Sunday, April 25, 2010

"Please, no empty chairs."

My entire family was here this past weekend for my sister, Sarah's graduation. May I just say that I am so proud of my little sister. After getting married and having two beautiful girls she graduated from BYU. She inspires me, as does all my family. Spending time with my family is heaven for me. For many of us our families are growing up and moving away from each other for school, work, etc. This weekend I thought about what my family means to me... and I've decided that it's difficult to explain.

President Eyring in a recent conference address shared his thoughts about love and family:

"Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us along the way towards becoming like Him, our perfect example. Our way of life, hour by hour, must be filled with the love of God and love for others. There is no surprise in that, since the Lord proclaimed those as the first and great commandments. It is love of God that will lead us to keep His commandments. And love of others is at the heart of our capacity to obey Him.

"Just as Jesus used a child in His mortal ministry as an example for the people of the pure love they must and could have to be like Him, He has offered us the family as an example of an ideal setting in which we can learn how to love as He does.

"That is because the greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love. The ideal God holds for us is to form families in the way most likely to lead to happiness and away from sorrow. A man and a woman are to make sacred covenants that they will put the welfare and happiness of the other at the center of their lives. Children are to be born into a family where the parents hold the needs of children equal to their own in importance. And children are to love parents and each other.

"That is the ideal of a loving family. In many of our homes, there are the words 'Our Family Can Be Together Forever.' There is a gravestone near my home of a mother and grandmother. She and her husband were sealed in the temple of God to each other and to their posterity for time and all eternity. The inscription on the gravestone reads, 'Please, no empty chairs.' She asked for that inscription because she knew that whether the family will be together depends on the choices each family member makes. The word 'please' is there because neither God nor she can compel another to choose happiness."

We are so blessed to have our families.

Many of us had just taken naps before these pictures. Can you tell?

Sarah's beautiful family.

So proud of her!!

My beautiful sisters.

The classic BYU grad pictures.

I am obsessed with my sweet nieces.

Alice still isn't used to the flash on our cameras. She always looks a little drugged. Don't you wanna just squeeze those cheeks?!?

Mr. Niu is such a natural with babies... hmmm...

Divine salad from The Trolley in Springville.

J-Dawgs... so yummy!

Celebrating the new grad and Gma's birthday with smiley face pancakes and a party.



Luvs!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A beautiful weekend.

We always look forward to General Conference weekend. It's so exciting to hear the counsel of our church leaders and prophet. Despite being a little under the weather, we had a beautiful weekend.

We began with my mission reunion. I absolutely love my reunions. I served with many, many intelligent, talented, and gorgeous sisters. It is always exciting for me to see how we are all progressing. So many are married, engaged, attending grad school, have incredible jobs, and are simply loving life. My sweet Mr. Niu was the designated photographer...

Practicing a song we all learned that day for the reunion... just like old times at the V.C.

Two of my favorite people.


Easter and General Conference on the same day = happiness. The Easter bunny visited our home and left Mr. Niu a basket full of goodies and they were mostly healthy too! Wow, what a wonderful Easter bunny indeed.

We hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend. Luvs!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Mel's wedding and The Empty Easter Egg.

Last weekend we took a quick trip to Cali. My beautiful cousin, Mel and her hubby Nick were married in the Sacramento Temple. I'm so glad we were able to go. Spending time with my family is heaven on earth. I will take any chance to see my sweet nieces... and of course, my sisters, brothers, cousins, parents, and grandparents.

Enjoy lots and lots of pictures from our trip!

While I was serving in Washington D.C., Easter time became one of my most favorite and special holidays. I was serving in the Visitors Center and on Easter Sunday a local choir performed Handel's Messiah. The words and music touched my heart like never before. I also visited with many guests that day. I felt a deep love for these strangers and I knew that my heart was changing. The Atonement became very real to me. My heart swells just thinking about it.

That week my sweet Mom sent me an Easter package. In the package was an Easter egg and inside a special story typed on a long piece of paper rolled tightly. I will never forget the story from that Easter egg. We hope you and yours have a beautiful Easter.

The Empty Easter Egg

Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool, and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy just irritated his teacher.

One day she called his parents and asked them to come in for a consultation. As the Forresters entered the empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there is a five year gap between his age and that of the other students."

Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue, while her husband spoke.

"Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here."

Doris sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read and write. Why waste any more time trying?

As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Here I am she thought. Lord, please help me to be more patient with Jeremy. From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and his blank stares.

Then one day, he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him. "I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear. The other students snickered, and Doris' face turned red.

She stammered, "Wh--why that's very nice, Jeremy. N--now please take your seat."

Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg.

"Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Miss Miller," the children responded enthusiastically --all except for Jeremy. He listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment?

Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them. That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse, and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents.

The next morning, 19 children came to school,laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs.

In the first egg, Doris found a flower.

"Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life," she said. "When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here."

A small girl in the first row waved her arm. "That's my egg, Miss Miller," she called out.

The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up.

"We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that's new life, too."

Little Judy smiled proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one is mine."

Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life.

Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom, "My daddy helped me," he beamed.

Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty.

Surely it must be Jeremy's she thought, and of course, he did not understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another.

Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?"

Flustered, Doris replied, "But Jeremy, your egg is empty."

He looked into her eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty, too."

Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty?"

"Oh, yes," Jeremy said, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up."

The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the schoolyard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.

Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid there respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket, all of them empty.



My gorgeous husband and niece Mari.
















Baby Alice.



My mom and sister made Mel's wedding cake.



My sweet aunt Joyce.










Grandpa Hogge sealed Mel and Nick, so special.








Beautiful bride.