Moving back to Utah

I am in the car right now as we are driving from Arkansas to Utah. We have had quite a trip already. We started off yesterday morning getting up on schedule and started going through the rest of the things in the house and loading up the small trailer we have. At one point our real estate agent called and said he had an offer on the house and not to leave until he got there. Several hours later we found out the offer was $14,000 less than what we owe on the house. This will not do so Robert and Wes sat and tried to figure out a counter offer. He is going to counter with an offer that will have us walk away breaking totally even. We should hear something Monday night. By the time everything was over with it was 6pm before we got out of there. We have had the house on the market for two years and this is the first offer we have had. We made it just past the Morrelson exit on why 40 when the old Uhaul I was driving started going slower and slower even when I was flooring it. I told Robert he need to drive it because I could not get it to work properly. He went about 100 yards and it was totally dead, the engine gave out. Here we are less than two hours from home and the truck is fully loaded with stuff and we are stranded. We ended up taking the tow dolly off the rental truck and hooking it to the haul, Jenn was driving her car, Joy driving the van, Robert in the Penski pulling me in the broke truck. There was no steering or breaks and we had to go 14 miles down the road going 7miles an hour like this. My hands have blisters on them and my shoulders hurt along with my arms and back from trying to hold the truck steady as we went down the road. We made it to Russelville at 11:35pm which should have taken only 2 hours. We slept until 6:30am and then got up and tried to figure out what to do. I guess I should have said they slept, my arms and hands were cramping most of the night so I did not sleep much. After talking to several people and Robert taking the car and driving around the town and the town before there he found a tow truck who would only charge us $200 to tow it from the truck stop to a garage. This is not what we were praying for but we were out of options. After making arrangements for this he was headed back to the truck stop and saw a man opening a gate up and Robert noticed he had trucks inside his fence so he stopped and talked to him. NOW HERE IS WHY THIS IS IN MY CHURCH JOURNAL Robert explained our situation and he said he would come and tow the truck to his place and store it for up to one week in exchange for us giving him the truck for scrap metal. Not only did we not have to pay anything upfront but we did not have to dispose of the truck afterwards! Yes now Robert is going to have to fly out to Arkansas and rent a truck and drive it back to Utah but Heavenly Father is watching over us and took care of us. We are on the road (24 hours behind schedule) but we are safe and on our way. I serve an awesome God!!!

Blessings

I am at Jeremy and Lora's house for two weeks to help out with the new baby. My second day here I was making egg rolls and one of them dropped back into the hot fat and splashed on my hand giving me 2nd degree burns in three places. After getting ice in a bag for me, Jeremy asked if I wanted a blessing. Oh my, it is so nice to have someone in the house to give you a blessing when you really need one! Usually we have to wait until Sunday and we get to church to see if someone will give us a blessing and by that time we are over the worse part of whatever is hurting us. Then last night I was able to witness Lora's Dad give Jeremy a father's blessing to help with all the stress he is under right now. Last night was the first time in a week that he has gotten peaceful sleep. Everyone needs a priesthood holder in their home to give blessings. It is a powerful gift from Heavenly Father.

When Times are Hard

When times are hard it is so important to continue to go to our Father in Heaven and let him know how we feel. We are to pray without ceasing and that means everyday no matter how we feel. I have found that when times are difficult I tend to not pray as much but I am working on this. This morning I learn a valuable lesson when I was telling one of my children that we, as a family, have to stop trying to do everything ourselves and start asking for help. It is snow and ice outside and my daughter went off the road and could not get the car to move. I was already at work and could not get there to help her. I said I would call a neighbor but she didn't want me to bother them. I gave her a lecture about how we need to start letting others help us and it was ok to ask for help sometimes. That is when I realized that I have been praying for others and their needs but have neglected to ask for help for our needs. I have tried to do it all alone and that is not good. I hope I can be more honest with my Father in Heaven and let him know about all my trials as well as the good things.

Joy Earned Her Young Woman Recognition

We are so very excited for Joy, she worked so hard on everything and took it very seriously. I will add some photos of her painting and quilt that she did as some of her projects. She wears her necklace everyday and even wore it during her surgery.
To those of you who do not know what this is, it is equivalent to a boy earning his eagle scout award. It is over a period of a few years and many things must be accomplished before they can get it.

