Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice

This weekend is the General Conference of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In this bi-annual conference, the living prophet and apostles, and other church leaders speak to us to give us guidance and direction and hope for our lives. My prayers have been answered so many times as I have listened to the messages in conference; I have been so uplifted and have felt the Lord’s love for me, and that He knows me personally.

General Conference is always a time of reflection for me. It helps me want to be a better person, to be more loving and kind, more like Jesus Christ.

A modern-day apostle has taught that, “The heavens are not sealed. God is not limited. …God hasn’t shut the door on His children. He loves us today just as much as He loved those who lived anciently, and He is just as concerned about us as He was about them. What comfort that sweet assurance provides in a world filled with confusion and discouragement! What peace and security comes to the heart that understands there is a God in heaven who is our Father, who knows us and cares about us -individually and collectively- and who will communicate with us, either directly or through His living prophets, according to our needs.” ~Elder M. Russell Ballard, Our Search for Happiness, p. 41-42 (Also See Ephesians 4:11-14). I am glad to know that, and general conference is one of the greatest evidences to me that this is true.

To find out more about what general conference is, click this link

If you are interested in listening to the messages, you can watch them live or afterwards if you go to www.lds.org/general-conference.

General Conference Infographic

We're Having a BOY!

Well, our good news is that we are having a baby boy, due July 23rd (my dad's birthday). I'm 21 weeks along, and we are so grateful and excited! The doctors say everything is going well and that our son is healthy and on track for growth. I can feel him wiggling around every day now, and it is a great comfort to me, and now I don't feel as much like I need to have an ultrasound machine to make sure he's ok. :)

We haven't decided on a name yet. We feel we just need to see him first, so we'll all have to wait until July to find out.

I have been feeling very ill and exhausted for most of the pregnancy, but I am doing better than I was in the first trimester. Eating (and keeping fluids down) has been a great challenge at times, and I am excited for the upcoming warm weather and produce that's in season. I only lost 3 pounds in the first trimester though (which is a miracle when I contemplate how much food actually stayed inside my stomach and how much did not...), and I have gained it back, and about 4 pounds on top of that, so that is great news.

(P.S. Since this will be our first baby, people love to give unsolicited advice to me and to tell me horror stories of pregnancies they have had or have heard of. - While I do often have questions, and will ask them when I want to, usually the advice I haven't asked for is not very helpful....such as the lady on the airplane who told me "You should stop drinkin' soder. It's not natural. You need to drink gingerale because that's all natural. And you should drink pickle juice to help with the nausea." That one was the most interesting. Also, people, when they find out that I have been sick, they love to tell me pregnancy horror stories about women who were sick for the whole time every time, so sick that they had to get IV's at the hospital, etc. Although Seth tells me that people say these things to try to help me be grateful for my situation, I have found that they are more frightening than comforting - So please, no horror stories. But, I do know that everybody means well and that they just want to relate to me. - So I will try to smile and not worry too much. - And I won't be drinking any pickle juice. That is certain.)

I've got 7 more weeks left of teaching ESL at Cleveland State University, and then I will be taking probably 2 semesters off. We have been very blessed because I've been hired for an online job grading the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). I can work from home and choose when and how much I want to work. It is just what we need!

We feel that the Lord has blessed us abundantly, and although it has been difficult, we know it is worth it, and it is what we want. We are so excited to be parents. Seth has been an angel throughout this whole time. He has mostly taken over all the shopping, cooking, and most of the cleaning while I have been sick. He has waited on me, hand and foot, and has never once complained. I am so thankful for him, and I know he'll be the best dad ever!