Happy Birthday, Joseph

Joseph, my very smart, very energetic boy is 9!!! The other day, I said to Joseph, "I can't believe you are 9," and he said, "Why can't you believe it? I am just turning 9, nothing to not believe." I can't believe it because 9 years have gone by so fast! Sometimes I still think of him as my crazy toddler or the new kindergartner. But he is definitely older and well past those stages. He half hangs out with the older kids and half with the younger kids. He can play with the little kids and joke around with the older kids. He still wrestles anyone willing to wrestle and he still likes to climb things. He plays all of John's nerdy boy board games and loves it. He plays soccer with the older boys and is pretty good with the basketball. Joseph loves his chickens. We let them free range around the yard and Joseph is always checking on them to make sure they are all safe. When they go to the front of the yard, he comes in crying because he is worried that they will get lost. Otherwise, Joseph is the same happy boy he has always been. Nothing has ever really bothered Joseph or his peace. Joseph Smith's mother mentioned Joseph Smith's "native cheery disposition". Joseph is named after Joseph Smith and he has always had a native cheery disposition.

Stories from Ruth #45

This week has been crazy and good! We have had so many funny stories.

Story #1 All of us sisters decided to get lunch and so we were heading home to do so when Sister Kaithwas decided to cross the street to talk to this man at the bus stop. So of course we all followed. Then the bus came and pulled over, although no one had waved it down or was catching that bus. We told the bus driver that no one was getting on the bus. And he opened his personal bus door, stepped out and asked "Now what did you do to get four lovely ladies to talk to you?"

Story #2 How do you know if the conversation has been too long? When your bus has passed three times or when you hear Hallelujah and Amen 30 times in a prayer?

Story #3
Random M&S worker: "Your the people with the dodgy badges!"
Sister Lotter and I: "What?"
Worker: "I met the two asian girls."
Sister Lotter: "Yeah they are both from India."
*long story proceeds... just to end*
Worker: "Are you from Canada? You sound Canadian."
Sister Lotter: "No. I am Austrailian."
Worker: "You sound American! Are you from Australia too?"
Me: "No. I'm from America."
Worker: "But you sound English! What?" *just scratches his head confused while we start walking off giggling*

Story #4 Sister Lotter and I were dying as it was 31 degrees Celsius and we had not eaten or had water since the night before. Well we went tracting and this enflish guy opened the door.
Sister Lotter started: "Hello! How are you? We are-"
Complete Stanger: "Come in! We have two young boys who need to learn about Jesus!"
*us standing there with our jaws dropped*
Sister Lotter: "Is there a female in there?"
Stranger "Yes, my wife."

So... we went in. There was the dude who invited us in, Paul, his sister-in-law from Peru, Marcella, and his two nephews who are in their twenties and looked like they had walked out of a vogue magazine. The football game was on and they were all watching it. But Paul told us to talk to Marcella and the boys about Christ. So we introduced ourselves and started with the restoration. We asked how they were all related and Paul said that it was a family barbeque, so they were other people in the backyard. They offered for us to stay but we told them we had to leave soon, because we were still in shock. Then this shirtless older guy in an apron popped in and asked "want a sausage?" We did, but we turned it down. Haha! They were so funny. We talked to them for a bit more. Met other family members. Paul told us that one of the boys had just returned from his trip from Barcelona and was now working for a bank. We regretted sying that we had to go at the end. They were so funny! Marcella had met missionaries before, and had visited a chapel, so she walked with us to the door when we left and we talked to her for a bit longer. The spirit was so strong and she said that she wanted to come to church with us sometime. So yeah!

This week I want to share Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
I think this scripture teaches us a lot of important things. I know that there will be many who know God is Lord, but salvation was never dependant upon merely acknowledging a fact. We need to know the will of God and do it. We have to ask what his will is and submit our will to him. He knows everything, and we have to accept that he knows what is best. The most important thing in our lives is to study the gospel and scriptures God has given us, pray, and be obedient to the Lord and his commandments.

