Fall 2021

 We have had a pretty good Fall. The weather has been beautiful. It only has snowed once and there is not snow on the ground right now. October Thanksgiving was spent at home this year and Camellia, Doug and their crew came for Turkey and all the trimmings. We did our Halloweening on Saturday October 30th this year so that we did not have to be running around on Sunday. I texted our neighbors about a week beforehand and most were agreeing to let us come and visit on the Saturday. Thanks neighbors! It took us about 3 hours to go to 15 houses. The kids dressed up as follows: Caeleb - a big blowup dinosaur, Elva - a unicorn, Mary - a unicorn (they got nice cozy unicorn pjs), Selman - a dinosaur and Lizzy - a strawberry. 

Chris and I celebrated our 12 Anniversary on October 24th. Camellia and Doug watched the kids while Chris and I spent a night away in Waterton at our usual Glacier Suites Hotel. We hiked Bears hump that Friday evening and it was a beautiful hike!! It felt so good to hike and I felt so alive!!! I hope we can do more this summer. We went out for supper at Vimny Lodge. The next day, we slept in, had breakfast and went to the 1:00pm session at the Temple. It has been 2 years since we have gone to the Temple and it was so wonderful to go again. I feel close to my Father in Heaven when I am in the Temple. I am grateful to learn more about God's plan for us as well as feel connected to those who have already died. 

I took the kids to Camellia and Doug's on the weekend of November 5th while Chris stayed home and worked on report cards. Doug was in the play Joseph and the Technicolor dream coat and he did so good! We took all the kids to the play except Selman and Lizzy. 

On November 11, we watched a Remembrance day service from home while Nana took Caeleb to Champion for the little service there. Then we went to the Nanton Air Museum and looked at the war planes and other exciting displays. Nana and Papa came as well as Camellia and her kids. We had a great time looking at the planes and playing in the park outside. 

Pretty much our whole family got sick during the week of the 15-21 of November with certain kids staying home throughout the week. I even had a fever Tuesday and Wednesday which never happens and I felt really rotten. Caeleb and I got tested for Covid on the Thursday but we were negative. We all feel better now, just a continuing cough for some of us. 

Today, November 27, we went to get our tree up in the mountains. It is the first time we have done that with the kids. We left at 1000 in the morning and were back by 3:00pm. We did not find the greatest tree for us or Mom and Dad but we tried and we had fun. There was a little snow up there so the kids had some fun sledding. We got slurpies as per a tradition we did when I was growing up when going tree hunting. I hope that we can continue to do this every 2-3 years. Chris is not really an outside person so I kind of felt alone in planning this but I hope that we can continue to do things like this in our family. Traditions are important. And being outside is important too. We decorated the little tree tonight and had appetizers and hot chocolate while watching The Polar Express after. That is becoming a tradition too. I love our little Charlie Brown tree. It lights up our dining room and living room with the spirit of Christmas. 

Well, I best put the Liz to bed. Until later. 

Songs

 I am listening to a lot of uplifting music these days on Youtube. These are a few of my favorites. 

https://youtu.be/EUMtAaJX2RE - I'm trying to be like Jesus 

https://youtu.be/xrlvD323ciw - love one another 

https://youtu.be/3PlyzaKkzTQ - I will be What I Believe 

https://youtu.be/AGhxlPAHOg4 - Savior, Redeemer of my Soul 

https://youtu.be/nomxXk6Q1rk - Glorious - One Voice Children's Choir 

https://youtu.be/GbPOTWO2ynU - Like Him - Aaliyah Rose 

Catching up on Summer

You know something, I have not caught up on my blog about our Summer. Let's see if I can remember enough to quickly summarize the Summer. 

It was a hot, dry Summer. We did not receive much rain in the Spring and the crops did not grow well. I think all farmers struggled, including the Durum crop that was grown on my parents land. Last year the mustard crop was great so you win some and loose some right? sidenote - I really admire Farmers. It is an unpredictable job and a great way to rely on faith. I kind of wish I was a Farmer but I am glad I was raised as a Farmer's daughter. 

We travelled out to Victoria from July 14 to the 28th. We like traveling in the middle of the week because there is less traffic. As usual, the kids did very well on the way out. We put Elizabeth between Elva and Caeleb in the back so they can feed her things and entertain her. The highlight of the road trip is the Ferry - exploring, playing in the little play areas and eating on the Ferry. 

