{Super Kid!} A solution to sibling skirmishes

My parents started this with me and my 7 siblings while we were growing up when we couldn't seem to find a fair way to see who would be allowed to sit shotgun on the way to school. (Nowadays that's not a problem, eh? At least until the kids are 12! :)

So here's how it works:

One child is "Super Kid" for the week. His job is to set the table. He gets to "sit shotgun". If there's one extra cookie left, Super Kid gets it. If there are three different kinds to choose from, Super Kid chooses first.

Also, he gets to go on a "Super Kid Date" with Mom or Dad! That's one of my favorite parts, because it ensures that I will get one-on-one time with each of my boys to just go do something fun. Often we have Super Kid dates at home during Quiet Time or after bedtime, and they just LOVE that! We'll do a puzzle or play a game, and of course, have a treat.

Super Kid rotates to the next oldest child on Monday night. After Family Home Evening, as we're eating our refreshments, the new Super Kid is required to say something nice about each person in the family.

This system worked really well in my family growing up. If there were 8 popsicles to choose from and we all wanted the red one, Mom would always say, "Super Kid order." We knew that meant Super Kid got to choose first, then 2nd Super Kid, then 3rd, etc. (in order of age). This was nice because it was fair. It wasn't always the oldest getting her way. :)

So now we do it with our boys, and I can't tell you how many arguments it prevents. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Kindness Begins with Me

Sometimes the most complicated problems have the simplest solutions...

I've been thinking lately about trials -- my own, and the trials of a few friends. No matter how perfect we try to be (or how perfect others seem to be), we all suffer at some point.

A friend once told me about the caretaker of an apple orchard. Occasionally the trees would branch out in new limb and leaf, leaving little energy for the actual growing of fruit. The care taker would take a baseball bat and beat the trunk of the tree. The beating would send the tree into shock and help it to 'reprioritize.' :) I'm pretty sure my trials are the baseball bat to my trunk. Sometimes I need a good whack (symbolically - I don't advocate corporal punishment!) to get my priorities in line. :)

About a year ago, my husband and I sought the council of our bishop after a particularly painful fight. I wasn't too pleased with his advice (yes, I'm hardheaded) -- He told us to be kind. Kind?! My kindergarten teacher told me to be kind. I had a complicated problem here -- my marriage felt like it was falling apart. I needed a complicated, life-altering solution!

I guess I'm a bit of a Naaman (the Old Testament Syrian who was told by the prophet Elisha to wash 7 times in the River Jordan to be healed of leprosy.). Naaman basically said, "Look, I've bathed before - in rivers that were heaps better than the Jordan. Yeah, right!" And for a few months, I thought, "I've been kind before. Kindness doesn't fix the problem!" But the good news is that Naaman did, eventually, go bathe in the Jordan and was healed. My bishop was right -- I took a few more whacks of the 'baseball bat' before I really believed him, but I have great hope that this doctrine will seep deep into my bones, because I know now that it's true.

Kindness - the essence of true charity - can fix a broken heart. As in all things, the Savior is our ultimate example - turning the other cheek, giving the cloak and the coat, walking two miles instead of just one. These responses are so unnatural - but that's the point. We aren't trying to be natural. We're trying to be better than that -- we're trying to be like God.

So whatever your trial is (if you aren't in one right now, rest assured you will be at some point!), may I recommend that you look for the simple solution? It's simply to live the gospel - the best that you can. My best is pretty pathetic at times - but Heavenly Father knew it would be, so He gave us our Savior to pick up the slack. I am so grateful for His love - it teaches me how to love - in a way that never fails.

"Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other."
Marvin J. Ashton, “The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword,” Ensign, May 1992, 18

How I Stay Sane...

The secret for me is my basket!


You most likely have already seen this picture before in my food storage post. I've had a couple of requests to do another post about this and share the organizational side of my basket. So here goes:


You know that crazy, messy, catch all area on your counter? The place where the mail gets stashed and your kids school papers get piled up and little sticky notes to yourself get put...the list goes on and on. That's the description of what gets piled up on my counter. I'm pretty sure just about every family has a counter place like this somewhere. Well, ours is in the corner of our kitchen. A couple of years ago I was so sick of this corner having non-stop papers piling up, but I couldn't shove them in a cupboard somewhere, because for me, if it's out of sight, it's out of mind. But at the same time, I couldn't keep on top of all of them in an organized way. I found myself feeling stressed out eveytime I looked at this spot in the corner of my kitchen and it was driving me crazy! So, I came up with this basket way of keeping myself and the things going on in our family organized.

