What Love is

From a college essay Lindsey wrote:
A year after graduation I learned what love is while living in Quito, Ecuador for three months working in orphanages. One particular experience was a major paradigm shift in my life. It was late one night when another volunteer and I were trying to get ten babies at the orphanage to fall asleep. For one reason or another they were all crying and not sleeping. We were trying all that we could do to calm them down but it was a wild night.
Finally we decided to sing church songs. I knelt down between two cribs holding two small hands in mine and began the song “I see my mother kneeling, with her family each day…” As I sang tears filled my eyes as I realized how blessed I was just to have a family. Then I looked into the faces of those babies and felt so much love for them as I realized that at that moment I was the only person, besides God, who cared or was even thinking about those babies at that time. I felt humbled, and realized the important responsibility it was to care for those children. I learned to appreciate my own family so much more and my hearts capacity to love expanded largely. This experience also instilled a great desire within me to give service where possible and to look for ways to show compassion.

On becoming...

In Marcus Steed's mission farewell he addressed the action verbs that are part of the Priesthood purpose: Become converted, serve faithfully, prepare to serve, give respect,and become worthy. I love the word becoming. We may not be perfect in this life but we can become better each day!

Dawson Flake Fan Club

Not many people have an official fan club; but Dawson's friends made a Fan Club page for Dawson on Facebook and he has a lot of fans! It appears to me that Dawson knows how to be a good friend. http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=25650254783&ref=ts

(Marcus in England on his mission)

In his farewell speech today, Marcus Steed, who is heading to England on his mission told two stories about Dawson. In the first one, he told how his friends, Ty and Dawson were talking about what it takes to be a good missionary. Dawson told what he thought and then Ty told Dawson that he already is a good missionary because of the way he acts and treats people.
The next story was about when Marcus and Dawson went to Denny's for one their free breakfast specials. As they pulled in Marcus's car died. They worked on it for a bit and then gave up and went inside and ate. When they came out they tried it again but nothing. They then got in the car and Dawson offered a simple prayer to bless the car so it would start and that they could get back home. Marcus turned the key and it started right up and they made it home. A simple prayer offered by a humble young man with great faith. I'm glad to be the original founding member of the Dawson Flake fan club! Dawson flies out to San Jose to begin his mission in two days...

It is an Honor to be the Mother of my Kids!

Sis. Lisa Johnson shared in her testimony today the fact that she feels it is an honor to be the mother of such great kids. I feel the same way.
She is going to the funeral tomorrow of the one of the Elders who recently died while on his mission, in Romania by being asphyxiated in his sleep. Being a mother of a son on a mission, my heart has ached for the parents of these two boys this past week. Lisa danced with the mother of the Elder from Logandale, NV while at BYU. She called her this week and got a little more of the story. His sister had left on her mission recently, but had some illness and was sent home to remedy it before she could go. This was a real trial for them but it turned out to be a real tender mercy for their family. The daughter has been a real strength for the family during this death.
The mother said that she has gone through a dark time with this but now realizes that it is a great honor to have had the chance to be the mother of this outstanding young man who was taken while serving the Lord on a mission. Lisa then went on to share her thoughts on what an honor it is to be a mother to her great kids. Dan and I had teared up at this point as she talked about having a son serve a mission and a daughter about to leave and be married. In fact Dan went up to her after and tried to talk to her, but was overcome with emotion as he related so much to her feelings. Dan and I called her tonight and we discussed how honored we all feel to have the opportunity to parent such wonderful children.
I also had to tell her about a tender mercy that Lindsey experienced this week. While in high school, Lindsey had asked a young man, Justin Peterson, to a girl’s choice dance. He was a loner, a stoner, and pretty much a nobody. Everyone wondered why such a cute girl as Lindsey would invite him to the dance. It turned out to be a disaster. He actually had drugs on him and ditched Lindsey at the dance and went off with his stoner friends. I had to call his mother at midnight and tell her that Justin was not with Lindsey so she wouldn’t wonder what was going on if he didn’t show up at home. We hadn’t heard anything about this boy for years.
Well, Lindsey was at the MTC on Friday with her cousin Rebecca. They were volunteering at the TRC, where the missionaries practice giving the discussions to real people. While Lindsey was waiting there, suddenly an Elder walked by that she recognized. It was Justin Peterson from high school! He has been called to Everett, Washington and is leaving in a few days to serve. He would be 22 or 23 years old.
I used to be friends with his mother so I called her tonight to get the story. She said that two years ago he returned to Florida where they used to live, to work and earn money. He become reactivated and decided to serve a mission. He has actually been influential in helping several people already become baptized. His mother is happy with his decision and was thrilled to know that Lindsey has recently returned from her mission and she wants Lindsey and I to come into her restaurant, Benja’s, and have lunch with us. What a tender mercy of the Lord for Lindsey to get a chance to see him and know that her good example years ago, may have played a part in this young man changing his life around.
Now, that is not the only tender mercy that occurred in the MTC that day. The next elder that Lindsey ran into, was her brother, Elder Flake! She only got a minute to say hello and he got a chance to congratulate her on her engagement and then he was encouraged to hurry along by an MTC teacher.
I count my blessings to have the opportunity to parent my amazing children! What an honor it is.