things observed....

things i have observed since mark has been made bishop:

addison commented on how he could feel a different spirit in our home already.
ashley was feeling the spirit before mark got put in, but wasn't sure what it related to until we told her he was going to be bishop.
my love for mark (mind you, i have always loved him) grew 10 times stronger.
i am amazed by watching mark, it's like you can see a spirit walking with him at all times.
i watched mark give marty ellswood a blessing at the hospital and it was as if christ was standing next to him while he gave her that blessing.
i have watched love fill his heart for the members of the ward.
members of the ward have been very supportive and sweet to mark and our family.
i had several people come up to me the day he was set apart (people that i was a bit shocked to hear from) express to me how pleased they were that mark was bishop.
mark conducted at the temple for our ward temple night and bore a sweet testimony.
mark conducted his first funeral for marty ellswood and gave a strong message of how we should "be happy and find joy."
i feel like i am falling behind sometimes with the spiritual stuff and i can't keep up with mark.
i don't always feel like i am quite up to snuff in the spiritual category.
i am trying to change a few things in myself in order to be in sync with mark.
it has been a joy these last 3 weeks watching the mantel of the bishop take hold and settle in on mark....i am learning a lot about the spirit, god, christ, my testimony, mark and myself.

story of a bishop, continued...

we were in shock and sworn to secrecy....for 2 whole weeks!
we couldn't even tell the kids until the day before.
when we did, addison accused us of lying, which we did.
he understood why, though.

the morning that mark was to be sustained and set apart (may 1, 2011), we were both so nervous.
i was pacing the house and mark was just sitting in the recliner in our room....all nervous.

fast forward to sacrament meeting......

what an incredibly spiritual meeting.
the testimonies of the out-going bishopric were very touching.
mark got up to share his feelings and testimony and i wasn't sure if he was going to be able to say anything because he was so caught up with emotion.
humbly, he bore his testimony about the truthfulness of the gospel and trusting in revelation.

the stake president got up and explained the process of calling a new bishop and read part of the letter that the first presidency sent to him.
he also said that if you question how one is called, then know by this letter that he is truly called of god.

i was amazed that the first presidency prays about the new bishops and gives then gives their approval if it is right.

when mark was given the mantel of being bishop, you could feel the spirit surround him.
what an incredible feeling!

the story of a bishop...

once upon a time, there was a stake president named steven miles.
he saw one of his friends/stake member, named jill, at the gym.
he called her over to talk, which mind you, he usually just says "hi" and the usual "how are you".
he asked about mark and his job situation and how stable it was.
he asked about the kids and how they were doing in school, etc.
he asked about jill (me) and how things were going, etc.
i thought it was strange that he was asking me all these things, and for a second i thought he was going to as me to speak in stake conference....whew, thank goodness he didn't.
i walked away thinking that that conversation was nice but kind of strange.....strange because he made a point to call me over to talk and then ask all those questions.

fast forward a couple of weeks....
mark is swamped at work, and trying to get everything done so he can go out of town on business for 5 days.
a phone call comes from the stake executive secretary, drew weaver.
"i am trying to get a hold of mark, but can't. can you have him call me?", he says.
mark gave him a call back and found out the stake president wanted to talk to mark.
hmmm....that is strange. mark is very happpy being the young men's president. what does he want to talk to him about?
drew weaver call mark back on saturday, april 16th, and schedules an appointment for mark with the stake president.
ok, maybe he just wants to talk to him about young men's.

later.....
mark comes down and says, "the stake president wants to meet with both of us on sunday, april 17th, and we can't tell anyone we are meeting with him."
mark ran an errand and i was left there to cry.....i knew that instant why the stake president wanted to see us.
mark was going to be called as the bishop of our ward.

fast forward to sunday in sacrament meeting....
i kept looking around at everyone, trying to find someone that would be a great bishop for our ward.
no such luck. don't ge me wrong....there are lots of great men that could be bishop, but it i knew it was going to be mark.
sure enough.....the stake president and his counselors called us back to his office.
i think we were both pretty nervous.
mark was called to be the bishop of the granite view ward.

they will put mark in on the 1st of may, 2011.

to be continued......