We had a great time visiting family in Victoria. Kurt and Alby did not want to see us or the rest of the family, but we visited with everyone else. We stayed at the parents house. Chris had a Guys day where his brothers and Dad and him went out to eat, painted mugs and went to a race track. Us girls had a Girls day where we went up to the New Malahat Skywalk and then slid down a 7 story slide, then went tubing 3 hours down a river (absolutely loved it!) and then out for supper at Milestones at the Inner Harbor. I love to visit with my mother in law and 3 sisters in law (my 4th sister in law does not want anything to do with us). Even though 3 of us have some different beliefs then the other two, we love each other and I know that our family relationships can be forever. I love my Watters family very much. Chris and I went on a date night to Sidney where we went out for Thai food and walked around the harbor there and then drove around the waterfront by the Ferry and Airport. Some very huge and expensive houses there! The kids had fun playing with their cousins. They are developing a special bond with them even though they only see them once a year or so. When Caeleb and Elva are a bit older, I want to fly them out to see their cousins (and the others too when they get older). We went mini golfing a couple of times with the kids, we went to the Breakwater and to Beacon Hill park, we went to the beach several times and we played in Aunt Wendy's blow up water park. We had a games night and early one morning, Chris and I hiked bear hill with Uncle Jared and his friend to watch the sunrise. It is only 5 minutes from Chris' parents house and the sunrise on the ocean was so beautiful!

Swimming lessons this year were August 2-6 for our kids and Camellia's kids (except Lizzy and Russell). We ended up camping in Champion Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening. Doug joined us Thursday, and we had 14 people sleeping in our tent that night. A small independent film company was filming a movie in Champion on Saturday and Caeleb and Elva and I decided to be extras for that film. It was actually lots of fun walking across Main street in Champion over and over and over again with each take. And we met some fun people while doing it! I would totally do that again. The kids would too. 

Chris spent most of the summer in his office, working on his parent's company computers,  programming some sort of App to help with their business. He never got it done so I suppose he will continue to work on it next summer. I am not sure what to think about that but I will leave it there. 😕 He was able to make a covering for our septic tank, so that was very nice of him. He is very creative that way and did a very good job!

I went to Calgary with the kids a couple of times in August to help a friend in the ward find a new vehicle after she had car accident. We ate at Wendys drive through many times this summer and enjoyed the $1 frostys. We also went to Camellia and Doug's for a weekend and went to Waterton to skip rocks in the lake with the kids (Chris stayed home to work as per usual). 

We went to my Cousins, the Gainor's, beautiful lake house on Gull lake for a night in August. We had to delay a day because I had taken Selman to Vulcan Emergency Room at 4:00 in the morning the day before. He had been sick for a couple of days and then woke up in the middle on the night with  wheezing and fast breathing. X-rays were normal (he was such a tough little guy and did so well standing still for x-rays), covid test was negative, and a few doses of ventolin and atrovent helped him greatly. Hopefully it was just a one time RSV event and will not lead into an Asthma. He has been fine since. Anyways, we had fun at the Gainor's. Chris and I played a bird game with Kamille. Elva got along really well with Elliette and Dawsyn. They went exploring. Caeleb and Marshall played together as well. We went tubing on their beautiful new boat twice. The weather was a bit dodgy and the first time out on the boat, the waves were really choppy. The second time out, a rain storm hit us suddenly and Kamille did some quick thinking to bring us home safely. It is a big lake and you can get lost on it! The kids, especially Elva and Mary, had a blast tubing! I don't think we will ever have a boat (though I would like a canoe someday to take out on the reservoir 5 minutes from our house) but I am so grateful that the Gainors are willing to let us come and visit! We will have to do it again in future years. 

Other little highlights of the Summer were going to Bar U ranch and Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump early in July. I love going to historical sights! Definitely a passion of mine. I don't think the kids have that passion yet and Chris does not either, but hopefully some day. I love that my Dad loves historical sights. I remember him always reading every historical sign when we went places as a kid. I am like him in that way. 

It was a good summer. It went by way too fast but I think by the end of it, we were all ready to go back to school. I love Spring and July, I don't care for August, but Fall really is my favorite season of the year (just like it was for my old Calgary friend Grandma Nancy who lived at the Colonel Belcher with my Grandma Selman - I miss them both, my Rummicube buddies, and have been thinking of them). 

We are still having a good Fall. The weather has been very nice. It snowed a little last week, a little winter squall, but besides that we have hardly got any snow yet and the temperature has stayed pretty warm. My days are spent playing with the kids, procrastinating doing laundry, painting the inside porch and mudding the attic (I am very slow at getting projects done) and thinking about religion. I need to get over that last one. Talking about religion has strengthened my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ and simultaneously weakened my faith in humanity and has left me confused and depressed (I need to get back on my antidepressant I think). I have taken a step with faith out into the dark by learning about other people's beliefs, and guess what. It has brought nothing but darkness. So how could it be true. Why do people interpret the Bible the way THEY do?! It does not lead to happiness. It leads to darkness, feelings opposite of light, love and truth. I feel empty inside. 

