Prayer

We are to leave for Christmas break today, but of course there are winter snowstorms littering the highways between here and Colorado. This morning Viana was so excited that today was our planned departure date. When I told her that we might not be able to leave today because of the snow she said so perfectly faithfully, "But we prayed to have a safe drive." Kind of like, duh mom, don't you have faith? It was so sweet to see how confident she was in the Lord answering our prayers.

Following Jesus

For the past week and a half, Ally has become obsessed with the idea of being baby Jesus. She'll drag a monstrous blanket to where I am standing and ask to be swaddled like baby Jesus. When that's done, she'll lie on the floor/couch/bed and say, "Momma, I'm baby Jesus!" It's interesting to me that even at this young age she is trying to be like our Savior. Granted, she is trying to be like him as a baby, but what a great age to imitate. Our Savior put off his glory and power to come to the earth in a much more humble way: as a baby.

Kindness

One thing Ally is supposed to try and do everyday is a kind deed. On her "important things to do" list (similar to a chore chart) she has the task of "do[ing] a kind deed." Today, her preschool group went to a few elderly women's homes in our ward and sang Christmas songs. When we got home I told Ally that she did a very kind thing today at school and that she could put up a sticker for her kind deed. Ally, excitedly, hopped up on the chair and started following her finger under the line, "do a kind deed," and made her own caption: "Be like Jesus and do something nice like sing songs for the old grandmas." It made me chuckle to hear her say old grandmas. I guess they are much older than her own grandmothers (not her great-grandmas). But, regardless of that, she's starting to understand that when we do kind things we are being like Christ and that Christ is kind to everyone. Even old grandmas.

I Love Jesus Because...

In our preschool group we are getting ready for our Christmas activities. One such activity includes a visit to some elderly women in our ward. We made cards for them and I asked each child why they love Jesus. They aren't so spiritually based, but I think there are principles and 3-year understanding of Jesus in each answer. And, they are pretty darn cute and funny.

I love Jesus because.....

~ He is so bright!

~ He made outside for me to play.

~ I'm friends with him.

~ when I am bad it makes him sad.

~ No! I'm grumpy! (that one made me laugh)

Obviously, we have wonderful families in our ward who take the time to teach their children about Christ. And, it's plain to see that they understand who He is in their own 3-year old way.

Prayers

Eric and I were talking at night about how we need to spend one-on-one time with our children and how we feel if we did more of this they would be better behaved. We were yearning for that time to make its way into our crazy lives.
When we went to bed we were praying and I was praying that we could sleep good and hoping for a childless night so that Eric could gain rest and rejuvination for his busy life.
That night at 3something Viana came in and got Eric out of bed for something. I heard her wide awake just talking and talking to Eric as if it was the middle of the day. At the time I thought, "Why couldn't my prayer have been answered to have a great nights sleep??"
Then in the morning as I started to think about it, I realized how before that prayer Eric and I were yearning for more one-on-one time. I then realized how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Eric and Viana had charming 3am conversation and bonding. We asked for two conflicting things, I am glad the Lord still saw fit to give us the better of the two.

Jesus is our friend

Every morning at breakfast, I read an article to the kids from the Friend. It's a good way to make sure we get something in about the gospel before the day starts and they like the stories. A couple of weeks ago we read President Eyring's story about being a faithful friend, specifically to Jesus Christ. Ally seemed to kind of struggle with the concept that being a good example is one way we are Jesus' friend. Well, yesterday, as Ally was doing some of her "imaginative play" with toys, blankets, pillows, etc. I overheard this little conversation: "Jesus, you are my friend. Do you want to help me make a bed for Jessie? We like to be nice to our friends Jesus." It made me smile to see that Ally understands what a friend is at her level. For her, He is someone that will play with you and help others. Jesus did love children and I think Ally knows that.

Kindness, Children, Child of God

We have a favorite park that we like to go to. It's our favorite because no one is ever there. Yesterday, while at the park, a little girl and her mom came to the park the last 20 minutes we were there. Ally immediately started playing with this little girl (she was 2, so about a year younger than Ally). A few minutes into their play, Ally came running over to me saying, "That little girl is so nice, Mom!" She seemed so surprised that someone she didn't know could be nice! When it came time to leave the park, Ally waved good-bye to this little girl and then kept telling me for the first 5 minutes of our walk back home how "nice that little girl was." It was funny to me that Ally was so shocked that people are nice. But, then again, Ally has always been so shy and never interacted with other people. I think today she may have discovered that for the most part, people are very nice! When we are kind to people, they will be kind to us. Not only that, but we are all children of God so we should be nice to others!

Choosing righteousness, Holy Ghost

Today we were watching a movie and Viana asked me why a character we thought was good was revealed to actually be a bad guy. I told her that he was jealous and sad and that is why he became a bad guy. She then said to me, "I get jealous and sad sometimes, but I'm not a bad guy." I told her that is because she was still able to choose to be good.
Tonight during FHE Viana was teaching the lesson and she bore her testimony that the Holy Ghost can help her to chose what the right things she should do are even when she feels sad.

I was so happy to see Viana applying our discussions and her real life to the gospel principles she is learning, and that she can recognize how to make good choices.

Child of God, Music

This was also posted on our fam blog, but I thought it qualified for this one as well. Even though it another Jamie post about music.

So, the kids listen to the Children's Songbook CDs when going to sleep at night. Since Wednesday they have been HOOKED on the song I Am a Child of God. Which, of course, I love. But.....it can be a problem if they don't fall asleep quickly and start yelling at us to have it played over and over again. Aren't the other songs on the CD good too kiddos?? Anyways, like I said, HOOKED. A couple of nights ago, Daniel woke up in the middle of the night....again.....and was crying so loudly that he woke Ally up as well. So, I hit the play button on the CD, crawl into Daniel's bed(which would be hilarious if he were in a crib, but he's in a twin bed), and waited for the kids to go back to sleep. Pretty soon, I heard a groggy and half asleep Ally start to sing with the CD. She sang the first 3 songs until she finally crashed.

Every night, if we start the CD before we are just about to shut their door, Ally and Daniel ask for I Am a Child of God to be started over so they can hear all the words. And, then they both sing along.

Tonight, Daniel woke up at about 11:30 and I was expecting to have to climb in his bed again. Instead, he rolled over and said, "Child of God." So, I pressed play and he was back out.

