Purpose of Mormon Temples

I have heard a lot about the show Big Love and their upcoming episode. This is what I have been able to find about it and obviously I don't know all of the details. I believe this is as accurate as I can get so forgive me if something on here is false, I definitely won't be watching in order to get the accurate picture.

On Sunday, March 15, 2009, HBO will be airing a segment of their Big Love series titled ‘Goin' to the Chapel’. Aided by an ex-Mormon consultant, this episode makes a mockery of the sacred temple ceremonies. There will be a segment of the show that features actors dressed in full temple clothing and will also show replicas of the celestial and endowment rooms and the ceremonies that take place there.

The LDS church has put out a three minute video in response to this episode. I hope you all will watch it and pass on the word. Click here for the link.

I do not consider myself strong in words and able to sway peoples opinions, nor do I desire to do so. I am a person who respects peoples beliefs and hope that they will respect mine even if we do not agree on or understand each others beliefs. I am more than happy to share with people what I know and believe and am going to take this opportunity to share a small portion of that belief. I know some of you checking my blog don't understand my religion and why I chose this path in my life but it is truly the best thing I have ever done.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. While the people in the religion might be flawed I know the gospel is true and will make us all better people for living it. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I know that Joseph Smith was not the author of the Book of Mormon but that he translated the ancient writings with the help of God. No ordinary man with little education could have created something so complex in so little time. I know that Jesus died for us and that through him we can return to God when we die. I know that we have a living prophet today, Thomas S Monson, and that God speaks to and through him and that we can each receive personal revelation on the truths of these things and other person matters.

I have never been so happy in all my life as I am now, living the church standards. It simplifies my life. I have found a man that I love with my whole heart and who loves me back and we will be with each other in this life and in the next. God has blessed us with a beautiful son that will be ours in this world and in the next. Families can be together forever.

I know that God has led my life down different paths than I would have chosen for myself because he knows better than I do but I have had to do my part in being willing to listen to his promptings and obey them. I know that we are given trials to make us stronger but that we can overcome them.

The temple is a sacred place for us to go to perform sacred ordinaces for ourselves and for the dead just as they did in times of old. For me it is also a place where I can go to think and pray. A place to get away from all of the turmoil going on in the world and feel at peace. A place where I can learn and better understand our purpose here on earth. A place for me to recieve inspiration and revelation on things concerning my life that I may be struggling with. I believe that we are here for a reason, not just to live day by day and make it through. It is a place where I can think about my ancestors and the things they have done for me and to also think of my posterity and what the future holds for them. I do not think that the temple is a "secret" place but that it is simply a "sacred" place.

This is only a small portion of what I feel and believe. I only ask that you respect my beliefs as I will yours. If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them and if I can't then I will find someone who is better able to do so.

Pay it Forward

I saw this on a friends blog and made the cut! I thought it was a super cute idea and while my craftiness is limited to scrapbooking I have slowly been trying to branch out to new projects. So if you want to participate be in the top three (or do it anyways)!

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will pay it forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember it’s the spirit and the thought that count!

4. When you receive your gift, blog about it! If you are not one of the first three to comment on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! It's all about paying it forward.

Come on ladies! Let's get crafting! I'm excited!

Still getting caught up

I have decided to skip all of christmas since I am that far behind.

Axton has become obsessed with shoes. His, daddy's , mine, anyones. even when he has his on he is constantly trying put another pair on. Sometimes I think it is cute and other times it is really annoying because he cries and cries if he can't get them on. Here he is with Uncle Jeff's slippers.


Greg's family came here in February for a wedding and we had some time to kill Saturday before it started. Josh and Kim suggested we all go to the park and play games so we did. We always love it when the Leavitts get together. Brad and Corina's family was missing since it was Corina's sister who was getting married. I guess we'll forgive them!


Axton and I had the opportunity to go to Rexburg for a little over a week (and over valentines day too). My 3 year old neice, Ryleigh, ended up coming with us so I became a mommy of 2 for a week. It went much better than I was afraid it would since Axton was sick and I hadn't been around Ryleigh in almost a year. They played well with each other except that Axton loved to BITE her! She made up for it by bossing him around and taking all of his toys away. It was good practice for the future (if we ever get pregnant that is).

Recently Axton has learned to give hugs (and eskimo kisses). He is much better at giving hugs to kids than adults.

