Ballots, Benson, and Boise
To start the week off, I voted!! To be honest, I left a lot of blanks on my ballot, but I voted! And that matters!
I think there is a third kitten here - he has a white face. I didn't remember there being a third one . . . so, there's that. :)
Anyway, they are doing great! And I'm just so happy that they are back together again! Good times!
Marissa, holding Azure when she was much smaller, ha ha
And now, 14 month old Azure, sitting at my kitchen counter with her 2nd cousins, Gwen and Abby
Azure is very stoic. She laughs when she wants to. Smiles when she wants to. But if you grab a camera of any kind to take a photo, this is most likely the face you will get.
She does love to give hugs. A lot. Sometimes, when Gwen has had enough hugging, she will say something like this: (kindly but firmly) "I told you Azure, no more hugging!"
Abby finds it very endearing in just how little Azure is, and how affectionate she can be.
I had to be SO QUICK taking pictures of Gwen allowing Azure to hug her, because it was over so quickly!
Wednesday evening, I was in my bathroom, packing to go to Boise, and Azure followed me into my room. I crouched down in the bathroom and played peek-a-boo with her. She was laughing that big and wonderful kind of belly laugh that melts even the crustiest of hearts. But as soon as I grabbed my camera to take a picture, all I got was a stare.
I just love her expressions!!
Wednesday: I worked all day. The End.
It helps me to take notes while I listen. I tend to pay better attention that way. I can write down the things that stand out to me personally, and then refer back to them later. I wrote down a couple of questions prior to conference starting, so that I could listen to the spirit and listen for answers to my queries. So far, I have found multiple answers and I even have a running list of things that I have felt prompted to begin doing right away.
After the session ended, we all took a family walk (a.k.a. Whitten Family Parade of 20 people) around the block. Nellie, two years old, led us out. She is hilarious! Whenever they go on a walk around the block, she will often stop everyone and announce it's time to do burpees, or that it's time to plank. What a character!
It was refreshing to visit all the family and see all the little ones who are not so little anymore!
Scott and I requested an absentee ballot so we could vote in the privacy of our own home, and freely discuss the options on the ballot together. When I went in to work at the election office Monday morning, I took both our ballots with me and put them in the new ballot drop box just outside the office.
There's a lot of hype and worry across the nation regarding the safety of absentee ballots, but here in Bonneville County things are going swimmingly! As people come in and have questions, I have done a lot of reassuring as to what happens to their ballot once they have voted early.
First, we "receive" the ballot. It has to be signed on the outside of the envelope, attesting to the authenticity of the person voting that specific ballot. If it's not signed, we cannot receive it. Then, we time-stamp it to show when we received it. Then the envelope gets scanned into the computer, using the barcode next to their signature. This shows that we have officially received the person's ballot. Then it goes into a special room that is only accessed by a handful of election personnel, is locked otherwise, and is under 24 hour video surveillance. It stays there until Election Day, when everything will be opened up, sorted, and scanned. By the end of the night, there will be an unofficial tally that will be made public. And a few days later, after double checks have all been completed, the official tally will be made known to the public as well.
Bonneville County, and the state of Idaho in general, don't have the problems that other states seem to have when it comes to the integrity of the ballots and the safety of the ballots. We are proud of that fact!
And here are a couple of comic strips that are on display in the election office here in Idaho Falls. For your enjoyment, of course!
In Other News . . .
Benson got home Monday! Happy Day for Kylie!! She sent us this video, once they got home and let the doggies out.
You can hear Benson's surprised voice near the end, saying, "They remember me! They remember me!"
He was gone for almost 6 weeks in total, doing Air Force training exercises in Lakenheath, England, near Cambridge. I was able to talk to them both on a video chat Wednesday during my lunch break. Since Benson was coming in from another country, he had to do a mandatory quarantine for about a week. My response was simply, "How romantic!!"
Also, their Italian Family Zoo has been updated again, ha ha. If I remember correctly, they still have the two puppies (obviously!), plus the little brown bunny, plus two little kittens. One of them is named Mochi (pronounced moh-chee), and now I can't remember the name of the other one! Darn it. Old-timers . . .
I got some screenshots during our video chat:
Monday: After going to work, Scott and I spent a few minutes outside with Ouli the bunny before Lyndsey came to pick her up and take her back home. Scott fed her a plum. She LOVED IT!!
