Hey, It's Time for that One Month Dump

Time for that once a month post. I'm slowly losing motivation to blog. But it's the only way I journal. 
So must. keep. going.
Last month we went on a vacation with friends. Friend vacations are my favorite.  Trent and I spend a lot of time with the kids going to fun places. So we love going on larger vacations where other kids can entertain our kids and we can hang out with other adults. I think next time though I'll aim for a friend vacation with adults only.  It felt a little crazy. And each family had a lot going on. Interviews and new opportunities kinda came all at once right before the trip and made things a little interesting. But Trent said that was his favorite family vacation {it even beat our cruise trip last year!}  I personally thought he was crazy, but that's Trent for you. He doesn't let little things bother him.  He worries about himself and his family and doesn't have crazy standards or expectations. He's the perfect reminder for me.  Overall, the Thompsons really enjoyed themselves. Already have an entire Chatbook created about this trip, so I'm not going to upload any pics. Too much hassle.
The day after we got back from vacation I spoke in Stake Conference.  I think that's my dream.  I want to be a speaker.  I want to bring people hope and motivation. So I've asked Heavenly Father for lots of opportunities to really develop that talent.  Since I have asked him for that specific talent I have had two opportunities.  And every time the opportunity to speak has come, I have been insanely busy. So I end up preparing the talk the morning of -- Stake Conference was no exception. I know, awful. I feel so ashamed about it, ya know? I have been asked for these opportunities and then I don't take full advantage of them.  Obviously, there was some repentance that had to happen there...
But after conference we had the neat experience to have lunch with the Elder Gant, the seventy that came. Also with the entire stake presidency, their wives, and the San Diego temple president and his wife. Not our usual crowd, for sure. But it was so uplifting and the conversation was fun and natural.  The church is truly filled with some amazing people.
Halloween came and left.  I don't really care for Halloween so the boys dressed up like Thomas the Train (Porter), and Superman (Brooks). And chatbooks for the win again!
Some more rambling thoughts:
I recently finished the Magnolia Story and it was just about everything I needed. I came to Trent and told him a desire of mine. I have always wanted a husband who would read the same book with me. I feel like I grow as an individual when I read. And I feel like reading can strengthen a marriage (like scripture reading does!) So I asked him to read the Magnolia Story with me because there are so many lessons that I think we can learn from them.  Things I want to incorporate. Not everything will work for us, but there are so many wonderful points made. Well, he hates reading. So he said, "Pick out a few of your favorite chapters or sections and I will read those."  Hey. It's a start. He read the first section I picked tonight and he laughed the entire time.  My wife heart could have exploded that moment. Then we had a good conversation about dreams and making the best out of tough situations.  Those are the moments that are my favorite.
Also. Another plus is my house has been clean since I started reading that book. Ha! I feel the same way she does about cleaning - don't do it until the kids are in bed. I came to that resolution a few months ago and it works for me. Well, until I started up this business. That business is a whole other post itself.  Talk about a heavy freaking learning curve. Anyways. I clean up the kitchen and table after dinner while Trent plays with the kids. Porter cleans his own playroom. And then I pick up the rest of the house and vacuum after the kids are in bed. Laundry is done on weekends when I am not working on business stuff and my bedroom is constant mess and I don't care. Life isn't perfect and our bedroom is pretty ugly (decoration wise) so I have no motivation to keep it clean. 
 I'm going to end on one last thought.
I always want to remember when I didn't care.  There is something so freeing about living here. I look around and my house is so poorly decorated it's funny. There are no wall galleries (no family picture actually - that needs to change though),  the furniture is sub par (because we have made most of it and making things for the first time is ALWAYS a learning experience), and everything is just very minimal.  But I feel so perfectly blessed. I feel so incredibly lucky. And I love that we feel this way. I love that we spend our money on vacations and family outings instead of decorations. I love that we would rather build a sub par piece of furniture instead of buying it. We have so much fun building together. I love that Trent is so perfectly content with his life and that his priorities are so clear. Today he came in and said, "Chelsea, I live the manliest and best life.  I wake up butt early (he was at work by 4:45 AM today), I work in construction - which is so manly, I come home to a smoking hott wife (insert my insecure laugh), two beautiful boys, we had pizza tonight, and then I worked in the garage and fixed my dirt bike (which is 13 years old by the way - Ha! So not very nice). I mean. This is the life. This is it!"  No joke, folks. Trent really feels he is living the dream because he has a garage and ate some pizza.  I just love that we are so far from everything. We are in these farm lands and we live by people and go to church with people who live simply, but fiercely. 
One day I will put all my designer skill in action and create a beautifully decorated home with nice furniture.  When the kids are older, we do want that. But for now, we are learning and growing in other areas and we are content with it.
I'm not trying to say, "Oh we go without so much, but are still content!" Because we honestly don't go without! And I'm not trying to say, "Oh my gosh we are so much more blessed than everyone else!" Because we're not. We are are just happy and content with the progress we're making as a family. Hopefully that makes sense. And most importantly, I want to teach our boys to learn to be grateful and thrive in all the situations life gives them.

