Hi family,
I was thinking this morning about how relieved I am that January will be over tomorrow. Then I wondered if February will be any better. Then I worried if any month will get better over the next four years. This year in Relief Society, we are studying the teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley. He was the former prophet of our church. He was such an optimist. My friend Trish framed a quote of his for me a few years ago. It says, " Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Everything will work out." I've been doing my best to cling onto these words, but Donald Trump is sure testing me.
For the past few years, I've been frustrated that our country hasn't been allowing swarms of refugees to come and live here. Then I read in the news that over the weekend innocent Muslim people are being detained at airports and that Syrian refugees are no longer allowed in our country indefinitely per Donald Trump's executive order on immigration freeze. Obama's allowance of 110,000 (I think it should be at least ten times that much) has been cut in half to 50,000 by Trump.
I watched the Good Samaritan video this morning with Will and Van. I kept thinking, "What are we doing as a country to be good Samaritans? We're just walking by, continuing with our lives, while MILLIONS of refugees are suffering." It was encouraging to see so many people protesting the order at the airports and other places in the country. That gave me hope.
Earlier this year, I had an "ah-ha" moment. When I was feeling like I needed to be doing more to help in my community, I went to the website
justserve.org. The first thing it suggested was "Reach out to someone." This might sound silly, but that phrase hit me like a ton of bricks! Sometimes I get so caught up in doing something big (which isn't a bad thing) that I forget that I can simply reach out to someone and make a ripple in the vast ocean of humanity. Imagine if every human reached out to one person!
Those words, "Reach out to someone" have been entering my mind over and over again. When I get down, I try to think of someone in my immediate sphere of influence that needs a hug, a text, dinner, card, or visit. This morning, Van said, "Mom, I want to do something good for someone today. We should do that. We should do good things." I responded, "Amen!"
This morning I watched
Sister Burton and
Elder Kearon's talks that they delivered last April in general conference on helping refugees. Sister Burton said "
As we consider the “pressing calls” of those who need our help, let’s ask ourselves, “What if their story were my story?” May we then seek inspiration, act on impressions we receive, and reach out in unity to help those in need as we are able and inspired to do so. Perhaps then it might be said of us, as the Savior said of a loving sister who ministered to Him: “She hath wrought a good work. … She hath done what she could.” I call that extraordinary!"
I hope that we can all pray and ask who out there needs our help and then act on the inspiration. We have to keep doing good things and spreading the love!
Some news with our family:
- Isaac has his Skype interview tomorrow with U of CM. Pray for him!
- Grandpa Orme is undergoing surgery tomorrow. You're in our prayers Grandpa!
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| William led the color guard at Pack Meeting Tuesday night. He did amazing! |
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| He also earned some awards. |
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| Minute to win it games are the best! |
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| Van just had to do it too! |
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| Picking up Kix cereal with chopsticks. |
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| This one cracked me up! The boys had to get the Oreo from their face into their mouth without using their hands. |
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| Last night we went to the Lights of the World festival. It was pretty neat! |
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| William just finished studying Chinese New Year at school. Here are the boys standing under the Chinese lanterns. |
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| Will's Chinese zodiac is the Rat |
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| Van's is the Tiger! |
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