He is Risen!

I hope you have all had a wonderful Easter. Ours was truly amazing and wonderful. We decided to do all the secular part of Easter yesterday so we could focus more as a family on the Savior today. We had a big candy hunt with Brett's extended family and then went out to dinner. We came home and got ready for bed and gave the kids their Easter outfits and a little gift. Then we got out some special Easter eggs that mom gave me. These eggs have a little slip of paper that gives a scriptural account of the Easter story and a little trinket to represent what they're talking about. Each egg has a number and you're supposed to open one each day before Easter. We decided to do it all in one night. It was awesome. Reading about the crucifixion of the Savior and His Ressurection really set the stage nicely. The spirit was in our home and we were ready for a wonderful day of worship. Our church service was wonderful. The choir did a program that had speakers interspersed into it. I was just in love with the songs we sang. I was so excited to be singing them this morning. The results were incredible. The spirit in our meeting was so strong; it was beautiful. It is amazing how the spirit can help a ward choir and help the audience be touched. We had an investigator there along with the full-time missionaries. We were so excited about that. It was the perfect day for her and her daughter to come. The spirit really was strong.

As I came home from church, I opened my email to write to my brother and sister, who are both serving missions. I was hit with the headlines of the day and all the frustration and turmoil of the world came rushing to my mind. It made me realize how much I need the Sabbath day and how grateful I am for the Sabbath. It truly is a day to rest from the cares of the world, if we let it be. That is the trick. We have to be disciplined enough to not get into all the same things we do during the week, and then the Sabbath truly is a day of rest, a different day to rejuvenate, inspire, and to focus on those things that are at the center of our dwelling: Christ and the Gospel. How truly blessed I feel to have the gospel in it's fullness in our lives.

Here is a vidoe clip set to picture and music from Elder Holland's talk from General Conference last week.

Mormon Messages

Have you guys heard of "Mormon Messages"?

Mormon Messages is an official channel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Each week, Mormon Messages provides short video segments about the Church's basic beliefs, as well as inspiring stories and messages of hope. Watch these gospel-centered videos and then share them with family, friends and those of other faiths.

We all know of the filth that is on the internet, but also the great and wonderful blessings that come with this amazing technology. This youtube channel is one of those technological blessings.

My mom sent me this clip of Elder Uchtdorf's talk that he gave September 2008 to the women of the Relief Society. This talk gave me hope and comfort as I prepare for my upcoming Women's Conference talk at BYU. I hope you enjoy it.

Oh my goodness, this is incredible!!

This video was passed on to my by my grandfather. I am so grateful he did. What an awesome video and awesome advice. It's about 7 minutes long, I hope you really take time to watch it.

My little McKay

I just love this boy. Did you read the post about Makenna earning $5 by learning to tie her shoes? Well, McKay learned to tie his shoes shortly thereafter. Makenna chose to spend her money and ger her ears periced. My dad jokingly said to McKay,

"So Mickey, are you going to get your ears periced with your $5?"

McKay: "Grandpa!! (With a ton of sarcasm in his voice) Ear peircing is for girls!!! I'm going to get an Easy Bake Oven!!!!!"

And that he did.

He couldn't be happier.

Kenna earns a quick $5!

Brett told Makenna that when she learned to tie her shoes, we would give her $5. So, on our way down to California she spent practically the WHOLE DRIVE practicing tying her shoes. She got it pretty quick, and she was so proud of herself. She could even do double knots! By the time we got to Barstow, she had already decided how she wanted to spend her $5. She wanted to combine it with her own money and get her ears peirced. Wouldn't you know, they have a Claire's store in the outlet mall.

So, we did it! And she didn't even bat an eyelash! (Well maybe just a little....)

This is Makenna's cheesy, happy, thrilled smile. She is excited beyond words right now. (Her teeth and mouth are blue from a blue sucker given to her by the ear pericer, for being so brave).

Such a happy girl!

BYU Women's Conference

Well, the cat is out of the bag. Those of you who know have been bugging me to post about this, so here it is:

I am speaking at BYU Women's Conference this year.

Shocked? I know, I was too.

You may be asking how I got roped into this? You see, I have this friend. Well, she's technically my mom's friend, but she's my friend too. She lived 2 houses away from us in the ward I grew up in. I used to babysit her kids and she was my personal progress leader in Young Women's. Well, now she's on the Women's Conference board. She called my mom last summer and said, "I've been thinking about Cami for months, do you think she'd speak?"

Of course, my mother was thrilled to accept for me.

So, there it is. I'm speaking and I'm totally nervous. I know my talk will come and Heavenly Father will help me know what he wants me to say. I am confident of that. I know that generally, it is the overall feeling and spirit of Women's Conference that inspires, uplifts and encourages women. I don't expect to give this grandiose talk that will change people's lives or give a speech that they'll remember for rest of their lives. But, I am also very aware of the fact that there might be 1 or 2 people in my audience who really need to hear what I have to say. So, I am definitely feeling the pressure.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Thank you for all the support and kindness and pep-talks I have received thus far.

The Book of Mormon and Freedom

This is an awesome video with words from latter-day prophets. The Book of Mormon has so much to offer; not only knowledge, but blessings from Heaven if we read it often, sincerely, and obey it's teachings. I know this to be true, I have seen it's power in my own life. The study of it has brought answers to prayers, more peace in our home, more obedient children and the spirit has been more abundant in our home.