Posts from Jack

Here are a few lines from Jack's emails:
I'm sorry I dont write much but my days are long and super busy the work is great out here, I dont have much time. We even have been doing appointments on our p-day, so I didnot get to write letters this week like I wanted to. Sorry I'll try this next week but we have a pumpkin contest this next week at zone conference so that might take up our p-day we'll have to see. The work is picking up tons for Fort Meade and we are finding more people to teach, so our days are super busy. Tell Joy to thank her seminary class for the letter, hope they got my letter back to them. still ain't baptized yet but thats okay, soon we hope, if he can quit smoking. He is trying but it is hard. Conference was great. I'm behind on my journal I have not got to do it the last two or so, days were to busy. So I'm going to try and catch up on that. ummm I love you all so I don't write as much. But I'll try and find time. Love Elder Deaton

Here is a little about me and the east coast. Colder much colder and I love I woke up this morning to 36 F degrees weather. mmmmmm... I love it. The work is going great and hey all those of you that don't open your mouth at all about the church better start and read Elder Bednars talk form conference. Tt was great!!!! Any way so I see miracles almost every day out here and you can too if you just look for them. Like the other day, we biked our butts off to get to these peoples house I almost pasted out and they were not home. :( But the Lord had their neighbor see us and say hey you guys want a coke. (heck yes we do if it gets us in the door.) and so we taught him the first lesson. bam, awesome the Lord opens windows for us to share the Gospel left and right. No joke just look around you and start talking and people will start asking you why this and that. Tell them what you believe then if you can't answer their questions get them pretty boys in suites with name tags on and they'll help ya. ya know, EH? any who, I love the Lord's work the church is true and so help fellow ship every new member and person you see at church then need that fellowship. I don't care if there not cool, and look funny. They are children of God also. and you are no better than them, so say hi and how ya doing, so time alright? thank form your Southern Elder in the northern east coast coming to ya live / through e-mail. Elder J M DEATOOOONNNNNNNN.

Conference is coming!

I am so looking forward to conference this weekend, I love hearing from the General Authorities. Joy and I will head to the church for the first session and then Joy will be at work during the second session so I will drive there by myself for that one. I can't wait to have pages of notes to take home and read over and over again and "fill my cup" as Joy said in her talk.

Will I go and do or just sit and stew?

Some of my notes from church today: Am I the kind of Mother I want my daughters to be? The example I want my sons to look for in their spouses? The gospel is there, use it and follow it. We must all lose our life in unselfish service. Do we act when we see something that needs to be done or do we wait until asked to do it? In our service, do we worry that it takes time away from what we want to do or are we grateful to be helping Heavenly Father? Lose ourselves, think of others. Take time to enjoy life along the way, cherish your family and always be there for them spiritually as well as temporally. Stand by our word, be a foundation of trust. We have a responsibility to hold up our end of the Lord’s work so be honest in all our dealings whether at work or in any other area of our lives. So many people have made sacrifices greater than I, stop complaining about the ones I have to make. Why are we here? Is it just for the mansion? We are here to be tested and to serve with love. Ask yourself, is what WE want what the Lord wants? We can receive further light and knowledge when you do what you are commanded to do. Pray to be lead to where we are supposed to be not where we want to be. I’ve asked you to do this, are you going to do it or not? Your promptings could be the answer to someone else’s prayers. If we are asked to do something great we would do it, why do we struggle doing the little things?
What do I get out of all this? So many times today during church I was prompted by The Spirit to stop trying to control things. I am to go where Heavenly Father needs me to go even if that means to a neighborhood where I do not know anyone, where I have never been. My success in my mission here on earth depends on how much I follow Heavenly Father’s plan for my life not how much I can do on my own. Sometimes I have to step back and realize that Heavenly Father sees the whole picture and I can just see a tiny piece of it. I know without a doubt that it is time for us to move and be there for our children. I now accept the fact that I am not to push my wants on Heavenly Father and simply go when he wants me to go, where he wants me to go and stop murmuring. It is not REALLY a hard thing he asks of me, so I will go and do!