This Week at Our House #28 We Start School Early

We started school this week. Some of the kids were unhappy about it, but it has been very hot outside and we expect to need some more vacation time for various things this school year. So July 9th became our first day. I wrote up a schedule and got the new curriculum prepared and I think it will go well. The kids seemed to get into the swing of things without a hitch. The other big event for the week is that the kids rescued a Northern Mocking Bird who could not fly. It seems to have taken it's place quite happily as newest pet, and has fattened up on the tuna fish and fruit we have been feeding it. The kids are all enjoying the bird in the house, but we do hope the bird will heal and be able to fly away again.

1. We have not heard anything about jobs this week, but John did get a second game up. We are going to sell some things so we can buy an ipad, so John can get his games up on the apple store too.
2. I got school back into session. I opted for teams of kids and 8 rotations to begin the school year. There are still more things I want to get in and want the kids to learn, but for now, this seems to be working and gives us a solid start. My teams are Adam and Rachel, though, they do not do the same math, everything else they do is grade 8 or above. Anya and Joseph are grade 5 and they do everything the same. Josh and Arwen are both on grade one for reading and writing and grammar, but Josh is doing 2nd to 3rd grade math and Arwen is on 1st grade math. Then I take 20 to 30 minutes a day with Suzy for pre-school. Johnny is spending 8 hours a day programming games, learning more programming languages and doing advanced college math with John and Kate. 
3. Ruth seems very happy with her current companion and the other two missionaries in her apartment. She said their camaraderie and general friendship is what she had hoped from college roommates, but never really had. 
4. In the past three or four weeks our family has made some difficult and important decisions. Those decisions have a lot to do with how our older kids have been treated at church. I have said very little about this, as I know the Lord wants us to forgive and move on. So without saying too much on the matter, Kate has stopped trying to get her mission papers in while living in North Carolina, and as soon as we can, we will move the whole family back to Utah.
5. Johnny spent a lot of time this week on computer programming. He scrapped his first game because he did not feel like it was good enough, but he has two more and this week he learned how to program in the touch controls. Our hope is that Johnny will be able to start a business alongside John.
6. Adam did well starting back with school. He works pretty hard on his math and it is pretty advanced for his age. He has also been helping a lot more around the house doing lots of little errands, cleaning up messes, and taking care of Sam as needed. Adam is also one of our funner jokesters. He has a good, funny or ironic quote for almost any situation. 
7. Rachel has grown. She is looking taller and her face has filled in more. Rachel was the most vocal about not wanting to start school again early, but she is doing it and doing a good job.
8. Anya got back to school without any complaints. Her reading curriculum right now is focusing on poetry and rhyming schemes and she is really liking that. She likes doing her school work right now.
9. Joseph has probably been my second biggest complainer. He does not like the poetry, and his poems have just been complaints about having to write poems.
10. Joshua's reading is so much better than it was. I am very pleased with how he is doing.
11. Arwen has had some trouble getting back into the swing of things. I think she will pick it back up in time.
12. Suzy really likes her little preschool time and the writing and drawing assignments I have been giving her. 
13. Sam never likes it when we get back into school, so he was pretty fussy all week.

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Stories from Ruth # 44

 

This week was absolute chaos, but Leila got baptized which was a huge miracle! She was really excited for her baptism. It was a very spiritual experience. Leila truly is prepared. She is keeping all the commandments and wants to become like Jesus Christ. Leila is excited to evwn go to the temple and has shared the gospel with her family and they are excited for her. Before her baptism we saw her everyday and read the Joseph Smith's first vision, because it is important to realize that the adversary is real and will exercise all his power to keep us from coming unto Christ. Another day she was feeling very lonely and we felt impressed to go and see her, so we did. We saw her and taught her about trusting in God. Leila impresses me because she tries to keep herself apart from the world and sin, and truly seeks God.

Tuesday we had zone conference with Staines from London South. President Checketts is really nice and his wife is so cute! It was strange, but fun getting to know people in London South. There were more sisters than elders from the south mission which was very strange.

