Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Water Aerobics

Since the third week of June, Dick and I have been going to the YMCA three times a week.  He does the equipment to do his exercising and I have been doing water aerobics.  This has been the best exercise for me as I hate to sweat and feel sticky.  Well that does not happen in the water.  Let me tell you, you do sweat during the workout but the sticky just gets washed away.  The main thing I like about the water exercising is how much resistance there is on the body.

The instructor is so fun and make each session to where you do not want it to end.  I look so forward to Monday, Wednesday and Friday work outs.  Yes, this is the exercise for me.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Compassionate Service and Things

This has been a different week for me.  I did give my talk on Sunday and felt accomplished with it.  Normally I am so nervous and scared when I have to do anything like that.  This time I felt completely at ease and very confident in presenting my talk.  It really helps when you are speaking on a topic that you are very familiar with and one that has been an example by your ancestors.

After sacrament was over, a sister came up to me and said that her grandfather was also Benjamin Franklin Johnson.  She comes from his first wife and somewhere along the way she has Martineau family.  Right from the first time I met her, I had such a strong sisterhood toward her.  Now I know why.

On Wednesday the 19th, we got our house guest that will be with us for the next 7 days.  Miss Maggie MacCourtney is visiting while her parents are in Mexico.  I have come to love her and she has filled a spot in my heart since my dear Patches.  She is so good and waits patiently for us as we get to know her schedule.  Maggie loves her nightly walk through the park.




I have been called to be the compassionate service leader in our ward.  This is a calling that I had in Elko and just loved it.  When they asked me to take the calling my heart was so overjoyed.  This is the best calling in the church and one that helps you get to know all the members in the ward.  I have had this calling for about  a month now.  

On Friday, Aug 21st we had a very tragic thing happen that has broken our hearts.  Little TJ Ramirez passed away.  On Wednesday he had just celebrated his 1st birthday.  As members of the church, we know that he only had to be here just a very short time before returning to our Father in Heaven.  He did not have to go through the trials the rest of us do.  We know and understand the plan of salvation and have that knowledge that he will be with his family once again and that Stephanie and Amir will get to raise him in the millanium.

Stephanie and Amir are very new members of the church and are amazing.  Today as I walked into the chapel there they sat as a family and stayed through the entire three hours.  I think everyone was amazed to see them so quickly after loosing their precious baby boy.  Stephanie was baptized along with her 8 year old daughter, Nicole, on April 11th.  The missionaries baptized her in the morning and then came and helped us move in to our house in the early afternoon.  I have felt a kinship to her for us both being new into the ward on the same day.  Amir was baptized about 6 weeks ago and they were married just a few days later.  I do love this family and my heart is so full of sorrow for them.  We will be having the funeral later in the week for sweet little TJ.

I have been blessed in my calling as I have made arrangements for meals to be taken in to this family.  Our sisters are so loving and willing to serve.  How very thankful I am that we moved into the Copper Basin Ward.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Personal Journals

Tomorrow, August 16th I have to give a talk in sacrament meeting at church.  They told me to go into Come Follow Me, go to the theme for August and choose one of the topics that were to be taught to the youth for that month.  The topic I chose was "How Will Keeping A Personal Journal Bless Me and My Family?" from the Sunday School section.

I am hoping that all will go well and what I have prepared will be of knowledge to those in the congregation.  Following is the talk I have prepared to give.

 
HOW WILL KEEPING A PERSONAL JOURNAL BLESS ME AND MY FAMILY?

The Lord and His prophets have emphasized the importance of keeping records. Writing in a personal journal gives us an opportunity to reflect on our lives and recognize the many blessings God has given us. Our journals can also be a source of inspiration and strength to future generations of our families. 

In the scriptures we read time and time again about keeping records.  In 1st Nephi, Nephi begins writing the records of his people.  In verses 1 & 3 Nephi writes “…I make a record of my proceedings in my days.  And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge.”   In Moses 6 we learn that Adam’s seed kept a book of remembrance in the language of Adam.   Then in Jacob 1:2-3 “And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious…that I should preserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation.” 
Pres. Kimball tells us “Your own journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them.  Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully. You are unique and you should truthfully record your real self and not what other people may see in you.
Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available.
Write … your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies”.
Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity.” 
Many people wonder what their great-grandparents were like, and our children will wonder the same about us.  The peace and pleasure that descendants can find in discovering what their ancestors loved and hated, what their trials and triumphs were, and how they faced challenges can only be found if a journal is kept.
In our home, we have the histories of our extended ancestors and each time I read their writings there is something new that I learn and new qualities I can incorporate into my life.

