Fun times!!!

On April 7th I started taking tennis lessons. I love it!

With the other tennis student and my good friend Daiana who also happens to be Gonzalez lol

On April 15th we went and picked blueberries. We love to do that every year.

My friend Mickey and his wife Sandra and family came to visit on April 14th.

Also on April 14th Conner had his spring band concert and as always he did great.

Just like every year he is supposed to wear a spring colored tie.  This one is his favorite and two years in a row his teacher has also worn the same colored tie.

Update on Conner's activities

March 30th was dress up day and quarter 3 celebration. His grades for the third quarter are 4 As and 3 A+. He is in the Headmaster's list at school!!!

On March 31st I helped chaperone Conner's school concert band field trip to Universal Studios. They performed at USA Music Festival Universal Studios. They did a great job. He was so tired that he wanted to go home before the award ceremony at 8:00 pm. He was awarded a trophy. One of the parents sent us a picture of the trophy.

On Monday April 3rd he was given the trophy at school. He got "Outstanding Solo" for his clarinet solo performance.

Posted on Facebook on April 3rd: At the beginning of January Conner's deacon's class was challenged by Ben Chu to read the Book of Mormon and to finish reading it by July 1st. Since he was doing so good and had not missed a day of reading and didn't have a lot left to read, I jokingly said last week to finish by his birthday on April 5th. Well this kid finished last night (April 1st)

Last night as a 12 year old.

 April 5th 2017, he turned 13 and is a teenager

 April 13th School spring concert

His music teacher Mr. Westerskov

Missionary Monday

I love missionary emails. I receive a few every Monday. A few weeks ago one of the missionaries shared her testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Here is Sister Whitney Brady's beautiful testimony:

So I really feel like I need to make something absolutely clear. And that is that the Book of Mormon IS Another testament of Jesus Christ. I will stand as a witness until the day I die that this book is of god. Oh my heart seriously breaks when people reject this message. The message of the Book of Mormon! A message of Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times--including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.

Elder Holland of the quorum of the 12 apostles stated:

For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history--perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died--from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”

I have the blessing and privilege to be out here every day, sun up, to sun down, testifying of the power of this book. But it's not just me. I'm with an army of 70,946 missionaries, who are representing our lord and savior Jesus Christ, and sharing the exact same message if he were here today. This book changes lives. I see it everyday. 

I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world … that the Book of Mormon is true.

Please don't make my same mistake. I look back before I left on my mission and realized I was hardly reading the Book of Mormon. Shame on me. I'm being completely honest. It was a real struggle for me. But I've repented and improved. Don't make that mistake. And if you have, it's okay, change, and start fresh. Member or non-member, open up the book and start reading. Allow yourself to feel the power and divinity behind the words. And I promise you, as a representative of Jesus Christ you will feel a greater peace come into your life than you ever have before. 

I love you. Your Heavenly Father loves you. Your savior Jesus Christ loves you. And that love will be evident and you read from the Book of Mormon. 

Trust in the Lord

I wish I had sat down to write these thoughts yesterday because today I have already forgotten some of the things that were on my mind.  Yesterday at church I had a few thoughts in my head as I listened to the testimonies and the lessons.The Holy Ghost does bring things to our remembrance. John 14: 26 it says: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Yesterday, because General Conference is next week we had fast and testimony meeting. Brother Palfreyman, 2nd counselor in the Bishopric of our Lake Reams Ward, was conducting, and bore his testimony. He spoke of serving others and referenced a story from one of the talks in the General Women's conference on Saturday. The story was about a sister who was very sick with cancer but served others. She said that when she focused on herself her world became dark and depressing but when she focused on others there was light, hope, strength and joy. I immediately had the simple thought, about many years ago when I was so discouraged and depressed from being a widowed single mother to my baby daughter. How I was so discouraged and had no hope for the future, how I didn't know what I was going to do. I was scared and angry. All I did was focus on myself. For almost a year I was like this. I did go out and tried to have fun and gradually started to feel a little better but I was still focused on myself. I felt like alone most of the time. Going to church was difficult, I felt I was different from all the other families who had a father and a mother. It was then I met some girls from Puerto Rico and we became instant friends. They did not have a ride to school (we were at UVCC in Orem) and since I had a car I offered to pick them up every morning after taking my daughter to daycare. I had to adjust my time to have enough time to pick them up. This simple act of service brought me joy. It was all I could offer at the time, it wasn't much but focusing on someone else other than me helped me. I had something to look forward to in the morning. Having their friendship was also healing for me. When I told them I was a widowed, I found myself telling them to not feel sorry for me and so, I had stopped feeling sorry for myself.  In a recent episode of the Mormon Channel, Gospel Solutions for families, they spoke about families who might be considered "less that ideal" just like mine was. How I wish I had heard this back then. They spoke about Peter's desire to walk on water just like the Savior. When Peter was focused on the Savior he had faith to get out of the boat and with all the wind and waves and turmoil around him he walked on water. When he lost his focus and got distracted he began to sink. When Peter exercised his faith and used his agency to ask for help and reached out his hand the Lord in turn reached out His hand and caught Peter. All of us sink every day. We have to learn to put our faith and trust in the Lord. I learned from my experience that I am never alone. The Lord does love me and understands me and that I need to have faith in him and when I am sinking, to reach out my hand to Him and He will reach out His hand to catch me. I have learned that when we focused not on ourselves but on others we get to know and love the Savior. 

Orson F. Whitney who was a member of the Quorum of the twelve apostles said: No Pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, the the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God.. and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven"

Sister Carol Stevens said: Focus on the Savior. Trust God's plan. Trust our divine identity. Trust the Savior. Trust His Atonement. The Father has provided everything we need to be successful in this mortality that He knew would be so difficult. But we have to learn to trust in that.

Update

I have not had time to write on my blog so I am thankful for Facebook because I can go back and look at what I have posted. So here is the update. On March 3rd our Ward won the Stake basketball tournament. Brent was so happy. This was the first time since we moved here almost 20 years ago that he has been in a team that has won the tournament.

The wives supporting their husbands. Yamile Castellanos, Katty Cole, Lily Rivas and me.

The champions

Brent was so happy.

On March 4th I took Conner to the tennis courts to practice and to get him out of the house and away from video games.

On March 9th I got a haircut.

Conner shaving for the first time

On Friday March 10th Conner got to shave for the first time. He had been asking me for a long time and was embarrassed at school because his friends were making comments about it.