Lindsay's Baby Shower

Last weekend we got together at Sheri's house for Lindsay's baby shower! And any of you who know the Rose women know that when they do a party it is an event! Well, this was no exception! So much fun to get together and celebrate such momentous occasions. I forgot to take pics until the end but these are pretty darn cute! I wish I had pictures of everyone there, but not so. Please forgive me. I just wasn't on top of my game that day. We are so excited for Lindsay and Rob and the upcoming birth of their little boy. I'm so grateful I am part of this very special Rose family.

Happy 85th Birthday, Mom!

Isn't she beautiful?

My Aunt Gloria and Mom the day before Mom's 85th birthday.
Aunt Gloria is a year older than mom and a pistol! See a previous post where I talked about Aunt Gloria and Aunt Marilyn and how much fun they have when the three sisters get together!

I went up and spent the day with Mom the day before her birthday as we were heading to General Conference the day of her birthday. Aunt Gloria, Mom and I all went to lunch at Jaker's and laughed until we were sick! Aunt Gloria and Mom couldn't be more different as far as personality, activity in the church, and interests are concerned but they get along famously. Gloria lives across the street from Mom and they have lunch once a week together and see each other in between. I enjoyed listening to them reminisce about their childhood. Mom and I spent the rest of the afternoon just visiting and looking at pictures and memories from Dad's first mission. The Church History Department had contacted her asking for any information she might have about the church in Brazil during Dad's time there. They are interviewing as many of those missionaries and/or their wives as possible to put together an accurate history of the church in that country. I knew the Church was heavy into history gathering, but we really have no idea! Anyway, it was a great day for me! We hope to keep Mom here for a good long time though she says she is ready to go anytime. She misses Dad so much as do the rest of us, but selfishly, I hope she stays with us for many years. She is such a blessing to my kids and grandkids. I love her for her humility, her example of service to others, her always sweet and even temperament, her unselfishness, her unwillingness to give into self-pity, her testimony of the gospel, and her unconditional love of each one of her family. She does not judge, she just sets the perfect example and loves each one. I am grateful to live so close to her and be able to spend precious time together making wonderful memories. She is the perfect mother for me! I thank Heavenly Father every day for allowing me to be born to such valiant parents. I have been and continue to be very blessed!

My Mom and Dad's Forever Friends!

My Dad, Hal Roscoe Johnson, was one of the first missionaries called to serve in Brazil. Of course, it was all one mission at that time and he served there from April of 1940 through November of 1942. He became friends with many of the elders who served during the same time and they and their wives have remained good friends all these many years. They dubbed themselves "the Brazilian Mafia" and have met for lunch 3 or 4 times a year in Salt Lake for many, many years. Quite a number of them have passed away now, including my dad, Finn and Sara Paulson, Ray Duckworth, Norton Nixon,and James and Ruth Faust. My dad would have turned 90 this year so it is certainly no wonder that so many have passed on. My beautiful mom is one of the healthiest and most active of all of them that are still attending these gatherings. Last Monday I took Mom to meet the group at Marie Callendar's in Salt Lake. It was so much fun to meet these wonderful people that I have heard so much about all of my life. As you can see from the picture below, there are more women than men...simply because many of them who attend are widows of these first pioneer missionaries in the country of Brazil. Some of them are even 2nd wife widows but they continue to meet and enjoy one another's company. I have great admiration for those missionaries who open new countries for the preaching of the gospel. My husband was one of the first missionaries in Italy. There were no MTCs (Mission Training Centers) to learn the language before going. You just went with a love of the Lord, a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and, of course, a Portuguese, Italian, etc. dictionary! Dad loved his mission so much and was fortunate enough to go back there as a mission president in Rio and a temple president in Sao Paulo. I was so proud of my Mom for learning the Portuguese language when she went with Dad as mission mother in Rio. She was in her 40's and I'm sure it was hard, but then mom has always been so strong and faithful and willing to do whatever Heavenly Father asked her to do. I've always admired how outgoing and friendly she is. She is my mentor and "heroine"! I want to be just like her when I grow up!

The whole group-those who remain, that is!

My beautiful mom, Virginia

Geri and Grant Bangerter (Julie B. Beck's parents)
He was a mission president in Portugal and she started the Boy Scouts of America in that country.
She is an amazing lady!

