Another Testament of Christ

As a child my parents taught me about Jesus Christ. Right from the beginning I knew in my heart and soul that He lived and that by living His teachings my life would be better. As I grew that knowledge expanded and my testimony of His mission on earth has helped me through trials and disappointments. It has also given me much joy, comfort and happiness. I can honestly say that I KNOW that my Savior lives.

I love to read the scriptures in the New Testament of Christs' amazing birth. I marvel at His understanding and knowledge as a 12 year old as He taught the people in the Temple in Jerusalem. I cherish the words as He taught, administered, healed, and lived among the people of Judah. As I read of Christs' suffering in Gethsemane for my sins and for the sins of the world, I feel such love and appreciation for Him. Then as He is crucified I cry that He endured so much yet loved us enough to do His Father's will. I get chills when I read of Christ, as a resurrected being, appeared to Mary Magdalene.

In John 10 Christ teaches "I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep" (vs 14) and that "I lay down my life for the sheep" (vs 15). But in verse 16 He says "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." What is Christ meaning about other sheep not of this fold? I have come to believe that Christ is teaching that there are other children of God that need to be taught by the good Shepherd and yet the New Testament says that Christ descended into Heaven and left the people of Judah.

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I have learned that the "other sheep" are people that lived anciently on the American continent. Christ left the people of Judah and came to visit and teach the people in this continent that we now live on. I have received a strong testimony that this is true as I have read and studied the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon are scriptures of those ancient people who lived on the American continent and also tells of the time of Christs' visit to these people.

Starting 4 years ago I made the goal that I would read the Book of Mormon 2 times each year. I love what I learn and how I feel when I read it. I hope to continue this goal until the day I die as I know that it has given me with direction, hope, faith and the knowledge that my Savior loves me.

The following video is a beautiful representation in pictures of Christs' visit to the people in the America's. I hope that you will feel the same spirit that I did when I first saw it.

Labor Day Fun

As I was growing up in New Jersey, Labor Day was the weekend we would come home from our month on Martha's Vineyard and school would begin the next week. Being in Utah now the school year starts the 3rd week of August but Labor Day still marks the time that summer time seems to be officially over.

This year for Labor Day we decided to go as a family to Raging Waters. This is a water park in the Salt Lake area. Aunt Andrea was very nice to offer to watch Elijah for the day so Matt and I took the other 6 kids and headed to the water park. Wow...there were a ton of water slides, a lazy river and kids water areas. There was plenty for us to do. We put down our big blanket and we were off to conquer the slides.

Life Is Precious...Don't Waste A Second

Our family certainly does not need to be reminded how fast things can change in our lives but today we were hit with something that stopped us in our tracks and made us reevaluate how we live our lives. One of our neighborhood and Ward members 8 year old son was riding his bike to school when he didn't pay attention and ran into a cement truck. He was life flighted to the hospital and all indications at the time were that he would have very extensive injuries throughout his body.

It was comforting for me to arrive on the scene and immediately be there with others from our Ward and neighborhood. Offering comfort, help and love to his parents as he was being flown away was hard and yet brought all of us closer. We talked together and planned how we would help them in the coming days for the next 45 minutes. None of us seemed to want to leave the comfort of each other. After the parents left we cried more, hugged and gave support to each other as we realized it could have been any of our kids that this could have happened to.

At the scene of the accident he was given a Priesthood blessing. How comforting that was to know that the power of the Priesthood and the prayers of all of us were with this child and his family. As we left the scene we all talked about how we would discuss this situation with our children.

It's been hours now since the accident and he will need to have a lot of reconstruction to his leg but there is not one bone broken in his body. This is NOT what we expected from the reports of all the possible injuries from those who helped him at the scene of the accident. Cole Larsen has been truly blessed and a miracle has happened today. Many of us have had a hard time today in going on with our daily tasks, but hopefully tomorrow we will be able to continue our prayers but move forward. I have volunteered to bring dinner into the family tomorrow night and hope that I can find other opportunities to help the family as it is sure to be a long recovery for him.

I am grateful for my absolute knowledge that we have a Savior who helps us at these difficult times. I know that prayers are answered. I know that with faith miracles can happen. I also accept that God can hear our prayers and feel our faith but God's will is more powerful. Learning to accept His will in our lives is what is hard to learn but the experiences that we have in this life WILL help us to return to Him if we but accept it.

I've hugged my children and husband a little more today. Maybe the lesson I was to learn from this was that I need to not wait for something like this to remind me that I need to hug and love them more. My family is so precious to me. I've waited so long to have a marriage like I have with Matt. What a wonderful man he is. I am truly blessed to be his wife. My 7 children are a gift to me. I want to spend more individual time with each of them on a regular basis. I need to not let the busy aspects of our lives interfere with that quality time together.

Zucchini Bread and Gazpacho with Nana

Yesterday Nana came to visit us while the other kids were in school. We decided to make Zucchini bread and Gazpacho. Gazpacho is wonderful cold tomato and other vegetables soup. Elijah was excited to help us as we began and even put his own apron. As mom and Nana began to make the food Elijah decided to "help" and arranged the different vegetables in the baking pans. Wasn't that helpful!! Thanks Nana for spending the day with us. Elijah LOVES the bread and doesn't seem to want to eat anything else now.