Category Archives: Faith

Surprise Baptism!

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Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now? This is a question that I think we’ve all heard in our lives. I look at my life 5 years ago and it’s nowhere where it’s at right now. We’ve taken a roller coaster ride with more ups and downs than I ever imagined.

I didn’t expect to be where I’m at right now. I didn’t expect to be in such a “family” mode. I didn’t expect to be staying home with my babies. I didn’t even expect to have another child.

You know what I really didn’t expect….. even a year ago? For my husband to have a baptism date. October 11, 2008 my husband is planning on getting baptized. I’m still in shock, but I’m so excited. I finally have a chance at going to the temple and getting my family sealed to each other, and I have gotta say that it is by far the most amazing feeling I’ve ever felt.

This all came on kindof sudden. Ever since Gino started going to church he liked it, but he was holding back. Really holding back. Then as we started the discussions it seemed like everything was going against us. Things would come up where we had to cancel our discussions, or Gino wouldn’t feel like it. I was starting to lose hope. Then, a week ago, my Grandma invited the missionaries and us over for Gino’s second discussion. He loved it. He loved learning about the priesthood, and when the missionaries asked if he would make a goal to be baptized by 10/18/08 Gino said Yes!

The missionaries came over last night and we made a plan to get the rest of the discussions done by next week so Gino can get baptized on the 11th.

I asked Gino last night while laying in bed if he was sure that this is what he wants. He might feel guilty if he drinks wine after he gets baptized, and he really should go into this with wanting to uphold all of the rules of the church, and he said that he’s ready for it. He says he doesn’t care about wine all that much, and he cares more about his health. Alcohol isn’t good for high blood pressure.

5 years ago I never would have expected this. A year ago, I still wouldn’t expect this.

Inspiration from the Bishop

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On Monday night we went to a Fireside at the Bishop’s house. He was putting it on for the missionaries, and our missionaries invited Gino and I. So, we dragged my Grandma along with me. I know she didn’t want to go, and honestly, Gino didn’t want to go either, but they’re both happier than you could imagine that they did go.

The Fireside was on his trip that he takes to Israel. The trip that my Grandma and Gino were supposed to go on, but this year they won’t be going. Hopefully next year they’ll get to go. The presentation was amazing. Our Bishop is the most spiritual, inspiring person I have met yet. His passion floors you.

I think it was kinda cool how he showed some scenarios that prove the Book of Mormon to be true. I guess I could write about the main one that was so amazing. They discovered a cave in the town of Lehi. Inside the cave there were ancient writing on the wall and they had an archeologist come in and analyze the writings. He determined them to be from 600 B.C. and that they talked of predictions of Jerusalem being destroyed and it had a sail boat and 4 men w/strong legs. The archeologist was confused as there was no large body of water near enough for a boat and he had a hard time putting it all together.

The archeologist went to the University of Utah where he got wind of the the story Nephi talks about in 1 Nephi. He was shocked and said, “Hey! How do you know that? Where does that story come from?” They handed him a Book of Mormon and he read the story and said, “Oh my gosh! This is it!!! This is the story in the cave!”

Hearing that story from the Bishop alone had chills all over me. My Grandma wants to meet with him once a week, and so does Gino. I’m sure he doesn’t have the time for something like that, but it sure would be nice.

It was inspiring. I left wanting to be a better person. I left wanting to try harder to read the scriptures. I left happy with my decision to be right where I’m at in my life right now. I’m not perfect, and I’ll never be perfect. However, I’m trying really hard, and I’m happy with that. I feel blessed that I’m a part of a ward with humble people. People that have not judged me and people who have loved to see how much the church is slowly changing my family’s life.

I have put my BOM reading on hold, and it’s going to stay on hold for a little bit longer. I’m going to start reading with Gino from the beginning. Then once I get to where I left off on my BOM blog I’ll continue writing.

