Conference Notes

Conference seemed especially wonderful to me this time. Really, I always think conference is wonderful. But my children are getting old enough that they mostly can listen and take notes (well, the older two can). And I had some questions that I wanted to know more about, and I just felt like conference was so timely. The leaders are so inspired and they truly know what is happening in the world and what we need to do to be safe from the adversary and the philosophies of men.

Saturday afternoon seemed a little crazier than the others, and I found myself getting a tiny bit frustrated at one point. But we had 3 extra children watching conference with us, and I had to remind myself that first, having these extra children was a positive thing...one of them most definitely would not have watched it otherwise...and so meant we were doing a little bit to "hasten the work"...and second, that the talks would be available online very quickly so I could reread/rewatch them. That helped me maintain a better attitude. Sometimes (okay, often!) I need these reminders of what is most important. Even in the midst of listening to conference.

We usually buy some treats ahead of time that I put into bowls with a word taped to the bowl (words like pray, faith, prophet, missionaries). When the children hear that word, they get to take one treat. We had chips and dip, M&M's, skittles, strawberries, peaches, cheese and crackers and a few other snacks during the two days. It keeps them pretty motivated to listen...and on one of the days the words we chose weren't being used much so we switched words half way through.

This time, I also bought a box of brand new markers and some posterboards. We each got one posterboard to take notes on. I gave them some ideas of what they might do, but it was their posterboard to use, front and back. I focussed my notes on "Hastening the Work" on one side and on counsel that will help me love and teach my family and my RS sisters on the other. Nearly every talk was related to one or both of these topics, particularly hastening the work.

I also took more traditional notes in my journal, but I love this visual reminder of what I learned in conference. I got the idea from here,
but I changed it a bit to make it work for me/my family.

My 5 year old's posterboard: It has a few words: happiness, love, Savior, and some pictures and when she got tired, she scribbled a bit.

My 8 year old's poster board:

Both sides of my 10 year old's posterboard:

The Zoo

On Wednesday, we spent the day at a zoo...no, not the Hogle Zoo, but it sure was full of monkeys. My own 3 cute monkeys and lots of other cute little monkeys. At one point, we had 12 monkeys jumping on trampolines, playing with the kitchen and blocks and running up and down stairs. But hey, none of them were swinging in trees or teasing alligators, so it is okay. Besides I got to snuggle a cute baby boy (and another cute baby boy on Thursday)so I was happy.

We had a total of 14 different friends over that day for various lengths of time. Crazy, yes. Fun, yes. Better than a trip to the real zoo.

Grandpa's Birthday

My grandpa, Franklin Floyd Neff, celebrated his 90th birthday two weeks ago. Yesterday we had a party/open house for him at his church. All of the family was invited plus his neighbors and ward members. There was a great turn out and it was nice to see so many extended family members...some of whom I see rarely and some distant relatives that I don't even know. My grandpa is my only surviving grandparent. But I know I am blessed because all of my grandparents lived until I was in my 30's. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have their grandparents live so long. My grandpa is such a kind, calm, hard working, quiet man.

My mom, my aunt Elaine, my grandpa and my aunt LaRue. (My grandpa and his daughters).

My grandpa and his sons, Brent and Steve.

My grandpa with all of his children, from youngest to oldest (left to right): Brent, Elaine, grandpa, Steve, Barbara (my mom), LaRue

Gabby, enjoying a cupcake...her first of several

Alfredo and my sister Suzy

My aunt Elaine planned the whole event. She and my mom made/mailed invitations and put an announcement in the newspaper. My aunt Elaine baked cakes and cupcakes and decorated them. She also asked Michelle to play a couple of songs on her violin for my grandpa. Michelle got pretty nervous, but she did it. She played "I Am a Child of God" and "Scotland the Brave" (which is the tune that Praise to the Man is sung to.)

And some more photos:

My grandpa and his brother. His only living sibling:

My grandpa with his grandchildren that could attend:

Grandpa with some of his great grandchildren:

I kind of envy how quickly children make friends and begin playing and act as if they have known each other for years. I don't see my cousins often, so my children don't know their children. But soon they were playing happily together, even though almost all of them are significantly younger than Michelle and Ella.

More family:

Fan the Flame of Your Faith

One of my favorite talks from last general conference was the talk by Elder Holland, "Lord, I Believe." I feel like my faith has grown immensely in the past six months, and I am so very excited to listen to conference next weekend. I attended the General Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday, and it was wonderful! I know that I will be richly fed and blessed next weekend as I listen. I plan to have our family write down some questions we would like answered and listen for those answers. That really helped us to listen more intently last time.

This week for family home evening, I decided to talk about faith with my children. We first sang the song "Faith"(By the way, I have the Ipad app "Sing-Along" and we love it. I loved it when I taught Sunbeams and my children (ages 10, 8, and 5) love it for FHE or just to sing with. It has the primary songs and each song includes several photographs to illustrate their message. I don't recall how much it cost, perhaps $5?, but it was worth it.) We talked about what faith is. Then I read several quotes from Elder Holland's talk. In particular I read his testimony and his quote to "fan the flame of your faith".


