Boulder Stake Conference

Saturday night and Sunday were stake conference and it was great. Ben and I sang in the Sunday morning session, so were assured soft seats and a good view. After the Sunday session we had some friends over for a big breakfast (during lunch time). It was fun to have people over and to eat good breakfast food. 

Here are some of my thoughts/notes from both sessions of Stake Conference:

-The Savior knew us before, he knows us not and he knows what we can/will become. That made me realize that all our trials and life experiences are given by someone who knows what is to come, that gives me  comfort and faith that things will turn out right. 

-Submit to the Lord and be like him, first you must learn the doctrine and THEN you can follow him.  This was interesting because in my mind to submit means to surrender (which can be positive but always makes me think of something negative) but other synonyms are to offer, put forward and propose. These words to me are more kind and gentle ways for us to give our will to Heavenly Father. I liked the idea of learning the doctrine before you can truly act. Often I think that I need to be more Christ-like but without reading the scriptures and listening to the counsel of the prophet, apostles and other church leaders I do not know how to center my life around Christ-like principles. 

- When Adam left the garden he began doing sacrifice. An angel came to him and asked why he was doing what he was doing and he said, "I known not but the Lord, God, commanded me." This idea says that sometimes obedience to a commandment comes before the knowledge/explanation. 

-The story of Shadrack, Mishak and Abendigo were told. They had announced that they would not eat and drink what the King gave them and they would be blessed for it. Then they announced "..But if not" they would still have faith. This is an interesting idea that even if the blessing does not immediately (or ever) follow the faith/obedience that we should still press forward. 

-To paraphrase Pre. Hinckley, "Pray as if it depends entirely on the Lord and act as if it depends entirely on you." 

- Shepherds lead, herders push- we are all shepherds in one way or another (parents, church leaders, missionaries, ect)

- A Patriarchal Blessing is a personal book of Eternal possibilities. 

-  Christ lived, died and rose for us! 'I have not seen or heard (nothing in our entire lifetime) anything as wonderful as the knowledge of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. 

-Mosiah 26:17 "..they are mine." This was powerful because the Lord is claiming us. Even when we mess up and feel inadequate the Lord still says, "..they are mine."

- Zion is a kingdom, not an individual; even if you have made necessary covenants you must then aide/teach 'the people'.

-We do not need to be perfect, that perfection comes from Him, we must just try. '... Ye shall obtain.." (I Believe in Christ- Hymn 134)

- Ponder, Plead, Persist (and then Thank!)

-When the test arrives the time for preparation is past. 

-Study the ordinances of the temple, they are the primary example of living the gospel to the fullest. Temple ordinances do not represent the progression to eternal life but they ARE the progression (assent) to eternal life. We should preach (think about) the temple inside and outside the temple.

-The church could not survive 24 hours without the power of revelation. 

-Take inventory of your life (in a new For the Strength ofYouth)

- People who climb Mt Everest must prepare and train for the journey. What do I need to do to prepared and train for the ascent to Mount Zion?

Tanaya's Baby Shower- She's about to POP

As mentioned in the previous post, my friends and I threw Tanaya a baby shower.  She is having a little boy at the end of April and is very excited.  

There wasn't enough belly room, so they told me to reach!

 It was fun to pull our creative juices and give her a fun shower. The theme of the shower was 'She's about to POP' (idea from Pinterest) so everything was focused on that theme. We decorated with plates on the walls to look like bubbles. 

We had two party games, that could be done while people chatted and if people just stopped by, we had bingo (with some uncomfortable rarely used pregnancy/delivery terms) and a date/weight guessing game (which we do not have a winner until she has him). 

We had a lot of 'POP' themed food. We had a pop of fruit, cake pops, poppyseed muffins, banana pops, gluten free rice crispy treats, soda pop and two flavors of popcorn. 

When she opened presents the person who gave the present had to give her some 'motherly advice' or tell her why they thought she would be a good mom. There were lots of ladies from our ward there and a lot of the young women (she is the 2nd Counselor in the YW's).  It was fun to chat and catch up with people and to spend this fun day with Tanaya. 