I found these cute file folders one day at my favorite boutique store in McKinney, Texas. I got the basket at either T.J. Maxx or Ross ( I can't remember). Then I started getting organized. I pulled out all of my random papers and sorted through them in categories. Here's how my categories broke down:

1. Things to do
2. Preparedness
3. Phone #'s
4. Goals
5. Misc.
6. Kaylee - School
7. Jake - School
8. Bills

I also have my calender sitting in the very back of my basket. I have a pen clipped onto my basket too, so everything I need is right there.

How my systen works:
Most of those categories are pretty obvious and self explanatory - bills and anything money related goes in the 'Bills' folder. When I'm ready to pay bills, I just grab this folder and take it to the computer. The school folders have the kids teachers e-mails and phone #'s in there along with the lunch menu and anything school related. 'Misc'. is filled with my random things I'm not quite sure I know what to do with yet. Nothing pressing, not sure if I want to throw it away, I will probably get to it later, but if I don't then...oh well! My ward lists and neighbors phone #'s are in my 'Phone #'s' folder, along with our dr.'s and any other misc. phone #. All of my preparedness information goes in the 'Prepardeness' folder (food storage and emergency needs). 'Goals' is another one of those random folders for me - ideas of vacations we want to go on, things to do in Houston, a list of books I want to read, and an actual list of goals for myself (something to keep me motivated). The 'Things To Do' folder is my jam-packed folder that gets sorted through, cleaned out and kept going on a weekly basis. If I get a paper that needs attention right away, (like within a couple of days) I will set it out on the side of my basket. Then I know it needs priority (because I can see it). When the kids bring home reminders from school about an event, or there's a church date I need to remember or anything else, I try to write it on my calender right away and just throw the paper away, but sometimes you can't throw the paper away becuase there's too much information on it, so I put it in this folder until the event is over. Every Sunday night I pull out my calender and my 'Things To Do' folder and plan my week. I make sure that everything I need and want to do that week is on my calender. I clean out the folder and get rid of the things I can throw away and then it's ready for the next week. I also have little fun reminders in there for me too - some fabric swatches for my curtains I want to make, fun ideas of things I want to do with my kids, anything that is a priority to me that I really want to be able to make time for. As I'm planning my week I can make time to fit all of these things in and if I don't, then it just stays in my 'Things To Do' folder until I get a chance to tackle it. It's like one big, fat, sticky note for me. I'm reminded about those things every week because I sort through it, but I don't have them constantly hanging over my head because I know that it's in a safe spot and I will get to it eventually.

So, now I have this tidy, organized corner and a method to my madness! I hope this helps you manage your household and the million other things we women do. If any of you have something that really works well for you, share it with us and if you don't then give this one a try.

Tip: The only place I could find cute file folders was at that boutique store in McKinney, Texas. Maybe you might have better luck. What you could do instead is take a regular file folder and have some fun with scrapbooking material. Andrea did this, so if you need help in this category ask her! :)

Gift Ideas

One of our Ward Enrichment Groups is called the 'Get R' Done' Group. The ladies that want to come are able to bring their unfinished projects that are piling up in a little corner of their home (..or maybe that is just me), and we all sit and visit while we get them done! I have recently started hosting them and we are going to have an optional craft every other month. Those who don't want to make the project can still come and visit and bring their own projects.
These shoes are a fun craft project that we are making next month. It's an optional project, and those whom don't want to make them will still bring their own unfinished projects. I have made many of these and given them away as part of a baby shower gift. I have made some for my son and used leather from an old purse for the bottom so they would last longer, as he started walking. You can get the pattern by going to this blog stardustshoes. They are fun and easy to make, and once you get the hang of it they only take about 15 minutes! They are definitely a money saver as many baby shoes cost $10+.. and before you blink the baby has grown out of them. I made a coordinating onesie with a tie and some burp cloths to match! They were a hit! Hope this idea helps and you have fun making them!

