My Gramper...

It is my Gramper's birthday tomorrow.

He is the best grandpa in the whole world.

Gramper joined the Church when he was still in high school. He was the only member in his family. After high school my Gramper served a full-time mission. He married my Gramma after he came home and they raised an amazing family together!

Gramper started his own computer software company, ButtonWare, where I then joined the picture and was the company mascot ;) - just kidding. (But seriously I was in the company picture.)

Gramper's beard scared me. But then again, I was also afraid of Santa...

When I was little my grandparents lived on a island just outside of Seattle. Gramper would take us down to the water were we would throw rocks. He would always find little crabs under the rocks. I was too scared to hold them but Gramper was not scared so he would hold the little crabs while I looked at them. We always named them Sebastian.

I've been able to quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail since I could talk. That's because Gramper had sound clips from that movie on his laptop and would play them all the time.

He also had a fart machine. Gramma took it away.

Gramper has had 3 cars that I can remember: Wildfire, the blue jeep - Desert Storm, the green jeep - and the white car he has now. I don't know it's name.

My Gramper knows more about computers than anyone I know. He is the gadget man.

Gramper also loves to take pictures. So do I.

My Gramper loves me. He wrote me almost every day in the MTC. He would pick movie quotes from our three movies (Monty Paython, The Three Amigos, Rustler's Rapsidy) and then put them through an English to German translator and send me the quotes in German. He also emailed me frequently while I was in Germany.

Gramper loves German like I do. His grandparents are from Germany. They spoke German to him as a child. I served my mission where he wanted to serve. Gramper is also famous in Germany: Jim Knopf is a character in a children's book series.

Gramper is a great example. He and Gramma served a mission together in the Navuoo Temple. They've served in the Seattle Temple for as long as I can remember.

Gramper is a great friend. For Adam, Gramper was his sidekick when Adam thought he was a cowboy. For David, Gramper was his best friend and teacher when Dave was home schooled. For my dad, Gramper was his partner in ridding the world of evil playing computer games.

For me, my Gramper is the best grandpa I could have ever asked for. I feel so blessed and grateful that Heavenly Father has let him stay here, so that he can be apart of my life!

Alles gute zum Geburtstag Gramper!

Ich liebe dich!

Transfers

Those of you who have served missions understand exactly what I mean when I say: transfers.

Being transferred to a new area on the mission involves a lot of emotions. For one: you may or may not love the area in which you are currently serving. If you love your area you may feel sad or upset about being transferred somewhere else. If you don't like the area where you are serving, transfer day can't come any sooner. Second: you may or may not like your companion. If you love your companion you're sad to get transferred and run the risk of serving with someone you don't like. Or if you don't like your companion then again, transfer day can't come any sooner.
Whether you love or hate your area, like or dislike your companion, transfers always bring a fresh start. A time to reevaluate. Set some new goals, develop better habits. A new beginning, where you take everything you've learned from your previous area and former companion and build upon those things.

I served in my second area of my mission for 4 transfers. That's 24 weeks of the same area. The same surroundings, same ward, same investigators. I loved this city. I loved the ward. I loved our investigators. I could have stayed another transfer or two without any complaint. But the day did come and I did have to leave.
A new city, new ward, new companion, new missionaries, new investigators. It was the end of November and I was going to be here for Christmas. My one Christmas in Germany. I was sad to leave my area but I was excited and looking forward to some new adventures. I had been in my second area for so long that I had forgotten what it was like to be in a city and not know where anything is or how to get anywhere. I hated it. I didn't like not knowing where I was. It was cold and got dark early. We lived in a sketchy part of town in a nasty, little apartment that smelled like smoke. The ward was strange and the Elders were completely unmotivated. And, we had no investigators. It was a depressing 6 weeks but we did what we could to keep happy. Feeding the ducks who lived at the pond behind the palace brought us great enjoyment.
















And the palace there is BEAUTIFUL!


















I also have to mention that I had probably the most amazing Christmas day EVER: a member of our ward took us hiking in the Black Forest. Yes, THE Black Forest.

To this day I still can't quite figure out why I was transferred there. The whole six weeks we had one person that we kind of taught. I felt like my time there was kind of a waste. I was happy when transfer calls came.

As you can probably tell I've been thinking a lot about this time in my mission. About that transfer in particular. Probably because I still don't understand it. Just as I don't understand what's going on in my life right now.

