Aunt Amy Shinsel

It is so fun that Aunt Amy and her family are here to visit us from Oregon. It's been a year and a half since we last saw them so the reuniting of cousins and sisters is very exciting!

We had fun at the park a couple afternoons ago.....

   Aunt Amy is my little sister, yet very wise and has always been much more advanced than I am...........

    Brooke and Sydney are about the same age difference as her Mom and I...About four years!

                                                 Brooke and Sydney love playing together....

                                             
   Surprisingly Wynn and Will are getting a long great! They are one year apart in age. Will being four and Wynn three.

      Sometimes it feels like Kevin is just one of the kids ;) It's awesome because they love to play with big and strong kids!

Abuelita is in Texas

The past couple years have been such a special time for me in getting to know my Grandmother from Guatemala.

I have never been able to visit with her so much in my life, as she has been coming to Texas about twice a year the past couple of years.

My Abuelita is so loving towards me. I love how even when I just mention that I am tired, or that I have one little ache or pain, my Grandma begins questioning and trying to find out with me what could be wrong with my health....She is also very worried about how many books I carry in my purse because she thinks it is terrible for my hurt neck. Which it probably is but I read all throughout the day at every moment I can catch open.

Now, if you know me, you know Grandma assessing my health with me actually could be a danger to me.... as we try and form diagnosis for all of my ailments. I have taken bodily ailments very seriously in the past....

But, I take care of people with even aids, tuberculosis, highly contagious bowel viruses, etc, in the hospital for almost three years now, So I am not worried about illness the same anymore... I have come a long way with that...

It's just so loving how Grandma wants to care for my health, and it reminds me of when I was little and she would come visit. She would go to my front yard, pick dandelions, bring them in the house and boil them over the stove for us to drink, her homeopathic dandelion recipie..She has lots of remedies for everything.

The greatest joy that is mine on this visit is the fact that Abuelita told me that she has been reading my spiritual insights and that she enjoys them, plus it is helping her English as she reads better in English than she speaks it.

Abuelita was cracking up as I was taking selfies with her! :) I loved it!

Will's Soccer Team

Will, You are so excited that your soccer team's name is " Stripling Warriors ", doesn't matter that the opposing teams know nothing about who the incredible young boys or Stripling Warriors, that you are remembering are.

You totally know who the Stripling Warriors are, and so do your team mates and today Will, I am positive that you do not doubt that your Mother knew it!

I told the coach I was sorry that you had a fever and couldn't come to practice the other day. He said,
" Don't worry about it, Will is the most entertaining on the team."

It is true Will. You are hilarious to watch play soccer because you act like your really are in some battle. Maybe you are taking the team name literally? ;) Actually I just think you can't get super heroes off your brain.

Before you run to kick the ball you strike a pose! Yes, like a super hero pose, frozen still with your hand out like you are going to shoot a web or blast someone with your Iron Man hand. It is a good thing that you are fast because you catch right up to ball even after first striking a pose before you go to get the ball!!!

One Special Girl

Brooke, I wish that every mother could have a daughter like you. This past week you have saved me in my concerns, lifted a stranger up with your kindness and surprised me for no reason at all!

Last Thursday night I had been planning all day to go to the temple that night. Will had a particularly hard day and when the time came, I was in my dress and ready to go Will started crying real, very real sad tears that I wasn't going to be there to put him to bed. My heart sank not as much because of how I had been looking forward to going to the temple all day, but because my mind went to how Joseph Smith must have felt when his son didn't want him to have to be put in jail. My heart hurt because I imagined how sad I was that I was considering leaving my sad child for a couple hours, and what excruciating pain it must have been for Abraham whom was asked to sacrifice his son.
But, you helped me Brooke because you said, " Mommy, if you go to the temple tomorrow night I can put Will to bed for you. I just have homework tonight to do." I was so thankful that I you cared enough about your brother and my wishes, to offer to help me like that. Will was very happy to have your help saying his prayers and to hear singing to him, from his big sister the following night.
Thank goodness I am not Abraham or Joseph Smith, because I have a hard time leaving my children for a couple hours.

Your Dad and myself had been complaining about the bird squawking a lot lately. We kept one of my good friend Katheryn's brother over night a couple weeks ago. He had a brain injury that caused him to lose vision, and gave him short term memory loss. Steve can not drive a car on his own because of these things and he stays in an apartment, spending lots of time alone all day. Brooke, when I suggested that we give your bird to Steve because Skittles would have all day attention and Steve would love the bird you were sad, but you quickly decided it was best for your bird and Steve, just like the mature little girl that you always are.

