Skip the socks.

I kinda love that he's been carrying this doll around all day.

"MooOOOoommm, come play dinosaurs with me."

Just two little Thai boys enjoying Songkran.

A brief note.

Trying to remember everything that happened since I last wrote would be impossible. Sometimes I sit down and look at the calendar or flip through pictures on my phone to remember what happened only yesterday! 

A week ago, our visas were denied for Ghana. I'd still really like to go but we need to apply in person, on another continent... That or get a job working for the government or a university to leverage the application. But it's fine, for me anyway- poor Mary Caplan asked me to bring her a set of measuring cups back in January, which I should have promptly mailed because if they ever get there it will be days before they return to the US.

Not going meant that I had quite a free week ahead as I had not made any commitments. Each day since has been full, as you will see below. I will only summarise, but this week has been a confirmation that I should "trust in the Lord with all [my] heart, and lean not unto [my] own understanding." 

Sunday.  Stake conference means 2 hour church, no lessons, home for naps, brilliant talks... God is Good.

Monday. We planned to go to the temple in Ghana. Because we wouldn't make it Dan suggested I still go this week and he booked me a roundtrip flight to HK for Thursday. (Great guy.) I really wanted to go- I had reserved a family name and felt like I should release it so the work could be done by someone else if I wasn't able to take it immediately. So I kept the name and made preparations for others to help with the children. The usual FHE: this week Abe gave the family history moment and Mary gave the lesson. Delegation is key. God is Good.

Tuesday. Phone was full of messages that a tree at Sundance fell during a storm. Damage was minimal, two trucks had been parked under the tree 30 minutes prior. Phew. Long walk with a friend. Neighborhood bible study... we have been given SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE! We need a living prophet, modern day revelation is essential to fortifying our families in this time. I am ever thankful for a prophet of God. 

Wednesday. On Wednesdays I workout with a friend, it's basically therapy. She's just like the most brilliant, inspirational woman you can think of. This week was more somber as we talked about a friend who was just diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Mary's best friend from Bangkok is named Anna. Anna's mother wrote me a very short message that she and her husband had separated and that things weren't going well. Mary had written Anna last week and because of the letter the entire family, grandparents included were coming to Singapore in 3 days. My heart kinda breaks for both of these women. God is still Good.

Thursday. Temple Day. If you ever wondered if you could make it in a day, you can! Dan booked my flights before I called to make an appointment with the temple- appointments are needed because there isn't enough priesthood working in the temple to run the sessions and the baptismal font at the same time. My flight landed early and took off late. Between the two bookends, I spent the most peaceful day I have ever experienced in the temple. Not that it hasn't ever been a good experience prior, but I really had no other obligations. I had hours to work. I couldn't even worry about the babysitter and the children because they were in a different country! 

Friday. Because my flight was delayed for hours I didn't get home until 3am. I guarantee I was the only happy person on that flight, and by some miracle the 4 hours of sleep I got between 3 and 7 am was sufficient for the next day. By 9 am I had a text from a sister in the ward that I visit taught, "Can you give me a ride to the doctor?" She climbed in the car and between sobs explained that she needed help leaving an abusive husband and was planning to move that day. She went to the library to pray and get enough courage to leave and promised to text when she was ready. Again, my heart felt crushed, I sat downstairs in the lobby as she packed her bags and left. For hours she cried and talked and cried and I had nothing to say. It was as if the Lord had made me mute. (Not that I'm a therapist or could have said anything to relieve her pain.) I helped her unpack at her mother's home and at the end of the day dropped her off at a family therapist. Today was a hard day- with a little fear and a lot of faith. For me, it was also full of gratitude. It is obvious I have been blessed with more than my fair share- a good husband, strong family, healthy body- even on the long days when it seems there are more tears and complaints than moments of joy, when dinner is boycotted by the littles and most of it ends up on the floor and I become cantankerous... You know, even on one of those days- God IS Good. 