The Cake Pop Experiment

A couple of my friends and I decided to throw our friend, Tanaya, a baby shower. I was assigned to make some cake pops (cake balls on a stick). I thought it would be a ton of fun and should be easy (Erica made hundreds when Michael and Taylor got married) and not too time consuming. Boy was I wrong!

First you have to bake the cake, or in my case, cakes. Then you have to make frosting, or in my case, frostings. Then you put the cake and frosting in the kitchen aide and blend it all together, this created a cookie dough like texture.  Then you roll into balls (I made big balls for the actual pops and smaller ones for the cake balls) and put them in the freezer. 

As they are chilling/freezing you start melting chocolate. I tried this step four times before I was able to get it to work. I learned about seizing chocolate; this means that the chocolate gets to hot and it ruins the composition (gets grainy, hard, dry and won't melt).  Things I learned about seizing chocolate; chocolate will seize if it gets to hot or if it gets any water in it. I was trying to make a home made double boiler and failed because I was filling the lower pan too high (so it was spilling over the sides and getting some steam/moisture in the chocolate) and had it at too high a temperature (the water should not be boiling). I seized two batched of chocolate and then, heating it much slower (in a double boiler with a little water at about 3-4 on the oven setting) and it worked great. I tested some cake balls and they dipped beautifully but the chocolate never hardened. I then learned that this is because I used chocolate chips and making dipping chocolate out of real chocolate is hard. So the fourth time I did it (with the help of my mom) I used chocolate bark (fake waxy chocolate) and we micro waved it in increments of 15 sec. 

After you get the chocolate melted you begin dipping the balls. This is harder than I suspected because you have to dip it and get off extra chocolate but don't take off too much chocolate or you can see the dip marks (I dipped with a spoon and a fork and trying not to get fork lines was difficult).  This was also a little dirty (not too big of a problem because what woman does not like to be covered in chocolate, however the chocolate ended up getting everywhere- quite a mess).  Making the cake pops was difficult because they would slide off the sticks, once they hit the hot chocolate, and it was hard to keep the sticks clean.

Then you let the chocolate harden and do any beautification; sprinkles (which you actually had to do when it was wet) or frosting/white chocolate swirls/stripes.  So it was a lot more work than I thought and I have definitely learned some do's and dont's if I ever try it again.

In the end I made four flavors of cake balls; chocolate/chocolate, chocolate/mint, chocolate/maraschino cherry and white chocolate/raspberry.  I ended up having a lot extra but, good news, they freeze perfectly.  So I now have cake balls in my freezer, not super great for the waist line, but easy and convenient  if I ever need to take a treat to something.

Ward Conference

Yesterday we had Ward Conference and we had an amazing Sacrament Meeting and I wanted to share with you some ideas. Our Bishop told a story of his youth-hood. He grew up in Southern California and therefore grew up on the beach. He and his friends lived in the water and surfing was their life (meaning they didn't work, go to school or do anything- he even commented they were not even interested in girls).  After they graduated from High School and didn't change their lives (get a job, go to college, ect) all of their parents cut them off. They decided to go to Catalina Island (about 26 miles off the coast) and live like bums on the beach; catching their own fish, living in the water and sleeping on the shore.  

One of the guys had a motor powered raft and so they decided to take that to the island (instead of paying for a boat ride). As said earlier they lived in the water, so they understood the swells of the water, the depth and distance so going on a raft was not a big deal. Expecting the fog to burn off (like it always does in So Cal) they set out one foggy morning toward their new lives.  After a couple of hours, still in the fog, they realized they had gotten about 25 miles out (because of the change of depth and wave), they couldn't see the island and the waves were getting worse. In the fog they got turned around and did not know where they were so they were really lost (they did pulled out a trusty boy scout compass but found it was broken). They discussed going back but did not have enough gas, if they just stopped the boat to wait, the large waves would tip it. Needless to say they were nervous, it was at this time that 'they found religion' and began to pray for help and they continued on, not being able to see where they were going. 

After another hour the fog began to clear a little and they saw a white figure in the distance so, not having anything else to follow, they followed that figure. As they got closer they saw that it was a man, dressed all in white, on a white sail boat. They asked him where the island was and he pointed in a certain direction (90 degrees off where they were going- they were headed to  Japan). They followed him and, although they did not know how he knew where he was going, he led them straight to the island in safety.  Bishop Waldrip then compared this to the idea, "If ye are prepared, ye need not fear." This was a great analogy for life (which I won't go through the time explaining- hopefully you caught it) and was really interesting to me. (I did not do the story justice, he is a good story teller.)

