Last Day with My Awesome Class

I have been teaching the 12-13-yr. old Sunday School class for the last 2 1/2 years. My first class I got lucky enough to teach for 2 years and have had this group of kids for the last 8 months. Teaching Sunday School has been one of my favorite callings and I grown to really love these kids. Every week they blow me away with their gospel knowledge and they always crack me up! Well Saturday after our garage sale Mitch said he had bad news!? A member of the Bishopric called and we had an interview right before church. Well we both knew it was for me and I was 99.9% sure it was Young Womens. A couple of weeks ago I had a dream I was called to be YW President, I even told the current YW president because she has been in a long time (in fact she replaced me). We both laughed and I forgot about it. After Mitch and I talked it over I knew I wasn't being called as President or my interview would have been with the Bishop. After meeting with the Bishopric counselor my revelation was correct and I am now the Mia Maid Advisor and I am really excited!! Of all the YW age groups Mia Maids is the most challenging because the girls aren't brand new and super excited and they aren't the Laurels, the wise elders. Mia Maid age is a time when girls can easily lose there way and I feel so blessed that my Heavenly Father has faith in me to entrust these sweet girls to me! Our new YW President was actually the Girls Camp Director from this year and I love her to death. A couple of the other sisters are new to the ward I just know them by sight and am super excited to get to know them and without doubt fall in love with them. I love that our Church is so service oriented and we are able to help one another along the way on our journey here on earth. As is the case in callings, I am sure I will learn way more from the girls than I could possibly teach them!!
I am truly blessed!!

Sister Missionary Splits

We recently had a switch from Elders to Sister Missionaries in our ward. This gives all the sisters in the ward the opportunity to go our on missionary splits with them. We signed up to feed the sisters and then we were off to do missionary work. This is a big leap for me since it is way outside my comfort zone, but I was so grateful I was able to go. I love the spirit all missionaries have with them and it was truly a blessing to feel the spirit while they were teaching. The first visit we made was to a 12-year old boy whose mom is a member and his parents are divorced. He has been receiving the lessons while on summer break and staying with his mom. It was very humbling to hear his questions and at the end to hear his sweet prayer. I am always amazed when someone so young is able to feel the spirit and know of the truthfullness of the gospel.
The gospel is such a blessing in my life!!

Payoffs of Parenting

In the world of parenting you put everything you can into raising your children to be best person they can possibly be. You hope that all the lessons you taught them whether through words or by example really sunk in and have molded them into a kind, compassionate and loving human being.


Today I was able to get a glimpse into the kind of young man that Mitch and I have raised. Just a little back story on Connor's latest interest, LARPING (live action role playing). It's a live version of Dungeons and Dragons meets World of War Craft. Anyone interested in participating gather together to battle and they accomplish this by using assorted weapons, shields and costumes. There are very specific guidelines as to size, type of materials used, etc. The weapons can only be made out of pool floating noodles and have to be covered with cloth. Connor has completely fallen in love with every aspect of this new endeavor and in his free time he is either making new weapons or tweeking ones he already created. Today I noticed that he had created a new weapon but noticed it was the same size as one he already had and figured he had made it for a friend from High School that went with him the other day and was going to start joining in. When I asked Connor if that was who the weapon was for he said no, but that it was for another kid that LARP's and his family doesn't have money for him to buy materials to make one. Mind you each weapon is really inexpensive to make, $2 - $3 a piece, but for a family struggling financially that can be a lot. So knowing that, Connor made him one that he is going to give to him this week. The category this kid battles is a wizard so Connor made sure to make it wizard looking by using bright colors and even the sock he bought to cover the noodle is a sparkly with stars and the colors match the colored duct tape that Connor was using. Of course I started to tell him how awesome I thought he was but he immediately stopped me and told me not to say anymore. All three of my kids are that way. I don't know why, but they don't like to hear me gush over how awesome of a human being I think they are being at that moment. After Connor told me the story I was emptying the dishwasher and I actually started to cry, I was so overcome with a feeling of gratitude that Connor is full of compassion and empathy for another person. Connor has always had a tender heart & has been full of kindness, but to actually see him do such a kind act just completely overwhelmed me. I got a glimpse of how Heavenly Father must feel when we as his son's and daughters do acts of service for our fellow brothers and sisters. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father entrusted this sweet, kind boy to our family and all the blessings he brings to our family. I love that kid!!

My Generations Project

(The pic above is a class pic of my ggggrandfather's brother. I love these old pics, they definitely bring history to life!!)

Okay, it is official, I am starting my blog as of today!! I am really super excited and hope you are able to enjoy my posts! I labeled this post geneology, which I will discuss in a minute, but truly one of the ways I see blogging being so awesome is that it really is a form of a personal history. I am one who would love to keep a journal, but really strongly dislikes the process of writing.


On the Fourth of July, while waiting to watch the towns fireworks from our roof, I happened upon a program on the BYU channel, The Generations Project. I was instantly hooked and completely knew what I wanted to do for my generations project. I highly encourage you to visit their website and watch the episode on what a generations project is and then pick any one of the episodes they have. You can't go wrong with any of them they are all really touching and inspirational!! In a nutshell, their are 4 parts to a generation project. Instead of just researching countless names and dates it is a way of really connecting with your ancestors in a way now that makes a difference in your life NOW! Part 1: Have a purpose for your project. Maybe you want to answer a question about yourself that you can find the answer from the past.
Part 2: Populate your tree with ancestors. Part 3: Mix it with history, personal and social Part 4: Share it and watch it ripple!!

Part 1: My Why? I have never had a solid fatherly figure in my life that I feel like I can run to in times of need and know that I will be comforted and safe. My own father was there physically but never emotionally and in fact he left when I was 13 when my parents divorced. I never knew either of my grandfathers, in fact neither did my parents since they were both very young (my mom was 9 and my dad was 11) when their fathers both passed away. I also know throughout my family tree there were many men who up and left their families, usually leaving behind a wife and many children to struggle through day to day life the best they could or they died young, once again leaving a family behind to struggle. I want to research and find men of substance, men who did stand by their families and was not only a great father but husband. Unfortunately, this lack of a father in my life has transfered to my spiritual life and I have a VERY distant relationship with my own Heavenly Father. I know he loves me, but I do not feel any kind of connection. I have a terrific one with Jesus Christ, my brother, as I have always had with male friends, but I know that me finding a real relationship with my Father in Heaven will not only comfort me but will bring me great peace. I have no idea how long this will take or how large my generations project will be. The most important part is that I am willing to take a leap of faith and know that there were good men in my ancestory! I just need to let the Holy Ghost lead me and I will follow.

Part 2: I have previously done quite a bit of geneology, in fact quite a bit of work has been done since I submitted information on one line of my family. When my paternal grandmother passed and I was at her house I happened upon (I am a firm believer that there are NO COINCIDENCES in life. EVERYTHING happens for a purpose! Many times its the Holy Ghost pointing something out to us!) a huge book of geneology just laying on the floor. I asked my dad if I could have it and he agreed. It is a complete gold mine. It is my McBrayer line that goes all the way back to the early 1600's when 3 brothers embarked on a journey to America. In fact I have been super blessed to have a bunch of geneologists in my family that have done a lot of the leg work for me. The last time I had submitted names to the temple it was about 4 years ago and things have changes so much. The church's new family search is improved along with all the websites you can join that contain an unbelievable amount of information. I have chosen to join Ancestory.com, which is about $300 a year, but well worth it!! I have already found out so much great stuff!!

So wish me luck on this journey and I hope you enjoy reading about it!!