Conference Weekend

Today I am grateful for sunshine.  I'm grateful that I was able to be a stay at home Mom when my children were small.  I'm grateful today for a job that is still somewhat flexible and that allows me to pay the bills. 

It has been a great weekend, with a wondeful opportunity to attend my Colombia Bogota Missionary Reunion this past Friday, and then spend time with family as we listened to the various sessions of General Conference.  This is only the 2nd missionary reunion that I have been aware of since I returned from my mission nearly 30 years ago.  None of my missionary companions were able to attend, but two of the sisters that I traveled with from the MTC in Provo to Bogota were there, and it was nice to reconnect with them, and with several of the Elders that I was also able to serve with.  Our mission was large in area, and outside of Bogota, most areas were quite remotely disconnected with the rest of the mission.  I was in Bogota for about 3 weeks, and then in outlying areas for the rest of my mission, so there were many many missionaries that I really did not become aquainted with.  However, it was nice to be able to visit briefly with President and Sister James and Penny Dunn, and to hear them speak, and to see the photos that other missionaries had to share.  The Mission was a challenge for all of us, but a great learning and growing experience.  I was able to meet may wonderful, faithful people and to see and experience a marvelously beautiful, though troubled country.  Most importantly of all, we were able to teach many of our brothers and sisters about the wonderful plan of salvation, The Book of Mormon, and the restoration of the Lord's true church to the earth, and help them along the path to eternal life.

I love General Conference.  I again took copious notes and need to review them and renew my goals and aspirations, one of which is stronger personal prayers and relationship with my Heavenly Father.  Life is not easy, and it is easy to get discouraged.  I need to know his will for me each and every day. 

And now it's time to get on with the day.  I hope that your day is wonderful and that you find much to be grateful for!

Jobs

We have been very blessed during the past few years with good job opportunities in our family.  I guess it comes with the territory of having young adults needing to pay for their educations and preparing to leave the nest and support themselves.  My DH and I are proud of all of our children and how well they have worked and studied and prepared themselves to be contributing members of society.  All are currently employed except for DD4, a high school junior who is currently looking for her first job.  So far all of them have been able to finance their own college educations through work, scholarships, and grants.  If there was a need for a temporary loan from us, it was paid back in full.  Even though not every job has been exactly what was hoped for, we're grateful that we have been able to finance these educations without outside debt and loans.  In just the past two weeks DD2 and DD3 have secured wonderful new jobs in their chosen fields of study that should allow them to continue their educations without debt.   It is a wonderful blessing to our family. 

The past few years have actually been quite the struggle for DH and I financially.  The family business has not been doing well due to the economy, but we both have  outside jobs that have so far allowed us to care for the basic needs of our family.  They are not the jobs of our dreams, but we are very blessed and grateful for what the Lord has seen to bless us with.  We have faith that our present situation will not last for too many years, and that the Lord will continue to guide and direct our paths so that we can continue to care for our family and for each other.