Go To Dinner

I'm all about doing what I can to make my crazy life simpler. So, I get pretty excited when I find a recipe for a fast, easy, budget friendly dinner that is healthy for my family. AND as an added bonus, my kids did not barter with me to be excused from the dinner table prematurely when I made this. I should note that I discovered this recipe from one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks called Winner's Circle. If you are a watcher of weight, this recipe is 5 points per serving.

Bean Burrito Soup

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (16 oz) can fat-free refried beans
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
2 tbsp. canned chopped green chiles
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 (6-inch) fat-free flour tortilla, cut into thin strips (about 1/2 cup)
6 tbsp. shredded red. fat cheddar cheese
6 tbsp. fat free sour cream (I didn't even use this, but it would be good)
3 tbsp. chopped cilantro (I omitted this also, but yum!)

Bring the broth and beans to a boil in a large saucepan over med. high heat. Add the mixed vegetables, chiles, garlic, and chili powder; return to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the flavors are blended and the vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.

Divide the soup evenly among 4 bowls. Top each bowl with about 2 tbsp. tortilla strips, cheese and sour cream, then the cilantro.

I usually like to have at least one vegetarian meal a week and this is a great recipe for that reason. If you truely wanted to make it vegetarian, you could use vegetable broth.

Enjoy!

Preach My Gospel - FHE lesson

Hello, my newfound sisters! I'm so excited that Andrea invited me to be part of this. I've thought and thought about what my first post should be, and today I finally settled on it. (I try not to be too perfectionist, but you know. . . :) Hope it is uplifting and/or helpful to you.

What is Family Home Evening?

Our second son will be turning 8 in a few months, and we're going to start again what has become a tradition for our family. In the year before one of our children is baptized, we teach Family Home Evening lessons from Preach My Gospel, the same lessons that missionaries teach investigators, but adapted for our children and their needs / attention spans. We loved doing our FHEs this way when we were preparing our oldest son for baptism! Preach My Gospel is just amazing. It is the most accessible way of teaching and learning the gospel of Jesus Christ I have ever seen. I am so grateful for our modern-day prophets and apostles who prepared it for us!

We take months to do it, because each lesson is chock-full of principles to teach. We plan a FHE lesson for each principle--for example: lesson 1 is "The Restoration", and the first heading at the beginning of the lesson reads "God is Our Loving Heavenly Father." So that will be tonight's lesson. It's only 3 paragraphs long in the Preach My Gospel manual, but I've fleshed it out using old Sharing-Time ideas. Hope you like it!

I know that I am a daughter of a loving God. He weeps with me when I suffer and rejoices when I do what's right. He has sent me to earth to gain experience, to learn to be like Him. I want more than anything to return to Him, and be with Him and my family forever and ever! I thank Him with all my heart for sending His Son Jesus Christ to redeem me from this fallen state of mortality. I know that Jesus Christ is my true Friend. I love that tonight I will have the chance to teach these things to my sons!

 

Lesson 1 Heading 1 "God is Our Loving Heavenly Father"

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Religion & Spiritual Poetry preach my gospel family home evening

Emergency Prep/Food Storage

Krysta's post reminded me of a few things regarding emergency prep. In fact, it reminded me that I had an empty 6 gallon water container I purchased 2 years ago and never filled....so I went and filled it! Now I'm 6 gallons more prepared. Here are my thoughts...and I've thought about this lots.
1. Before thinking about FOOD STORAGE, think WATER STORAGE. All the food in our pantries will do us no good if we are dehydrated or have no water to use for cooking. Here's the link to the church's Providentliving.org page about water storage. http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7534-1-4065-1,00.html
Consider using Juicy Juice or pop bottles, or if you have the space, there are big drums that hold tons of water available.
2. For those overwhelmed with rotating through a year's supply of wheat...I've heard of people buying a supply of wheat (and other things with a really long shelf life), and keeping it as their long term storage without rotating it. If it's sealed, it will last a long time.
3. I had a good friend tackle a one year's storage in an interesting way. She chose 9 meals that her family enjoys that could be made completely from pantry items (ex. spaghetti, green beans). She purchased a months worth of each meal (ex. 30 boxes of noodles, 30 jars spaghetti sauce, 30 cans beans), which equaled 9 months of food. For the other 3 months, she stored the basics like wheat, beans, and dry milk. Think about purchasing even a weeks worth of your favorite pantry meals.
4. Break it up into manageable steps. Buy a few things every trip to the store, like Krysta suggested. Focus on a weeks supply, then a month, then 3 months and so on.
5. Start NOW with SOMETHING, even if it's just a package of bottled water. Good luck!

