Seeing the Prophet at Safeco Field

We've been anticipating having President and Sister Nelson and President Eyring to come to Safeco Field here in Seattle for about 3 months. When we moved to Moscow in August 2015, President Nelson (as president of the quorum of the twelve) had just visited in April of that year so we knew we weren't going to see an apostle for a long time. So this was very exciting for us!

I realized I've never seen a prophet outside of the Conference Center. And this was going to be twice as many people (nearly 50,000 were there). We rode on the bus to downtown, about an hour drive each way. There were about 4 different families from our ward at the same bus stop and a few other members getting picked up on the way there. The bus driver asked what the event was and the cute thing was he thought we were outsiders/tourists so he pointed out the Space Needle and Lake Union. He told us that if we were on his 8:35 bus back and we said 'event', then he would have a surprised for us. We ended up being the only ones from that first bus ride to catch his evening ride so we got the surprise which was a free bus ride. Super nice guy!

It was jammed packed by the time we got Safeco around 4:30. The lines were probably a quarter mile long if not more. It felt like Conference minus the protesters. And true to Seattle weather it was raining (but not as hard as it was once the devotional got started). Austin had fun seeing random people from his growing up days in Puyallup and a friend from BYU-Idaho. Marjorie was there but of course it's like finding Waldo in there but we did see a couple more people from the ward. One of the members of our ward got to be in the choir (they were amazing!)

Because the devotional started at 6, they let people bring food for dinner and for the kiddos. We were prepared with LOTS of milk for Dallin but he was so mesmerized with the whole thing that he didn't drink a whole ton. I think he was slightly overwhelmed though because he didn't really smile through the whole trip until we got home, comfortable in his own environment. When I changed him in the bathroom at Safeco, he had a really sad, I'm-scared-cry when he usually is so happy when I change him. Let's just say he was glad to be back but throwing off his schedule made it a rough night and rough Sunday which translates into a rough Monday. Always a great cycle, ha.

President and Sis Nelson and Pres Eyring all came out and it was neat to stand in respect for them. When they got to their seats, they kept waving. President Nelson took his seat and leaned over to President Eyring in amazement, "45,000?"

Presdient Eyring talked about the role of a prophet in being the voice of the Lord. He said when changes happen in the Church, it's our responsibility not to just take their word for it, but go to the Lord and seek personal revelation. It felt like he was giving a precursor for the message that President Nelson was going to share. And he said that usually what we need to hear in a meeting or talk is not anything the speaker says but what the Holy Ghost prompts to us.

Sis Nelson spoke about what it's like in their home these last 9 months since he's been called as the prophet. He would regularly get out of the bed during the middle of the night and write down revelations on a small yellow notepad that he keeps in his drawer by his bed. She is careful never to look at it. Sometimes she receives the impression to get out of bed during the night and she said 'her ancestors are very happy when this happens because that means she is doing family history work'. All the while, President Nelson is receiving revelation-sometimes she's gone for several hours. She's received her own personal revelation from the Lord that he is supposed to be the prophet. She actually received the same experience twice in a matter of days. This reminded me that sometimes the Lord needs to reaffirm again what we've received as another witness that this is true. I feel like this is her mission or calling-to spread how she knows that President Nelson is the prophet on earth today. 

President Nelson spoke about 5 things he's learned in his life these past 94 years. You can easily find these on lds.org so some things I took away from it:

-His experience on the raft when he wasn't holding onto the raft and he got catapult straight up. He said we are all on some rafting trip of mortality and the raft is the restored gospel and we need to cling on to it. Don't let go!

-He related an experience where someone asked him why he was so different. I loved his response: It's because I know the Book of Mormon is true. 

-Read it every day and you'll be immunized from the evils of the world.

-Reading it is the surest way to hold on to the raft.

-Temple covenants mean EVERYTHING to him. The honors of men just fade away when you really think about the true purpose of being on this earth. When he was in a near plane crash accident, all the honors and awards and degrees he got meant NOTHING to him. What was important was that he was sealed in the temple of God to his wife and their children were sealed to them. He said there is really only a small amount of what happens in life that is of eternal significance. Don't let even your occupation get in the way of those eternal things.

-The Lord likes effort-He blesses us for our best effort. 