Well, it is almost 6:00 am. I have been up since 4:00 am coughing. I have had a bad cold/flu this week and even had a fever on Tuesday and Wednesday. Caeleb and I got covid tested on Thursday and we are negative. We have all been a bit sick and I have got nothing productive done this week except for hanging out with the kids at home - which is good enough! We watched a lot of movies including having a family movie night last night while eating nachos. We watched Jungle Cruise and it was really good. Chris was working in his office and did not join us. Caeleb and Elva have guitar/piano lessons today (Saturday) as they had school yesterday and then I think we will go for a bit of a drive after. Chris, will be working in his office. Until later then. 

Logic

Chris gave me a blessing yesterday. It was beautiful and I felt the spirit. It was not fortune telling or witchcraft (a friend was asking me what blessings were all about). Chris simply placed his hands on my head and said a prayer through the power of the priesthood. He blessed me to have peace and comfort, to look for truth and to look to Church History and the examples of those of old. He blessed me to focus on what I have learned through the spirit. I know this blessing came from God. After the blessing, I started thinking about those who joined the LDS Church many years ago. I started thinking about why they did it and their testimony of truth. I also read John 1 to look for truth. I read it as a child would. I felt my Savior's love. I had this thought come to mind. Use Logic Katherine. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

People all over the world are trying to believe in him, whether they know it or not. They are trying to make sense of how we are, who we are and why we are. No matter what you believe in, you have Faith, or at least a sliver of hope, to believe it, to believe in a higher power and purpose of some sort. We know who that power comes from, but most everyone believes in a higher power of some sort. God is not looking for excuses to throw people into Hell. God is Love! He will accept belief and Faith in whatever form you have to offer it, as long as it takes you a step closer to him and to Christ and Christ's characteristics and to truth. Faith is not a one time event. Faith is a process, a journey. This I know is true.  

I have been wrestling with myself the last several months. Satan puts dark contentious thoughts in my mind. God puts thoughts of peace, clarity, truth, common sense/logic in my mind. God loves his children. All of us. He loves you, he loves me. Love is my foundation of Truth and Logic. Everything else that I believe in and know is built on that foundation.

I Believe

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I strongly believe that the Church has been a blessing in my life as I come to know Christ. For the past several months, I have been on a Faith journey of sorts. You see, like I have said in several of my latest blog posts, I have been studying the Bible with a friend and it has opened my eyes to what Christians believe about my faith. I am a fairly simple minded, empathetic being and have gone from innocently believing I am a Christian to being told that I am not a Christian.  From what I gather, unless I have been told or have interpreted wrong, Christians believe that my Faith in Christ is not true saving faith because I do not believe in the Bible alone, I believe in the Godhead instead of the Trinity, I do works such as baptism and temple ordinances (and so I can not abide by their faith alone criteria of salvation), I believe in modern day prophets and I am open to learning more truth.  I am trying to think of a way to describe how I feel when people say I do not have true saving faith. It is like someone saying "Katherine, you are blind." And I say, "No, actually I see quite well thank you. 20/20 vision in fact. I just had my vision checked." And then that person over and over and over again says, "No Katherine, you are blind." And I say, "I see what I see, I see everything in the room in front of me and all around me, I can see very clearly Thank you. I see what I see. I know what I know. You can not tell me what I see and know." Yet that person thinks he or she knows me better than I know myself even though I am me. It is more than frustrating. 

One thing is for certain. I believe in Christ, who is the  Son of God and I believe that he has the power to perform the Atonement and that he died for my sins. I have faith in him and have accepted his Atonement. Christ is my Savior and I am forever indebted to him There is no doubt in my mind on this. So naturally I think it is incredibly confusing when people tell me, more or less, that my faith is not good enough because I am a member of the LDS church. I have talked to my dear Christian friends about this. I love my friends. I have talked to a very nice and knowledgeable Pastor from a local Christian church about this. I have listened to many youtube videos. These are good men who want the best for people, however, they appear to believe that my faith is not good enough for me to be saved. I can not understand this at all. I truly believe that I have been saved!!! And with all the questions I have asked people, I have NEVER EVER got a clear answer on why believing what I believe prevents me from being saved! Do these people even know what kind of God they believe in? If God is as cruel as these people describe, a God who picks and chooses who he saves and who will not save me or the countless people who are pure in heart, who are not perfect but have pure desires and motives and truly believe what they believe (but whose beliefs are different then these Christians), or the people who struggle with faith (Atheists included) but are trying to just get through this hard life the best way the know how, then I will be cast into that awful Hell and will suffer for eternity with those who GOD hated (not those who hated God but those who God hated). That is not the God I know and I can not even begin to describe how horrible this makes me feel. Not alone for myself, but for the billions of others who have tried or are trying to hold on and just get through life regardless of if the believe or what they believe about God. 