Digital Scrapbooking - FREE Download

A few months ago, I submitted this page to Creating Keepsakes Magazine and now it's in the September Issue of the magazine. My submmissions make my scrapbooking affordable/free/and once in a while some left over for decorating or in my case this year, grass. Here are the links to the three that pay for submissions (they are all owned by CKMedia):

CK Submit Your Work
Digital Scrapbook Magazine Submissions
Simple Scrapbooks Magazine Submit Your Work

Fun but vague journaling is best. The resolution needs to be no bigger than 7x7 @ 72dpi saved as a jpeg with a quality of 6. Make sure you keep a high resolution image in a folder for quick sending (usually 8x8 @ 300 dpi with a jpeg quality of 12).

Here is the link to the FREE DIGTAL SCRAPBOOK PAGE download from Creating Keepsakes Magazine September 2008 Issue. For some reason the brown one isn't up right now, but feel free to go back and check later if you want that one.

Tips & Tricks

{A House of Order...}

D&C 132: 8 Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.

“You can do a great deal to create in your home an atmosphere of peace and homeyness and reverence and tranquility and security. You can do this without much to live on.
“Or you can create something angular and cold … and artificial. In a thousand different ways your youngsters will be influenced by the choice you make. You can set the tone. It can be quiet and peaceful where quiet and powerful strength can grow, or it can be bold and loud and turn the mainspring of tension a bit tighter in the little children as they are growing up, until at last, that mainspring breaks” Elder Boyd. K. Packer

For our family, we find peace and tranquility when our home is clean. We have been urged to take care of our yards and beautify our homes. This can be done on little money. It just takes some hard work and planning. I find myself feeling overwhelmed at times with all the housework that needs to be done. I use a little routine in my life that has always helped me stay on top of the housework. I wanted to share a few helpful hints that I have learned. Maybe this will help you with some of the overwhelming feelings that you may have.

1. Pick one day, and get it all done. Set aside 2-3 hours one day a week, and do all the big chores. Then you don't have to think about it for one more week.

2. Don't get pretty. Stay in grubbies, and you will work harder, quicker, and be more efficient. Plus you won't ruin your pretty self.

3. On the days that you are not doing your housework, just keep it picked up. Everything in a place.

4. Enlist your kids to help you clean up at night before you go to bed.

5. Never go to bed with stuff all over the house, and never ever go to bed with dishes in the sink.

6. Don't do laundry on your cleaning day. That is just to much.

7. During the week, if you see something small that is not part of your regular cleaning tasks, just take 15 minutes to do it. Just 15 that is all you should give yourself. (I can clean out my fridge in just 15 minutes)

8. If you feel like you are coming apart at the seams, take a weekend with your family, and organize closets. Get rid of toys, clothing, and anything else that is swallowing you whole. When it is time to get back to your normal cleaning, this will make a huge difference.

9. Listen to Music. Never ever clean without something cheerful to listen too.

10. On your big cleaning day, add one of the big jobs. Do that job once a month and rotate. For eg: I dust the baseboards, move the furniture and vacuum, and mop under it. I also vacuum out my furniture, and then wipe down my kitchen cabinets, put all the rugs in the laundry. I only do these once a month, and rotate between them.

I hope these few ideas, inspire you to have a better time getting the work done. I have recently discovered that I enjoy cleaning so much more when I do it at night. I don't have to stop and help anyone. I can be in my groove, and just keep going. I also get to enjoy it clean for a few hours when I am done. The only downfall, is I have to vacuum and dust the kids room the next day. Oh well, it is worth it.

Just a reminder: It is a total workout, and I am positive you burn 1000 calories on housework day. I tell myself that, and it makes my job so much better.

I have a strong testimony, about keeping a house of order. I know that it is part of my responsibility as a mother. To keep my house feeling peaceful, and to teach my children the importance of work.

I hope this inspires you to possibly add one thing to your routine that might make it easier on you. I am always up for new suggestions myself, so pass them my way.