Saturday. Abe has lacrosse practice on Saturday mornings. Dan took the boys and while Abe was on the field, took Maeser (on a bike) out for a run.  After 90 minutes and several crashes they returned to the practice field to pick up Abe who had pulled a ligament in his groin. He's got a small limp, but nothing to put him out. Anna and her family are here. I can't believe they would come so far to spend time with Mary, the girls haven't seen each other in exactly 3 years! Julie explained that the email was timely and the entire reason they had changed their tickets from Vietnam to Singapore. I wanted to label the coincidence as a prompting. This young family is in the healing process with so much hurt, uncertainty and anger- I wanted her to know that God intended for them to have joy! I spent another day doing a lot of listening. (Maybe I should start charging as a therapist.) As I listened, again, I felt thankful for modern day revelation, a living prophet, the Book of Mormon- the teachings of Amulek especially, to "repent and harden not your heart". I felt that God is Good. Is this getting repetitious yet?

Sunday. Abe isn't limping anymore, he's practically lame. It has become increasingly more stiff. He's got quite the gait at the moment- for the next few days he'll probably be walking gingerly. Unless it improves drastically by tomorrow, he'll need a few extra minutes (or an hour) to hobble between his classroom and the cafeteria. 

What a different week than planned, I am thankful for many small moments that reaffirmed my testimony that God is real, and my Father. That the Lord has a living Prophet on this earth. That I believe nothing is too hard for the Lord and that I can trust in Him.

April 15, 2018

Highlights of the week.

Sour Grapes.

Visiting the zoo.

Visiting one of our favorites- a polar bear in the tropics.

And saying goodbye. (He will be put down in two weeks, one of the oldest captive bears ever.)

Scout wrote her name for the first time this week.

Lots of books- we’ve almost finished reading The Hobbit.

Writing letters and planning lemonade stands.

Easter

Every holiday comes with many traditions. Many are commercialised and the real reason for the holiday has become vague or obscured by all of the other activities. For me, one of the greatest blessing about living so far away from home, and from others who celebrate the same holidays, is that I have to be consistent and deliberate about the traditions I want to keep. For example, if I lived in the Philippines or Greece, Easter is the biggest holiday of the year, the entire week (Holy Week) shuts down parts of the cities and there are days of celebrations or mourning, re-enactments of Christ carrying his cross through cities or individuals who are crucified (for just a few moments) on literal crosses as they celebrate during this week. Luckily for me, I don't have to choose if those will become family traditions. Having lived in countries where Christianity is a minority religion, we have to seek out the things we want to include. This year, we chose to use a truncated format of Christ's last week on Earth- each day leading up to Sunday we spent time talking about what Christ did, reading about his teachings, miracles, the last supper... we skipped the Easter Eggs, candy, Easter Bunny, new dresses, ham dinner... and it was probably my favorite holiday yet. Maybe when the children are older it won't seem like putting a 5 course meal on the table distracts from what they really need. 

We had our normal block of meetings yesterday- church meetings will be suspended next week so we can watch the re-broadcast. I am so very thankful for this time of year, and for the inspiration I feel like I need and an anxiously waiting for. We have already begun listening to the first session, this is also a blessing... we now have a whole week to digest the 10 hours of talks before next Sunday. With only 3 talks down, I've already had a lot to think about.

Imelda has been home for several weeks, she went back to the Philippines because her son was graduating from High School. I have appreciated the time with just our family in the home, but we can't wait for her to get back. We share the work when she is here, so when she is gone I remember how much laundry we actually have to do or how much milk we drink... I don't think I've caught up on laundry the entire time she's been gone. And we are constantly short on milk. (That and Mary decided to play April Fool's jokes, dying the remaining 3 gallons of milk rainbow colors... they were so brightly colored, they were toxic.)

The rest of the week (the children had spring break this week) has been a blur of books, the zoo, laundry, bikes...

Love you all!