Great Wisdom!!!

"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it." Mark Twain

Connie Sokol recently wrote this and I loved it! I really need to hear it so I am posting it here for myself mainly as it is a great reminder for me as I work with all kinds of different people.

"Working with people can be Dickens-like: it can be the best of times and the worst of times. Although many of us feel blessed to work with kind and amazing angels, most of us meet or deal with people that, to be succinct, need a chill pill or a good swift kick. That is, until we walk in their moccasins. Reading the following from Brad Wilcox in Raising the Bar gave food for my soul on this very subject:

"When someone lies to us or lets us down, we can look for the secret. What has happened in his life to make him act this way? When someone gossips, look for the secret. What has made that person so insecure? What kind of pain has been dealt with to cause such low self-esteem? When someone has pulled away rejecting the very expressions of love that are so needed, look for the secret. What has made her feel so angry, alone, and devalued?"

This week when rubbing shoulders with each other, I invite us to look for the "secret", the emotional clues that will help us better understand another, and the ability to walk in their moccasins, or Nikes, or stilettos, for just a little while.

OK I know who has some great pictures of the Family Reunion!

When I was at John and Annette's home I saw some of his great photos from the family reunion. So I took off a good portion of my pictures off this site as his are WONDERFUL and I want him to send them quickly . I can't wait until you all see them too! He has an amazing camera.

I ordered all of the pictures from the photographer on October 22nd and he said it would take two to three weeks. So I imagine I will have them in my hands by November 12th and then I will mail them out to each individual family. Thank you for being so patient with me.

Our weekend in Boise!!!

This last weekend we were in Boise to celebrate Matt's dad playing in at Boise State 50 years ago against Tyler college. Boise state won the game 22-0. It was so cool to be a part of their exciting weekend as we attended a Boise State game and sat on the 2nd row. Boise State played against the Unverisity of Hawaii and it was one of the best games I have ever been too. After the first quarter they had all of the players that had played fifty years ago come on the field and they honored them. It was so neat to watch. We really enjoyed seeing Matt's parents and his Grandparents Przybylski. We had such a great time to visit with them and go to church with them too! They are both such amazing people. I am so grateful for their influence in my life.

While we were there the red carpet was rolled out by Annette and John and family. We had a wonderful time visiting and the cousins love playing with one another. It is so much fun to watch them play together. Annette is so fun to talk to and I thoroughly enjoy her company. Jessica is such a beauty and certainly resembles her mom!

Mason played football while we were there too. He looked so strong in his football uniform. We were sad we didn't get to watch his game. Colton and Steven play so well together it is too bad they don't live closer! On Sunday after going to two wards we left to go back home for school and work. It was funny we went to two sacrament meetings and both were about charity. It is something I always need to be working on. Thanks for a great weekend to all! We did forget to bring our camera to John and family! We love you all!

The marlin Matt caught while he was deep sea fishing in Cabo.

Matt spoke out at the prison

Matt has really enjoyed being on the high council that is until it was his turn to speak out at the prison. He was very nervous because he was supposed to speak for 35 minutes and he also couldn't bring any notes either. So it was a little daunting for him. He was speaking to one of the women's wards our stake is over and the topic he was given was temple marriage. I think that must have also been part of his reason to be so reluctant. He found out also that while you speak that the women have a tendency to speak out and ask you direct questions too. Well, he spoke and felt good about how he did, but he did have one woman ask him if she could get married to her female partner in the temple. After speaking he decided it wasn't so bad, but then we found out that our stake is no longer over the prison branches as of January 09. So it looks like this is his one and only prison speaking assignment.

General Conference

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to watch General Conference. I feel so much gratitude for my membership in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. I am so blessed to be a member of the restored gospel. I so enjoyed watching General Conference and hearing from the brethren and sisters. What a wonderful way to be edified. I always receive so much at conference that I know I need to work on, but I just so grateful that the Lord continues to give us guidance and revelation. I had so many favorite talks at this conference, I think some of my favorites were President Uctdorf, Elder Nelson, Elder Bednar's, and the prophets message on enjoying the journey.

One other piece of great news I got was that Matthew ran the marathon in Saint George and he qualified to be in the Boston Marathon. How did I get so fortunate to rub shoulders with such awesome siblings?