Thankful for Family

It was another one of those weeks where you just looked around and felt grateful to be back home and not out of state. And yet at the same time there were so many memories of our CMU Crew that made us miss them. I titled this post thankful for family because I know I've said it before but we really are so blessed and so grateful to have both family that we were born into and family that we created in relationships with friends, neighbors, ward members that have greatly enriched and blessed our lives.

One of my all time favorite quotes is: God does notice us and he watches over us, but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. - Spencer W. Kimball. I look back at some of my greatest blessings and can easily see how God has used my family to bless my life:

- My testimony = fostered in the home but really grew among the examples in our new ward when we moved to Fruit Heights. Michelle Meyer will always be a huge role model and example to me

- Friends in high school - making friends isn't always easy but I was blessed with good neighbors and Matt Jones across the street introduced me to a friend group that made my high school experience so much fun

- Meeting Jaden = Morgann and Elijah Kletzli introduced us

- Going on a mission = the example of my parents and grandparents especially my grandma and mom were catalysts in my desire to serve. Meeting new companions and getting to be companions with Mercedes Allen a friend from high school that I played golf with

- Living in SLC = Got to be roommates with Annie Gardner who introduced me to three other awesome girls one of which was the daughter of one of my mom's mission companions

- Getting an internship = Dad's connections through Dusty Zundel and getting to work with my BFF Hailey

- Moving to Pittsburgh = Creating lasting relationships with our CMU Crew and getting adopted into the Huntzinger family who had roots in Kaysville

- My life in general = Generations of family before me created the opportunity and blessed circumstances that I found myself raised in the gospel in a beautiful and prosperous area

I could go on and on but it is just so apparent to me how intertwined our lives are and how much of an influence we can have on one another. I want to make sure that influence is a good one. 

So with all that in mind this week was hectic at the start as we prepared for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For most of our clients this is the SuperBowl of sales and we have  worked our tails off to make sure their product detail pages, ad campaigns and promotions, brand stores are all optimized and ready for increased traffic and conversions. It is a big job and felt even bigger since Gretchen is on maternity leave and we are all trying to help juggle her clients. But we made it through and saw great success which is always fulfilling. There were some hiccups to be sure but I am always so relieved when T5 (Turkey 5 coined by Amazon to account for the five days of Thanksgiving - Cyber Monday) is over!

The week ended with Turkey bowl for Jade, Thanksgiving dinner with the Moyle's and teaching Young Women's and Sunday Dinner with Jaden's family. 

Turkey Bowl:

I did not attend the boys' annual turkey bowl game but apparently they played against kids that were 5+ years younger than them. One of the guys works for Farmington High School so he was able to get them onto their field to play and apparently they absolutely schooled the younger team which always makes their egos soar. 

Thanksgiving Dinner with the Moyles:

We journeyed down to SLC for dinner hosted at Wayne and Cheryl's. We had what I would call a healthier spin on Thanksgiving which included sausage wild rice, a yummy brussel sprout salad, sourdough bread, sweet potatoes. I brought mashed potatoes and Grandma's stuffing. The stuffing ended up being dry because I didn't cover it like I was supposed to as it cooked and it didn't transport well on the drive. Better luck next time. We also had a meat fest with some of the guys' recent harvests from this year: elk, goose, duck, wild turkey and pheasant were also present. It was definitely a bountiful meal. We spent the day playing with Matt and Ali's kids, watching football and taking naps.

Teaching Young Women's: 

In keeping with this family theme I started with I taught Young Women's which was on "How Can I Help My Ancestors Come Closer to Christ?" At first glance it's one of those lessons where you kind of groan and go oh great family history work how am I supposed to make this exciting. Well I am experienced enough to know that most of the time when you are asked to teach you are the one that is about to be taught and I was fortunate and aware enough to have some cool experiences leading up to this lesson that made it fun for me to both prepare and teach.

I also decided to use slides which was an absolute game changer and I will for sure continue to do in the future. Way easier for me than writing on the board and more engaging for the girls. I started out by asking them to go around the room and say something they are thankful for. This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions and I thought it would be a good intro to our lesson. I told them I was not surprised to see family as one of the top things and repeated multiple times among the group. 

I then applied this exercise to the girls and asked them if family is so important how can we help our families come closer to Christ, especially the ones who have passed on.. I told them there were a few hints on this slide... 

They were quick to say temples and proxy work which is the best answer. But before we dove too much into that I wanted to speak more about ancestors. I don't know about you but when I hear the name ancestors I immediately think of the Fa family from Mulan. As I thought more about this I noticed that there are several Disney movies that highlight ancestors other than Mulan, Moana and Coco are more recent and equally powerful and heartwarming. I asked the girls to think about those movies and come up with some ways that Mulan, Moana and Miguel's ancestors helped them. The said they: inspired, guided, watched over and protected, loved them and were examples. I then asked them to think about if they believed that their own ancestors do those same things for them? I let them think about that for a second and then bore my testimony that I knew that each one of them had ancestors who watched over them and were so proud of them for the lives they are living. 