In my heart, I want to feel united with other believers. But further than that, I desire to feel united with everyone on this earth! I want to feel like we are all on our Journey to Christ even if our Journeys differ a little or even alot! 

Now, I need to let this go as I feel like these thoughts are consuming my life and are taking me away from the focus on my husband and children. I need to be a good wife and mother and I will continue to study the Bible and Book of Mormon, go to church, pray, ponder, have family scripture study, etc. But I will focus on doing these things with my family. I will not focus on how others do not think I will be saved. That makes me feel sad and is getting me no where in life! I am going to write my beliefs down now. These beliefs are mostly for my children to read. I want them to know what I believe and that I will love them no matter what they believe. Of course I would want them to stay active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because I know how being an active member has blessed my life in countless ways. The biggest blessing is that it has helped me come to Christ and develop a personal relationship with him. I know that God will love my children no matter what they believe. He just wants us all to be happy and he knows what we need to do to gain the fullness of peace and Joy! These are my beliefs:

1). I believe in God. Not just believe. I know God! I love him! He is my Heavenly Father. He is the Father of my Spirit. He loves me more than I can comprehend. He loves everyone who has ever lived or will ever live no matter who they were/are, with that same perfect, everlasting love. 1 John 4:8. God is Almighty. His power is everlasting. Without him, I am nothing. He deserves all the Glory and all my praise. 

2) I know that Jesus died for my sins. God loved the world so he sent his son to die for us (John 3:16). It is through his grace that I am saved. It is through my faith in His Atonement that I am saved. I am sinful. I could never ever save myself. I have faith in Christs Atonement. Ephesians 2:8. 

3) I believe in the Godhead. I believe in God the Father, his son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. I only worship one God as the scriptures tell me to do so. I believe that Jesus is called the Father at times. He is the Father of creation, he is the Father of our Salvation, etc. He is God's son and has his divine nature. He has the power to perform the atonement. I only have one Everlasting God. 

4) I believe in the Plan of Salvation as laid out in the Scriptures as well as in modern revelation. We have to come this earth to use our free agency and walk by faith. We ALL walk by faith no matter what or who you believe in. That is simply a fact. Whether you believe in science or God, none of us have all the answers and we all walk by faith in what we believe in.  I believe need to walk by faith in order to return to live in God's presence. That is part of the plan. If we did not need to walk by faith, then I would assume God would let himself be known in such a way that there would be no need to interpret the Bible and there would be no unclarity when it came to who God is, what he wants and other teachings of the Bible. Everything would be clear and there would be no confusion. We NEED to learn to walk by Faith. 

5) I believe part of the Plan of Salvation is Exaltation. I do believe that everyone who has faith will be saved to Heaven but I don't limit my mind on what Heaven can actually be. That being said, I actually do allow myself to think through things and I do believe in 3 kingdoms of Glory. This is where modern day revelation comes in. I truly believe that God's work and Glory is to bring to pass the Immortality and Eternal life of Man. Moses 1:39. Everyone will be resurrected but our resurrected bodies will be different as stated in 1 Corinthians 15:40 according to where we want to go and where we will feel most comfortable. My aim is to become like God and to live in his presence because I know I need to be like him to live there. I do not know the specifics of how things will work out but that is simply my aim. I also believe that I can live with and be married too my husband in the Celestial Kingdom. I do not understand why God would want to dissolve my marriage to Chris after this life. He intended Adam and Eve's marriage to last forever, so why not mine. Could that not be a way that he blesses those who desire that in Heaven?

6) That being said, I believe in Temples. I feel the Spirit strongly when I go to a temple. I love to go. I believe in making covenants with the Lord. These covenants help me to do God's will as outlined in the Bible. They also help me come closer to Christ and learn more of God's ways. I believe in the covenant of Eternal Marriage and I believe that marriages can indeed be forever if we make that covenant with our spouse and the Lord in the Temple. 

