Nothing is as appreciated as a sacrifice that shows love

Brooke felt so loved, and so thankful that the McNeill family drove sixteen hour from Colorado, just for them to stay in Mckinney, TX  only one day! We told them over and over they didn't need to do that, but Aunt Audrey and Uncle Bryant both felt that it was such a special day for Brooke that they must do whatever they needed to do, in order to be there to show her how proud and thankful they are for her choice to get baptized into Christ's church on the earth. Our family was so incredibly thankful to know that they love Brooke and us so much and would make such a sacrifice for her.

Brooke loves Isabel, Hyrum, Eli, and Fawn most in this world after her grandparents and of course her immediate family. Every time that she sees these special cousins of hers she actually cries and cries and cries that they have to go. It is quite sad, but so special the connection that she feels for them. Will has gained this love for them very quickly as well...

We are looking forward to seeing their family in just about one month!!!

"Gethsemane" performed by Brooke, Isabel, Eli, hyrum, and Fawn

As there were only a couple months away until the great awaited day that Brooke would be baptized, Brooke started talking about her baptism day a lot. Of course I would ask her who she was hoping would be there, and any requests that she had? At the time Brooke had been learning the song  " Gethsemane " in primary on Sundays. Brooke really loves this particular song about Jesus's gift of paying for our sins.  It is not uncommon for Brooke to come home from school and turn on the youtube video of pictures of the Savior and the song being performed solo, by a girl who sounds about Brooke's age. Brooke can watch this video over and over and not get sick of it. Brooke's spirit is so sensitive that I have seen her tear up at the sound of this song. When she asked if I would sing it at her baptism, I suggested that her and her cousins sing it, because it is even more pure and perfect with the voice and testimony of a child singing these special words. Brooke thought it was a great idea and was happy that her cousins would be coming all the way from Colorado just to help her sing a song, and be there for her on her special day, even for just one day...as they had to leave the following day so that their Dad, Bryant could get back to work.

 

Jesus climbed the hill
to the garden still.
His steps were heavy and slow.
Love and a prayer
took Him there
to the place only He could go.
Gethsemane,
Jesus loves me.
So He went willingly
to Gethsemane.
He felt all that was sad,
wicked or bad,
all the pain we would ever know.
While His friends were asleep
He fought to keep
His promise made long ago.
Gethsemane,
Jesus loves me.
So He went willingly
to Gethsemane.
The hardest thing that ever was done,
the greatest pain that ever was known,
the biggest battle that ever was won,
this was done by Jesus!
The fight was won by Jesus.
Gethsemane,
Jesus loves me.
So gave his gift to me
in Gethsemane
Gethsemane,
Jesus loves me.
So He gives His gift to me
from Gethsemane.

“Gethsemane” written by Roger and Melanie Hoffman

A Small Gift for My Savior - This Easter Sunday

On this Sunday, Easter Eve my heart and thoughts have been turned to my Savior Jesus The Christ.
I leave this my testimony that through the scriptures that have been left for our learning, we have and can come to know after what manner that God our Father in Heaven, and his son Jesus Christ interact, behave, and communicate with us, their children ? Although my hope is to leave my life, as my gift to my Savior, and God, this will never compensate. Not even a fraction of what I can do, as a gift for him, would be relatable to what he has left me. However, here is a small portion that I leave to you Brooke, Will and anyone who will read this...My testimony of the pattern after which God speaks to his prophets:

If we over look a larger perspective of God's interactions with man that we receive through the Old Testament, New Testament, as well the Book of Mormon, we can easily miss an incredible gift that our Father who art in Heaven, has tried to leave with us...God has in the past, even thousands of years ago spoken face to face to his children. God continues to do so, and how can any religion or person proclaim their faith and authority to be true without leaving a testimony of equal experience in this their words and scriptures?

In the Old Testament in Genesis Chapter 17 we learn of The Lord ( Jesus Christ ) appearing to Abraham and promising him that he will have numerous children in many nations:

 1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord ^aappeared to ^bAbram, and said unto him, I am the ^cAlmighty God; ^dwalk before me, and be thou ^eperfect.

