Some of you may or may not know that Jason has decided to become a chaplain for the army. We made this decision at the beginning of this year. Since then, we have had to do TONS of things to be accepted and start the process. and let me just tell you, it is a process!
Currently we are in one of many waiting phases. We have gotten our ecclesiastical endorsement from the LDS church- which is a VERY good thing (you can't become an LDS chaplain without that!) To get that we had to fill out an extensive application and pass four different interviews.
Now that we have that, we are trying to figure out which grad school we should attend - or be accepted to! Our options at this point are: BYU or Lubbock Christian University. BYU is obviously in Provo, and Lubbock is an online program, which means we could live wherever we wanted :)!! or wherever we have a job! We shall see what happens. BYU is the obvious choice, simply for the fact that if you are going to get an MA in religion, it would be nice to get it at a school that teaches your religion! but there are actually only 5 spots open and we know of 16 people that at least say they are interested in going there. We would like to go there and feel we need to apply, but also feel very strongly that if that is where we are supposed to go, we will. otherwise, we know we have other options, and aren't worried. Lubbock is where the majority of the current candidates are attending. thought they aren't an LDS school, they cater really well to LDS chaplains- that's why we'd go there. We'll probably find out the where we are going information at the beginning of the new year. so, once we get the applications in, we just have to wait, and wait, and try not to go crazy.
But, since we are considered chaplain applicants/candidates we were invited to attend an annual chaplains seminar that is held in Salt Lake surrounding General Conference. Most of the chaplains came in from around the world (all different military branches) and all applicants and candidates were there. In all it was probably 100 people, maybe, if that. i don't really know. it is one thing that we can now look forward to for the rest of our chaplain career- always coming to general conference and chaplain seminar every October, no matter where we live in the world.
We had a social friday night and were taught by Elder Carlson of the 70. Then we had tickets to all sessions of general conference (though jason ended up having to work ALL DAY saturday -long frustrating day!), so we just ended up attending the two sessions on sunday. Then we had 2 more days of instruction all day monday and tuesday. to say that i am spiritually filled would be a major understatement. Some of the well known speakers from those two days are: from the 70 of the church (or emeritus)- Elders Robert S Wood, Robert Oaks, Paul Johnson, and Gerald Lund; Sister Barbara Thompson from the general relief society board (i got to sit and talk with her for a little while- she is soooo amazing!) Dr.'s Larry Dewey, Gary Lawrence, Robert Millet; Major General and Army Chief of Chaplains, Douglas Carver (he is the top dog of army chaplains-not LDS) and his wife Sonny; and then we ended with Elder Holland of the the quorum of the twelve. (i know, you don't really care about any of this part, but it's my blog and i want it recorded here!)
SOOO, all those amazing speakers, plus a wonderful general conference, and man am i tired!! we had to be up early every morning to get down there ahead of major traffic (and be in our seats by8) a HUGE THANK YOU to all the many different families that watched our boys over the last 5 days. they are tired and bored at home now!
BUT, i did want to record a few of the lines that really stuck out to me during the seminar. I'm not going to put who said them, just for times sake. I've got tons to do today, but i wanted to get some of this down. if you want to know a specific one, just ask me.
"mold children by instilling righteous habits"
"change your behavior by understanding doctrine- it has to come from within"
"nobody is self-sufficient but we are all expected to be self-reliant"
"this is a time for intentional spiritual leadership"
"if you aren't hearing from God, what are you teaching?"
"If you are having a pity party, the Holy Ghost is not invited"
"Look for things to fill you up, not leave you depleted"
"Questions are a sign of growth" (this explains my 3 year olds constant why??)
"3 R's of personal revelation- Receive it, Recognize it, Respond to it"
And last, but not least, Elder Holland said this in his closing remarks (somewhat paraphrased in my words, but general idea!), "I believe the commandment we break the most is to BE OF GOOD CHEER. In the last verse of John 16, the last thing the Lord says to his disciples before the intercessory prayer, betrayal and crucifixion is,
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
My words:
We will have tribulation, but he has suffered it all- NO MATTER WHAT IT IS. As we have started this chaplain process, i have seen the adversary working very hard to stop us from doing it. Satan doesn't want to let the righteous and good thing in the world happen. At times it has become very discouraging (like our basement flooding in 3 rooms while we were gone all weekend- yeah, lovely) But we have been commanded to BE OF GOOD CHEER!
Smiling is my motto. being cheerful comes with that, or can follow that. It is often times A LOT easier said then done. The Lord knows we will not be happy all the time. But there are many times we just aren't trying. While many muscles are used to create a smile, it is a very simple thing to do- and the results can be tremendous.
I encourage you, no matter who you are, to strive harder to remember the admonition to be of good cheer. We have every reason to be, even when the world tells us differently. We are here to be on this earth so that we can have joy. That takes action. It isn't just going to happen always on its own. Make sure your are doing the things that we have been taught to ensure that you might be cheerful, and have that wonderful joy.
So if you live anywhere near us, you know these pictures were NOT taken here! We haven't had swim trunks or water out for over a month now! We got to go down to Vegas this last weekend to attend baby Molly's blessing (Deanna's 2nd daughter!)
The Wilsons drove up, Keri and kids came, Doughmans were there for a day, scotty and rachel made it after much tribulation, and of course, gramma McKe was there too! My boys just LOVE all there cousins! Rikki and Natalie are the best helpers anyone could ask for, and all the boys make Jared just think he is in HEAVEN! (which, hopefully that is how it will be!)
Dee MADE this beautiful dress for Molly! I should have gotten a better pic of the baby girl- it is just gorgeous! I might have to hire her one day (if i ever have a girl!)
Saturday night we roasted marshmellows and sang songs around the fire. In the little picture of jared with his hands on his hips- he is rockin out to "home on the range" one of his FAVORITE songs.
