First--sweet news of Nick & Laurie's baby being born early Tuesday morning!: Caleb Thomas
I finally started feeling noticeably better (and getting noticeably bigger) this week, which helps EVERYthing! We took advantage of Free Zoo Day (remember those fun winter trips, haha!) since Jane was telling me she'd never seen a real giraffe. It's weird to me having so many shifts of our family--it SEEMS like everyone's been around for everything we do together. I took Anne & Lucy out of school since it was a short day, and we took the DeFillipis's w/ us, and though a chilly day, it was fun to be out and about after the girls' being sick.
Emily started a cold, & Spencer caught the flu--typical end of trimester sickness setting in (except the end of MY trimester gets me feeling better--get it? 
). Friday was finally the day for the Wicked Tickets I bought back before you even left, and I was hoping my morning sickness would be tame, while Emily was trying to rest off her cold as much as she could. THEN I got an awful text from Maddie early Friday morning saying she'd been throwing up and wasn't sure SHE could make it either!! I was SO upset!!--I mean, I knew it would be fine & not the end of the world, but it was their ONLY real Christmas gift, and it's not like we get to do big things like this very often, & I kept thinking of all the times my plans fall flat & how it must be because of my lameness somehow, and just getting a bit discouraged. BUT I had listened to a devotional by Susan Tanner (her husband's BYU-Hawaii president, and was in my stake presidency at BYU, and she was in the YW General Presidency when I was in YW). She talked about miracles, and said she tried to teach HER children that we live in an ERA of miracles, and to E Expect Miracles, R Recognize when they come--even small ones, and A Acknowledge God's hand in our lives. I KNOW those are true principles, and I wanted to do a better job at remembering that. I also started marking Pres. Nelson's Prophetic Promises from recent conferences, and he specifically promised the women as he gave us those challenges last October, that "changes, even miracles, will begin to happen" as we work on centering our lives on the Savior. He also promised that as we spent more time in the temple, the Lord would show us "how to draw upon His priesthood power with which you have been endowed." I haven't felt especially close to the Spirit the last few sick weeks, but I DID make an effort to accept the prophet's challenges, and even meager, I was still TRYING to be obedient, and I prayed SO hard for a miracle that we'd all be able to go--I know it was a worldly little thing, but it meant a lot to all of us, and I felt like I could ask HARD for this miracle. I texted Grandma and cried and prayed a lot--(so did Jane)-I'd already been praying that Emily would feel better, and I tried avoiding those (old) discouraging thoughts of being a failure. I tried having hope instead. I mean, I made backup plans, and listed Maddie's ticket for sale just in case, but tried to stay positive. And the Lord blessed us with that little great miracle!! Maddie and Emily both were a bit weak/not awesome, but they were doing well enough to go and enjoy the night, and it was SO nice to be together and enjoy time together. In case I wasn't sure of God's hand, we even got a parking spot downtown RIGHT outside of the theater!--which meant they didn't have to walk extra or be outside too long--anyway, I was SO grateful and we had a really great night. I was so happy all day Saturday too--and reminded that while it IS important to be obedient and focus on the Savior, that we ARE here to ENJOY this life as well--it was just so rejuvenating! On top of that, Anne WON THE SCHOOL SPELLING BEE the same day!! One of those great difficult turned best days.
We've just enjoyed an awesome stake conference with Elder Anthony Perkins here visiting & doing lots of training on all of the changes in the church. AND HE WAS A MISSION PRESIDENT IN TAIWAN!!! We went up and told him about you, and he said he had noticed your picture on the wall
. He was an excellent teacher, and opened adult session and a stake training up to questions. I asked about the role of women and the priesthood--& how to better teach our girls, and he taught well on the POWER of the priesthood that really is to bless ALL of our lives. He also talked about the missionary changes--and the phone calls allowing families to be in the missionary's world more (and not to bring the missionaries back home more). The culmination of everything, after sharing his regular time with Pres. Nelson, and being close to all of these changes that are moving forward is that we all better center our lives around Jesus Christ, and prepare for his Second Coming--that the brethren talk about it more than ever, and do so POSITIVELY.
That is AWESOME having Yan read the Book of Mormon!!--& Kong! Hope their baptisms are moving forward w/ Wen's!--& we'll pray that those 3 boys will be able to come to church. And hope you were able to get back in touch with that older guy! SO much of real life is that 2 steps forward and 1 step back kind of progress, but I love how undaunted you are!!--& having the energy to be obedient, even when it would be easy to pause, or justify a break. One part of Conference I loved was talking about having "a break" from callings, or service, or whatever, and Elder Perkins used a quote from Marion G Romney: "Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made."--& if we can't learn to love serving, we're not going to love being exalted!
Love you so much! Love, Mom
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