 2 And I will make my ^acovenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

 3 ^aAnd Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

 4 As for me, behold, my ^acovenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a ^bfather of many ^cnations.

 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be ^aAbraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

 6 And I will make thee exceeding ^afruitful, and I will make ^bnations of thee, and ^ckings shall come out of thee.

 7 ^aAnd I will establish my ^bcovenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an ^ceverlasting covenant, to be a ^dGod unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

In the Old Testament in Exodus, chapter 24:9-13 we learn that The Lord ( Jesus Christ ) appeared to Moses, and his Seventy men, when he was told he would receive the commandments on a tablet:

 9 ¶Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and ^aseventy of the ^belders of Israel:

 10 And they ^asaw the God of Israel: and there was under his ^bfeet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as ^cit were the body of heaven in his clearness.

 11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they ^asaw God, and did eat and drink.

 12 ¶And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee ^atables of stone, and a ^blaw, and commandments which I have ^cwritten; that thou mayest teach them.

 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister ^aJoshua: and Moses went up into the ^bmount of God.

In the New Testament in the book of Acts, chapter 7: 55-58 we learn that just before Stephen was stoned to death he saw God the Father, and Jesus Christ beside him:

 55 But he, being full of the ^aHoly Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the ^bglory of ^cGod, and ^dJesus ^estanding on the ^fright hand of God,

 56 And said, Behold, I ^asee the heavens ^bopened, and the ^cSon of man standing on the right ^dhand of ^eGod.

 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their ^aclothes at a ^byoung man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

In the New Testament in the book of Matthew chapter 3: 16-17 we learn that as John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ the Holy Ghost was present, and the voice of God was heard as he said, " This is my Beloved Son."

  16 And Jesus, when he was ^abaptized, went up ^bstraightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the ^cSpirit of God descending like a ^ddove, and lighting upon him:

 17 And lo a ^avoice from heaven, saying, This is my ^bbeloved ^cSon, in whom I am well pleased.

In the Joseph Smith History in the Book of Mormon we learn that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ:

" I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.”
“It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

These are just a few examples of many that God appears and talks with his prophets.....

 

 Jesus Christ is still giving us gifts today. The glorious gift that we celebrated this Easter Sunday is still at it's work, and not all, but much of the work is given to His saints in his church on the earth; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...

He is trying to teach us through the scriptures. We can see his workings and dealings with man through out them...and I know that he is still directing his church on the earth today. That is my testimony, that no matter how troubled we can become with the fear of the worlds problems that are coming forcefully at us, we are not alone..

He lives, leads and directs us through his scriptures that he left us through his prophets, and as well through modern revelation that is still being given to his prophets. 

When or if the testimony of Joseph Smith is challenged, I hope that we can all remember that God has always shown us that he talks with those whom he has chosen to be his prophets.

In the sacred and beloved name of my Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. 

 

Boys Will be Boys

The first thing spoken to or about a person when they are born is something that should be written down.

The first thing anyone ever said about me, after I was washed off and the nurse brought me to my parents was, " This little girl has the longest eyelashes that I have ever seen on a baby."

The first thing that was ever spoken about Brooke was when the doctor threw her onto my belly. Yes, threw her, or did she slip, we don't know? Kevin wasn't so happy about it as a first time father, but the doctor said,

" Catch her!"

The first words that came out about William were from his doctor and she said, " Well, there would be no mistaking that he was a boy!"

Well, boy is what Will has been ever since I have known him. He refuses to even touch girls toys because they are pink. He says often, " That's for girls, and I am not a girl." Will's manhood actually became to be quite a problem as he became obssesive about super heros and good guys fighting the bad guys. This was such a worry that we took away every single weapon in the house, and of course then he started calling his fork, his sword. We stopped letting him see any show that had any fighting..and he simmered down a lot on the talk about fighting. As well, he wasn't hitting, or headbutting us anymore.

As a parent there are times that you pat yourself on the back just a little bit too soon. And I had one of those moments recently. 

I  found Will in his big boy underwear just sweetly putting his Spiderman to bed. It was so cute that it was obvious he had gone into Brooke's room and collected all the things that he thought Spiderman would need before his nap. The CD player, a book, a glass of water, and blanket. He was playing so nicely. I thought, Wow, it really worked taking all the swords and boy shows away...My plan was to thank Kevin for his idea about this and show him a picture of how nurturing that Will had become...

Well, I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I went into Brooke's room to find not that Will, had been nurturing his Spiderman, but that his Spiderman had driven his Spidey Car to the Barbie/Pony house, broken into the joint and not only stole all the things he would need for his nap, but beheaded a few ponies before he left!!! 