Watch here:
Amber and the girls really enjoyed bunny-sitting all weekend. Maybe they will even do it again!
Also, late Monday night, our niece Marissa, along with husband Assan and daughter Azure, came to stay with us for a few days. They flew into Salt Lake City from West Virginia and drove up to Idaho Falls while they waited to move into their new apartment in Rexburg (Oct. 1st). Marissa is Gordon and Pam Harmon's 3rd child. She is only one year younger than Amber.
We were so happy to see them! It's been such a long time since we saw them last. Assan just finished basic training and tech school out in South Carolina, where he did extremely well. We are so proud of him! He's a business major up at BYU-Idaho, so in the military he chose to go into the supply chain for his career path. An exciting bit of news that he is eagerly waiting for - is to receive his U.S. Citizenship!! Because he finished all his training, he was able to apply for citizenship and in Idaho, thankfully, the waiting period is much shorter. He expects to get the good news in about 2 months or so. Hooray! (He is from Togo, West Africa)
Here are a couple of pictures of them . . .
Assan - finishing up his training (borrowed from Marissa's Instagram feed)
Anyway, we enjoyed having them for a few days. They are now all settled into their new apartment in Rexburg. Only about 40 minutes to the north, I'm sure we will see them often while they're in the area!
Tuesday: In addition to the pictures I already posted above, I saw this beautiful painting online and took a screenshot of it.
I love this artwork on so many levels. I already have a little shelf sign in my front entry that says this same exact verse from Ephesians, "He is our Peace." In such a chaotic world, Jesus Christ is the One that I can always turn to for peace, for love, for acceptance, for wisdom, for forgiveness, for guidance and inspiration, and for answers to any question or concern that I have. I am so grateful that He is my older brother and my Savior.
Thursday: I went to work for about 2/3 of the day, then left at 3:00 to head to Boise with Scott. He had some army meetings for the whole weekend, so he invited me to come with him. I'm so glad he did!
Halfway there, we stopped in Burley for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered shrimp fajitas and he had a pork burrito. They were delicious! We arrived to our hotel on the base around 9:00 p.m., tired and ready for bed.
We were lucky to have made it onto the base, however, because half way into our drive, Scott realized that he forgot his military I.D. card at home! He was working on something just prior to our leaving, and it got left behind. We were worried about him getting on and off the base, but it has been just fine.
I had my military I.D. card, so that was helpful. And last night (Saturday), while I was watching the women's session of General Conference, he went out to get us some dinner and put gas in the tank for our drive home today. I was worried he wouldn't be able to get back through the main gate without his ID, but he showed his driver's license plus our room key as proof that he was staying on the base. They let him through just fine! How about that!
Friday: Scott got up way too early for his army day of meetings, but only had to walk 2 buildings down the street to get there. Meanwhile, I slept in a little bit, then forced myself to get up and get moving.
After exercising, showering and getting ready, I headed out to do some shopping! I love shopping in Boise. There's so much to offer, and I had a full day ahead!
I dropped off some items in our trunk - they had hitched a ride all the way from home - at the Boise Goodwill, then went to Walmart, then headed to a store called Kid to Kid, a children's store with gently used clothing and other items. I found some cute dress-up clothes for the girls, along with a pair of winter boots for Abby.
Then, because I hadn't had any breakfast yet, I decided to head to the mall so I could get a bite to eat. There were only a couple of restaurants open in the food court, which surprised me. I guess that's another downside to COVID-19. Not everyone is able to keep going. I ordered from Panda Express and then set out to do some shopping.
Later, after I had some moderate success, I stopped to get some chocolates from See's Candy and rest for a minute.
Soon after my chocolate respite, I decided to leave the mall and head back over to our hotel room on base. I rested and made a couple phone calls while I waited for Scott to get done for the day. Then we drove over to the Black Bear Diner and met up with Scott's sister, Carol, and her husband, Mike. (I didn't get any pictures!! Dang it!)
We had a fantastic visit and a fantastic dinner. We got caught up on all the happenings, Scott's deployment, Carol's promotion, and all the grandchildren. Something interesting that Carol shared, was that 3 of their granddaughters have had problems with bullies recently. The girls are all around the age of 9 years old, but their personalities are all so very different!
Louisa (nickname: Lou-Lou): was being bullied at school. She was worried that the bully (I don't recall if it was a boy or a girl) wasn't happy. She asked her mom if she could buy the bully a present. So she did just that! I think it has helped so far.
