Week 8

Chalk up another week flying by! The mission work is coming along great, and I'm working independently now. It's a good thing because the sister I'm replacing is going home this week. I love what I'm doing and the people in the office. I'm so grateful to be here.

I love being able to go to football games and to visit Coray, Mindy & family. Tuesday was Will's last season game so I decided to take off a little early so that I could see him play. I got to see him score a touchdown and make a couple of first downs, so that was really fun. The weather was beautiful - hot in fact! 

Not true for Weber State's game last night! It rained almost the entire game. Thankfully it was at 2:00, so the cold didn't really start until we were soaked through. Even though I wore a poncho, I still sat in a puddle and was soaked clear through. I could wring out my gloves, and my blanket is still hanging and wet in one corner. But both games were won by a comfortable margin, and it's always fun to celebrate. I wish I could be to all the games and performances! I'm excited for Tyler getting to play in the state soccer tournament! Wish I could have seen Jonah and Julia's play and Matthew's band field show! Maybe next year!

I combined my half day for the temple with a lunch with some high school friends. Most of them I barely remembered, but it was fun to catch up with the ones I was close with. I've seen their posts on Facebook in the past, so I was grateful to be here and go this time. 

I went to the Jordan River Temple again. I must admit to struggling to focus during the session, and I was about to walk straight through the Celestial Room to go home when something said "not so fast - stay and enjoy the Spirit." So I did. I sat down and reflected on the beautiful blessings of the temple and how grateful I am for my eternal family. It was a great lesson to me. There was a bad accident on the freeway going home and traffic was a nightmare. It took me almost an hour to drive what would normally have been about twenty minutes. It wasn't until a few days later that I thought about where that accident was and the possibility that I might have been much closer to it - or even involved in it - had I left the temple without staying those extra few minutes. I'll never know of course.

Here's a question for you. My cousin - never an active member of the Church - posted this on Facebook "If money is the root of all evil, why do they ask for it at church?" She meant it as a joke of course, but it made me think about the blessings of paying tithing. I know why I do - because it's a commandment with a blessing (Malachi 3:10); because I see the results of the wonderful things the Church does with our precious tithing dollars; because, as Elder Bednar said, we get "significant but subtle blessings." But what do you say to someone who doesn't have a testimony of all the blessings we receive from paying tithing? What would you tell my cousin?