There's no real point other than the fact that I am glad that my kids love songs about Jesus and I just want to remember things like this. I guess in time, maybe now, they will realize what the words of that song are teaching and understand that they are children of God.

Jesus' Example

Brooke was sharing her afternoon treat with Ram and she looked at me and said, "Do you know why I am sharing? Because I want to be a good guy. I'm not a bad guy, and I'm trying to be like Jesus and Jesus would share everything." I was so happy to hear her say this, especially becasue sometimes its hard for Eric and I to know if we're getting through to Brooke. Maybe we aren't, but the Spirit is able to for sure.

Jesus Loves Everyone

Today while eating breakfast I read Pres. Eyring's message in The Friend to the kids. It was about becoming Christ's friend and how He is our friend. I was explaining to them that Jesus loves everyone. I told them how Jesus loves good and bad people no matter what they do, but that he wants us to make the best choices we can. Ally then looked at me, and in a very matter-of-fact manner, stated, "Jesus loves Thaddeus (our 4-foot giant teddy bear). And Jesus loves chocolate milk." So, while she hasn't quite caught the concept that He loves all people, she definitely understand that He loves. And knowing that He is loving is an important thing to know.

Music, Comfort

Duo-post by me today. I haven't posted these stories as they've happened this week.

As mentioned before, the kids listen to CDs from the Children's Songbook when they go to sleep at night. On Monday, I had a terrible headache and just wanted to take a nap. Once Daniel went down, I told Ally that I wanted to go lay on my bed. She followed me to our room and started singing "I Am a Child Of God" for me. So, this story really has no real gospel learning other than the songs they listen to are Church songs. But, because we've taught Ally that good music invites the spirit and can be a comfort, she knew that when I laid down I should listen to good music too.

Prayer

CJ just posted about prayer and I'm going to again! Gospel learning around prayer is probably the biggest one in our house right now. So, while Ally did pray for us several days ago, she has fallen back into old habits of not wanting to pray. One day during lunch, I told Ally and Daniel it was time to pray. I asked Ally if she would pray and she said "no." I was about to say the prayer when Daniel started saying, "My turn! My turn!" I was a little surprised that he wanted to pray, but I was glad. He did so well! He, of course, repeated everything I said and really tried to pronounce everything to his best ability! He was so pleased with himself afterwards. I'm glad that all our praying has helped Daniel learn to be excited to pray.

Prayer

It has been too long since I've posted on here...I am learning from my children still, learning that they keep me busy!! :) I have a post that mirrors very closely Jamie's about Ally praying. In our family we just run through age order to keep track of whose turn it is to pray. Once you'vehad your turn you can expect 5 more family prayers until your turn again. (Unless you fill in for CharlyAnn). But within the last couple of days no one has prayed except for Ram. He LOVES to pray. And, since he is 2 he throws a tantrum if we even begin to say, "Whose turn is it? Brooke's turn" As soon as we ask he just says, "WA!" (his version of Ram). ANd so what can we do but let him pray, he loves it so much. We usually help him, but ocassionally he'll do it on his own. (That sounds mostly like this "hmmahh haha, eehh meh ahun, ee daddy baby, humua, djee kai amen!") But it is so great. Hopefully the girls can continue to love praying since they have't had as many turns for family prayer lately! :)

Music

Part of our nightly routine is turning on a Children's Songbook CD for the kids to listen to as they fall asleep. This all started because Ally kept saying she was scared. So, we told her that as long as she listened to music about Jesus she didn't need to be scared because music invites the Holy Ghost. Last night after LaDon and I had shut their door, we heard the sweet voice of Ally singing "I Am a Child Of God." Tonight, I asked them if they were ready for their music and Ally said, "I get to sing 'Child of God!'" When I hit play and left the room, I could hear her singing, softly, with all her heart. Music has brought such a comforting feeling to Ally and she loves it.

Enduring and Prayer

Ally, for awhile, has been really good about folding her arms when it comes time to pray. But, if you ask her to say the prayer, then it's like pulling teeth! She will not do it. Even if you whisper everything she needs to say to her. Well, yesterday for lunch I announced that we needed to pray first. Ally quickly turned her head to me and, in excitement, said, "I want to say the prayer!!" She started it out and then repeated everything I said to her, plus some of her own. I'm so glad she was excited to say the prayer! And...I think we might be starting to see the fruits of much coaxing and teaching. Although she is young, I do think she knows the importance of prayer to her parents as she knows what to do. Hopefully, as she grows, she will realize the importance it can be for herself as she says her own prayers.

Faith to be healed

Viana was one sick pup last week! When it seemed like there was no end in sight Eric gave her a priesthood blessing. He gave it to her at night when she was too ailed to fall asleep. She was still very sick and didn't seem to be on the mend one bit! But she was blessed to recover and gain her health back. The next morning I was half asleep in bed when Viana ran into my room and sang out, "I am all better I can go to school today!" Then as quick as she came in she dashed back out to find Brooke. I then heard her tell Brooke, "Do you know why I am all better? Because I got a blessing from Daddy." She had absolute faith in the power of the priesthood, and so she was healed...and then she shared her testimony of that experience, which is sometimes harder than having the initial faith. What a great example.

Eternal Families, Joy

I wasn't around my kids for 9 whole days!! That's the longest I've ever been away from them. After I picked them up from the airport and dropped my mom off later that same day, it was amazing to me to see how Ally and Daniel reacted to being home again. They have always been sooooo good about playing with each other or entertaining themselves. They play in the front room or in their bedroom. Well, Friday evening, they both would follow me around the house and set up "imagination play zone" right at my feet, no matter where I was. The kitchen, the foot of the couch, the table, my bedroom. They just wanted to be with me at every step. It made me think about how special it is to have a family in this life and that having a loving home brings great joy. And then it made me think about how happy Heavenly Father must be when we try to be close to him like Ally and Daniel were with me. Or even happier when we are faithful and return to him at the close of mortality. As a mother, having Ally and Daniel have taught me a lot about the feelings that Heavenly Father has for me and each of us.