Missionary Trip

I watched as Jack said Good-Bye to people in Arkansas and we headed out to Utah. Jack was so excited to go but was sad to say good-bye to his many friends. It was the beginning of a life changing experience for him and a bitter sweet time for me. I know it is time to let him go and that Heavenly Father will protect him while he is gone and he will make a great missionary but at the same time it is so sad to know that I will not get to see him or hug him for two whole years. Jack had become the Spiritual head in our home and took a bit of the weight off of me for a while and now he is leaving. That sounds selfish but being the Spiritual head was meant for a priesthood holder and I just am not strong enough to carry that burden. We are back to no priesthood holder in the house and last night when Jack was set apart as a full time missionary I felt the load come back to me. The day was a good day, Janet (a dear friend),Jeremy, Jack and I went to the Salt Lake Temple to support one of Jack's best friends growing up as he took out his endowments preparing for his mission to Brazil in October. Then Lora brought Jennifer and Joy down and Janet and I watched as Jack preformed baptisms with first Joy then Jennifer and then Jeremy did Lora. As the others were getting dressed, Jeremy continued to help several other people who were there waiting. Then we drove home and prepared Jack's farewell supper which we had to hurry and eat and leave everything sitting on the table while we went to the stake center for Jack's setting apart. Robert was there and he was at work when Jeremy was set apart. It was a wonderful time as Kyle played the piano and we sang Be Still My Soul and then Jack said the prayer. Jeremy gave a spiritual thought which was fabulous and then President spoke. After his words of advise the priesthood holders were called up to set Jack apart. It was great to see Kyle be able to stand in the circle to support Jack along with all the very close friends who have supported us since we joined the church. Then we were all reminded that Jack is now a full time missionary and no more hugs for people just handshakes and he must have a companion with him at all times now. He went home with Jeremy and we will pick him up this morning on the way to the MTC. I did not sleep at all last night and was up at 4:30 this morning trying to write a letter to give to Jack to open tomorrow and then one to mail to him so it gets it on Friday. We do not know how long he will be at the MTC with assume 3 weeks, they will tell him after he arrives there. Today is a hard day but a happy one.

Jack's Farewell Talk

Jack’s Farewell Talk July 19, 2009 – He had no notes for the talk he just spoke from his heart, this is what we recorded him saying. (it was 9:25 in the morning so this shows he was a little nervous!)

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters, as Brother Bradford said, I will shortly be leaving to serve The Lord in the Baltimore Maryland Mission. I report Aug 5. For those of you who don’t know me, My name is Jack Deaton and if you don’t already know me you probably won’t get to know me because I’ll be leaving soon. Last week Brother Bradford approached me and asked me to speak and at that time right before he approached me I was sitting there thinking to myself with a nice big grin on my face, they forgot I’m leaving so I’m not going to have to speak, this is pretty cool. And right as I went to walk out of the building he grabbed my shoulder and shook my hand and as I said Hi he didn’t release it or let go he kind of held on and I knew, yea he got me.
This talk that I stand before you to give, I’ve not only been thinking about for the past week, but for my whole life. Since I joined the church, I’ve always wanted to serve The Lord. And to me, two years wasn’t that big of a deal because of all that He has given to me, two years is something very small. Throughout my life I’ve seen, oh I don’t know, at least a hundred missionaries go out and I have been able to have the privilege to serve with hundreds of missionaries and have them in our homes and feel their spirit and to go out and teach others with them. Many years ago, just like the Prophet Joseph Smith, my family had a few questions and because of those questions the missionaries showed up at our door and brought us the answers, it was the gospel. I’ll be eternally grateful to those two elders who gave up their time to serve their Lord to bring that message to me. If you read in James, chapter one, verse 5 and 6, it is a very familiar scripture to me, it reads: If any of you lack wisdom, Let him ask of God that giveth to all me liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be give him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
That scripture brings great meaning to my life, knowing that if we ask in faith, unwavering, that the answers will be given to us. I stand before you this day testifying to that, because I too have asked, as did the Prophet, many questions of the Lord and have received my answers. So it says to ask in faith, not wavering, but what is faith? We flip over to James chapter 2 verse 17 it says “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” And continue on to verse 26 it says “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
So we come to this earth knowing that if we have faith without works we are dead. So as we see, Faith needs works. Without work, it doesn’t show that we have faith, it doesn’t show The Lord that we believe in His commandments, knowing that if we do them we can return to Him, believing in the Lord himself, Our Savior Jesus Christ, knowing that if we walk in His footsteps we will not only become closer to God, but be a happier person in general. As we turn to the Articles of Faith, some of the many things we learned from the Prophet Joseph Smith are in these great words. Article of Faith 4, as many of the primary children have memorized and know, reads: We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
These four principles, brothers and sisters, are some of the strongest things you will ever hear in your life. Faith in The Lord Jesus Christ is one of the biggest things that people have in our days. Throughout regions, throughout religions, throughout the world, they believe in The Lord himself in many different ways, but unlike other churches, repentance and baptism by immersion and the gift of the Holy Ghost they do not have, as we have these principles and the great priesthood in our church, ladies and gentlemen, we have the true living gospel in our hands. As I prepared for my mission I found out that opening your mouth can be one of the hardest things there is, but if we do it with faith in The Lord and the Holy Ghost guiding us, it can become the easiest thing that we will ever do. When you let the Holy Ghost take over and use your body as a vessel you can easily open your mouth. If we turn to D & C 60 verses 2-4, I have found some great peace in this scripture myself. It reads:
But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them. And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have. For I, the Lord, rule in the heavens above, and among the armies of the earth; and in the day when I shall make up my jewels, all men shall know what it is that bespeaketh the power of God.