Wednesday we went finding as a district and all the sisters wore matching dresses. We had so many people ask us what was special about the day, so my companion from Australia told them it was the fourth of July! Haha! We did not see many English people that day because they were all at home (most likely sleeping or hungover) since the night before they had won the football match. The sober few were out. We did a blitz as a district and Sister Lotter and I found this guy named Abdul. He is really interested to learn and loved the scripture Moroni 10:4-5. We set up an appointment for the next day, but Abdul later texted us and asked if we could meet that day. So later that day we had a lesson with him and a member, Adam Berry. Abdul enjoyed it a lot and said he looked forward to learning more the next day. The next we tuaght him the restoration and he was touched by the Joseph Smith story. Elder Holland told us when he came that when we share Joseph Smith's first vision, everything seems to go quite. The spirit is prominent when we share the story of God and Jesus christ appeearing to a young boy, calling him to be a prophet. I love this, because I know that God calls his prophets and is guiding his church today and is continuing to restore his truths to the earth.
Friday was the baptism and it was such a stressful day that my companion was comoaring it to a wedding, because it is a lot of work and you panic more about every little thing than you should, but the true purpose, and best part is when they are actually married, or in this case baptized. I laughed, but it was true.

Saturday we went up to Watford for a stake Picnic and I got to see a bunch of the members there including Michael (my recent convert). It was a lot of fun, and I got to know some more of the members of the Enfield ward.

Sunday Leila received the gift of the Holy Spirit. There is a glow about her now that is physically visible that the people who knew her before have mentioned to her. I am so thankful that I got to be a part of this miracle. I really believe that her choice will affect generations. I am glad I was able to teach her and help her before baptism and now after. Our friend Anny also came to church. Her sister is a member in Stratford. Anny is so sweet and has five children. When she came to church we convinced her to come to relief society with us and in relief society, we actually watched the talk we had committed her to read the previous time we saw her which was by our Prophet Russell M Nelson "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives." She also got to meet a lot of the sisters who also speak Portuguese and she enjoyed it. I lover her! Anny is a wonderful mother who teaches her children to follow Christ. She always brings her two youngest children and they are so cute! They are too shy to be on their own so they came to relief society. The teacher asked what were some gifts we could give people and Anny's youngest boy (he is about 4 years old) said "a kiss!" It was adorable.

This Week at Our House # 27 Oral Surgery and Blah 4th of July

We did not celebrate the 4th of July this year because Joseph had two teeth pulled 2 days before and Kate had all of her wisdom teeth removed the day before. With two kids out of commission, we just could not go out and do things that we might have done. We had our steak and watermelon dinner last Sunday so Kate and Joseph would not have to miss out. So on the 4th of July we read Joseph Smith's  9 page document on government and the Constitution. It was an incredible document, but some of the kids felt bummed on the whole. Rachel said it was the worst 4th of July ever. That's okay, though. We had two very good reasons for keeping the holiday quiet and uneventful, and there is always every other year.