Then our stake president spoke. President Williams, is an amazing scriptorian, sometimes when he speaks he just just pulls scriptures from his head, quoting them verbatim. He spoke about D&C 38 and talked about many principles. One thing he said that really stood out to me was in D&C 38: 14 which says, "...I will be merciful unto your weaknesses." I don't know why but this really hit me. You always hear the idea of Christ giving you strengths and making weak things strong unto you but he does not just change weaknesses to strengths automatically, as we know, so what happens when we are still weak? The idea that the Lord is forgiving of my weaknesses is a comfort to me. It helps me know that even when I mess up, I am still loved as a Child of God.  It makes me feel like I do not have to hide myself from the Lord (kind of like the idea of 'hiding your mess' given in the Women's Conference yesterday) but I can be honest and open and I will not be judged. 

I love ward, stake and general conference because I get to hear from the leadership of the church. I know that they are called of God and therefore their teachings are relevant to me and my life. Next week is Stake Conference and then General Conference is right around the corner and I am very excited!

Multi-Stake Women's Conference

This last weekend I went to a Multi-Stake Women's Conference. It was a conference with 9 stakes and we had Brother R. Scott Simmons, the regional CES instructor and member of the Longmont Stake Presidency, and Sister Barbara Thompson, 2nd Counselor in the General Relief Society President, as speakers. It was a wonderful and I felt the spirit so strongly. 

Brother Simmons first told a pioneer story. I do not remember the names of the people in the story but it was about a husband and wife, who had lost their children, and were stuck in a group of saints in the Rocky Mountains/Wyoming in the winter. The husband, a tall larger statured man, got terrible frost bite on his feet and told his wife he was giving up and she should go along without him. She, a short petite woman, put her husband in their handcart and pulled him through the mountains.  He then spoke on the principle of change. He said not to wait for change but to constantly move forward and instead of changing our circumstances the Savior will change us.  He then posed the question; How do you get faith enough to act/do what you need to do? He then spoke on prayer and scripture study. 

He defined and talked about dismemberment, which is to be broken or incomplete, and that at times our lives feel very dismembered. Then he spoke of bringing these pieces of life back together  which is called remembering. I had never put that idea together that to remember is to complete or pull pieces together; I really liked this analogy. He said that prayer and scripture study are ways in which we remember Savior and bring the pieces of our life back together.  

He then asked the question, "What is this (scripture) teaching me about Jesus Christ? And what is this (scripture) teaching me about my relationship with him?" He said that if we keep those questions in our mind that we will read the scriptures differently and get different things out of them than we have before. He gave a suggestion, a way in which he keeps scripture study a part of his day. He said that he will write a scripture on an index card and put it in his pocket and ponder it throughout the day; he would then pull it out to write thoughts and promptings he had about that topic/scripture on the other side of the card.  This helped him think about and notice the promptings he had from his scripture study all day. 

He ended with another story about a couple that get up really early in the morning to a visitor at the door. The visitor is the Savior and they put him in the nice sitting room (where no one ever goes and doesn't get dirty by the kids) and sat to listen to him. Then they heard the kids stir and told him to wait.  He said he could go with them to help but they refused, saying the rest of the house and the kids were just too messy. They then leave to get the kids ready, take them to school, clean the house, go to work, fix meals, pick up the kids, get them to bed and walk past their sitting room to see that the Savior is still patiently waiting for them. This story was then related to our lives; We (our scripture study, our prayer or our lives) do not have to be perfect, it does not have to be like a clean sitting room, the Savior just wants to be with us, even if it is messy and busy. He does not want to be left alone but wants to come with us through our lives. 

 I often think of the gospel as a overall idea, knowing it is true but not seeing it as real or tangible,  but thinking of the Savior literally and physically sitting and waiting for me was heart wrenching. I realized that that is how my life often is but I will sometimes keep him waiting for weeks. The idea of him just patiently and lovingly waiting for me, that he cares for me enough to not get frustrated or disappointed, has made me realize that I need to invite the Savior into my life (although crazy and hectic) and allow him to be my companion. (The Savior will not force his way in, he must be invited!)