On Sunday Morning I woke up to breakfast made by you Brooke! You had your own eggs cooked and a plate made and you came and got me from bed and said, " I made you breakfast, do you want to come eat it with me? " We sat down together and had a great breakfast Brooke.

How in the world did I ever deserve a daughter like you? And how I wish that everyone was as blessed as I am by you.

You are so special to me Brooke......

My Heart Rejoices in your love for the scriptures

Oh my Precious Brooke, 

              What an exceptional privilege it is to be your Mother. My absolute favorite time of the day is reading scriptures with you, and going over the Scripture Mastery Scriptures that you have memorized with you. As I hear your little, soft and beautiful voice speak the words that I love so deeply from the scriptures; it truly is like music to my ears. My heart rejoices in your love for my love- the scriptures....

               One reason that I am so happy as your Mother Brooke is because I know that you make angels rejoice every single day. When I see you make a good choice and excite to learn more about the gospel; I literally imagine how the angels must rejoice at you; and it makes me happy. 

                Brooke, you told me something a couple nights ago that showed me just how grateful that you are for the scriptures. You told me with zero fear in your voice; but with great assurance in your voice that you were at peace; as you said, " I have been having this dream over and over Mom." I said, " Well, what happens in the dream? " You proceeded to explain as you do with your hands and picking up the scriptures while holding them in your lap, " In my dream the church members are being forced to move and live all together, but we aren't allowed to take our scriptures, so each of the families in the church hide a couple pages of the scriptures among their things; that way we will be able to put them all together again when we get to where we are being sent."  

                   Brooke, this not only shows me your love for the scriptures; your devotion to the gospel and your willingness to go wherever it will take you; but also it shows me that you have great faith that in the gospel we will all work together and be able to work things out. 

                    I am so proud of you, and I am thankful that tonight I could read with you about those who sacrificed greatly for the scriptures that we do have now. Your dream is not far fetched at all...

In fact, you most likely are just so in tune with the sacrifices made in order for us to have what we have in the gospel that this kind of sacrifice seems quite expectant to you?

From the talk below titled, " The Historical Context of The New Testament "

By Thomas A. Wayment

Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University

How Was the New Testament Passed Down to Us?

From the larger group of disciples, Jesus called 12 men as Apostles. Those men followed Him throughout His ministry, suffered with Him, and also enjoyed triumphs and Spirit-filled experiences. After Jesus died, the Apostles, along with other faithful followers, began to record their experiences. Two events may have triggered their desire to preserve their records about the life of Jesus: first, Jerusalem and the temple fell to a Roman army in A.D. 70. Second, the forces of apostasy were already at work (see Acts 20:29–30). Therefore, many of the writings in the New Testament were recorded to help the faithful see their way through the calamity and controversy of their day.

Looking back on their experiences, we can learn how they faced troubling times and how the good news of the gospel became a steadying power in the struggle against the forces of apostasy.

Toward the end of the first century, all of the writings now preserved in the New Testament were completed and circulated widely among the branches of the Church. Scribes made copies of the texts on papyrus and then later on parchment, but there were relatively few copies available. Church members gathered the books that were available to them and read and studied the words of the Lord and the Apostles. One notable setback to the circulation of the scriptures was the persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Diocletian in A.D. 303. He ordered that the Christian scriptures be burned and forced Christians to offer sacrifices to pagan gods. Many faithful individuals hid the sacred texts during those years of persecution. Later, when the first Christian emperor, Constantine, ordered new copies of the scriptures to be made, his scholars were able to recover books that had been used in the branches prior to Diocletian’s edict. Our modern printed editions of the New Testament trace their ancestry to the copies of the Bible made during Constantine’s day and therefore back to those individuals who sacrificed their safety to preserve the new covenant of the Lord.

Not long after Constantine had directed the New Testament to be copied and circulated anew, the books that compose our current Bible came to be organized in their present order. This order follows a pattern set by the Old Testament. The New Testament contains the Law (the Gospels), the history of Christianity (Acts), and the Prophets (Romans through Revelation). Both the Old and New Testaments end with a promise of the Lord’s return (Malachi and Revelation). The placement of these prophetic works also emphasizes a forward-looking hope of salvation and future revelation.