I found this scripture at EFY, my last EFY last year when our director Brother Chang challenged us on the first day to write down a question and seek out the answer throughout the week. I found my answer one day when I was reading in section 60 and I asked myself a question, what could I do to better open my mouth? Well this scripture here answered it for me because I wondered to myself, am I the type of person who would not open my mouth and will have the talents which the Lord has given me taken away? Or will I be one of those jewels that He has chosen in the last day to stand as a witness before men, to preach unto those that would not hear? Just like the prophets of old and the prophets of the latter days, they have all stood before men preaching the gospel and teaching repentance. I am so very excited to go to Maryland and be able to do the same as they have, to stand before anyone and everyone and teach unto them the gospel that has been brought to me.
In D & C 59:8 we read: Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
In this principle here, we learn that the greatest sacrifice we can give to The Lord is a broken heart and a contrite spirit, throughout my life in this church I have heard that many times, but I have often wondered what is a broken heart and contrite spirit. To me I feel that a broken heart is one that is completely submissive to The Lord, we have given up the worldly items and don’t care about that anymore, all you care about is The Lord and what He holds, above everything.
As we read in Moroni 10: 3 through 5 it read: Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
When the missionaries came to our home and we received the Book of Mormon, they asked us to read this scripture, knowing that through it we will know. This scripture has great meaning to me, because I have come to do with it, as Moroni has asked, and I have prayed upon these things and I too have found that these are true. The words of The Lord have been given through many prophets in many ages and at all times and they still stand true today. If we would only read these things and ponder them in our hearts and have some faith, The Lord will show us what is true in all things. The Spirit is a great thing brothers and sisters, it not only can comfort us in time of need but it can strengthen us in the time of our weaknesses. I find great strength in The Lord knowing that He is always there with me. I’d like to end with my testimony, that I know this church is true, I’ve come to find it for myself. I know that the Prophet Joseph Smith was a true living prophet, I am eternally grateful to him and the many things he has taught us and shown unto us and brought us. In D&C 135 verse 3 we find:
Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.
I am so grateful that Joseph Smith prayed and did as The Lord asked and came unto Him with those questions for if he did not I would not be here today. I love this gospel with all my heart and I am so grateful for it and I can’t wait to share it with the people of Maryland. I know, if you just pray, and let the Spirit enter into your heart and surround you, you will find peace with anything you struggle with. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

President Kimball speaks to me??

This has been a hard month for our family. Jeremy lost his job, Jennifer found out that she did not qualify for financial aid for college and has to pay everything up front, my mother's heart failed and stopped completely but with prayer it started up again, Robert has not been getting miles but has been stuck sitting in different states over and over again so his paycheck has been very small, we are STILL trying to figure out how we are going to pay for Jack's mission and Joy is still not enrolled in ANY high school for the fall and we can not do homeschooling again.
We have been praying and praying for answers and today I have been watching church DVDs and then it came . . .
President Spencer W. Kimball, who was gone long before I joined the church, spoke to me. I was not paying full attention to the DVD but it was playing in the background when he spoke and my heart started burning and I knew that somehow everything would work out. In 1981 President Kimball said, "ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT IF THIS WERE NOT THE LORD'S WORK, THE ADVERSARY WOULD NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO US. WITH FAITH AND GOOD WORKS, THE TRUTH WILL PREVAIL. THIS IS HIS WORK, THERE IS NONE OTHER LIKE IT, LET US THEREFORE PRESS FORWARD, LENGTHENING OUR STRIDE, AND REJOICING IN OUR BLESSINGS AND OPPORTUNITIES."
Oh my gosh Mary, let's take the time to rejoice in our blessings and the many opportunities we have and have faith that we will receive all the blessings we have been promised. We have given away all the blue Book of Mormons we have and I had to take Joy's that she was given in YW because someone asked me for one (sorry Joy, I know it had your notes in it but it was all we had and when we get to Utah I will buy more to replace it). We have all shared the gospel more in the past few months than we have since we moved here, all because people can not believe we are sending ANOTHER son away for two years! If we were not doing something right, the adversary would not be working so hard to take us down and we must rely on our faith to keep us up!

