It's My Birthday

I got to wear this shirt around the house today, cause it's my birthday.

I stole the shirt from Ethan's pile of stuff that is still in the basement. He got it on his mission. We were missing an “8” candle so we made due with some math multiplication, haha. It was a good day! Everyone singing to me ~

I wore the shirt before church ~ Abi helped do my hair. I just thought she was going to touch it up but then she kept curling everything. I felt like a queen with my attendant serving me, and that's ok since "it's my birthday." 

I took that pic for my BeReal, and Ethan commented "That's my shirt". And sent me this realmoji ~

This was Ethan's BeReal (they were in the car on their way up? or maybe on their way to church) 

Quite hilarious, what a facial character. He better be careful - what if he messes up his teeth doing this hamster look? Or what if the wind changes and makes his face freeze - then it will be permanent! Funny boy. So, then we all got dressed and out the door for church. LOVED the hymns, talks and lesson today I can't find my notes at the moment, but basic take away - We haven't messed up so bad that Christ can't help us with ANYTHING. Bro Clark shared a time when he got laid off, he didn't tell his wife yet, at church people didn't know, but he was given a blessing that was a huge comfort. People might not know what we're going through (it's not a surgery or pregnancy that people are aware of) but God knows, he will helps us. Our job is to not murmur, like the children of Israel did at the red sea, and to not question the Lord's care, like the apostles did in the raging tempest... Our job is to FEAR NOT and to Go forward. God will help us. Whatever big problem we think we have, like Joseph Smith trying to come up with $3000 to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon, IT IS SMALL and easy for our great God. HE IS ABLE. That's kinda thought that I'd be having this whole past week. Loved the Follow Him Podcast with Gerrit Dirkmaat start at 12:45, so good. I'm going to paste this here from the show notes for that episode cause I loved it - 

"Now, Martin Harris is a well-off guy. Joseph Smith comes from the bottom rung of society. His family's so poor that while they're translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph's family is going to lose their home. Joseph himself with his farm down in Harmony can't make the payments on it. Martin Harris is a well-off guy, and the Lord has commanded Joseph to bring forth the Book of Mormon to the world. There is no discernible way that Joseph can do that. To give you an idea: when Joseph finally gets the quote on how much it is to publish the Book of Mormon, and by the way, he's got to pay upfront, it is $3,000. Now, that sounds like a lot if you're a BYU professor, but for a lot of people listening, $3,000 doesn't seem like a whole lot maybe in our world. But in their world, the average person makes somewhere around $200 to $250 a year. Joseph bought a farm in Harmony that was almost 14 acres with a farmhouse on it, and apparently some other outbuildings and a well, the trees are already cut down on a lot of it, so it's already farmable. He buys that 14-acre farm and house for $200. 14:58 The cost of printing the Book of Mormon is 15 times Joseph Smith's entire net worth if he did own his home, which he doesn't, because he can't make the payments on his own home. To put that in our perspective today, the Lord is essentially saying that you need to come up with, in a lump sum, 15, 16, 17 times the amount of money you make annually. That seems impossible. To me, it's impossible. I would have to have an angel come to tell me to believe that I could do that. Martin Harris not only is the only person who believes Joseph: he's the only means whereby Joseph can even perceive that there's any way this could possibly be published."

So that is why Joseph asked the Lord so many times to let Martin take the manuscript, cause he was trying to figure it out this big financial concern, and that was the only way he could see that it would be possible to pay for the Book of Mormon publishing (and it did end up being the way it was published, by Martin mortgaging his farm.) But Joseph was told to not give Martin the manuscript of the translation, and later is chastised in Doctrine and Covenants 3 for his carnal desires! Continuing to quote the podcast 23:10

"And it starts out with this: "The works and designs and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught; for God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth He turn to the right nor to the left, neither doth He vary from that which He has said." Verse three: "Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men." He goes on to chastise Joseph pretty severely. Because Joseph had made this covenant and he'd broken it. And why had Joseph broken it? In Joseph's world, he couldn't possibly see any way that he could maintain the publication of the Book of Mormon without Martin Harris. That is impossible. And it's not like I've got people falling off the back of milk wagons everywhere believing the things that I'm saying. No one is believing me. Outside of my own family, who have no money at all, no one believes me at all. No one. I have to do this for Martin or I won't even be able to do what God wants me to do. The Lord says, "For although a man may have many revelations and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength and sets at not the counsels of God," the counsels of God told him multiple times not to take them, "and he follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires," this is not a reference to Joseph carnally wanting something sinful. Carnal as in earthly. Your focus was, how could I possibly pay for this? I understand why you have that focus, and as God, I told you not to have that focus. Carnal desires. “He must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon you. Behold, you have been entrusted with these things, but how strict were your commandments; remember also the promises that you've made: that if you did not transgress them," and then probably the biggest stinger, "Behold, how oft have you transgressed the commandments and laws of God and have gone on in the persuasions of men?" Boy, at this point in Joseph's life, it took him four years to get the plates because he just couldn't overcome all of the pressures of the world around him; and then he finally gets them and those pressures of the world are still there. 25:39 Verse seven: "For behold, you should not have feared man more than God. You should have been faithful, and He would have extended His arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary, and He would have been with you in that time of trouble."

  

So, we are in a bit of a time of trouble, but we will trust, we will go forward, we will not be fearful, we will show God where our faith is. It is in him, we trust in his plan and in his tender care. When I find my notes from yesterday I'll put the hymns that touched me too, cause each sacrament hymn, the opening and closing and sacrament all had a line that helped me have hope and feel trust. 

So, back at home, after being spiritually fed, I put on the shirt again. Mel was here from last night, Ethan and Bella came up again (so nice) and Joseph and Eliza who have been in St. George arrived around 6:30. My mom brought over the cake (from Schmidts Bakery) and a few other deluxe cookies and pastries from Schmidts (almond cookies are my fav) so I ate the cookies yesterday and we had cake and ice cream today. And two big salads. Corey's dad came by earlier and I sent him home with two eclairs and a maple bar. My mom and Dad came around 5:30, then Neil and Amy and their daughter Eliza came down for my party around 7. We did a little bit of dancing in the side room (wedding prep, ha!) - we did the Napoleon Dynamite Dance, followed by some Just Dance - YMCA, Spaceship, and Dynamite, and then had food and played games. 

We played Great Dalmuti, which I probably haven't played since Snow College before my mission. And they also brought a Rubik's Race game that the kids all liked. It was fun, it was so nice of them to come down. I caught up a little bit on the blog, which is why it's almost midnight, but I'm in the zone right now... I'm still not done with December, but I'm closer! Gotta finish it before April is over! J and Eliza are sleeping over tonight, and we're going to go on a ride in the morning, so that will be fun! It was a good birthday.