-He uses the unlikely to accomplish His work.

-Put Him center in your life and He will perform miracles in your life.

-We're happiest when we're thinking of others than ourselves. 

-He wants you to have the family you desire. He will help you. 

My favorite part of the experience was when they were leaving we all stood and sang "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet." Hard not to get emotional when doing that. That's when I felt the Spirit the most. 

Just reminiscing of when I got to meet President Nelson about 18 years ago. I remember the way he interacted with me made me feel like he was my Grandpa (which is funny to say because him and my Grandpa Smith were really good friends in graduate school at the University of Minnesota). 

God Is Still Here in This Desert Too

I love JJ Heller's music. On the first Friday of every month for the last year and a half, she's been putting out an original song. I look forward to it and subsequently have it on repeat that whole month. This month was no exception and it seems to come right when I need it.

Yesterday was a hard and a not so hard day all wrapped in one. It was just repetitive. And Dallin was fussy all morning and so trying to get him to sleep was a struggle. I didn't realize how tired I was until I knelt down to pray for my evening prayers and felt like my legs gave out. I've been having some cramping and restlessness in my legs that added to me feeling drained.

As I knelt down the first thing that came to my mind was the lyrics to her song this month, "What if God is still here in this desert too?" and I broke down and sobbed. All the lights were turned off, everyone was in bed (I finally had put Dallin down), and I just had a moment to myself to gather my thoughts and feelings. This wave of emotion came over me that I was not expecting. 

One of the first thoughts that I had was that there's a reason why God wants us on our knees to pray. After a long day, I recognize that my strength is weak and I need His strength to help me through. I recognize that I'm not on my knees enough in prayer. Since having a baby, my morning prayers are usually while I'm nursing Dallin so I tend to go all day without kneeling and being really prayerful. I recognize there are times and seasons in life and I just have to try to do what I can but I've been feeling a need to do better.

So in some ways I feel like I'm in this 'desert' with lack of 'spiritual water' that comes from being connected with God in prayer and scripture study and a host of other times too. I don't think this is what she meant by these lyrics but to me, the desert is the un-flourished parts of my life that need a lot of attention. It's the days and seasons of life where things aren't going so smoothly or as easily. Where I feel at a lost in some ways. But then I just need to sit (or kneel) and be still and know He's there and guiding me. Because He always is. Even, or especially, in our 'desert' times.

The last verse of her song always gets to me.

What if all my life I wrestle with my worry and anxiety?

What if the thorn deep in my side is only there to help me see

That though I never ask for it, the desert is God's gift to me?

At The Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women

These last four months, I've been savoring talks from this book. I am amazed at each of the women highlighted in this book and can't recommend it enough. I learned from these women to get all the education that you can, especially spiritual knowledge, keep developing skills, use your knowledge to bless others, and be a force for good where you live. The biggest takeaway of course was stay close to the Lord. He will help you in every situation of your life. 

Some talks spoke to me, especially Judy Brummer's conversion story and her testimony of the Book of Mormon. Another talk called "The Theology of Suffering" by Francine R. Bennion was deep. I feel like I need to process that one for a while. 

Other talks I'd never heard of from our recent general Relief Society presidents so those were fun to read. I marked up this book with my handy dandy book darts and I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes or lines that stood out to me. 

This was a blessing from Wilford Woodruff about Lucy Mack Smith" ...the greatest Mother in Israel...Thou hast lived and stood to see the fall of thy sons by the rage of gentile hands, and like an impenetrable rock in the midst of the mighty deep thou hast remained unmoved until God has given thee [the] desires of they heart in seeing the keys of the kingdom of God held in the hands of thy posterity." p. 22

"It is a blessing to us that we, at times, are brought into circumstances which are calculated to bring into exercise every power and faculty which we possess. It is true, we may not seem very desirable for the time being, but it has a tendency to strengthen and develop our abilities and prepare us for greater usefulness." -Eliza R. Snow, p. 42

"...you will learn that all good and great people were those who prayed to God, for it is the only way to become good and great." -Ellenor G. Jones, p. 77

