March 28th Updates

I must be weird or something because the more I am on a mission the more I think about family.  Grandma Amero, Grandma and Grandpa Hallstrom, Cindy, Jaeden and Sachi, Telisha and of course my parents.  I also think about what can help them the most and how the gospel can help everyone with the challenges that we have daily.  I think about how I want my relationship to be with my future spouse and through having companions I learned how important communication is.  I have also thought how I want to raise my children.  And how there are people, in the pre earth life cheering me on in this missionary work so they can be born into the covenant.   How my decisions not only affect me but those I interact with and those I should interact with.  Like meeting a friend through church, if I didn’t go to church the persons prayer of having a friend would be delayed or marrying the correct person, basically doing what’s right and following the prompting or council I receive form the Holy Ghost (the spirit of God).  And most of all I have thought about the eternities and what that really means.
 
The eternities- yeah, the forever.  Mainly this week I thought about raising kids.  And how I read that our children will love and revere us (parents) throughout all eternity.  We never stop parenting and we never can say "well, honey, all our kids are grown up, we are empty nesters, they are too old to listen to us, and we are done.  They are on their own".  Heavenly Father is our parent and I know he would never say that to us!  We rely on him just as much no matter what we age are and probably even more as we get older.  I think back of when have I needed Heavenly father (my parent(s)) most in my life?  Always.  I know I will revere my earthly parents throughout all eternity.  There is no end that I seek their council, wisdom, or experiences.  Just like Heavenly Father, I love them forever and I want to know what I do or don't do is acceptable to them.  Just how Heavenly Father speaks to us, through a prophet in the scriptures or from our modern day prophet.   There is no end to parents.  The same cancel we give a child at age 11 or 13 applies when they are 18 and 24. 
 

In "The Family: A proclamation to the world" it says in paragraph 6 "Husband and wives have a solemn responsibility to love each other and their children.  "Children are a heritage of the Lord (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness... and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God... Husbands and wives- mothers and fathers- will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations"
 
This is a lot of responsibly, no wonder so many of us are afraid of getting married and starting a family, I know I am! 
 
  

This week I have also thought a lot about scripture study and wondering "why do I think this is so important?  Why do I empathize to my family members, why do I tell them it is important and they need to do it?"  It is because I love them and it makes me happy.  Real happiness is through Jesus Christ so I love to study him and his teachings.  I love to see how others overcome their trials and hardships and it is through relying on the Lord. This week I read the talk "The covenant of Baptism: To be in the Kingdom and of the kingdom" by Robert D Hales, he said " As I studied the scriptures during this critical period of my life, the veil was thin and answers were given to me as they were recorded in the lives of others who had gone through even more severe trails" I, too, delight in the scriptures as did this apostle!  I have such a desire to share what has made me happy and the first people I want to share it with is my family, my current family and the one I will have in the future.  (Hopefully within the next 5 yrs)