SHOW DIFFERENT BOOKS AND EXPLAIN THINGS ABOUT THEM:

1.     Sand and Soil:  This book is about Richard’s grandfather, Daniel Fredrick Madsen who was born in Ephraim, Utah.  Daniel was born in the first home built outside of the fort in Ephraim.  His parents were converts to the church and came to America from Denmark.  They were sent to Ephraim to help settle the area with other Scandinavian saints. 

2.     Dick’s Book of Remembrance:  This is Richard’s Book of Remembrance that was compiled by his Mother.  She spent many hours typing from journals that were kept by her family.  It includes pedigree charts, several generations of life histories and is filled with pictures.  The trunk that she tells about, the one her father took with him to Denmark on his missions, is still in our family today. 

3.     My Life’s Review:  This is the journal of my 4th great grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Johnson.  I read it often and find great comfort in reading his words.  At the age of 18, my grandfather became closely associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith and from 1842 to 1844 acted as his business agent and private secretary.  My grandfather tells of the night that Joseph was running from a mob.  Grandpa stayed awake all night standing guard over Joseph while he slept.  When the Prophet woke and was ready to go, he touched Grandpa on the top of the head and said “ for this nights work, you will never have a single grey hair on your head.”  My Grandfather never had any grey hair and many of his descendants don’t either.  

4.     Dad’s journal:  A few years ago I gave my Dad a journal jar.  In the jar were slips of paper and each had a topic written on it.  Each day he was suppose to take a piece of paper out of the jar then write in this journal about that topic.  He writes with deep feelings about things I didn’t know about him.  He didn’t get very far in his writings before he became sick and passed away.  This journal is something that I will cherish forever. 

My mother is the most faithful journal keeper that I know.  In 1982 her house burned down and she was caught in the fire.  She received burns on 75% of her body and was not expected to survive.  She was a fighter and survived.  When she was able to use her hands again, Mom started writing in a journal of her experiences while in the hospital and after coming home.  Every day she made an entry in her journal.  Thirty-three years later and with many journals written she still is writing.  Her posterity will know her and what was most important to her.  They will know of her testimony and her love for the Lord and how she served Him with all her might, mind and soul.  Many will be blessed by the words she has written.

Keeping a journal can be done in a variety of ways.  It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to write with pen and paper.  It can be done by video, audio, scrapbooking or blogging.   I journal by blogging and at the end of the year it can be printed and bound.   Some of my entries are heart wrenching, some are very spiritual while others are filled with tons of humor. 

One of my spiritual experiences from my journal that I wrote in March of this year has great meaning to me.  This experience is very fresh in my mind and heart.  I had emotional feelings that were hard to control and as I relate this experience to others, I can still feel those emotions.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Laurena Priest

Every Tuesday night I attend the Monticello, Utah Temple with my brother, Lane, and with my mother.  Tonight Lane asked me if I was taking one of the names I had found through for endowments and I told him no that I did not have them ready for endowments yet.  He handed me a card from his names and asked if I would take one through for him.  I knew that he had been working on his wife’s line and thought that is where the name was from.  The name he gave me was Laurena Priest and she was born in 1877 in Colorado.

About five minutes into the session my breathing changed, my heart started beating  different and I felt so overwhelmed with everything around me.  I felt so faint and out of body.  I kept thinking what is wrong with me this is not normal.  Then the floodgates opened and I was crying and could not stop.  I was beginning to feel embarrassed and didn’t know what to do.  I only had two tissues in my pocket and I had already soaked one. 

I started praying that I could get my emotions in control so I could concentrate on what was being taught.  Suddenly it hit me like being struck with a brick….it is not you that is crying it is Laurena.  She has waited for so long for her work to be done and she is filled with joy that you are doing this endowment for her.  Almost immediately the tears stopped, my breathing became normal, my heart was beating correctly and I could concentrate once again.  The session was beautiful and I was teachable and humbled by this experience.  Just before the session ended the tears started again, but this time I knew they were tears of joy from Laurena Priest.

