One Year Mark

Wow Heavenly Father is so great!! I have been blogging now for a year and while there has been some spaces in between posts I have had some faithful readers come by every week and see what I have been posting. From the USA, to Canada, Germany, Romania, China, Australia and much more! I am so grateful that my words are reaching others.

So I am 7 months pregnant and somehow hurt my right knee about a month ago. I have been doing some water physical therapy and today I had the privilege of having this sweet older lady open up to me about her husband who is a Holocaust survivor. The things he went through are incredible. I have a degree in history with a focus on war and military strategy. I specifically like to study WWII and those who went through it. I also work (for fun) with many Genocide Survivors and Holocaust Survivors in learning their stories so I can then share them with others. I have held interviews and introduced many survivors who have spoken publicly. This was really special hearing his story today because it was a day to remember Martin Luther King Jr.  a man who has dedicated his short lived life to breaking down boundaries for African Americans and the walls of racism.

Life is short, so love one another. Try and have that Christ like love. Elder Kelly who has become one of my best missionary friends just shared this amazing scripture in his second to last email while on mission...

John 4:7-11......"7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Also lets not touch on the fact that he will be going home soon... Even though he has been out of my area for almost  a year I have been blessed to have his family share his weekly emails with me, him be able to use Facebook for ways of connecting with those he has baptized and worked with, and share scriptures with. As well as be able to visit him in every area he has served in since leaving my area. He was there for so much and was the witness to our sealing last month. I am trying to convince him to come up and visit when Seth gets blessed in our church..so here is to hoping! 

Be prepared

So as I may or may not have mentioned before my husband is a volunteer firefighter for our town. This means a lot of sacrifice with family time and just his personal time in general. Which we really would not have it any other way. Well on January 1st just before midnight his pager was beginning to go crazy. He luckily always tells me his calls as he is exiting the home, and this time it was a huge church fire at a local Catholic church not to far from where we live. Since it was a live fire I was also called out to help as part of the ladies auxiliary. This was my first time at a fire scene and I will never forget it. The smell of the smoke that stayed in my clothes, to the priest having this look of defeat on his face. There were so many great volunteers of firefighters that they were able to contain the fire so it did not reach the altar. Which is a true blessing because the Eucharist (sacrament) is kept in a tabernacle and golden container usually somewhere on the altar.
With dozens on the scene and many of our firefighters being members of this church it was really hard to see. They worked hard to contain the fire and minimize damage but they will really have to rebuild and with it being the first day of the new year it was heart breaking to see.

This made me really think about getting my butt moving on making a 72 hour kit....what is this you say? Well its a kit that has things you will need in case of an emergency and you tend to get enough supplies for 72 hours. Our church had members also teach us on a lesson involving a binder or something with all of your important documents you can grab in case of an emergency.

Its best to know what is in your house for insurance purposes and to have said insurance! The church will rebuild and become even stronger. Andrew has been stopped in public and thanked for him helping out. He has been humbled to know he was able to help, and just loves knowing he makes a difference.