Kate's Talk

Kate had to give a talk about family history in the adult session of Stake Conference last night. She was very nervous and very cute as she approached the pulpit. The first thing she said was, "okay, just breathe. I can do this." Then she gave this beautiful talk. The only thing I did to help her with this was to loan her my laptop. One hundred percent of this talk was written by a 15 year old girl.

"Hello my name is Kate Robertson from the Foxboro 5^th ward. Tonight I will speak about Family History. Many people severely underestimate the importance of Family history. I believe this is because they do not understand the doctrine on the topic. D&C 128:18 says “It is sufficient to know, that in this case, the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children on some subject or other- and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead.” Notice that this scripture says fathers and children, not the dead and living. It is specifically referring to families. Our work for our dead.

In D&C 128:8 it says, “whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven” As we continue to bind our ancestors to us, we will feel their presence and know that through this work we, and all of our ancestors, shall be bond together forever. In verse 17 of D&C 128 Joseph Smith called family history “this most glorious of all subjects” Why would he say that? I believe it is because we are saving our family. We are given the opportunity and responsibility to make that welding link between us and our fathers. As we do their work we come to feel and know them. This work means much more to us, than we may think. This is our family we are learning about, growing closer to, sealing to us, and giving to chance to be saved.  The Brethren have told us that we as Latter Day Saints have a duty to fulfill Elijah’s prophesy by making that welding link. These are ties that bind. We are not just saving someone from the past, we are saving our Families and binding them to us for eternity.

 In D&C 128:15 Joseph Smith warned, “And now, brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary to our salvation.”  We are the ones responsible to do the ordnances necessary for their salvation that they cannot due themselves. Millions of our ancestors are waiting for us to find them and preform these ordinances in the temple that will give them the opportunity to have salvation and be united with us eternally. D&C 128: 22 says, “Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage brethren; and on to victory! Let your heart rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.”

We must set them free. God has enabled us and given us the responsibility to do so. I love the idea that God has provided us with the means to save our families as if they we’re prisoners that we can let free. What we shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and as stated in D&C 128: 8 “whatsoever you record in earth shall be recorded in heaven” ­­Every card we take to the temple and do work for is recorded, not just on earth, but in heaven. Every ancestor you find and bring to the temple, is being given the opportunity to receive those blessings in heaven.

I am so thankful for this work that God has given us to do. I love my family and love that I have been given the opportunity and responsibility to find my family and create that welding link with them by doing their work and feeling there spirit, and the spirit of gladness that surrounds this work. I hope you all can create that welding link with your ancestors as you do their work and in so doing grow to know and love them. As Joseph Smith said, “Let the Prisoners go free!” We are the ones to let them free and I pray that we may be guided in this work of saving our families. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

This Week at Our House # 46

1. Two job interviews went very well, and he has 2 more interviews for 2 other companies. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
2. I have started applying a little more aggressively for jobs. I think it would be good if I could get a seasonal job at Target or someplace.
3. Oh my dear Ruth had a pretty regular week. She is doing better in all of her classes. She has a PE class that she is particularly enjoying. She really likes to play sports. 
4. Kate has made some good guy friends because she debates with them all. They say something she disagrees with and she very thoroughly tells them why they are wrong and voila, she has friends. Ruth would like a little bit of that magic. And boys are weird.
5. Johnny wore his school clothes for 2 days and 2 nights until I just about blew up at him. Fortunately, he showers Sunday through Thursday. If he didn't do that, I don't think he would never take his clothes off.
6. Adam's favorite spot in our house is the platform where the stairs turn. He is always laying there playing with his little lego creations. 
7. Rachel is a grump in the mornings. Monday she is whiney. Tuesday she is very, very slow, Wednesday she fights with everyone about anything, Thursday she argues with me about everything, and every single day she refuses to wear a coat.
8. Anya's best friend this year happens to be a boy named Taylor. She is not sure if he is her boyfriend or not.
9. Joseph was asking me about Santa Claus, which isn't a good topic this year. I had to explain to him that Santa Claus actually doesn't come to kids whose dad does not have a job. Two days later Joseph asked me if this was true, when I told it was, he said, "that is stupid". So we had a family meeting about it and Rachel said, "does that mean you are going to tell me that Santa isn't real?" 
10. Joshua LOVES They Might Be Giants. He is always asking me to play "partical man" and then he just dances across the living room for as long as the music is playing. He couldn't be cuter.
11. Arwen loves this book, we own titled, 7 Silly Eaters. She points to all of the pictures and tells me what is happening, and she wants me to read it to her a couple of times everyday. Fortunately, I love that book too.
12. Susan dear is just so strong. She can get across the living room now and she spends plenty of time playing on the floor.