Trust in agency....

i have had a great lesson in trusting personal agency....
it's such a small thing, but i really struggled with it....
add wanted to go to st. george with some friends....boys and girls....
i didn't think it was a good idea....it didn't look right....
i figured out that it wasn't add i didn't trust...
it was the situation, because it was out of my control....
after all, he is 18 and going to college in 4 months.....ugh
i did ask mark for a blessing, which i am grateful that i did....
i am also grateful that he is worthy to give a blessing any time i need one....
it is amazing to me that i am blessed with the things i needed at that time and that heavenly father communicates through mark......
i felt a lot better, but it was still lurking in the back of my mind....until.....
the night before addison left.....i got a strong thought from heavenly father saying......
"you have got to trust in his agency.....this is how i feel when i send all of you down to earth.....i have to trust in your agency, too"....
ok, ok.....i finally was open to the spirit to teach me what i needed to learn from this small problem of mine.....i get it now......
i am always amazed at how long it takes me to learn things, but i am grateful for the teaching of the spirit, the patience of heavenly father, priesthood blessings, and knowing that the gospel is true.

open mouth....insert foot!

have you ever had one of those days where you say something kind of rude, but you didn't mean it that way.......
i am on a roll lately....
i guess i just need to keep my mouth shut....
some things just come out of my mouth before i have thought them through....
then, oops!....they didn't sound the same outloud as they did in my head......ugh!
it happened to me twice this week....
i really should work on that weakness.....
instead of "open mouth, insert foot".....
it will be "open mouth, spit out kindness"....;0)
here's to a new day...

addison really is a senior....

on tuesday night, it was "senior night" at addison's basketball game....
up until this time, i hadn't really thought about addison graduating....
but, we are now to that point where realization is setting in....
parents escort the senior to center court....
moms get flowers and dads beam with pride....
play the game.....hope to win.....yes, we did win!
team has their moment in the locker room....still no tears....
until.....addison walks out of the locker room....
i start to cry....then addison....then mark....then ashley.....
we are babies....
i am so proud of addison and all that he has accomplished in basketball over the years....
he has shown leadership, hard work, skill, being a great friend, playing with honor and integrity....
addison has had many life experiences and they have shaped him into a wonderful young man....
thanks, addison, for all the wonderful years of basketball, fun, family togetherness, cheering, and learning!
now we head on to new adventures.....brace yourself!

there really are miracles....

miracles, i believe, mostly come in small packages...
here are some examples....
ashley and i were supposed to go to california and some nasty snow storms were coming through utah...
it was supposed to snow through thursday night, when we were supposed to leave....
i was a little nervous that the roads would be snowy and icey.....
but our prayers were answered and the roads were clear the whole way....

last weekend, ashley and i drove to california....
i was a little worried because driving long distances is not my strong suit....
as i was driving, i got all teary-eyed and told ashley that i felt that god was protecting us and helping me stay awake to drive all these hours....
granted, i had ashley to spell me when i needed it, but i couldn't believe how alert and awake i was for that long of driving....

from the time that kelsy jordan got her mission call, i felt impressed to offer to go through the temple with her....
her mom was able to go too, but wanted me to be her escort....
what a beautiful temple and beautiful experience....
the san diego temple is breath taking, both inside and out....

kelsy gave a great talk....
it was short and sweet and to the point...
i was able to see the beautiful spirit and testimony that kelsy possess....
i was grateful to see that side of her...

the drive home was done in one long day.....
but, we made great time.....10.5 hours includes stops....
ok, so maybe we booked it home....
but, god protected us again and helped us both be alert and awake when we needed to be...

these may seem trivial, but to me they are small miracles and i know that god had a hand in helping us be the recipients of these small miracles....
for that, i am grateful!