The A&A Adventure Continues

There is something that I missed out on while I was a young adult...having a close girlfriend.  So when my daughter Audrey went to college in the fall of 2002 one of the things that I prayed for was that she would be able to find a close friend to share her experiences with.  My prayers were answered with her first  roommate Amanda.  The four years they spent sharing an apartment together was an adventure for all!!  Each family received a DVD of their college adventures at the end of each year.  To this day we still watch them a laugh together. 

Both graduated from BYU-Idaho.  Audrey went on to marry Toren and they have made me Nana to Austin.  In June Amanda is getting married and I am sure that Audrey and Amanda are already planning how they can live next door to each other.

Stay tuned to the Adventures of

 Audrey and Amanda...

Part 2 - "Family Life"

Buried Treasure

The other night I attended an informal meeting sponsored by my church relating to record keeping.  It was relating to the way our church keeps records and documents of historical benefit.  I started to think about my blog and how I use it as an online journal. I could never keep a handwritten journal, I have tried for some thirty years and have failed miserably,  When I moved to Hong Kong in 2009 I started my blog to help keep my family informed of what was happening with my new life in Asia. My blog has been a sort of comfort to me and a place where I can express myself. 


While the presenters were speaking about the importance of records, I realized that even if no one reads, views or comments on my blog it is of great worth to me.  It is much easier for me to write things on my blog then in a journal - I think it is the accountability factor of knowing that someone might, just by chance, read what I have written, so I take the time to really think before I write. My blog is titled Heidi's Heartland, for a purpose; I have lived in many different places - but my home is always where my heart is.  I wanted to share not only the wonderful adventures that I am experiencing but also the personal growth, mentality and spiritually that I find myself undergoing.  Many of the things I share have very personal meaning only to me, and that is how it should be - others reading might find themselves reading between the lines to understand the meaning, but I assure you that they are just simple messages to remind me of the blessing that I have in my life.  I have no big secrets, I would like to think that I am a open book, with some well turned down pages that I review over and over because I don't have my story just right yet.  So as with my life - this blog is an on going adventure that has become very important to me.   

I was reading today about Anne Frank...

On Saturday, 20 June 1942, Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who eventually died in the Holocaust, wrote the following in her personal journal: “I haven’t written for a few days, because I wanted first of all to think about my diary. It’s an odd idea for someone like me to keep a diary; not only because I have never done so before, but because it seems to me that neither I—nor for that matter anyone else—will be interested in the unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl. Still, what does that matter? I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart” (Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl [1952], 2).

Much like Anne,  I too have things buried deep inside me that are just waiting to come out. At times I have no one to really share things with and living overseas can be a lonely place; your old friends seem to put your friendship on hold, you are apart from family - you feel disconnected in away.  Of course you make new friends, but as any expatriate knows change is a constant - you are always saying good bye and hello.  My blog has become a way for me to feel connected to someone, even if it is only with myself.

Today, I was reading an article on journals, the author said "As we use personal journals for places to think, feel, discover, expand, remember, and dream, I believe we will come to better understand  Ezra Taft Benson’s words: “The Lord works from the inside out” (A Witness and a Warning [1988], 64).

My blog is a place for me to think, feel, discover, expand, remember and to dream.  I am looking forward to uncovering the treasure that I have buried deep inside while dreaming of treasure yet to be discovered with in myself. 

Dear Austin

Dear Austin,

There are not many things in this world that can compare with being a NANA.  I have waited so long and now that I am a NANA - I live so very far away.  Living here in Thailand is a wonderful experience and would be made even better if I could share it with you.  I want you to know that I miss and love you very much.  Please try  really hard to learn to say NANA in the next 5 weeks.  I know that is huge amount of pressure for an 11 month old, but I am sure you are up to the task.  You will be ONE when I have the change to hold you again, and that means that you are growing up way to fast.  I am waiting to play with you.

  I have been practicing...

Easter Dress

I remember when I was a little girl my mom would make me beautiful Easter dresses.  My mother is very talented in the sewing department and I, well lets just say that I would not make the cut if they had a show called...

"So you think you can SEW?"

I haven't had a new Easter dress in such a long time and this was the year for something special....

MORE

It was the night before Easter and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse...wait that is not right.  It is the night before Easter and all through the day not a thought of my Savior came my way...until I had a moment to ponder and pray...

As I pondered my mind wondered to the lyrics of  one of my favorite songs

More

By Kenneth Cope

More steady, more sure

More trusted, more pure

Some say it doesn’t matter

More trained and more aware

More aim to get me there

I climb this far

You raised the bar

You want my heart

More fierce desire to stand against the wind

More blazing fire when darkness is closing in

More love inspired changed within

So there’s more and more of me to give

More words to learn and know

More etched upon my soul

Some say it doesn’t matter

More tried, more true

Less me and much more you

I stretch this tall

You sound the call

You want my all.

