Sweet Friends

I am grateful for my wonderful friend Tania. I had to cancel on our Thursday movie night because I have a head cold. She went out of her way to drop off some homemade soup to help me feel better!

I am so blessed to have her as a friend!

Thursday Nights

I am grateful for Thursday nights. On those nights, my friend Tania comes over and we watch a Jane Austen or other period drama series. It is the best! I was her visiting teacher and she said she wanted to watch the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. We found a night that we could watch it after work and the rest is history!

Ordinance Worker

I am truly grateful to be an ordinance worker at the Provo Temple. It has been such a blessing to serve in the temple each Saturday with Jonathan. Back in May, I was given the assignment to assist with living ordinances. I was able to welcome members that came to the temple for the first time. It is the only time that they will be participating in the temple ordinances for themselves. I was able to share the beautiful blessings that Heavenly Father has for each and every one of His children.

This was on our first day of serving as ordinance workers.

Now I serve as an assistant chapel coordinator. I basically make sure that the patrons needs are taken care of and work with the Endowment Room coordinator to escort the patrons upstairs when the room is ready. It is different because I'm not administering the ordinances of the temple, but I am still helping people have a positive experience in the temple. A nice perk is that my good friend Katie is the chapel coordinator and I get to spend my day with her.

I love the temple and I know that it truly is heaven on earth.

Month of Gratitude

It's November and that means I'm going to have a new post everyday with something I am grateful for. I invite you to join me in this exercise, though you don't need to share it in public if you don't want to.

I am grateful that my husband is truly my best friend. We have the best time together even when we are doing nothing. I am truly blessed!

McMillan Family Reunion

On the first Sunday in August, Jonathan and I were able to go to the McMillan family reunion in Rexburg. We went to Sacrament Meeting with Chris's family before going up to the reunion. Ruby stood with her head on Jonathan's leg for about five minutes. She is the sweetest little girl!

Our next stop was the Burton Cemetery to find where more of my Machen relatives are buried. The first Machen's I found were ones that I knew. My great-great grandparents! I feel so blessed to know more about them than just their names.

Then we finally made it up to the reunion. It was great to meet more of my Machen and McMillan cousins. I love this picture of 11 of the 16 McMillan children. My great-grandma is Evalyn, their youngest child. I am grateful to be part of such a wonderful family.

Before we went back to Utah, Jonathan made paper airplanes with the kids. They made it clear that we were had been gone long enough.

I hope that we can go to the reunion again next year.

Patterson Family

Earlier this summer my grandpa came out to Utah for a visit. We went to my uncle's house to spend the evening with grandpa. I got to see a couple of old family pictures. I love old pictures because they add depth to my ancestors. They are more than a name on a pedigree chart.

The man in the hat and dark coat is my great-great grandpa Elmer Patterson.

If I remember correctly, these are Elmer's parent James and Maria Patterson.

I love my grandpa so much. He is one of my biggest supporters and he can't wait for me to be a smart scientist.

Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to this fall. We were able to go to the ISU volleyball game to watch the amazing Abby play!

Jonathan and I went to the funeral for my dad's mission president Reed Benson. I loved seeing all of the flags around the building. One of his sons shared a common phrase President used to say, "May the Lord bless you and the devil miss you." I have a better understanding of why and how President impacted my dad's life. He lived what he preached.

Jonathan and I went for a hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon so I could see where William McMillan spent most of his time hauling lumber for fuel for his family.

We went for a drive up Provo Canyon to see the fall colors. I am not looking forward to winter, but Jonathan kindly reminds me that this is our last Utah winter. I have a feeling that will be my daily mantra as I scrape the windshield in the mornings.

Jonathan and I went the Pioneer Museum in Salt Lake City that also houses the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. There are photos lining almost all of the walls. I was looking to see if we could find any of our ancestors and sure enough I found one! Susannah Meredith Nebeker was there! I couldn't read her name plate, but I knew I had seen that picture before. I went home and found the same picture of her on Family Search.

Susannah is on the top left.

I loved this beautiful stain glass window in the museum.

We went to our first professional soccer game. It was pretty rowdy. I can only imagine how deafening the World Cup matches are in comparison.

We started off Jonathan's birthday month off strong with some delicious (to him) black licorice ice cream at Rockwell Ice Cream. We will have to go back and try more of their delicious flavors!

Jonathan is on track to graduate this upcoming May. I couldn't be more proud of him for his determination and grit to finish his education. He truly is an amazing man and will have so many opportunities because he refused to give up.

This Weekend!

