Obedience

Two months ago the July issue of the ensign had an article by Elder M. Russel Ballard that talked about "Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet". This asked us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to share our testimonies and thoughts about the gospel through the Internet. Now days we have infinite access to millions of people through emails, blogs, personal websites, etc. After reading his message I came away from feeling touched by the spirit, I felt great inspiration and motivation to share my testimony with those around me. I felt obligated to share the truth of the gospel with those around me. Elder Ballard expressed that it is our duty as church members to share our feelings and beliefs with those around us and those who we may come in contact with in any form (aka email forwards, blogs, etc) The article was wonderful. Now, obviously if you have been reading my petty blog post the past couple moths you will know that I have been posting on things such as: my new favorite cereal ...or my fabulous new shoes....or surprise, another post about how much I LOVE MY HUSBAND. The point is, I have not hearkened to the council of my leaders! I have not shared any gospel principals on my blog...I have not born my testimony... I have not expressed thoughts about the gospel, I have not discussed lessons from church that have sparked my interest. Shame on me. Thus the purpose for this post.

In July's Issue I felt the brethren asked us (ME) to try (NOT TO TRY BUT TO DO) and make an effort to do something (that something is, use the Internet as a positive tool to share the gospel) and up until this point, I have not done that. This morning as I was reading the First Presidency message in the September Ensign, I could not help but think back to what I was asked to do two months ago. I also felt a strong desire to share this message with any and everyone who wants to read it. Not only because I was asked to share my thoughts and testimony through the web, (AKA BLOG) but because it is my obligation to be obedient, (as you will find out from President Eyrings and Clarks message below) it is what heavenly father expects of me. Who am I to pick and choose the things that I will and won't do? These are errands from my father in heaven. These are direct requests from a heavenly father who has given me more than I can ever given back. Who am I and who are we to ever think twice about not doing any and EVERYTHING he asks of us? I received a mighty swift kick in the pants on this one after reading a WONDERFUL part of a talk that was given by President J. Ruben Clark, he warned us about being selective in what we will obey, he put it this way:

"The Lord has given us nothing that is useless or unnecessary. He has filled the Scriptures with the things which we should do in order that we may gain salvation, When we partake of the Sacrament we covenant to obey and keep his commandments. There are no exceptions. There are no distinctions, no differences."

President Eyring goes on to say, "President Clark taught that just as we repent of all sin, not just a single sin, we pledge to keep all the commandments. Hard as that sounds, it is uncomplicated. WE simply submit to the authority of the Savior and promise to be obedient to whatever he commands. Faith can turn our call as home teachers or visiting teachers into an errand from the lord. WE go for him, at his command."

This message truly touched me. It made me realize how truly important it is to completely OBEY our father in heaven and ALL his council...not just selective parts! This post is not to preach, it is me sharing my thoughts about something that I have a firm belief and testimony in. I have learned that obedience brings so much happiness and so many blessings. Heavenly father is so loving and so very kind. I am so thankful for a loving father in heaven who is watching over us and guiding our life, every second of every day. I am so thankful for a heavenly father who asks so very little of us, and in return gives so much. I am so grateful for my savior and for his incredible sacrifice for me. He went through unimaginable pain. He suffered He bled, and he died....all in hopes that I will make it back to his presence again some day. What an amazing gift he gave to me...and to all of us. I can not express the love and gratitude I have for both my savior and my father in heaven. I am so thankful for the knowledge I have of the plan of salvation. I am so thankful to know that I am sealed to my family and will live with my them forever, beyond the grave. I am so thankful to know that I am sealed to my husband for all eternity, that this earthly life is just our first estate and our journey together will continue far beyond our years here on this earth. I am so thankful to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the one true Church. I know these are simple truths but they are the foundation and cornerstones of the gospel, and I am truly thankful for the sure knowledge of them. My life is truly blessed. To do the things I am asked of and be obedient in all things is the least I can do to repay my savior and my father in heaven for all the wonderful blessings they have bestowed upon me. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts and feelings!! I hope the message that Elder Eyring's and Clark's words will touch you the way they did me! Have a great day!! Love ya!