Lynn & Edith Sorenson
Lynn was my brother Craig's mission president for a few months.

A fellow from the Church History department and Dorothy Duckworth. (Ray Duckworth's widow)
Dorothy is the one who has been in charge of scheduling, keeping track of everyone and being sure the group continues to get together. Such a lovely lady. My mom loves her so much.

Glenn and Dorothy Erickson
He went back to Brazil as a temple missionary in Sao Paulo when Dad was there.

Lloyd Hicken whose wife is on a feeding tube and therefore, unable to attend.
Greg roomed at BYU with Hicken's sons, Dave and Steve, who have both since passed away.
He is a wonderful man and they have been great friends of Mom and Dad. He was a mission president in Brazil about the same time as Dad.

Eve Shirts (widow of Max Shirts)
Max was a mission president in Rio several years after Dad.

Julia Nixon (widow of Norton Nixon)
They were church service missionaries in Brazil at the time Mom and Dad were serving in the temple.

Stoddard & Valene Judd, new to the group get-together, but
he was also a pioneer missionary in Brazil.

Mixed Emotions!

Regan...great attitude, great help! Being the oldest helps!

Morgan...took a little convincing but got after it!

Jordy...once convined she had BETTER get after it...did it with a smile!

Kaleb...well, this just says it all!

Last week Cindy brought the kids down to pick apples from Murray's backyard tree. It was a COLD, COLD morning and they arrived by 8:15 am. These pictures are a peek at their different levels of excitement for the whole project! Don't you just love kids and everything about them?!!

No Longer Foe...But Friend!

I conquered my fear of the pressure canner!

I know, I am 60 years old for heavens sake! But using a pressure canner has been a phobia for me all these years, I swear! But after talking to one of the bishops and his wife during a home teaching visit, they had been madly pressure canning carrots from their garden. We happened to have a bumper crop this summer and I was trying to figure out how not to waste them! Greg has been so awesome. When I told him I really wanted to overcome my fear and do some pressure canning, he ordered me this one from Amazon right away on a great deal AND no shipping! Well, long story short...he dug all the carrots and we cleaned and scrubbed them early in the week and put them in the fridge. The canner arrived on Wednesday! Last night we went to work getting them processed. And when I say "we" I mean it. Greg rolls up his sleeves on the nights he has home and helps me can whatever needs to be done! I love this guy I married! He loves me, he loves being with me, he loves domestic things, and he loves the sense of accomplishment and the beauty of all those bottles in the storage room. We bottled chunks for stew, diced some for soup, and bottled spears for roasts. I LOVE THIS THING! We are now going to watch for good deals on beef and chicken, etc. and bottle some for homemade soup and quick stew and such. Why did I wait so long to face my fear? Oh well, can't go back so I will just make the most of it in the coming years. If I get my hands on some free potatoes, look out!

I didn't take any pictures before we hauled bottles downstairs, but I will just record here that we previously cold-pack canned 52 pints of salsa, 36 pints of applesauce, 17 pints of peaches, 11 pints of spagetti sauce, and have cooked, mashed and frozen 15 pints of mashed banana squash! (So yummy!) The tomatoes and banana squash were from our garden and apples were provided to us by the Murray's tree and Greg's boss. Thanks so much! I had to buy the peaches but it was well worth it. I'll buy more next year if they are a decent price. Yea for provident living! And speaking of "living"...I am "living proof" you are never to old to learn something new!

The Spirit of God Like a Fire...Part 3

How could anyone listen to General Conference and not be motivated to be a better person? How I wish that every wavering soul, every person out there searching for some hope could or would listen to modern-day prophets, seers, and revelators speak Heavenly Father's will to His children! Wow, all I can say is "wow!!! The spirit truly DID burn within this heart! Greg and I wrote down many impressions each of us had and then talked about them at length on our way home from Salt Lake after his business conference. But the challenge is not to just talk about them but to actually make some changes! It drives me nuts how I can make resolutions and then let them go by the wayside so quickly...maybe not totally, but let a day slip by here or there without keeping those commitments. I am doing better than before conference, so that is good...I just need to kick the ol' "deceiver" behind me! I love the Atonement more each day because every day I realize a little more how much I need it! Some of my favorite talks and what I personally learned:

