The things of my Soul

The Book of Mormon Prophet Nephi once said regarding the record he was keeping..."And upon these I write the things of my soul..." 2 Nephi 4:15  This is why I blog.  This is my place to record the things of my soul.  The place where I can pour out my thoughts, fears, joys, successes and yes more often that I would like even my failures.  There are many wonderful blogs out there seeking to change the world in some little way and I believe little by little they are.  But my blog isn't about changing the world rather it is about changing myself...it is a record of the person I am becoming and hope to be some day.  The apostle Paul wrote...whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Recently, it has been difficult because I no longer have a computer at home.  There are wonderful positives to this.  My children don't ask to play computer games and I get much less distracted.  I like this but what I don't like is that when I feel the need to express myself about something I have been pondering or mulling over I don't have a computer, instead I have to put pen to paper.  Pathetic it is.  I know.  That it would take this to help me remember so long ago, ha! ha!  (like less than 20 years ago)  I was only ever putting pen to paper.  So posting is a bit more sporadic but it comes all the same :)

COOL...SUPER COOL!!!

Please don't ask me why my son decided to pose like this for this picture because I have absolutely NO idea and it has nothing to do with this post :)  

This is my Ezekiel, or Zeke (pronounced Zeekey) as we like to call him.  He is 3 and will turn the BIG 4 in 9 days.  February 14th to be exact.  He is my Valentine's boy.  Well, the soon to be 4yr old boy has been going through some type of phase as of late.  It started about two months ago and it started small, but it has blossomed into something...well, something typical for a 3yr old but still quite baffling for the Mommy of a 3 yr old.  It all started with Spiderman as it often does with little boys right?  See there were these jackets...

This one with Spidey and one just like it but gray with Superman.  They belong to his big brother, but one day I let him where one because he thought they were cool.  That was all she wrote folks because I could hardly get him to take it off to bathe.  He even slept in it a couple of times.  Thankfully I had two jackets so when one was dirty the other I had as back-up.  You can't imagine, or then again maybe you can, the meltdowns that would result if I didn't have either ready for him to wear.  I'm not one of those Mom's that is going to start WWIII over what my children wear.  I am taking the advice of wiser Mom's who have repeatedly told me to "Pick my battles".  What they wear, as long as it is clean and modest, just ain't one for battlin over. So, every day it was Spidey or Superman...our friends dontcha know? :)  And this I could handle, but his obsession turned to his PJ's to one pair in particular.  Betcha can't guess who was on these PJ's?  Yep, none other than our friend Spiderman.  This was really hard because he only has one pair of these.  Do you know he would actually hide them from me when he took them off in the morning?  He would tuck them in a corner or put them under a bed out of fear that I would wash them and they wouldn't be ready for bedtime that night.  

Once his obsession spread to the PJ's it was over for me, Mommy.  Because the next thing I knew he only wanted to wear jeans and nothing else.  And then it was only certain shirts.  One day as we were laying out his clothes for the next day, I had given him two choices and he said no to both. I asked him why and he said, "They aren't cool".  Do you know I rolled my eyes like a teenager?  And said "ok, what do you think is cool enough to wear?"  It boiled down to about three shirts...his monkey shirt, his "Pre-historic fish" shirt, and his googly eye shirt, two of which were too small for him.

Fast forward to today two months later...

We bought him new shoes yesterday, which of course he picked out all by himself.  As I was just about to work on my post for today he came down in his PJ's (an "acceptable" alternative to Spidey) and stood next to me with a big silly grin on his face.  I thought, "What is he doing?" and then I looked down.  He had rolled out of bed and first things first of course, had put his new shoes on.   All he needed from me was a quick tie of the strings.

Will he grow out of this phase?  Maybe he will maybe he won't.  But I want to remember and of course will have fun in the future helping him remember the "COOL...no SUPER COOL"ness of being him! 

Love you my Zeke!

PS. Bought a shirt yesterday that was actually "COOL" enough to wear without his jackets :)!

Where on Earth Can I Find Heaven?

I miss it like the trees miss April when its fall...

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,	60
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come	65
From God, who is our home: ~ William Wadsworth

Do you ever feel homesick and you are home?  I do.  As a child I instinctively knew the home I was missing was my heavenly home.  About the only place that eases this sense of longing for me is the temple.  Each and every time I attend the temple I feel, for those moments, close to home. The most wonderful part of all is that as I serve in the temple and then return to daily life I take a little piece of that heaven with me to my earthly home making it a little piece of heaven too.

 I Love to See the Temple!

Here is what President Monson, a living prophet, has to say about the temple.

"As you and I go to the holy houses of God we will be more able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation.  In this sacred sanctuary we will find peace, we will be renewed and fortified.  May we make whatever sacrifices are necessary to attend the temple to have the spirit of the temple in our hearts and in our homes."

Comfort Food for Thought

You know those foods that when you eat them you just feel good all over?  The ones that make you feel warm and safe and happy all the way the very core of your being?  Well, I also have those comfort foods for my thoughts.  They are things that when I reflect on them I feel this sense of peace that settles over me and sinks down deep into my soul.  The story of Joseph Smith and what we mormons call "The First Vision" is just such comfort food for my thoughts.  I was 9yrs old the first time I heard this story.  I will NEVER forget it.  

My grandmother was a lover and seeker of truth. She had a great passion for it. A friend of hers, that was a member, stopped in to her work one day to visit with her. During the course of their conversation he asked if he could bring the missionaries to share with her more about the church. She accepted. My sister and I lived with her at the time and were eager to hear these discussions as well. I am not sure the order in which we learned about the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ to the earth but, I will never forget how I felt the first time I heard the story - A young boy of 14 who went to a grove of trees and knelt down in prayer asking God what church he should join. As I heard his testimony of how God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to him I was filled with light, joy and the sweetest peace I have ever felt. I knew he had seen God and Jesus Christ and that this young boy was God’s instrument in restoring His church to the earth. I have never doubted it.

Why, you might ask would this story be comfort food for my thoughts?  Because there are some simple but precious truths I learned from it.  God hears and answers my prayers. He knows me personally by name. I am His child. The Heavens are once again open and He speaks to a prophet to lead and guide us, His children, back to our Heavenly Home.

The words near Joseph's childhood home where he saw God, our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ"  We call it "The Sacred Grove"

Yesterday on the spur of the moment I took my children to see the movie "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" on temple square.  My Joaquin was deeply moved by what he witnessed so much so that he refused to talk about it afterwards.  Have you ever had experiences like that?  Ones where they are so personal and special that you want to keep them for yourself to think over, to ponder to savor?  I'm hoping this story too will become comfort food for his thoughts.  

Here is the full-length film to view on YouTube if you are interested.