The Mission Field

The church outside of Utah, or the "mission field" as people call it, is such a different experience. The members here live in a world of persecution and have to really choose for themselves that they believe. I'm not saying that the church back in Utah doesn't get any persecution. I am sure Utah as a whole gets its fair share, but more often there are individual attacks.

In Michigan, I am in a ward where I am one of twenty relief society sisters. I found out yesterday that there are 8 of us that are baptized (which is awesome because investigators are so fun to be around and their learning). Yesterday in our lesson we were talking about persecution and how we react to it. The teacher asked the class:

How many of you first heard about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day 

Saints from a resource that was meant to be negative towards the church?

We counted 9 out of the 12 investigators! I was first shocked to see so many hands raised and then was overcome with happiness that they still showed up to learn for themselves. I learned that the downtown Grand Rapids area, where we currently are living is a very anti-mormon area. I heard stories about the Stake Presidency instructing the members to remove all bumper stickers or things that would reveal that you are affiliated with this church because of many accounts of trashed cars. There is also a cop on duty for the youth's mutual nights. I was so grateful for these strong courageous members! I know missionaries and people outside of Utah probably hear and see stories like this every day. Personally, my eyes would have never truly been open to this if I would not have left the Utah church environment.

One more thing, we were also discussing in our lesson yesterday about blooming where you are planted. One lady shared how her callings have really made her happy and the joy she gets from them (she is the choir director). She explained that she has been trying to get back West for the past fifteen years but for whatever reason she never made it. She has come to realize that the Lord has allowed her to stay here and be the strength in this area. She also has the opportunity to work in the area of the church that she wanted. She said "back in Utah you practically need a bachelors in Music to be considered for a musical calling. I never would have been a choir director back there." People laughed but I couldn't help but nod my head! Shaun and I always talk about how much more work we are being able to do out here. Having these INCREDIBLE experiences with the youth of the church and thinking, back home in Utah we were sunbeam teachers {which was a blast of course}. It makes me laugh. I know there is some truth in what she was saying but I really just loved her comment because it reminded me of all the "blooming" that I am doing out here on this adventure of ours.

I am so grateful for the pioneers and previous church members that truly gave their life for this church and went through unimaginable persecution. You always hear that we are "modern day pioneers" but I never really felt like that until I came out here and am hearing stories of strong courageous faith. The persecutions will come and they will come hard but this true church will NEVER cease to be on this earth! It will keep moving on like a train, a train that I will always strive to be on.


side note: my beautiful sis missionary came home from Albania due to some nasty parasite situation. she's on the mend. I'm grateful for her example of a person that has a love for the gospel and wants to shout it to the world.

steak

One of the things that people have been telling us to do before the snow comes is drive up the coast shore of Michigan. Last weekend it wasn't too cold so it was the perfect opportunity. The drive up there was beautiful. And we just barely got to catch the end of Fall!

We stopped in this beautiful small town called Traverse City. We had brunch at the cutest little cafe, I felt like I was in a movie (i also had the most delicious steak omelet, and i don't even love steak. yep, trying to eat like an adult since…well since i married SJ).

Lake Michigan was SO awesome to see!

Then we took an amazing scenic drive around the lake to a beach area and a little lighthouse. Unfortunately the lighthouse was one that was part of a house so I didn't even care to document it. I'll find my real lighthouse soon!

 It was such an fun day. Total driving time was probably about five hours, which doesn't bother me because I love road trips and when it's so beautiful the time flies. Sing-a-long's with the husband also gets the time moving! I'm grateful for Shaun's job and the flexibility he has with his schedule which lets us do such fun things.

i love him

While we were in Utah last month, we got our beautiful friend Emma Van Wagoner to snap a few shots of us. I wanted some new photos on my walls besides our wedding ones. She also took some fun ones that really show our personalities for our Christmas card {that aren't pictured}. It was such a fun time! I think it is ten times better when you really know your photographer---it is so much more comfortable. I can't even decide what ones I love the most, there are just too many. Here are just a few. Thank you, thank you Emma.

Hot Topic

I am obsessed with Halloween. Usually for this holiday I dress up at least 2 or 3 times. Unfortunately we are in Michigan, away from our friends in Georgia and our family in Utah so Shaun said many times "who are we even dressing up for?" I was still determined to have a good Halloween and it ended up being one of my top favorite years. Shaun is usually over the top with his costumes because he is trying to win a contest of some sort so we went much simpler this year since it was just the two of us. So we decided on:

Goths 

{unless your definition for a goth is a viking or a warrior like my G'pa}

It ended up being a human experiment. We went and walked around the mall because I wanted to show off our look a little bit and maybe find a few of "our kind" because that is usually where they hang out. It was so entertaining to have people look at us and then quickly turn away when we make eye contact with them. They were never really sure if we were in costume or just going on with our everyday lives. I LOVED the attention, I felt like a celebrity {yes andrea & kristine, I am still in it for the glory}. However, sometimes I did feel like I was being looked up and down from a few judgmental people---especially the elderly people or parents. It almost looked like they were appalled that we were even out in public. 

We then went to dinner and asked our host as he was sitting us if he thought we were in costume or not. He got super awkward and stumbled on his words not wanting to say the wrong thing or offend us. 

"no..um, you two look fine! we get a lot of people like you around here."

We told him we were in costume and showed him a picture of what we really looked like. He was laughing and was so relieved. We ate dinner and came home to watch Ghostbusters on TV. I had never seen that movie and I guess you just had to be alive during that time to enjoy it because I thought it was the dumbest movie.  Overall it was such an awesome Halloween and a very fun memory. Hope everybody's Halloween was fantastic!!

homemade canvas

When I was in Utah, my sister in-law and I wanted to do a little crafternoon session. I saw a tutorial for a homemade canvas that I was really wanting to try. Margaret had some wood laying around in her garage so that was perfect (you can easily pick up wood from Home Depot or Lowes). She chose a skinnier piece of wood that was the exact measurement for her picture and I had a thicker piece that could stand up more like a picture block.

1. Paint your block the color that you want the background to be. 

(In Margaret's case, only the sides would show the color)

2. Once the paint drys, cover your wood with GLOSS-LUSTRE mod podge so the
wood has a shiny look to it.

3. Once you place your picture where you want it, cover the whole thing 

with mod podge evenly.

*if it's not even, you may see lines after it dries* 

the white color is normal when you first put the podge on

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We loved how they turned out and I am currently making a few more that I can hang on the walls!