July 14, 2020

Good morning Joseph Ross my beautiful wonderful amazing talented righteous Valiant son! We miss you so so much. So excited to talk to you today. We had two good come follow me is about conversion and I want to start today with talking about that with you. What exactly is conversion? The kids had a lot of really sweet and wonderful ideas. They talked about how conversion is want to instead of have to. We talked about how conversion is a change of heart and priorities change in general that conversion could be switched with the word change. It's been fun to read the story of Ammon and halomonas father would give up half of his kingdom at the threat of his life but then all of his kingdom when he learned about God. This led into a fun discussion the girls and I had last night about happiness. Also conversion being loving something enough to change. The girls and I got courtesy water and went to the Jordan River temple last night. Is the only Temple we haven't gone to sit and hang out at that's right around us with Ella so we went last night. We had a fun little tiny talk about happiness and what causes happiness where it comes from. Lydia pointed out that limones father was interested in Joy he asked Ammon where he could obtain this joy and a man offered him hope and we talked about whether or not those are interchangeable. I think these are the deepest longings of the human heart you have happiness and do you have something that you love more than life itself and you're willing to give your life for. I love Viktor Frankl book Man's Search for meaning. Victor spent four years in one of Hitler's concentration camps as a doctor of psychology and studied human behavior in those extreme in awful conditions. His conclusion was that the deepest longing of our hearts is for meaning and we're willing to suffer is something is Meaningful enough what you're doing everyday right now is a perfect example. Maybe not suffer but at least sacrifice. It's so beautiful we're so proud of you. It's been a little bit of a crazy sound a week around here. We had to bridal showers on Saturday and right before the second one we found out that Rebekah roommates had been exposed to the coronavirus. So we kind of had our first stair with a contact. They went home and quarantined over the weekend and got their test back yesterday and they were negative. But it kind of shows how it happens and things are kind of raging around here cases are going out and we're trying to be really careful even though we are having our family reunions this week. What's going on with it and Vegas I'm not really cut up on the news? Maybe you're not either anyway they are opening things and shutting things down kind of at the same time. We got a letter from our area presidency asking us to wear masks all the time went out in public. Also we heard back from the school's about how they're going to handle things you have to commit to be either an online student or an in-class student and if you go to school you will wear a mask and they're going to try to do some social distancing at school all trips for any clubs and activities are canceled and they're going to re-evaluate in December. Crazy times. Other than that we are getting ready for the wedding, we went to Fairview last night kind of to get away because we didn't know if we were infected and we went rock climbing and maple Canyon with moved and lids and it was super super fun. Asia moved out on Saturday because she has to quarantine for a week before she has law surgeey. Rachel have the Spencer and Rachel family has had a lot of fear over this virus. They have been inside the house for three and a half months she has not even been to the store. They've done grocery pickup and they've seen one other family in that entire time but she let Ella come to our house and even though I don't feel like we go a lot of places it's really made me aware that we see quite a few people. A lot of people come to our house. Anyway she wasn't going to come to the reunions at all that this week they decided to send Spencer and Kaden and Ella to the reunions. Not sure that we always choose our fears anyway she has had such a crippling fear of the Coronavirus I'm so surprised that she let Ella come stay with us for a few weeks but it's really made me aware of how many people come in and out of our Lives. We've kept delivering compost and I've kept teaching. It's hard to know exactly what to do that most of my family is still working and seeing at least a few select families on a regular basis. That's kind of what we're doing we went to the Mona Lake with this like this on Friday. We're still seeing our best friends but we don't go very many places. Lizzie was sent home by her parents during the coronavirus care and and he was a pretty sad little puppy over the weekend. I think he really really likes her. a delayed potty trained herself this week :-). She's pretty proud of it if you saw her she would tell you all about it Annie has been absolutely amazing having all these friends live with us. I'm sure it's exhausting but she just keeps loving everyone and helping everyone. I've been thinking so much about how the joy of the Gospel is in that second mile. It's in the want to category it's in the passion category it's in the goal setting and striving and if we just get stuck in the mundane requirements it's there's not as much joy there. I think Joy comes when we have the passion that Ammon did when we find so much love for God were willing to lay down our lives for him we're speaking constantly opportunities to help him lift bless heal and think about others and it's a passion. There's so much joy when it's more than Duty. I've been thinking too about the power of gratitude. I think our whole life can be so drenched so saturated so marinated and gratitude that we just don't have time for anything else. That's how I want to live like Moroni I did whose heart did swell with Thanksgiving to his God for his many mercies and blessings which he did bestow. I don't know if we told you that Grandma Jan is in a wheelchair temporarily she got a sore on her foot and she's had to be really Brave cuz she just hates people taking care of her it's just so hard for her and she said she'll have to be in for two more weeks while the store on her foot heals. Diabetes is so scary it just makes me want to go off sugar foreverin In other exciting news I cleaned the garage. No actually I do have some kind of fun news. I got a $5,000 theater scholarship!! That means more time as a mama which is my heart soul might passion Love and desire. Happy happy hump day! Did you burn a tie or do anything fun!? we love you so much. I better close cuz this is getting kind of long but I just want you to know that I know that God loves us all with an infinite and perfect love and that even our irritations are custom-designed invitations to grow and learn and that everything in our life has beautiful meaning and I'm so grateful for all of that. I'm so filled with a hunger and fire to do better in every single way. marriage and family life is the perfect Jesus school because we have constant opportunity to be patient and learn and grow and love