Sharing a Book of Mormon with Sara

 I want to share a beautiful experience I had with sharing a Book of Mormon with my neighbor, Sara Alexander. In 2020, before the temples closed due to the pandemic, I was sitting in a session and had a very strong prompting that I should give Sara a Book of Mormon. I committed in my heart to do this but also felt intimidated. I had had a few conversations about religion with her before and got the impression they were pretty devoted to their beliefs. One time they invited me to come to a devotional type night at their church, when they were attending the Baptist church. During the video we watched, it said something negative about "Mormons" and I could tell she felt uncomfortable. We had a conversation after about grace - she feeling that everyone is given grace, even a murderer, and grace is enough, without us having to do anything on our part. I told her I believe in grace + work together - that we do have to do good works on our part to partake of grace. (I have since come to understand grace better and I align with her view or grace more than my prior view.) We have invited them to church activities, which they declined, but their son did attend Activity Days with Josh a few times. She invited me to read the Bible with her and others as a challenge several years ago and I participated in that. We invited her and her family to attend the Mesa Temple Open House a couple of years ago and the Easter Pageant. They wanted to attend both but weren't able to. All this to say, there is a little history with talking about religion with each other. But I had never wanted to come across as pushy so I left it at that. Then this prompting came and I couldn't ignore it. But I did push it off for quite some time. I started preparing a Book of Mormon for her a couple of years ago but I misplaced it. I started another but it was difficult to finish with the busyness of life and the fear that I was allowing to creep in. I asked a couple of sets of missionaries to hold me accountable and this last set were awesome. They texted me every Saturday for months to ask if I had done it yet. Because of their encouragement, I was able to finish marking my favorite verses and make notes in the book and write my testimony in the front. All I needed to do was give Sara the book. Two Sundays ago, I was at church early, waiting to be interviewed by a member of the Stake for my temple recommend renewal. I was reading scriptures while I waited and came across a verse (which I can't find now) which states that angels will give us words in the moment we need them. I felt the Spirit strongly confirm that truth. In Sunday School we talked about sharing the gospel and I shared about my plan to give Sara the Book of Mormon and shared the verse I had read. I knew I had to do it that day. 

I had been fasting and that's probably what gave me extra strength. I rehearsed several times what I would say to her in my closet, pacing back and forth. I finally prayed, texted her that I had something to give her and asked if she could meet me out front in a few minutes. She texted back that she was out front and it was go time.

I had the book in my hand, down by my side. After some small talk I told her, "I have a Book of Mormon for you. We've been neighbors for a long time and I've never given this to you before now because I didn't want to come across as pushy. But I have felt impressed to give it to you and I follow those promptings. Sometimes it's difficult to share something so sacred but I want you to have this. It's not about trying to convince you to join our church. I sincerely love this book and want to share it with you, only out of love. Every good thing comes from God and Christ and this book is a good thing. It testifies of Christ, along with the Bible. If I didn't have this book, I would want someone to share it with me." She told me she is actually interested in reading it and even if she doesn't believe all of it, it would be interesting to read for the historical context, because Mormonism is the longest standing religion in the United States. She told me she toured the little Museum in Maricopa and there is a whole section devoted to the Mormon Battalion. I told her a lot of people have opinions about the Book of Mormon, both good and negative, but she should read it and form her own opinion. She thanked me sincerely for sharing it with her. She said she really appreciated me taking the time to write my testimony in the cover, highlight verses and write notes in the margins. I felt the Spirit and a strength beyond my own as I spoke, and it did feel that I was preparing what to say, words were given to me, as the scripture promised. The part about how every good thing comes from God and Christ - that was most certainly given to me. 

It was a really good experience and I'm so glad I finally did it! I texted the missionaries after and gave them my happy report. This was their reply:

"Let's gooooooooo! That's epic! Glad she was receptive to it and the spirit was there to help, it sounds like she's been prepared. We'd love to stay updated on how she likes it." 

A few things on my heart

 It's late and I'm really tired. Just a couple of things I want to jot down before going to sleep.