The Flash on the Camera Broke, Pictures Will be Sparse this Winter

ready for an interview

homework time

Family Pictures 2014

My dear friend Christina took our family pictures for free...

MAGIC & MIRACLE in the MESS: Finding the Good During Unemployment

MAGIC & MIRACLE in the MESS: Finding the Good During Unemployment

It's been an incredible week with a lot out pooring of love and kindness from many.

1) $100 and homemade cookies from our friend and ward member Kayleen. I know that is a sacrifice for them. Thank you.
2) $200 and a package of oreos showing up anonymously on our doorstep. Again, if you are reading this, thank you so much. It will help pay our mortgage and other bills.
3) $100 and crocheted hankerchief given at a huge sacrifice by my dear friend Katie. She crocheted baby hats and gave us the money for the sale. Again, this will help a lot in making our November mortgage payment and car payment.
4) 4 job interviews-- 2 from the same company. The place where he has interviewed twice is a big stable company where his math degree will be used and he already knows how to do a lot of the work. He is one of 4 or 5 candidates.
5)A TI 83 calculator for Johnny from my singles ward relief society presidentElisabeth.
6) Diapers from our sweet ward member and friend, Elisabeth.
7) My dear friend Deserét asking what she can do to help with Christmas.
8) All of the kind notes and comments just buoy me up.

Thank you everyone for your kindness and love. You are teaching me a lot.

MAGIC & MIRACLE in the MESS: Finding the Good During Unemployment

We have had lots of wonderful angels take care of us this week.
1) $400, wet wipes, and dish soap from John's brother and sister in law.Jeremy Robertson, Rosanne Wilcox Robertson

2) $50 from one of my oldest friends, Deserét Baker, and I know that is a big sacrifice for her family.

3) $200 arriving in the mail from a good, kind friend.

4) over the counter drugs, dish towels and dish clothes, cleaning supplies, and shampoo from John's mom, Judy Robertson.

5) all the prayers. I know they are helping.

6) selling our broken minivan for $360

7) We had to get the brakes fixed on the van. Apparently the ball joints were busted too. We said to fix only the breaks because it would be $2,200. They decided to use cheaper parts and fixed everything for $1,450.

This Week at Our House # 45

1. John did not get the job that he had the two interviews for. He does have two upcoming interviews. We only have two more weeks of unemployment. If John does not have a job in the next two weeks, we will put our house on the market. This has been hard and long. But I know we need to keep having faith.
2. We had family pictures taken by my friend Christina for free on Monday. She is an award winning photographer too.We also had the annual Grandma Halloween party at John's parent's house on the same day. On Tuesday the brakes on the van broke down. So I put the already broken down minivan up for sale and sold it within a couple of hours to help pay for the brakes. John brought the van in to be fixed the next day. We learned that the ball joints were busted too. The total cost to repair it was going to be $2,200. They worked with us and were nice to us and found a way to fix it for $1,450. John and I got lots of exercise this week. I walked nearly 5 miles each day,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday taking the kids back and forth to school and John did a lot of biking to help Ruth return her rented dance costume and getting the van to the dealership and home.
3. Ruth is feeling better about math now. She had a rough start with math this year. I am glad that she is feeling more confidant. Ruth spent a lot of time hanging out with me this week. I really enjoy having her around.
4. You know you have a weird family when you barge into your daughter's room and they are fighting over chemistry. I walked in on Ruth and Kate and they were arguing about chemical principles. 
5. I read Revelations 13 with Kate and Johnny and I just loved how well they understood it. I told them how Revelations is an allegory and we talked about what that meant. Then we began reading the chapter and they were able to listen to each verse and understand the symbolism and even figure out specific world events that fit in with the verses. I love how Johnny seeks diligently to understand the scriptures.
6. Awesome Adam turned 10 on Tuesday!!! My cute second son is growing up. He is good and talented. He plays happily with his syblings and serves so well in our home. His grades are great, and he always gets awards for his good behavior in school. 
7. Rachel cutie is really growing and learning. One morning Rachel woke up and started talking about how weird it is that people say bad things are good things and good things are bad things. I asked her where she got that from and she said that is what the movies are always saying. I am impressed with Rachel. At a young age, she has figured out something that many people older than her, do not see.
8. Anya got in a lot of trouble when on the walk home from school on Wednesday, Anya and Joseph ran off and ran through a busy road next to a busy construction sight. I was carrying Susan and had Josh next to me on a kid leash while Adam pushed Arwen in a stroller, so I could not run after them and they just ran faster when I called them. That was a scary moment, and I am glad a car did not come quickly around the corner.
9. Joseph likes doing his homework now. He will bring it to me and ask me to help him with it most days.
10. Josh only wet his pants once this week. We are almost there, though he still wets the bed every night.
11. Arwen is terrible about going to bed at night.
12. Susan has been getting up on all fours (arms and knees) and then flopping forward like a little inch worm. At 4.5 months old, Susan is getting around. 

