Thank You...

I just wanted to thank everyone for all of their kindness and the outpouring of love and support, with the passing of my sweet dad. Your care and concern means so very much. ~Lori

My Rememberer Is Broke...

We aren't sure who this is actually attributed to, but it was too funny not to pass along. Can you relate as much as we can?...

My Rememberer Is Broke...

My forgetter's getting better
But my rememberer is broke.
To you that may seem funny,

but to me, that is no joke.

For when I'm "here" I'm wondering
If I really should be "there."
And, when I try to think it through,
I haven't got a prayer!

Oft times I walk into a room,
And say "what am I here for?"
I wrack my brain, but all in vain;
A zero, is my score.

At times I put something away
Where it is safe, but, Gee!
The person it is safest from
Is generally me!

When shopping I may see someone,
Say "Hi" and have a chat,
Then, when the person walks away
I ask myself "who was that?"

Yes, my forgetter's getting better
While my rememberer is broke,
And it's driving me plumb crazy
And that isn't any joke.

In His Arms We Find Rest And Strength...

"...when we cannot do more, or when we simply do not understand, or when we feel so exhausted we want to lie down in the snow and go to sleep, He picks us up and His strength becomes our strength. In His arms, we find rest, comfort, acceptance, and knowledge. And then, He gently sets us on our feet again and says, "This is the way. Walk in it with me.""

-Chieko Okazaki

Seek Him. Seek the one who longs to embrace you and help you through this life. He stretched forth His arms as He sacrificed His life so that we could have a way to return back to our heavenly home to live with Him and our Father for eternity. Never has there been such a great love, and never will there be a greater one. He loved us then and He loves us now. No matter where we may find ourselves...whether well along the path of righteousness, or far from it...He loves us deeply and perfectly. Nothing will ever change or alter that love. It is eternal and endless.

Know that He sees each of us and is very aware of our weariness, challenges, and trials He wants nothing more than to help us. All we need to do is ask. Reach out to Him. He stands ready with His arms outstretched waiting to encircle us in the safety and comfort of His loving, tender, peace filled embrace.

Til We Meet Again...

Earth lost a good man, while Heaven gained an angel this week. We offer our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Lori and her family with the passing of her beloved father.

Ezra Hadley

1926~2011

You may view the obituary here and offer your condolences to Lori and the family here...

~~~

"And we too can anticipate that when the time comes for us to step through the veil of mortality, leaving our failing and pain-filled bodies behind, we will see the loving smile and feel the welcoming embrace, not only of our Heavenly Parents and of the Savior, but also of our loved ones who will greet us in full vigor, full remembrance, and full love." ~Chieko Okazaki

~~~



Speak, He Is Listening...

Ardeth Kapp said: "There may be times when we want to pray and try to pray, but we're not sure what to pray for or even if we are getting through. We know the challenge we're faced with, but aren't even sure how to ask for help. At such times, perhaps more than any others, we can be greatly blessed by the comforting promise of Paul to the Romans. We read: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26) "

There are many times when the pain and the challenges we are experiencing are more than we can put into words. We know that we cannot face them alone, we know that we need help, but it all feels so big and heavy that we don't even know where to begin to ask for that companionship and aid. In those moments of heartfelt prayer, in the moments of kneeling before the Lord with heavy hearts and tears streaming down our face, the moments when our broken hearts and emotions seem to consume us and the words just won't come...it is the moments like those, when the Spirit does the communicating for us. The Spirit offers up to our Father what we are feeling, and conveys what our broken and troubled hearts can't find the words for. He hears every one of our pleas, the spoken and the silent ones.

He is always listening. Go to Him often in prayer. He will hear you, and He will answer you. He longs to hear your voice, to ease your pain, and to encircle you in His peace and love.

Pioneer Day

Decades after the Pioneer Trek, the following story occurred in a Sunday School class in Cedar City, Utah. The following story was recalled by William Palmer about what he saw that day involving Francis Webster bearing an unforgettable testimony:

"Some sharp criticism of the Church and its leaders was being indulged in for permitting any company of converts to venture across the Plains with no more supplies or protection than a handcart caravan afforded.

"An old man in the corner sat silent and listened as long as he could stand it. Then he arose and said things that no person who heard him will ever forget. His face was white with emotion, yet he spoke calmly, deliberately, but with great earnestness and sincerity.

