Some pictures

Here are a few pics of my flowers before they were done for the season! The others are of the kids in Sacramento near the State Capitol, Fisherman's Wharf, and in the basement of our new shop! That apple tree now has a bunch of leaves and apple blossoms!

Crazy woman

A couple days a month I am a crazy woman. I struggle with myself not to say all the mean and hurtful things that cross my mind. I think that's what it means to put aside the natural man . It is so hard when at the time it would feel so good to lash out. My children have no idea how I'm feeling most of the time, but sometimes the natural woman comes out. Usually I'm a calm, patient, charitable peacemaker, but one or two days out of the month I think that everyone hates me and is out to get me and it's quite horrible. I know when it's happening, so I talk myself out of being mean, most of the time.
I'm glad that this time it was mostly over before Mother's Day. My kids are beautiful, wonderful children. They amaze me all the time. They are not perfect because no one is, but they are perfect for me. My husband works too much, but if he didn't we wouldn't have a home, food or books to read and learn from. Life is so weird! I guess if I was always calm and peaceful I wouldn't be able to work on those very important attributes. I know that that mean person is not my true self. Having those feelings helps me work on those other good attributes of patience and charity when it's so hard to. Last night Harold said he was so sad that Mother's day was almost over. He said it was such a good day. We had great food made by the men and lots of fun hanging out at the new shop helping daddy by putting things away and playing in the basement. That's who I am and that's who my children are. That other crazy woman is just a reminder of who not to become.

I want to be like Abish

I never finished writing about my experience at the meeting I went to last week. Sister Beck's main points that she made were that just like the Lamanite Mothers of the strippling warriors, we are also mothers who know. The Latina woman may be humble but by small and humble means are great things brought to pass. She spoke about Abish - the Lamanite Queen's servant who went and gathered the town's people together in preparation for them to hear the gospel. She was a mere servant but because of her actions the people in that land were able to hear the miraculous things that had transpired in King Lamoni's court by the king himself and as many as were there and heard his words were converted to the gospel. I'll bet that she never thought that she could ever have such an impact on so many people. I want to live my life in such a way that when the opportunity presents itself I can also be the humble servant who brings many to the Lord. I think I'm already doing it by preparing my children to serve faithful missions when they are older. They are so special and I know because of their gentle nature and humility they will be able to preach the gospel with power and authority. This was her point. We as mothers can do so much to not only prepare missionaries but also to live our lives as examples of the true believers. she said that we should not be afraid to open our mouth to friends and neighbors. If we store the gospel in our hearts we will be ready to proclaim it when the opportunity arises. Boy, I miss being a full time missionary. It was so hard because of insomnia and the heat and humidity, but it was so worth it. Well, this is enough for now.