Happy Thanksgiving

I am grateful for my many blessings. Here I am with four of the  sweetest gifts God has given to me.

Work

Evan gave a talk in church today.  His subject was "work" and he did a great job! Here is the text of his talk:

What do you think of when you hear the word work? Many people view work as a negative thing. Do you? If you find yourself thinking of work negatively, remember what Elder D. Todd Christofferson said about work and maybe it will help you see it differently. He said, 

By work we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the mortal experience. Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God.

I’m 15 year old boy so I know that doing work can be hard sometimes. But I also know how rewarding true work can be. I have found that when I am working toward something that is important to me, I have a much better attitude toward work and I see work as a good thing. 

Last year I wanted to have a garden. I had a good area on the side of my house, but it was filled with a LOT of weeds. I spent hours digging and pulling the weeds until I had finally cleared the area. I then leveled the ground and spent even more time building the raised garden beds out of bricks and cement blocks. I filled them with dirt that I hauled from a neighbor’s house and planted the things I wanted to plant.  Throughout the rest of that spring, I worked very hard keeping the plants alive and then harvesting them. I never complained about the hard work or even thought about stopping because I was working towards something I wanted and so the attitude I had about the work was positive. 

I have learned to try to have this same attitude towards work even when I’m not excited about doing it. When my parents ask me to help clean the garage I’m not very happy about it, but when I think of how I’m helping them and keeping our home clean I am more motivated. When I succeed in seeing work as a positive thing, I am able to see it’s benefit and make the work I’m doing important to me and more enjoyable.

Through my life so far I’ve also learned that while work is important, we also need to take time to relax and rejuvenate.  Elder Chistofferson also said, “Just as honest toil gives rest its sweetness, wholesome recreation is the friend and steadying companion of work. Music, literature, art, dance, drama, athletics—all can provide entertainment to enrich one’s life and further consecrate it.” There is always a time for work and play. But, if there is imbalance between the two, it can cause problems, which is why we need to know our Priorities and do the things that are the most important for us.

We have to work here on earth very hard to progress as far as we can, that way we will be one step closer to perfection when we go into the next life.  Learning to work now will also help prepare us for our eternal responsibilities. 

One example of someone who has taught me to work hard is my Grandpa Emerson. He was a very hard worker. To support his family he worked two jobs for 17 years. During the day he worked at the post office, and in the evening he worked cleaning the bank. He often took one of his children to the bank while he cleaned to, spend time with them and to be an example to them so they would work hard. This must have been very hard for him, but I’m glad that he did this because he was able support his family and teach me the importance of hard work. 

In D&C 75 it says, “Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be idle but labor with your might. And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life.” 

He bore his testimony and closed in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Hazards of Eating Nutella for Breakfast

In Her Own Words

This crazy-haired baby is fast becoming a little girl and she's got the growing vocabulary to prove it! Here are a few of our favorites:

*She holds up her finger and says, "one" when asked how old she is. Aaron worked for almost a week to teach her this.

*Sings E-I-E-I-O pretty much in tune. She loves Old Mac Donald and all the animal noises! She says, baa, moo, neigh, quack, woof and meow.

*Says, "Hi, honey" so sweetly. When we were on vacation I asked her to come over and she didn't want to. Finally I said, "Come on over honey." She growled back, "Me no honey!" I was so surprised by this response that I laughed and said, "Hey, I didn't know you could say 'honey'! Why don't you try saying 'Hi honey?'" So she did!

*She insists I pray for her grandpa in her bedtime prayer. If I forget (or don't get to him soon enough) she reminds me by saying, "Papa" over and over until I pray for him.

*At the end of every prayer she shouts "amen" very enthusiastically. In church she also loudly "amens" at the end of songs and musical numbers.

*She recently learned to sign and say "rain." Yesterday, I took her in the shower and she chanted, "It raining. It raining!" almost the entire time.

Her little words bring such joy to our whole family!

Desperate Measures

I know you thought you had seen the last of my vacation posts. It is great to be home, except for one thing . . . I want to go back! I am suffering from serious Maui withdrawal.

