Sister Hasson is her name, and that is all I know because I read it on the screen in this picture. We talk to her tomorrow. :)
I took Marjorie to her appt on Tuesday morning. Her back has already changed from 34 degrees to 37 degrees in 2 months. She is only in phase 3 of 8 of growing, and phase 3 and 4 are the biggest ones. He wants us to consider 2 different surgeries. One: remove the little triangle bone that is causing these problems, it is a riskier surgery as it is right next to the spinal cord. Or two: fuse the whole top section of her back together so it can't get worse. I didn't feel like scheduling a surgery right now and asked the risks of waiting. He said there weren't any really, so we go back in 3 months and reassess. There is always some degree of error in the xrays so waiting another 3 months and taking more xrays gives us a little better picture anyway.
Joe and Spencer got a lot done yesterday at the property. They got the truck and acura put in the shop. They got the lift partially assembled too.
We made it to SPRING BREAK!!!! YIPEE! And so excited that it is HOLY WEEK also, leading to EASTER and GENERAL CONFERENCE! YAYYY!
Here is Mary's talk:
Good Morning
You should know I am so grateful for this opportunity, but I was not super excited when they asked me to speak. I haven’t spoken in church since I was 12, and that is because when I got asked to speak when I moved here I told them I would play the flute. And since then I haven’t had to talk but I have played the flute 5 times.
I have been asked to speak on How my Testimony of Jesus Christ has been strengthened through preparing to make Temple covenants.
I had planned to leave on my mission as soon as I could. But I thought that time was February of 2027. I could not decide what I wanted to do between high school and my mission. As someone who loves to have a plan, it was super frustrating to have several months of unknown. But before I forced myself to make any concrete decisions the age for young women changed to 18. And let's just say it was a huge answer to prayer. It did not take me a long time to decide I wanted to leave as soon as I could. This meant I got my papers turned in and back before I turned 18, and got called to serve in the Montana Missoula Mission and start home MTC June 10th.
This has pushed me to prepare to make temple covenants way sooner than I thought. Which has been a great blessing.
I have been reminded of three truths since starting to prepare for these things.
The first one, which I have already talked about, is that Heavenly Father has the perfect plan for me. This truth is one I have always been able to lean back on through life. But when the age change happened I was instantly reminded of this truth. I knew that I wanted to go on a mission for as long as I can remember and so when I found I could leave after graduating high school I was excited! After prayer and deep consideration I decided I wanted to give myself as little of a break as possible and did not want to wait for my sister to come back. This led to me being called to leave 2 months before my older sister comes back, but thankfully I will only miss one Christmas. I know that Heavenly Father knows what timing will be the best for me, and I have full confidence that now is the time.
The second truth is how scripture study can help bring me closer to Him. At the start of the year I made a goal to read the Book of Mormon again before I left on my mission. But in this goal I decided to change one thing about my scripture study that I knew could greatly improve it. I decided I would read out of my paper scriptures with a pencil in hand.
This has allowed me to improve my scripture study and come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
In seminary we were encouraged to pray before and after our scripture study, so I simply prayed for my heart to be open and hear or learn something new or simply be reminded of something I needed to hear. This affected my scripture study differently every time, but there were always two things that stayed the same. 1: that I always ended up feeling better than when I started, and 2: I received exactly what I needed that day. Whether I went through a whole chapter only highlighting one verse or went through a whole chapter and highlighting almost all the verses I always got what I needed.
The third truth is Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will always be there for Me. Since receiving my mission call I have found that Satan has worked ten times harder to try and make me doubt myself, focus on the wrong things, or simply distract me from growing. But I knew all I had to do was pray, turn to my scriptures, or go to the temple and I would be just fine. I have found that Satan can push ten times harder but Heavenly Father will always be stronger. He will always prevail over evil, and He will do whatever He needs to reach out a hand to rescue us, we just have to be willing to grab onto his hand. This is a simple idea and applies in many parts of life, but it is easier said than done. But I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will do whatever it takes to bring us back to Them. That is why He has given us temple covenants, to bring us home to Him. I'm excited and thankful to be able to go to the House of the Lord and make more covenants that will give me the ability and power I need to be an instrument in His hands.
I want to end by sharing my testimony that I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are in eternal pursuit of us. I know that they love me and each and every one of you, and one way to get closer to them is by receiving and making covenants. I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ, temples, living prophets, this church, and most importantly the Holy ghost, Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father.
Brothers and sisters, I hope you can open up your heart and let the Holy Ghost speak to you. I know that in some way He is trying to reach you, you just need to hold on.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Chrsit, Amen.