For more information about the LDS church or Elder Eyrings message visit the following links:
www.lds.org
www.mormon.org

ps...this invite is to any and everyone who wants to participate....regular bloggers, semi regular, once in a while bloggers, whoever... I thought it might be kinda fun to start blogging here and there about gospel topics... just a thought, a topic, and message, a quote, whatever, whenever, as little or as much as you'd like, something that we can share with each other to help keep the spirit in our life, and help lift each other up...and keep us moving in the right direction. Maybe one of us is having a bad day, maybe we need a little inspiration, maybe we are preparing a talk for the upcoming sunday, maybe we just need a little inspiration, maybe we came across something we just really want to share... maybe we just having something on our mind...if we all share something here and there with each other about the gospel, we can help strengthen each other and hopefully help strengthen others around us too! I think it can be something really great and a great way to share the gospel!! Anybody interested?? Let me know!! I'd love to hear peoples thoughts, messages, testiomonies, advice, etc... any and everything!! Let me know what you all think! :)

tagged by taggart

I was tagged on this by my cute friend Corrine "taggart"...so here ya go...

4 jobs I have had:

1. Living Scriptures

2. La Weight Loss

3. First Line

4. Freightliner

4 movies I have watched more than once:

1. Saturdays warriors (about 1 million times)

2. Encino Man (squeezin the juuuuiiiiccccee..(you will know that line if you have see this show more that once)

3. What About Bob (if you have not seen this more than once, we are no longer friends)

4. Finding Neverland (this is one of my favorites)

4 Places I have lived:

1. Laie, HA

2. Sibui, Romania

3. Provo, Utah

4. Portland, OR

4 TV shows I watch:

1. Lost (religiously)

2. Hero's (just started and I LOVE IT)

3. 24 beep beep..beep beep.. those beeps were the seconds ticking. I am forever a fan of this show, even if the last season was a bit weak. I am just gonna blame the weakness of the last season on jack's (keifer's) personal trouble with alcohol...everyone deserves a second chance though right?

4. The Hills (not a consistent watcher, but I must admit to really like it when I do watch. What is it about these girls and their perfection that makes you want to keep watching? And could Heidi and Spencer be more EVIL? I hate them so bad!! Anyone Else??

4 Places I have been:

1. Romania

2. London

3. Paris

4. Italy

4 People who text me regularly:

1. Dave (but not that often)

2. Sisters (but not really now that I think about it)

3. Mom and Dad ( but only when I text first)
I must say I'm not the biggest texter, and not that many people text me either. Am I a looser, and I am just realizing it? Since Dave and I started dating my text life has gone to pot. There was a time when I used 3700 texts in one month...now I barley use 100. Oh well I could careless. I am happy as can be with my lack of texts. Feel free to shoot me a text when you read this if you feel sorry for me and the lack of my text life, you really shouldn't feel too sorry though, I have replaced my text life with the most amazing husband in the world. I realize that my blog posts remind everyone of this day in and out...I just can't help how much I love him!!

4 of my favorite foods:

1. Doughnuts

2. Peanut Butter

3. Baked Sweets...what is my problem??

4. Blueberries

5. Cheese Puffs (did it only ask to list 4?)

4 Places I would like to visit:

1. New York City

2. New Zealand

3. Fuji

4. Spain

A few Random Questions

1. How long have you been married? 1yr 3 months

2. How old is your spouse? 27

3. Who eats more? Dave. unless its something sweet!

4. Who said I love you first? Dave

5. Who sings better? Dave..he is AMAZING, he records his own songs both singing and guitar.

6. Who is smarter? Dave again...he is a an Einstein not even kidding

7. Who controls the TV remote? usually me...if not we would be watching the history channel or something to do with aliens, jets, or NASA.

8. Whose temper is worse? neither of us have tempers

9. Who does the laundry? me, but dave is always willing to help

10. Who does the dishes? me, but Dave is really good at helping when i ask.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me.

12. Who cooks dinner? me, I wish I was a better cook though

13. Who is more stubborn? neither one of us

14. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? prob me...because I am usually the one who is wrong...darn it!

15. Whose parents do you see the most? mine. Utah is closer than Illinois.

16. Who has more siblings? me 5 to 1

17. Who wears the pants in the family? both the same...diff pants for different situations :)


thanks for reading...and tag your it... this was a fun one....take the time and do it! come on, you know you have nothing better to do!!!