Trials and opposition

"At the Grand Council we also learned the purpose for our progression: to have a fulness of joy. However, we also learned that some would be deceived, choose other paths, and lose their way. We learned that all of us would have trials in our lives: sickness, disappointment, pain, sorrow, and death. But we understood that these would be given to us for our experience and our good (see D&C 122:7). If we allowed them to, these trials would purify us rather than defeat us. They would teach us to have endurance, patience, and charity (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 15–16)." -Gospel Principles Manual Chapter 2

Sometimes I think we forget that we signed up for hard things! Pain, sorrow, trials, opposition--all of it is important to our journey! Ram was playing with a little stuffed animal puppy. I was sitting watching him and he took the dog and ran him into the wall. Then he looked at me and said, "Bonk!" Then again, "Bonk!" I said, "Did he get a bonk? Give him a kiss." So he said, "Yeah, muh" (that means kiss) then he kissed them. We went through this same routine 4 or 5 times. Trials and opposition are so important that it shows up in the imaginative play of a 2 year old. It is something that our spirits know has to happen.

Sisters and Comfort

Viana has been sick. She has spent the last 24 hours on the couch. Brooke and Ram have been playing together and leaving Viana to mend. This afternoon Viana says to me, "I want to say hi to Brooke." I went back to the bedroom where Brooke and Ram were playing and said, "Brooke, Viana wants to say hi." Brooke immediately stopped what she was doing and walked to the living room. She walked over to the couch and said, "Hi Viana." Viana said, "Hi Brooke." And that was it. Viana turned over content and Brooke went back to playing. It was so precious. Brooke was so anxious to help her sister, and Viana felt her love.
Mosiah 18:9
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort,

Endurance

Sometimes it is easy to forget that we have to have faith, erpent, get baptized, receive the Holy Ghost and ENDURE TO THE END. But Endure we must! Viana came down with a harsh bug this afternoon and was out like a lamp. (Weird since Viana has never been a napper!) She was awake for scripture study but was still feeling very weak. I had thought that she would lay there feebly drifting in and out of dreamland. But as soon as I announced the word we would be listening for ("ye") she raised her hand about two inches and said "Ye" like we always do. Then for the rest of the scripture block every time I read "ye" I saw her pale and limp hand raise as high as she could muster it. It was so great to see her doing her very best to endure even though she could have had every excuse to be idle.

Joy in the Journey

Tonight I took the children on a little walk so that I could deliver something to a lady in our ward. I was focused and walked with purpose. The girls on the other hand stopped at every little rock and grasshopper and leaf. I was initially annoyed and wishing they would just walk! But then I looked up around me and saw the beautiful mountains and the clear sky and the colorful trees. I realized that I needed to find the joy in our journey!! Hardly ever a walk has gone by the the girls aren't enchanted with all the little beauties of this world. "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family." -President Monson

Service

It's amazing to me how willing children are to serve and help others. Today, I was running around the house and a few stores like a chicken without a head in an attempt to get things together before we leave town. Throughout the day Ally would come jumping up to me in excitement and ask, "Mom! What can I do to help you?" I thought about her enthusiasm and I really don't think that I have that same kind of genuine interest in helping people all the time. Children are such a good example of serving. In Alma 30:9 it states, "...if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him..." When we serve one another we are serving God.

Praying for the prophet

Tonight for family prayer Viana said she didn't like praying because she never knows what to say. So we talked about things we could pray for, Jimmy's lung, Charina's cold, Orion's mission and Pres. Monson. So, in her prayer she said, "Please bless our prophet that he can sleep good tonight, and that he can get smarter, and that he will stay healthy." I can't be positive, but I think the reason she prayed for him to get smarter is because we are always telling her that Jesus is the smartest person and that he knows everything, and she knows the prophet is his mouthpiece, so naturally she would want a smarter prophet. And I am quite certain that with the faith of this little child, Pres. Monson will have a fine night of slumber.

Missionary Work

Today while sitting in sacrament meeting, Ally was flipping through our Sacrament ABC's book and telling LaDon about each letter. She came to the M page. On that page there is a picture of a companionship of elders and a brief description about missionaries and the role they play in the Gospel. Ally turned to LaDon and said, "It's the missionaries. They come to my house to eat dinner!" I quietly giggled then asked her, "Do you know what else they do?" "They eat dinner!" "Actually, they teach people about Jesus Christ."

So....Ally didn't really know what missionaries are exactly, but she did recognize that they come to our house to have dinner. So, I think she probably knows that missionaries are young men and women that we are to support temporally, in some ways. More importantly, we are to support them by finding people for them to teach. Hopefully, our family will get better at having friends for the missionaries to teach so that Ally and Daniel will be able to say, "They teach people the gospel" vs. "They eat dinner!" Either way, we like having the missionaries around.

Prayer

Every morning, we say a prayer at breakfast. And every morning I have to remind Ally and Daniel to fold their arms. Daniel, well, he really doesn't like praying except for saying "amen" right now. Ally, will fold her arms when asked. This morning as we sat down to breakfast, Ally said, "Look mom! I'm foldin' my arms. We gotta pray. It's your turn!"

Knowledge/Learning

Ally is in a Joy School group and this week it is my turn to teach. It's a 3 hour long school session with 5 3-year olds. Going into it I didn't think there was going to be any way that they would all sit still and pay attention to several 10 minutes discussions about keeping our world clean or learning a few new songs. However, as we sat down and I started teaching them, they all were quiet and attentive! Shock to me! Not only that, but they would raise their hands and give great comments and input. Just sitting with these little kids today made me realize how important it is to "seek after truth" and "thirst for knowledge." And as we gain knowledge we become more like Heavenly Father (Isaiah 46:9-10, Act 15:18, 2 Nephi 9:20). Little children really are the example we need to follow.

Belief

Tonight Viana came in and told me that our neighbor boy was having a halloween party and that they needed to wear costumes. I asked her when and she said, "Right now!" It seemed a little suspicious and I didn't know if it was true or not, but even after my further questioning she insisted that there was a party. So I walked over to the neighbors house to find out. There was no parental organized party. But the little boy had imagined up such a great idea and Viana absolutely believed him. I'm not trying to say we blindly need to believe everything we're told, but I think there is something beautiful about the way children are so trusting and believing. It doesn't take much to convince them of goodness.

Music and Sacrament

During the sacrament today Viana was quitely singing to herself songs from the hymn book. I looked at her and she said, "I am singing these songs so I can feel the spirit." With 4 kids it can be hard to remember the purpose of the sacrament and focusing can be hard. It is nice to have one of those kids setting an example and helping me out.

