Hold fast to the Iron Rod!

One of the greatest blessings I think we have today is the Book of Mormon! The Book of Mormon was specifically written for the gentiles, that’s us! I’m always surprised by how relevant it really is to us in these latter days.

Over past two months Michael and I have done a lot of traveling- most of it on the fly without much forethought. We recently went to Colorado to visit with Michael’s family. Logically we booked a hotel 5 miles from Jodi’s house however we didn’t do much planning after that. We jumped in the car with no map and no directions on how to get there. It ended up taking us 1.5 hours!!! To drive five miles!! It occurred to me that this is so similar to life. If we don’t carefully put thought in to the direction of our life we usually end up taking the long way to get what we want or we don’t get there at all.

The book of Mormon tells us in 2 Ne. 2:26 “And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.” If we don’t decide today that we will serve the lord then we will not have that choice when the Day of Judgment comes. To serve the Lord means more than just believing. We must choose to serve him daily by obeying his commandments and following his teachings.

Josh. 24:15. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

This past weekend we were driving in DC with a GPS system, TomTom. We were trying to meet up with some friends for dinner. We entered in our route and the GPS told us we were 2.9 miles from our destination. We missed one turn and had to re-route and the GPS system told us we were now 4 miles from our destination. We missed another turn and had to re-route yet again and our GPS system told us we were now 7 miles from our destination!! This made me think of the book of Nephi and the Liahona. When they were wicked the Liahona stopped working and they ended up lost and off course. Only when they were righteous and listened to the Lord did they make it to their destination. This is so relevant to us in our lives today.

The Lord has given us the Holy Ghost as our Compass along with the gospel plan and scriptures, our spiritual GPS systems if you will. These are designed to help us reach our destination, eternal salvation. Fortunately for us, the Lords plan is perfect, even though we aren’t. If we make wrong choices, we have the opportunity to re-route our trip through the plan of salvation. It just takes us longer to get there than if we had stayed on course. As we learn in first Nephi it is critical that we hold to the iron rod which represents the word of God so that we can partake of the fruit from the tree of life, which means to have eternal life.

Read the Book of Mormon online!! http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/contents

LDS General Conference

Last weekend was the 178 Semi-Annual LDS General Conference. We thoroughly enjoyed each session, particularly the second session on Saturday. I am so grateful to have a latter-day prophet at the head of our church. It seems that the so many of the talks are specifically geared toward me and my family and our set of circumstances.

I especially loved Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin’s talk “Come what may, and love it”. Michael and I have had such a difficult year and this was exactly what I needed to hear. Some of my favorite excerpts from his talk were “in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result.” I truly believe this, but it is difficult for me to do, and I frequently need to be reminded of this during our struggles.

He also said “The Lord in His wisdom does not shield anyone from grief or sadness.” And that “the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life. If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness.” It struck me when he said this that this is what eternal progression is all about. I once read “One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” I think this is so true! As I get older I find my life struggles get more convoluted and difficult, I used to think life would get easier. I guess it’s like I’ve graduated to the next level and the Lord is continues to challenge me, to stretch my limits so that I can continue to grow.

I took great comfort in his words when he said, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” John 3:16. “He who descended below all things will come to our aid. He will comfort and uphold us. He will strengthen us in our weakness and fortify us in our distress. He will make weak things become strong.” One of the things I continue to struggle with is turning things over to the Lord. It takes me along time be for I recognize that I cannot do this alone, I need my Lord and Savior.

There were so many wonderful talks this conference and they are now available in text and audio online!! http://www.lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-947,00.html

Making a Splash!

One of the fun things we were able to do while we were in San Diego last weekend was spend a little time in La Jolla. Aiden had never seen the Ocean and it had been 13 years since Michael had been to San Diego - it had been about 5 years for me. Since most of the family was there we decided to spend a couple hours together at the beach in La Jolla. Michael and I really wanted to take Aiden to see the tide pools at the cove but we had scheduling conflicts with the tide.



We found a great beach in La Jolla that also had some reefs. We weren’t exactly expecting to spend time at the beach so none of us brought bathing suites. We had a great time walking in the sand with our bare feet though and feeling the ocean waves crash in to our legs.



Aiden was absolutely elated to see the ocean!! He had a riot running in the sand and into the ocean waves! He made quite the splash!! Aiden and I had fun racing across the beach and scarring the seagulls!



Even though the time wasn’t quite right we did find a couple tide pools with little sea creatures. We saw exotic fish and a few crabs! Aiden had no interest in holding the sea creatures – he thought they were scary but he did enjoy looking at them.



We can’t wait to go back when we can spend more time enjoying the beaches and all that San Diego has to offer!

When Life gives you Lemons!!

They say when it rains it pours; that seems so true. Michael say’s every time we seem to get ahead or see a light at the end of the tunnel something else happens. It is almost like being tossed about in the ocean, one wave knocking you down right after the next. After recovering from one wave, you barely catch your breath and footing and then bam you get hit again and underwater you go.

