Trash
This weekend was a very busy one! We signed up to clean the church early Saturday morning. We didn't realize it was the same day as the cub scout and community trash clean up day. It is officially called Johnny Horizon Day. So, we went from cleaning the church, to cleaning up trash from the road sides. It was a wet morning and we had thoughts that they might cancel it due to the rain...but to no avail, we carried on. We really weren't dressed appropriately for the rain, but we just happened to have some extra garbage bags in the suburban, which made great rain pull-overs. So, off we went to clean up our mile of trash. The girls heading east down one side, and the boys heading west down the other. It only took us about an hour because we are just that fast...and well, Idaho country is pretty clean and there was only 1 total bag of garbage. We felt pretty lucky. Everyone had some slushy feet by the time we got home. It felt good to spend the morning serving our community and our church.
Upon returning home, Mason prepared to go to his Primary Pizza Party. We have been hearing him talk about this since the beginning of the year (4 full months to be exact) because his teachers told them in January that if they could be reverent they would have a pizza party. Wow, to give 4 year olds such a promise and then have them wait until May...we are so glad that the day finally arrived. :) At least we won't have to answer "the party is not today" anymore. He had a blast and his teachers really do go above and beyond the call of duty. We appreciate all they do for Mason and his class.
Treasure
Well, Daddy found a real treasure yesterday at work. He caught it and brought it home for the kids to admire. Matt said that when he found it, there was a bulge in it as if the snake had recently eaten something. By the time he got home and showed it to the kids, the bulge was gone, but he did provide a warning to be careful so it didn't get sick. Carter is normally very careful with animals, but this time he must have had the snake in motion a little too much, because it threw up all over his leg. It really scared Josie and she came running in the house at full speed telling the horrifying story. Gross! (That's what I have to say!) I didn't know that snakes actually throw up, but I guess why would they be any different with an upset stomach?
Dress Up
So, the day moved along with errands and costume designing. Tonight was our ward party with the theme "Finding Yourself in Lehi's Dream." It was a nice activity. Matt was asked to be one of the four group leaders. They asked him to represent Nephi and to dress up like him. Matt thought about his costume all week and of course recruited some help from myself and (mostly) Memaw. She is very creative and this amazing costume is what they came up with. Matt made all his leather accessories, all but the shoes which is where I helped. Anyway, I think he makes a pretty awesome Nephi and mostly everyone at the activity thought he was pretty great as well.
"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
1 Nephi 3:7
On our tour of Lehi's Dream, they gave us each one of these little booklets. In one of the rooms, we got to sit and reflect on the dream and then write our thoughts. I enjoyed reading Carter and Chloe's on our way home. There were 3 statements for us to fill in the blanks, looking something like this...
I __________am desirous to know...
______________________________
______________________________
I___________will go and do...
______________________________
______________________________
I_____________have a testimony of...
______________________________
______________________________
Carter's Booklet said,
I, Carter, am desirous to know..."Where in the world am I?"
I, Carter, will go and do..."What Heavenly Father wants me to do."
I, Carter, have a testimony of..."Lehi's dream."
Chloe's Booklet was only partially filled out, but said,
I, Chloe, have a testimony of..."I know that Jesus is my Savior."
I, Alice, didn't take the time to write anything down, but I do have a testimony of Lehi's Dream. Some of my favorite parts of this dream are as follows.
Lehi's words in 1 Nephi 8:12, "And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit."
Verse 30, "...he (Lehi) saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree."
Verse 37, "And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them."
Verse 38, "And after he had preached unto them, and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord; and he did cease speaking unto them."
I believe that each of us are in Lehi's dream and I hope and pray that we may all be amongst the group that are "holding fast to the rod of iron" which represents Jesus Christ. How grateful I am, to have this path already set out for me to follow. I do bade my children and family to keep the commandments of the Lord. I know it is the only path to true happiness.