I finally resorted to looking at photos of the only undesirable things I found in Maui: sharks and high food prices! (Dont worry, I didn't actually find any sharks, i just read the newspaper article about the attack.) Even that wasn't enough. I am still ready to jump on the next Maui-bound flight. John did buy a pineapple at the store today. If only he'd picked up some chocolate covered macadamia nuts too!

Day 10 - The End!

Our last day in Maui arrived too soon. John & I had planned to take a
drive along the road to Hana, but the beach called to us and we just
couldn't resist! We decided to check out a cove near our condo. It was
full of folks learning to paddle board and kayak. Fun, but with the
rocky shore it wasn't quite what we were looking for. Then we stopped
by a large beach just down the road. There was a crowd gathered and
the lifeguard warned people to stay back from the mother manta ray and
her two babies. It was cool to see the rays swimming in the ocean. We
walked down a little farther on the beach, but it felt like our
beaches back at home. It wasn't how we wanted to spend our last day in
Maui.

We finally decided to drive down to Makena to one of our favorite
beaches, Maluaka. It was the same place where we caught the Kai
Kanani, the snorkel boat to Molokini. The sand on Maluaka is coarse,
but very soft and there are lots of shady spots and large pieces of
beautiful driftwood. On a practical note, there is a drop off point
and good showers and bathrooms at the parking lot.

The water was the clearest and calmest we had ever seen it there. That
meant great snorkeling and playing in the gentle waves! We fully
enjoyed our last day at the beach. It was fun to watch the crabs
skitter across the sand and I even saw fish and and a starfish at the
water's edge. Lavender kept pointing to the waves saying "wawa mine".
That girl loves the ocean and she got really fussy when it was time to
leave.

Back at the condo, we finished packing and cleaning. One thing I have
to recommend if you're traveling with little ones is Akamai Mother's
Rentals. They had excellent service and prices. We got a carseat, high
chair, portacrib and a huge bag full of toys. Lavender's favorites
were the Dora car and the baby and stroller. Oh she loves that baby. I
was grateful she was napping when they came to pick everything up!

We were sad to leave the beauty of Maui. It was the most relaxing
vacation John and I have ever experienced. We usually love site-seeing
trips and being on the go. We are bored just sitting by the pool. But
Kihei was peaceful without being boring. We can't wait to return and
explore more of this incredible island. Farewell Maui!

Day Nine is Fine!

My first task after sending the kids home was to get all the sheets
and sandy towels washed! But then it was time to hit the beach! We
went back to Ahihi Cove and John did some snorkeling while Lavender
and I relaxed. There isn't sand to play in, but Lavender filled her
bucket with pebbles and rocks and had a great time. I took her a few
steps out into the crystal clear water and we saw lots of fish. She
loved it and couldn't stop giggling.

We wanted to explore another beach and thanks to the Maui Revealed
app, we found the Black Sand beach. The trip down the bumpy, dirt road
was well worth it. We found a pristine, nearly deserted beach. I was
nervous for John to snorkel by himself out in the ocean (instead of a
protected cove with others nearby) but gratefully he met another
snorkeler, a young French guy who lives near Portland.

There were lots of rocks just offshore, which made it a little tricky
to get out, but it was a perfect natural barrier for Lavender. She
played at the water's edge and then decided it would be funny to throw
that black sand all over mom! She was excited to see Daddy coming in
from snorkeling (although this picture is from the next day).

Just after John came up on the beach, rocks started coming down from
the hill above us. I yelled for John to grab Lavender and I was
worried that we shouldn't have ignored the sign warning of hazardous
conditions (but seriously, there were warning signs at every beach!)
As I looked up, I realized that the rocks weren't falling, but were
being thrown. I couldn't believe someone would do that! I was
wondering what to do, when Margo, the wife of the snorkeler, came
walking down the beach and told us that birds were the ones throwing
stones! We got a good laugh at that. We couldn't see them from our
vantage point, but she had a clear view from further down the beach.
FYI, this only reinforced my dislike of birds, although I am grateful
there are no seagulls in Maui!

We also had a great time walking along the rocks at the end of the
beach. There were lots of crabs and little fishes in the pools that
formed there. Lavender stuck her little toes in and giggled some more!

We sure did love the beaches on Maui. Every one was unique and had a
personality of its own!