail today, so I took it back to the post office and had to pay $8 to ship it back to Proactiv. So it will probably be another couple weeks before I actually get refunded my $50, and I am also out $8 for returning a product I never ordered.

Proactiv wants your money, and they have set up a "convenient" automatic delivery system to make sure they can continue to take your money. I logged into my account before I called Proactiv, and I found that I could not stop the automatic delivery. The only way to get out of the system was to call customer service and close my account. And when I called to close my account, the lady asked me if I was interested in buying a new product. Why do you think I'm closing my account??? Seriously people.

And the other thing that really bugs me...how in the world did they get my current address??? The Proactiv was delivered to my apartment door. We have lived here for less than a year, and I have had no contact with Proactiv for 5 years...

So while I am frustrated with Proactiv, I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who is looking out for me and gave me a prompting to check my bank account that specific day.

Daughters in My Kingdom

The LDS church recently gave a copy of this book to every woman in the church, for free. "Daughters in My Kingdom" is a book about the history and heritage of Relief Society.

Relief Society is the largest women's organization in the world. Every woman in the church over 18 years old is automatically a member of this great society. There are no membership fees. Each woman is a part of a great worldwide sisterhood.

This book opened my eyes to the great work Relief Society has been doing since it was founded in 1842. Relief Society is so much more than a meeting we attend during our 3-hour church services. The organization of Relief Society was an important part of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. Prophet Joseph Smith said that "The Church was never perfectly organized until the women were thus organized." The Relief Society and the Priesthood work hand in hand to build up the kingdom of God on earth.

After reading this book, I have never been more grateful to be a part of Relief Society. The heritage of Relief Society is rich, and I am excited to do my part to carry the work of Relief Society forward!

If you don't have a copy, you can read it online here.

The Fruits of Our Labors

Remember when we planted our first garden back in March?

What was supposed to be 70 days has ended up being closer to 250 days, but our pepper plant finally has peppers!!!

We're guessing we have 3 yellow bell peppers and 1 green bell pepper.

Also, our gardenia and marigolds have flowered again:

And our tomato plant finally has blossoms!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, there are only a couple blossoms and we don't yet know if they will make it all the way to tomatoes, but we were excited to see blossoms! We had pretty much given up on our pepper and tomato plants ever producing fruit, but we still took care of the plants. PE has been faithful and diligent in watering them and trimming down the tomato plant so it doesn't take over our second bedroom.

We had good/fast success with our green beans, so it was easy to get discouraged with the pepper and tomato plants. But even though it seemed like the pepper and tomato plants would never bear fruit, we still kept them and watered them in the hopes that they might bear fruit.

Everything grows at its own pace and not always within the timetable we had in mind, but with patience and hope we will see the fruits of our labors.

Changes

Just as the seasons are changing, so are our lives! A week and a half ago, my little sister got her mission call!!! We are thrilled to have a missionary in the family! A lot of family and friends predicted she would serve state-side, but none of us guessed it would be in Alaska!!! The Anchorage, Alaska mission covers all of Alaska and part of Canada. She reports to the MTC on January 11, 2012. We are super excited for her! However, it feels really weird to have my little sister going out on a mission...When did we all grow up???

Another good change in our lives is that PE got a new job! I am super proud of him!!! This is his third week at his new job. PE is a Civil Engineer for the company MWH Global. They deal with a lot of water/wastewater projects around the world. The office he works at is in South Jordan, but they will be relocating their office by the end of the year. We were not too excited about the commute from Bountiful, but it really hasn't been as bad as we thought. It looks like we will at least be living in Bountiful until February, but after that we don't know. It seems to be a good job that will allow PE to get the experience he needs to take the P.E. exam and get his professional engineering license.

On my end of things, I am submitting a 200 page thesis to my professors tomorrow. They get 4 weeks to look over it and suggest revisions, and then I get to DEFEND!!! It's been a long process, but I am really happy with how my project has turned out! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!

"Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice"

How blessed we are to be able to listen to a living Prophet today! General Conference was full of wonderful and uplifting messages. We live in a troubled world, but we need not fear for God is with us. The messages shared in Conference were truly inspired words from our Father in Heaven who knows us personally. I know that some of the messages were meant just for me. I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ; it continues to bring great peace and happiness into our lives. I love our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson; and I know that he speaks the word of God.