Then we used crepe paper to write down things we could do to fan the flame of our faith. They thought of a couple of ways that hadn't crossed my mind. I was pleased with our list. Then we taped each strip of crepe paper to our fan. They loved writing their ideas down (although I helped my 5 year old and even wrote a couple of her ideas down for her to speed the process up). Then we turned it on to see the flames of our faith fanned. A simple but very powerful Family Home Evening that I think will really stick with them and that we can return to over and over. We closed by singing "I Pray in Faith". Dessert was ice cream. (Easy. Which is what I go for most of the time!)


If you were nervous about little fingers near a fan, then you could do this by folding a paper to make a paper fan and then having the child write/draw pictures of how to fan the flame of their faith. Or they could tell you what to write and you could write it. My kids absolutely loved this lesson!

90 Years

Today is my grandpa's 90th birthday. He has lived for nine decades. Nine times longer than Michelle, more than twice as long as I have lived. He has, I'm sure, seen a lot and experienced a lot in those 90 years. He is my only surviving grandparent.

We are having a big party for him in two weeks, but my aunt had us over for dinner, cake and ice cream tonight. It was wonderful to see my grandpa, and very nice to see some aunts, uncles, and cousins that I don't see as often as I would like.

My cousin began asking my grandpa questions, and he answered them. He is a very quiet man and doesn't talk much about his life, so it was interesting to hear what he had to say.

She asked what he thought was the greatest invention in his lifetime. He said the computer. It's amazing what they can do. Then he talked about the first time he got a car...a model T. He talked about being a mechanic in the military. He was young, but he knew how cars worked and by the time he was finishing the military he was in charge of repairing many military vehicles and was also in charge of many mechanics of lower rank. After the military, he opened an auto shop. He owned and worked in an auto shop on 3900 South for many, many years although I think he said he opened a shop in a different location to begin with. (I missed out on parts of the conversation as I helped my kids.)

My grandpa is a hard worker. He is a calm, quiet man who loves his family and loves animals. He and my grandma have always had pets...dogs and cats and sometimes when I was young they even had pet ducks. He has a poodle named Rex that adores him. He doesn't ever leave the house for more than an hour or two unless he can take Rex with him. He says that by the time he gets home from church each week, Rex acts as if he's been gone for months.

My aunt and uncle spend a lot of time at his house, helping him. My uncle said tonight that often when they are working in the yard, neighbors will stop and talk to them and ask how my grandpa is doing. Two different people have given their names and phone numbers to my aunt and uncle and said they'll check in on him anytime. My uncle said that you can tell that people really love him.

We love you, Grandpa! I'm thankful for the example you have always set for me. I'm thankful that I was able to learn a little bit more about your life tonight.

Book Reflections: Covenant Motherhood

I just finished reading an absolutely wonderful book on Thursday. It is called Covenant Motherhood by Stephanie Dibb Sorensen. I heard about this book on a blog I read months ago and put it on hold at the library...and it took at least 4 months for my turn to come. I'm so glad it came when it did, though. It's given me so much to think about and has helped me a lot.

I know that I am a daughter of God. I know it. (Sometimes I forget and often I don't act as I should, but I know this to be true, that I am a daughter of God and have divine worth.) I know that my role as a mother is important, noble and irreplaceable. I feel like I have kind of understood why...as I raise and shape my children, I act as a guide and a teacher to help them become the women they are meant to be. I shape the future, literally, as I teach and train them. The future of this world and their own unique futures. I know that they are precious daughters of God.

But this book really helped me to grasp the magnitude and magnificence of motherhood just a bit more. Sorensen examines 9 roles that the Savior has and then relates how our roles as mothers reflect his role. The roles she examines are that Jesus Christ creates, teaches, succors, provides, cleanses, defends and protects, loves and sacrifices, forgives and shares burdens, and saves. For example, she spoke about how we create...both literally in the sense of creating life and giving birth to our children, but also in the many things we do...decorating, cooking, sewing, getting a child to smile and laugh, preparing a family home evening lesson, and so on. She went to a conference during a time when she felt exhausted and overwhelmed. A young mother shared that she prayed to love what the Lord loves. As we mother, we are doing what the Lord loves. If we pray to love what he loves, we will not feel weary in well-doing, but will find joy.

