Church

The last few days have been crazy around here. I have a lot to update on, but first I want to get my thoughts on going to church today down before I forget. :)

Church went from 9-noon and was broken into three different parts. I arrived early and went in. The missionaries Elder Ellis and Elder Bliss were there. They talked and introduced me to many different people. I will not remember everyone's names when I go back, that much I know, lol. I sat with Tanya and Andy, who are the couple that came over with the missionaries on Friday night. Tanya was so nice and explained so many different things to me.

The first hour of the service was a traditional service. We sang hymns, had a youth speaker, and then two adult speakers talk, said prayers, partaking of the sacrament (communion), there was also the blessing of a baby, and benediction.

One of the talks was about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and how hard that is in today's world. He explained that even if you do nothing on Sabbath day, you are honoring the Heavenly Father, and that is not the meaning of doing Sabbath Day. Everything you do on Sabbath Day should honor the Heavenly Father.

The youth speaker, spoke about choosing the right and if you chose the right, then the Heavenly Father will bless you.

The second part was "Sunday School" as Tanya referred to it. I went to a class with people new to the church, who are just learning about the Church. Each week there is a new topic and this weeks topic was Missionary Work. The teacher was wonderful, he teaches middle school kids for a living, and was fantastic. The biggest message was that we all should be missionaries, and teach by example. That is the best way to teach, and also the hardest. I can't remember the name of the book that they use for this, but I would love to get a copy.

The third part of the morning was Relief Society, which is for women 18 years old and older. There we sang hymns and had someone speak on a topic. This weeks topic was Gratitude. I can't remember the name of the lady that spoke to us, but she was wonderful. She had us share that takes us to gratitude and what takes us away from gratitude. It is always easier to be negative and taken away from gratitude. She said that we need to "think to thank." That being grateful will make you happier. You need to be willing to turn everything over to the Lord and that brings peace and happiness. That was a wow moment for me right there.

"You need to be willing to turn *everything* over to the Lord and that brings peace and happiness."

Wow. Talk about a wake up call. That touched me so much. I realized that I haven't done that. I have been praying for many things, thanking the Lord for many things, but I haven't given over everything. Namely infertility. I have been so upset, angry, not understanding why I haven't been able to get pregnant, I realized that I have not given that over to the Lord.....I need to do that.

One of the members asked if she should share a story. She was really emotional, and crying, and saying that going through years of infertility, 18 months of bleeding and being on bed rest, being angry, not understanding why she has followed His Word and that her and her husband have no children to show for it. She said that she would not trade that for anything. It has strengthened her. She was actually thankful for being put through all of that. She was thankful for all of the trials that she and her husband have been put through, the Lord carrying her through this, she was clinging to Him and His Word during this time and was thankful for that. This touched me. Really touched me, I can't explain it.

This hour that I spent hearing about gratitude, getting a smack upside the head about giving everything over to the Heavenly Father, and being thankful for things that you would not typically be thankful for. Wow. I really needed to hear that. I feel almost that it was written right for me.....I know it wasn't, but Wow.

Continuing on now, we had to write down a list of things that we were thankful for. We are encouraged to keep adding to the list. What a wonderful idea. Here are just a couple of the things that were on my list.

• Jason
• Opportunity to be at the Church--learning more.
• Simply having a house and steady job.
• Being able to offer help to my family.
• Old friends.
• Simply being alive, thinking back to that dark time in my life, I don't want to be there again. I'm thankful to be here and now.
• Music
• Books
• Being able to make choices...not everyone has that....

Needless to say, I enjoyed going to church, and it didn't even feel like I was there for three hours. I look forward to going back. I'm kind of disappointed that I'm not going to be able to go next weekend, since we will be at Money Creek, but I'm looking forward to going the weekend after that.