Temple Marriage

I feel like I grew up- like many of us do- thinking that a temple marriage was going to be my happy ending. It's like any Disney Movie or fairy tale anyway.... two people fall in love, they get married, and they ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. That is the ultimate goal, right? Temple marriage?

Though the temple may and should be our ultimate goal, it surely is not the end or my life would have been over at 21. No, Temple marriage is just the beginning. It's the beginning to a new life and your true test of learning to become like Heavenly Father. 

There are things only a marriage can bring:

• Authority to procreate
• Forgiveness within the home
• Omitting your will to a joint cause
• Charity
• How to give yourself to another and learning to be one

These goals sound much like the attributes of God and Jesus Christ, no?

• Power of creation
• Mercy and charity
• Aligning Christ's will to that of the Father
• One in purpose

If we are doing marriage the right way, it is the best way we can perfect ourselves and come closer to our spouse. It is like Elder Bednar describes; comparing marriage to a triangle with Christ at the apex and us and our spouse at the basse. If we individually come unto Christ, we become closer to our spouse. 

In the Book of Mormon, it describes how to find happiness. Those who were happy were part of a family. They "were married and given in marriage." President Gaust said, "Happiness in marriage and parenthood can exceed a thousand times any other happiness."

Why is that?

There is something wonderful about being loved and something so fulfilling about loving someone else. True happiness comes in knowing that love is permanent and will never end. 

It is a great comfort to know that nothing can interfere with my family's togetherness. Death means nothing to my family because we will always be together. 

A temple marriage unifies a couple because their goals are one and the same. They receive blessings together for this life and the next. You are able to realize your true potential with your spouse- only possible to those who marry in the temple. 

I have come to realize that Heavenly Father wants to bless us infinitely. BUT, he can only do that if we marry in the temple. This is because we do not have the ability to create on our own. We need, even as Adam, a helpmeet and a companion. So, without eternal marriage, we are stopping and putting a limit on our progression with otherwise is limitless. That is like saving your life's earnings to go on vacation and then never getting off the plane. You might have made it to your destination, but didn't open the door to see the adventures awaiting you. 

I love what Elder Cook says: "Our Father's plan is about families, symbolized by a great tree. For a tree to live and grow, it needs both roots and branches. We likewise need to be connected to our roots- our parents, grandparents, and other ancestors- as well as to our branches- our children, grandchildren, and other descendents."

There you have it. God's plan- the Plan of Happiness- is about families. The only way to grow our tree and keep it together is through the sealing power of the temple. Otherwise, we would all end up as nothing more than driftwood. 

My marriage means everything to me. It is my happiness, my peace, my comfort, and what empowers me now and in the heavens. I am grateful to be sealed to my best friend forever. I am grateful for the eternal perspective that will keep us together through good and bad. I am grateful for the higher law that the temple holds us to. And I am grateful to bear children under our temple covenant so they can be ours eternally too. 

Choose the temple. It's the best way and the only way. 

Another day goes by

Another week already? Whew! It's hard to keep the days apart and they only seem to gain speed as the semester progresses.

I'm not sure the happenings have been out of the ordinary. Eden is constantly growing, as you know, and it won't be long before we have news of her walking. She has taken her first steps as of this week, but at most has taken 6 before losing her balance. At that, it's more of a run and fall than steady walking. She is getting really good at standing up, however, and gets a delighted cheerful smile and applauds herself whenever she manages to stand on her own. She really is the cutest thing.

As you saw, she also learned to blink and loves to be my little helper around the house. She's good with a broom and likes to clean, clean, clean!

We became good friends with the Jehovah's Witnesses this week. We took a brochure from them in passing and then met them again when they were proselyting later in the week. They were bothering Yaba, who obviously didn't want to talk to them. So we interrupted by saying hello again and mentioning that Yaba loves God and always says, "God is good, God is good" and that he could teach them a cool handshake. After inserting myself into their circle, I mentioned that I had read their pamphlet and didn't agree with some of their teachings and asked if they wouldn't explain what they believe. Yaba gladly took the opportunity to hightail it out of there while I spent the next hour having my own missionary discussion with them. We turned the tables on them and had a great talk. I gave them a lot to think about. One of the men said that he had never talked with a Mormon before. Once, a Mormon gave him a Book of Mormon and told him to read it, but that was all. Lesson learned- simply handing out Book of Mormons is not enough to get someone interested in the gospel.

