Mormon Guard

So... my husband is pretty awesome.  He recently came up with a great idea to help the church online.  In his job he does what is called Search Engine Optimization.  Basically it helps websites get found.  For example... when you search for something in Google, you usually find what you are looking for on the first or second page.  I mean really, how many times do you look through more than 2 pages of google?  I know I don't.  His job is to help websites make it to the first page of search engines, otherwise they just get lost in cyberspace.  His plan is to help members who blog about the church get their websites found.  That way when someone searches google (or bing, or whatever search engine you use) about the church, only good information shows up.  Because honestly, not all good information currently shows up.  If you want more info or have always wanted to start a blog about the church, you should check out his website: Mormon Guard.  Or if you're just curious you can check it out because his website explains it all much better than I just did.  And if you know people who already do blog about the church, maybe you can pass along his website info to them too :). 

This is one of the many reasons i love my husband.  He gets an idea & he does something about it.  Way to be proactive, Dan!  :).  But seriously... he's already gotten quite a few members to sign up and i know the idea has been emailed to Elder Ballard as well.  Whether he checks his email or not, who knows...  Another great thing is my Dad is in charge of all the missionaries online.  For those who don't know, many missions are starting to have missionaries blog & get on facebook (seriously missionary work is changing!).  My Dad is in charge of all of that, so Dan is really hoping the missionaries can use his website to get all of their blogs ranking in search engines too.  This could be a great thing to help spread good info about the church!

Trust in the Lord

I know I don't always write about spiritual things (i really should more), but yesterday in Relief Society our lesson was on Trusting in the Lord.  It stood out to me because I had been thinking about that topic all last week (and I had no clue what our lesson was going to be about). 

The reason I started thinking about this is because I was remembering last fall when Dan brought up the idea of moving to St. George.  He had been offered a job and was really interested in it.  When he first mentioned St. George to me, I was completely against the idea.  So I did the only thing I knew to do, I cried.  How could I leave my family, friends, job and home?  I thought St. George would be a small, ugly desert town with lots of old retired people (i seriously had not visited here in a long time).  Luckily Dan was patient with me and we prayed about it.  The more we prayed the more I realized it was the right thing for us.  Even though it may have been easier to stay in Springville in our comfort zone, the better choice was for us to move to St. George.  And so we did.  The first month here I still cried.  I told Dan I wanted to move back.  Now here I am 5 months later thinking about how my attitude has completely changed.  I no longer hate it here.  In fact, I kind of love it.  I am happy in a place I never thought I would be (300+ days of sunshine each year definitely helps).  It’s also not an “ugly desert town”.  It’s actually quite beautiful and bigger than I expected.  We have made friends here and people have been so welcoming.  And yes there are a lot of old people, but they are friendly and there are even young people too.  I also see my family and friends… a lot.  In case you haven’t noticed, I kind of run a hotel in our apartment!  It's nice living in a popular vacation destination.  I feel like I spend more time with my family now than I did before because they actually stay a few days instead of a few hours.  I have also grown closer to my sweet husband because when you don’t know anyone you spend a whole lot more time together!  

The more I think about it, the more I realize how perfect St. George is for us.  Let me explain… I like Utah.  I was raised here and I love it.  Dan on the other hand, is fine with UT (which took some convincing), but he does not like the snow and cold weather.  He always told me he would live anywhere as long as it was warm.  Really St. George is the perfect compromise for us (just took some divine intervention for us to realize it).  So here we are in the only warm place in Utah.  It’s a reminder to me that the Lord knows both of us, he wants us to be happy and he has a plan for us.  The fact that Dan even got a job here is kind of amazing, since good jobs in St. George are rare.

I love testimony strengthening experiences like this when we can look back and see blessings from trusting in the Lord and being obedient.  More and more I am realizing that the Lord's plan is not always the plan we have for ourselves, but it is always the best plan.  And I'm not saying we don't have agency b/c we do... it's really a joint effort to make our life the best possible :).  

Sugardoodle

So a while back my sister in law, Becky, told me about this website.  It is a great resource if you teach primary!  It has lots of ideas for each lesson... it also has sharing time and music ideas.  I usually just use it for sunbeam ideas because that is my calling (which by the way, i LOVE), but... i have also seen it has ideas for young womens, relief society, and even FHE.  Just as I was looking at it the other day, I also saw it had cute stuff for conference.  Since conference is coming (i am so excited!) i thought i'd share the site.  It may be especially useful for you parents who are looking for things to help your kids pay attention.  You can find it here:  Sugardoodle.

Good luck!  I hope you all enjoy conference :)

Amazing

This picture is so amazing to me. The Provo Tabernacle had a fire last week and here is one of the few things not burned... (if it is hard to see, Christ is the only part of the picture not burned).

It was sad to hear the news of the tabernacle. I had many stake conferences held in that building. Hopefully they will rebuild it. Anyway, just thought I'd share this photo, pretty amazing!