I can't believe that General Conference is already here. Last Saturday was the Women's Session and it was exactly what I needed. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk on faith. He focused on what it is, what it can do, and what it can't do. It's not about telling Heavenly Father the blessings we want and then He grants them to us. It's about empowering us to act on God's will and trust that God sees what we cannot. I know Heavenly Father loves us and is eager to pour blessings on us, but sometimes it is better for us to wait. I don't pretend to understand why, but one day we will understand it and be in awe of how well He knows us as individuals.

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The first General Session starts at 10 am MST and I can't wait! I want to invite you to join me in watching or listening to General Conference. There are eight different ways to experience it.

1. In person

• Attend the live satellite or internet broadcast in your meetinghouse. Check with your leaders to determine when and where it will be shown. For broadcast times and options, see the satellite broadcast details. To find a meetinghouse anywhere in the world, visit maps.lds.org.
• Attend the live event in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. See ticket information.

2. Internet

• LDS.org
  Live video in 27 languages. Some languages will appear on the home page of LDS.org and others will appear on the language pages.
• MormonChannel.org
  Live video in the following 12 languages: Cantonese, English (including closed captioning), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese (including closed captioning), Russian, Spanish (including closed captioning), and American Sign Language
• BYUtv.org and BYUtv International
  Live video and audio in English
• Mormon Channel on YouTube
  Live video in the following 11 languages: Cantonese, English (including closed captioning), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese (including closed captioning), Russian, and Spanish (including closed captioning)

3. Mobile app

• Mormon Channel mobile app
  Video and audio in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

4. Television

• BYUtv
  Video and audio in English
• BYUtv International
  Video and audio in Spanish and Portuguese
• Mormon Channel on Roku
  Video in the following 11 languages: Cantonese, English (including closed captioning), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese (including closed captioning), Russian, and Spanish (including closed captioning). (Search for general conference under the “Spiritual” category.) Available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada.
• Local TV
  Check local program listings for availability in your area or visit bonneville.info or KSL.com.

5. Radio

• Audio is available through various radio stations, including Mormon Channel HD Radio, KSL Radio, BYU Radio (online and SiriusXM), and internet radio stations throughout the world. For listings, visit bonneville.info.

6. Social media

Follow the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Facebook and Twitter for more inspiration during general conference weekend and throughout the rest of the year.

• The Church’s Facebook and Twitter accounts will also be sharing the posts and tweets from the Brethren.
• The Church’s Twitter and Instagram accounts will share text, photos, memes, and videos.
• The Church will be using its new Snapchat account during all conference sessions. Follow along for photos and videos from conference—published in-the-moment during conference. Also, people who are on Temple Square or at the Conference Center can utilize the Snapchat geofilters that have been activated for the women’s session and the sessions the next weekend. At the bottom of this article is a snap code that Snapchat users can take a photo of and then follow the account by scanning the photo in the app.

7. Archives

• Video cached streams of the full sessions will be available right after each session ends. Divisions into individual talk and music segments in many languages will begin appearing after 8 hours and will be completed within 24 hours of the broadcast on conference.lds.org, podcasts, iTunes, and YouTube.
• Written summaries of the talks will be posted shortly after each session.
• Video and audio will be available on LDS.org in over 80 languages and on the Mormon Channel in iTunes (in many languages) within 8 hours of the broadcast. English text will be available at conference.lds.org and in the Gospel Library mobile app a few days after conference. Text in other languages will be posted in the following weeks.
• Read more detailed information about when general conference addresses will be available in video, audio, and text formats.

8. Physical copies

You can read and study general conference messages afterward using the following:

• Find all conference talks in printed copies of the November issue of the Ensign and Liahona magazines. The November issues of the New Era and the Friend also contain conference messages and features. You can subscribe to get an extra conference issue of the Ensign and Liahona.
• Physical DVDs and audio CDs, which you can preorder now at store.lds.org and they will be shipped as soon as they are available. (You can also subscribe to have the DVDs or CDs sent to you automatically every conference.)

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  Lately, we've been watching using the internet. It's amazing how many options there are now. Growing up, we used our local TV station, but when my parents were young they had to go to the local church building to watch it. Today, with all of these options, there is no reason to miss out on hearing the wonderful messages for us in our time.

Tintic, Utah

Back in May, my parents came out for a visit. We went to Tintic (now Eureka) to visit where my mom's great-grandparents lived for two years. The town is partially abandoned because the local mines were shut down. 

We went through the Tintic Mining Museum and learned about the history of the town. My great-great grandpa McMillan learned about the mines here when he was working on the transcontinental railroad. Grandpa worked in the mine while Grandma ran a General Store.

They kept chickens, which was a valuable commodity to have in Utah at that time, and a bobcat started preying on them. Grandma decided to take action even though she was scared of the bobcat.