I am thinking this boy, is just going to be a boy...AND I THINK IT'S GREAT!

We got our new feathered friend, just in time for Easter ;)

You know I think it's true what they say, " What goes around, comes around."

        It seems like Kevin just can't escape our feathered friends, come spring time every year.
Normally around Easter we have bought baby ducks in past years. Kept them in our backyard for a few weeks and then released them into the lake near our house, or gave them to another friend who wanted them.

This year we were given a parrot by a patient of mine from the hospital, and since parrots live for a very long time, I don't think we will have our fetish for feathers coming out around spring time, each year, anymore...

I took care of an alcoholic woman a few weeks ago at the hospital. Since she had a head injury that required brain surgery because she had bleeding in her brain, which required staples to be put in...She needed constant supervision, as she kept forgetting she wasn't allowed out of bed. I was able to meet her whole family that was coming in and out of her room all day, and we pretty much got to know each other. I kept hearing her all day long complain of her hurting head, from of course being that staples were put in her head! And, as well she was sad all day, and complaining that she felt ugly with half her head shaved and exposing these staples. She continued asking her family to please go buy her a scarf to put over her head. I took her to the shops in the hospital in the wheelchair, but they didn't have scarfs there. Since her family seemed to be consumed by other stressors that did not include their Mother's request, I decided after work it would be a great thing for me and the kids to do, in order to help her out.

Brooke was very excited when I told her about my idea to help my  patient out by going to Target and buying her a scarf for her head. Brooke loves to help people feel happy! She ran to her room and out she came with a hand written card that said, " I am sorry that your head is hurt, and I hope that you feel better soon. "

 Will commonly asks me what I am doing when I am at work, and I explain to him that I am taking care of sick people. Will doesn't quite understand this, since his response is, " But, their Mommy can take care of them? " I tried to explain this situation by telling Will that this lady had hurt her head and we can help her buy buying something pretty to put over it. He became excited mostly I believe because Brooke was excited. He ran and started gathering things he could bring her, as he saw Brooke coming out of her room with a card and bag of gifts. When I noticed Brooke was trying to bring things that might not really be a gift I remembered the patient spraying perfume in her room all day long because she thought the hospital smelt bad. So I told Brooke about that, and suggested that she could give her Brooke's new Bath and Body Works plug in of a pretty smell, so that she wouldn't have to spray a perfume all day. Brooke did not even hesitate even though this was a brand new prize I bought her on a special date out with her the week before. She ran and got her plug in right away, and put it in her gift bag.

Brooke quickly chose a pretty scarf and hat for my patient and we headed to the hospital.

Upon reaching the hospital I allowed Will to bring one of his gathered gifts in to give the patient. He chose a long macaw feather he had recently had the chance to choose out of a basket at an animal park we stopped at on our trip to KC.

My patient was so happy that we thought of her, and she just loved the card and kindness that Brooke showed her as we visited with her.

When Will handed her the big long parrot feather she asked if we liked birds. When I explained that my Dad had lots of birds as pets when I grew up, she asked if we might want her Sun Conure, parrot? I explained I had the exact same bird when I was a kid, except mine was green and black, and she was very happy because she loved her bird but was worried about not being able to take care of as much since she fell and hurt her head.

Brooke was so excited she started jumping up and down...and it pretty much was a done deal...the bird was ours...

She called when she was out of the hospital and we went out to her pet grooming bussiness and we picked up our new pet. She gave us Skittles for free, and this breed of bird is at least three-hundred dollars. She also gave us a very nice cage that we keep in Brooke's room, since it is her bird.

Skittles is her name, and she is a very sweet parrot. She will get on anyone's finger and anyone's shoulder!
She is very social, so if she is out on her cage she wont just sit on the cage or playground for long...she will fly to your shoulder and primp and clean your hair.

So I guess we are truly a family with exotic pets now ;) Juma, our exotic cat, is not afraid of the bird anymore.She will do anything to get her Momma Brooke's attention right now. Juma will even put up with a bird softly cleaning her tail, as you can see below in the second to last picture. If you look close you can see the bird is cleaning Juma's tail!!! Juma shows no interest in attacking Skittles at all. The good thing is that if Juma  ever did feel like she wanted to attack, Juma has no claws..so it works out...Juma still sleeps on Brooke's bed right next to her head at night...So Brooke is in heaven with her pets....