Kickin It

Dave bought some new puma shoes last weekend that were so cute...and yesterday while we were out, we came across a huge sale at famous footwear...so since we LOVE to be twiners(ha, ok maybe its just me) but anyhow...I had no choice but to buy the girl version of his shoes. I also couldn't help but take a picture of our twiner kicks! Thanks for letting me copy you honey! You're so cool!

More Pics

I just got a CD in the mail from my parents with all the pictures that they took while they were here! Most of the pics are the same ones I had on my camera...but here are a few new ones!

Just Tuesday

Just another Tuesday. I don't love Tuesday. It's kinda the same as Monday. It's still so far from the weekend and you really only have Monday behind you.

1. Does anyone else LOVE peanut butter and honey??

2. I went to a spin class this morning and was very disappointed. I've decided that running is so much easier and lots more fun. You get to a point where you don't really have to think about what your doing and you just go....lucky for me running burns alot more calories than spinning! 500+/hr compared to 360/hr (stats provided by my best friend the body bugg)

3. I am one lucky wife



4. FANTASTIC NEWS! We got a massage chair! Its true! A few weeks ago we were in Brooke Stone playing around with all their fun stuff and I sat in the most comfy incredibly relaxing massage chair. It was heaven. I figured it would be outrageously expensive but to my surprise it as totally affordable. So after receiving an unbelievable back massage I was convinced that we had to get one. I told Dave and reluctantly he tried it out, it only took a few minutes of massaging and he was sold!Before we went through with the purchase we wanted to look around at other chairs to make sure we were getting what we wanted for a good price. Luckily Dave excels when it comes to spending hours on the Internet researching products and their quality, pros, cons, prices and everything under the sun. So after a week of intense Internet searching and an in depth color coded excel spreadsheet produced by Dave highlighting everything there was to know about each chair we were interested in....we came to a decision and bought one!



Best thing about it is we got a higher quality chair that was cheaper than the one at Brooke Stone! Thanks honey for your persistence in researching and Internet searching. I am sitting in this sucker right now...it feels so wonderful on my sore back! I am one happy girl! Thanks babe!

5. Dave is eating vegetables. That's right. Today his lunch includes 1 cup of broccoli and 1/2 cup of green beans. This was his idea! GO HONEY!

6. Turtle won't stop meowing, and its not a regular meow either...its a really weird sounding whine....and it's unbelievably annoying (i love her...but seriously she has to stop this madness)



I think that will do for now. Just some random thoughts and facts about the day to day. I better get back to Tuesday. Pretty soon it will be Wednesday, which is great cus the next day is Thursday and I love Thursdays because Thursdays mean the next day is Friday and that makes me very very happy!

I heart the weekend

Delicious Dinner



Marvelous Milkshakes



Eight for Eight in 2008



What a fun, chill night! Thanks for hanging Haroldsens!

I AM

I AM.......

i am: sitting next to Dave while he is playing PlayStation!!! (em, that was not planned, i just happen to be posting at the same time! too funny)
i think: that people in Portland freak out when there is any kind of change in the weather (aka today is 100 degrees, hot yes, but they act like its gonna be the death of them!)
i know: the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is true
i want: someone to take away my back pain
i have: the nicest sexiest husband in the world
i dislike: being cold
i miss: MY FAMILY!!
i fear: being fat
i feel: incredibly blessed and happy
i hear: TV noises
i smell: cinnamon gum (yummy!)
i crave: doughnuts and pretty much anything sweet
i cry: when I get really flustered
i usually: run an hour every day
i search: for jobs because i need a new one
i wonder: if my back pain will ever go away
i regret: Not getting a degree in something that I enjoy doing
i love: Being with Dave
i care: about not hurting peoples feelings
i always: use q-tips to fix my eye liner
i am not: into video games
i remember: to put the toilet paper on the way Dave likes it
i believe: in being and staying positive
i dance: and do funny hand motions while singing to annoy Dave
i sing: in the car
i don’t always: floss my teeth
i argue: when i sometimes shouldn't
i write: to do lists
i win: the doughnut eating contest at our annual Halloween party 3yrs running
i lose: patience with turtle when she meows non stop
i wish: that my family would move to Oregon so we could all live together in an amazing place
i listen: to Music while I exercise
i don't understand: how to do any kind math that deals with fractions
i can usually be found: with dave
i am scared: of becoming fat
i need: my husband by my side
i forget: to turn off the curling iron (from Dave)
i am happy: that i get to sleep in tomorrow!