I have really appreciated getting to know more about other people's beliefs and religions because it increases my desire to study and learn, thus strengthening my own conviction in what and why we believe all we do. And it's beautiful. There is an answer to everything and it all fits together.

My conversation with the JW's all started because they proclaimed to believe that a soul could literally die. Understandably, the scriptures to say that a spirit can die, but we know that to mean that a man dies temporally and spiritually like Nephi teaches. When a spirit dies, it is only dead unto God, but not unto existence. Well, from there we talked about the Plan of Salvation, the Fall, the nature of God, and Adam and Eve. I have come to realize that if you truly understand the Plan of Salvation, you know everything you need to about the gospel because everything relates and those are the precious truths that have been lost. It was the JW's understanding that Adam and Eve could have had children while still in the garden and while living in their perfect state. Also, that Adam, being a sinner, was dead unto God. What a shock to them when I said that I was grateful that Adam partook of the fruit!

That was only the beginning. I am sure that they will be back for more and I can't wait! I love feeling like a missionary! As much as I want others to know of the truths of this gospel and happiness and blessings they can have in this church, my eyes have been opened to the goodness of people around the world. Though not members of our church, there are many, many good people who have devout faith and a strong love for God. Seeing that, and their openness about religion, has been a sort of inspiration to how I want to be.

Isn't this beautiful? Eden and I go for walks around the neighborhood and this was our view one night. You don't get to see this too many places in the world, and definitely not fro your own backyard. 

Back to it all

We are back to life as we know it in St. Kitts. It is like we never left. Though it has only been one week since coming back, it feels an eternity since we saw you. Austin likewise feels as if his first week of class could have been a month of work. He is pushing overload with his schedule. On top of his normal classes, he is sitting in on another to hopefully lighten the load next semester and be exposed to the material in abundance. He is also TAing for Biochemistry, doing research as credit with a professor, and found out that he was elected to be the Treasurer of AMSA (the American Medical Surgery something, I think). And then there is church. And then there is football. Austin always comes off as invincible. This semester will really prove him to be so.

We were pleased to come back and see that our car was still here and clean, as a matter of fact. Yaba seemed to be grateful. It was a good move to lend it to him. He watches out for us. Besides that, I have a deal with God that if we keep using the car to serve people then He will make it last for us another year.

Eden has already blossomed into a new person than even a week ago when we were with you. She has been over the top happy and excited with her ability to roam as she pleases. One of the Korean girls at church commented that Eden is "always happy," and though it may be true, it is more so now. Learning the confidence to walk by herself is in the near future. Just yesterday Eden discovered that she could push the stroller and walk without my help and the same with her walker. Instead of getting in it to walk, she can walk on the outside (so long as she runs to keep up with the wheels). There's no stopping that little girl! It's so fun. Her favorite thing right now is to practice standing up without hands or help and then see how long she can balance. It's like she knows she is showing off and doing a trick. If only you could see her!

As for me? There are a lot of new changes happening at work. The new manager is accustomed to having employees work remotely, which is good news to me. Corporate Wellness will be starting to print a quarterly magazine in which I will get to contribute and probably help design and put together. That'll be a fun new project! My other goals this year are to finish the stocking I'm working on and to start filming my own workout videos and maybe create my own YouTube channel. It's scary to admit that, but I'm doing it so I am accountable, I suppose. That is, if I can figure out all the details to make it work, I'll do it.

As always, life here brings crazy stories. For one, I caught another lizard in our house. Keep it up and I could have my own nature show too- like Steve Irwin. Eden and I ventured over to the Agriculture Department to buy ourselves a Basil plant this week too. After being ushered back and forth, here and there, we finally came home with an almost 2 foot tall basil plant for only 5 EC! That's Less than $2.50! Finally, a good deal! Our farmer friend hunted us down the day we got back too. He sold us a pumpkin and a bunch of bananas. I'm proud to say that I cooked the pumpkin and found a way to puree it without a blender. We have already had pumpkin soup, pumpkin dumplings, and pumpkin spice cookies.

Mmmm... In case you were wondering, the pumpkin was green and yellow, but still orange on the inside. The guts were more stringy like a spaghetti squash, but it tastes the same as what we are used to. The bananas are hanging in our kitchen. We literally have a bunch of bananas waiting to get ripe hanging from our window. Zumba practically cut off the whole tree and stuck it in our house. I'm only a little skeptical that they will turn yellow- despite his assurance- and a tad afraid that there are lots of bugs hiding in them. 