"He said in substance, 'I ask you to stop this criticism. You are discussing a matter you know nothing about. Cold historic facts mean nothing here, for they give no proper interpretation of the questions involved. [Was it a] mistake to send the handcart company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it and Sister Nellie Unthank, whom you have cited, was there too. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine, and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that company ever apostatized or left the Church because every one of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives, for we became acquainted with Him in our extremities.

" 'I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. I have gone to that sand, and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back so many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew that the angels of God were there.

" 'Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin handcart company.'

Cruisin' With Me'Chel...

Here we are in the full swing of Summer with all it's sun, fun, and opportunites for vacations. With that being, we thought we would share this little video of Me'Chel telling a true tale of one of her vacations. Here is her 'Cruise Story'...

More Than A Memory...

President Joseph F Smith assured us that we are not forgotten as he spoke of our loved ones beyond the veil:

"If we can see, by the enlightening influence of the Spirit of God and through the words that have been spoken by the holy prophets of God, beyond the veil that separates us from the spirit world, surely those who have passed beyond, can see more clearly through the veil back here to us than it is possible for us to see to them from our sphere of action. ...We are not separated from them...We cannot forget them: we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we cannot break, that we cannot dissolve or free ourselves from. ...I claim that we live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. ... They see the temptations and the evils that beset us in life, and the proneness of mortal beings to yield to temptation and wrong doing; hence their solicitude for us and their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves."

Those we love who have gone Home before us, see us, love us, and are cheering us on. And so we must keep pressing forward knowing that though it may not be this day, but one day, one joyous day, we will be together forever, never to be parted again...

Happy Birthday Debbie!

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday!...

Love,

Lori and Me'Chel



Education Week 2011!

The booklets are out, and we are so humbled and equally happy to announce that we have the opportunity to present at this year's BYU Education Week!

Our first is class is from 9:50 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Music...a Conduit From Heaven to Heart
Tuesday: Small and Simple Things--"By Small Means the Lord Can Bring About Great Things" (1 Nephi 16:29)
Wednesday: "The Lord Is My Strength and [My] Song" (Exodus 15:2)
Thursday: "In The Arms of His Love" (2 Nephi 1:15)
Friday: Tender Mercies--"Great Are Thy Tender Mercies, O Lord" (Psalms 119:156)

Our second class is from 11:10 a.m. -12:05 p.m.

Help, My Life's On Fire!--Finding Peace in an Unpeaceful World (John 14:27)
Wednesday: This is a Test, Only a Test
Thursday: Stop, Drop, and Pray
Friday: From Heartache to Peace...How Do I Get There?

(Both of our classes will be held in the Madsen of the Harris Fine Arts Center)

Education Week is a wonderful opportunity to get away from the world for a little bit and wrap yourself up in the goodness of the Gospel. There are a wide variety of classes with over 200 different presenters! Click here and it will take you to the Education Week home page where you can learn more about the program, have your questions answered, or register to attend!

We hope to see you there!

Happy Independence Day

David O McKay said: "As precious as life itself is our heritage of individual freedom, for man's free agency is a God-given gift. In sensing our responsibility to preserve it for ourselves and our posterity, let students and patriotic people ever keep in mind the warning voice of James Russell Lowell proclaiming: "Our American republic will endure only as long as the ideas of the men who founded it continue dominant." He concluded his remarks by saying, "To live in a land in which each individual has the right to life and liberty is a glorious privilege."

We thank all of those who have served and continue to serve this great country...We offer our deepest gratitude for the service you give and the sacrifices you make that allows us to enjoy safety and freedom.

Happy Father's Day

Wishing our own fathers, husbands, sons, and son-in-laws, as well as the rest of you good fathers out there, a very Happy Father's Day!

We can all take great comfort and confidence in the knowledge that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us unconditionally and eternally. President Hinckley said, "God is our father. We are His children. We sing, "I am a child of God." We do not think very much of what that means. It means so very much, that you and I, my dear brothers and sisters, have a divine birthright. There is something of divinity in each of us that is eternal and everlasting, and in the expression of that divinity we ought to stand tall..."

Nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of our Father in Heaven. No matter where we have been, or where we may find ourselves now, whether it be on the path or far from it...don't ever forget that He has prepared a way for you to return to Him. For He wants nothing more than to hold you in His arms again. May we want nothing more than to be held in those arms...