Agency

“Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17). As Brooke recently taught in FHE and as I taught in my gospel essential class, agency is an eternal principle. We are here on this earth because we wanted to have the freedom to choose that the plan of salvation provided for us. I was cutting CharlyAnn's fingernails today, and she did not like it one bit, nor have any of my other children. Was she previously doing something else with her hands? No. Did it hurt? No. Did it take away her agency? Yes. Isn't that interesting how simply in-born we are with our desire to keep that agency that we had in our premortal life.

Submission

I've been noticing little Ram lately. As we try to teach him things that are right and lead him in the way of goodness he eagerly tries to please us. Anytime he does make a bad choice and he gets in trouble he gets so intensely sad. More so than just, "I'm sad because I can't play since I'm in time-out," but a real sorrow and ache that he has disappointed us. And when we do put him in time-out he truly is "willing to submit to all things...even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 3:19) Yesterday at dinner he was spilling his milk everywhere and all Eric said was "Ram" with a stern instructive tone and Ram just broke down in tears of such sorrow and submission. If I am always trying to obey my Heavenly Father and then show true godly-sorrow when I make bad choices then I am on the right path.

Book of Mormon, Family Home Evening

Since we were traveling on Saturday, we missed both AM and PM sessions of General Conference. So, for family night we decided we would listen to a talk. We started with Elder Richard G. Scott's talk. He spoke about the scriptures and the love he has for them and the strengthening of testimony he gets from them. Daniel and Ally, of course, were kind of wiggly and didn't seem to pay much attention to what was being said. In fact, they both got up and wandered around at one point. I started having one of those, "why do we even try" moments. After Elder Scott finished, LaDon asked Ally, "Do you know what Elder Scott talked about?" and to my utter surprise and joy she quickly responded, "The Book of Mormon!" So....although FHE is a struggle sometimes, it really is important and our kids are learning.

Prophets

As a re-cap to General Conference we asked each family member to share something they learned at family prayer last night. Earlier in the day Viana had sat and listened to President Monson speak and she giggled and laughed at his story right along with the audience. So when it was her turn to answer she said, "I learned that our prophet is silly!" Admittedly I had been hoping for something like, 'God loves me' or 'I can have my prayers answered', but isn't this a much better answer? For Viana to feel like she has a personal connection with the prophet I hope will lead her to be more obedient to his teachings (when she does start to internalize them more). Because she understands his nature she will be able to learn from him sooner.

Millennium, Second Coming

The blog has suffered this week since CJ and I were together. It was fun to visit though!

Tonight as we were finishing up our family scripture study, I started to explain to the kids that the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon were told to tell people about Jesus Christ and what they had seen. I went on to tell them that we get to live in a special time where we are supposed to tell everybody about Jesus. Ally then said, "Jesus is going to come back!" I was a little surprised at that one, but she's right! He will come back to the earth! She then followed up her first statement with, "We get to live with him again." And, she was right again. We do get to live with him (assuming we choose to live a righteous life and all that that entails). I love the complete faith of my little 3-year old. She has no question that we will live with him again.

Faith

Today Viana hurt her ankle. She wanted a blessing from Eric. As she was waiting she told me, "You can't give me a blessing but you can pray for me because you have faith. Anyone can pray because all you need is faith." I liked her perspective on praying: because I have faith, I can pray.

Temples

Tonight Ally and I were looking at pictures after Daniel had gone to sleep. We came across a picture of a temple and Ally, without hesitation, said, "A temple where you got married!" I'm glad that she knows LaDon and I were married in the temple. Because we were sealed there, we're forever! I hope she gets married there, too.

P.S. I know that's really similar to a few posts ago, but some Church topics in our house are WAY more popular than others.

Scripture study

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it." -Proverbs 22:6 I had plopped open our scriptures on the ground for family reading and left CharlyAnn on the floor near by. I left the room for a moment and came back to find her like this.

Then I got the camera and came back to find this:
Let us all be this seriously focused on scripture study!

Honesty

Viana came home from school and seemed to be relatively content with her day and had nothing serious or intriguing to report. She got to go to dance and Eric picked her up from it and took her for a treat at the movie store. When she got home from that thought she started getting a little cranky and Eric and I could not figure out why. The rest of the day continued just fine and when it came to a close I put her in bed. CharlyAnn was crying so I started to go back to their room. Viana met me at the door, however, and gushed right into a story that went something like this, "Well today Gunner rolled the 4 and I thought to myself I just knew I would roll the four and so I put it on my paper and but I didn't but I thought that I would and that's why I had to go to the time-out corner." I was sorta caught off guard and had to say, "Wait, what?" Sensing that she was feeling embarrassed by the situation I said, "Viana, did you need to go to time-out today?" I tried to get a clear picture of the story and finally did (fyi-she actually didn't have to go to time-out. Her teacher told me today that Viana started crying so the teacher asked her to come to the corner with her to talk about it and cheer her up and was in no way upset with Viana or punishing her). Anyway, sometimes we think we can cover up flaws or mistakes and we try to keep them hidden or not admit them. But, as shown by Viana, it is to harrowing on the soul and we need to always be honest and straight-forward.
"Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest...they are accepted of me." -D&C 97:8

Atonement

Our FHE lesson yesterday was on the atonement. Eric took us to the seminary building to give us a great white board lesson and then to watch a portion of "The Testaments" on the big screen. It was a very powerful lesson and we really learned a lot. While we were watching the movie Viana and Brooke were gathered around Eric's knees. The resurrected Savior came to the Nephites and called the little children to him to bless. When this happened both Viana and Brooke started in with comments like, "I want to feel Jesus' hands." "Jesus will bless me" "I want Jesus to give me a blessing" "Jesus loves the little children most". It was so neat to see how touched they were by the spirit and the love that they could feel for their Savior.
This is exactly why this blog exists.

Meeting and Church

I'm not sure what to label this one.....Church, repetition, example??? I dunno.