After talking about all they do for us we then pivoted back to what we can do for them. I asked them to tell me what they immediately thought of when they heard the phrase "family history work" and I told them it was ok if it was "ughhh" that's often what I think but I'm starting to change that perspective:

Then I told them a story to illustrate how my perception of family history work has begun to change. I shared about when Jaden and I were living in Chicago and went to go do and endowment with our friends. Peter's sister Emma is in my class so it was fun to see her recognize Pete and Alexa in the picture since they were also living in Chicago when we were and we were so so grateful it was a blast hanging out with them there. I told them about how we missed our original appointment and instead go to do baptisms for the dead which was a really neat experience because you don't often get to do that as an adult once you receive your endowments. While we were sitting in the baptistry we had the privilege of hearing a message from one of the members of the temple presidency who shared the following quote. I asked one of the girls to read it and then we talked a little bit about what it meant. 

We talked about how temple and family history work is a Christlike work because we are doing something for someone that they can't do on their own just like Christ did for each one of us. Then I shared another experience I had when I printed a family name to take with me to the temple. I shared how my mom would always ask me if I had a family name and it was kind of annoying to me because I just wanted to show up and get one but then one day I realized just how easy it is to print one off and it made my experience in the temple even more special. This is what I wrote after:

I then asked one of the girls I had asked previously to help me to come up and take over the computer and show the girls in her own family search account how easy it was to find and print a family name. Ellie did a great job guiding the class and I watched several of them follow along on their phones. I also had made and passed out these "recipe cards" on how to find a family name so they could have the process written down for future reference. 

I had also asked Ellie to come prepared to share a story about one of her ancestors and she told an inspiring story about one of her ancestors who lost their fortune during the great depression and had to relocate their family from their large house in Salt Lake to a tiny farming community with a dilapidated house but they still raised a large family and found joy in their circumstance because of their faith. It was a good reminder to all of us that it isn't about where you were raised but how. I then asked if anyone else wanted to share and several other girls shared sweet stories about their family. 

I took a moment then to talk to them about the importance of stories and recording them. I showed them the area in Family Search where you can record memories and showed them how I had recorded and uploaded several voice recordings of my Grandma Moyle. I also told them I found a cookie recipe from one of my great great grandma's that I wanted to try to make and how I had a picture of my grandma's Thanksgiving stuffing recipe (the one I messed up) in her own handwriting and I showed them how easy it was to upload that to her memories so that everyone could see. I told them that that counts for family history work that it's not just about finding names and temple work although that is critical but it is also about preserving and sharing their legacy and stories with future generations and that they all can have a part in that. 

I then split them up into groups to read through some of the blessings that Elder Renlund shared can come from family history work in his talk: Temple and Family History Work: Sealing & Healing. I asked them to choose one or two blessings that stood out to them that maybe they hadn't before realized could result from doing family history work. I gave them a few minutes to read and discuss and then we went around the room and shared. Some of the 

I then read them the following quote from President Nelson about how it doesn't matter if we hear inspiring stories from others what really matters is if we have our own experiences with temple and family history work. I then challenged them to make a goal to do something for their ancestors whether it's to follow the recipe card and take a name to the temple, record and upload a memory to family search or something else they feel prompted to do. I told them I knew that their ancestors were closer than they realized and helped them more than they knew. I also know that they need our help too and depend on us to do something for them that they cannot do on their own and that we'd all come closer to Christ as we follow His example and do His work in bringing people to Him. 

I really am so grateful for my family, both related and created as well as seen and unseen. Family is truly what it's all about and Jaden and I feel so grateful to be back amongst our own. 

Peaches

• Hunter and Crew got their suits and took pictures for their baptisms coming up in a few weeks. They both look so grown up I can't handle it! They definitely are going to need to recreate these when they are getting ready to go on missions 

• Made enchilada soup from my new Magnolia cookbook that the CMU Crew girls gave me for my birthday

• Amanda texting us memories of last year's Thanksgiving in PA
• Sent out invites for a favorite things party with all my friends from high school 

• Thanksgiving dinner at Moyle's. Her "Cinderella" dinnerware is so pretty

• Playing with Jovie she does this thing where she nods at any question you ask so Jaden had a lot of fun with it "Jovie are you a rocket scientist?" *nods* "Jovie are you good at math?" *nods* "Jovie do you love me?" *nods* "Jovie do you like to eat turkey?" *nods*

• Spent my days off reading. Cruised through both Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. Definitely some skippable parts but both absolute page turners with huge cliffhanger endings

• Grandma's stuffing recipe in her handwriting 

• Also convinced Jaden to start Fourth Wing and he has since wholeheartedly jumped on the "romantasy" train. He said if there weren't dragons he wouldn't enjoy it which I actually unexpectedly agree with

• Made pumpkin bread and chex mix for our ministers and hostess gift for Wayne and Cheryl. My kitchenaid was barely equipped for a double batch of pumpkin bread it was a slow mixing process to be sure

Pits 

• Stress of T5
• Feeling like a bad minister for not having done much for our ministering people yet
• Messing up grandma's stuffing