We left last Saturday after Jason got off work and headed to Burley. The orginal plan was to attend church with my parents. I was feeling sick enough on Sunday morning, we stayed home from church. We spent the remainder of the day visiting with my parents, my brother and his family, and my grandparents. I always love going home. There is nothing like sitting around, talking and laughing, remembering the good times. Those are happy pills for me. When I am feeling sad, thinking about something happy or special knocks the sadness away. My heart still hurts so much. It was nice to have the opportunity to talk about all the good memories we have all made over the years.
Monday morning, we took our troops and headed to Salt Lake. We stopped in Brigham City for lunch with Jason's grandma. It was so nice to see Grandma and Gene. After lunch, we hit the road again. Our first stop: temple square. We wanted to tour the visitor's centers, as well as the Beehive house. Unfortunately, we only had time for a tour of the Beehive house. My wonderful sister then met us and took the boys for the rest of the night. She took them to the movies and out for dinner. Jason and I were able to spend Monday night in the Anniversary Inn. What a blessing for Jason and I to have some quality time alone in a romantic place. MMMMMM! That is all I have to say!! (0:
We met up with Tammy and our boys on Tuesday morning and then headed to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. My cousin, Nathan, met us there with his sister's two boys. Jason's dad, bless his heart, also took the time to meet us. The kids all loved the aquarium. I had no idea it would end up being as fun as it was. I am so glad we decided to meet there.
After the aquarium, we went over to my cousin, Tara's home for a while. We sat around, lauging and visiting. It was a blast!! Tara had a baby not long ago, so we were fortunate to see her new little guy. He is so darling! I was sick so I didn't dare hold him. But what a beautiful family Tara has! (0:
After Tara's house, we drove back to Salt Lake to Chuck a Rama. We had to eat there. That was Ashley's favorite place. I can't even count the number of times we went there with our angel. It was a tribute to her for us to have lunch there. After lunch, we went back to temple square. We have been going to Salt Lake for many years now, and we haven't had many opportunities to take our kids through the visitor's centers or to see the new movie in the Joseph Smith memorial building. We felt like it was important for us to spend some time, focusing on the spiritual things that would truly help us as a family. Especially right now, as we are missing our angel so very much. It turned out we made a perfect choice. There is no place on earth like temple square. The spirit was there. We all felt it. We had several choice experiences while we were there. One happened while we were in the Beehive house. Austin had been quiet for most of the tour. Right before we left the house, he looked at Jason and said, "I sure love this house. I feel the spirit so strongly here." Jason and I were speechless. There was a feeling of peace in that beautiful historic home. No doubt about it. I was deeply touched that my 10 year old son was able to feel it too.
While we were in the north visitor's center, two sister missionaries pulled our little group aside and asked us if we wanted to watch a special presentation on God's plan for us. I know it wasn't an accident they chose us. It was inspired. As we watched each video clip, we were all reminded of the importance of eternal families and the importance of missionary work. The knowledge that we have has been such a comfort in our time of loss. It is the only thing that keeps me going each day. I know someday I will see my beautiful little girl again. I have been blessed with that knowledge. I was reminded when I was in that movie with my family of how important it is to share the gospel message with others.
Later in the afternoon, we took our kids to see the new movie, "Joseph Smith" in the Joseph Smith memorial building. All I can say is WOW! What an inspiring movie! For those of you who haven't seen it, this movie follows the life of the prophet Joseph Smith and the early saints of the church. But it is different from any other movie I have seen on the prophet Joseph. When the movie finished, I was overcome with emotion. The only thought I had was why in the world do I whine or get depressed. Compared to the early saints of the church, I have a life of comfort and luxury. In our times, we are not called upon to move our families in the dead of winter, so we can worship as we please. Our church leaders are not wrongly imprisoned or beaten. Our homes are not destroyed. Our families are not mocked in the streets by mobs of angry men. Our children have the best in medical care, helping ease their pain when they become desperately ill. I can't imagine burying my angel in the middle of a prarie or some other awful place like the early saints were called upon to do. So many of them died for their faith. They were thrown from their homes. They suffered unspeakable wrongs. Emma Smith herself lost many of her children. I found myself asking how they did it. How did they keep their faith after so much hardship? Then I realized how they survived. They saw the eternal perspective. They knew what awaited them. They were converted heart and soul to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their roots of faith ran deep. They comforted and cared for one another. They worked hard and gave their all each and every day. What would our world be like if everyone were like those people? What if we all took care of one another like they did? What if we served as faithfully as they did? How I wish I was more like them. I have wasted so much of my life on the stupid things of this world. I have allowed myself to be distracted. I have not served as well as I could have. I have not reached out to others like I could have. I have so much to learn, so much to teach my children about gospel living. I am so thankful my eyes were once again opened, and I was able to be reminded of the wonderful blessings that await the faithful, humble followers of god. I want to be one of the true followers of Christ. I want my life to be His. I want nothing more than to fulfill the measure of my creation. I know there are people I can help. I can be so much better than I am now. I pray, and continue to pray, I will never forget the legacy of faith left to us by our ancestors. I pray I will always live my life like they did and teach my children to do the same: serving, loving, working, teaching, growing.
I am so thankful for my family. I am so thankful for the opportunity to travel to Utah. I have so much to be thankful for.
Thank you for sharing your testimony of trails. You are such a source of strength to me. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAs my husband and I were preparing the lesson for last Sunday, We realized that we were preparing the wrong one and that we needed to go to the end of the manual and prepare the Easter lesson. Near the end of the lesson it asked the children to talk about those they knew that had passed away and to draw pictures about them. Stillman was unsure how upsetting this might be for Preston. It was midnight so we couldn't call and talk to you. Stillman said he would let the spirit guide him. As it turned out you were in Utah. However a few of the children mentioned Ashley as the person they knew who had passed away. It was very sweet. I passed you in the hall a few Sunday's ago You looked very Happy to be back, It was refreshing to see your smile.
ReplyDeleteWe took Alex, my five year old to see the Joseph Smith movie. I loved it. When Alvin died I was explaining that he was going to heaven, as they were burying him. He now thinks heaven is in the dirt :) that has been a tough one to explain!