She killed the bobcat the next time it came into her yard. Some local Native Americans heard about it and had a powwow for Grandma.

One of the souvenirs I got was an old crucible like the ones in the picture above. There's still some metal residue on it.

The highlight of the trip for my dad was seeing an old house that was found on property that was owned by Porter Rockwell. No one's sure if Porter actually lived in the house, but it wouldn't be surprising if he did.

One Last Time

Back in April, I found out that my high school band director was being forced out of his position. He wasn't fired, but he wasn't going to be working at Roseville High School anymore. It came as a shock to everyone. Toff invited alumni to come and play one last time for graduation. I knew that if I didn't go that I would regret it for a very long time. Jonathan supported my decision to go and made sure that I would have everything I need since he couldn't come with me. This was my first big trip on my own and it was great! Thanks to all of the May rain, Nevada was still green.

Zooming past the Salt Flats covered with water.

The following night was graduation. It was a surreal experience going back. I parked in my usual spot across the street from campus. (I only used the student parking lot after school during track session.) Then I grabbed my trombone and headed to the band room. I can't really find the words to describe what it was like being there again. It was my everyday life for four years and be there again felt like I was walking back into that time of my life.

I haven't seen most of my band friends since a year or two after we graduated. It was great being together again. We were able to pick up where we left off all those years ago.

Toff finally got a whiteboard!

I am so grateful that I could be there for Toff.

One tradition is for the seniors to write on the walls of the music library.  I think I wrote the I <3 you Toff, but I'm not certain. I spent a lot of time in there trying to organize the music towards the end of my senior year. I don't think I even made a dent in the chaos.

Toff tries to deny the impact he had on me, but even my parents freely acknowledge that he helped me grow into who I am today. Toff's classes weren't just about music. Obviously, most of it was, but he was trying to get us to look outside of our cell phones to see the world. He tried to get us to think for ourselves and not be afraid to go against the norm. Toff pushed us and helped us see that we could do hard things. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be one of Toff's students. Good luck at Woodcreek!

Making Dreams Come True

Jonathan started his internship this week. To say he loves it is a major understatement. He comes home from work with more happiness and energy than he has before going to work. Our evenings are spent together because he's gotten in plenty of time doing what he loves at work and can instead focus on time with me.

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I am so grateful that we are making his dream career come true. It's been a long road, but it's worth each and every sacrifice. This is just a small taste of how it will be after he graduates next spring! (It's 363 days away!!!) We don't know where we'll go next, but we've started coming up with multiple exciting plans!

MIA

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but we really haven't been up to much since we started serving as ordinance workers in the Provo Temple. When we finish our shift, we are exhausted both physically (from climbing all of those stairs!) and spiritually. I know with time we will be able to handle it.

The temple was closed for the General Women's session of General Conference as well as the General sessions the following Saturday. On the 26th, we had an Easter family BBQ with our Patterson cousins. My cousin Kinzie's son Mike refused to speak for at least an hour. Instead he would write notes on napkins. It was hilarious!

For Conference weekend, we went up to Idaho for our first trip of the year. In between sessions of conference, the kids showed off the new mat for their trampoline. Jonathan and I may or may not have been kindly asked to get off because we bounce too high.

During Ruby's nap, I painted with the big kids. I feel bad for not doing this sooner. Clara loves doing any kind of art project. I promised the kids that from now on I will bring paint supplies with me.

Seth's paintings had a very clear theme - military. When he grows up, he wants to be an Army Engineer.

The red plane blew up the first green plane, so a second green
plane blew up the red plane.

This is an aircraft carrier on the ocean.

This is a practice battlefield.

Clara's paintings were much more colorful. I love how she signed her name on the first one.

Clara is the one with red hair and Annie is the one with blue hair.

I love how her flower looks!

The next day after breakfast, Clara told me that I needed to come and take a picture of her and Ruby hiding in the couch.

During another break, we played outside. Ruby could have spent hours on the teeter totter.

After dinner, Annie made a delicious early birthday cake for me!

I love Ruby's solo at the beginning!

As much as we love serving in the temple, it was nice to have a break!

Another Step Closer

Jonathan has an internship! He only has two more semesters and then he will graduate. Then who knows where we will be! For the past few months it hasn't felt like much progress was happening, especially after his first interview for an internship was really sketchy. Like they weren't sure when they would be able to pay Jonathan... I'm glad we passed on that one!

This is the company Jonathan will be interning with!

Something (or rather someone) that has helped us stay hopeful and persistent has been the example of my brother Andy and his wife Amy. They were able to make it through year after year of Andy in school. They didn't give up hope and Andy just celebrated his 5th anniversary at his dream job. If they can do it, so can we!