Memphis

We arrived at the church at 6:05am and Bishop arrived shortly afterwards. It was nice that Jack had a mentor to take to the temple, I would be of no use to him but if Jeremy could not be here, there was no one else Jack would have rather had take him through than his most important friend. We talked about many things on that 2 1/5 hour drive (it takes 3 from home) and Jack slept off and on the entire time. When we arrived I felt like a fifth wheel (or 3rd wheel in this case). Jack and Bishop entered the President's office for their interview and I was all alone for the next two hours. A trip down memory lane and suddenly I was crying but softly so no one would notice. I watched as a group of youth came in and one of the boys was so small and was smiling ear to ear talking about how this was his first time to the temple. I clearly remember Jack's first time and the crowd of friends he had with him and how happy they all were even though it was early in the morning. I finally went and got dressed and sat around in the dressing room waiting. It seemed like forever before we were allowed to go in and sit. Jack and Bishop came in a little bit later and I was so very proud of the choices he had made and seeing him there in all white and taking it all in. When we go to Utah, Jeremy is going to take him to the Salt Lake Temple and he will get a different experience there. Afterwards we just sat in the room and Jack was deep in prayer. I touched his knee, Bishop has to get back they are packing today to move. Jack nodded but made no attempt to move. After a while longer I got up and left to go change and Jack sat quietly praying. We finally got photos out front and then left. We stopped at Burger King on the way home. Bishop and his family are moving and this was their last weekend here in Arkansas. His wife gave up alot for us that day and I will be eternally grateful to her to allow Bishop to leave on that hectic day for them to be there for Jack.

Temple Trip

Jack will be going to the Memphis Temple on Saturday. This is a big step for me. Jeremy does not get to come and be his escort so our old bishop is going to take Jack through. He is very excited about going. I am sad that Jeremy and Lora won't be there. When we go to Utah the end of July, Jeremy will do a session with Jack and that will be good. We had to order all his stuff and have it shipped, so different than renting at the temple or going to the local distribution center to pick it up! I look forward to going to the temple, I need it right now.

Missionary Acceptance

I was very impressed with the Acceptance letter Jack wrote to accept his mission call. I could not believe how grown up he sounded in the letter. I guess all the preparing these past few months has really changed him. I have noticed it in his prayers too. He sounds so mature and prays for such grown up things, no more let me get to the swing set first at recess now it is please help me to have compassion to those who get on my nerves. WOW what a difference!!

No Regrets

I have been doing a lot of studying and reading and learning lately and I have decided to make my motto "No Regrets". I need to do my best at whatever I am doing, put it all on the line, leave it all on the field, however you want to say it. I need to do my best in every situation and then I will have no regrets in life. I need to do my best in my relationships with others and be the friend, mother, sister that they deserve. Not only do I need to live with no regrets, I need to enjoy the journey along the way.

The prep begins

Jack and I have read every word of his mission call and the book they send along with it. We have talked about what we need to do next and how the process is going to go. We are trying to decide what he can buy after he gets there and what he can buy in Utah and what needs to be bought now. The sadness is beginning to overtake the excitement for me and Jack is beginning to get more excited as each day passes. Tomorrow he will announce it in church. I have been very careful not to talk about it much so that Jack can be the one to talk to people. It is an exciting time for him and the experience is different in the mission field than it was in Utah. People out here don't understand very well but in Utah all you had to do was say he is going on his mission and everyone knew what we were talking about and what we needed, just getting suits was an experience here but when Jeremy got his we walked into Mr. Mac's and told them he was going on a mission and they when around the store getting things he needed for that area and recommending the proper stuff and saying no he will not need that where he is going. Here they wanted to try and sell him everything in the store and the expensive stuff like $60 for one white shirt, etc... What a difference a state makes!!