When we got into the car, I told Lane I had to tell him something that happened in the temple.  I told him about the crying, the change in my breathing, how my heart was beating differently and how happy my sister was that I was taking through the temple.  I said to him “the only thing that would have made this even more meaningful is if it had been one of our family names”.  Lane said, “she was one of our Fuller family members that you took through tonight.”  Tonight I was in full spirit with my family beyond the veil.  Not to often are we able to experience this type of closeness.

I see spiritual growth in myself as I write of blessings the Lord has poured upon my family and me.    I want my family to know the real me and know that there have been trials in my life, but I was able to pick myself up, shake myself off, stand tall and continue on down this path of life.  Along with the trials, there have also been many great adventures and experiences.

Without the journals of our ancestors we will not know them.  How thankful I am for all the journals that were kept in my family.  For the knowledge I have of their lives, their hardships and their joys.  I have received many blessings because of the faithful men and women they have been in following our leaders advice of keeping journals.

 Jacob 4:3 - 4 “Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow… concerning their first parents. For this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory.”

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Monday, August 10, 2015

Grayson Rykar Rasmussen

Our little Grayson Rykar Rasmussen was born on June 7, 2015 in Reno, Nevada and is the son of Morgan Tiffeni Rasmussen.  Grayson is my first great grandson but is really my second great grandchild.  I am so proud of Tiffeni in starting another generation in our family.

 They brought Grayson to Arizona to meet us the Father's Day weekend.  My greatest joy was sitting and rocking this precious bundle so fresh from heaven.  I just love this little man.



Derek's Air Force Retirement

On Friday, June 12, 2015 Derek retired from the Air Force after spending 25 1/2 years as a member of the military.  His career has taken him all over the world and he knows some pretty high up people.  This ceremony was so beautiful as they honored my son.  No mother could have been more proud of her son than I was and am.  

There were tons of tears shed by all that attended this event.  Derek was loved by everyone that had the privilege of working along side of him.  He is a great leader to those he had command over.

Now this little family of four will start a new life outside of the military.  It will be a great adjustment for all of them.

 
 












Life Is Precious

I flew to Shreveport, LA on June 8th for Derek's retirement party from the Air Force.  I was flying from Tucson to Dallas and then on to Shreveport.  For over a week I was worried about this flight and could not get it out of my mind.  I arrived at the airport in Tucson 2 1/2 hours early and when I checked in they placed me on a different flight that was leaving in 30 minutes.  I hurried and got to the gate as they were almost finished loading the plane.  I settled into my seat and waited with excitement of seeing my family in just a few hours.

Finally the waited moment of take off arrived and I was so excited.  The engines roared and off we went down the run way and into the blue skies of Arizona.  Approximately 5 minutes into the flight, the engine noise went totally silent.  I looked out the window and thought to myself that we were not going to gain the altitude we needed to go over the mountain.  All of the passengers were looking at each other with panic on their faces.  Suddenly the plane banked to the right and once again it banked to the right.  I was beginning to get a little nervous.  I looked out the window and the ground seemed to be getting closer and closer.  The pilot came on the intercom and told us that we had to return to the airport as an indicator light had come on and it was proto call to return.  We arrived back and landed safely.  What a sight it was to see every emergency vehicle lining the runway. We later found out that there had been a fire in side of the tail compartment.

While we were still in the air and the ground was coming closer and closer, my thoughts were rather calm.  I remember thinking to myself that I had lived a good life and if my time to go was now, I was okay with that.  I knew each of my family members had the knowledge that I loved them dearly and had done everything in my power to give them the love and support they needed in life.  They knew that I had a strong testimony of the gospel and valued my membership in this church.  I was sad that if we did crash and I didn't make it that I would not see my new great grandson that had been born the day before nor would I see my birthday which was the next day.  I did know that my Dad would be there with open arms to welcome me to heaven.

We made it safely, I got on my original flight and made it to Dallas.  I was to late for my connecting flight, which had been canceled anyway.  Derek and his family drove from Bossier City and picked me up.  This trip was extremely hard on me, but worth it.  Nothing is better than seeing family.