Fellowshipping When It Comes To The Mormon Religion.

When the temple was first announced I made it a goal that when it was finally built to be open to the public that I would bring at least one soul to come and feel what I feel when I enter inside. And to get an idea of what temples are all about. 

And I did. 

Words cannot express how great it feels to share the love I have for the Lord, the temples, and His gospel. It is something that I have learned to do in a subtle, kind, tactful, and fearless way. I love the euphoric feeling I get after I've shared my conversion story, and testimony of the Savior, and the Book of Mormon. I have such a passion for sharing, and I'm so grateful that my lovely friend Cherie accepted my invitation in coming with me. She loved every part of the tour, the fact that families can be together forever. She loves the whole purpose of what temples are all about, and even though she had a few questions that were a tad bit hard for me to answer it's nice to know that I can turn to the scriptures to give her a more accurate one! 

A week before I brought Cherie I drove and picked up my dear friend, and her girls, and we all toured the temple together. It's so nice to also bring someone who has been a member less that six years, and no matter what trials they may face they know that the church is true, and that they had the desire to attend the open house in hopes to become a better person. This is my hope for me too! This is exactly why I love going to the temple! So that we can spiritually grow, and do better. 

I have learned that no matter what religion others may be, and what struggles someone may be going through which causes us not to attend church more often that love, communication, and reaching out in being a friend, having a genuine love, and understanding in what they're going through will help uplift them, and give them the extra strength they need to help keep them going. We all need friends like that in our lives who will help build us up in wanting to do more for ourselves so that we can be able to serve others. 

I love that Chelsea has such a strong love for the temple at such a young age, and she's not even 12 yet! Once she turns 12 she has already decided which temple she'd like to go to with her little recommend to do work in, and that is the Hartford Temple! How fortunate we are to be having another temple built in the east coast! 

Love, love that we have so many temples close to us, and when I read the numbers of how many people attended the open house for the Philly temple blew me away! Over 140,000! What a wonderful blessing for our area to see much fruit! It is my hope that we can all make the time to attend this temple now that some of us live less than an hour away! 

The Philadelphia temple is now closed to the public, but if you are willing to drive a few hours to attend the open house for the temple in Connecticut it begins on September 22nd through October 30th. I implore you to please make the time to go! We've already had a glimpse of it from the corner grounds, and look forward to touring inside it! 

the blessings of friendship & an expression of gratitude.

Taking Sierra to the airport the other day was surreal. I haven't shed too many tears...yet. It feels as if she is on "vacation" visiting family. I'm sure it'll hit me later on, but I know she's in good hands. Sometimes I wonder which school Sierra would have chosen had we stayed in Utah instead of moving across the country. I wonder if she would have gone east. Most kids tend to stay closer to home for college (especially if you're a mormon), and some who have never been anywhere else except being stuck in the same place for 18 years may want to venture outside their hometown (again...especially if you're a mormon.) Who knows! I am just so happy that Sierra got to experience life as a mormon living in Philly surrounded by "the world", and that she made the wise choice of opening her eyes deciding on her own that she found her resolve with school. Her ambivalence toward UARTS helped her open her heart in prayer knowing what she really needed to do, and where she really needed to continue her education. Her spirituality is important, and she would never want to divorce that. 

I'm so grateful for all the friends I met through all the moving we've done in the past 10 years. Having a nomadic life was indeed a blessing after all. I got to meet new friends, experience the church in other states, hold different church callings, learn, grow, and seriously get out of my comfort zone to see the differences from living here, there, and oh yeah...over there too! I loved, loved every second of living that part of my life, and it was all for a good reason. And the day has come for all of those friends from long ago to come and lend a helping hand in fellowshipping. How wonderful it is to know that we have friends (& family) from all places.

One of the main things I learned while moving from state to state, and apartment to apartment all over the Salt Lake valley is the fact that the church is true no matter where you go...and so are your 'real' friends. That's the beauty of the Lord, and how He works when it comes to the gospel. 