Our First Discussion

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Last night we had the missionaries and some friends over from church to start Gino with discussions. The initial plan was they were going to do a mini lesson (cut it in half) so that Gino wasn’t overwhelmed. The night didn’t start out too great ~ right when they got here our toilet overflowed upstairs and Jayden slipped in the thick water on the floor ~ luckily 10 minutes later Gino had it all taken care of. 1 hour and 45 minutes later they left. We had the whole discussion and then some. I was amazed at involved Gino was with it all. He asked the questions that he had and told them that there’s no doubt in his mind that it’s all true.

They of course asked if he would give them a baptism date and we told them let’s just get through the lessons. I know it’s a scary thing to take such a huge step and just getting the discussions alone were huge.

I know this might sound strange, but every time Gino is faced with someone who thinks that the Mormon religion is a joke he gets defensive. Yes, Mr. Garibay who used to talk smack about Mormons defends them now. Before my brother got here he was a little like, Ugh I’m not in the mood for this… isn’t going to church enough…. blah blah blah ~ well, when my brother says a couple things about how he heard from someone that it’s not true and it’s all crap Gino defended the church and was REALLY involved in the lesson.

I’m so satisfied!! So, next week there will be no lesson, but every Thursday after that we will be having lessons. I really enjoyed it ~ I don’t even remember the lessons…. in fact, I don’t remember a lot so I’m learning right along with him.

One thing that was pretty amazing was the missionaries asked Gino if he has any goals and Gino said, “My goal is to go to the temple.”

Praying for the solution

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I have been pretty stressed out lately. I can’t exactly pin point what it is that stressing me out, but I think I have a pretty good idea now. I work for my grandparents. The work that I do for my grandma creates no stresses for me at all. It’s petty work compared to what I’m used to. However, the one small little fraction I have from my grandpa is the reason why I struggle to breathe sometimes. He’s so up and down and all around and it’s driving me CRAZY!

Last night as I was in bed I was so irritated and I was talking to Gino about his crazy new idea that actually hurts my feelings, and Gino actually told me to pray about it. What? Back up. Did my husband really just tell me to pray about it? That’s kinda huge. Gino doesn’t talk like that. So I did. I prayed about it and I think I know what I’m supposed to do. I feel better today.

On another note, for the past couple days it’s just been us. The in-laws are gone, and we’ve just taken these couple days to try to get things back on track. Home cooked meals, back to the YMCA for our aqua aerobics, watching movies together ~ just being our little family. It feels so good.

Faith

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I wake up in the mornings and I roll over to see Ella standing in her crib grinning at me with the most amazing smile. It’s a smile that holds my heart in its hands and melts it into a pile of love. Jayden stretches and wakes up and tells me “Good morning, Mommy. How was your sleep? Did you have good dreams?”

The above is why I have faith. Why I believe that there is a wonderful God that loves his children very much. I cannot understand or even begin to comprehend how everything in this world could exist without such a wonderful God. How can you explain love? How can you explain pain? How can you explain life?

Everyone in this world is definitely entitled to their own opinions, and I’m not in any way saying that what they believe is wrong, but I what I believe is what I believe is the truth. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. It’s the only explanation for what this life is really about. It’s the only thing that gives me hope that there is a purpose to life. That my love for my children isn’t the product of some random theory, yet that it’s a product of faith in a plan that never ends. A plan of eternity with the ones I love so much.

How can anything else make sense? How can you explain our souls with a theory on science? How can you explain the love you hold inside? How can you not believe in a Father in Heaven that loves you so much and has designed a beautiful plan for you?

My testimony grows stronger and stronger everyday. There’s so much in this life that strengthens it, and amazingly even the lack of other’s faith strengthens it to levels I never knew existed.

Heavenly Father Hear My Prayer

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I’m back at Works for Me Wednesday this week.

Lately, a lot of things have not been working for me. Life has been chaotic, but things are slowly getting better. I’m working on positivity right now, and that is starting to work…. I want to share with you a prayer that I learned from my Great-grandma. It’s a prayer that I have always remembered. I’ve taught Jayden and it is the prayer that he says every night before he goes to bed ~ of course, he adds on at the end to bless his sister Mya and asks for her back and to make sure she doesn’t fall on the clouds. He’s such a sweet boy.

