For mutual last month, Elle got to go snowshoeing!
(I wasn't there, so this is the only picture I have)
It even snowed that day!
The next week Elle and I took a trip to CA while Chris was in London. It was nice and sunny and we had a great time with great friends!
Lots of fun with bean bags
And cute little kids
and big kids
and the beach
yummy food
fun games
the old abandoned old abandoned Zoo
(Chris decided it should be called the "zombie zoo")
beautiful view!
(and you can see the city in the background too ha ha)
Some of the animals were still there
tempting fate by playing soccer right in front of the animal cages
And what zoo visit would be complete without a go on the merry-go-round.
(We went to the real zoo too, a couple days later)
And Look! Elle and I were looking at the beginnings of this blog and just had to add this blast from the past!
What goes around comes around! (haha)
*sigh*
It was nice to get away.
In other news. . .
Elle gave her first talk in Sacrament meeting Sunday! She was very nervous, but she did a great job!
In fact, the Primary 2nd counselor went on and on about how wonderful it was, and how she asked the primary kids what Elle spoke on in her talk and they were all able to give her specifics! And, she used the object lesson Elle mentioned!
Since you weren't there to hear it, here it is: (and no, I didn't help her write it)
First of all, when we are making choices we are using our free agency, but what is agency? In the LDS Children’s Encyclopedia it says
“Agency is the ability to choose for ourselves whether to do right or wrong. Agency makes us free to choose, but we are accountable for our decisions. We were given the gift of agency before we ever came to earth.”
We were all born knowing good from evil. In Maroni chapter 7:16 it says,
“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man that he may know good from evil…”
In the hymn, choose the right it says “choose the right when a “choice is placed before you, in the right the Holy Spirit guides” and later it says “when in the right your heart confides” the song is telling us that the Holy Spirit will tell us within our hearts when we have to make a choice what is right and what will lead us to Christ.
Every day we have simple reminders to choose the right. In primary I was given one of these reminders, a CTR ring. When we wear these rings every time we look down at our hands we see it telling us to choose the right, this small simple ring can help us every day to choose the right, as it says. The CTR ring has a shield on it and it is to remind us that when we choose the right we are protecting ourselves from the grasp of the devil. These reminders can help us use our agency wisely.
Heavenly Father’s plan gives us the opportunity to use our agency. The for Strength of Youth pamphlet tells us that we are being tested to see if we can use our agency to show our love for Him. Some of the choices we make don’t really matter like, “Should I wear a blue skirt or a brown one?” But when you say, “Should I wear a mini skirt or a long skirt” it does matter because when we are modestly dressed we are showing our love for Heavenly Father and inviting the Spirit.
President Monson said,
“Each of us has the responsibility to choose. You may ask, ‘Are decisions really that important?’ I say to you decisions determine destiny. You can’t make eternal decisions without eternal consequences.”
When we choose to disobey, we receive consequences, but when we obey God’s commandments, we receive blessings.
We should make choices that will help us reach our goals. If your goal is to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year, you can choose to relax and watch TV after you finish your homework, or choose to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon.
We have eternal goals too like gaining a testimony and being sealed in the temple. We can reach these goals by forming daily habits of prayer, scripture study obedience to commandments and service to others. When we do this we are choosing to follow Christ.
In Joshua 24: 15 it says,
“Choose ye this day whom ye will serve; . . . but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”
2nd Nephi 2:27 states “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
This past Sunday while I was in California, I attended the Young Women’s class. The teacher that day had an object lesson with a big V taped on the floor. The task was to put one foot on each side of the line and walk as far as we could. Eventually we had to pick one side or the other because we were all wearing skirts. The teacher said that the V represented our life and that at one point or another, we must all either choose liberty and eternal life, or captivity and death because we can’t walk in the middle.
We have to pick one side—Heavenly Father or Satan. It is much better to choose now at the beginning of our life rather than later when it is harder to jump out of Satan’s trap.
Yay! We're so proud of her!