On another note, I finally got to reading the Ensign from December and January. If you haven't read them, President Packer's last address in December's issue and President Holland's article in January's issue are especially good. What amazing testimonies and witnesses of Christ!

Pictures from Aug '15 break

More pictures... not of St. Kitts, but from Austin's phone download. 

(Most of these are from our trip home and the break in August 2015.)

Temple trip! Couldn't miss the chance while we were home.

Photo Blast! A life on St. Kitts

We just took the pictures off Austin's phone. So.. here's a photo blast of life on St. Kitts

On campus with Daddy. He took Eden flying!

Yaba had a birthday so we made him a cake. Everyone needs cake on their birthday.

This is how we roll. I clean. Eden sleeps. In this case, we are cleaning the church.

AMSA Health Fair for the islanders

Views of St. Kitts from school and our neighborhood... the daily sighting of cruise ships

Getting here

Walking to church

Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked...and walked

One year older and wiser too...

It happened. Eden had a birthday. We now have a one year old in our family. Crazy! Thanks to a kind family in our branch, we had a delightful celebration and one that I was not expecting. Austin had his first final to kick off the day. He performed with excellence as usual, and came home in time to party! The Kims invited us over to their place for a big birthday lunch. This is the family who lives at the Marriott. The father is now our branch president, they have a 14 year old son, 12 year old daughter, and soon to be 10 year daughter, and they are Korean. I have talked about them many times before- now you know them better! We are so well taken care of and loved by this family. It's been a great blessing to know and be friends with them. Their daughters absolutely love Eden and the mom, Yahn (aka. Sis Kim) is what I call the "branch grandma." She is not nearly old enough to be a grandma herself, but she LOVES babies and has taken a fondness to us because of having Eden. I can't say enough about how selfless and kind this family is. We just love them! 

You also need to know that Sis. Kim is a fabulous cook! She bakes wonderful bread- often with surprises in the dough, like hot dogs or cream cheese- and always has a unique dish of something to share with us. You should see her rice cooker. It's worth 500 US Dollars and is practically a robot. It's a digital touchscreen and talks to you. It's an insane piece of cookware! And it keeps your rice good for a week- hot and ready! For Eden's birthday, she made bacon-wrapped shrimp, Korean flavored Ribs, salad, rice, this noodley-Korean dish with spinach and eggs- (which is apparently the Korean party dish, especially for first birthdays because the long noodles are said to represent a long life), and cream-cheese rolls. Oh, and homemade lemonade and orange/strawberry juice. Talk about a feast, eh? To top it off, she had a cute little cupcake with a candle for Eden to blow out. (Well, I blew out her candle for her, but she thought all the attention was pretty awesome.) 

We had a breakthrough at their house: Eden voluntarily left the room and played with the girls without Austin or I being with her. She had to be at least 20 feet away and out of sight. I don't think that has ever happened on the island. Our good friend, Genevieve, and her baby Jack joined us for the festivities. That was fun for Eden too. She's loving other kids right now. It's fun to watch her interact with other kids, smile, talk, and laugh hysterically at them. 

After lunch, Yahn had planned for Eden to take part in a Korean tradition. They set out a bunch of items, all corresponding to a different attribute. They set out all these different items and let Eden choose one. Because she chose the ball, it was said that she would grow up to be sporty and athletic. Her other options were to choose money and be rich (sorry dad, I guess she'll have to marry rich instead), string for a long life, a book for smart and well learned, a doctor tag, or a pencil for artistic. We think she can be all these things, but only time will tell!

We had our own celebration at home with just mommy and daddy later. After dinner and talking to aunts, uncles, and grandmas, she got another try at blowing out a candle. Lucky girl, Eden got sung happy birthday to 4 times that day! Her favorite present was the cards of all things! Thank you for thinking of Eden and giving presents an ocean away. Grandma Cutler- you amaze me with how thoughtful you are! It was really sweet of you to send a card with mom and dad so far in advance! It looks like the candle on the card is lit as we speak. It's super cute and I plan to open a savings account for Eden when we get home. She'll be thankful for your gift one day! Thank you, thank you!!

