Things I Know

On the border of Texas and Louisiana is a town called Uncertain. The boundaries of the town are on Caddo Lake, so I'm guessing that the loosey-goosey border yields a measure of uncertainty(?). In any case, this is a real place and I love it, so here is more info about Uncertain, TX. My favorite photo from this area is the sign for the local church. The church of Uncertain is poetic in so many ways.

Recently my mother in law passed away. (You can read her story here.) In reflecting on death and life and the meaning of both, I've revisited what I believe. These are core beliefs that I've held for many years, but in choosing to write them down today, it helps me crystallize and consolidate.

God is my Heavenly Father. He loves me and knows my name, and listens when I pray. He is mindful of the details.
His son Jesus Christ saves me. Not past tense=saved. Present tense=saves, because I need mercy and grace every day. We call this repenting. It means I say sorry to my Heavenly Father in prayer, for the unintentional words that drip off my tongue, for the mean stuff I think or feel, for the people I hurt, etc. Because of Jesus Christ I can approach my Heavenly Father. Jesus intercedes, redeems and makes whole. He is mighty to save.
The Holy Ghost is my companion. When I was 8 I was baptized. Y'all know what it looks like when somebody gets dunked in the water. But the more I learn, the more I'm grateful for the special blessing that came after getting baptized. My dad and other men holding the holy Priesthood, acting in the name of Jesus, confirmed my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ. AND blessed me with an additional gift= companionship of the Holy Ghost. I've been promised that as long as I try to be good, He (the third member of the Godhead) will send power and comfort and guidance ALL THE TIME. My dear friends of other faiths also carry a portion of His Holy Spirit with them, I can see it in their faces, and that light and goodness radiates from them. The difference is that the gift I received is like an unlimited line of credit for me to have the Spirit with me as much as I want. (notes on photo: I did not get baptized in the dirty pond in the background, but actually in an indoor swimming pool in Grand Junction, because the baptismal font at the church was broken that month. I zoomed in so you could see my face, and yes that is my dad right behind me.)
Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. A.. First a story: Recently there was a kickball game for the teenagers in my area. It sounded super fun. Remember in sports they'll sometimes choose two team captains and then choose players? Well, I'm just un-sporty enough that whenever that happened in junior high, I'd be the kid picked near the end. In the case of Joseph Smith, whenever I get to heaven and there's a team kickball event and he's one of the team captains, I'm going to be that kid jumping and screaming and saying, "pick me, pick me!" I want to be on his team. B. I will stand and defend the Prophet Joseph. I want to be on his team, though the internet will fling mud at his name, though people will misunderstand and malign and mock. C. My reasoning for my choice is based on careful study and consideration. For an excellent biography written by his mother, edited by Susan Easton Black, I like this one here. Another book I'm enjoying a LOT lately is called Know Brother Joseph, edited by Smith, Godfrey and Grow. If you want to understand any historical figure, just remember there will be clouds of controversy circling anybody worth remembering.
The Book of Mormon is true and I love reading it. see here for a blog post I wrote two years ago. I also love the Bible, see here for some of my favorite Old Testament women.
I love President Nelson. see here
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church on the planet today. The reason we send missionaries to places like Finland or Paraguay is to share this message of hope, repentance and baptism, following the prophet = peace, etc.

Every time I have a friend or loved one who leaves my church, it makes me think and wonder, "Did I miss something?" I've reflected a LOT on why I stay in my faith. It all comes down to the Book of Mormon. In high school geometry, remember how you can prove a triangle is a right angle? In the case of my faith, it goes like this: a. It's impossible for Joseph Smith to have produced a book of such magnitude with his limited education and resources. b. There is no other way to explain its miraculous existence. c. If The Book of Mormon is true (arrow pointing right) then Joseph Smith is a prophet. d. If Joseph Smith is a prophet, then the church he spearheaded is also true. e. If the church he restored is true, then the priesthood power he held is the same power held by the ancient prophets: Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc.

