Ending 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As Christmas quickly approaches we are franticly trying to prepare for it’s arrival. This week will be spent doing some last minute Christmas shopping and will be very filled with baking for Carol and April. Every year they prepare plates full of numerous goodies for neighbors and friends.

Lily is VERY thrilled to have Santa come and visit her. She is certain he will bring her a princess for Christmas. We are also prepping her for sleeping over at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. She loves sleeping in her bed but anywhere else is questionable.

 Gary has been busy with tithing settlement and is all finished. He and Carol have also attended two parties for his work. One was a catered event at a museum and the other was held at a Brazilian restaurant. Carol had some very “exciting” things happen this month. She was called to be the Relief Society president in the ward. All of the information and duties are very intimidating at first but she will do awesome. She has some very good counselors and secretary to help her out as well.

Sam is counting down the days until he gets out of school for the Christmas Break. Only two more days full of finals left. Sam has been extremely busy with all of his singing and all of the concerts he’s been in (as have Gary and Carol). A big group of us got to attend one of his Phoenix Children’s Choir concerts, it was very enjoyable. He had another concert with school called the "Holiday dinners." They perform at a local vocational school where they have a culinary program. So Gary, Carol, Stephen, Chris, and April all went, ate dinner, and watched Sam sing. At the end the alumni get to join the students and sing two songs that they sing every year. So April went and stood by her “little” brother and sang with the choirs. He is also singing in church on Christmas.

 Stephen is still working hard. He is the one of the Gospel Doctrine teachers in his ward and is excited to be teaching about the Book of Mormon next year. He is also co-chair of the ward Home Evening Committee. The name of his ward was changed to the Mesa YSA 3rd Ward in anticipation of the forthcoming YSA stakes in Arizona. Lily loves to come over and find Stephen and then play with all of the stuff in his room--especially when they get to play with animal puppets.

 Chris has been pursuing a new hobby. He goes rock climbing with a friend about three times a week. He is getting pretty good at it and has been acquiring as much equipment as possible so he can do outdoor and indoor climbing.

Sam and April did not attend his work party since all it involved was riding a bus around Phoenix and bar hopping. Sam would like you all to know that The Dear Leader, Kim Jung Il passed away ascended into heaven escorted by a multitude of cranes today. Praise Allah. Anyway, yesterday Sam held his first "Operation First Class." He’s developing a way for the boys to get a lot of the basic requirements up to first class scout out of the way so they can work on more nitty gritty stuff. It went pretty well. April is relieved that she made it to the end of the year with enough teachers in primary and is excited to start the new year fresh with only one teacher short. She’s also excited to get the new babies room all cleaned out, organized, and eventually painted. Lily loves to tell stories, we understand some more than others and her newest word is “hypothesis”. She learned it from her new favorite show Dinosaur Train.

 Well that’s it for us. See you in 2012!!!

Wise Words to Live By

Brother Gordon is the president of FAIR. The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of LDS (Mormon) doctrine, belief and practice. I think we need to remember that questions and concerns about the gospel aren't evil or bad. They are just questions. It's how we choose to deal with the questions that we have that can make or break us.


A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity of visiting with a
brother who is struggling with his testimony. He was kind and
gracious as well as being open about his struggles. He is a good
returned missionary who is active in church and married in the
temple. He objected to one of the policy decisions that the Church
has recently made, and when he brought that objection up to members
of his extended family, he was immediately criticized for not
supporting the brethren. These confrontations with family members
then made him start to question other things he had learned in
Sunday School and Seminary.

As I have been thinking about this, I realize that the policy
decision by the Church did not impact this brother. There was no
change he had to make in his life; there was nothing he had to do.
But, questioning the one thing, and being met with negativity,
brought everything else into question.

It is not an uncommon occurrence that spiritual difficulties with
one small item can cause a larger problem. This "chink in the armor"
theory is a strategy that is often exploited by anti-Mormons
familiar with the phenomenon. Many anti-Mormons throw accusations,
many of which can be easily reconciled, with the hopes that one will
stick and gnaw at us until it leads to a major crisis of faith. In
the case of this brother, it wasn't anti-Mormonism that caused the
chink in his armor, but simply a Church policy he disagreed with.