I tag, Jac, Court, (uh hello do you even blog anymore) and Erin!!

COME BACK SOON!!

Zone and Mike were here to visit the past four days and WOW we had a BLAST! We were able to do so much! This was there second time to visit Portland since we've lived here. Their first visit was right after we got married, and since we now know our way around better than the first time they were here, we were able to show the many things and places that we have come to love, and a lot of what Portland has to offer!

Dave and I unfortunately had to work 1/2 days Wednesday and Thursday since we took off two days last week with Dave's parents...so Mom and Dad woke up on Wed morning and went on a beautiful walk and did some exploring in the morning and early afternoon. We met up with them around 2:00pm and went to the Beaverton Farmers Market which was wonderful by the way! There were hundreds of fresh fruits, veggies and yummy other things! There were beautiful flowers, yummy candies, kettle corn, and tons of other vendors selling other cool things. There is also a huge fountain in the park surrounded by beautiful flowers and cute benches. After walking through the market we sat on talked, relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful weather and each others company.We ended the evening with a yummy dinner at PF Changs..yummy yummy!

Thursday Dad and Mom went on another walk and then went to the rose gardens! They then met us at work and we showed them around the water front and walk way at Freightliner and then headed off to Multnomah falls. We checked out the water fall and then hiked our bums off to the top! OUCH!




It is a pretty steep hike and once you get to the top its a beautiful view looking out over the entire Columbia River Gorge. Once we made it down and realized we burned so many calories from the long hard hike... Out back Steak house called our name!! It was so good! I love Out Back! After dinner we went back home and watched a movie. What a fun day!

Dave and I took off Friday from work..YAY!! I love not working!! So, first thing in the morning, we Drove out to Banks, OR to go Blueberry Picking! The Blueberry Farm is in the middle of no where surrounded by trees and beautiful rolling hills. It is just beautiful!




The blueberry bushes where 6-8 feet tall and were covered with blueberry's. They were literally falling off the tree/bush! It was so much fun! We ended up picking 27lbs of blueberry's! It was unbelievable!





We ate so many while we picked them. I left there sick to my stomach! We got 27lbs of blueberries for $32.00! The weather was cool and the surroundings were incredible! It was AMAZING!! It was one my most favorite things I have done in Oregon! After Blueberry picking we came home got ready and headed over to the Cheesecake Factory for an AMAZING lunch, followed by some great shopping.....and what better way to end a perfect day than with a wonderful visit to the Portland Temple!




We were pooped by the time we got home! I actually fell asleep on the floor while in attempts to make plans for the next day! Another absolutley WONDERFUL day!

Saturday Zone and Mike went Berry picking bright and early while Dave and I slept in a little. (Zone had to get more raspberry's to take home...she ended up taking two carry ons full of blueberry's and raspberries! gotta lover her!!)

Dave LUCKILY remembered Friday afternoon that the Oregon Air show was Saturday morning/afternoon... He has been waiting for the air show all year long! This was something we COULD NOT MISS! Lucky for ME my dad was here and we did a boys go to the air show, girls go to lunch and shopping!!! Me and mom went on a nice walk, came home got ready, went to lunch and did some shopping. It was so fun! I loved being able to spend some alone time talking and hanging out with my mom! She is so wonderful and I really miss not being able to be with her whenever I please!

We met up with the boys around 2:30 and headed to the Coast! The drive was beautiful as always! We visited Cannon beach, Ecoli park and Seaside! It was all of our first time at Seaside and we all loved it! We walked around the shops, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, walked by the beach, had a lovely seafood dinner at Doogers and topped it all off with yummy waffle cone ice cream! Can you say HOLY COW, CAN IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT...FFFFUUUUNNNN???????

























WOW...can you believe it???? Talk about a fun fun and more fun! Are we lucky or what?!!! Seriously we had so much fun with you guys! Thanks so much mom and dad for coming to visit! We enjoyed every second of you being here! It was so fun to chat, hang out, drive around,eat food, shop, and just have you here! We wish SO bad we could be with you more often and spend this kind of time with you on a regular basis! Thank you for all the dinners, lunches, treats, gifts, clothes, goodies, ETC..ETC!! You guys spoil us way to much! We are so lucky to have you!! We love and miss you already! Come back anytime...and make it soon!! We love you!!