"With our multifarious duties we may not be able to call upon some aged or invalid sister, to cheer her, but we may lend her a book to read at pleasure, and peradventure to the strengthening of her purpose, the cheering of her life, and the edification of her mind. Likewise after reading a good book, pass it to a sister, saying, 'I commend this book to you. It has instructed me and may edify you, and when you have read, return, that I may lend again.'" -Bathesheba W. Smith, p. 100

"Faith is that which gives you vision to carry on and confidence in ultimate success, even in the face of personal discouragement." -Mary J. Wilson, p. 151

"Accept people as you find them, not as others represent them to be." -Belle S. Spafford's mother Hester Sims Smith, p. 183

"Being faithful does not necessarily develop faith. The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To have faith in him is to know him, to know his doctrine, and to know that the course of our life is in harmony with and acceptable to him." -Ardeth G. Kapp, p. 195 (she also quoted Oscar Kirkham in her talk when he said, "Build a seaworthy ship. Be a loyal shipmate, and sail a true course.")

"Good theology of suffering explains all human suffering, not just the suffering of those who feel they know God's word and are his chosen people." -Francine R. Bennion, p. 217

"We have to be real ourselves and not dependent on externals. If we are to be like God, we cannot live forever in fear that we may meet something that will scare us or that will hurt us." -Francine R. Bennion, p. 229

"'What are the little crevices in my life that need more attention?' I resolved that rather than plan to repeatedly clean the areas of my life that need attention, I would try harder never to let them become dirty.'" -Linda K. Burton quoting a story from Julie Thompson, p. 329

If you've read this, let me know your thoughts and what your favorite talks/stories were from it! 

January 2018 Reading Round-Up

I did snippets of monthly round-ups when I first started mentioning books on my blog but then lost the habit. But I decided that it’s a fun way to remember what I read and maybe add more things than what I put on Goodreads. 

It took me forever to finally finish a book because of the holiday. Usually that’s when people get the most reading in but I find the opposite happens. Not sure why. This one I read mostly on the plane ride back to Oregon. I liked it well enough. It was like the super mild/middle grade version of the The Hate U Give but I don’t see it being as impactful as that one. What I did like was the setting took place in Portland, Oregon so it was fun to read about the places that I grew up visiting. 

I kind of cheated and read some of this in 2017 but finished it up this year. I loved how he went through each chapter with a characteristic of Christ and how He exemplifies that in our life. It helped me to feel more personally connected with Christ and want to spend more time learning about Him. 

I guess this is a Christmas novella but it doesn’t reference Christmas all that much. It only takes 48 minutes to listen to (I love that Santino Fontana did it) but I actually thought the whole story was really depressing. I think there was supposed to be this great philosophy lesson in it but I just didn’t get it. Maybe not one that will cheer me up in the holidays. 

Like everyone had said, this one was really moving. It was a little queasy listening to his surgery experiences, especially the ones about labor and delivery. I was really touched by him and his wife attitudes towards life and how they would approach this trial together. I also came away from wanting to think deeper and write more. I love that we have this legacy of Paul because he decided to keep writing. It makes me want to continue to write despite my flaws with it. I know I never regret writing down experiences and my thoughts. 

So timely. Read full review here.

After being in Pearl Harbor, I really wanted to read more about this part in history. I found this on another blog and eagerly got it from my local library. It's a really short, quick read but very powerful. He goes into a lot of detail that you wouldn't get unless it was a firsthand experience, like how he escaped the ship, his thoughts and emotions towards war, his leaders, military of Japan, and how it effects him today. The wording in the book was interesting because it felt like I was reading an interview or sitting in his living room listening to his stories. They put a lot of "you're probably wondering why I'm mentioning so much about my shoes, so let me tell you why." I don't know, it was just a lot different than other memoirs I've read. It felt personal and honest which I really liked. 

Okay I'm just about finish this one but I'll put it in this month's read. It's part of my 2018 reading challenge. But I'm in the minority here that I just didn't really like it all that much. I guess I'm more indifferent to the story than having a strong dislike for it. I guess I'm just not that interested in a rabbit adventure story. I'm really curious why people love it so much so if you read and really liked, let me know your thoughts. I don't have anything against it, I just wasn't that interested. 

Sharing The Good

Sis. Eubank's talk during Women's conference really resonated with me this last month. Listening to her I felt like she was the new Sheri Dew. I'm going to be coming back to this talk a lot. You can also read it here. 