Family Picture Preview and Adam's Birthday

This Week at Our House # 44

1. John had a lot of phone interviews this week. We are hoping a job will come from this.
2. I had a very, very busy week with a lot more going on until Wednesday or Thursday of this week. But we had a very nice Halloween with no school, which made Halloween a lot more fun. I volunteered at the school's fall festival, and for musical practice. I also took the kids out each time John had a job interview, and got some writing done, and visit taught. 
3. The first term has now ended for Ruth and Kate. Ruth didn't do as well as she would have liked, but she did do her best. She had a Halloween party on Halloween and had a lot of fun with that.
4. Kate got her 4.0 and was pleased. She went to the Halloween party with Ruth and had fun. She also got her patriarchal blessing today. She went to the Temple Saturday and fasted for the whole day to prepare for it. Kate is a good, strong girl.
5. Johnny was sick for a couple of days this week. He was better for Halloween. I let him take Adam and Rachel trick or treating. I will probably let him do so for another year or two before we all decide that he is just too old.
6. Adam gets to do some gymnastic stunts in the musical, so he will have to work on and prepare for that, but that is the sort of thing he loves. 
7. During family prayer, Rachel pleaded for John to get a job and then she said, "Please help the kids not to have homework on a Thursday or a Friday... just any day, they don't want homework."
8. Anya cutie was a chef for Halloween. During the fall festival, she put all of her treats and prizes in her chef's hat on top of her head.
9. One morning this week when I woke Joseph up, he complained, "I haven't had a chance to sleep yet."
10. During dinner on Saturday night, Josh stuffed a spoonful of macaroni and cheese into John's mouth and exuberantly said "Dad, say num, num, num." He's such a funny boy. He is funny about his clothes. I heard him screaming at the top of his lungs this morning and it was because Adam was getting Josh's church clothes on him, and Josh did not want to wear a button shirt.
11. Arwen is in the "no" stage. She pretty much says no to everything, and just to continue being contrary, if we ask her to say "no," she says, "not."
12. I love little Suzy's big eyes, adorable smile, and sweet coos. I am so glad I had 10 kids. I cannot imagine life without a single one of them.

This Week's Pictures

The Realities and the Lessons

Taking "Wear it out" to a whole new level

 I had a lot of difficulties and trials as a child and up until my early twenties when I settled into a pretty easy, happy life with my husband and my young children. Knowing how all of the adversity in my early life shaped me and made me into who I am today, about two to three years ago, I found myself worrying that my kids were having too easy of a life. I think I even prayed for them a little. Heavenly Father took me seriously and assuaged those worries We have a lot, and I mean a whole lot that is right and good. For that, I am grateful. But, life has been tough around here. Dealing with poverty and long term unemployment is hard on every member of the family.

When John was unemployed in 2013, we were much more prepared.We had hardly any debt and a lot of credit that we could rely on. The kids knew they could not have certain things or go certain places, but it was not that hard on our family and did not change things that much. When we ran out of food, we qualified for food stamps and all was well.We had plenty of stored up soap, shampoo, diapers, toilet paper and all sorts of things. We did not need to ask for any help until just before John got a job.