• Elder David Bednar: "What we know is not always manifested in what we do." (That one speaks for itself!)
• Elder Dallin Oaks: "Heavenly Father's choicest blessings are reserved for those who keep His commandments...mercy cannot rob justice. God will not forestall the agency of ANY of us." (So I have my agency to choose, but in making wrong choices, I deny myself choice blessings that Heavenly Father would give me if I had chosen better.)
• Elder Neil Anderson: "Come Unto Him and be spiritually wrapped in His arms of mercy, safety and love." Through repentance we replace guilt with joy. Repentance is a journey like running into the wind." (I love that! Yes, that is exactly what it is like!)
  
• Pres. Henry B. Eyring: "Some of us mistakenly believe we're good enough"! (We are not!) We need to be optimistic about who we can become and take hope in the invitation to be like Him. (It is a commandment to be perfect but it will not happen in this life. That, however, does not excuse me from repenting every day and trying to make a little progress.)
• President Thomas S. Monson: "What did you do for someone today?" (Have I done any good in the world today? Be sure I do something for someone in need every day) I loved this talk...just further evidence that his is a very personal ministry and he is our prophet today to teach us this concept.
• Elder Jeffrey Holland: One of the greatest calamities of our day is even those of the covenant , the very elect, will and are being deceived by the enemy of truth. The Book of Mormon is the counter-offensive against Satan's attack. Elder Holland bore the most powerful witness of the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph that I have EVER heard. (The spirit burned in my soul and I could not deny what I felt. I have listened to this talk 3 times since and feel the fire of his testimony. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God!)
• Elder Dale Renlund: "We become casual at our own peril...if we have experienced a change of heart, can we feel so now?" We must do the basic daily things we have been commanded to do in order not to become casual. We might ask ourselves the many questions in Alma 5 as a biopsy of our spiritually changed hearts. (I loved this idea! I'm going to do that.) This was a great talk worthy of studying again and again.)

There were many more...these were just the highlights for me.

My General Conference Goals: ( I am writing them here so I am committed!)

1. DAILY personal study and prayer. Read out of the Book of Mormon daily.
   
2. Be a better Sunday School teacher by contacting each child not there by the end of Sunday and trusting the spirit to take the lesson where it needs to go.
3. Be more diligent and concerned at home.
4. Be sure I do something of service for someone every day.
5. Once per month ask myself the questions in Alma 5.
6. Study Preach My Gospel and answer the journal questions to help me be a better missionary
7. Pray that "walls" will come down both in our stake and around the world for missionary work.

Now, we'll see how I do.

The Spirit of God Like a Fire...Part 2

It took me awhile to get back to writing about our trip to General Conference...hence the "part 2". Having Todd with us was a joy as we knew it would be. We played travel games on the way down and broke up the trip by stopping to eat midway down to Salt Lake. We stayed at the Hilton Airport and enjoyed Saturday morning conference in our room. The afternoon session we watched "live" in the balcony of the Conference Center where there is no bad seat. That building is still such an architectural amazement to me! Three levels of seating and not one support beam...and the acoustics are perfect! Do you think there might have been a little divine direction in those plans? We were so thrilled to hear of five new temples in planning stages and one of them in Brigham City! Who would have ever thought? And another temple in Florida...we were, of course, thrilled to hear that. We were so interested to hear Pres. Monson say that 83% of the members of the church live within 200 miles of a temple now and that percentage will just continue to increase over the years as more temples are planned and built. This was just another reminder to us that the temple IS at the center of all of our worship.

We ate dinner at JB's before Greg took off to the Priesthood session and then Todd and I thoroughly enjoyed each other, temple square, and the Joseph Smith Building during that time. We went to all of our usual "haunts" in the JS Building as the pictures indicate but really loved the statues in the foyer outside the Legacy Theater that one of the guides told us about. The much larger than life statue of Joseph Smith reading from James 1:5 is amazing. You can see the knitted ribbing in his socks and read the words in the bible. We just loved it. There was also a great statue of Joseph and Hyrum that I had not seen before. We enjoyed the reflecting pool and while there got a phone call from Sara telling us that Luke had something exciting to tell me. So Luke got on and told me about his catching two ground balls and tagging out the runners for two outs in a row in his ball game! That was so exciting! Thanks, Sara, for calling because those little achievements are so fun for us to hear about. We love to hear about all the things our little grandkids are up to!

