3 missionaries back in the family - it just feels right! May 2022

We spent the first few days of Abby and Lydia's visit enjoying time with them. We played driveway pickleball (one of our new favorite hobbies), did some shopping, some baking, and went downtown to see Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthplace and the Ebenezer Baptist church where he and his father both preached, I think. It's always fun to go exploring here - definitely one of my favorite ways to spend free time. At the end of Abby's visit, we went to the temple for Lydia to receive her endowment. I got to be her escort, and it was such a special day. I felt the Spirit so strongly, and felt so much joy in Lydia's arrival at that momentous place in her life. It is just a happy time in a parent's life and I felt it. We went to lunch afterwards at this great place we've found near the temple, and Mark was off to interiews! Soon after, Abby needed to head back to Provo so she can start her job at Thistle Creek in Draper this summer. She's excited about it.

Suse had her sectional meet, which she qualified in all 4 of her events for (long jump, 4x100, 4x400, 400). The top 4 in region qualify for sectionals, and the top 8 from sections (there are 2 in the state) make it to the State meet. She qualified in three of those for state - everything except the 400, which she was not sad about. She doesn't like that event! The following weekend we had 3 days in a row of the state track meet out at McEachern HS, which is about an hour or so away. She ended up placing 7th in the state in long jump. I was super proud of her. She didn't have any training in it or know what she was doing, so it was a fun experience. The next day her relay teams qualified for the finals (the top half or top 8 make it to the finals on Saturday) Her 4x100 relay team had their PR at 46.55, which is the 3rd fastest qualifying time, but the following day at the state meet when they ran, not only had they switched the order of the girls they day before (because Sade's hamstring was feeling a little tight), but the day of the final, they adjusted their mark where Susie hands off to Sade because they just hadn't had much time handing off to each other before. Anyway, sadly, they didn't connect on the baton pass, which was tragic since they hadn't had a single problem all year. So, to miss the connection in the state final when they had done all year and had the 3rd fastest time in the state was so sad. Suse felt terrible, but we were super proud of her because she went on to run the 4x400 final where they had the 2nd fastest time in school history and finished 4th in the state for 4 girls who don't even really run the 400. I was so proud of her grit, diligence and determination this season. What a great experience, and a lot of fun successes, and some hard lessons learned. It all added up to an amazing season. She was also exhausted by the end! As lame as it sounds, we all were...it was fun to have Lydia in town to be able to enjoy the state meet and cheer her on after their season together last year. I know the dream for them would be to run together at BYU. Several miracles would need to happen for that to work out, but they can hope!

Just as you would expect in May, the following day we had a packed schedule: Mark and I spoke in our Coal Mountain Stake Conference, then Susie had her patriarchal blessing, and Lydia got set apart as a missionary! Wow. Suse's patriarchal blessing was a really special experience. One of my favorite moments was on the way home when we were all basking in the glow of such a spiritual experience, and Suse said, "why do we get to have such special experiences?" I told her, that is exactly why we're here on a mission! We want that and other choice experiences to be available to everyone! We want all who want to receive these blessings to be able to have them. That's the whole purpose of sharing the gospel and helping people understand what's available. It was a full circle moment where everything we're doing as parents and mission leaders came together. Lydia's setting apart was also very special. President Pennington, released Abby also, and he's a great leader. He asked Suse and Natty questions, and had Mark and I share thoughts w/ her, and talk about her strengths. It was another special experience that I'm really grateful for. What a day of highlights!

The following day, Lydia began home MTC. She's in a trio with two girls from Utah, and her district is spread out from Hawaii to Georgia. I can tell the first couple of days felt a little long to her, and while she enjoyed most of it, I could tell she had moments where she wasn't sure how she felt about it. On the second day, she came to zone conference with us so she could have a companion with her (me!). We figured out she could get permission to stay home and she didn't come the rest of the week. This was one of my favorite rounds of zone conferences yet. We focused on Lesson 3, the Doctrine of Christ, and it's just so rewarding to be learning more about this in my life, but even better to see the missionaries begin to understand it and then teach it better to others. It's been such a joyful thing to learn how to apply it in our lives daily. We've been talking about how the best way to teach the Doctrine of Christ is to live it joyfully. I never truly understood before how enduring to the end meant progressing through the Doctrine of Christ iteratively in our lives and strengthening ourselves in those areas line upon line as we try to become more like our Savior. My sacrament preparation is so much more meaningful and intentional now. I find that I more deliberately try to do something that strengthens my faith in Christ each day, and have a specific quality or attribute I'm consciously focusing on and praying for. I've learned that the more I learn about the gospel and the more I live it, the better my life is and the more I love the gospel.

The next week, Suse and Goose were done with school for the year - hooray! They were really ready. I also hosted a sisters' conference over zoom. I read them the story, "You are Special" by Max Lucado, and Joy D. Jones's talk "Value Beyond Measure," and we talked about gaining our sense of worth from correct sources. I really love the part of the talk where Joy D. Jones says, "If the love we feel for the Savior and what He did for us is greater than the energy we give to weaknesses, self-doubts, or bad habits, then He will help us overcome the things which cause suffering in our lives. He saves us from ourselves. Let me reemphasize: if the pull of the world is stronger than the faith and trust we have in the Savior, then the pull of the world will prevail every time. If we choose to focus on our negative thoughts and doubt our worth instead of clinging to the Savior, it becomes more difficult to feel the impressions of the Holy Ghost. Sisters, let's not be confused about who we are! While it is often easier to be spiritually passive than it is to put forth the spiritual effort to remember and embrace our divine identity, we cannot afford that indulgence in these latter days." That is so true and so empowering. I love how empowering the gospel of Jesus Christ is. If we honestly live it, we will be filled with courage, confidence, and joy. It's amazing.

For Goosie's birthday this year, I made her some lemon pancakes, then we got our nails painted, went to sushi dinner, and play driveway pickleball. It was a perfect birthday 😊 and it just feels right to have 3 teens in the family again! The following day, we went to a new park to have a picnic dinner - this was something Lydia had wanted to do before she left. It was a classic Georgia park with beautiful trails through the trees, and it was great until that night when I realized I got eaten alive by chiggers. Well, it wasn't that bad, but probably 25+ bites. Anyway, Lydia has been loving home MTC, her companions, and district. They all just love each other. She's been really busy, too, and is trying to learn all the Spanish she can. She heads out on Wednesday morning this week on June 1 to head to Provo and the rest of her mission!