This time, we were not at all prepared. We were paying for the birth of the baby and trying to pay down debt from the year before. We had very little soap and toiletries stored and almost no food. I have said, and am still saying that the Lord wants us to feel the full force of American poverty and the humiliation of having to ask for help. We have really had to learn, grow, and stretch in new ways. I am not worried about my kids having it too easy anymore.

The realities start as you either have to seek out and receive welfare assistance or not pay your mortgage. At first this isn't so bad, but as time moves on and you still need help, and even more help, it gets harder for people to take you seriously. Are you really doing all you can to find a job? Maybe you are just a loser who can't do anything right? You should not have had all of those kids just to not take care of them. You should get mental help, and so on. After a little while you sometimes find yourself wondering if those things are true. It's hard to be positive. It's hard not to be critical of your husband, even when you know the real answers to those questions. It's hard on your children when they hear that the dad they adore is just useless and lazy and that is why he does not have a job yet.

The realities continue as things, you would have just bought without much thought in the past wear out and you have to really put the old pioneer adage "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without," into serious use, especially the do without part. A family with a lot of kids naturally uses it up, wears it out, and often makes it do. But the do without becomes a whole new concept. You have to learn a whole new style of patience when your children break it or waste it. You wonder if you had spoiled your kids too much in the past, and should have taught them how to care for things a little better. It's hard to keep it all together and hard not to shame your kids for being the one to break the last item of its kind.

The realities continue as the kids learn to not bother asking for anything because they already know the answer. The realities come for the kids as they have to wear last year's too small clothes, something they don't like, or nothing at all. The kids have to tell their friends no about going places and doing things-- eventually their friends quit asking, just like they have. Every school fee and school event are stressful.

There is just this heavy feeling and a feeling of doom. What if unemployment does run out before that job is found?

For months you plead in prayer for help and change and a huge miracle. Sometimes, you want to stop praying. But you don't, you can't. Pray is your life line. Prayer is where you receive the strength to continue. Prayer is where you receive peace. Prayer is where you are given the knowledge that everything will be okay, even if it is not the okay you are looking for.

And the lessons come. Your kids are strong and resilient. They are not moody. It's actually kid of nice that they get excited about candy and gum for birthday presents or payment for a job well done (because food stamps cover that and you have no other resources). They find ways to make things do and reuse things. They are kind to their father and do not blame him. They have faith and expect things will be fine. They don't complain and worry about it much. Even when they were hungry for the month and a half before they got food stamps, they didn't complain much about the lack of food. They are good and strong and kind. Your kids can do this and so can you.

You learn to not listen to the criticism. You know all of the intimate details. You know that your husband is doing all he can to find a job and when you think he is not, you do what you can too. You work together. After all, when you married you knew that it would be for richer or for poorer and for health and for sickness. After a while, you work together to solve the problem. You do not complain or criticize. Anger and unkind words will not get your husband a job. But like everything else, being loyal and working together probably will fix the problem. You learn to laugh when you would rather cry.

You learn that you must forgive those who do criticize, and not speak ill of them. Life is hard for everyone.

You learn to accept help. You learn that people are mostly good. People mostly care and most people will do what they can to help.

You learn compassion. You view the difficulties that other people are facing in a new light. Knowing just how much your family needs prayer, kindness, love, and physical assistance, you find it easier to offer those things to everyone else.

I didn't know how to really pray 5 months ago. I am learning it now. I am learning to talk to God in a whole new way. I have learned how to pray and plead for others. It's something I can do to help other people. I am learning to be more accepting of our circumstances and make the best of them. The kids are learning to pray and they are learning to be patient and wait upon the Lord as we all are. We are all learning to be on our best behavior during hard times and it is becoming more of a natural response. Everyone knows anger and resentment have never solved anything.

You learn faith is the best choice and you can choose faith. Faith isn't any more magic than getting a job. Both have to be worked for. You learn that you can do hard things even if you don't want to.

Heavenly Father is teaching us. He is using trials to shape us and to make us who He wants us to be. We will continue to work to change things.

We aren't out of this yet. Things may get worse still. The holidays are approaching and John's unemployment runs out in December. We may have to sell the house and move in with my parents. That would be hard on everyone involved. But we have made it this far. We can see this to the end. We know that everything will be okay and it will. It may not be the okay we are looking for right now, but it will be okay. And in the end, we will be grateful for the stronger people we have become.