Attitude of gratitude

With Thanksgiving coming up (an American holiday for those international readers) our church had many talks about gratitude and being thankful. This really had me thinking...especially yesterday as it was my one year anniversary in the church. I am so blessed and have seen these first hand.

Some may say that I would have been blessed no matter what but my faith has increased my blessings and these chances.(in my eyes) I have been more receptive to seeing these blessings over this past year. And not everything has come in the form of something positive. One sister spoke about not dwelling on what you can't do but to dwell on what you can do. This is a big concept for some and I am certainly not out of this boat. My reactions tend to be on the spectrum of dwelling and I have often said "they said this to me and I can't get over it."
Some ways to help counteract those feelings are to not take our blessings for granted and think about all positives. Show gratitude. Share blessings.

I am blessed to be pregnant. I am blessed to be having our second boy. I am blessed to have one of those boys to be watching over us in Heaven. I am blessed with a hard working husband who works long hours so I can just work part time and focus on the pregnancy. I am blessed by a great..no phenomenal support system. This includes true family members and countless friends.

What are you blessed with?
Count your many blessings... Name them one by one.

DC TRIP

Left the DC temple a while ago and had such a great time. I was in awe when first seeing the temple in the distance. Holy cow is it huge! It was more stunning as you drove closer. The visitor center holds many special features like 8 stories and a family style living room to watch the churches video on family. I've watched it before after my loss with Matthew and had such a hard time watching it. It was when I first was taking lessons a year ago. Beautiful video but so hard when you lose a child. This time being pregnant I didn't cry as much but was feeling my little baby bump and relishing in the fact that I am so blessed with my husband. The video also has the mom talking about her daughter and how she was in Heaven before She was born. Hearing this made me know Matthew has been spoiled getting so much time in Heaven.
The 8 stories room featured 8 stories of missionaries before ,during, and after their missions. I ended up actually seeing two stories that I have seen already bit it was great to see new things in each video. We had a great tour guide. His name was elder Gillespie and he was actually in the General authority from 200-2005 and has worked with the 12 apostles in our church this honestly intimidated me.
Our poor exchange student was a little overwhelmed herself and he was trying so hard to get her interested. But with the language barrier and her overall shy qualities it was difficult. He tried to have her set up times to meet with missionaries. Little did he know that we have missionaries over all the time to teach us and help us with service. And she even has a Book of Mormon in Italian if it sparked her interest. 
Before we left we met two of the sisters serving there. One from Idaho and one was originally from Tongo.  So cool! They were filled with the spirit and you could sense a passion for their work in DC and in general. We exchanged Facebook's and I hope to keep in touch...
One could never have too many friends.
Our trip to DC was one of the best. Another highlight was visiting the United States Holocaust Museum. Although I have gone 4 times before this time being pregnant was more emotional. We picked a name from the old testament that is primarily Jewish in history for our newest son and being in the museum made me so happy with our pick. Our son will grow up in an in perfect world where we will try to parent perfectly.  We will educate him about the past and instill a passion in him to hopefully make changes. Just as my mom did for me. I don't stand by. I take action. I have raised enough money to help dig clean drinking water wells in South Sudan with a Human Rights organization I was involved in during college.  I have interviewed and met over a dozen local Holocaust Survivors and learned their stories as a way to pass it on. I have learned about modern day Genocides and met the amazing people who never gave up. I was touched and humbled to go through this museum with my husband and exchange student.  Please hold the saying true and close to your heart....Never Forget.