I hope they call me on a mission...

Well, we went to see our nephew's farewell talk today, then had our monthly family home evening, but left before his open house. He's due at the MTC on 15 December, and will be going to Las Vegas West for two years! Congratulations!
Then we also got word that another nephew will be going to San Fernando, California and will be in a Spanish-speaking area. He's due at the MTC in January. Great news! Another Spanish-speaking missionary in the family, besides my husband.
I'm so excited for all my missionary nephews: one in Russia (he'll be home next year!), one waiting to go to Taiwan (long story), and our two that are headed out within a month of each other. I wish them all the best of luck and pray that they'll be safe.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! ^_^

With love,
Sister T

Happy (Early) Thanksgiving!

I don't know if I'll be on tomorrow, since I've got family coming over at one for dinner (more like lunch), then I'm going to my mom's later in the afternoon for an early dinner, so I figured I'd better post a Thanksgiving post today, just in case.
With that in mind, what am I thankful for?
First and foremost, I'm thankful that Christ lived, died for my sins, and was resurrected. I'm also thankful that Joseph Smith, pondering over which church to join, prayed in the Sacred Grove and saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, who helped him bring the fullness of the Gospel to the earth once again. To my Father, I owe everything: my wonderful parents, who raised me in a righteous home, my terrific siblings who continue to grow in the Gospel, and my many wonderful relatives, both past and present.
He has also given me the best husband a woman could ask for (and subsequently, amazing in-laws). I'm thankful that I was able to go with him to the temple a year and eight months ago and be sealed as his wife (and future mother of his children), not just in this life, but in the eternities to come. I'm thankful to know that I can be with my family forever, and that I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. They are companions, and written proof that God loves us and that we are His children.
There are many hymns that can express the gratutide I feel, but I think the best one would have to be Because I Have Been Given Much. Unfortunately, it's copyrighted, so I can't post it, but in a nutshell, I've been blessed with a lot in my life, so I need to be grateful and pass my blessings on to others.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Sister T

Talkin' 'bout my generation

We went to a reception for our SP's oldest son this evening, who was sealed to his wife in Chicago early last month. I've been thinking about all the people I knew as youth who are now getting married, and it's interesting how many have been married, or will soon take the plunge, since I've been married. As far as I can tell, it all started with Mira and me. After that came a friend of Mira's, then my sister, then my nephew, then I hear a couple people I knew from my home ward are getting married, then a couple in my current ward (he finally proposed a month or so ago!), then the SP's son, and a guy that Mira knew is getting married next month. We're all growing up so fast!

The day is almost here!

The St. Louis Missouri temple
On the 20th, my mom's mom will have been gone a year, and on that day, my mom wants her work done, and she will be sealed to her sister and parents as an eternal family!
Nana and Papa (her folks) had a stillborn daughter, whom I was named after, and they adopted my mom four years later. She grew up Episcopalian and converted when she was a teenager. Her parents never joined.
Papa passed away last March, and his work has already been done. My mom cried when my dad, who works at the temple on Wednesday nights, announced that her dad was given the priesthood by proxy that night. (As a matter of fact, I think he was the one who bestowed it on him. I'd have to ask him.)
In two and a half weeks, Nana will be able to have her work done. I think my mom is going to stand as proxy for her. What's even cooler is that Mira and I will be able to stand as proxy for her parents when the sealing is done. (I find that slightly amusing: a daughter and son-in-law standing in as parents for the daughter's mother.)
With that in mind, I've asked for some prayers at Beliefnet in the LDS section that my husband be given the strength to go to the temple when we do the sealing. It worked a while back when my nephew went through for the first time, and I have faith that he will be able to endure this as well.

Don't forget to vote!

And may God bless whomever we elect as President, that he will be able to lead our country effectively and wisely.

Halloween and beyond

I love Halloween. It's a time to dress up and have fun with family and friends. This year, I had two costumes; they consisted of the same clothes, but different accessories. On Friday night, our ward had it's annual trunk-or-treat, and I was all dressed in black. Mira decided to dress all in blue, so we went as a bruise. ^_^ The bishop (my brother-in-law) and his wife went as Jack and Jill. She held a pail and he wore a Burger King crown with a rip in it.
Then Saturday I went to my home ward for their annual chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat. I was going to dress all in black again, but my mom suggested I go as a cat. As I was looking for the tail, ears, and muzzle, I found my dad's black cowboy hat. Inspiration struck, and I had my costume. I went as "Cat" Ballou (from the movie of the same name). Dad won the Spiciest Chili Award, yet again. When he went up to accept his award, he wore a Grim Reaper costume, complete with real scythe! My neice was dressed as a biker baby, complete with leather skirt and jacket. She was so cute! And there were quite a few cats; even had a "kitten". ^_^
At both events, the cultural hall was packed! We had quite a few people attend, and some even brought friends. I was helping my mom pass out candy, and we quickly ran out, there were so many kids! And we made 60-70 bags of candy!
I was going to go to a party last night, but my conscience quickly caught up with me, so I didn't go. Sorry Lar! So that's my Halloween adventure, such as it is.
I don't know why people make such a big deal over Halloween. The biggest complaint I have is with people who demonize it. "Don't you know it's Satan's birthday?" That's quite a feat, since Satan was never born. He was cast out of heaven, and has been denied his own body. There are many more complaints, but they have totally skipped my mind.
Now that Halloween is over, I can look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'll be involved in another stake Christmas cantata this year. It's a few of us that were in the flute group last year, plus some others that I haven't met yet. We're practicing Infant Holy, Infant Lowly. It's basically the same tune of Stars Were Gleaming in the children's songbook. It's very pretty.