Ally has this little Polly Pocket church that she likes to play with. Yesterday before Church she asked if she could take it to sacrament meeting. Normally, I don't let her bring toys like that, but I let her anyway. And I'm so glad that I did! When we got all settled in our pew I looked over to see Ally sitting with her church and a Polly Pocket. She leaned over to me and said, "This is my Church of Jesus Christ [of Latter-day Saints]." As the meeting started she said, "Hers (meaning the Polly) is sitting quiet." I looked at the church and the little doll was sitting on a bench. As the sacrament started being passed around she leaned over again and said, "She is going to have the bread and water. It's for Jesus' body and blood." She continued quietly playing with her church throughout the rest of the meeting. As the organist started playing the introduction to the closing song she turned to me and said, "She is going to play the piano very loud!" This time the Polly was sitting in front of the organ.

What's the gospel parallel here? I don't know, but it is nice to see that Ally understands the different aspects of our weekly meetings and enjoys them. Perhaps the message here is that she simply understands that we take seriously the Lord's command to "meet together often" (D&C 20:55, 75).

Charity

Thursday when Viana came home from school the big news of the day was that Gunner, a boy in her class, did not want to play with her. Friday came with even bigger news. Viana hopped out of her classroom and said, "Mom! Gunner is my friend again! I told him his hair looked nice and that I liked the way he combed it and then he smiled at me. He even waved goodbye to me!" This example that Viana gave to me is huge. I have found that when I think someone doesn't like me I don't have the right reaction. I usually avoid them, or smile timidly if I do run into them, or list all the reasons I can think of that they don't like me, or tread lightly when around them certain that each movement I make will sink me even further down their bad list. Instead, I need to be more like Viana. Look for the positive in that person, make an effort to reach out to them, let it be a concern so that I can improve the relationship and then I will probably be pleasantly surprised that even I get a little smile and a wave.

Temples

Image from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's website.

We got to go to the temple this morning. As we drove up and the temple came in sight, Ally shouted out, "It's the temple! Look everybody! I find the temple!" I love that she loves the temple and knows it's a special place.

Patience/ Example

This is a few days late.

Children are really good examples of patience. How many times a day do you tell them, "I can help you as soon as I'm finished with ....." or the favorite in our house, "hang on." Ally and Daniel are some of the most patient in our house. On Tuesday evening we went to LaDon's office to pick him up for dinner. If you get to the office after a certain time, then you're locked out and you have to wait for someone to let you in. Well, we were waiting for LaDon (which isn't necessarily a short wait). The kids normally run around and play games, but Tuesday was different. Ally walked over to the little cement ledge, sat down, and folded her arms. She was willing to waiting quietly and patiently.

That act alone is good enough to post, but how about this: Daniel, after looking over and noticing what Ally was doing decided he should wait patiently like his sister. (That's him folding his arms in the picture below.) Adorable. Alma 17:11 says, "...Go forth among the Lamanites, they brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls." I like this scripture (although directed to the sons of Mosiah) because it teaches us that through patience and being a good example we can help others find salvation through Christ. My kids were being an example of Christ without even trying. Hopefully, being a good example and patient are things that will become attributes that I don't even have to think about but just do.

Children

I think that we need to be like little children in the desire and magnetism they feel toward their parents. Sometimes it can feel burdensome to have no personal space and to always have your little ones needing you and following your every move. But shouldn't we feel this same desire to be as close to our Heavenly Father, the parent of our eternal spirits? Children have the simple recognition that as their parents we can provide them with all that they need, safety, joy, comfort, love, etc. We can find these same things when we are seeking to follow the will of God and to are worthy of the companionship of the Spirit.

Testimony

First of all, I wanted to post on Viana's testimony of prophets, so how fun to see that Jamie had just posted about prophets yesterday!
Eric wanted to film Viana and Brooke singing "I am a Child of God" to use in his lesson today. When they had finished singing Viana said she wanted to film something cute. So we pushed play and she started bearing her testimony. She bore her testimony about temples and the church and then she said, "This is my testimony about prophets. I know God has his prophets on the earth today and that they are his voice and they say unto us what God would say to us." (She totally said 'unto'-presh!) Then she bore her testimony about God and how he is "very, very important" and that he sends the Holy Ghost to us to fill us with light, "just like Buzz Lightyear". I love that Viana is already formulating her own testimony and that she has such good understanding!

Prophet

We love President Monson in our house (not actually in our house, just we as a family love him), but who doesn't? LaDon has been reading Pres. Monson's biography and Ally has identified Pres. Monson as LaDon's friend because he's taking to time to learn more about him. She knows who our prophet is and gets excited to see his picture or hear him talk.

Tonight, we were able to enjoy a nice dinner with a family in the ward. Ally had a wonderful time there, and as is usual lately (a terrible phase actually), starts screaming and throwing an all out fit when we leave places. I hate it and am starting to figure out how to handle it. Well, tonight was just over the top and non-stop crying hysterics. After getting home and sitting in time-out for a few minutes and having a sit down about being polite, showing gratitude, being obedient quickly, etc. Ally saw that the TV had been left on. (We were watching Special Witnesses of Christ earlier). Ally saw Pres. Monson's picture and said, "I want to listen to Pres. Monson. He is daddy's friend." I pressed play, Ally curled up on the couch and listened to our prophet's testimony. Moroni 7:23 states, "And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come." This still applies to our modern day prophets. Christ shall come again. As long as Ally is still so excited and desirous to listen to our prophet, then she will know that they speak the truth concerning Christ. Ally loves Pres. Monson although she's never met him. And she really doesn't understand most of the things he talks about, but will one day. She does understand her feelings though, and became very calm and happy while listening to his testimony.

Prayer

Daniel loves to eat. When it comes to meal prayers he usually cries through the entire thing because he has to wait 2 more minutes before he can stuff his face. Our dinner prayer tonight was no exception (and maybe even worse because BYU lost). I started praying, hardly able to hear the words coming out of my own mouth because of his screaming, and then thought, "I should ask Heavenly Father to help Daniel be happy." So, I prayed that Daniel would be happy, and guess what!? He quieted down for the rest of the prayer. As I concluded the prayer Daniel joined in the chorus of amen's with excitement. In Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord tells the Saints through revelation, "... your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.... the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted." That's how I felt about our simple dinner prayer. And you know, I think Daniel probably felt that way too.

Baptism

Baptism is one of the topics frequently discussed in our house. I'm not sure why, other than the fact that Ally likes to talk about Jesus' baptism and her future baptism. Tonight we talked about baptism because our ward is having a baptism tomorrow. Ally talked about Jesus' baptism and then went into detail about hers. She discussed how "Daddy will baptize her and when we go in the water we close our eyes. And Jesus closed his eyes." It makes me happy that Ally knows what baptism is and that she is excited to be baptized by her daddy one day.