Ryleigh and Axton figured out how to take Uncle Brantley's cd holder apart and get to his hats that he had hidden in there. They wore the hats around proudly all day long. Hopefully Brantley won't notice the difference when he gets home in 9 more months!!

Last but not least, all the grandkids together, a whopping 3!! Logan, Ryleigh, and Axton. I still didn't have my camera when we went so these are all pictures I managed to get from facebook.


For Valentines Day Greg sent me roses. I was so surprised, especially since I was the one who ditched him! What great husband! Unfortunately I wasn't able to bring them home, it would have been too much of a nightmare on the airplane by myslef with Axton. Axton sure was glad to be home though and when he saw Greg he wiggled out of my arms and went running and gave Greg and a huge hug and then wouldn't leave him. He was so mad the next morning when Greg wasn't home to play with him. He is definitely a daddy's boy.

Well hopefully you got your fix for a while and I will try to update this thing more often.

Dryer

Camera

When we went to San Diego for New Years we ended up leaving our camera at Greg's parents house. They came up this weekend and we finally got it back. So this is going to be a whole bunch of random pictures dating back to December. Sorry it will probably be pretty long.

Its nice to see that somethings never change. Axton still falls asleep in his high chair if I try to feed him lunch too late and he's ready for a nap. Unfortunatley he doesn't always sleep the best if he skips his meal.

Lately he has been obsessed with the dryer. He has figured out that it opens and closes and that he can make it happen. I've learned to never leave the laundry basket in front of it or this is what we get. Him and Greg had a ball playing with the dryer.

When we went to St George for Christmas we went to the park right by my g-parents house. It was pretty stinking cold but he didn't seem to mind.



Axton with Great Grandma and Grandpa Shattuck.

My little climber

For the last month or so Axton has been figuring out how to climb everything. His favorite game is to pull our chairs out from our table, climb on them, climb on the table, and then if we are standing near by.... jump off and hope we catch him. I think for the most part we have gotten him to stop doing that. However tonight he refused to go to sleep. Just when we would think he'd fallen asleep he'd start screaming so one of us would go lay him back down, and repeat it over and over again for an hour. Finally we'd had enough and decided to let him cry for a bit (he's been a really bad sleeper for the last 2 weeks now for no apparent reason). All of a sudden we hear this huge thump and part of us is think he hit his head on the wall or something to that effect while part of us is thinking, "did he finally take on the crib and go overboard, let's hope not?" Yup, we walked in and he was screaming while standing on the floor. I'm guessing he knocked the wind out of himself and he was really scared to fall from such a height. While part of me is proud that he is figuring out the world around him, even though he refuses to talk, most of me is horrified at this new development because it means more falls to come and a lot more work on our part to get him to sleep. I was really hoping he wouldn't figure it out for another 6 months or so, one can always dream.

On another note we found out that my brother Theron, and his wife Heidi, and their son Logan (who is only 2 weeks older than Axton) are going to come visit us this weekend!!! Way back in the day Theron told me that he would come visit us when the Eagles played the Cardinals here. So they are coming! What a man of his word, ok he really just wants to see the eagles play and we are free room and board! I'm excited though, it will give us something to do for a few days and maybe I'll be able to bum a few pictures off of them until we get our camera next month when Greg's parents come to visit everyone.

Still Alive

Yep you aren't rid of us yet, we are still alive. We have been on go since Christmas and somewhere along the way we managed to misplace our camera. I'm really hoping it's in San Diego or the car hiding because I don't know where else it would be. So when I find it I'll post more.

For now, we went to St. George to spend Christmas with my grandparents which was nice. Axton did really well as far as sleeping and that but I think he got a little bored staying indoors most of he time. He also managed to throw up while we were there and again on the drive home, lucky us!

Then for New Years we went to San Diego. That was also a nice visit except Axton kept waking up at 4-5am. Luckily I have the best mother-in-law in the world who was willing to play with him so I could get another hour or so of sleep since Greg kept leaving to go golfing at 5:30 in the morning.

Axton and I were supposed to go to Idaho tomorrow for a week but since we've been home he's only slept once through the night which is not like him at all and he has been very needy and a little sick. So we are postponing it until next month sometime.

Well there's our boring update and hopefully we'll get some pictures up here as soon as I can figure out what happened to our camera.