While some believe that the gospel gives us answers to everything in
life, others feel learning to deal with ambiguity in life is an
important skill to master. I am a committed, believing Latter-day
Saint who believes the Church gives us many answers. I hold to the
position that the Lord wants to bless us, but sometimes we aren't
ready for that blessing, teaching, or information. There are good
members of the Church who may not do everything right, which brings
difficulties or ambiguity into our life. At times, we don't have a
complete understanding of some principle or practice. Sometimes we
can feel absolutely right on some principle or teaching, but we may
not be in agreement with another member or Church leader.

When I observe this principle, as I observed it in this brother, I
often reflect upon the phrase to "hold to the rod." What should we
hold on to in order to buttress our testimony and carry us through
life? There can be many things to choose from, but we must choose
wisely. In my case, I hold on to my testimony that Jesus is the
Christ, that He loves me, and that He died for my sins. I also hold
on to my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. With those two
beliefs held as the rod of my testimony, other difficulties,
ambiguities, or disagreements become secondary.

I pray that we all can hold to the rod, that we can be kind to
others, and treat others as the Savior would treat them. This will
lead to happiness in our life.

--Scott Gordon
President of FAIR

Two Great Reads

I recently finished the Citizens of London by Lynne Olson. Ms. Olson tells the story of London during WWII. It is a spellbinding account of the sacrifices made by the people of London. She also tells the story of Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman, and the U.S. ambassador John Gilbert Winant. I had never heard of Winant before I read this book. He was truly an unsung hero. He was greatly admired by the British for his humanitarian work in their country. He worked behind the scenes to facilitate the relationship between Britain and the U.S. Without his efforts, this relationship would not have existed as it was during the war.

I am currently reading Talking with God by Robert L. Millet. Brother Millet is a professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU. Many of my questions about prayer have been answered by reading this book.

Here's an excerpt from the chapter entitled "Answers to Prayers":

At the convocation of the College of Education at BYU in the summer of 1992, one student shared with her fellow graduates and others present a touching story about an experience she had had with a young Native American boy. He had been labeled by previous teachers as incorrigible, which was of course, a serious problem. She felt impelled to reach out to him and help. She knew the family situation was difficult and thought that if she visited his home she might find some clue for how to reach him. The visit stunned her. She found poverty, neglect, alcoholism, drug abuse--everything negative and destructive seemed to be present in that home. Her heart ached for the boy; his situation made her despondent. As she poured out her heart in prayer to the Lord, she found herself asking, "Have you forgotten this boy?"

The answer came, quietly and reassuringly: "No. that is why I sent you."

Very often the Almighty answers people's prayer--the prayers of the lonely, the downtrodden, the hungry, the bitter--through other people, through those sensitive souls who who open themselves to inspiration and are willing to be inconvenienced.

Mormon's Sense of Humor

I love the Book of Mormon and every time I read it, I find things I haven't noticed before. Every time I read the story of Ammon in the Book of Alma, I always get a good chuckle. Now the point Mormon was trying to make, when he edited this particular part was that God keeps his promises (at least that's what I think). The ways he points this out is pretty darn funny.

In the book of Mosiah, the sons of King Mosiah want to go preach the gospel to the Lamanites. The Lamanites were a ferocious people who loved to kill Nephites, so Mosiah had good reason to worry about his sons.

In Mosiah 28:6-7 the Lord speaks to Mosiah: "And king Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord if he should let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach the word. And the Lord said unto Mosiah: Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites."

Mormon points out that this promise was fulfilled at least two times in his narrative. The first time during Ammon's fight with the rustlers who are trying to scatter the king's sheep at a watering hole. The servants of the king who were watching the sheep wept because the king had a nasty habit of killing the servants who let the sheep get scattered. Ammon tells the servants to get back and he will take care of the problem. The rustlers figure that they can easily take care of one man. Then Mormon remind us in Alma 17:35: "Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed that one of their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they knew not that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would deliver his sons out of their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord; therefore they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king." Much to the delight of every young man who has every read this account, Ammon cuts the arms off many of them and also kills a few of their leaders.