You keep reaching out, calling out to me for

More strength in shoulders to face the war with sin

More wise and bolder to save the souls of men

A more faithful soldier to the end

You want more and more of me to give

More love, more light

More purpose, more serve with all my might

I need more hope, more faith, more patience

Each day I pray for more

More fire, more zeal

More spirit to know what is real

More courage, more joy

More grateful, more true

More humble to trust and do

You call, I hear, I’ll walk the path that’s set in stone

My heart is set on getting home

And what on earth could ever matter more

In this day and age of selfishness it is the desire of my heart to be MORE like my Savior.  I can't think of anything that should matter more then getting back to my home in Heaven.  Some days it does seem impossible, but I pray for MORE days to try harder. 

I want it to be EASTER "MORE" often!  

Perfect Honesty

This past week I have been studying the word honesty, it was a lesson that was given at church on Sunday that sparked my desire to learn more about this virtue.  I believe that I am an honest person, yet a phrase that was read in class on Sunday  had me wondering,“…for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things…”.  My first thought when I read this was is there an unperfect way to be honest? Honesty is defined as,

1.   Marked by or displaying integrity; upright

2.   Not deceptive; genuine.

3.   Equitable; fair.

4.  Characterized by truth; not false.

5.   Of good repute; respectable.

6.  Virtuous; chaste.

Just by the definition of honesty, which comes from the word honor, there is no such thing as unperfect honesty or half honest, or a quarter honest.  One is either honest or not, yet the writer used the words…” for they were perfectly honest” to describe the people he was talking about.  WHY?

 If we use the word perfect to mean complete and wholly, then it stands to reason that these to whom he is referring were complete honest.  This made me wonder if many of us are not honest, we think we are but we fall short of being “completely” honest.  If honesty is a virtue then dishonesty is a vice.  It stands to reason , one of the oldest vices in our history is dishonesty.  It dates back to the Garden of Eden and the fall of Adam. It is as if dishonesty is the first vice, or as the dictionary defines it: a default, error or blemish, of the “natural” man.  One just has to observer children; almost without thought they rely on the vice of dishonesty when confronted in any given situation to avoid immediate consequences.  We as humans seem to have a defect, a major flaw that makes us …human!

 

The thirteenth article of (my) faith begins, “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men…”.  I find it interesting that the first of these character traits we should develop is honesty.  It would seem that honesty is the first virtue and the others rely on it to achieve them.

Elder David A. Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, gave a speech to college students titled, “BE HONEST”.  I would like to quote a portion of that speech as it changed how I think about what it means and takes to be completely honesty.

“Becoming people of integrity and honesty does not occur quickly or all at once, nor is it merely a matter of greater personal discipline. It is a change of disposition, a change of heart. And this gradual change of heart is one that the Lord accomplishes within us, through the power of His Spirit, in a line-upon-line fashion. For example, in Philippians 2:12, Paul encourages the Saints to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” But how are we to do that? Note the answer that follows in verse 13: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” That is, we give ourselves to the Lord and choose to be changed. He is working on us and in us.

 Remember that becoming people of integrity and honesty is not simply a matter of more personal determination, more grit, and more willpower; rather, it is accomplished through the enabling power of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I believe the best test of our integrity and honesty is when we personally enforce in our own lives that which ultimately cannot be enforced. There are so many aspects of being honest and of living the gospel that simply cannot be enforced in our lives by anyone else. You and I bear the responsibility to become people of integrity and honesty—people who are true and trustworthy when no one is watching and when no one else is around.”

I thought that I was an honest person, yet when I read this I knew that I wanted to be this kind of honest. I can see that it is something that needs to be worked on every day until I am complete, finished just like my Savior.  He is the perfect example of honesty and He is the only one who can help me put off the “natural” man vice of dishonesty and become 

“…perfectly honest and upright in all things.”

I had not come up with a personal mantra for 2011 but after writing this post I think I just did...

"Perfect Honesty is something that I can attain, with the pure intentions of my heart”

Spring Break- Phi Phi and ME

The amazing places I get to visit while living here in Thailand are incredible.  We are trying to take advantage of seeing as much of this part of the world as we can, you never know when.."the gig is up, Ms Price" (what movie is that from?)  I try to plan one education trip/vacation - last fall it was The Great Wall in China so this break it was a fun relaxing trip, Ko Phi Phi Don, an island off of Thailand. 

 It was one of the small islands that was ravaged by the 2004 Tsunami, 700 hundred people were killed on this small island.  The island is only accessible by ferry and once on the island the only way to get around is to walk/hike or take a taxi, a water taxi.   The water is  a clear turquoise color and it has lovely white sandy beaches.  We enjoyed laying in the sun (well I did, Ron and John preferred the room or the shade), scuba diving, kayaking and just spending time away from Bangkok. 

"Getting There"

"First Impressions"

"Phi Phi Paradise Bungalows "

"Under the Sea"

A Room with a View"

It all came to a close and I found myself on the ferry boat returning back to Krabi to check in for the hour flight back to Bangkok. Fun was had by all, including our guest, "Flat Stanley", from Jordan River Utah.  

Sunrise Sunset

The other day I watched Fiddler on the Roof and was struck by how much I more understood Tevye!  This life is constantly changing and so many things are out of our control.  I admit I found myself a little misty eyed when Tevye started to sing Sunrise Sunset ... 

Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older
When did they?
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday
When they were small?
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

I realized that my life has been full of many sunrises and sunsets and the years have swiftly gone by, yet there are many more wonderful sunsets and sunrises to come.