Heavenly Father, hear my prayer
Keep me in Thy loving care
Be my guide in all I do
Bless all those who love me too

My Grandma just moved here and I went into her bathroom and she had this prayer that had been like embroidered with yarn above her toilet, which my Great-Grandma’s name & the year she made it ~ 1981, which was a year before I was born.

My Great-Grandma is still alive and I hope someday my Grandma will give that to me so that I can hang it in my children’s room.

This prayer works for us and to see what other things work for others head over to Shannon’s blog.

My First Calling

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I received my first calling on Sunday and am completely stoked about it. I got called to be on the Enrichment Committee and I will now be running the Mommy n’ Me class. I feel utterly honored to be considered for this and love who is on the committee with me.

I’m going to start planning the Mommy n’ Me class and hope that we can have a wonderful turn out.

2 Beautiful Miracles

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I wanted to share a story that I believe is the most amazing blessing from our Heavenly Father. I have many friends that are struggling to get pregnant and my heart literally aches for them. I’m hoping that hearing a story of such amazement will put some inspiration and hope in their hearts.

There’s a couple in our ward that comes to church every Sunday with twins ~ 1 boy and 1 girl. They tried for years to get pregnant and had no luck. No luck at all. Sister Smith was I want to say 50 and stopped getting her period. She went in to the doctors and figured that she was starting menopause, and to her surprise she was pregnant with twins. I wonder how it felt to be sitting in that doctor’s office and hearing that news. Hearing that the one thing that you’ve been praying and pleading for has come true. Not at all when they expected, but it came true and Heavenly Father answered their prayers with what they wanted.

Her husband is in his 60’s, she’s in her 50’s and the babies are 1 1/2 ~ maybe 2. I watched them in church today and I saw the most amazing patience in their eyes with their 2 miracles that they waited a lifetime for. It’s amazing how our Heavenly Father works – absolutely amazing.

Going to the holy land

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I think that we’ve made a decision after much thought and consideration. Our bishop goes to Israel 2x/year. It is supposed to be the most amazing tour of the country ever and it looks like my husband is going to join him.

Gino has shown so much interest in the church and something has been holding him back from baptism. When I casually mentioned to him that the Bishop was going to Israel later this year he looked at me and said, “I want to go.” To be honest I kinda laughed at first. I can’t picture Gino going on a trip with the Bishop, but he was dead serious.

I prayed about it and I’ve never once received one bad feeling. Something inside of me keeps telling me that this is “it”. This is going to be the maker or the breaker in Gino’s decision to join this church. From what I’ve heard the tour is supposed to be so amazing that he’ll come home begging to be baptized.

This is the website that the Bishop has set up where you can kinda go and see what’s in store for my husband. I’m so excited for him. This is an opportunity of a lifetime no matter what religion you are. The trip is for 10 days and I’m happy that I’ll be able to rely on the members of my church for help while he’s gone, because I have one of the best wards in the world!

I’m Getting a Blessing Today

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The missionaries are coming over today to give me a blessing. I feel like this is exactly what I need with all of the hormone issues I have been going through. I’ve prayed and asked for patience and while I have noticed a difference I still believe that there’s a missing piece here, and my last resort until I can get this Mirena out is to get a blessing.

I had such a wonderful at time at church today and it’s amazing what going there can do to my soul. I can be stressed out with a million things on my mind, and the minute I walk through those doors I feel this relief. Then when I walk out of those doors I feel motivated to strive hard at doing the best I can to follow the gospel. I think that’s why it’s so important for us to go to church every week, because it sets the tone for the following week. I miss church sometimes, and it always seems like the following week I have a horrible week. I’m not thinking straight, I don’t feel motivated to read my scriptures, which always make me feel good, or even pray.

I’m realizing that right now in my life I am struggling with something big within me. To feel stress and anxiety due to lack of necessity hormones in my body is wretched feeling. I sometimes lay in bed and cry, because I hate the way I’m acting. I hate the way I’m treating the people that I love and care for the most. My children need a mom with patience, it’s not fair. I know that they, especially Ella can feel my frustrations and I don’t like that.

I hope that this blessing will help me to hang in there until this all gets figured out.