Sunday, August 26, 2012

Last "Summer" Post and a Great Sunday

Well, school starts tomorrow, so I guess this is a last summer post.
Emmy continues to be a pretty poor eater at the table, so she misses out on dessert a lot. That means I have to tell the kids to go eat in the laundry room so she won't see them.

I said poor eater AT the table. If it's on the floor, she does much better.

Just a cute picture I took last week as we were walking into church. 

A few trips to splash parks lately...MY DO IT she tells me as she drags the cooler across the playground.

We had some rain. You never think to take pictures of your neighborhood, but when I come across ones from my past I am so glad to have them. Jansen actually took this one.

And oh my! This 4 year old lost a tooth last week! It was loose, so we knew it would fall out soon. 

I felt the Spirit strongly several times at church today. Nate was working an ER shift, so I had the kids by myself.  Not the circumstances that allow me to get much from sacrament meeting usually. A piano solo of Nearer My God to Thee was especially touching though. It's amazing the things a song can allow you to feel...that you can know without a doubt that your Savior lives.

The most memorable part of my Sunday was in Relief Society. A woman that was baptized about 16 months ago shared her incredible story. Before joining the church she had really been struggling...feeling that something was missing in her soul. She had fasted many days and prayed and prayed. One morning at about 3 am she pleaded with God that she needed help and needed to feel peace. She said she felt Him tell her that  there was another book that was missing from her life. Upon hearing this she said, "No. No, no, no. I am not going to be a Mormon. I am a black woman, I am not going to be a Mormon." We all had a good laugh. She continued her story by saying that she told God that if that is what He wanted she needed something TANGIBLE and she needed to really know. 

The next day she went to work tired and a little angry. She found out when she got there she needed to train a new nurse and that just worsened her mood. She went about the day and trained the new employee. At the end of the work day, they were out in the parking lot together getting ready to leave when this new nurse grabbed her wrist and looked her in the eyes and said, "I have no idea why I am doing this, but God wants you to know YES. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." They both burst into tears and hugged and cried. So much so that security came over to check on them...just a funny little side note. This amazing woman did some reading and studying and research and was baptized. I felt the Spirit so much as she spoke.  I do believe the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ.

7 comments:

Lara H. said...

Thanks for sharing that story Jess! What an amazing one it was! P.S. Your family is adorable, I just miss you guys so much!

Anonymous said...

Yesterday at church we had a piano "medly of hymns" so beautiful and I just sit there and tear up. I love it when we have beautiful music and it touches you to let you know you are in the right place.

Anonymous said...

oh, and eating dessert in the laundry room. That one will come back to haunt you. Ha ha.

Lindsey said...

What an awesome story! Brought tears to my eyes. What a cool experience for both of those women.

That is hilarious that Emmy will eat off the floor like that. Great pic. Don't you want her to see what she is missing by not getting dessert though and let Jansen and Natalie eat in front of her? I know a major meltdown would ensue, so that wouldn't be fun for you... In the summers my sister in law has the kids pick a "prize slip" out of a jar each morning and if they get their stuff done, they get the prize. One time they pulled out ice cream at Golden Spoon. Some got their stuff done, others didn't, but they ALL went for ice cream. Those that completed their work ate the ice cream in front of those that didn't. Ha! Talk about suffering!

Kati said...

Emmy is hilarious! And yes, I agree with you that her story was amazing. It gave me goose bumps as she was telling about her answer.

Kara said...

Oh how I love you and your sweet, pure testimony!

dockters said...

Did you know that your blog is one of my favorites to read? Serious, it is!