He told a story of his friend who set his wrist watch to beep every hour. When it beeped he would take a moment to think of Christ (no matter where he was, who he was with or what he was doing). At first it was just thinking his name (Jesus Christ), then it was thinking about what he had done and who he was and then he found himself sitting and waiting for his watch to beep so that he could think of Christ. The idea here being that we should think of him and have him with us throughout our entire day. I enjoyed his comments and they gave me some things to think about and implement in my own life. 

One of my favorite quotes is by Heber C. Kimball and it says “ I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my God is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured when I have His Spirit.” Sister Barbara Thompson is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured woman.  She eluded the spirit and was funny and spoke so people could relate to her. 

At the beginning of her talk she said, "Hello and Hola." Then she went into to a story about trying to learn languages to speak to other congregations. She told a story about her first time speaking internationally as a member of the General Relief Society Presidency. She said she went to Japan and had a very sweet translator to help her. She was in a question answer session and had asked a question; a young beautiful asian girl in the back stood and answered the question. In astonishment she understood, she was so excited that she had the gift of tongues through the spirit that she leaned down to her translator and excitedly whispered, "Sister, I understood her." The translator looked at her and said, "Good, she was speaking English." She is so good at telling these funny stories and they littered her talk.  

She then took us to Moses 6:31-32 where Enoch, after being called by the Lord, proclaims, "Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant? And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good." She related this scripture to feelings of inadequacy and spoke about how Enoch doubted his own abilities but was told to go and act and that the abilities would follow.  

Then in Moses 6:34 it reads, "Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me." This scripture shows that even though Enoch doubted himself the Lord trusted in him and his abilities enough to say that he could move mountains. As I thought about this I thought of the analogy of life and our trials being like a mountain and we have to constantly climb towards our goal.  Then I thought about how if we, like Enoch, put our trust and faith in the Lord we can do anything, even move mountains and walk with him.  

She continued by talking about scripture study. She said that scripture study is essential for a spiritual people. She commented that you don't have to read an hour a day but any time, even five minutes. She said that there are days when she will only read 5 minutes but the point is that you read, inviting the spirit into your day, and even the smallest time reading/studying will help you in our life. She noted that we need to make scripture study exciting in our lives! She mentioned studying the scriptures with the Ensign/Conference Talks (she said there is a website in which you can click the scripture and a list of conference quotes will pop up- I do not remember this site address).

She also spoke of the temple and that we need to get to the temple as often as possible and it will give you a wall of protection in your life. She said that the blessings and miracles of the temple that are the most important are those that take place while you are in the temple. 

I didn't take as many notes during her talk because I was listening so closely but it was so amazing to hear her talk and feel her spirit. I am so glad that I was able to go to this conference and hear these messages.

Nordy's BBQ

Last weekend we went on a date with our neighbors, Nate and Kristen, to Windsor, CO. Why did we travel an hour to a sad destitute and unknown city? We went to go to Nordy's.  Nordy's is a famous BBQ place and Nate and Kristen sweared it was the best ever. So we went and tried it and I must admit, it was amazing. We shared a family platter which had brisket, smokes turkey, sausage, ribs, pork, beans, coleslaw pasta, french fries and honey corn muffins.  It was AMAZING food; I cannot decide what was best. The atmosphere was fun and the food was better. I would defiantly recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Wall Art

I have doing some craft projects around the house. I decided it would be cute to have a cork board in the craft room above the table. I went to the store and saw that they were very expensive. So I got some cork board liner and stuck it onto cardboard- this obviously didn't really work. Then Ron gave us a cork board that he had just sitting in the garage. So I brought it home, painted the frame and have a new cork board.

After months in our house I decided to make some art for our GIANT empty wall. I found this idea on pinterest and decided to try it. So we got some canvases, paint and I went to work.  I have finished it and am not entirely happy with it but I have decided that I can always take it down and fix it. (I must admit that the wall still looks kind of small- but I am sure we will get used to it.)

I don't like the red one... I will work on it.