Hello Again!

President Boyd K. Packer, age 90, passed away July 3rd at his home.

This has been a busy last week and a half since I last wrote! Just a few hours after my last post, our family piled into the car and drove across the country to visit family in Utah! Yippee!

We arrived last Saturday afternoon and spent some time with my mom's side of the family. On Sunday evening, my little sister was baptized!!! (Read a post about her here.) Monday morning, we got in the car again and drove up to Idaho, where we spent the last five days with my dad's side. Several late nights, a couple of tubing trips, and plenty of cousins later, we made it safely back to Utah and just finished watching lots of great fireworks! 

On another note, President Boyd K. Packer passed away yesterday, July 3rd, at about 2 pm Salt Lake time. He's enjoying the fireworks from a different view this year. :) 

There will now be two new apostles during October's conference. Say prayers for those men and their families, as well as the First Presidency and the remaining Quorum as they prayerfully choose these holy men. 

If you were wondering, here's the new state of things:

President Monson is still the president of the Church and therefore authorized as the only one who can receive revelation for all 15,000,000 of us. President Eyring and President Uchtdorf are still President Monson's counselors. 

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is down two, though there are still thirteen apostles (if you are confused by this, click here). Russell M. Nelson is the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, though he hasn't been sustained yet. Can you imagine how he felt when he heard the news? Here are his last three talks: 

The Sabbath is a Delight--April 2015

Sustaining the Prophets--October 2014

Let Your Faith Show--April 2014

Boyd K. Packer has been giving talks for forty-five years! Here are his last three:

The Plan of Happiness--April 2015

The Reason for Our Hope--October 2014

The Witness--April 2014

I love "The Witness" especially!

Here are several articles remembering President Packer and giving the details about the funeral service:

President Boyd K. Packer Dies At Age 90

5 Things We'll Never Forget About President Boyd K. Packer

President Boyd K. Packer, Champion of Families, Master Teacher, Resolute Defender of LDS Doctrine, Dies at 90

24 Inspiring Quotes from President Boyd K. Packer

Funeral Services Scheduled for President Boyd K. Packer

Anyway, I hope you will take some time to ponder on President Packer's life and example, and say some prayers for his family to be comforted at this time in their lives. 

Happy almost-not-fourth-of-July!! (The time on this post is Eastern Time, but I'm on Mountain Standard Time, so right now it is about 11:15 pm for me, even if the post says 1:15 am.)

Okay, this was supposed to be a short post. Sorry! Good night!

"I Cannot Say the Smallest Part Which I Feel"

Alma 26:16

Hey, crew!! Sorry for the wait--eleven days?! I can hardly believe myself. If you want an excuse, the best I've got is that we've had company since Saturday and they just left yesterday. 

But the reason they were here is the reason for this post. It's a long story, so if you don't have time, stop here. If you have a few minutes, sit back and read on.

My family moved to a new home in July. We knew about one family in our new ward and we were three hours away from all of our close friends. We started having the sister missionaries over for dinner every other week. In early September, they came over. They told us about a part-member family that they were working on who had three daughters. 

My sister and I had met the two younger ones once or twice before--they were in our church classes, but we had had no idea who they were. The sisters asked us if we would help fellowship the mom and her three daughters. 

We agreed, and then my mom made a suggestion. There was another family in our ward who had moved in just days after us. Their youngest daughter was my age, and she was coming to my house later in the week to hang out. My mom told the sisters that we could invite the two non-member girls over on the same day. 

I have to admit, I was not thrilled with this idea. It was the first time the other girl (the member) was coming, and I didn't want her to think that I was trying to pay less attention to her because of the non-member or something like that. But I grudgingly agreed. 

Friday, the day everyone was coming over, arrived. I had been crazy nervous the rest of the week, hoping that everyone would get along and like each other, etc.

Best day ever. All three of us got along really well and became very close friends, and my sister and the other non-member hit it off, too. Eventually, my mom and their mom also built a strong friendship, and my mom started going with the sisters to teach the lessons to them. 

A month and a half to two months later, the mom told us that she and her younger two daughters were getting baptized! We were so excited for them! They were, however, going to wait until May because their youngest daughter was turning 8 at the end of April and they wanted her to be baptized with them. So we settled in to wait. Remember, this was the end of October/early November. There was a lot of time between us and May 9th. 

The oldest girl still had not decided to get baptized. Everyone loved her so much, and we all prayed like crazy. I don't currently have permission to tell her full story, but I am just going to say that I know that miracles still happen and the Lord's timing is always totally perfect in every situation. Another thing is that He puts people in the places they are needed. And prayers are answered. Especially when there are multiple people praying for the same thing. So, two weeks before the rest of the family was scheduled to be baptized, the oldest daughter received her answer and decided to be baptized. 

It was a week and a half before their baptism and the girl my age and I were filling a bag with clothes for our yard sale and her older sister was leaving with another family. The sister said, "Bye." 

After the sister left, I asked the Beehive-aged one, "Oh, how's your sister?" Just passing conversation. 

"Good. Oh, did you hear that she changed her mind?" I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I started to barely hope that it was for what I thought.

"About being baptized," she clarified quickly.

My jaw and the bag in my hand dropped at the same time and I started bawling in the middle of the hallway at church! Thankfully, the only other people around were two Beehives, including my non-member friend. 

So, they were baptized this past Saturday and I cried the whole time. Tears just streamed down my face! Happiest day ever!

I encourage each member of the Church to ask the missionaries if there is somebody who you can help fellowship. As Presidents David O. McKay and Thomas S. Monson have both said, "Every member a missionary." (There are two separate links in the last quote.)

And if you were wondering about our company and why they were here for the baptism, staying with us, I'll tell you. They were the awesome R.M.'s who, in tandem with the Spirit, went to the family's home each week and helped bring them to the truth. They flew out from Utah at great cost to attend the baptism and confirmation of this amazingly faithful family. Thank heaven for missionaries!

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If the Savior Stood Beside Me...

This past Saturday, I attended the baptism of my friend's little brother and my little sister's friend.These people are the same person. (I hope you are sufficiently confused.) My friend asked me and a few of our other friends to sing the song, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" as a special musical number. The lyrics are as follows:

If the Savior stood beside me,
Would I do the things I do?
Would I think of his commandments
And try harder to be true?
Would I follow His example?
Would I live more righteously
If I could see the Savior
Standing nigh,
Watching over me?

If the Savior stood beside me,
Would I say the things I say?
Would my words be true and kind
If he were never far away?
Would I try to share the gospel?
Would I speak more reverently
If I could see the Savior
Standing nigh,
Watching over me?

He is always near me,
Though I do not see him there.
And because He loves me dearly,
I am in His watchful care.
So I'll be the kind of person
That I know I'd like to be
If I could see the Savior
Standing nigh,
Watching over me.

These aren't all the verses of the original song, but this is the most well-known version. It is a beautiful song and a wonderful reminder for us humans who tend to forget that our Savior is always 'standing nigh' and watching over us, whether or not we are acting as we should. I know I am certainly guilty of acting the wrong way sometimes! I hope that we can go throughout our lives a little more uplifted each day, and always remember that the Savior stands beside us. 

Here is a great video of David Archuleta singing the song. 

Here is a slideshow playing to the words. It is just a great song in general and a favorite of many.

Have a great week!!!!

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