Speaking of Sheri Dew, I listened to her new book, Worth the Wrestle, and a couple of things that stuck out to me was when you're struggling at life or circumstances are not happening like you thought, it doesn't reflect your testimony of the gospel. For some reason I needed to hear that. Another thing that stuck out was a story she heard from a young women who received some great revelation during a particular general conference. Sis. Dew asked what the difference was and she said that she read a conference talk every day leading up to general conference and it was like she was saying to the Lord, "I treasure your words to receive more." A synopsis of her book is in this BYU-Idaho devotional. She also came to Moscow last year to speak at our women's conference and she talked about the same thing. She's one of my heroes! 

My Family's Slave: I recently read two slavery books (Glory over Everything and The Underground Railroad) so this was a timely and powerful read. I didn't realize until later that it was written by one of my brother's colleague's at the University of Oregon who passed away in March.

I love a good book list! Next to reading books, my favorite thing is to find and receive book recommendations. I'm kind of a sucker for a good list (probably why I like these 'sharing the good' posts.) One of these book list people that I love is What Do We Do All Day. Her endless lists of books were made for people like me. And the best part is she focuses on children literature which is right up my alley. Two lists that I have been eyeing recently is a not your typical book list and this one on best audiobooks for family road trips. 

Cumin Lime Black Bean Qunioa Salad: My friend, Melanie, introduced me to this recipe and I'm so glad she did! Easy, breezy recipe and I'm already making it for the 2nd time in less than 5 days which is a good sign. I made it with quinoa the first time and brown rice the second time. I love that it's so versatile (just check the comments for proof)! 

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Off topic and not necessarily on the good side of things but last post I shared that I was watching 'Anne with an E' on Netflix. We finished it last week and I did not like it AT ALL. Okay, well, the first episode was fine and the acting and the casting weren't bad all around but the feel of the show was so depressing. The ending kind of made me sick to my stomach. I felt like the writers and the producers had a bone to pick and they used Anne as their messenger. It's like they were trying to incorporate 2017 ideas in early 1900's. It just didn't work IMO. This article titled 'Anne with an F' pretty much sums up how I was feeling. I had to get the 1985 version to remember that I once felt happy watching Anne of Green Gables!

Have you seen it? What are your thoughts?

Some Easter Thoughts

Are you familiar with The Small Seed? I've been following them for some time and I just love what they do. They put together this Easter study guide complete with pictures and ideas for how to incorporate The Holy Week leading up to Easter. 

It's kind of sad that I've never really done much to prepare for Easter in the past and while I could have stressed out thinking that I needed to start any and all traditions with that (it's so different when you don't have kids, you know?) I felt the need to study more of the Savior's week leading up to his death and resurrection. And this kind of study this week was exactly what I needed and I gained so many new insights. 

I've been taking this Isaiah institute class and this last Tuesday we talked about Christ being the "perfect brightness of hope." Something that I never caught on before was He never discussed in detail His suffering even though He could have or that there was an opportunity to. He quotes sections of Isaiah but does not quote the section about Him being bruised for our iniquities or with His stripes we are healed. It's like he purposely skipped over that part. He only mentions the hope that comes when we follow Him. One mentioned in class that it might be because we could focus so much on the detail of how He suffered rather than understand what that suffering means for us and how we can be changed through it. I thought President Nelson's talk on that this last conference was very fitting. 

I kept thinking about Christ's admonition to love one another. Why is that brought up so much? Well, God knows us humans really well. And it was a commandment that would need to be taught again and again. Especially in our day of social media and the comparison trap. One thing that I've been learning more and more is that we're all on the same team. We're all on the fight against sin and not against each other. When I think of it that way, I'm more inclined to cheer on people and be excited for all their accomplishments because it's all about of the teams' success. :) And that's why we are here to have compassion and love and not to judge. Rarely do we know people's full situation and so having a little more compassion can go a long way. We're all on this journey together. 

Through this study, the question that I had at the top of my study journal was, "if I was there during Jesus' time, where would I have been during the Holy Week?" I loved studying that question while reading Sis. Burton's talk last Women's Session about 'certain women'. 