1. I'm grateful I could attend the Gilbert Temple with my friend, Charlee, tonight (and saw some other friends from our ward there too, which was nice). I loved the opportunity to pray in the Celestial Room and feel close to my Heavenly Father. I prayed for Oliver and how to connect with him, I prayed for each of our children and how I can help them feel loved, I prayed for the sisters in my ward and some specifically by name and many other things. Charlee shared a beautiful, sacred experience she had in the temple in the past, back home in Brazil. I loved hearing it and sharing an experience I had where I felt my Grandma Roberts so strongly in the Celestial Room with me, it brought tears to my eyes. As I waited for Charlee outside of the bathroom in the dressing room, I found myself alone and I expressed gratitude to Heavenly Father for being in the temple tonight. I felt the Spirit wash over me and stay with me for several minutes. It really was beautiful.

2. When I dropped Charlee off, she shared some pretty heavy, personal things with me. I'm grateful she trusts me and I'm grateful for her friendship. She told me a while back that I'm the perfect person to be the RS President and that I have helped her a lot. That touched my heart and we both had tears in our eyes as we hugged. She's a beautiful person.

3. Off topic but so cute: Nathan was upset that he took lunch today instead of buying a hotdog at school. We talked about it and I explained how he can choose what days to take lunch or buy based on the menu. Later I said, "I missed you today Buddy." He said, "I missed the hot dog." That made me laugh. They melt my heart - all five of them.

Sooooooooooo tired!!! 

End of the school year!

 Today was the last day of school for Oliver and Josh (the other kids are already done) and I'm feeling all the feels. This year especially, I feel like it was just so much at the end of the year with the awards ceremonies and end of year field trips and parties. That's something I didn't consider with having five kids in five separate schools. I feel pretty drained and emotional too. We were invited to Oliver's awards ceremony at Heritage because he received an award in Science. His teacher called me last week and told me he's worked so hard and has come a long was and she wanted to recognize that. I'm grateful his Science teacher, Mrs. Sims, noticed and is encouraging. That is so good for him. When I went to congratulate him after and give him a hug, I started to cry. I couldn't help it. He asked me why I was crying and I could barely get out the words that it was because I was proud of him. Maybe it's also because he's growing up so fast and I know I only have a few short years left with him in our home. Also stress from some hard days and just a lot of overwhelm and stimulation. I came home from Zach's end of year party (at a park, out in the sun) and had to lay down on my bed. I put everything else aside - all chores and didn't feel bad about it. I just read from a novel I'm loving (The Selection) and hung out with Nathan, tickling him and having fun (and trying to repair from yelling at him in a stressful moment this morning). I haven't had much time by myself lately, which is how I recharge and I was feeling it. It felt so nice to have some time this afternoon to be still. 

And now Summer is upon us. That comes with mixed feelings. So much fighting, anger, contention, hurt feelings, play referee...it's exhausting. I'm tired of trying so many things that work for a while and then don't and of being patient for so long and then losing it and that's what they remember. I'm trying to be positive and think I will be okay after recharging today. 

2023!

 Happy 2023! Fireworks are going off as I type. It's 12:00 exactly right now.

My goals for this new year:

1. Make significant progress with minimizing.

2. Print Family Yearbook.

3. Print Josh's letters.

4. Show up as my best as a parent and wife. Strengthen our marriage.

There are many other smaller goals but these are the big ones. Here's to a beautiful year of learning.

Raw Emotion

I honestly don't know if our marriage will make it through the extremely difficult terrain we have been navigating for so long. I am a positive person and for so long I have held on to the positives but they are dimming. My heart is hurting so much. I know this is a mental health issue - we both have ADHD and with that comes big emotions. Him not owning it in himself adds to the problem. Parenting five nuerodiverse kids is extremely challenging. I am loosing hope in a positive future. The pain I feel from that is crushing. The tears keep coming. 

On the other hand, maybe things could be okay. I don't want to give up but it is just so incredibly difficult, I don't know if I can hang on until we get to that point. 