Here is a list of what I do on my cleaning day, just for an example:
wipe of all the kitchen counters
clean all the bathrooms top to bottom
wash all the windows
dust
vacuum
mop

The day after I clean, is the day that I wash sheets. It is a good reminder for me. I can remember that I clean on Tuesday, so Wednesday is wash sheets day. If I don't have it set in stone, weeks could go by.

Happy Cleaning!!!

If Brides Only Knew

In my previous life (you know, when my career was my life, and I was able to take a shower without a toddler opening the curtain) I owned a Bridal Store. I learned very interesting things in this business, and some tricks that are just worth sharing.

My sister Jenn called the other day, asking for my “Professional Wedding Gown Advice." This topic always seems to challenge my memory because part of me has tucked away those bad memories in a very, very, safe place, the other part of me feels like that was such a lifetime ago, (okay, like three years ago) do I really remember anything? Well, the mind is an amazing thing. Even after you have had a baby and been vacationing on a teeny tiny island in the middle of nowhere for the past two and half years, you can STILL REMEMBER STUFF.

Here’s the situation in a nutshell: Her friend bought a wedding gown. The wedding gown is dirty. How does she clean it? Well, the answer is very simple. You throw it in the washing machine. What? You’re gasping too? I forgot how sharing insider information about the bridal business can make someone have an instant brain aneurysm. YES, YOU TURN THE GOWN INSIDE OUT, AND WASH IT ON A DELICATE CYCLE IN COLD WATER WITH LIQUID DETERGENT.

Now I must make a disclaimer, this is for MOST wedding gowns. There are a few fabrics out there for which this would not work. Like silk-satin for one. However, if you paid less than $1,500 for your gown there is a 99.9% chance the tag on your wedding dress says POLYESTER, (regardless if it feels like Italian Matte Satin, or Satin, or whatever. Polyester is made to look and feel like a lot of fabrics. Again, don’t gasp when you find out you actually wore polyester to your wedding.) and it is safe to throw it in the washer. Now, this may be a shocker as well, but almost all Bridal Stores have a washer on site, in their back room. I know, this seems deceitful and wrong, but lets face it, do you really care how your dress was cleaned?

To prove the truthfulness of this crazy concept to my sister, (who had a mild heart attack over the phone when I explained how to how clean the dress) I sent her some photos I took while visiting a major factory in China that produced most of our gowns. It shows them washing BRAND NEW WEDDING GOWNS IN A WASHER. How do you think we learned this great trick? From “the people in the know” of course! Here is a peek into what goes on in a Chinese factory:

The worker is hand washing one gown in a RUBBERMAID CONTAINER. Check out the washer, and the other gowns just hanging out in their very own Rubbermaid containers.

So please, if you have a stinky old wedding gown in your closet just sitting there waiting for you to justify spending $200 on dry cleaning it, WAIT NO LONGER. Go get your dress, AND WASH IT TONIGHT. It will feel like you saved a TON OF MONEY.

Pray for Abilities

Being new to my Young Women calling I have found myself overwhelmed with all I have to do in addition to my other things I have going on. I came across this quote and felt like it was just for me. Maybe, it will apply to you to.

"Do not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, pray instead for abilities equal to your tasks."
Thomas Monson

{ Similar to Noah }...

" The revelation to store and produce food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah."

President Ezra Taft Benson

WOW! I don't know if everyone has heard that quote before, but the first time I ever did, I was blown away with the realization of just how important it is for us to listen to the words of our Prophets, past and present. Did you know that we have been counceled concerning preparedness for over 70 years???