Last week was one of those weeks. We got word Monday that my Grandma had passed away and knew we needed to be there for the funeral services. Financially we weren’t prepared to make a trip like that but not going wasn’t an option. We also had our 3rd contract on the St. Louis house fall through. If that wasn’t enough we got home from work Wednesday night to find that our sump-pump had stopped working and our basement had flooded. We had to dig a big hole in or perennial beds to get to the pump but finally got it to kick on. We got all the carpets cleaned and were ready to turn into bed, when our basement flooded again! Sam and Michael went back outside, re-dug the hole, and started to lift the iron access door off when it fell into the hole and busted all the pipes!! Given it was after 10pm home depot and all other plumping stores were closed. It is one week later and the sump-pump is still broken, but I am hopeful we will get it fixed tomorrow.

Michael often says to me “I can’t wait til we are past all of this.” On the other hand I love this time in our lives, because we are building a life together. We are experiencing these struggles with eachother and working together on solutions. What better way to build a foundation for the rest of our lives and eternity. We are learning and growing together. Not to mention all the laughs we get in retrospect!

These times also keep us humble and helps remind us how very dependent we are on our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love the following scripture in Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. I do find a great deal of peace and comfort in turning to the Lord and I am grateful to have the gospel in my life.

So, when life gives me lemons I try to take it one day at a time, keep an eternal perspective, and have sense of humor about it.

In loving Memory of Lillian Russell –
November 12, 1916 – September 22, 2008



Last Monday, September 22, 2008, My Grandmother Lillian Beatrice Roach Russell, passed away. We attended the funeral services this weekend in San Diego. What struck me the most during the services is that I never really knew her. What I do know is that she was very thoughtful. She always remembered birthdays and always sent cards. She was extremely shy but loved to spend time with her family, especially the grand kids. She was tenacious and strong willed – I like to think I get that from her. She would have been 92 this November - given her lifestyle it was really amazing that she lived as long as she did, it is almost as if she was saying take that!

I had a hard time connecting with her the way I would have liked; I am shy and never really knew what to say. I imagine her last years were lonely after the passing of her boyfriend, Ray. I wish I would have forced myself out of my comfort zone and called her more often, just to say hello and that I was thinking of her. I am grateful I was able to spend last Thanksgiving with her and that she was able to meet Aiden before she passed. I will miss her but am happy she is in a better place and has been reunited with loved ones.

I’m back!

No matter how often I do it, how short or long the trip, being away is difficult. The short of it is I miss time with my Wife and Aiden or our 5 children that live in Missouri every month and it’s one of the hardest things I have to deal with. This past week, as Wendy outlined, I traveled a lot. At the end of the work week I was able to spend the weekend with Samantha, Dawson, Matthew and Danny. Rebecca had a Marching Band competition so she was unable to visit this week.



We had intended on going to Six Flags, but with weather threatening I couldn’t see investing in tickets we may not have a use for. All in all we had a great time, played tether ball, basket ball, (Dawson beat me twice at Horse) watched movies and generally had a good time.



I took Samantha and Dawson out to dinner Saturday night and told them they could order anything they wanted, well….Dawson ordered steak and Shrimp with 2, yes 2, orders of Broccoli, he ate every single bite of the broccoli, all the shrimp and 1 bite of his 9 oz steak, Sam did much better but she basically got appetizers.



Danny was a lot of fun this weekend, we had a blast watching him light up when someone gave him a basketball or soccer ball, and he is starting to take his first steps. He is pointing at things he is interested in and is becoming very curious.




(video of Danny walking, hit play to see video)

Matthew wants to tell you everything; and wants to be in the middle of everything, unfortunately I still cannot understand 80% of what he is saying…..He had so much fun playing outside and was excited to find the rain water in the sink of the play house.





At the end of the weekend I took all the kids home and headed to the airport, as much as I loved my time with the kids I was looking forward to being reunited with the love of my life, my Wendy whom I had not seen since the Monday Prior, almost 7 days! Honey, I am home

Top Ten reasons I love being a mom!!

1. I absolutely love teaching Aiden about things – It is so amazing to see someone learn or experience something for the first time, especially your child. I just taught Aiden what a Rainbow is when we saw one outside our backyard; it was absolutely amazing to see his reaction and the wonderment in his eyes….

2. I love hugs and kisses from Aiden and I love to hear him tell me he loves me!

3. I love to tell bed time stories and watch Aiden become actively engaged in the plot

4. I love to watch Aiden’s imagination at work - I love how me makes me apart of whatever he make believes! I love to hear him make sound effects.

5. I love that Aiden loves mommy above all else and no matter what!

6. I love how protective my 3 year old is of his mommy!

7. I love to be called mommy!

8. I love that I taught him to pray and who Jesus is!

9. I love to surprise him with things… so much so that I get too excited and can’t wait until the appropriate time to give it to him. For example, I bought him a Spiderman Halloween costume and gave it to him already because I couldn’t handle the anticipation!!

10. I love to play with him, to walk with him, to swing with him, I love to teach him songs and hear him sing!