1835, New York

Clara Bell woke up on a beautiful Spring morning, it was five o'clock am and the rooster was cockadoodledooihng. She could hear the birds singing out her window, and the sun was barely peaking over the mountains, and shining on her pillow. Out her window she could see the cherry blossoms blooming on the tree, blowing in the gentle breeze.
Her favorite dress was waiting for her, hanging by her bed. It was yellow, with small blue flowers, with small white buttons that ran along the front. Her aunt Clara made it for her. The Aunt she was named for.

Clara Bell got dressed quickly, because she could hear Momma in the kitchen making breakfast. This week was her birthday week, she would be fourteen. Momma called up the stairs, telling her breakfast was ready. The whole house slammed of Johnny cakes and eggs. She ran down the stairs as fast as she could, to set the table. On the center of the table were eggs, Johnny cakes, milk, cottage cheese, and homemade bread and butter that the family had made the day before.
Sitting at the table was her father Jon, her sister Anna Lee, and her mother Josephine. Josephine was so beautiful with her long brown curly hair, she always had braided. I'm always going to have my hair like momma's, Clara Bell thought to herself.
Her father Jon was reading the weekly post, Clara Bell loved his deep voice, and his facial hair. She like to sit on his lap and hug him. With her getting older, it wasn't proper for a young lady to sit on her father's lap anymore, she missed that. Thinking of feeling his beard and snuggling him, as he would read to her from the Bible.
After Breakfast, it was time for daily chores to be done. Clara Bell got to tend to the chickens. She took the feed and sprinkled the little black seeds all around the pen. This was her favorite chore, it always made her laugh how the chickens would scatter and run to peck at the ground. She refilled their bucket of water from the well and collected the fresh eggs.

When her chores were done, she went to play with the neighbor kids. There were about twelve of them all together. George, Tori, Allen, Leonard, Charlotte, Catherine, Betty, Walter, Anthony, Emily, Sara, and little William. They would bake cookies, play hop scotch, cops and robbers, doctor and patient, and house. It was the life. Springtime meant school was starting soon, for the boys. Clara Bell always wished she could go to school.
Her father taught her to read from the Bible. She knew all about Adam and Eve, Noah and the Ark, and about Moses parting the Red Sea. She loved the stories from the Bible. Music was also a big part of her life. Her father played the trumpet. He used to be in the military marching band. He was a beautiful trumpet player. She loved listening to his melodic trumpeting. She would dance with her sister Anna Lee around the room barefoot. It was her favorite thing to do.

Family History

Wow it is so much fun to do, and I can't put it down. I started this family history class to teach me how to work on my genealogy. I figured everything out pretty much yesterday and now I can't do anything else ;). 

I was up at 6 this morning, I got ready for the day, and to my computer I went. I have been working on sitting sources for all my family lines, going through census records and death certificates, verifying people and dates. I have found missing children, awesome treasures. It is very exciting and rewarding!

I have caught the Spirit of Elijah.

I would urge you to start working on your family history. Even if it is "already done" there is always work that can be done. 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1994/10/the-spirit-of-elijah?lang=eng

Nobile and Great

Waking up, looking around. You walk outside and see

Everyone is moving so fast outside going their places

There is so much work to be done

Can it ever be done?

Yard work, House work, Laundry and Dishes, unpacking

Office work, filing, organizing, calls and letters

Design work, portfolios, painting, lettering and logos

Family time, family history, temple work and Family Home Evening

Church Work, Callings, Visiting Teaching, Temple Attendance

So much to do in the life of the Noble. So much to be done.

Patience will help, time will come, to do lists will get done.

Life goes on. I can do this I know. I must keep pushing, I must keep praying. I must continue onward, ever onward to my goal. Some things will take months to accomplish, but I mustn't give up. I am but a young Noble and Great one, I must build myself up, I must learn and grow, like everyone else.

https://www.lds.org/new-era/2007/09/line-upon-line-abraham-32223?lang=eng

Brotherly Love

Peter 1:2-8 says
"2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

When we are charitable and show brotherly love to others, our  knowledge increases, our patience is added upon, our faith grows, and our blessings will be great. Serving others is what we can do to help Heavenly Father, when we become his hands and allow him to use us as his instrument, we can grow as individuals and escape the world and its temptations, while adding to our spirituality and growth.

Serving others is so important. Service projects need to be implemented more in church, and in families. Organizations can help others by creating activities to provide service to those in need. Families and individuals can do yard work for those around them. There are so many people near you, everyone needs help with something. No one is exempt from needing the work. No one is exempt from being able to except the help.


“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:16–17.)

Quicksand

Walking, talking, moving forward

Something catches your eye

You stop to take a picture because thats a thing

Then you start to sing

Forgetting that once you were moving ever so forward

Quicksand set in, and you didn't notice

You were busy being distracted

Singing and clicking away

Soon half your body is buried alive

It is almost up to your shoulders

You've lost your focus and your phone

You even start to cry

Wiggling and struggling to break free

But it only makes you sink faster and faster

Quickly you remember to pray

You pray for forgiveness for being distracted

You ask for assistance in this scary mess that you are stuck

A warm hand appears from the light and pulls you out of the muck

Once free the hand disappears but you will always remember

The help that appeared when you asked 

You will always remember to keep moving forward

Singing is okay, but you must not stop on quicksand

Even when the view is photo worthy. 

When the Rain Comes

There is a saying that comes to my head, "When it rains it pours." I think that there is something beautiful about finding faith in the fact that rainstorms always will stop eventually. The clouds will always run out of water, and the sun will always come out from behind the clouds to dry the rain. Then the rainbow will shine its light as a reminder from the storm.

Remembering the storms of our lives is important, so that we may learn and grow. We must take what we have been given, and what we are experiencing and ask ourselves, "What must I need to learn from this?" 

Constantly I pray for the ability to make good choices and follow the correct path in life. I believe that sometimes, when I go through my storms of life, it is to help me understand how to be more righteous, and how to serve others more readily. 

It has been raining so much lately, in my life and in the actual weather outside my window. I always say that I have a good day when it rains. I love the rain so much. The smell, the feeling of the temperature, the sounds. 

When I was in 7th grade, I had a tin roof where we lived. Every time it rained, the sound that it would make on the roof is still in my head. A lot happened that year. We moved from our big house to a trailer house, my mother had blood clots in her lungs and nearly died, my grandparents stayed with us, I saw the world in a different light that year to say the least. But I was strong, and the rain kept me going I suppose. I remember those rainstorms.

Peace Comes When We Search

Often I find myself needing peace. Not the kind of peace that some may think, "Make love not war." Peace as in the calm that comes when a higher power shares love with your heart. The peace that comes when it feels like your heart may explode because it is so empty, but somehow it is kept together by the love of God. The warmth of the love from the higher power, that hugs you like a blanket. Peace is a gift. Gifts are given freely, when we ask. Ask and they are given. That seems like an interesting thought to me. Asking for gifts. It wasn't until recently that I realized that I could ask for a specific gift, such as peace. I feel like I need too much or I ask to much of God at times, but He freely gives.

Matthew 7 : 7-8 Says
7 ¶Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

I feel like when we pray, with humility to our Father in Heaven, He wants to help us so much to succeed. He wants to bless us with everything. He is just waiting to bless us, He just needs us to ask, and then He will send our answer. 
I have been asking to feel peace. I have felt that warm love when I needed it the most. I really have felt that love from God. I know He loves me and He hears and answers my prayers. Prayer is real. God lives. Jesus lives. You are never alone. Pray for peace. It will come.