7) I believe in Family History. I believe in Baptisms for the dead for several reasons. One reason is that it connects us to our families and those who have died before us as we learn who they are through family history work and then do work for them in the Temple. Another reason is because people must have been doing at least Baptisms for the dead in Biblical times. 1 Corinthians 15:39 states this. It is not clear on why people were doing it but it was not presented as a bad thing. I truly believe acting on Family History and doing work for the dead in Temples helps us connect all of God's children throughout the ages. We do not forgot those of past generations. We do not want to forgot anyone who has ever lived! And we offer hope to all people alive or dead that they may accept the Gospel someday. That is a beautiful thing.

8). That being said, I believe we are all literal spiritual Sons and Daughters of God. Genesis 1:27 states God created us in his Image. We are like him As simple as that. That is how I interpret that verse to mean. 

9). I believe that Faith without works is dead as stated in James 2:14-26. If I have faith it is shown in my works. My works are the following: trying to follow Christ's example, following God's commandments in the Bible as well as in modern revelation (word of wisdom, the law of Chasity, temple worship, etc). By following these commandments, I will feel the Holy Ghost (aka the spirit) more readily in my life. Following these commandments protect me and sanctify me. I believe that! 

10). I believe in the need to have Faith! I walk by Faith every day. I love the Scripture in the Book of Mormon in Alma 32:21. I believe this with all my heart. I love all of chapter 32 but especially that verse. I know that as we walk by Faith, the Spirit will testify of truth. We can each have personal revelation. I believe in the fruits of the Spirit. If a belief has good fruit and causes one to do good, then it grows to become knowledge. If a belief is not true or is from Satan, the fruit of it cause bad works and/or will not grow but will wither away and die. I believe that we learn line upon line, precept upon precept. It is so exciting to continue to learn and grown in the gospel!

11). I believe in the Articles of Faith written by Joseph Smith. (Now I have to clarify, when it says in the Article of Faith 3, "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel",  I believe that being saved means exhalation in this passage but that everyone who has faith in Christ will be saved to some degree of Glory). 

12). I believe in Modern Day prophets just like I believe in the prophets in the Bible. I am grateful for the Restoration of the Gospel. I am grateful for a living Prophet (President Nelson) to guide us in this  confusing modern day world. What I learn from him helps me desire God and come unto Christ. Now I have to say this. These Men are not perfect by any means and I know of the history of the church. There is a lot of controversy about Church History. I am not ignorant about it. I know a lot about it. But, the Prophets in the Bible were not perfect either. God works through very imperfect people! Including myself.

13). I believe the Bible is the word of God. I feel the spirit testify of truth when I read it.

14). I believe in the Book of Mormon. I believe it is simply, like it says, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. I know it is true. I have read it with pure intent, with a desire to know if it is true, and I got an answer in my heart from the Spirit. Reading the Book of Mormon produces Faith and good fruit in my life. 

15). I believe James 1:5 of the Bible. I also believe what it says in Moroni10:3-5 in the Book of Mormon.  If you want to know answers, ask God with pure intent. He will answer you whether it be through Scripture, the Spirit, or Both. 

16). Going back to my first belief, it all boils down to my knowledge of a loving God. He is not an egotistical, self centered God who just wants us to sing him praises for eternity. That sounds like what Satan would want. He wants to give all of his children all that he can, all that they will accept and become. That is how he gets his glory. His love is perfect! This I know.  I know that I am far from perfect. I know that my beliefs are not perfect. I like to ponder on the Bible verse Mark 9:24. "I believe, help thou my belief". God loves us all and wants us to be truly and eternally happy. I think we will all be surprised when we get to the other side and see just how much he loves us all!

There is a fire lit in me tonight. I feel the Spirit strongly as I ponder on my Beliefs. 

Now, I need to get to bed. It is 11:46 pm. I will try to get on with life. My family needs me. I will respect other people's beliefs and I hope they will respect my beliefs. I would hope that anyone who reads this will not criticize or find fault with what I say. Please just simply read it to understand what I know to be true. Perhaps one day people may come to understand that I am indeed a Christian even if they do not understand everything I believe. I know that everyone is on their own Faith Journey and that we will all be judged by a perfect, just and merciful God who will take everything, even the desires of our heart, into consideration in the process. He truly wants to give everyone the most that they are willing to accept by faith.  I feel like we are all more alike than different. I will strive to live a Christ-centered life. I will continue to learn and grow and walk by Faith. And I will continue to desire and feel God's love for me everyday of my life.  I see him working through me to accomplish his purposes just as he worked though Esther of old. I truly see his hand in every moment and aspect of my life! I feel peace and Joy which come from God.