Colette (nickname Co-Co): was being bullied at school by a boy. He kept teasing and teasing her over a period of time. One day, she decided she had had enough of it. So she punched him in the face and took him down! I think that has ended the bullying.
Anna (has cerebral palsy and has had to fight to overcome so many obstacles her entire life): well, it turns out, she WAS the bully! I'm sure that between her amazing mother and other responsible adults at school, they are working to remedy the situation.
Colette lives up in Washington, so was not here for the photo, but I took a picture of Louisa and Anna yesterday while I was visiting. (Louisa is on the left, Anna is on the right)
These three girls, all 1st cousins to each other, are as tight as peas in a pod and never seem to get enough time together. How interesting that each one, in her own distinct way, is dealing with some issues in her life. But all of them have a firm belief in Jesus Christ and His unconditional kindness. They will all be okay and will grow up to be wonderful women, I'm certain!!
Carol also told me the sweetest thing yesterday afternoon. After we had dinner together on Friday, she went home and reflected on how absolutely wonderful it was to hug her baby brother, Scott. She hadn't seen him in a really, really long time! It felt so good and beautiful to be reunited with him after all that time. Then the thought popped into her head, "Think what it will feel like to hug your Other Brother (Jesus). It will be even more wonderful and beautiful than how you felt tonight!" What a sweet and tender moment of reflection, and I'm so grateful she shared that with me. I made sure to tell Scott last night as we were getting ready for bed.
Saturday: After exercising, showering, and eating some breakfast, I settled into our hotel room to watch the first session of General Conference. Using my laptop and an HDMI cable, I hooked my laptop up to the TV and began my spiritual feast.
One of the questions I wrote down, and this was probably my MAIN question, is: How can I be more of an ACTIVE disciple of Jesus Christ? Meaning that I feel like I'm just coasting to some degree, happily filled with faith, but not doing a whole lot about it. I think that because of the global pandemic, and the fact that we haven't had much in way of church responsibilities in several months (me - even longer because I was traveling from last August through April of this year), this has all led to some measure of laziness. Happy laziness, but laziness, nonetheless.
Two talks have really answered my concerns.
Scott D. Whiting spoke of how to emulate the Prince of Peace and invited us to focus on developing Christ-like attributes, one at a time.
And Elder Neil L. Andersen said that even though we live in a time of social & physical distancing, we NEVER need to live spiritually distanced from the anchor of our souls, Jesus Christ. He encouraged us to delve into a renewed study of Jesus Christ in the scriptures, just as President Russell M. Nelson did just prior to his being called as a prophet of God. There are over 2200 references to Jesus Christ in the scriptures. I need to seek out those verses and study them for myself.
Elder Andersen also said, "If the world is going to speak less of Him (Jesus), who is going to speak more of Him? We Are!!" This was in reference to a recent U.S. study that showed people leaving their organized religion by the millions, even leaving their faith in Jesus Christ as well.
I felt a clarion call to action in response to my question of how to be more of an ACTIVE disciple of Jesus Christ. I have some good ideas on what I can do now. I'm excited to begin!
I spent yesterday afternoon over at Mike and Carol's house, watching conference with them, along with a multitude of their children and grandchildren. They fed me lunch and provided me with a comfy spot on the couch to watch. The children, after taking a bit of time to settle down and quiet down, listened to the speakers as they colored together on the coffee table.
Sunday: I've been watching the rest of General Conference in our hotel room, while I wait for Scott to finish up for the day. Then we will drive back to the other side of the state and sleep in our own bed tonight.
This was one of the images that popped up in someone's talk this morning - it might have been during Elder Neil Andersen's talk. It is meant to represent that all peoples in all lands will one day recognize and worship Jesus Christ, Savior of all mankind.
I trust in my Savior. I trust in Him because He has let me know so many times of His love for me. He has provided me a way to repent and be free of guilt and darkness in my life through His Atoning Sacrifice for all mankind. He teaches me a better way to love, to serve, and to be patient with others around me. Why? Because we ALL matter to Him. He died for all of us, not just some of us! I trust in Him because He is Peace. He brings peace to my soul in this crazy world. He is constant and eternal. He will always bring peace. Not contention and chaos. He brings Light instead of darkness. He is our Shepherd, always calling out to us to come unto Him. I will come. I will listen. Because I love Him.
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