Friendship

After school today Viana told me this story: "At recess I saw a stranger who was sad. I asked her why she was sad and she told me no one wanted to play "mom" with her, so I said I would play with her." I asked Viana what the girls name was. She told me she forgot to ask her. Then I asked her if she was in her class. She said, "No, it was just a stranger." For the rest of the day she kept telling me how she had chosen to play with this little girl when no one else would.
"When saw we thee a stranger, and took them in...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matt 25:38, 40

Music and Understanding

I am not making any of this up, it is beautiful and it blew my mind!
Viana likes to sing to CharlyAnn and CharlyAnn loves it. When Viana went to bed I took CharlyAnn out to feed her and told Viana she could sing to her when I brought her back in. I kept CharlyAnn with me for about an hour thinking that Viana would probably have fallen asleep. But when I took CharlyAnn in she was still awake and said, "I have been waiting for you to bring her back so I could sing to her!" As soon as I shut the door Viana burst into the most beautiful song and I had to stand outside the door to listen in. She made it all up and sang it to a beautiful little made up tune. These were the words I was able to record, though there were other themes and doctrines.

"CharlyAnn I love you, God is watching over you always. If you get scared Daddy can give you a blessing because he has the priesthood, when Jesus comes he can give you a blessing cause he has the priesthood too, but Daddy can give you one until Jesus comes, God is watching over you, he wants us to be kind. If someone is being mean to me I will be kind to them because it will make them be kind to me and if I am kind it will make other people happy. God is watching over you, God is your father, Jesus Christ is your Savior I love Jesus as my Savior, Jehovah is another name for Jesus Christ. I do not want Satan to be our Savior. I want to live with God again, god is watching over you CharlyAnn. Jesus sent us to earth to get a body, I love my body, I love my eyes and my mouth and nose, I love my eyes that can see, God is watching over you, God and Jesus are watching over you."

Gratitude

Daniel loves to share....except for when it comes to balls. In that case he's just a ball-hog. Today, while Ally was at school, I had Daniel sit down with a snack so I could practice the piano for a few minutes. After 5 or so minutes, Daniel walked up and planted a snack in my mouth. Immediately, I said, "Thank you!" with a big smile. I do this every time to teach him to say thank you when given something. But, today I was truly grateful because I was starving and his snack looked soooo good. When Daniel saw how grateful I was, he started beaming with a big, toothy grin and a high little shriek of delight. As I watched him it occurred to me that Daniel's reaction is probably similar to that of Heavenly Father's when we show him true gratitude. Doctrine and Covenants 78:19 states, "...he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious..." When we are thankful we are further blessed. Why wouldn't we be thankful for all that God has given us? It makes him so happy that he wants to bless us more! I hope I can always show God such enthusiastic gratitude.

Temples

Viana this morning, "Jesus sure is lucky. He has so many temples which means he has a lot of homes! We're pretty lucky too because he shares all of his homes with us so our families can be together forever!"

Eternal Families and Forgiveness

Almost every day Ally goes around labeling each other's friends. For example, Ally is mama's friend and Daniel is Daddy's friend. Mama and Daddy can't be friends, nor can mama and Daniel, or Daddy and Ally. In Ally's mind, matching gender means friends. Well, tonight Ally was really excited to play with Daniel and Daniel was really excited to go to sleep. While she was pulling at him to play he was swiping at her to go away. After a near-hit Ally stopped and said, "Daniel, be nice. We are best friends!"

My first reaction, of course, was happiness that her friend tree branched out past me!

My second thought centered on the eternal nature of our families! It's true, we are eternal and even more so because LaDon and I were sealed in the temple for all time and eternity. If we are sealed together eternally, we might as well be best friends even if that means if one of us isn't in the mood to be friends at the moment.

The next thought was how forgiving Ally was in response to Daniel's almost-smack to the face. Rather than being upset that she was almost hit, she replied kindly and optimistically! As Christ hung on the cross, he implored the Father to "forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Ally forgave so quickly and loves her brother all the same.

I'm grateful for children who love each other and are happy to be with one another.

Individual Worth

During our bedtime routine all the kids brush their teeth together and then Ram gets pulled away early for his bed while the girls finish up their bathroom business. Every night we tell Ram to say good night to his sisters and tell his sisters to day good night to him. Lately he has been very insistent on giving everyone individual hugs or kisses or waves. Tonight I leaned him into the bathroom and said, "Say good night to your sisters." He started saying good night and waving so I turned him toward his room. He started whining and pointing, "Nigh, Bu, nigh, Bu!" So I lean him back into the bathroom and he says ,"Ni Bu" and Brooke says good night. I head him back to his room but again, "Ni Nana! Ni Nana!" Back again. "Ni Nana" "Goodnight Ram." I walked him into his room and he said, "Ni Baby, shhh" "Yes, baby is sleeping, but I will tell her you said good night." Peace settles over his face and he happily allows me to lay him down on his pillow.
I typically say "Goodnight girls" when I leave the girls room, but wouldn't it be more pleasant to give them each individual loves and call them by their names. Heavenly Father can deliver personalized messages to us too--even when it is a message that can apply to many people, the Holy Ghost can still personalize it for each one of us, just like Ram does.

Sacrifice

If there's one thing that is true about Brooke, it is that she has quite the sweet tooth. After Relief Society today I found Brooke and Viana standing in the hall outside the nursery door. They were happy to see me and the first thing Brooke did was hold out one yellow skittle to me and say, "This is for you!" I was touched by the generosity and gobbled it right up. I noticed in her other little hand another yellow skittle. When we opened the nursery door she ran right up to Ram and held out the other one to him. This was a simple act, but I think it took a lot of sacrifice on her part to hold those two yellow skittles and not eat them but save them to share with people she loved. How often is it that I sneak the last candy/chip/cookie, etc before my children see me? I can make little sacrifices like this for my children, because it can really show them how much I love them.