As soon as i posted this picture mentioning how Sierra was going out west for college my cell phone began blowing up with notifications from friends we knew while living in Utah & North Carolina in regards to Sierra. Letting me know that if she needs anything that they'll be there for her. They even want her over for dinner, and friends of hers since she hasn't seen she was 11 want to get together with her. My heart filled up with so much gratitude, and a little bit of jealousy (the good kind) because Sierra is going to see some of our amazing friends before me! It was so humbling, and sometimes it makes me want to move back to the places where I met these wonderful & gracious people. 

Oh what a fun, bittersweet day it was to have seen her off, and to have read all the wonderful messages I received via text, email, Facebook, and Instagram from awesome, awesome friends. Sierra has your phone numbers so be expecting a text or phone call from her soon.

I also wanted to note the morning of Sierra's departure. Chelsea really wanted to see her off so we called her out from school (what is she going to miss...trigonometry?) I had asked Lexie if she wanted to come too, but knowing the 'focused' girl that she is opted 'no'. Besides...she had a test, and graduation pictures to take that day (who takes 8th grade graduation pics anyway??) What a waste of dough!! They said their goodbyes early that morning before Lex headed off to school, and had so much fun together during the winter break, and that was good enough for them. 

But these two really wanted to come see her off, and since Noah has a love for airplanes wanted to see them take off too.

He still thinks Sierra is on the plane.

Fearless fellowshipping

"In everyone's life at sometime, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."

~Albert Schweitzer

How many of us are guilty of entering a store, walking down the street, or going to a park, and having random people pass us by without even uttering a word as to saying 'hello' to them. I know I am. There are times when I will notice someone, and just look at them and say hello, and times when I am just too busy to notice. It amazes me at how scared or uncomfortable we really are at attempting to do something as simple as uttering one word. If it's so easy for us to do this with our neighbors, and friends of the same faith...why not a stranger?

Lately, I have been striking random conversation with various people in the places I've been going to. Whether it's at Chelsea's bus stop, the Goodwill store (I love thrift), or any public place. It comes pretty easy for me because I fellowship a lot in the church I attend. I love people. I love meeting new friends, and making nonmembers feel welcome. I love smiling at people, even if it's not reciprocal. I look at attending church and going out in public places as the same thing.

Being an example.

I know some us are afraid to confront someone and just say 'hello'. If you think about it it's not that hard. We tend to be in our own comfort zone, and just pass our fellow brothers and sisters down the hall without a smile, without a hello, and sometimes without even looking at them. We are all different, and I thank my Heavenly Father for how He has made me into being the 'fellowshipper' and becoming someones's 'sunshine friend'. It wasn't easy at first to just walk up to someone and say, "hi, I'm Rose." It's easier if you are outgoing. Believe me it took a lot of hello's, shaking of the hands, hugs, and welcomes for me to become the fearless outgoing Rose that I am today. The more you do it, and mean it...the easier it gets.

Our actions speak louder than words.

I realize that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father here on this earth, and that it is up to us to open our mouth, and set an example whether we are at church or in a public place. I can't even begin to tell you how many friends I've made by constantly going to the same post office and store, going to the same cashier, and slowly developing a friendship with them that they end up being a friend of mine on Facebook! My daughters think that is so cool! It is a beautiful thing when you create a friendship based on the example you have set. Whether it was a smile, simple 'hello', or that cashier saying to you, "Your back, it's so nice to see you again" that started a friendship...you know that you did something right that made their day because they accepted you as a friend right from the start.

I am grateful for the talent that I have in being fearless and in letting my light shine. I know that it's impossible to say hello to every single person while your out shopping, especially during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I encourage you to try to set your own busyness aside for the sake of the holidays in hopes that it'll turn into a 24/7, 365 day thing.  I know that it is possible to smile, and say hello to just one. I know it's impossible to shake hands with every single person in your congregation, but it is possible to smile, and shake hands with just one. I will continue to try to do my very best in fellowshipping others whether it's at church, or in a public setting, and helping others rekindle their spirit.

SMILE, you never know whose day you'll be uplifting, and what future friendships you'll be cultivating...especially during this holiday season.