So how does a person know if the Book of Mormon is true? Well, there's the hiccup. You have to read it. If you read it and pray about it and decide it's garbage, off you go. But if you read it and feel something, then you pray and ask God if he's trying to tell you something. And then you listen and ponder and keep asking good questions. Keep looking around at your friends and their lives. By their fruits ye shall know them: Matthew 7:16

Remember how I started by talking about the Church of Uncertain? I love my friends who are on a faith journey, and I love my friends who are members of other churches. I also love my own certainty of where I belong, and of what I believe. This knowledge and my own faith and conviction is the guiding star of my life.

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Leaving Utah

Norm and I are at a crossroads. It's time for our family to take the next step. But first a quick trip down memory lane. We first came to Utah sixteen years ago. We were young and cute and pregnant with baby #1. Norm had been accepted as a student. I had a lot of fun during my first two years of college, and I imagine the admissions board looked at my transcript and said something like, "yeah right!" (More details about getting a D in organ lessons over here .) So my first BYU application was rejected. They let me attend classes as a visiting student, and one day an admissions officer called my phone. It was a landline, and we were living in BYU married student housing. He had two questions for me: Is your husband a full time student? Yes. And you live on campus? Yes. End of interview. A few days later I got my acceptance letter. We finally graduated together in 2004. We bought our first home in Lehi, not too far from Willow Creek middle schoo

believe

These four books are either written by or about some of my favorite authors of all time. Isaiah , Prophet, Seer and Poet, by Victor Ludlow. One semester during college we did a deep dive into this poet's literary works found in the Old Testament. Someday if I get bored, I want to learn Hebrew and read his stuff in the original language. Neal A Maxwell is another favorite writer. My favorite book that he's written is called All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, and is a masterpiece on human suffering and why it's necessary in the refining process. Highly recommend. The first time I read through it, it took about a year because I could only digest about a paragraph a day. believe is such a fantastic collection of quotes on hope. Love it. Eliza The Life and Faith of Eliza R Snow, by Karen Lynn Davidson and Jill Mulvay Derr. I love this lady so much and she's my favorite poet and pioneer woman. This biography is beautifully written. My favorite poem or quote by

2021 Christmas Card

December 2021 Dear Friends and Family, We love you and and miss y'all that are far away in WA and UT and other places!! This year we skipped our tradition of sending a Thanksgiving card and opted for a virtual Christmas card instead. It saved a ton of stamps and envelopes, but I definitely miss the glitter and sparkle. We hope you can feel our love even through a simple email or blog post. One tradition we couldn't skip was our gratitude tree, where the little leaves are a list of blessings. We are so thankful for God's goodness and mercy every day. Here's the highlight reel: Cade graduated, made lots of Domino's pizza, read probably a thousand books, and is currently living in Provo, UT as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He's heading to Helsinki, Finland in January. We are so proud of him and his hard work, we miss him but are excited for his opportunity to learn and serve. Shad spent a zillion hours with Marcus Ban

Thorns and gifts

We've been reading in the New Testament as a family lately, and Paul has some great advice and counsel that's still applicable today. In his letter to the church in Corinth, he talks about a thorn in the flesh. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. It's kind of a moot point to speculate what Paul's particular thorn might have been, but I've often wondered. More importantly: what is God's purpose in giving his children such difficult stuff to learn? Why does life have to be so hard?

One More Syllable

It's been a year. One year ago we moved to Texas. One year ago I started asking people to call me Kristina instead of Kristy, thus adding one more syllable to my name. August is our anniversary. Last year we celebrated that anniversary by adding a cool new memory. That day we drove up to our house, found the keys and walked inside with the kids. We spent the night in our house without any stuff. Isn't it funny how places seem bigger when they're unfurnished? And that pool in the backyard? We knew nothing about pools and maintenance but just jumped in carefree. It was great. It was like being in a hotel but with room for everybody to spread out. Maybe it's time to explain the name change. For me, I had decided before moving to Texas that I wanted to quit using Kristy as my nickname. It served me well for many years and I still like it, but it's mainly for simplicity. When I'd first meet somebody, maybe I'd mumble or maybe I don't speak clearly enou

It doesn't matter where you live, but how...