Because Ammon is so valiant in protecting the king's sheep, and because instead of bragging about what a great job he did, he immediately returned and got the king's horses and chariot ready to for the king's journey, the king listens to Ammon and is converted to the gospel. In fact, he is so changed that he loses his strength and appears to be dead. During this time the Lord is working with the king and is "removing the dark veil of unbelief from the king's mind." Those around the king's wife try to convince her that the king is dead and needs to be placed in his sepulchre. Ammon and tells the queen that he will awaken the next day. He does and begins to preach to the people. The spirit overcomes the king, queen and Ammon. Some of the rustlers show up to see this miracle and they figure that now would be a great time to get revenge on Ammon since he is lying there helpless. We return to Mormon's narrative in Alma 19:22-23: "Now, one of them, whose brother had been slain with the sword of Ammon, being exceedingly angry with Ammon, drew his sword and went forth that he might let it fall upon Ammon, to slay him; and as he lifted the sword to smite him, behold, he fell dead. Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the Lord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith—therefore, Mosiah trusted him unto the Lord."

Despite the evil designs of some of the Lamanites, Ammon was protected by the Lord. The amusing thing to me is how Mormon points this out. The bad guys don't know, but there is no way they will be able to hurt Ammon. The Lord is more powerful than anything man can do.

Busy Week

Some weeks are busier than others. I'm sure you've all had weeks where you just run from one thing to another. Last week was that week for me.

Tuesday was our ward's night Relief Society meeting. I was helping with the food and making 12 pounds of chicken salad. So with my trusty pressure cooker and my trusty Bosch, it was not a hard job. It was somewhat time consuming. I spent a lot of time Monday cooking chicken and also had to take Sam to voice lessons.

Tuesday after school, I made the chicken salad. Twelve pounds is a big pan of chicken salad. After dropping Sam off at violin lessons, he would be picked up by Sam Shelley, April and I headed to the church. So with the help of Karen Shiflet, we made 65 sandwiches. We also served salads and dessert. It was all very yummy and there wasn't very much left. After dinner, the balance of the meeting was discussing visiting teaching--a subject that always makes me feel a little guilty. Confession: if I went every month, I wouldn't feel that way.








Wednesday afternoon was Activity Day. Krista Lenhart and I have all the girls in our ward--8-12 years of age. They are fun, but they also have tons of energy. I found cute bracelet from Clare's Place and a cute Mother's Day card at Family Fun.com. Do you know that there is no where in Mesa (at least that I could find) that has big colored beads? Not Michaels, JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby. I was very disappointed. After leaving finding the beads until almost the last minute, because who knew I wouldn't be able to find them, I had to order them online and pay extra so they would get here on time. The girls had fun making the bracelets and the cards and were excited to give them to their mothers. I wanted to get pictures of all the girls and their creations, but they were very fast getting them done and wrapped.






Thursday, I had a much needed hair cut and color job. We also went out to dinner for April's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory, one of her favorite places.

Friday was her actual birthday. The poor girl had to make herself a cake, because I was too busy and too tired. Ah yes, I forgot last week was Dibels testing week at school. Dibels is a reading test that is given to every child K-6 and I am part of the testing team. So take my word for it, by the end everyone is rather brain dead after listening to kids read stories, retell said stories, read nonsense words, and break words down into their individual sounds. The first graders did an awesome job.

I had a great Mother's Day. We had steak, baked potatoes, corn and watermelon fixed by April and Gary. YUM. The whole family was here. Maybe the rest of May will be less busy. I sincerely doubt it though. With concerts, recitals, meetings and the end of school, it promises to be very busy indeed

The family newsletter

I don’t know that we’ve done much these past weeks. Of course, we all watched General Conference. My favorite talk was by Elder Bednar. Read it here . April and I always like to try new breakfast menus on Saturday and Sunday. Both were a gastronomical delight witnessed by the fact that nothing was left.

