Tender Mercies

You ever hear that saying, "If life gets too hard to stand, kneel" ??  Well, life had gotten hard for me. Everything around me was great--I had my bills paid for and a comfortable life and a family to love--but it was the stuff inside my head and heart that were hurting. Nothing I did seemed to help for more than a few hours. I am at a crossroads in my life right now where I am trying to choose between many good options for where to steer my life. I seemed to be at a roadblock and didn't know what to do. Finally, after weeks of searching and praying and talking to trusted friends, a light emerged in my life. However, it was only after I decided to go to a place where I knew I would not be distracted from the demands of life, where I would truly be able to look within myself and seek an answer, that I was able to find what I was searching for. This place for me was the Kansas City Temple.  It is inside the temple, a place I believe to be the House of the Lord, tha...

Nauvoo Temple at night, after the pageant Marshall and I were sitting down in the audience at the Sunset on the Mississippi variety show this past Friday in Historic Nauvoo , enjoying the jazz band and skits and the sweltering heat of the midwest. Halfway through the show, the emcee announced that the band was going to play In the Mood  and that audience members were invited to come up and dance...Oh how I wanted to go up with Marshall! I turned to him and asked him if he wanted to. "Only if you drag me up." A few moments went by and I knew that if I passed this chance, I would regret it for the rest of the evening. So I told him we were going and we got up and ran to the stage.  The last time we swung danced like this was a year and a half ago, and it was long due that we did it again. With the adrenaline pumping through me like a racehorse, I followed Marshall's lead as he led me through some fun swing moves, trying to hold on so that our sweaty hands w...

15 hour car drive to central Utah, 3 days with the Adams family as we celebrated the wedding of two love-birds, a 7 hour reunion with the Whipple family, and then a 15 hour trip back to Kansas.  Phew, I am tired!   Family is worth everything though, and these pictures capture some great memories. Wednesday morning session at the Manti temple with the family.   It's official! Joseph and Bailee together forever. June 11, 2015 Manti, Utah LDS Temple  Hopefully someday we will be close enough to hang out.  My cute little nephew said that "his favorite cousin is Aunt Jenessa." My heart just melted.  He needs one of these A Mini Whipple Family Reunion: My mom, dad, and brother drove out from Arizona JUST so that we could all be together as a family for one day! I love them all. Ice cream stop at the BYU Creamery. It was my first time. I guess that's proof that I didn't go to BYU! Awe, Sisters!! Family minus ...

Wasn't Conference so wonderful this past weekend?  I sure enjoyed watching all the sessions with my husband and friends.  Although I take notes and pay attention to the speakers, after it is all said and done, it is hard to remember specific points that stood out to me...because so much was said. So I tried something this year.  I took a 3X5 index card and wrote a point or two from each talk.  Now I can keep that card with me in my scriptures and always have it to joggle my memory at a moment's notice.  A 3X5 card has all of the highlights from the most recent conference. I highlighted each name so that I can differentiate easily between the  First Presidency, The Twelve, The Seventy, and Auxiliary leaders.