1. John is about to get his second game up. He has been good about the diet I have him on and is finally starting to lose weight.
2. I took kids to appointments and grocery shopped and took care of the family a little bit more with Kate out of commission for nearly the whole week. Our garden is growing very well and that makes me happy. The watermelon and butternut squash have covered every part of ground and protected it from weeds, so that turned out differently than I anticipated, but not in a bad way.
3. Every now and then I have an email exchange with Ruth about getting married once she is off her mission. She is not too keen on the idea just yet, but I know that the right guy will change that in a millisecond. 
4. Kate had her wisdom teeth removed. She was most worried about the anesthetic because Joseph had a bad reaction to it. Kate did well with the anesthetic, but she has had a lot of jaw pain and a swollen mouth and has been anxious every 8 hours to get her next dose of ibuprofin. She won't take any other pain killer because she feels like enduring pain is better than the medication. I tend to agree with that sentiment.
5. Johnny seemed happy all week. He keeps working on his games and he has been very interested in learning Japanese. He decided that it was time to start telling Joshua scriptures stories at night before he goes to bed. Johnny is a dedicated scriptorian. He has almost finished the Old Testament for a second time. When he has finished it, he will have completed the standard works twice before the age of 18. If there is a scripture that I need to be reminded about, I can usually ask Johnny and he knows it off his head.
6. Adam really took over for Kate this week. He did everything I asked him to do cheerfully and well. Sometimes Adam can be a bit discontent about things, but when it comes down to it, Adam is a very good boy and a good hard worker and an easy going teen. 
7. Rachel had one filling on Monday. Afterwards, she came with me alone to do a little grocery shopping. I had a delightful time with her. She had lots to talk about. I have her on a strict dairy free diet because she has been having stomach aches, headaches, and small frequent rashes and a dairy free diet has cured her of all of those symptoms. But that has been unfortunate for her because ice cream is her favorite food. The dentist gives coupons for a free ice cream and Rachel could not have it. But we were blessed and found a favorite Japanese soda at the grocery store that made up for it. 
8. Anya has really enjoyed the garden. She and Rachel like to go and "explore the garden". My mom gave me a nice basket. They take that and search out ripe vegetables. They've brought in fresh vegetables three days this week. They're also continually counting how many watermelon we have, Their latest count is at 12. The one before was 7, so I think we are having more grow in. 
9. Joseph had a bad reaction to the anesthetic they used when they pulled his two teeth. He was very woozy, could not walk, and threw up twice on the way home. He was sick enough that he could not keep the gauze in and ended up swallowing a lot of blood which made him more sick. He could not eat until the next afternoon. I will probably not allow a dentist to use general anesthetic on one of the kids again. In 2014, Rachel and Adam both needed a tooth pulled. The dentist used Novocaine and nitric oxcide and the kids did a lot better and healed a lot faster. Lesson learned for me. Poor little Joseph. Though, the Lord blessed him in that he never took any pain medication and he never had any pain in his mouth.
10. Joshua has been reading a little more on his own initiative, which is something I always look for. I am going to start school this week, so we use our very hot weather indoor time wisely and then can take a bit of a break when it cools down in the fall. I was thinking of starting sooner, but I needed time to get ready for a new school year. I have done that this week, so now I am ready.
11. Arwen  has been drawing some really good pictures. She draws very detailed pictures of people. I am not sure any of our kids, most of which are good artists, were this accurate with their drawings at such a young age. Oh, and Arwen wrote Susan's name Soozan just from sounding it out. I love that she can do that now.
12. After watching Joseph and Kate come home from the dentist and having a lot of blood to spit out, Susan very solemnly said, 'Dentists are bad guys."
13. Sam had the opposite reaction to Joseph and Kate bleeding and feeling sick after the dentist. He got as close as he could to Kate while she spat out a bunch of blood in a bucket and then growled and rather excitedly said, "Blood."

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Stories from Ruth # 43

 

"The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us." Spencer W Kimball 

I fell down the escalator in kings cross station. You know the station in Harry Potter? Yeah, that one. Elder Ramos walked past us as we were moving all the bags saying we were a mess. Humph. Then two minutes later I was carrying two big suitcases as we got on the escalator. And as the stairs separated I realized that both suitcases were titled off. So first the lower suitcase fell. Then I fell. Then the suitcase above me fell. Thankfully I jumped out of the way so it did not hit me or anyone else. The only injured thing was my pride and half of my nail ripped off so there was blood everywhere. At the bottom of the escalator people were just jumping over the suitcases. One lady even jumped on them like a cat. I wish I had seen it. My companion could not stop laughing. Neither could I.

I moved to Enfield Which is back in the Watford zone! On Saturday we're actually going to Watford

as a stake so I will be able to see some of the members and Michael (my recent convert) again! When I moved here there were a lot of people to work with, so every night we have been running home to make it home by 9pm and then having dinner. We are in a huge four sister flat with three bathrooms and a beautiful kitchen. When we came in with the other sisters and elders in our ward (we are in a ward with six missionaries) we were whitewashed, so there was a lot of luggage. My companion is Sister Lotter from Australia! She served with Sister Cannon and Sister Nunes and knew Elder Williams from back home. Wild. Then the other two sisters are Sister Kaithwas and Sister Thiruthuvaraj. Both are from India. Then for the elders we have Elder Polishcuck from Ukraine and Elder Park from Korea. Basically I am the only american again. Haha! I love it.