I have only been good at food storage and preparedness for the last 3 years or so. The start of it all was when my good friend Amelia was in my basement and she discovered my little food storage area. She let me know that I needed to get my bum in gear and get preparing... FAST! She shared with me how strongly she felt about food storage and that was when I realized that this was real. That I was no longer a college student who could run home to mom and dad in an emergency, but that I was mom and dad and I needed to get prepared for my family. I started out by just randomly stocking up on things that we used whenever I would go to the store. That worked for awhile, but it wasn't organized enough for me and I felt like I was spending money, but not really getting anywhere. This was on my mind a lot and I prayed to know how to go about it because I knew how important it was. My answer came about 2 years ago in Relief Society when I was visiting my mother in laws ward. They had put together these little books about how to get your year supply in one year! It was mapped out with something to purchase every week. I was so grateful! How easy is that!? Purchasing a year supply of something every week could get a little pricey. That might work for some of you, but I wasn't able to do that, so I just tackled one or two things a month instead. For ex. I purchased my entire year supply of salt one time I went to the store and then I purchased all of my pasta another time. This worked for me because I liked that I could focus on one thing at a time and get it marked off the list and then work on the next supply, all the while rotating what I had. I also didn't have to try to figure out all of the necessities of what I needed to purchase because it was all written out for me. One of the books also tells you how much of each supply you need per person. It really has worked wonders for me. Here are some pictures of my little system:

This basket sits on my office space in my kitchen and has all of my important things in it for running my household. One of the folders in here is marked preparedness. Each time I do my grocery list, I pull out my folder and check my inventory to see what I should be buying.

These are my tools for food storage. They are kept in my preparedness folder. I also have a list of substitutions. Like eggs for ex. You can't store eggs, but if you have gelatin and water you can use them to substitute for an egg. I wouldn't have even thought to have gelatin in my food storage.

I hope that for those of you who might need help in this area, that this can give you something to go off of. I am not an expert at all and I can ALWAYS use help and new ideas, so if any of you have something that really works for you, please share! If anyone is interested in these papers that I have e-mail me @ krysta_casey@yahoo.com and I can scan them and get them your way.

Are we going to be ready?

Random Thoughts

How wonderful it will be to learn from you all! Thanks Andrea! I thought I'd start things off by posting 2 random comments...

#1 I'm grateful for people that are willing to help. Not just, "OK, I'll do it" (in a flat voice), but, "Sure, I'd LOVE to serve in nursery with those 10 great children! I've been praying for this calling." Yes, someone actually said that to me and meant it! After serving in this incredibly huge primary in a ward full of tired young families with almost non-existent husbands that still manage to do what is asked (many husbands are in medical residencies and super busy), I will always serve with a smile when asked to do something I may or may not want to do.

#2 I've been strugging with kids that WHINE and COMPLAIN about doing simple chores, like brushing their teeth or picking up toys ("then let your teeth fall out and I"ll take all the toys to Goodwill"). I'm sure noone else experiences this. Well, I found a gem of advice. Instead of asking for something to be done, just describe the situation. Example: "There's some playdough on the floor." or "Your toothbrush has toothpaste on it." Sounds silly, but most of the time my kids pick up the playdough and brush their teeth and I didn't even ask them to...atleast not really.

{Lots of Friends...}

I am so excited, everyone that I have asked to join the blog as authors has agreed. I have not heard from one person, but her internet is down. All of these women have such amazing testimonies, and I know will have wonderful ideas to share. I can't wait to see what happens to this blog. Thanks girls for adding to my life.
Andrea

The Errand of Angels beginning...

So.. as many of you know, I love to blog about my family and other random things in my life. There are lots of wonderful ideas and feelings that I love to share. Well, because of serious promptings I have recently had... I decided to make my family blog private.
It was such a hard decision for me. I really wanted to be able to share those important feeling with others.

I specifically wanted to share my testimony about the church, and thoughts about the gospel. After reading an article in the Ensign from Elder Ballard, I really took the challenge he laid out and applied it to my blog. He said, "There are conversations going on about the church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the church teaches....Now, may I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration."

Well... a private blog kind of defeats this purpose. After lots of thoughts and prayer about this, my prayer was answered. I was talking to a friend, and she suggested doing a blog with a group of women. A blog where we could all contribute our thoughts. I really pondered on this for a few days, and I love the idea. So... this is what I came up with. I am in the process of asking some of my good friends to contribute. It should be fully staffed soon.

Why the Errand of Angels? Well, first of all I love the song As Sisters in Zion. I think the words have such a strong message. I also felt they encompassed just what I want this blog to be about. ...And that is the role of women. I truly believe that we on an errand for angels, to cheer, to bless, to serve, to love, and comfort. I hope we can share our thoughts on this, and uplift others and one another as we do so.

I am so excited for this, and I hope that you will share this blog with others. We will try to uplift and bless as we fulfill a small part of our errand through this blog.