Jon's New Calling

A powerful scripture story for all of us to reflect upon takes place on the shores of the sea of Tiberius when the resurrected Lord comes to visit his apostles. Here, Christs asks Peter a question we should all ask ourselves: “Do you love me?” Peter replies in the affirmative, to which Christ responds: “Feed my sheep.” Christ asks this question of him two more times, stressing the importance of the question and, even more so, of what Peter is to do if he does, in fact, love the Lord,

When Jon and I were engaged I wanted to get something inscribed on the inside of his ring. I pondered on what Jon and I both wanted from our marriage and a way that I could put it down in 25 characters or less. When I did, I came to the conclusion that what Jon and I wanted from our marriage more than anything was a greater capacity to love and serve the Lord. The story I just told above came to mind, and so I inscribed the following on the inside of his ring: “Let us feed His sheep.”

It’s three years later and our wish is still the same. Our lives have been blessed with so much joy because of the gospel and so we can’t imagine anything better than being able to share that joy with others. We do not have it all figured out yet—there is still much we have to learn—but I hope it can be said of these past three years that we’ve accomplished a little good and shared a little of that joy. Even more, I hope it will be said of all the years to come that we continued on this path of lifting others—especially our own family and each other—and bringing them unto Christ.

Starting yesterday, the Lord has blessed Jon and I with a new way to do this--Jon got called to be the bishop of our ward! For those of you unfamiliar with the workings of an LDS congregation, about every five years or so the Lord calls, through revelation, a new member of the ward to serve as the bishop of that area. Bishops don't get any monetary pay for their service, though I hear that the blessings received for the time they sacrifice are quite fantastic. As the bishop, Jon will be called upon to oversee the logistical day to day functioning of the ward--including Sunday meetings and weekday activities--as well as counseling with individuals to help them and their families with their needs. (For more information about bishops, click here).

We feel excited and overwhelmed and intimidated and at peace with this new opportunity all at the same time. We know Jon is very young to be called as a bishop, and being that we just moved into our ward, we still don't know a lot of the congregation. However, we do know that this call has come from God. We see His hand in preparing Jon for the call along with leading us to purchase a home within the ward boundaries. I know that Jon is extremely young to be taking on such a huge responsibility, but I know that he can do it. Jon is by no means perfect, but there is only one person who ever was, and Jon is very well acquainted with that one person and I know that he will call upon Him for help. 

Jon and I are committed to helping each other and those in our ward because we not only love these people, we love the Lord. And as always, the Lord loves and is committed to each one of us. Together, we all--Jon, ward members, myself, and the Lord--will be able to magnify this call. 

Overcoming Weaknesses

I know that I have a lot of weaknesses, and because I want to follow Jesus Christ, I’m constantly striving to overcome these imperfections of character so that I can become more like Him. In my strivings for improvement, however, I frequently forget one of the most important elements of overcoming weaknesses: I’m not intended to do it alone.

The prophet Jacob speaks of this in The Book of Mormon. He says: “Nevertheless, the Lord God shows us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things” (Jacob 4:7). It does not say that we overcome weaknesses by increased willpower. It does not suggest that if only we were to create a better plan for self-improvement, then we would finally triumph over our imperfections. While increase willpower and good plans help us overcome our weaknesses, alone they are not enough. No. It is “by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.” The power does not come from within us. It comes from Him, our loving elder brother and Savior.

What a fantastic reminder! Today I want to rededicate myself to relying on His redeeming arm more fully. When temptations come, rather than just trying to hold my ground, I want to hold my Savior’s hand. After all, two people working together is always stronger than one, especially when one of those people is Jesus Christ. 

Phoebe{s Third Month

What a busy and fun third month! Phoebe has more personality than ever! She smiles all the time, knows what she wants, knows how to get what she wants, and is absolutely adorable!

We met a lot of new friends Phoebe{s third month! First of all, we met Courtney while we were waiting for our tires to get rotated and balanced. We{re seeing her again tomorrow at the pumpkin patch! Later, we saw a group of moms running together at the park and thought it looked like fun, so we asked if we could join them. Now, we go running every Wednesday with them in the morning. On another day at the park, we met our friend Alexis whom we met up with again the following week at Story Time With Baby at the library. So while being a stay at home mom can sometimes be lacking in conversation, having a baby is sure a good way to start one up and make some good friends!

And it{s already halfway through month four! Time is flying (and my keyboard is broken...ahh! for no apostrophes)!

Phoebe's First Camping Trip

Last week we took Phoebe camping for the first time. We tried making this happen two weeks earlier, but when we tried to leave and Phoebe was screaming and Jon and I were grumpy and traffic was horrible, we decided to put the trip on hold. We're so glad we did! Two weeks later, my mom was able to come out with us, bringing a bigger tent for us to use and being super helpful with Phoebe, and Jon was able to get a Friday off so we had more time to have fun. It was meant to be.

We went camping in the Olympic National Forest at Big Creek Campground. We picked this place because it was first come, first serve and because it's an area we haven't explored before. The campground also had several hikes that one could do straight from the site, which we liked.

Mom, Phoebe, and I left Thursday around noon without Jon to go and get things set-up. After popping up the tents we decided to do the 4 mile hike around Big Creek while we waited for Jon to show up. It was a beautiful hike with some fun quirks, including a troll under one of the bridges. Phoebe was great and slept the whole time in the carrier.

When we got back Jon had arrived and it started raining. The rain stuck around for the rest of our two night stay on and off. We didn't let it bother us, though, and spent the rest of the evening feeling a little bit soggy around the campfire.

The next day we woke up and made breakfast in my mom's van's trunk to keep out of the rain. By the time we finished the rain died down and we left to do the same 4 mile hike around Big Creek, this time Jon carrying Phoebe.

In the middle of the hike we took a 2 mile detour and hiked to an overlook near Mt. Eleanor. We got to the outlook and couldn't see anything because of all the fog, but our lunch was still yummy!

When we got back from the hike we spent the rest of the day driving to look at nearby Lake Cushman and burning logs in the fire pit. The next morning we woke up, packed up, and left.

This camping trip was one of the best things I've done all year! Sometimes you don't realize how much you love something until you don't have it, and with being pregnant and taking care of a newborn, I haven't had my fill of the outdoors this year like I have in years past. Hiking and camping and tall trees and fresh air and tall mountains are such a big part of who I am. I feel closer to God and a calm peace when I'm out there which rejuvenates me. Luckily, it seems like Phoebe is a happy camper and we'll be able to go waltzing out around in the woods next year a whole lot!