#LightTheWorld

I remember when I was a 12 year old girl, I was asked to read a scripture in church.  It was Matthew 5: 16 which reads “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  I remember a feeling that I had in my heart as I read those words.  I felt it personally.  I needed to be a light for my Heavenly Father.  In 3 Nephi: 18:24 in the Book of Mormon it helps us to understand what that light is, “Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do.” 

It is a blessing to learn about our Savior and to try to be like Him.

Isn’t it amazing, though, how easy it is to fall into moods of selfishness and judgement. I have had a bit of a struggle this past month with thoughts of others not doing enough for me.  “Can’t they see how busy I am?”  “Why am I the one doing all of the work?”  “When will it be my turn to get what I want?”  (Yikes! It’s kind of hard to see those thoughts typed out.)  As I allowed myself to focus on these thoughts, I felt even more frustrated and sad and dark.  It was a depressing darkness that made the everyday processes in life feel hopeless. 

After acting out more than I would like to admit on these thoughts, I was led to question what was causing my pain.  Why didn’t I feel light.  And then I remembered the Source of light.  I remember how it feels to care for others as the Savior would.  I remember how it feels to think of others’ needs before my own.  I remember how it feels to be compassionate with myself.  I remember how it feels to know how the Savior and my Heavenly Father feel about me.  I love feeling His light.  I love sharing it.  It is what truly gives me happiness and peace.

How awesome to recognize this again, as we are given an opportunity to share and enjoy the light of Christ as we can participate in the Light the World celebration.  We can practice His teachings on a daily basis and feel His light in our lives and see it in others!  I hope and plan to take the opportunity to celebrate His life in this way.   I hope you do too!  He truly is my light!

The Lord is my light; the Lord is my strength.
I know in his might I’ll conquer at length.
My weakness in mercy he covers with pow’r,
And, walking by faith, I am blest ev’ry hour.

The Lord is my light, my all and in all.
There is in his sight no darkness at all.
He is my Redeemer, my Savior, and King.
With Saints and with angels his praises I’ll sing.
(“The Lord is My Light”, LDS Hymns no. 89)

Mindy

Change

Change can be hard, but I am grateful for change. My boys have changed, and my family is changing. It is hard, but exciting, and it's ultimately so good!

On July 24th Jordan left and moved to Utah. Megan (aka Moge) came up and drove down with him. Jord is living in Lehi and working in Orem and will be going to school.

This past Saturday Jordan proposed to Moge! They will be getting sealed in the Provo City Center temple on October 26th. (Here is why we build and have temples.) We LOVE Moge, and are so glad she will be joining our family.

On June 7th Brendan received the Melchizedek Priesthood and was ordained to the office of Elder.

On August 1st Brendan opened his mission call. He has been called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and has been assigned to labor in the California Arcadia Mission. He will report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, September 13th, and will prepare to preach the gospel in English.

This past Friday Brendan received his temple endowment in our Spokane temple. This is and was such a sacred, amazing event. I am so grateful for the eternal blessings this does and will provide for Brendan.

I testify that the only way to real happiness is to live the gospel. I love the gospel. I love my sons. I love my family.

Faith and Families are Forever

At the beginning of April our family took a trip to Portland. I have family who I’ve never met who lives in Portland. There have been a few communication attempts between our family. Emails and letters and texts and friend invites. We haven’t been able to reconnect, yet. I didn’t know the names of that family. With this visit to Portland came a renewed want to meet my entire family. Over the next few days, I wrote an email. I asked my dad for the email address and sent an email. For the next several days, I was anxious. I wanted to know if he had replied, and I checked frequently. I was constantly thinking about it. A week later came with no reply. I was super sad. I had imagined this elaborate dream in which this family member read my email and finally wanted to come back and meet me. But that hadn’t happened, at least not yet, so I continued to be sad. It affected me more than I had thought it would. It tore my main focus away from what I really needed to focus on. Finally, I decided I needed to be at peace with the silence. I prayed to my Heavenly Father to help me deal with this sadness. I prayed for help to be ok and at peace. Yes, I also prayed that this family member would respond and that he would know that I love him and his family. But I also know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us. If part of that plan was that he didn’t ever respond, I would need to be ok with that. I needed to trust my Heavenly Father. After that prayer, I’ve had peace. Every time I log into my email account, yes, I hope for a reply, but I’m also trusting in my Heavenly Father and His plan.  I know that one day I’ll meet this family member, whether it’s on this Earth or in heaven in the life after death. I know that we will live forever. I know that families are forever. And that is the hope I hold onto.