Sabbath Day

Since we've had church at 1 this year I usually give the kids bath in the morning before church. Last week Viana told me that we should take our baths on Saturday because "that is the day we get ready for Sunday." I told her if she helped me remember that we would take baths on Saturday this week. Tonight she was playing at the neighbors but I had remembered our conversation and went to get her so we could do baths tonight. It's the little things like this that can help us to become more like our Savior and keep our Sabbath a little more holy. (Now hopefully tomorrow we can fill that time with something joyous :)

Opposition

We had a Ram football game tonight. Viana cheered her little heart out like I've never heard anyone cheer before. The game finished and we were packing up to go when Viana said, "Did we win?" Unfortunately, no--we didn't. And this is what she did next. Tears. Giant ones. She was bawling like a baby. Sobbing, "I wanted the Rams to win. I wanted to win." It was so cute. We consoled her and told her encouraging things like "We can't win everytime," or "We will work harder and play again next week". And isn't interesting how we can't win everytime, but we really do get to work harder and try again. Even though there is opposition and trials and hard things in life, I think we are allowed to take a little crying break, and then realize that we can keep moving forward.

And besides, when it's all said and done, if we're faithful, we have that assurance that we will be the eternal victors.

Patience

Brooke asked me to push her on the swing today while I was working out. I told her I would as soon as I was done. When I finished she asked me again and I told her I needed to get dressed first. As I was in my bedroom I peeked out our window to our swing set and saw Brooke all buckeled into the swing just patiently waiting. She wasn't complaining and didn't look put out. She knew I said I would come and so she was being patient. When we ask Heavenly Father for the righteous desires of our hearts we can be sure of His answer, we just have to remember to be patient and know blessings will come on his time table.

Plan of Salvation

We know that there was a great council in heaven before we began our life here on earth.  In that council all of us here chose to follow our Heavenly Father's plan to come to earth, receive a body, be tested and tried, face joy and sorrow, experience hardship and gladness, rely on our Savior's atonement and then one day hopefully return to Him.  I've tried to imagine what that time must have been like.  Thanks to my experience today I think I know a little more how it may have been. 
Today Viana had open house for kindergarten.  The parents got to go and get all the paperwork one cold ever dream of, and the children got to follow their new teacher around for a class tour and procedure explanation.  I watched as this little group of children were preparing for their next step in life.  They were confident that it was time for them to be in kindergarten.  They were a little bit nervous to do something they had never done before.  They were eager to obey their teacher.  They sought to please her and follow her lead.  They were excited about all the new things they would get to do.  It was so neat to see such a blend of emotion that ultimately equaled knowledge of potential and plan.  Which, my friends, is the beauty of the plan of salvation.  We have a plan to follow, and if we do we have such promising potential within us. 

Service

This morning Viana came into my room to wake me up with this news, "Momma, I cleaned the sink in my bathroom so that daddy wouldn't have to and I picked the best toothbrush to use to scrub it and the best washcloth from the bath. Won't Daddy be happy that he won't have to clean it up?"
I want to wake up every morning with thoughts of how to improve Eric's day...even if I have to sacrifice my own toothbrush for it!

Righteous music

Since Viana has become a reader she loves to sing the hymns in church. Today for the opening song we sang hymn 96 "Dearest children, God is near you." The opening lines in the 1st and 2nd verses are, "Dearest children God is near you/watching o'er you day and night/Dearest children, holy angels/watch your actions night and day." As we were nearing the end of the second verse Viana stops singing and says to me, "Even if I think that no one can see me or knows about me someone does because God and his angels always see me." I simply whispered, "That's right," but the power of what she said blew my mind. She was able to pick up on the principles being taught in that song and then apply them to her own life. How often do we breeze through the hymns without taking the time to recognize the teachings within them?

Temple worship/Love for all God's creatures

The owner of this little shoe "gets it" way more than her parents do. Eric and I had planned on going to our ward temple session Saturday morning, but when 6 am rolled around we could not get our bodies out of bed. Once we finally did wake up we tossed around the idea of leaving around 11 or maybe going later in the day. No decisions were made, nor was Viana involved in the conversation. Yet all of a sudden Viana bounces down the hall beaming. She had just gotten dressed and announced, "This will be a great outfit to wear to the temple because it's a skirt and I can play in it." Shortly after that she ran into the bathroom and came back with the hairpiece I had worn at my wedding. "Can I wear this? If I do will I look like a bride at the temple?" I'm not even sure how she caught wind of our potential temple outing, but when I saw her enthusiasm and vigilance for going to the temple I knew we would have to go. How is it so hard sometimes to get to the temple? Viana could think of nothing else at the mere whisper of that possibility. We got there at 6pm, in just enough time for Eric to do initatories and then for me to do the same. While I was in the temple Viana got to take pictures. As we were looking at this spider picture she told me that she had learned that we shouldn't kill God's creatures at the temple because it is a holy place. Even though she killed one spider before this one, she didn't kill this one. And would you believe that these are her own pictures. They are beautiful. I hope Viana can always keep such a straightforward desire to be near the temple and that we can pick-up on that priority as well.

Agency

Tonight Viana asked Eric a question about why he had rasied his hand on only one word during scriptures to which he replied, "I don't know." Viana said, "You do know 'cuz you're you!" We are not objects being acted upon but agents who act. One of our greatest gifts is our agency and the opportunity we have to make our own choices. We have the power to decide for ourselves, whether good or bad.

Honesty

Today we called Brooke in Colorado. Viana wanted to talk to her dearest sister. She got on the phone and on my end I could hear Viana asking Brooke many questions about her trip. Then Viana says, "Don't say good-bye!" and tries to ask more and more questions. When I got back on my mom was laughing. She said Brooke had answered the questions as best she could and tried to say good-bye. When Viana kept persisting Brooke said, "That is all I want to say!" Sometimes I think we overlook the simple honesty that children have and find it without tact or to abrupt, but I think we can learn from them and try to pattern our honesty more like theirs.

Eternal friendship

Brooke was scheduled to leave early this morning on her special trip with Meemaw and Grandbill. Viana still managed to stumble out of bed to fall into a tight embrace with her best friend. "I will miss you Brooke" "I'll miss you too Bee-ana" "I love you." "I love you." "Take care of Doug." "OK" "And help him do his job" "OK."
This makes it easy to see why families are central to Heavenly Fathers plan.

Testimony

Viana taught our FHE lesson on prophets today. She did a wonderful job reading from the Gospel Principles manual and leading a discussion with questions. We then played a prophet matching game and after what we felt was a wonderful lesson she then bore her testimony.

