Thanksgiving and Lessons Learned

If you are a follower of our blog you may have read the post about Joseph Wilson and our efforts to help him attend school at BYU-Hawaii. Due to the economy and some other reasons we were unable to collect the funds or find a sponsor for Joseph. When we found this out after hearing back from a few of our potential sponsors, I wrote an email to Joseph about how God's will is not always the same as our will and desires. When I was writing this email I truly felt like this statement was true but at the same time felt like I was only writing it to make him feel better. I knew how hard he had been praying and fasting for the opportunity to attend BYU-Hawaii. For the next day or two I felt horrible and very disappointed in myself that I was unable to help Joseph. I felt like I had failed him. I had tried to contact a couple more people that were involved in charities to see if they had any means or contacts to help, both were unable to help financially. One of the emails that I received truly help me understand God's will. I was very grateful to have the lesson that I was trying to help Joseph learn, be taught to me. I now truly have an understanding that the things that we believe to be the "right" choice for us are not always the choice that our Father in Heaven has for us. No matter how hard we pray for something, if it is contrary to the plan that God has for us then we will not receive the answer that we want. We need to pray for an opportunity to know and understand God's will and plan for us. I am so grateful to have learned this lesson. Especially since it has taught me that I need to listen to the lessons I am trying to help teach others.

For Thanksgiving I thought I would make a list of things that I am Grateful for.

I am Grateful for:

•  My wonderful husband, I have learned so much from Joey and don't know what I would do without him in my life. While he was in Europe I realized how much he does for me. I knew that having him be gone for a month would be very difficult for me because I love having him by my side. I learned a lot about myself but was also able to get through the month by doing things for Joey. While he was gone I was able to stain and varnish his desk as an early birthday present. My ability to stain and varnish his desk leads me to my next gratitude.
• I am so grateful for my mom, she does so much for me. Over the years the relationship between my mom and I have changed. While I was at Dixie for school we became best friends, we used to sit on her bed and just talk about life. I miss those days and wish that we did it more often. My mom kept me sane while Joey was gone. She helped teach me how to stain and varnish, she made me dinner, and kept me entertained. I love when we "fight" we will have these little battles of strength. They are too hard to explain but if you ever are around for one I am sure they are hilarious to watch. I love my mom and cannot express my gratitude for all that she has taught me and done for me. She has taught me how to be selfless and to constantly serve others.
• I can't talk about my mom without mentioning my dad. He is hilarious, my dad is very shy (I know where I get it from) but when he is around certain people he is very opinionated and is able to make his opinion very funny. While he has been taking classes from USU, especially his English classes, we have been able to talk about the topic of his papers. We start off being kind of serious with the political/ controversial issue and then we end up with the most absurd views. My dad is amazing with computers and is always able to answer any questions I have when my computer isn't working. I am a lot like my dad, we both like a lot of the same weird things (music, clothes, TV, movies, etc). My dad is another example of a charitable person. My parents have hosted a foreign exchange student, they sponsor a child in Mexico, have gone on many service trips to Mexico, work in the Temple, and are always willing to help their children.
• My siblings and their spouses. If I were to list each one by themselves this blog post would be super long. I have learned so much from every single one of my siblings and their spouses. They all married amazing people and I love them all so much. As we are all growing older we have grown closer together because we all are realizing the importance of family and we have more in common now. Although we are growing closer we are being to live farther away from each other, which makes me really sad because I love having my family close (although we want to move outside of Utah at some point in our life). I want all of them to know that I love them and admire all that they do. I hope that someday I can be as skilled as my family. 
• My in-laws (Donna and Von)
• In-law siblings
• Nieces and Nephews. They always keep me smiling. I love watching them grow and all the cute things that they do and say. I love facebook because it allows me to read the cute things that my nieces and nephews say when I am not able to be around them on a regular basis to hear the things that their little minds come up with.
• Education and graduation
• Friends
• Gospel
• Children in Ghana
• All the wonderful people I have met over the years that have made an impact on my life. Joey has a list that he writes down the names of the people that have had a positive influence in his life. I admire this list and think that I might make one of my own so that I never forget the people that have influenced me in my life and have helped me to become the person that I am today.
• Health
• Eternal Marriage
• Temple
• Living in the United States, although it is easy to complain about the government and everything else that is wrong in America, it is hard to not appreciate everything that we have. Especially after being able to experience how people live in Ghana and Mexico, I am grateful for the comforts I have. We have housing/building codes and requirements to help us live in a safe home. We have toilets for sanitation and we have garbage collection companies and landfills that hold our garbage so that we don't have roads full of garbage or having to burn our garbage. Although we may not like the way that health insurance and the expenses of medical care, we don't have to worry about the level of care that we will receive if we go to the hospital or health clinics. We can be assured that sanitation levels will be followed in hospitals. We were told a story of one of the clinics in Ghana were a nurse rummaged through her utensils with bloody hands and did not wash them afterwards. Running water and being able to drink water from the faucet without fear of getting sick.

As I have been able to experience the lives of those that have much less than me I have been more grateful for the things that I do have. One thing that I have learned while spending time with those "less-fortunate" than me, I have realized that they may be materially less fortunate but in many ways are more-fortunate. They are less likely to worry about possessions and finances but rather they understand the importance of non-worldly objects. Families, Service, and the Gospel are the most important things in their lives.

(This blog post was getting very long so I am sorry that there isn't an explanation on every bullet point)