We Are So Blessed

So the weather outside is beautiful today. We had rain basically all week, so it is so nice to see the sun again. Today at church we learned about the light of Christ, how it is an innate gift that we are all born with, that the Holy Ghost uses it to touch our hearts and lead us to do right. In Sunday school we talked about the journeys of Paul into Macedonia and how he was always willing to open his mouth to share the gospel, and how we can try to be better friends to our neighbors and those we meet. Then in priesthood the lesson was on the living Christ and forgiveness, and how they relate together – it is only through Jesus Christ and His atonement that we can be forgiven and be made clean. If we want to be like Him, then we need to learn to forgive others. It was a great morning.

Earlier this week we had one of Steph’s family history professors from BYU, brother Minert, and his wife, over for some dessert as they were passing through Wisconsin. It was fun to see them and catch up on the projects he is in charge of at BYU and sharing what we have been up to since we saw them last a few years ago. I think it is so neat to have a college professor that gets to know their students so well and wants to visit them when they are in the area.

Kolby continues to improve at swimming lessons. Steph said that this week he only had the foam float belt around his waist and he was able to swim the width of the pool with basically no help. Eli is also one of the top in his class – he loves the water.

Yesterday I was in charge of a big activity over at the church building. We share the building with another congregation, so we split the grounds in half outside, and we are each in charge of weeding our half, so that is what we did yesterday morning. Like I said, it had been raining all week, so I was worried that we would be rained out and no one would show up. I said a prayer that the weather would be nice and that people would show up, and my prayer was answered – the weather was wonderful and we had about 30 adults (50 people with children) come, and we got everything done in about two hours. Now it looks great (at least our half of the grounds). :)

I took Kolby, Eli, and Camden with me so that Steph could have some time to work on Christmas presents for our parents and siblings – yep, that is right – Steph wanted to get them done early so that they could be done before she has the baby in October. When she puts her mind to something, nothing can stop her.

This week I think some more prayers were answered as we got some really good news. I received a letter saying that I was chosen to be a part of Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), the medical school honor society. This could not have come at a better time, since I am planning on submitting my residency application next weekend, and AOA is looked highly on in dermatology, so it should help us out a lot to be able to add that to the resume.

It amazes me when I stop to think how blessed me and my family are and that we have a loving Heavenly Father who is always watching out for us and helping us when needed. I have a wonderful wife and three beautiful children; I am pursuing a career that I love and things seem to be working just when needed to help us get there; and we have the gospel to bless our lives.

Keep us in your prayers as we get ready to submit the residency applications – then the ball will be out of our court and we will have to wait for programs to invite us to interview. Thanks.