Anyway, we then headed to temple square where we enjoyed the beautiful landscaping still very much in evidence, I might say! Todd noticed that they had already started stringing Christmas lights in some of the trees. We were lucky enough to get in toward the beginning of the film "Joseph Smith and the Restoration" showing at the North Visitors Center. I hadn't seen it for awhile and, of course, shed buckets of tears. That movie is such a testimony to me of the reality of the First Vision and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith. Todd loved seeing it again and felt the spirit as we enjoyed it together. We took a picture by the Christus upstairs and then headed over to wait for Greg. Todd really noticed the protesters this time and asked more than once why they continue to stand there and shout when no one pays any attention to them. His grandpa told him that sadly, many of them are paid to be disruptive. We talked about the difference in the spirit felt from them and that which we felt during conference and listening to those who were singing hymns along the temple block...such a stark contrast!

Sunday morning we met Brad, his sister Michelle and her husband George at Denny's for breakfast at 7:15. We were so excited that he had been able to get three tickets for the Sunday morning session and we were all able to sit together. It was a joy to have him there with us and it was an extra bonus for Todd! As Greg had a business conference Monday and Tuesday after Conference, it worked out well because Brad was able to take Todd on home and we were able to get checked into Little America in time to watch the Saturday afternoon session.

Some things we love about Todd:

1. His manners - he opened every hotel, store and car door for me all weekend! What a little gentleman! (Lori and Brad, thank-you for teaching him these important courtesies!). We were duly impressed!
   
2. His desire to please and obey. His mom had told him not to be an "ipodaholic" while he was with us and he made sure he was not. I'm sure that being with a couple of old fogies made it tempting to use it much more often than he did, but he resisted!
   
3. His intelligence and interest in all kinds of things. His understanding of technology leaves Grandpa and me behind in the dust!
4. His desire to look sharp and like a missionary while at Conference. We and he loved his new suit, tie, and belt! Even though it was probably not too comfortable to stay in his dress clothes until 8:30 at night, he did so willingly and turned many a head in the process.
5. His love of school and desire to excel. We hope he always cares about his grades as he does now!
6. His love of scouting and desire to continue to progress. It is hard to believe he will soon be an 11-year-old scout!
   
7. His love of music. We love that he loves many different kinds of music and also wants to play the piano.
   
8. That he will try most any good thing at least once.
9. He is a GREAT swimmer!
   
10. Todd loves his family so much and cares about each one of them. We love to see him play with Kate and Jack and be perfectly happy doing so. He is very proud of his Mom and Dad and his siblings.
11. We were proud that he paid such good attention to the speakers during Conference. Even he commented that the time went very, very fast because he really tried to listen and learn.
12. He is who he is and is comfortable in his own skin.
    

Todd, you will always be a leader for good if you remember who you really are! Don't let anyone change you because we love you just the way you are! Thanks for spending time with Grandma and Grandpa!

The Spirit of God Like a Fire ...

Buds!

These ducks crossed the road single file almost in the cross walk as
Todd and I were driving towards our hotel Saturday morning. We
just couldn't get stopped and the camera out in time to catch them!
It was hilarious!

Watching the Saturday morning session

Taking notes in his Conference Journal

In the Conference Center plenty early (Grandpa's famous "lead time") for
the Saturday afternoon session

See? I'm really here!

Gregory Guy Rose with his grandson Todd Gregory Wilson
outside the Conference Center!

What a happy time! Isn't he handsome?

The tour guide kept commenting that Todd looked like a missionary!

Another fun picture tradition from the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Building!

Todd and I loved this statue of Joseph Smith reading James 1:5
by the Legacy Theater. It is much bigger than it looks in this picture!

The reflecting pool.

The Christus was our last stop before meeting Grandpa after the Priesthood Session!

I wanted to get these pictures posted. I will write about General Conference and our wonderful time with Todd when I have a little more time.