You Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down

“I’ve seen pain and hurt; I’ve eaten dirt… but look pal I’m still around, ‘cause you can’t keep a good dog down.” – All Dogs Go To Heaven

Last night I had one of the oddest “missionary experiences” ever. Our stake is doing a 40 day fast where 40 families each take 24 hours to fast for the missionaries in our area and for personal missionary experiences. Josh and I started our fast at 6:00 PM on Wednesday night and ended it Thursday at 6:00 PM. At 6:47 PM I got a call from the sister missionaries asking if I could go to an 8:00 PM appointment with them. I was shocked at how quickly my prayer had been answered.
I picked up the sisters just before 8:00 PM at the Visitor’s Center (VC) near the Idaho Falls Temple. As we drove away Sister Harrison pointed out that there was a stray dog wandering on the temple grounds. We didn’t think much of it and assumed that it would be shooed out when security locked the gates that night. As missionary appointments often go, the 8:00 PM cancelled and attempts to make visits to five other individuals turned out to be futile. So at 8:30 the sisters asked me to take them back to the VC so they could pick up some member referral cards. When we got there we noticed that the dog was still wandering. Upon further inspection of the dog it had no collar or tags, it was limping, it’s eyes looked as if it were completely blind and it looked very, very hungry. Since we hadn’t had any luck saving human souls the sister missionaries and I decided to save the stray.
We alerted temple security, who seemed completely baffled as to what they should do. We then called the animal shelter, which was closed, and next the police station. We found out that the animal shelter has drop boxes that we could leave the dog in if we were willing to transport it. By this time it was almost 9:00 PM and the sister’s curfew was quickly approaching, so I offered to take them home and come back with my husband to move the dog. When I arrived at the temple for the third time that evening I was sure that a quick trip to the shelter was all I had to invest and I could get home to bed. However, when we got to the shelter we found that there were only six drop off kennels and all of them were full. Our approach to the building started a cascade of whining from the dogs that had previously been dropped off and we were baffled as to what to do next.
My kind, sweet husband, who would have adopted the dog right then and there if he had been able, suggested that we take it home. I am not a pet person and the idea of taking this dying stray home was not appealing to me but at 9:30 at night we had no other option, short of leaving it on the street, which didn’t seem right. So we brought the dog home and gave it some food and a warm bed for the night. It wasn’t much but it was the least we could do before we shipped her off with animal control the next morning.
The dog is now gone and with the condition she was in I wouldn’t be surprised if she finds her way to doggie heaven soon. However, through our strange encounter I learned a valuable missionary lesson: The Lord wants all of his creations to return home to Him but sometimes He needs us to find them and help them get where they need to be.

Forever and Ever, Amen!

“They say time takes its toll on a body - makes a young girl’s brown hair turn gray. But honey I don’t care I ain’t in love with your hair and if it all fell out I’d love you anyway.” – Randy Travis

Thanks to my handsome father and the help of genetics, I have been going grey since I was 18. It didn’t take long for me to realize that for the rest of my life home hair coloring products would be essential. I couldn’t afford to pay $50-$80 every month to color professionally so I experimented with different color shades and brands until I found the ones that worked best for me. Overall my favorite products are those distributed by Clairol. Their products not only cover my gray evenly but it lasts a long time and I usually only re-color because of new growth at the roots and not because the color has faded.
I had come to this conclusion well before I was chosen by www.houseparty.com to host a house party for Clairol Hair Color. After that my love for their products deepened. Not only did they provide me with free Hair Color for all of my guests, but they also sent several different trial size products like hair spray, razors, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner and more for gift bags that I provided to my guests. Essentially, Clairol provided me with everything that I needed to host an amazing girl’s night out. I spent Saturday, May 2nd, with my girls as we colored, highlighted and styled our hair. Some of us took risks and others were more conservative but in the end we all had a great time using fabulous products that helped us look and feel young. Thank you House Party and thank you Clairol.

One Step at a Time

“We live and we learn to take one step at a time, there’s no need to rush. It’s like learning to fly or falling in love. It’s gonna happen when it’s supposed to happen, and we find the reasons why, one step at a time.” – Jordin Sparks

Although I don’t subscribe to the literal definition, I am a big believer in fate. I believe that things happen for a reason and that they happen how and when they are supposed to happen, IF we allow it. Those that follow the literal definition of fate and destiny often believe that events can’t be changed and will happen regardless of our choices, like the premise of the movie Serendipity. But to me that discounts the agency that we were all given before we came to earth. Our choices have consequences and how we interact with our environment and the people in it often determines the outcome – good or bad.
There are times, however, when good or bad things happen and we can’t really pinpoint the reason directly to our actions. Of course it is usually easier to find a direct relationship to our actions when good things happen and it’s harder to find when bad things happen. In modern revelation through the prophet Joseph Smith we learn that all things give us experience and that experience “…shall be for [our] good” (D&C 122:7). So when I start to feel sorry for myself or feel like giving up because life is getting a little too hard, I remember that if I continue to take things one step at a time and don’t give up I will become stronger and be more capable of handling anything that comes my way.

Under Pressure

“Insanity laughs under pressure, we're cracking. Can't we give ourselves one more chance?” – Queen & David Bowie

Have you ever felt the pressure of trying to accomplish a goal? It is hard enough just to come up with a realistic goal in the first place. I would like to be a size 6, write a bestselling book, fly to the moon, bike across America, and adopt at least one child from each of the six inhabited continents in the world, but when reality sets in those things probably won’t happen in my lifetime. I’m not saying that they couldn’t happen I am just not willing to stretch myself and make the necessary sacrifices it would take to accomplish them. So that probably means I don’t really want them right?

More realistic goals for me would be to lose 20 pounds and get closer to a healthy weight, donate to NASA research, bike around the city, and prepare myself to have kids whether they come from me or someone else. As for writing a bestselling book I probably need to hone my writing skills so I am going to test the waters in a blog. Virtual reading is the wave of the future anyway so it might just prepare me for what is expected ten or twenty years from now when I have enough courage and data to share my stories of weight loss, bike riding, parenting, space travel and other fun adventures. Stay tuned.