Can't sleep

 It's 1:48 am and I can't sleep. It's especially frustrating because I'm sick and so desperately need the sleep. I have so much on my mind with parenting challenges. I watched a video this evening that my mom sent me. It was a lady talking via Instagram who was warning parents about the danger of cell phones and online games, particularly Roblox. Her daughter was the victim of an online predator who was posing as an 11 year old girl and other peers but was really a grown man who taught 5th grade math. He had this 13-year-old girl believing no one loved her but him and that he would kill himself if she disclosed things he told her. Her whole disposition changed and she was grumpy and withdrawn. She had her regular Roblox account with no unusual activity. Her parents had safety measures in place and limited screen time. But she had created a second account that was incognito so her parents couldn't view it. She also figured out how to get on the internet from an old phone that didn't have a sim card when her parents took her phone away. This is weighing heavily on my mind because Oliver plays Roblox almost daily. This is the thing that means the most to him, to play with his friends online. I have had concerns about it but Wendel views it as the thing kids do to be social and thinks we should let him have limited time with rules and safety measures so we have let him do it. But I am really re-thinking that after watching this video this evening. 

Oliver has been exposed to pornography at school. He said they have some breaks during Flag Football and can access their backpacks during breaks so kids were playing games on their phone. Some of the 8th grade boys were pulling up porn images and videos and one set his phone down for others to see the video. Oliver was able to describe what happened in detail. He still thinks it's gross but won't for long. Thankfully he was open with us, as we have asked him to be when the time comes that he is exposed to it. He asked questions and we openly and  honestly answered and didn't shame him. I feel like this was a good parenting move on our part and I'm grateful we have been very open and honest with him from the beginning about sex, pornography, puberty, etc. 

The obsession our kids have with screen time weighs on my mind. They always want to be on a screen but we limit it to 2 hours a day or less. 

The mental health challenges are so hard and wearing. So taxing on our marriage and family. So exhausting and draining and constant. 

The fighting between siblings is upsetting and draining as well. 

The emotional dysregulation is improving but still happens. It trickles down to the younger kids and is painful to see it play out in them as well.

Oliver lies a lot. That's a tough one too. Lately he's trying to earn our trust. About 4 months ago he stole money from my wallet, looked me in the eye and lied to my face about it. He eventually told the truth, when threatened to lose screen time for months. I think he truly believes the lies he tells at times and thinks a different scenerio happened than really did.

We had a 504 meeting for Josh today. I'm glad we can get him accommodations to help him at school.

All of the kids want 1:1 time with me a lot and get jealous of each other. 

I'm trying to stay consistent with Ellie's patching, staying calm when the kids get upset, keeping Nathan and Zach from hurting each other, trying to declutter our house because I know it affects our mental health, trying to clean but am so far behind, continuing to prioritize making healthy food for our family and scripture study and the 10 minute family clean up at night...

It's a lot and tonight I'm feeling the weight of it pretty heavily. I am truly exhausted. I prayed tonight and asked Heavenly Father to send angels and to take these burdens from me so I can sleep. Maybe now that I have dumped my thoughts here I can rest peacefully. 

Learning from The Spirit

 I just wanted to share a quick experience I had the other day. I went to a scheduled ministering visit with a less active sister in our ward. She has eight children and was coming to church alone with seven of them (pregnant with the eight) while her husband was away at basic training. We haven't seen her at church in a long time so as a Relief Society Presidency member, I was asked to check in with her. She opened up to me a little bit and told me her husband is going through a faith crisis and that as she has looked into some of the things he has concerns about, she has concerns as well. She said she isn't coming to church until she makes more sense of the things she's been reading. She said she did think about coming alone but doesn't want to take the kids and isn't even sure about coming by herself. Standing there on her front porch, I felt prompted to say the following, "Rather than worrying about what this thing online says or what this person from church says, make it a matter of prayer. Make it about your relationship with Heavenly Father, personal revelation and what The Spirit teaches you about it." I told her about a talk I heard in General Conference a while back and the speaker (I don't recall who) encouraged us to doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith. I felt the Spirit as I said these things to her and hope she did as well. One thing I wish I had said that I will take as a learning experience for the next time I'm in this situation is that there is no shame in questioning.