I'm so grateful for this time of year of renewal and hope. He truly is the Prince of Peace!

What We've Been Up to in January

I'm going to dip into a little bit in December because we celebrated on 4th anniversary on the 29th! Marriage just keeps getting better and better. Austin spent the day working as it was the first day back from our trip but we tried a new restaurant in Pullman that we really enjoyed. We came back and watched some more Lord of The Rings. #tradition 

highlights from the year

We've gotten back into the swing of things with school and work and such. I'm just babysitting a friend's kids a couple of times a week usually but help her out here and there as she is a single mom with three young kids. I still play basketball twice a week with some friends in the community. It's been a great social outlet for me and always a great workout too. 

We went out to breakfast the Saturday before his semester started as a last hurrah! 

He works so hard during the week that Sunday is truly a day of rest for Austin. And wow, I need to water that  plant!

When I'm not doing basketball, I've gotten into Zumba at home with Refit Revolution on Youtube (thanks to Dani for introducing it to me). Once I do about 5-6 of those workouts, I'm sweating like crazy. It could also be that I'm really out of shape. Either way, it's fun because I secretly wish I could dance like BYU Cougarettes and this is about as close as I'm going to get. ;)

BYU basketball and volleyball is a weekly obsession over here. Sometimes we have three videos going on at once because you gotta do what you gotta do. 

We're into Queen of England series on TV right now between "Victoria" on Masterpiece and "The Crown" on Netflix ("The Crown" is much better IMO). I also saw "Hidden Figures" with some friends in the middle of the month and LOVED it. A new favorite. Austin and I also managed to squeeze in "Bleak House" on Amazon prime before his semester started. Also wonderful!

Imagine Dragons song "Not Today" has been on repeat constantly. Don't know why I love it, just do. 

Highlight of this month was getting together with friends in celebration of Ahmad and Marwa's wedding in Egypt in December. We all got together at Salman's house. Well, the women were at Salman's apartment while the men were at Salman's brothers apartment. Salman's family is very devout Muslim and it's in their culture to segregate the men and women when they're not family. There ended up being 5 women and 7 kids under the age of 5! They serve the most amazing food and are so generous. We had some very interesting conversations surrounding the immigration order that was just put out that day. I really feel for these wonderful people. In what ways have you found to best help in this situation? 

Our friends are not refugees but these are their people who are being effective. They really are the most generous, decent people we know and America is lucky to have them. 

That's the cake they serve before dinner. Doesn't that look amazing? And why haven't Americans adopted the eating on the floor for dinner thing? Sometimes it's so nice!

Finally went back to the Temple! It's like letting out a big sigh of relief when we go. I feel more at peace and content with things. It had been almost two months and I noticed when we hadn't been in a while when I was getting so flustered with so many things and I was having a feel of entitlement which is always a cue that I'm not as close to the Lord as I should be. I always feel better once I do go.

On our drive home from Spokane

I'm loving my new institute class on Isaiah. Every time I go, I just come away grateful that we have his words even though at times they can be hard to understand. And I'm noticing that it's not impossible to figure out what he's saying, you just got to do a little more digging. 

As you can kind of see from above and below, I've been into hand lettering. I took an online course through Hand Lettering Design and I really enjoyed it! Just trying to figure out my style and how to do things.  But I love the idea of trying something new and creating a piece of work, no matter how meager it is. 

Austin has been gone a lot with classes, homework, and TA stuff. Not to mention he does IAC volunteer work. One day he left at 4:45AM and I didn't see him until 10PM that night. Poor guy, he's a champ. Having him gone in the evenings is one of the ways I plowed through 12 books this month.  One of my favorites this month is Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin. 

January is usually a hard month to get through. There have been some definite ups and downs. I was trying to be more diligent about getting outside and walking and not caring about my face freezing. I was semi successful with that. But I'm really looking forward to my daily walks (I sound like Margaret Hale there) but really, I love the feeling that Spring is around the corner!

Finally an updated picture of us! Taken during Christmas break. Sure love this guy!