I really loved the chapter on how Jesus Christ cleanses. How I need his cleansing in my life! How grateful I am for His Atonement and for the gift of repentance! She compares this to what we do for our children. She said that one day as she was cleaning her baby's diaper, the scripture "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" came into her mind. (Isaiah 1:18) She writes,

"It dawned on me that Jesus Christ was in the cleaning business. A crucial part of His mission was taking things or people that were soiled and making them clean. In that moment, I felt a flow of love and revelation--clusters of thoughts and ideas that started to fit together like a puzzle. My job was a reflection of His. It could teach me about Him and make me more like Him. This was life-changing information." (page 36)

She talks about how being unclean, either physically or spiritually, is uncomfortable. A cleansing shower brings relief. So helping another to be clean is an act of great service. When we wash our children, when we clean their clothes, when we scrub mud off the floor, each of these acts is us copying the acts of our Master. Yes, these jobs can get tiresome, and yes, they are repetitive. But, just as we must clean and reclean our homes and our children, the Savior must clean and reclean us. Surely he never tires of forgiving us our sins and washing us clean. She writes,

My simple service of cleaning in my own home and with my own family mirrors His greater mission. It makes me love Him more, know Him more, serve Him more, understand Himm more, and even become more like He is. ANd when I think of all the times I sin and repeat the sin or fall into new ons, I realize that I am not much different from my children adn their messes; nevertheless, Jesus Christ cleanses me over and over and over again because He loves me. Cleaning equals service and service equals love. (page 40)

She then writes that after saying all of that, she doesn't think that means that we are to have a perfect house. We hear about our home being like a temple. She says, "Our home is a temple, not because it looks like one but because of the eternally important work that happens there." She says we should want a clean home and work at it, but be patient and forgiving with ourselves and our families.(page 40)
I just loved that chapter on how Jesus Christ cleans. I am going to try to ponder this more and feel this way more when I am doing the (endless) tasks of cleaning my home.

The other thing that touched me so deeply was in Chapter 10. She referred to the story in Mark 12: 42-44, "And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." (I have always only thought of this in a monetary sense. I try to be generous in what I give, but because I am so blessed, I've never thought of myself as being like this widow...but this part of the book brought me to tears and I've been thinking about it ever since.)

Parenting is not a system of efficiency. I'm sure He (Christ) could parent my children much better than I can, but He allows me to do it because I learn how to be more like Him in the process. ...He praised the poor widow woman even though she gave only two tiny mites--a seemingly insignificant offering compared to what everyone else offered. ...Once again, the Savior showed us His attitude toward what we are able to give. He does not demand a flawless offering, and He honors and appreciates our best efforts. He calls them enough. (page 80-81)

Somehow pondering that story in regards to my offering as a mother has brought so much peace and a whole new depth to those verses. I often feel that what I am able to give my children is so lacking. I lose my patience too often. I don't always do the things that I know I should. I try, but I miss days of scripture study or sometimes miss a week of Family Home Evening. In many ways, my offering as a mother is like that widow's mite. It isn't much on some days. But if it is MY best effort, it will be enough. That brings tremendous joy and peace. And I believe that it also extends to other areas of my life as well. I am not a perfect wife or teacher of the year. I make mistakes as a Relief Society President. I am not always a great friend. But if I am giving my best effort, if I am casting in all that I have to give at that moment, it is enough. And he will magnify my efforts and wipe away my tears and make me more than I am alone. That is a powerful promise to me!

There are at least 20 or 30 other quotes I would love to share. I love how she combined scriptures, quotes from leaders of the church, personal insights and her own (and others') experiences.

Perhaps the thing that I loved most is that Sorensen shared brilliant mothering moments as well as moments of discouragement and mistakes. I finished the book feeling inspired and awed, but not feeling guilty. And my testimony and love for the Savior grew.

My thoughts on Sunday Session of Stake Conference

President Isaac, our wonderful stake president, spoke about a woman who was drunk or high that came to his door in the middle of the night. She was crying and saying she didn't know who she was and couldn't someone help her. She said she came to their house because she saw the (porch) light. He related this to how many around us don't know who they are and are looking for light and truth. Many don't know where to find the truth.

He also read part of a letter from a sister missionary serving from my ward. She is in Illinois in an area with high poverty. The people have a lot of challenges. She wrote, "I may not know how to help someone but Jesus Christ knows exactly how to heal them and help them." That really touched me. How often I visit with people and hear their challenges and don't know how to help them. I still feel so young and so inexperienced in many ways. I don't know how to alleviate their suffering. But I do know that my Savior lives and that He loves them. And I know that He knows how to heal them and help them. And I can love them. I can't always alleviate their suffering, but I can love them and comfort them and bear testimony that He is there.

He also said that if you wonder why or how to do missionary work or who to teach or share your testimony with, ask of God. He will answer.

Sister Dewsnup spoke about driving home through a snow storm. It was terrifying. She was so thankful to come home. Our homes should be a sanctuary, a refuge from the storms of life, places of safety and peace.

She asked if our homes are places where we can grow physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

(Just a couple days before conference, I'd read on a blog--but can't remember which one--that our homes where people, feelings and the Spirit are safe...and that asking if we're keeping those 3 things safe can be a guideline for determining behavior. This reminded me of that.)

Elder Dewsnup talked about who we are. We literally have the seeds of Godhead within us, we are truly children of God. In a conference he attended while serving a mission wiht his wife, Elder Bednar said, "To avoid temptation and hte evils of the world, never forget who you are." That is profound. I know it is true.