That Post About Motherhood...Again.

I'm not a huge Gilmore Girls fan, but I do like the show. I have to skip through some episodes/seasons because I just don't agree with whats going on, but welcome to 99% of television today.  And while I was holding Brooks, one of the last three episodes played in the background. Then, both kids fell asleep, and I watched the last one and half episodes in silence. And I cried. Well, bawled actually.  Ah, motherhood. So many raw emotions. So I got up and started cleaning up the playroom, and thinking about Motherhood, and it's eternal purpose.  And also the companionship I have with my Heavenly Father in this unique role. This scripture popped into my mind as I was cleaning. Moses 1:39 states, "For behold, this is my work and my glory--  to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."  In a way, THIS is Motherhood.  We are here to help our children gain eternal life. To teach them, to help them, to have them become successful in this life and the one after. The message I received from the Spirit was it is so important to find Joy in Motherhood now because that is my calling now and forever.   Heavenly Father's work and glory is based upon His children and helping them obtain eternal life. What I am doing here is a mirror of what is to happen in Heaven.  I guess that I assume if that is His work and glory now, that will be My work and glory in the next life also. Because we are to inherit all the Father has. THIS is where my time is well spent. Learning patience, practicing selflessness, balancing time, teaching, learning, all of it will carry with me and I will be prepared for what is to come. I've wondered lately what God would say of me. In my head I hear, "Ah, Chelsea. That is my ambitious daughter."  I've learned that ambition is good, but balance is best. And ambition threatens balance in my life. So, I will continue to find my best "balance" while I focus on the things that matter most, while still developing my talents, and doing my favorite things.  All is needed to keep me happy and progressing.

Trenty

I love seeing social media "shout outs" to husbands. When we were first married and I would read this sweet comments I would think, "Well. They're not married to Trent and he really, truly is the best husband. There is no man better than him."
And I still believe that. 
But I've learned that Trent isn't the only wonderful man out there. But he is pretty wonderful. Don't get me wrong.  We still have our "discussions." {I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR TAKING AN HOUR AND A HALF TO GET READY FOR CHURCH -- DEAL} but I'm grateful for the marriage we share.  And that we don't take ourselves too seriously.
I love that he doesn't dwell on the little things, which I turn into the big things, which he then reminds are really just little things.  I love that he supports me in all my endeavors {especially my business endeavors right now}, and I love how flawless and simple he makes the gospel seem.  It's really hard to describe. But Trent sees the gospel so clearly, and can talk about it so eloquently. I knew he had that gift. But that gift has really developed since this 90 Day Mission and his calling as Ward Mission Leader.  This is a new capacity for him {and for me}, but gosh dang -- he is good! 
And of course, he is so nonchalant about it all. It has been so fun to "grow up" with him.  I see him changing in all the right ways and I am too, or at least I'm trying too.  I love that logical mind {most of the time}, and I am so, so very grateful that we have been able to spend the past five years together. 
Trenty,  I hope our boys know how much their Mom loves their Dad. Thanks for waking up before the sun to go to work. For still helping with the kids when you have worked twelve hour days. For trying to "gently" tell me when there is a problem. Or trying to phrase it "just right" so I won't get mad. You still haven't mastered it. But hey, thanks for trying.  You are Porter's hero. And in this context I don't take the word "hero" lightly.  You are everything to him. I am pretty sure if I fell off the face of the Earth, he would just go over to Grandma's house and be over it. But when you are gone, he is not whole until you come back. Together we are creating a world, Brooks and Porter's world, and there is no one I would rather do this journey with. Happy Five Years!

