One Year Has Passed

Today, one year ago, we officially started serving our mission in the Utah Provo Mission office. An amazing experience and one I will cherish always. It seems a lot longer than just a year, so much has happened.
I want my grandchildren to know how much I love our Heavenly Father. I have a strong testimony and have loved serving Him. We finished our mission earlier than I had anticipated, because of health concerns, but I will ever be grateful for the lessons I learned along the way. Putting my complete trust and faith in Him and knowing that whatever happens will be His will. And I want my will to completely line up with His will. That is one of the big lessons of life.
Some of you may notice, I changed the name of this blog. I don't know yet, what the future has in store for me, but for now, I am linda.jo.from.lindon.
I will be taking more classes this fall. I love learning and feel blessed to be here in Utah. I still don't know whether BYU will hire me back or which pathway I will take. But my faith has been strengthened and I feel peace in my soul as I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me, loves me unconditionally, and has a plan for me while I am still here on earth.
I want to live with Him again and learn to be completely obedient in the time I have left. Such a blessing to live in these latter days when the fullness of the gospel is on the earth. My love and admiration for the prophet Joseph Smith and the scriptures increased this past year. I will always be a missionary...with or without a formal calling.

HAPPY EASTER !

At this Easter season of hope and renewal we testify of the glorious reality of the atonement and resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. The empty tomb brought comforting assurance and provided the answer to the question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14).

Because of the Savior’s resurrection we will overcome death and become the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace. In a world of trouble and uncertainty, His peace fills our hearts and eases our minds. Jesus is in very deed “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

We give our sure witness that Jesus is the Christ. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit. To each member of the human family He stands as our Advocate, our Savior, and our Friend.

The First Presidency

Thomas S. Monson

Henry B. Eyring

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Out of the Mouth of Babes...

I remember fondly spending time with both of my Grandmas growing up and always feeling so loved. (Could it have been because I was the first grandchild on both sides?) Anyway, I love all nine of my grandkids and miss them terribly. When they call and sing songs to me, nothing melts my heart more. When I saw these cute sayings about grandchildren, I had to smile...Out of the mouth of babes!

Being a Grandparent...

1. She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, 'But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!' I will probably never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper good-bye...

2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, '62.' He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, 'Did you start at 1?'

3. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin.Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year- old say with a trembling voice, 'Who was THAT?'

4. A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like: 'We used to skate outside on a pond I had a swing made from a tire;it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods.' The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, 'I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner.'

5. I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I
decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last she headed for the door, saying, 'Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these yourself.'

6. A second grader ca m e home from school and said to her grandmother,'Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today.' The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. 'That's interesting,' she said, 'how do you make babies? ''It's simple,' replied the girl. 'You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'.'

7. Children's Logic: 'Give me a sentence about a public servant,' said a teacher. The small boy wrote: 'The fireman came down the ladder pregnant.' The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. 'Don't you know what pregnant means?' she asked. 'Sure,' said the young boy confidently. 'It means carrying a child.'

8. A nursery school teacher was delivering a station wagon full of kids home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties.' They use him to keep crowds back,' said one child. 'No,' said another. 'He's just for good luck.' A third child brought the argument to a close. 'They use the dogs,' she said firmly, 'to find the fire hydrants.'

The Power of Attitude

My neighbor, David Hunt died unexpectedly last week. He and my husband were home teaching companions for the past several years. Last year he completed a book with a story that illustrates the power of attitude. This is what he wrote, "Two ladies in a hospital were sharing the room. One was near the window, her name was Sarah, and the other was across the room away from the window, her name was Mary. These two women met in the hospital when they were assigned to the same room. As these two women shared the room for months, they became very good friends. Sarah, the lady near the window would often describe what she could see outside. It was very uplifting for Mary to hear about what was going on as reported by Sarah, but Mary could not see through the window. Both of these ladies were bedridden and could not move around the room. One day Sarah described the spring scene that she saw. She told her friend Mary that she could see the children at the school playing ball. They were running and kicking the ball across the grass. She could see the birds in the nearby tree, and they were busy building a nest for the young birds. She noticed the children riding their bikes along the sidewalk. She described the beautiful clouds moving in the wind. She described how beautiful the flowers were and that they were in full bloom. Because the window was facing the east, she often would describe how beautiful the sunrise would appear in the morning. Each day Sarah described in great detail how beautiful the view appeared out the window. The description of the outside world had a positive influence on Mary, who so much appreciated the report. She looked forward to each day, as Sarah would report the outside view. One day Sarah got very sick and did not describe the great scenes she could see. Her family came to visit her and the family nearly filled the room. The Doctor talked to them and said, Sarah is very sick and she is dying. Several days later Sarah passed away. Mary felt a tremendous loss when her dear friend passed away. Sarah was always so cheerful and had such a great attitude about life. As things changed and Sarah was taken from the hospital, Mary asked the head nurse if she could move to Sarah's bed near the window. Her wish was granted and Mary moved to the bed. She was thrilled about the move, she would be able to see the activities that were going on outside. However, when she looked out the window, the only thing that she could see was a red brick wall about twenty feet away, which was the side of the building next to the hospital."