 

The ward here is awesome! There are almost no white people and the ones who are from Italy or Spain. Basically everyone is from Nigeria, Ghana, or Uganda. We have like two English families. There is one really sweet family from Ecuador who we help her daughter with homework and she will teach us Spanish and we will teach her English.

We saw so many miracles this week with all of our hard work, but I want to talk about one. She was on date for the 7th of July from the sisters who were whitewashed, so they referred her to Sister Lotter when they left. We went over to her house and she invited us in. She is the sweetest woman and beleives in Jesus Christ. She joined a methodist church a while ago, but always felt like something was missing. Then about a year ago, her uncles family in America joined the church and taught her about it. They had skype lessons with her and the missionaries in America and one day when she was sick an elder over there prayed for her and she was healed almost immediately. After that and reading the Book of Mormon with the Bible she knew that the church was true. The missionaries referred her to the missionaries over here. She knows the church is true, and believes that Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God who saw God and Jesus Christ and restored his church onto the earth today. On Sunday President Checketts came and interviewed her. During the interview AP Elder O'Hare asked if we had the baptismal form. We did not. So we ran home. And ran back right as she got out of her interview. We were just dripping in sweat because it was 30 degrees Celsius. Long story short, we made it back in time. Oh and did I mention I was in heels so I ran barefoot. Well, anyway, she passed! And will get baptized on Friday! I am so grateful that I get to be a part of this miracle. 

Ether 12:24 cAnd thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them."

This scripture really struck me for two reasons. First was the humility of Ether. He says that God makes them that way. He has made them strong in writing, to write scripture, but they are still not as great as God is. Their words are not unto the overpowering of man just as it is to hear God. We are not faithful enough to be worthy to live in God's presence, but as we seek to abandon the world and become like him then we will learn his way and enter into his kingdom with his perfect laws, on the path to become as he is.

This Week at Our House #26

We are hanging in there. CPS still has not closed our case. We had another visit, but this time she just stood in the doorway and apologized that she still had to come. Still, this is probably the hardest thing I have had to live through. I love my kids. They are my life. I do everything for them day and night and have for 20 years. I want this stress to leave.

1. John had a job interview and he said that it seemed to go well. We will see if he hears back. 
2. I took kids to more dentist appointments, went grocery shopping, took one trip to the beach with the kids and did a whole lot of house work. It has been very hot and humid, so the house has been getting messier faster. 
3. Ruth will remain in the London mission. That means she might get to serve near the London Temple and she gets a new mission president.
4. Kate will have dental surgery to remove her wisdom teeth on Tuesday, so we are having our steak and watermelon 4th of July meal today because she will only be able to eat soft foods for the following week. 
5. Johnny has spent a lot of time computer programming this week. He is a real diligent worker. 
6. Adam had his two cavities filled and he was as calm as can be. 
7. Rachel has missed out on a lot of young women's things because of where we live. She will miss out on girl's camp too because we cannot send her away from home without knowing the people she will be with. I hope to get this fixed so she can enjoy her young women's days.
8. Anya, my sweet, draws pictures and makes up stories all day long.
9. Joseph said that he loves his chicken most of all. Joseph has gotten very excited about my garden. He loves to go in and see what is growing and pick the ripened vegetables. We have watermelon, honey dew, tons of butternut squash, yellow summer squash, onions, and tomatoes growing now.
10. When we went to the beach, Josh did not have to go because John did not, but he went and he swam the whole time and had a wonderful time. The water was perfect too. It was warm, the waves were tall but too crashing, so it was gentle and fun and Josh loved it.
11. Arwen is currently sleeping on the couch with a little kitten under her arm. It's very cute.
12. Suzy has been claiming her name as Suzy or Susan or Lila now. 
13. Sam sat down with a book and sang, "Dad, dad, dad" for every page and he did it during family scripture study.

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