Thoughts on Houses This is my first post from Texas. The blog lives on. August was a whirlwind, September we started settling in, and now it's October. Most of the boxes are unpacked. Just last week I found the box that had cookbooks in it, and that makes me pretty happy. I still haven't made whole wheat bread or cookies since we got here, but maybe I'll do that soon. We spent a lot of time this summer thinking about houses, getting ready to sell our house in Traverse Mountain (in Lehi, on the northern edge of Utah County), and brainstorming on what we'd need in a house in Texas. On the way to Texas, we drove south through Colorado and spent the night at Mesa Verde. We found the Far View Lodge inside the park and stayed up high on the mesa. The night sky was pitch black away from the city lights, and the weather was at least ten degrees cooler up high. I loved it. The next morning we learned a lot about the Native Americans who lived there. A man ga

Meek Warhorse

Norm's last church talk/sermon in Utah before moving to Texas July 2018, Lehi UT, Traverse Mountain 8th Ward Hello brothers and sisters, it’s my privilege to speak to you today. I guess this is our good-bye address even though we haven’t moved yet, which I’m taking as a personal sign that the bishopric can’t wait for the next family to move in. (that was a joke, guys) In my remarks today, I’m going to cover an alternative definition of meekness that really struck a chord with me. Once I’ve introduced this idea, I’m going to share my supporting argument for meekness as a strength, and then I’m going to talk about how I believe we can develop this form of meekness in our lives. As Kristy told you, our topic is “being meek and lowly of heart” which, in the terms I normally think of meekness or lowliness, is a subject that does not come naturally to me. I am not naturally what I consider to be meek, quiet or, as Kristy would tell you, all that well behaved. While I

How Controlling Are You?

Life is like Mario Kart. In the early levels, you're driving through Moo Moo Meadows and the grass is green and there's cows and fields and it's lovely. There's an occasional banana peel that gets tossed in the path, and sometimes the cows walk in the road so you try not to hit them. But overall the driving is pretty mellow. Then later after you've unlocked other levels, there's stuff like Bowser's Castle. It's a maze with lava on both sides of the path, there's fire and brimstone all around, there's stone columns that try to smash you at random intervals. Just to know where to go and how to steer and stay on the path is complicated. Some stages of life are like Moo Moo Meadows. The details are easy-peasy and you just keep moving right along. And then there are years like Bowser's Castle where it's pretty intense and you pray a lot because the fire around you is pretty hot and you're trying not to fall in the lava pit. During years

Twenty + One Month

You know how life gets kinda messy sometimes? My version of messy looks like this: Four kids including a teenager learning to drive; a kindergartner learning to get herself ready in the morning; a senior learning about adulting; a middle schooler learning to ride her bike to electives every other day, a mortgage husband's career VIRTUAL PLUS church service pandemic, civil unrest, election year my own personal need for friends and connection even when my schedule looks like a revolving door Our big anniversary was last month and we were lucky enough to celebrate together this past weekend. We managed to sneak away for 24 hours. First I need to give credit where credit is due. There was a very generous friend who volunteered to parent the children during our 'Nelson marriage offsite.' And there was a generous benefactor who donated Marriott points to spring for the fancy room. I won't mention either party by name, but thanks to their generosity we had a great time. I'

Shoplifting: Tic Tacs at Target

You know when you're at the store and one of your kids asks you to buy stuff? Then they ask again and again and again and again? My reply is usually something like, 'No, but thanks for asking.' And if they ask again then the reply goes something like, 'If you ask again, the answer will be no for like a week.' OR, "If you ask again, I'll take away your favorite toy," OR "If you ask me one more time, __________." Think of a punishment you will actually do! You can't make an empty threat here. If you don't have the energy to see it through, then just say yes. My older kids will often comment on how their younger sister gets a ton of stuff or privileges. If I'm tired and don't have the energy to win a battle, it's much better to JUST SAY YES the first time. That way, when I say NO on something, it carries more weight. So I explain to the older kids that they've already run me ragged and I no longer have the patience or st

Notes for my sister