Sam took the AIMS (Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards or Big Test). He said he didn’t think it was too bad. The whole mutual went to see the Easter Pageant which was made even more fun by the addition of all the pizza they could eat. Sam has been working hard for his voice recital which will be in May. He and Gary aren’t going to the Father’s and Son’s campout for the first time ever (I think). Sam has a choir festival on that Friday and it won’t be over until evening. I didn’t see either one crying about it.

On Easter Sunday, Sam and I are singing in the choir, Stephen is speaking in his Sacrament Meeting and April has to sing for the Young Women in her ward. These events are all occurring at the same time so nobody gets to hear anybody else, well, Gary will hear Sam and I. We are going to Claye’s and Rakay’s for Easter dinner.

Thankfully the 15th (actually the 18th) of April has passed and Gary doesn’t have to spent every waking moment in his office doing taxes. It has been interesting this year with the new e-file law in effect.

Stephen was happy that the movie ATLAS SHRUGGED finally made it to the big screen. He finally got to see Dagny Taggart and the rest of the ATLAS SHRUGGED characters in living color.

Poor Lily was sick with the stomach flu from a Tuesday through Saturday. Both Lily and April were pretty miserable and I’m pretty sure that April was sick of getting thrown up on. Lily now has another cold, for the third time in about a month. Starting nursery has not been kind to her. She loves going, but always catches some disease while there.

I assume that Chris is okay. We can always keep track of where he is eating, because it gets posted on Facebook.

My work life has become pretty stressful this year, but so has everyone else’s at the school. I am immensely tired of listening to kids read because the kids all read the same story, so I get to hear it about 10 times a day. Unfortunately, practicing is the only way that kids get better at reading. We get out of school May 26 so the end is in sight. We are losing 4 teacher contracts at our school because of declining population which means there will also be less aides needed. I love the kids and I like helping them to succeed, but education is a stressful place to be these days. Schools can only do so much for kids when their home life stinks.

Have a wonderful Easter!

I'm Grateful

We’re looking forward to a wonderful Thanksgiving week. The weather will be in the 60’s and the food and the company will be grand.

“Gratitude not expressed is no good to anyone.” Bishop Burton quoted this in our stake conference last week. So here goes. . .

I’m grateful for my family. . .both the family I grew up in and my family now. We’re all healthy and happy (well, most of the time). We all have our challenges, but the Lord has blessed us so very much. What we did without Lily is a mystery to me. The world is a much more fun place since she came along. She is smart, funny and gives great kisses.

I’m grateful for music (and ipods). Music cheers and calms my soul. I’m grateful for my musical children. I absolutely can’t wait for Sam’s concert at the temple and his school concerts (both choir and orchestra).

I’m grateful for the holiday season where we have a chance to give thanks to Heavenly Father and celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who took upon himself, in a way we cannot understand, all of our sins, pains, and inadequacies. That because of this, if we will repent, we will be able to return to our Heavenly Father.

I’m grateful for the blessings of the temple that we can be with our families forever with no fighting. How could we stand to be separated from family members without this assurance.

I’m grateful for books! All kinds of books! Books can take us anywhere and oh, all the things we can learn from them--both temporal and spiritual.

Oh yes, of course, I’m grateful that it is now cool here. The best time of the year. In September, I was sure I would survive until now.

When we first moved down here, there were just the five of us for Thanksgiving most of the time. I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself. I’m grateful that we will have 20 family members gathered at our house on Thanksgiving day.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Great Plan of Happiness

I just returned from the funeral of a neighbor and member of our ward. At these times, I get very introspective. What, after everything else, is the most important?

It is our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness--most especially the atonement of Jesus Christ. Without our Savior's sacrifice, we would be subject to Satan for all eternity. His sacrifice makes up the difference, between what we are and what we need to be to live again with our Heavenly Father.

