Double Duty!

Before I 'officially' start the post...Did you hear about Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles? He passed away yesterday of cancer. Prayers for his family and for the First Presidency as they ponder who to call in replacement (in October). (Here is a link to the news article.)

Today is a special day for two reasons. First, it is my little sister's eighth birthday! She is now accountable for her own actions, able to know right from wrong, and old enough to be BAPTIZED!!! She will be baptized in about a month.

Second, it is PARENT'S Day. Wait - before you go squealing off to look for a late gift let me tell you: you didn't forget ANYTHING. This is just something I kind of made up. It is the day that falls directly between Mother's Day and Father's Day. Parent's Day! 21 days in either direction and you will hit one of those parental holidays. 

In honor of these two occasions, I did two experimences! What??? You don't know what an experimence is?? Well, keep reading and I'll tell you.

Experimence #1...

A few weeks ago, I finished Divine Nature Required Experience #3:

Make your home life better. For two weeks make a special effort to strengthen your relationship with a family member by showing love through your actions. Refrain from judging, criticizing, or speaking unkindly, and watch for positive qualities in that family member. Write notes of encouragement, pray for this family member, find ways to be helpful, and verbally express your love. Share your experiences and the divine qualities you’ve discovered with that family member or with a parent or leader.

I chose my now-eight-year-old sister as the family member I tried to strengthen my relationship with. As I did this - not only as an experience, but an experiment (thus the word experimence) - I noticed things about my sister I hadn't known before. For example, she's really fun to talk to at night before we fall asleep. She's also very sweet with our baby sister. She happily and enthusiastically plays 'people' or 'house' with our Sunbeam sister, and is always up for a round of roughhousing with her older brother, even if she'd rather be doing something else. She is wonderful with people and is always ready to serve. I was way excited for the opportunity to write her a note at the end of all this telling her just how wonderful she is and how her divine nature really shines through!

Experimence #2...

Today, I completed Divine Nature Elective Experience #5:

Obedience is an attribute of the Savior. Strive to be more obedient to your parents. Read Luke 2:40–51 and John 6:38. Develop a pattern of obedience as you make a special effort to treat your parents with respect and kindness and do what your parents ask you to do without having to be reminded. After two weeks record in your journal how being more obedient motivated you to want to continue doing so and how it has helped you understand your divine nature and the divine roles of mothers and fathers.

In honor of Parent's Day, I chose to do this Divine Nature experience--which really ended up being another experimence. Throughout the two weeks, as I decided to do what my parents wanted or needed me to do (which was hard; sometimes I forgot), I found that the Spirit directs my parents when they pray for me and helps them to know what choices they need to place before me and how to help me stay on the straight and narrow path. I am so grateful to my parents for the obedient example they set and I hope I'll be able to do the same for my children. And if you really want a gift for your parents, you can start this experimence. Trust me, they'll love it!