Write at the Heart

One time during the sacrament my son accidentally grabbed two pieces of bread and one of the pieces fell on the floor. Before I could stop him, he snatched up the one on the ground and ate both pieces, then whispered to me, “Now I will remember Jesus’s body EVEN MORE.” 😂 And quite possibly get a disease... I love that Christ institutes the sacrament with the Nephites! I love what he teaches about it! I love the symbolism! Like baptism, it’s one of those things you could argue- well, why do I have to do it to show I follow Him? Like, He knows my heart, so is eating a piece of bread really necessary? I have a beautiful little book called “Covenant Keepers” by Wendy Watson Nelson, the wife of our dear prophet, and it gave me SO much understanding of covenants and ordinances & why we do these things! About the sacrament, she says,  “How would our experience with the sacrament change if we imagined the Savior to be the one blessing the bread and water— just as He did for His Twelve...

When my second oldest was baptized, it started off great. We carefully got everything ready at the house for the gathering afterward and I even got all 6 kids nicely dressed with a couple minutes to spare!  Then we got to the church and I realized I’d forgotten the diaper bag. Ohh no. Between my wriggly baby and my mischievous toddler who wouldn’t listen to a WORD I said, I spent most of the program out in the hallway. I managed to slip in to see my good husband baptize my son, but was right back out in the hallway chasing my runaway child. When I tried listening to the confirmation, I heard nothing due to naughty kids.  As I left for the restroom with the two crazies in tow, I could feel my eyes burning and I willed myself to stop the tears. But I couldn’t. I cried and cried in that restroom! I was like, Erika! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER! I’m not like this! I deal with crazy kids all the time! Still I cried. I felt like a failure! I was so sad & frustrated at not feeling part...

We visited Niagara Falls a couple weeks ago. Everyone was excited except my 6-year-old, who sobbed on the way there! Poor kid was still traumatized by our canoe incident a few weeks ago (it tipped & he fell out). So when he found out we were going on a boat, he was terrified. After a million questions (does the boat go fast? Does the boat go down a waterfall? Is the water deep?) we calmed him down. He bravely stepped on the boat and LOVED it all, afterwards declaring that it was “the best thing I’ve done in this world!” Niagara Falls is incredible! It’s an adrenaline rush just standing next to it! You can’t help but feel awe at its power. Funny how water can be feared and awed, a source of destruction and power. Did you know the power plants at Niagara Falls have the capacity to output 4.9 million kilowatts of electricity- the ability to power 3.8 million homes?! As a child, Nikola Tesla imagined harnessing the power of Niagara Falls. His dream came true when he designed the first ...

Well, it was back to church today after many months! I’ve actually loved home church. But being at church again, gathered with just a few members, was beautiful, and I found myself getting emotional during the sacrament, listening to the words of the prayer, renewing my covenant to take upon myself His name, keep the commandments, and remember Him. My cute 13-year-old boy passed the sacrament, and then he gave a great talk on what he learned from the scriptures this week. The meeting was short and sweet, and I have to say, all the kids behaved stupendously. We have come a long way from Cheerios thrown across benches and threatening children out in the foyer. At times I’ve wondered why so many things in the church seem so repetitive. The sacrament, the temple, the talks... we hear the same things again and again. The word “remember” is used hundreds of times in the scriptures, and if there’s a “remember, remember” ooohhh you know you better pay attention. But you know what? It’s cause w...