She said, "I know that prophets are true and that we need to follow the prophet and that we will be blessed." She said a few other key lines that were pure and precious that conveyed nothing but a child's simple testimony. We were so touched and so proud of her and really felt the testimony impact our own resolve to follow the prophets a little better.

Patience

Jack and Diana were in town this weekend. The children got to have a sleepover at the hotel with their grandparents. When they came home Sunday morning Jack related this conversation to me:
Viana: Grandad, why did you become an eye doctor?
Jack: I've been asking myself that same question for the last 37 years.
Viana: What question?
Jack: Why I became an eye doctor.
Viana: You like to be an eye doctor don't you?
Jack: Well, yes.
Brooke: No, you LOVE it!
Jack: Sometimes I do, but sometimes I have some strange patients.
Viana: What are patients?
Jack: Those are the people who need to see a doctor.
Brooke: No, 'patients' is what you have to do when you have to wait a long time for something.

:)

Anxiously Engaged

We had planned a trip to Payson to spend time with the Trumans during this, their first week, in their new house. We were pretty excited. So eager in fact that as Eric and I were casually getting ready, planning a departure in about 20 minutes I noticed that the house was very quite. I thought, "Surely the children can't be in the car already." I went outside to check, and sure enough--all 3 of the kids had gotten in and gotten buckled the best they could. I was so touched by their excitement to be with friends and share happy times with them. I think it also depicted such good priority. They were more interested in being with friends than playing a little longer with their own toys.

Faith to heal

Yesterday Ram had a fever. Viana came out of her room and told me that she had prayed that Ram's fever would go away and that "his little eye would get better." About 15 minutes after she told me that heart-touching tidbit she came back and said, "The Holy Ghost told me that Ram needs to take a nap and then wake-up and then take another nap and he will be better." She tried to help Ram lay down for a while for a rest, and then he took another nap, and guess what? This morning Ram is all better.

Prayer

Tonight for family prayer Viana said, "...we are thankful that we could go to church today, and thank you that daddy could go to a meeting tonight, and thank thee that Momma could read books to us for so long..." I just loved seeing her summarize the most important parts of her day, and I also loved seeing how much it meant to her that I took the time to read to her today. As soon as Viana was finished Brooke said, "You forgot to bless Daddy to drive home safe." I told her she could say that in her personal prayers, so she ran off to her room right then. When she met us in the bathroom after her prayer she said, "I also prayed that Spencer would learn not to hit." We can pray for the well-being of those around us and for strength for them in their trials.

Compassion

Ram had a bit of a swollen eye so instead of sending him to nursery he came with us to my gospel essentials class. One of my class members took a fall after class was over. As he tried to regain his footing and stand up Ram stood by with the most sincere look of concern and care on his face. I don't think Ram has really ever met this man before, but yet he could sense that he was injured and tried to express so much compassion in something as simple as a concerned look. I think that is something that I can learn to do.

Obedience

Today in church Viana was sitting next to me singing "Follow the Prophet." She was also listening to the speakers though. The brother who was speaking was talking about our choices and Viana picked up on it when he said, "We each have to chose..." Viana looked at me and said, "I choose to always obey you and Daddy and anyone else that I am supposed to obey."

Acceptance

Today we had a gathering of DT Hall Advisors. What used to be 5 children between the 5 couples when we first met is now 16 children. We even had 5 cousins thrown into the mix so that at one time there were 21 children in the Trumans brand new house. Did the children stay to themselves, play only with their siblings and shy away from the strangers? Not one bit. And yet how was it that there we 7 or 8 other adults there that I did not know that I still do not know? What an interesting contrast to see how the children made instant friends and the adults were the ones to linger with the ones they knew and leave the others to go about their business un-befriended. May I be more accepting and eager to get to know everyone around me.Oh such joyous times!

Love

Ram loves to play outside. Today I had opened the front door so he could meander on out, while still keeping him in ear shot. He was putzing around the sidewalk throwing rocks when I hear Viana say to him out the open toyroom window, "Ram! It's Viana your sister who loves you so much!" One of the greatest commandments and Viana is not ashamed to live it.

Joy

We redeemed my Sagebrush gift certificate for dinner today. After that we went to the Richfield swimming pool for the first time. We took 6 Carters and only about 60 minutes to make it from the door of our house to the steps of the pool. We got there with about an hour left until closing time so the lifeguard let us in free. We were the only family there and had run of the kiddie pool. The kiddie pool was just shallow enough the Brooke and Viana could stand everywhere and Ram could even walk around half of it. Viana could not even contain her excitement that she got to shower before we got in the pool as well as after and that there was a giant ocean mural scene painted on the bathroom walls. As we were rinsing off to go home she said to me, "This has been the funnest day of my whole life."
It is all about outlook, attitude and recognition. I think everyday can be the funnest day when we get to spend time with our family.

Finding the one

Brooke came and told me that she could not find Strawberry--one of her favorite barbies. I told her I had seen her somewhere and to keep looking. Normally when I send the kids off to look for a toy they find so many other toys, get distracted, and forget about the initial one. I thought this was the case because Brooke was gone for a long time. So much so that I had forgotten she was looking for Strawberry. Some time later she came running to me shouting with much jubilation, "I found Strawberry, I found Strawberry!" This toy was so important to her that she was willing to set all else aside and go and find her.
How easy is it for me to lose focus of what I really want or what is really important? I need to remember to stay persistent and consistent.

In His image

Today Ram put on Eric's shoes and in his deepest voice said, "Daddy, daddy," to mimic one of his sisters' favorite games to put on our shoes and pretend to be that parent. I realized how great it is that litle children have the desire to be like their mom or dad, just like we need to have the desire to be like our Father; even if the shoes seem too big to fill. If we work hard we'll keep growing.

Faith

While watching "Testaments" Eric thought Viana would feel discouraged when Jacob's father Helam becomes blinded in the storm, but Viana said, "If Jesus was there, He could heal his eyes." Later in the movie when this in fact does happen Viana said, "See, I knew that would happen."

Submissive

Eric went to go to clean the church building as asked by our Bishop. Viana was sad that her Daddy had to leave and was rather distraught at his going. Once he was out the door she came over to me and said, "I don't want Daddy to go. But it doesn't matter what I want, it matters what Heavenly Father wants."

I couldn't believe her understanding of this very principle that brought about the Atonement. "Not my will, but thine be done."