MY SECOND MISSIONARY

Jack has been called to the Baltimore Maryland Mission. This will be my second missionary, Jeremy went to the London England South mission. Jack leaves Aug 5 from the Provo MTC. Jeremy flew to the MTC in England. These will be totally different experiences for us. Jeremy was the first to leave home and there were three younger kids at home. Jack and Jennifer will leave home on the same trip to Utah and then it will just be Joy and I left at home. I will be able to blog my experiences with Jack and hopefully he will write every week, Jeremy began his mission writing well but the last year was hit and miss. At least Jack saw what it was like not having news every week and he vows he will write every week, that is a comfort to a heart that is full of emotions right now. I am glad he is serving a mission but I am hurting because he will be leaving in just 8 weeks. I remember how hard the last mission was on the family and I dread the hard times ahead but I am very grateful that Jack is worthy to serve a mission and he will do very well. At least he is going to a place with heat in the summer and snow in the winter!

Another Bishop already

This makes Bishop number 9 for us and we have just made our 13 year mark in the church. That is not even a 2 year average per Bishop. We had 4 Bishops in our first year but that was because we had one in Colorado then in Kaysville while we were looking for a house then our Bishop was released about 4 months after we bought our house. Our ward split 3 times when we lived in Layton because of reshaping our stake. Our ward here is so spread out that it takes almost an hour to drive from our house to some of the other ward members. There are so many changes all the time that it is hard to feel close to people. I miss being able to walk to church! I love you all,

God is Great, God is Good

God is Great, God is Good, Let us thank Him, for our food, AMEN
When we were children we took turns saying grace over our food. Each one of us had a prayer memorized and we would say it every time. This was my prayer. It was short and sweet. As I have gotten older it has taken on a whole new meaning for me. This past week I was reminded of this prayer and all that it means. Sula was not only a co-worker but a friend. She was a special lady who loved everyone. We have seen God work miracles in her life and the lives of those she touched. Last week Carl, her husband found her on the floor unconscious when he woke up in the morning. She was taken to the hospital and after a few hours we received the report that she was awake and alert. Jack got to spend time with her during his lunch break and then again after work on Thursday. I am very grateful for this, he can make anyone laugh and feel better. Then Friday she got worse but was hanging on because her daughter was out of town and trying to get back. Saturday with everyone there they decided to take her off the life support and they called her death around 5pm but Ms Sula was not quite done and her heart started up again. It beat strongly for a bit and then stopped again. The machines read flat lines and they thought she was gone but time after time she left and came back. I am told that throughout the night she continued this, at least 10 times the machines showed flat lines for around 2 minutes or longer but her heart would not quit. Finally on Sunday morning she took her last breath. This was typical of Sula, she had the greatest heart I have known. She was always concerned about everyone and made each person feel special. She always gave you a hug and a smile and when she said It's nice to see you, she meant it. She made everyone feel special. We were able to leave a couple of girls at the office and the rest of us go to her funeral on Wednesday. Jack and Jennifer were able to get off work and join Joy and I there. Our work filled the front few pews and it was nice to hear all the things said about Sula and to give comfort to Carl in his time of need. The little miracles that have taken place this week is showing everyone that our God is a great god. Through him, people who did not know about Sula called and said they had food they could not use and could we put it to use. Through God, family members were blessed to be here when they did not think they could make it. Through God, little everyday miracles were noticed for what they were - His loving touch. We do thank Him for our Food, but not just that food that going into our mouths but the food that goes into our heart and our soul. The food that fills us up both spiritually and physically. The food that we need to keep going. Yes, Mrs Sula touched many peoples lives while she was here on this earth as well as after she left here. We will meet again someday, of that I am certain!

Losing a friend

Today I lost a dear friend and a co-worker. My heart is heavy. I know that she has suffered so much the past couple of months and she was tired of fighting. She is finally resting and I know this but it does not make the sadness go away. The next couple of days will be so hard on her family, her husband of 51 years, her kids and grand kids. She is dearly loved by many people. They do not have the same faith as I do and I know that their pain is much more than mine because I know that she is in a restful paradise now and that all is well with her. I am so grateful for the gospel and the Book of Mormon and other scriptures that explain so much about our journey in this life and all eternity. I love my Heavenly Father!

Blessing come big and small

We had the missionaries over for dinner this week and were left with a scripture that spoke about the small things. It was a nice ending to a fun meal but even more important than that, Robert was here. To some it may seem like a small blessing to have the missionaries in your home but to me, this one visit was a big blessing. They were able to talk to Robert and spend a bit of time with him. They were not pushy but their presence was felt by all.