the one

This weekend was a good busy one. We had Stake Conference this weekend. One quote sums up my thoughts this week. It was from the President of the 70 in this area of Brazil. He said, "Home is where we build personal character." It is a very basic quote, one I have thought of before, but today for some reason really hit me. It is RIGHT NOW that we are helping our children build their character. They will be who they will based on what we teach them NOW.

 

Connor started his soccer on Saturday and is loving it. It will be good to have something outside of home and school to help teach him character in life. Soccer to me is more than a sport kicking the ball around. It is about following instruction, learning something new, and taking it and perfecting it. I hope at Connor's young age we can help strengthen his personal character.

 We drove by the temple after Connor's soccer and every time we do Presli asks to go. She has become obsessed with getting married in the temple and she talks about how Devin and I were married in the temple, all the time. It is a good obsession to have. It is so fun watching her expression and reactions when I tell her about my beautiful white dress. It is precious. Devin is so good and drives to it every time. Sadly every time the gates have been locked for some reason or another. This time they were cleaning the temple. Last time it was on a Sunday...and the time before that it was too late. Soon enough we will get there and she will be so happy. It will be worth the extra effort to make it more special for her.

 Like I said, we had stake conference. It was so uplifting. The morning started and I thought...why am I even trying to go. It is 2 hours of speakers that I won't understand and three kids who will not sit still. I finally told myself, no you are going. Every time I push myself to do something I don't want to I am always blessed for it. I either meet new people to help enrich our experience here, or I learn something new to make life a little easier. I was right. I was so glad I pushed myself to get there. About 15 minutes into the conference Devin was told there was an English translation room downstairs. I took Daws with me and we went. I was the only one there. Never before have I ever felt the saying "he cares about the one" more real than I have at that moment. There were hundreds of people upstairs listening to Conference in Portuguese and I was in that room listening to someone translate to English for me.
 Elder Scott was one of the speakers. He spoke in Portuguese which I thought was really neat. I don't know why I haven't thought about leaders of our church speaking in different languages. It only makes sense. So, the translator translated Elder Scott's talk on prayer. Prayer is a gift from our Father in Heaven to every soul. It is based on unchanged principles. He did not put us on Earth to fail. Think of it. Our God, all knowing and all seeing sees us, as insignificant that we are...we can communicate with him anywhere anytime we choose. REMEMBER YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD. It is so important to pray and then listen. Feel the response that comes back to you during your prayer, so you can become who HE wants you to be.

 M. Russell Ballard also spoke in plain English. I am not going to lie, it was refreshing to hear some English. His main message was unplugging from technology when needed. Make sure we take that personal quiet time EVERY day. We need the quiet time to personally interview ourselves. He said, "Technology needs to be our servants not our masters." It was a great message.

These talks really hit home for me. Lately I have really been asking myself, what do I need to be doing here in Brazil? Why have I been blessed with this experience? Am I doing all God would want me to do to get me where he wants me to be, right now? So many things going through my head. I have been blessed with a great husband to bounce so many ideas off of and just chat about life in general. Life is good. God is good.