6 months later

Been counting my blessings and reflecting a lot lately. Some times life throws you a curve that catches you off guard. One week ago I had surgery and they successfully removed a cancerous tumor. I didn't plan on getting cancer, especially since I was in the middle of such an exciting work at the mission office. It has been great. I remember in my Patriarchal Blessing that it reminds me that sometimes our plans have to change but to always feel it is for the Lord's purposes. Not many people know that joy that comes from being an instrument in the Lord's hand and accepting His will 24/7. The love of so many towards me was humbling and without exception, they each told me they would pray for me. Imagine, people in 4 temples all exercising faith simultaneously in their prayers to Father on my behalf, plus people from all walks of life stopping long enough to wish me a full and speedy recovery but then letting me know that they too would pray for me.

Hello all...
Keeping busy, we've been emptying out closed apartments, moving things to storage units, and getting everything lined up for the next 4 zone conferences. I have been juggling working part-time to help spruce up a mansion (8 plex) that used to house the mayor in Provo. It has been fun. That was a surprise because a lady from the BYU law school emailed me out of the blue and offered me the position. Plus at the mission home, they noticed that Dad and I were always grabbing the trash and polishing up windows on our free time so now I have been asked to clean the mission office to replace the company who wasn't doing a very good job. Little jobs come along that help me pay the bills. I am still cleaning the Alpine Village Condos (where Reams used to be on Freedom Boulevard.) So I got adventuresome....and created a website. Check it out at www.Tidy-Up.info and let me know what you think. Love to you all. We are driving to Monroe, UT today to pick up some bunkbeds. Talk to you all next week.

Chloe with Grandparents

Just 10 days before our mission began, we had the chance to go down to Arizona for our youngest grandson's blessing. He holds a special place in my heart. Samuel Todd Hadlock was born premature and I had the opportunity when he was only one month old to go down and take care of him for 5 days and nights. He only could eat 2 ounces of formula at a time and had to eat every two hours when I got there. His mother, Amy Jo, was exhausted after having an emergency c-section and trying to care for a newborn and 2 year old Joseph. So when I found out the blessing was going to take place over the 4th of July weekend, we decided to drive down. I had just had double carpal tunnel surgery and my mother was up from Washington to take care of me. Adam was in between work and so it worked out that we took a surprise trip to Arizona. Amy Jo was thrilled to have so much family show up unexpectedly and my sister who lives down there was excited to see my mother also. Chloe was such a sweetie, and concerned about Grandma's hurt hands...I had huge bandages on both arms that the doctor did not want me to remove. She would hold my "pinkie" finger when ever she would come snuggle with Grandma. Her family had been staying in California while Dad had work there but came back to Arizona that weekend to be there for the blessing also. Six of our nine grandkids enjoyed being together. We missed Sterling and Tami and their three sons and wished that they would have been able to come.

During the time I was recuperating, we had the opportunity to go with my mom to a zone conference luncheon. We also stopped in a couple of times to begin our training with Brother and Sister Babcock from the mission office. They were lovely people who soon took us under their wing. Yesterday was their last day of their mission and they are now headed to the beach for a month of fun with their grandkids. We grew to love them dearly in the short time we were together. We attended a very spiritual meeting with them, where all the departing missionaries gave their final testimonies. The whole chapel was full of the families of the missionaries who had come to take them home and many investigators or members who had been taught by these great young people. We were truly taught by the Holy Ghost that day. We had a surprise visitor come to our mission this week who also taught many great truths. Elder David A. Bednar met for a full day with some of the elders and sisters. Then he taught all of us for three hours about listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

This has been a full week at the mission. One day Grandpa and I had to take 4 missionaries up to the Mexican Consult to get their visas to be able to travel to Mexico. They had been temporarily staying in the Provo mission until it was the right time for them to go. Another dozen or so missionaries met us there who were also leaving for Mexico but had been staying with Salt Lake elders while they were waiting. I knew one of the elders but I wasn't sure how. Then he figured it out! He had lived in Budge Hall at BYU for a couple of semesters when I was the custodial supervisor there. We were both out of our element but it was fun to become re-acquainted!

Grandpa has been learning how to close down apartments. When we find member homes, where they will allow missionaries to live with them, free of charge, we are then able to have the missionaries move into the new member home. Today, we went to meet with a Brother Powell who was a former stake president. He had lost his wife two years ago to cancer and wasn't going to be able to now go and serve a mission as they had planned for years. He felt his wife would have been pleased with his decision to open up his entire basement for the elders to move in with him. President Brown helped us put together a check list to go over with members and so we completed the inspection and then called the elders with the good news... It is amazing how much love the members in this mission have for the missionaries serving here.

Our Sprint phone changeover has taken a new twist. President Brown decided to eliminate the down time when the missionaries would have no phone service, so we have been asked to attend zone conferences next week in St. George and in Ferron and program their phones during the zone conference. He said he would give them time to blue tooth all their contacts from the old phones to the new phones that day. Not sure yet, but we might have to drive the big van down. A set of bunk beds in Monroe are needing to be moved out of a home that elders had been living in. We handle the furniture needs and there are storage sheds in Provo and St. George but nowhere in between...Not sure where we should store them. Well, I guess we will have another question for the President tomorrow. This week he is in the office holding personal interviews with the missionaries so we can catch him in between. Sister Brown is a nurse and keeps the missionaries healthy if they have allergies etc. During the zone conference luncheons there is a doctor who meets with any missionaries who have medical concerns. We made it through transfer week ok. I'm amazed how fast 6 weeks go by! Still having fun, missing the Babcocks who really had a handle on all the varied duties for Housing Coordinators, but oh so thankful for the opportunity we have to serve.