Will is a little jealous of the attention that our new bird is taking away from his big sister playing with him, and I do have more to worry about as I found a piece of chocolate in the birds water a few days ago...Plus, the fighting about who gets to hold Skittles, or if Will is teasing the bird...

But it's worth the fun! :)

IN ONE HOUR, TODAY....

 

 

 

Jeffrey R. Holland explains that the General Conference session that we are about to watch again at 11am today at www.lds.org has been a practice since the time of Adam.

You will recall that passage describes the moment when Adam calls together his posterity in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman and there prophesies, to the very last generation of his family, about what would befall his people. And it says, “The Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael” (see D&C 107:41–57). That kind of gathering, to receive the word of the Lord, has continued ever since. September 26, 1976 BYU Devotional Remembered and Nourished
by the Good Word of God

I was incredibly impressed at how well Brooke did at watching four hours of General Conference yesterday. She took notes on every speaker. These notes are forever precious because they are the things that she thought were important, as she held conference with the great respect that it deserves. When Brooke woke up yesterday morning and I reminded her it was General Conference day she literally jumped up from the ground in excitement, and said, " Yay! General Conference is today!" I feel honored to be the mother of such a spiritually mature daughter of God. Brooke did not even want to go to her ice-skating lesson that she has on Saturday mornings, I reminded her Dad that it wasn't a big deal for her to miss, because we are planning to do the make up class on Monday.

I believe that Brooke understands what was explained in Jeffery R. Holland's speech as he said when speaking of General Conference:
" This weekend will be a most majestic example of revelation. Surely in terms of numbers and impact and scope and concentration alive and well.  WE CAN NOT WITH IMPUNITY ACT AS IF THIS WERE ANY OTHER WEEKEND. IT IS NOT. It never has been. It never will be. It is the most dramatic moment in any six-month period of the year, wherein the power and the ability and voice of the Lord are made manifest to the inhabitants of this earth, and that includes you and me. "

Here are Brooke's notes written in a book that will not be lost, but she and I can turn to at any time to remember her sweet testimony of listening to a Prophet and Apostles of God speak:

Thomas S. Monson - Prophet of God

- There are 15 million members
- 17 new temples in 2015
- Feeling the spirit at the Wilbert Arizona temple

Jeffery R. Holland ( which she spelt Deffry R, Hollind ;) )

- Defend your faith
- Hate is an ugly word
- Learn from Abinidi
- Because Abinidi  told the truth they thought he was mad
- Abinidi is good
- Sometimes it is not easy to be a member of God's church
- Love is a good word
- A lot of public pressure is on the church

Elder Rasban - Of the Seventy

- There are 311 groups of Seventies in the church
- Give service to God
- In a tornado she prayed and was saved

Carlos Amado

- Even when he was nailed to the cross he thought about everyone and his Mother

Linda S. Reeves

- Addictions make you lose self control
-Watch what you watch

Neil Anderson

- A mobile  home landed on another mobile home in a tornado
- Satan can take you to a bad place unless you repent
- trees that grow in a windy enviroment grow thicker
- We can be in the world, but not of the world
- Sometimes you have to stand alone when doing what is right
- God has placed us here to be part of his final preparations

Henry B. Eyring

- We made promises when we were baptized
- It takes faith to keep covenants

Russel m. Neilsen

- Is our faith in a brand or a celebrity?
- One of the Ten Commandments is thou shalt not take any graven image before God
- You should not spend too much time on anything besides God
-  We can gain great knowledge from the scriptures
- Even if everyone does something it does not mean that it is right
- people call evil good, and good evil

Richard G. Scott

- When I marry it will be to a return missionary
- Share your testimony of God
- Many years after Richard G. Scott was baptized his father got baptized
- The children of Heavenly Father can do many things when they feel trusted
- We all grow line upon line precept upon precept

Robert D. Hale

- Be careful who you follow
- When we are baptized we take upon the name of the Lord
 - If you love me keep my commandments

Claudio Zivic

- Do not put man before God
- Do not boast in your own strength
- Do not break promises before God

W. Craig Zwick
- Be nice
- Be careful
- Think before you do
- We should listen to each other

Elder Cook
- Trees try to grow back after they are cut down