Lena

CT Scan and Results, and Future

A text Mindy sent to family on Monday: Hey all...Brad had a scan last week and we found out today it was clean!  Wahoo!  No more scans!!!  Just bloodwork every six months for the next two years.  We are happy for him to have continued health.  :)

3-Year Cancer Survivorship Birthday

Tuesday of this past week marked 3 years since the end of my primary cancer treatment @CancerCareNW (not counting my maintenance chemotherapy).  On that day 3 years ago I finished my last of 6 chemotherapy treatments.  I remember it being a big deal that day - a big deal to the nurses and staff there, and of course a big deal for me and my family.

I think I've written previously about the significance of the 5-year mark when talking about cancer survivorship.  For me, ever since being diagnosed, and since having the experiences me and my family have had over these 3+ years, each and every day has different and deeper meaning for me.

I cherish my relationship with my Heavenly Father - who He is, who I know I am, and what this relationship means to me.  I know He is there, He cares about me, and that He has a perfect plan just for me.  I believe that this plan does not and should not spare me from pain, but when I partner with and rely on Him during my pain and always, it progresses me on the path to returning to Him, and becoming who He wants me to become.  I am so grateful for that.

We Love to See the Temples!

In August Brad’s niece, Brenna, was married in St. George, Utah.  We had the opportunity to drive down there for that wonderful event.  It was fantastic to spend time with our family there.  As we prepared for the trip to southern Utah, we decided to stop at all of the temples (22) along the way.  In our church (as of the date of this post) we have 149 operating temples scattered all over the world (plus 14 under construction, and another 10 that have been announced).

We would like to show you all of our pictures from our visits to the temples, and share information about them with the help of this website: http://mormontemples.org

Rexburg Idaho Temple

Idaho Falls Temple

"Mormon temples are the holiest places of worship on earth for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Within these sacred walls, participants commit to live ethical and morally upright lives and to be faithful to their spouse and family."

Logan (Utah) Temple

Brigham City Utah Temple

"Latter-day saints consider temples to be 'The House of The Lord,' and take great care in their construction and maintenance. They are designed to fit harmoniously into the communities they call home and include beautifully kept gardens and green spaces that are open to the public."

Ogden Utah Temple

Bountiful Utah Temple

Salt Lake City Utah Temple

"Latter-day Saints also believe that having their marriage blessed or 'sealed' in the temple allows family relationships to endure beyond the grave. While legal marriage is binding 'until death do us part,' marriages sealed in the temple can be 'for time and all eternity.'"

Mindy and Brad were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on August 18, 1993.

Jordan River Temple

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

"Temples are distinct from Mormon chapels. Sunday worship services are held in community meetinghouses and are open to everyone. Temple services are attended Tuesday through Saturday at scheduled intervals by small groups of church members."

Draper Utah Temple

Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple

"Mormons believe that through the grace of Jesus Christ all humanity can return to live with God. Religious observances (ordinances) such as baptism are an important part of accepting the divine gift heavenly Father wants all of his children to receive."

Provo Temple

Provo City Center Temple

(The free public open house for the Provo City Center Temple starts on 

Friday, January 15, 2016, and will go through Saturday, March 5, 2016.

The temple will be dedicated in three sessions on Sunday, March 20, 2016, 

with the cultural celebration taking place on Saturday, March 19.)

Payson Utah Temple

We drove past the site of the Cedar City Utah 

Temple - the groundbreaking was happening the next day.

St. George Utah Temple

"Some of [the] ordinances...performed in Temples...include making special 

promises, or 'covenants,' to put the teachings of Jesus Christ into practice. Because 

some people do not have the opportunity to participate in these ordinances 

during life, Mormons perform them by proxy for ancestors who have passed on."

Manti Utah Temple

Twin Falls Idaho Temple

"Temple worship is an essential aspect of religious practice for latter-day saints. 

It is a source of renewal and inner peace that give meaning to life, 

and strengthens their commitment to love and serve others."

Boise Idaho Temple

We also drove past the site of the Meridian Idaho Temple. 

It is set to be completed sometime in 2017.

Columbia River Washington Temple

Spokane Washington Temple

"To me the temple is literally a place I can relax. There are no worries from the outside world inside that building. It also makes me think of the covenants I made there that guide my life and will continue to help me throughout the rest of my time here on earth. I love being in the temple, helping families be reunited on the other side. Awesome stuff!"

~Jordan

"The temple is an amazing place to be. When I go to the temple, I feel so much peace. I can feel the Spirit so strongly. At the temple I don't have to think about anything except for my Savior and what I'm doing at the temple. School, homework, sports or news don't matter in the temple. I can relax in a way that I can't anywhere else. The temple is so quiet and calm. It's one of my favorite places in the world. I love the temple."

~Lena

A Savior is Born

As a family, we wanted to share this message of joy and love with you.

Please take 2 minutes to watch this video:
https://www.mormon.org/christmas

We love you all, and hope you feel peace at this wonderful time of year.

Love, the Reimers

#ASaviorIsBorn