Because of the power of the priesthood, we can we sealed together as families. The loss of a loved one does not mean they are lost to us forever. We will be reunited with them after this life is finished.

Thankfully the grief we feel at the loss of a loved one, is not despair that we will never see them again, but the pain of parting for a time.

Imagine the joy we will feel when we are reunited with those we love, never to be separated from them again. No wonder we sing "praise to the Lord!"

It's June -- Things to be grateful for

1. I can go to my new fridge and get a nice COLD glass of milk. I didn't realize how much my old one didn't work.

2. I know it is going to get HOT this week, but we have enjoyed an exceptionally wonderful June so far. Only in the 90's during the day and it cooled off nicely at night.

3. Rich and the girls' visit. We had fun and I got to know my nieces better.

4. April got to spend a few days with us because Sam went camping to help with a young men's activity.

5. I'm getting some awesome pictures from Stephen's cross-country trip. I wish I were there, except for the driving.

6. Life isn't quite so hectic--so why is my house not clean yet?

7. I missed my dad yesterday, but I'm glad that he is with my mom again.

8. I'm grateful for my son-in-law and his willingness to help.

9. Our pool is still nice and cool.

Section 76

Sometimes when I teach, certain things about a section stand out. Maybe they aren't the most important, but to me they are very interesting.

According to Brigham Young, "When God revealed to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon that there was a place prepared for all, according to the light they had received and the rejection of evil and practice of good, it was a great trial to many, and some apostatized because God was not going to send to everlasting punishment heathens and infants, but had a place of salvation, in due time, for all, and would bless the honest and virtuous and truthful, whether they ever belonged to any church or not."

It seems to me this has always been the case. Whenever the Lord reveals something that changes things, people have two reactions. They either rejoice that the Lord has given his people new knowledge or get angry because the new revelation contradicts some long held belief. If it contradicts what they believe, they can either do what Brigham Young said, "I used to think and pray, to read and think, until I knew and fully understood it for myself, by the visions of the Holy Spirit" or they can hold onto their preconceived notions about how God should run things.

Smart people will embrace the former and reject the latter.

Also, sometimes we fall into Satan's trap and believe that we are not celestial material. When we do our best, the atonement of Jesus Christ makes up the rest. If you haven't, read Stephen Robinson's BELIEVING CHRIST and FOLLOWING CHRIST. It will give you a whole new outlook on "making it to the top." I know these books changed how I looked about my relationship with the Savior.

The Kirtland Temple--Sacrifice Brings Blessings

Many great sacrifices were made by the saints in Kirtland, Ohio to build their temple. Men worked all day and sometimes slept on site with a loaded gun in case any attempts were made to destroy the temple. Women sewed and cooked for temple builders. They gave their china to mix with the plaster so the temple would have a shiny exterior. Three people, Artimus Millett, John Tanner, and Vienna Jacques, gave all their fortunes in order that the temple might be built. In the midst of the temple building, the saints in Independence were driven from their homes and Joseph Smith had to recruit and outfit men for Zion's Camp.

The cost of building the temple was between $40,000 and $60,000, an enormous amount in the 1830's According to Eliza R. Snow. " At that time, . . .the Saints were few in number, and most of them very poor; and , had it not been for the assurance that God had spoken, and had commanded that a house should be built to his name, of which he not only revealed the form, but also designated the dimensions, an attempt towards building that Temple under the then existing circumstances, would have been, by all concerned, pronounced Preposterous."

Despite all the challenges, the temple was built. It was dedicated on March 27, 1836. What followed was one of the greatest outpourings of spiritual blessings ever recorded--so many that this period in church history is called the Pentecostal Period. The dedicatory prayer was given to Joseph Smith in a revelation. In the dedicatory prayer (Doctrine and Covenants 109) given by the Prophet Joseph Smith, the saints were promised great blessings for their faithfulness.

The next Sunday, which was Easter Sunday, Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the temple. He accepted the sacrifice of the saints. (Doctrine and Covenants 110:7). Other visions followed. Moses restored the keys of the gathering of Israel, Elias restored the keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, and Elijah restored the keys of sealing. All of which were essential for the progress of the Lord's kingdom.

"Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." The saints in Kirtland received blessings that they could not have comprehended only a few years before.

The Story of Polly Knight

Polly and Joseph Knight and their family lived in Colesville, New York. Joseph Smith met them when he was working in Harmony, Pennsylvania. They listened to him and believed him. It was their carriage that Joseph borrowed so he could pick up the plates from Moroni. They moved from Colesville to Thompson, Ohio when the Lord commanded his people to gather in Ohio. After a short time in Thompson, the Lord told the Colesville saints to move to Jackson County Missouri.

This journey was almost 900 miles and Polly Knight was already in poor health. The company traveled mostly by river. Her family tried to convince her to stop and rest with friends along the way. She was determined to obey the Lord and gather to Zion. She became so ill that along the way her son Newel left the boat to buy wood to build a coffin.

Her son Newel wrote, "Her only, or her greatest desire, was to set her feet upon the land of Zion, and to have her body interred in that land." Polly lived to see Zion. She died within two weeks of her arrival and was the first Latter-Day Saint to be buried in Missouri.

The Lord give these consoling words on the day of her funeral, "Those that live shall inherit the earth, and those that die shall rest from all their labors, and their works shall follow them; and they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father, which I have prepared for them."--Doctrine and Covenants 59:2.

I am always amazed and impressed with the faith and determination of the early saints. They determined to obey God at all costs. Their example inspires me to follow the Lord's commandments as they did.

The Law of Consecration

Yesterday my Sunday School lesson was about the law of consecration. One thing I have decided is that we think too much about what we have to give up instead of the blessings we will receive from Heavenly Father.

4 Nephi
2 And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.
3 And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift
13 And it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land; but there were mighty miracles wrought among the disciples of Jesus.
15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.
16 And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
17 There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were as one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

This is the world I would like to live in.

Thanks to all those who are the "another person"

"God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our need."--Spencer W. Kimball

I'm grateful to all those wonderful people who help me (and those I love) in times of trouble, or in times of not trouble. They listen to the spirit and follow his promptings. The world is a better place because of you.

THANKS!

Christmas Carol

Long ago in a different city, in a different state, I attended church in this building--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Heber 1st Ward. The bishop of the ward was George Holmes. My dad was the financial clerk, so I used to hang out with him after church while he waited for people to bring their tithing into the clerk's office. He wrote them a tithing receipt and they would be on their way. Bishop Holmes was there a lot also. I don't remember how it started, but he began to call me "Christmas Carol." Know what--it totally fits me.

When I started this blog, I knew it had to have something to do with being called "Christmas Carol." I LOVE Christmas. It's my favorite time of year. I have the decorations to prove it, but it's not just the decorations, or the food, or the presents, or the Christmas programs, or even having family all around. It's remembering and being thankful for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It's the fact that because of his atonement, I can live with my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and my family forever and that's the MOST IMPORTANT thing! All these good and wonderful things are what I think of when I think about Christmas. That's why I think it's great to have a little Christmas around all year and when other people look at my blog I want them to have that Christmas feeling too.

Miracles

Some people say miracles have ceased. I know they haven't. I live with one. His name is Sam.

Sam decided to arrive very hurriedly on the morning of February 23, 1997. I woke up in pain and we drove to the hospital fast! Sam made his appearance 20 minutes after we got to the hospital at about 4:20 a.m. He didn't even wait for the doctor to get there. A nurse delivered him. They didn't even have time to hook me up to an IV. (For that alone I was happy.)

The doctor arrived in time to deliver the placenta. He told us that it had started to tear away from the uterine wall. If Sam hadn't come when he did, he may have died. Then Doctor G. said something I haven't ever forgotten. "The Lord takes care of his little ones."

Yes He does. Sam turned 12 on February 23 and yesterday he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. I am glad that he is part of our family. He has provided us with entertainment and lots of love. Congratulations Sam!