Forget-Me-Not

Yesterday I was able to go to the broadcast of the General Relief Society Meeting (LDS Church’s Women’s Conference) and dinner. All of the talks were so good and inspiring however I especially liked President Uchtdorf’s talk. He compared the 5 petals of a little forget-me-not flower to 5 things we should never forget.  Below are some highlights from his talk.

1) Forget not to be patient with yourself: 

“Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others...Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.”

2) Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice:

 “Dedicating some of our time to studying the scriptures or preparing to teach a lesson is a good sacrifice. Spending many hours stitching the title of the lesson into homemade potholders for each member of your class may not be.”

3) Forget not to be happy now: 

This was my favorite comparison where President Uchtdorf used the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to remind us to enjoy the simple pleasures that make up every day life rather than waiting for some future event, like a golden ticket, in order to be happy. “In their anxiousness, people began to forget the simple joy they used to find in a candy bar. The candy bar itself becomes an utter disappointment if it does not contain a golden ticket,” President Uchtdorf said.

4) Forget not the “why” of the gospel:
President Uchtdorf said that sometimes, in the routines of daily life, the vital aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ are unintentionally overlooked. “We sometimes see the gospel as a long list of tasks that we must add to our already impossibly long “to do” lists. We focus on what the Lord wants us to do and how we might do it, but we sometimes forget why.” President Uchtdoft reminds us that the gospel " is not an obligation, but a pathway leading to happiness and peace in this life and “glory and inexpressible fulfillment” in the life to come.

5) Forget not that the Lord loves you:
In closing, President Uchtdorf said, “Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time.” “You may at times feel a little like the forget-me-not—insignificant, small, or tiny in comparison with others,” he said, noting: “I hope (the forget-me-not) will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet.” “No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love.”

I look forward to this coming Conference weekend when we will be able to hear more inspiring messages from God’s prophets and apostles.

School Days

First Day of Kindergarten

Thomas is now in kindergarten.  He loves it, although he's not good at telling us what he actually does at school.  Most of the time he doesn't remember, and when he does remember, it's often a hard to believe story like one about his teacher catching wasps on the playground then bringing them in for science class.  

Natalie has also started pre-school.  It is taught by six moms in the neighborhood (I am one of them) who rotate who teaches the kids in their home twice a week each week.  We’ll also be going on several fieldtrips and have a few holiday parties.  Her preschool is at the same time as kindergarten and the twin’s naptime leaving me with just over an hour to myself. It's so unbelievably quiet in my house that I hardly know what to do with myself. 

Natalie likes her school as well but just like Thomas doesn't talk much about what she did.  Her teacher last week did mention that the girls were not including the boys and were even a bit snooty to them, which I could easily believe Natalie doing, not intentionally to be mean, but rather because she just loves all things girly and princessy.  So I had a serious talk with her, of course she denies ever being mean to the boys.  We’ll hope she is nice.

Labor Day

Labor Day, which is usually quite blah, was actually very fun this year.  We went to Red Butte Gardens and then met up with Matt and Laura (Jared’s brother and wife) for dinner and icecream in Salt Lake.  Red Butte Gardens was beautiful and fun for even the kids. We were pleasantly surprised that it happened to be free admission’s that day (reg. approx. $30 for our family).  We had a great time with Matt and Laura and were so glad that they were able to meet up with us.