So... as of Eden's first birthday, she has 3 teeth. Maybe 4 will be showing by the time come home in the next few days. We can't wait to show her off. We made it to the beach another two times this week. We took Yaba with us the first time. The ocean is good therapy for his leg and shoulder (which are debilitated from a car/pedestrian accident). The second time, we went to the Marriott beach, which has harsher water, but better sand. It's fine for us because we only stay on shore. Eden loved it! There is always something to point at, show off, and eat (but not really): sea shells, sea weed, waves, and sand. What a fun life!

This post was all about Eden, but it was her big week, afterall. Austin has three more finals to go before he is done with his second semester of medical school! Time is flying by! I feel like we have adjusted and made it our home here. I never thought the day would come. Life and attitude is all about perspective and being grateful. Oh how we are blessed. We have great neighbors, a wonderful branch, (I love my calling,) a nice place to live, Austin is doing well at school, and we are all healthy. 

AND we are coming home soon! How could I forget? Next week, my update will be in person!!

Achieving Excellence

It's the most wonderful time of the year! That saying is just as true in St. Kitts as it is in America. The weather is cooler, school is out (or almost), people are busily shopping, Christmas music blares in the grocery stores, and it's birthday time. Can you believe it? Eden will be 1 year old on Friday. Boy has time disappeared. 

Eden has yet again gone through a sort of transformation where she is a new person again. She has also decided to grow a good 4-6 inches in what seems like a week. This happy little child of ours thinks she is invincible and is happiest on her feet, though she puts up  good competition racing on her hands and knees. Her walker is no longer for walking in, but for climbing on, as is everything else with a ledge to hold. I can't even begin to describe what a delight she is. Even she thinks she is funny and will laugh at herself.

We don't often go to the beach because it feels like so much work and is so dirty. I'd rather be in a pool. But, this week, I took Eden for a day and was delighted to find that she loved it. She really is growing up! Now that she is mobile, the sand was a blast. We looked for seashells on the beach for a good hour together, which was just the coolest thing. She had to show me EVERYTHING she found. What fun!

On Thursday, Eden and I got to go to class with Austin. He received an award for having a 96% or higher in Biochemistry at the time (which includes grades from 3 exams and 3 quizzes). There were only three people in his class that were awarded this "Certificate of Excellence." Truly, Austin could get this award in every class if it existed. I can count the number of questions he has missed in all his classes from both semesters combined on my hands and still have left over fingers. Needless to say, he has a near 100% in every class. It was a big deal and hard achievement; the dean was invited along with the professor to present the award. I think we got a good picture or two and were allowed to stay for part of class following. The professor was pleased to see that Eden was smiling and clapping for his teaching. 

The only Christmas lights we have seen on the island are right across the street from us. Good ol' Yabba decorated his bush. And it even sings! Austin and I laughed, noting that even the recordings here are off tune, but it may just be that the batteries are dying. We are lucky that we get to experience the festivities first hand. Christmas lessons have begun at church likewise. I was in charge of teaching sharing time in Primary today- we talked about some of the Book of Mormon prophets who prophesied of Jesus Christ's birth. I'm loving Primary and these kids. We have a lot of fun, but I also feel like we are teaching them a lot and letting them feel the spirit some. It has been neat to me to teach because they are not as familiar with the Book of Mormon stories, so anything I say is fascinating and new! We acted out most of the stories today; the kids all got a change to be King Benjamin and stand on a "tower" and say something that he prophesied of Christ. How amazing that he knew our Savior's name would be "Jesus Christ" and that His mother would be "Mary" and that he would do such descriptive mighty miracles, including the Atonement. Next, we got to act out the story of Abinadi preaching to the people and King Noah and talked about how he gave his life as a testimony that Christ would be born on earth. Lastly, we sang about Samuel, the Lamanite. I LOVE that Primary song. It may be my favorite Christmas song. The words tell about the signs that Samuel prophesied would come and then shout Hosanna! It goes like this:

1. Said Samuel, "Within five years
   A night will be as day,
   And Baby Jesus will be born
   In a land far, far away."
2. Hosanna! Hosanna!
   Oh, let us gladly sing.
   How blessed that our Lord was born;
   Let earth receive her King!

Once again, we were able to talk about how Samuel risked his life for people to know that Jesus Christ would be born. And then the kids got to "cast stones" at Samuel- one of the kids. So we had a good time.