Song of Testimony

I have been reflecting on my personal testimony a lot lately. What I know to be true with firm conviction. I have been Young Women President, for the 12-18 year old girls at church, for one year this month. First, I cannot believe that one year has already passed, and yet I think “have I made a difference” and “what can I do to be the best president I possibly can.” I don’t know how long I will be asked to serve in this capacity, but I do not want to end my service knowing that I could have served or done more. Ask and ye shall receive, right? These girls, and the youth in general, are great young people. I remember being their age and thinking what I was facing was tough. Things like finding out who you are and what you want to believe.

I had the opportunity to go to youth conference two weekends ago. We called it our marathon weekend. The youth had a Temple trip on Thursday which was a really special experience. Two of my Beehives went for the first time and the youth brought several family file names. One of my leaders did work for her Great-Great- Grandmother. 

The next day on Friday evening was the kick-off to youth conference at Red Top Mountain Beach. We had a luau and a pig roast. The youth had fun and it was a good time to meet and mingle. 

The next day on Saturday, it was an all-day event. The youth started the day with a service project. The theme for the conference was "No longer a mystery." Before the service project, all with smart phones downloaded an app called Billion Graves. This is an app where there are pictures of gravestones and you can search for names, locations, etc. to assist in family history work where you a. may not know the birth/death of a family member or b. want to know where they were buried, etc. Each group had a route and cemeteries to visit, all around Cobb County. The groups were not necessarily from their own ward so they got the opportunity to meet more youth. In the car, there were ice breaker activities and at the cemetery, the youth and leaders were able to respectfully and reverently take pictures of the gravestones and upload them onto the app. In a 3 hour time frame, we uploaded over 12,000 pictures. It was a solemn experience and quite moving, unexpectedly. Upon arriving back to the church building and feeding our bellies with lunch, we had a series of classes for the youth. After which was dinner, a testimony meeting, and a dance. As I listened to the youth bear their testimonies (7-8 of which were from our own ward, which was special), I was reflecting on my own and what I believed and what I knew at that age. These youth face a lot and it really is quite an opportunity to be able to serve them and hope to make an imprint on their life. During the dance, one of the other YW leaders and I came up with a challenge game, made up of 3 phases. They consisted of challenges to get them dancing. The phases got more challenging and creative as they progressed and the youth had a blast (who am I kidding, so did the leaders!). They were dancing the whole time and having a great time. It’s amazing what candy will do to motivate you and give you incentive to get out of your comfort zone. We told the youth if they liked it that much, to consider it an addition to the dances from here on out. Let the creativity start flowing for more challenges!

For the cherry on top, the Young Women sang “Song of Testimony” the following day in Sacrament Meeting (our Sunday service). I led the girls and I was just filled with the spirit of love as we sang. I couldn’t help but cry as I was so touched and thankful for the testimony that I grew to have and continue to grow. The words of the song are pieces of my own personal testimony as well “I know God lives, I know He loves me, I know He hears me and He answers when I pray. I know His son, is my Redeemer, and that He died for me that I might live eternally one day.”

I love the youth program. I’m so grateful for the leaders that I had growing up and that I can “pay it forward” and be one to the rising generation. 

So... When you gonna have kids?

I figured only appropriate to share the post of mine that triggered the idea of writing again. I received a lot of positive feedback about it, so here it goes. I wrote this a 1/2 week ago.

I thought it was time for another “V” thought of the day...it has been a while. I have seen many friends post this article that’s been floating around FB (http://rationalfaiths.com/so-when-you-gonna-have-kids/). I think it is well written and I have been itching to give my thoughts. Building a family (marriage, kids, pets, etc.) is a significant decision. While each of us is different, so are our circumstances. Thus, not fair to assume everyone is on the same path and should be making the same choices. On the particular topic of having children, I can’t help but feel both thankful that the article was written to raise more awareness and also heavy with the weight of what people go through to accomplish their desires in life.

When Tom and I first started our infertility journey, nearly 6 years ago, I underestimated what we would truly go through. The pain, heartbreak, education, tender mercies, and love, just to name a few. We experienced our fair share of annoyances and people meaning well, but just didn't have a clue. Let me also say that not all levels of infertility are the same. Regardless, it has been an experience. But, not one I would rather share it with than the absolute love of my life. There have been ups and downs to this journey, but one thing I am and will be forever grateful for is that we have lived our marriage. We have lived, learned, loved, traveled, a lot, been spontaneous, adventurous, and experienced and grew our lives together. That itself can take time.

Infertility can be viewed as such a “hush-hush” topic but maybe if we educated ourselves and recognized it more with love and sensitivity, it wouldn't seem AS scary. I know that when we realized infertility would become our journey, I felt like I was the only one in the world with it and I felt so utterly and completely alone. I have since learned the true meaning of “gird up your loins; fresh courage take” and grew to trust that “our God will never us forsake.” I could go on and on about the tender mercies and non “coincidental” opportunities and experiences that have been placed in our path.

There is an excellent article on infertility etiquette. It’s a good read. Since I can’t attach two links, just click on it if you’re interested in reading. http://www.resolve.org/support-and-services/for-family--friends/infertility-etiquette.html Even if you don’t think you know anyone, chances are you do and they just haven’t told you.

I've mentioned to a few people that I should write a book on the experiences Tom and I have had over the course of the last 6 years. If the book writing process wasn't so intimidating, and I didn't fear that no one would want to buy it, I would actually consider it…maybe I should start up our blog again.

"Hello..Good morning...

...Let's go, Let's rock." Well, it's not actually morning, but hello. Thanks, Diddy.

I've given some thought on whether or not to start the 'ol blog back up, but I decided to give it a go. There is something about writing raw thoughts down. It is releasing. I think of myself with a decent memory but I do forget things. In just going back and reading some of these old, very old, posts, I forgot some things and more importantly my feelings of those particular things.

When restarting a blog, journal, or any written record of something, I tend to feel the need to catch up on everything that has since happened. This makes for a very lengthy start-up. I keep a planner and write down everything I do, so I am going to just start here and fill in the blanks as I go along. It has been a good 2 years since writing, but in the grand scheme of things, just a blink of the eye.

Even if no one actually reads this, at least I will have a record to look back on. Thankful for technology today.

Cheers to new beginnings.