President Hinckley

At this same concert I spoke of in my "Music" post, I got a call from Grandma Martin saying that President Hinckley had passed away. He is what I would call my prophet. He's for the most part the only one I knew. And as I've had a few moments to reflect on his life I wish to impress upon your minds the importance of prophets and the church today. The church is not led, nor run my the president of the church, rather by our Savior, Jesus Christ. However, our prophet is in direct contact with The Savior and when our prophet speaks, we must listen. As my prophet has passed, I have mixed emotions. I am excited for him to see his sweet wife again. I am sad I don't get to see his face at conference anymore. And though I can read his words forever more, I will never again have the opportunity to hear live, "fresh" revelation from him, and I hope and pray that you will never take for granted a living prophet. Listen to your prophet. Love him. And heed to his counsel. 

Love,

Mom

Music

You don't have to play music, sing music, or even like music. But I want to share with you how music has touched my life, and I hope and pray that even if you don't like it, you will somehow find an appreciation for it. Music is my passion, and one of my largest desires is to share that with others. So often I have felt that if music is something I love so much, I should be better at it. I went to a little concert the other night with your Grandpa Wright, Grandma Smith, and your dad, and I was having a bit of a rough night. School was on my mind, and for some reason each song touched my heart. Even opera which would normally hurt my ears, was sounding like angels from heaven. As I sat there, and watched talented person after person, I became saddened with the lack of my own talents and the greatness of my desires. Then, today, I went to a voice lesson that is a part of my Music Therapy training. I have a brand new teacher I have never had before, and he said to me, "we take what God gave us, and we make the BEST of it". We don't need to compare, or wish we had more, or get down on ourselves and be sad. We need to be grateful for what God gave us, make the best of it, and share it, in music or anything else. What a fine piece of advice. 

Love,

Mom

The Temple

If there were one thing I could say to you every day for the rest of your life, it would be, "go to the temple". Your dad and I have missed but a few weeks since we've been married and I can not begin to tell you the sweet experiences we've had while being at the temple. We got to see a good friend go through for the very first time, a boy who your dad played a part in converting. We've been blessed with answers to our questions, and it's been an incredible, weekly opportunity to spend time with each other. Please go. You will never regret it.

Love,

Mom

Cousin Macklee

This weekend, your dad and I got to go to Eagar and visit Grandma and Grandpa Martin. Uncle Sherrod and Aunt Sarah were there, and of course Uncle Matt, Aunt Janis, Dorothy, Larry, Baxter and brand new baby Macklee were there. I got to hold Macklee and see her TINY hands, and fingers and features, and it made me think of you. What will you be like? Who's features will you have? What will your name be? It also made me grateful for the Plan of Creation and that our Heavenly Father will share you with me! I love you!

Love,

Mom

Catch Up

A few days ago, your dad and I were at school, (ASU) and decided we were hungry, so we went across the street to Subway and ordered sandwiches. We sat and ate them at a table next to a table where a man who looked lonely sat. He looked like he was maybe carrying with him in a few bags, all of the things he owned. He needed a hair cut, probably a shower, and who knows what else. Throughout the whole meal I was telling your dad, "we need to talk to him". Your dad didn't ignore me, but we both kind of kept eating and put it off. We, and the man, finished eating at the same time and left at the same time. We then followed him down the street, across the street, and then went separate directions. We walked a few feet and I said to your dad "We have GOT to go talk to him and just ask him if there's anything he needs". So you dad took me by the hand, and we began chasing this man!! We probably looked ridiculous, but we finally caught up to him and your dad said, "excuse me sir, my wife and I had a feeling that we needed to stop and talk to you. Is there anything you need?" The man politely smiled, said "no" and kept walking. I was shocked! Obviously if the spirit was telling me to talk to him then he was supposed to say, "Yes! I've been waiting all day for somebody to talk to me, I need $20 to go see a doctor" or SOMETHING! But no! Nothing! So, I expressed my confusion to your dad, and he taught me a great lesson that I would like to share with you. He said, "All you were asked to do was talk to him,". Sometimes in life, we may be asked to do things that we don't understand and then expect great things to come from obeying. It is enough to just be obedient without any immediate rewards. All we have to do, is what we're asked to do, and continue to listen and obey, even if we don't know why! 

Love, 

Mom

For Our Children

In last General Conference, President Eyring gave a talk about journals, the importance of them and who they're for. So this journal, starting today, is of special spiritual experiences Collin and or I have had, and it is for you, our future children. I will start by saying that I have written in a journal every day for 8 years, with maybe 10 exceptions. Those were usually days where my lazy, tired or sick side took over and I decided not to write. So if you ever have any questions about what I did on any given day or how I felt, there is a journal page somewhere, in some book or notebook with that information in it! This journal however, is a bit different. This journal is for us as a family to come closer to our Savior Jesus Christ by reminding us of the miracles we experience each day, because of our Savior and the Atonement and because of our loving Heavenly Father and because of the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Read this when you have questions, read this when you need to remember how blessed our family has been, and read this when you need to remember how much your parents, both Heavenly and Earthly love you.

Love,

Mom