I've worked for American Eagle for almost 2 years now. And I've loved every moment of it. I love everything about working there: except for letting people into the fitting rooms. I can't explain it but it puts me in the worst mood and I can't stand it. Anyway, to make a long story short, just after the back to school season my hours got cut. Mostly because business died down, but for other reasons as well. I was so upset. I've given pretty much everything for my store (just ask my friends). I'm good at my job. I know everything about the store. I know everything about the clothes. I can tell just by looking at someone what size jeans they'd wear. My life revolved around AE - I seriously lived my life at American Eagle. And I loved it. I usually came away from work feeling better than I had when I got there.










So my hours were few and I needed a new job. Let me tell you, I cried over this. But a miracle came along and within a week I got a job working at Crazy 8 (children's clothing store) as a manager. More hours doing the same thing, just at a different store. I feel like I got transferred. Working with different people, different customers. And you know what, I feel like something in my life is missing. I feel so incomplete. I miss my store. I miss the people I worked with. It's like I transferred myself to a new area and miss the familiarity and comfort of my old area. I know that this new job will bring me new experiences and challenges that will (hopefully) help me grow and learn. I've learned one thing for sure: I miss living my life at AE.

So just like was I feeling when I left my second area, wondering what it is that Heavenly Father wants me to learn, I'm sitting here wondering what I need to learn this time. Hoping and praying that I can be happy again and that my experience here won't leave me feeling like I wasted time.

One thing for sure...I probably won't go hiking in the Black Forest again this Christmas...

Dear Utah...

Dear State of Utah,
Now we know that you and I are not the best of friends. Sure, your mountains are sometimes pretty and I thank you for the few days last week that you rained water and not pollution. But most of the time you are brown, rain dirt, and your people do not know how to drive. I would now like to add something to my list of things I do not like about you. Utah Starbucks. Today I decided to begin my Fall/Winter ritual of drinking Carmel Apple Spice from Starbucks. First of all, your Starbucks do not come equipped with a drive through. This needs to change. Also, I waited too long for my drink. There were 3 workers and only one of them making the drinks. And when I say "no whip cream please" I'd really appreciate it if they didn't put whip cream on my drink.
Thank you Utah for giving me one more reason to dislike you and for making me just that much more homesick.
I wish you were more like Washington.
Sincerely,
RACH
a Washingtonian for LIFE

Fall is here!!

The leaves are changing colors. It's raining and cloudy. The wind is blowing and it's a little chilly outside - I believe Fall is finally here!

Something to think about...

Why am I still up at 2am?

I was reading in Alma chapter 22 this evening in German (hence the reason I type out the verses in German as well as in English). In this chapter Aaron is teaching King Lamoni's father, who is also a king. Aaron teaches him about the creation, the Fall of Adam, and the Plan of Salvation which is made possible through Christ's Atonement. After this, the king asks Aaron what he needs to do to obtain eternal life. In verse 15 the king says: "...I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." (which in German reads)...ich will alles hergeben, was ich besitze, ja, ich will meinem Koenigreich entsagen, damit ich diese grosse Freude empfangen kann.
In the next verse Aaron explains to the king what it is that he should do: "...if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest." (which in German reads)...wenn du dich vor Gott niederbeugst, ja, wenn du von all deinen Suenden umkehrst und dich vor Gott niederbeugst und glaeubig seinen Namen anrufst, im Vertrauen darauf, dass du empfangen wirst, dann wirst du die Hoffnung empfangen, die du wuenschst.

I got kind of confused. In verse 15 the king says that he desires Freude (joy) but then in the next verse, Aaron teaches him what to do so that the king can receive the Hoffnung (hope) that he desires. But I thought the king desired joy? Then I asked myself: how do Freude (joy) and Hoffnung (hope) relate? Are they connected in any way? Of course then I had to do some research:
After making sure that I had translated the words Freude and Hoffnung correctly, I looked up the English words on dictionary.com. This is what I found:

Freude = joy = the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying

Hoffnung = hope = to believe, desire, or trust

As I read the definition for joy I thought about what it is that is exceptionally good or satisfying. I think that having hope, in the gospel sense, is exceptionally good and satisfying. But what does is mean to have hope according to the gospel? I could go on a whole other tangent about what hope means but I'll explain it with a quote and a scripture:
"The gospel is the good news of Christ. It is the revelation that the Son of God came to earth, lived a perfect life, atoned for our sins, and conquered death. It is the path of salvation, the way of hope and joy, and the assurance that God has a plan of redemption and happiness for His children." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Way of the Disciple", Ensign May 2009
Ether 12:4 - "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

Continuing on the topic of hope, I found another quote which teaches more about how hope and joy are connected. The author had been talking about the pioneer Saints and then said, "These early Saints were indeed homeless, but they were not hopeless...They had learned a profound and important lesson. They had learned that hope, with its attendant blessings of peace and joy, does not depend upon circumstance. They had discovered that the true source of hope is faith - faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His infinite Atonement, the one sure foundation upon which to build our lives." Wilford W. Anderson, "The Rock of Our Redeemer", Liahona May 2010
So here we learn that the 'true source of hope is faith'. In 2 Nephi 2:25 we read, "...men are, that they might have joy." How do we have this joy? From the quote we learned that one of the blessings that comes from having hope is joy. In "True to the Faith" we also learn that, "With hope, you can find joy in life."