Nauvoo day 3

Our last day was just a half day in Nauvoo as everyone had to catch their flights and Mom and Dad Doutre and Cami and Sean were driving to Ohio to see friends when she was on her mission there. We did the Trail of Hope which was some of the people from the pageant cast told stories of people's experience leaving Nauvoo for the last time. Each story down Parley Street led us closer and closer to the Mississippi River where the saints crossed to Iowa. The spirit was really felt in their stories.

Afterwards we did a quick tour through the Seventies Hall and we all got to find our ancestors who were some of the first Seventies of the Church. The Seventies Hall acted as the first missionary training center. It was funny because me and another guy there was looking for Benjamin F. Johnson and he's like, "you realize we're like cousins, right?"haha...gotta love polygamy ;)

Then we toured a couple of houses. We got to go to Wilford Woodruff's home. This one wasn't planned but I'm so glad we did because it was my favorite. Wilford Woodruff pleaded with the Lord to remember the sacrifice of this saints. Man, that broke my heart. They sacrificed so much! Of course the Lord would not forget and I'm going to try to not forget either.

I also loved that him and his Phoebe wrote letters to each...just like Austin and I. They had the original letters framed in one of the study rooms. When we saw that, Austin looked over and winked at me. :) Also, they had an original blanket that Phoebe quilted. It was still white and absolutely beautiful.

Last home we saw was Heber C. Kimball's home. The outside is gorgeous. His home was the start of the restoration and buying property of these home in the 60's because of his great grandson's efforts. I didn't realize that my ancestor, Willard Richards, was also a counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency, along with Heber C. Kimball.

Similar to a piano that Beethoven would play. In Heber's home.

We are so grateful for our experience in Nauvoo. One of the sister missionaries said, you can Google how the brick was made or any other facts about Nauvoo but you can't Google the Spirit of Nauvoo. You have to come and feel it yourself. So true.

Nauvoo day 2

Friday morning we woke up bright and early to go to the 7AM Temple session. Last time I was here, I got to do baptisms so I was excited that we could do a session as well. This temple is so unique and so beautiful.

Afterwards we got back to our hotel to change and then while Mom and Dad Doutre, Austin, and Bree did baptisms, Cami, Sean and I had lunch and toured some of the homes. I think I mentioned this before but some of my favorite parts of Nauvoo were hearing the stories while we touring these homes. I especially loved when the missionaries would tell their own stories of people coming through and sharing tender stories.

One of my favorites was a sister missionary was taking a couple near the end of the day through the cultural hall where they had the ballroom upstairs. The wife asked if the sister missionary could take a picture of them because they were on their honeymoon. The sister gladly did and then, even though they're not supposed to leave the guests unattended during tours, she said the Spirit told her to leave them be for a little bit. So she went downstairs and could hear the couple dancing while the wife was singing to her husband. Precious.

 In the ballroom at the cultural hall. Original floors when the saints were here.

That same sister took us through the John Taylor home and there was an original rocking horse in one of the rooms. The story was told that a mother came back to the house while the mob was still in the John Taylor home to get the rocking horse for her son. This sister missionary was telling that story to another group one time and a little 4 year old said, "why did she do that? She could have been caught!" which his dad put his hand on his shoulder and tenderly said, "you haven't fathered yet." The sister missionary just thought that was the most tender thing.

In the John Taylor home. I just thought it looked so cozy. 

This sister missionary has been a convert for about 3 years and you can tell she's on fire! Her bishop told her to slow down and she said, "I'm just getting started!" I love the missionaries that we met on the trip. She was definitely one of our favorites.

Across the street from the John Taylor home, the young performing missionaries were singing songs and doing their own rap version to Book of Mormon stories. It was da best.

In the afternoon, we went to the Lucy Mack Smith home and she was a mighty woman in her small stature. I especially felt the Spirit when they told her experience of defending her testimony of the Book of Mormon.

That evening, we all gathered with the aunts and uncles and cousins for a little family history night. We learned about our ancestor William Walker. Pretty impressive man...I think he did 10,000 temple names?! And the people in South Africa revere him for the missionary work he did there.

And of course, we ended the evening by watching the British pageant. So well done! Then somehow everyone ended up in the Doutre hotel room eating popcorn and laughing our heads off (a lot of stories about Grandma too;) Apparently I eventually fell asleep on Austin's shoulder and had my mouth wide open and gave everyone some good laughs too...great ;)