So by having faith in Christ, we obtain a hope, which gives us peace and joy.

After all this research, I thought about what had triggered this whole thing. I was confused as to why Aaron told the king that he would obtain the hope which he desired when really the king had said that he desired joy. Aaron was promising the king more than just joy. He promised him that if he would: bow down before God, repent of all his sins, call upon God's name in faith, and if he would believe that he would receive these things, then the king would receive hope. Which we know that one of the many blessings of hope is joy.

I've been thinking about why this caught my attention (and why after midnight which has lead me to now...almost 2am). I've probably read this chapter in Alma almost a hundred times. Lately I've realized that I'm not as happy as I would wish to be. It's not that I'm unhappy, because I'm not not happy. I've been happier. I've also been less happy. Anyway, as I was doing my research about hope and joy, I read this:

"Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope." Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Love of God", Liahona Nov 2009

I then thought, when was the last time I felt the love of God? I need to do more than I have been. I need to stop just going through the motions of praying every morning and night, reading my scriptures every day, and going to the temple every week. Those aren't bad things. But just going through the motions of doing them because I'm suppose to probably isn't the best. In General Conference this weekend I learned from Elder Scott that you get what you pay for. If I want to feel this 'unparalleled joy' that comes from love (which for me right now means the love of God) then I have to put forth the effort to feel it.

"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God." Psalm 146:5

Advice from Elder F. Enzio Busche

Elder F. Enzio Busche - Quorum of Seventy
BYU Devotional - 14 May 1996

It helps when, from time to time, we ponder and seek identification with the following thoughts:

Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks.

The covenant with God to which you are true enables you to become enlightened by Him, and nothing is impossible for you.

When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, steer your thoughts away from yourself and direct them, in gratitude and love, toward God.

In your life there have to be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take.

First and foremost, you are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness. Don't permit anything to detract you from this awareness.

You cannot communicate with God unless you have first sacrificed your self-oriented natural man and have brought yourself into the lower levels of meekness to become acceptable for the light of Christ.

Put all frustrations, hurt feelings, and grumblings into the perspective of your eternal hope. Light will flow into your soul.

Pause to ponder the suffering Christ felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the awareness of the depth of gratitude for Him, you appreciate every opportunity to show your love for Him by diligently serving in His Church.

God knows you are not perfect. As you suffer about your imperfections, He will give you comfort and suggestions of where to improve.

God knows better than you what you need.

He always attempts to speak to you. Listen, and follow the uncomfortable suggestions that He makes to us - everything will fall into its place.

Avoid any fear like your worst enemy, but magnify your fear about the consequences of sin.

When you cannot love someone, look into that person's eyes long enough to find the hidden rudiments of the child of God in him.

Never judge anyone. When you accept this, you will be freed. In the case of your own children or subordinates, where you have the responsibility to judge, help them to become their own judges.

If someone hurts you so much that your feelings seem to choke you, forgive and you will be free again.

Avoid at all cost any pessimistic, negative, or criticizing thoughts. If you cannot cut them out, they will do you harm.

On the road toward salvation, let questions arise but never doubts. If something is wrong, God will give you clarity but never doubts.

Avoid rush and haste in uncontrolled words.

Divine light develops in places of peace and quiet. Be aware of that as you enter places of worship.

Be not so much concerned about what you do, but do what you do with all your heart, might, and strength. In thoroughness is satisfaction.

You want to be good and to do good. That is commendable. But the greatest achievement that can be reached in our lives is to be under the complete influence of the Holy Ghost. Then he will teach us what is really good and necessary to do.

The pain of sacrifice lasts only one moment. It is the fear of the pain of sacrifice that makes you hesitate to do it.

Be grateful for every opportunity to serve. It helps you more than those you serve.

When you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that, as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better.

Thus, we prepare all the days of our lives, and, as we grow, death loses its sting, hell loses its power, and we look forward to that day with anticipation and joy when He will come in His glory.