Thoughtful Moments and Missionary Work

I just wanted to jot down a super quick experience that happened tonight.  We have the missionaries over every Wednesday night for supper. We alternate between the Elders and the Sisters. Well, when the Elders were over tonight, they shared an experience I found interesting.  While they were with an investigator, he pulled out a large sheet of sensitive gospel topics that he had concerns with, and then had a rebuttal for every answer the missionaries gave. It was obvious to them that he had been on an anti-church website and had derived most of his questions and rebuttals from there.  The questions were intense. When the elders gave me a few examples, I thought to myself, "I would have died in that situation. I have absolutely no idea??"
Which brings me to what I learned. 1. It's okay not to know everything. 2. You need to start learning everything. Haha! That might seem like a contradiction, but I'm serious.  I need to be more involved in the doctrine and the scriptures. You see, I am really good at the whole feel good part of the church. I can talk all day and night about the feelings/blessings the gospel brings. But talk about women and the priesthood, or multiple first vision accounts, or polygamy, or the translation of the Book of Mormon, and I pretty much have my head in the sand on these ones. But we can't. Because of the internet, the gospel is more transparent than ever. And kids/adults have questions. I want my boys to ask questions. Isn't that the process that started the First Vision? A question.  It's okay not know something right away, but we must wrestle and explore and pray until we find a personal answer for our satisfaction. 

There was a talk from President Ballard about some of these hard topics. Here is what he had to say:Church leaders today are fully conscious of the unlimited access to information, and we are making extraordinary efforts to provide accurate context and understanding of the teachings of the Restoration. A prime example of this effort is the 11 Gospel Topics essays on lds.org that provide balanced and reliable interpretations of the facts for controversial and unfamiliar Church-related subjects.

It is important that you know the content in these essays like you know the back of your hand. If you have questions about them, then please ask someone who has studied them and understands them. In other words, “seek learning, even by study and also by faith” as you master the content of these essays. The effort for gospel transparency and spiritual inoculation through a thoughtful study of doctrine and history, coupled with a burning testimony, is the best antidote we have to help students avoid and/or deal with questions, doubt, or faith crises they may face in this information age.

As you teachers pay the price to better understand our history, doctrine, and practices—better than you do now—you will be prepared to provide thoughtful, careful, and inspired answers to your students’ questions.

I may not be a CES teacher, but I'm a mother, a missionary, and I'm sure I will have callings throughout my life that deal with the Youth. I have to know more doctrine. The feel goodness of the gospel is wonderful, but we need our testimonies based on doctrine.

I have studied those essays above. Yes, some of them are hard to read. Some of them are a little confusing. But because I'm searching for answers in the right place, even when I read something that troubles my soul it doesn't destroy my testimony. But it does bring me to ask some hard questions and have some long talk with Heavenly Father. I don't have all my answers, and I don't think I will get them soon. I think it will be a long process of learning.

Part 2: While I was trying to prepare dinner for the Elders, clean the house, and not neglect my children, the sister missionaries text me and asked me to go do lessons with them tonight at 8. I'm not going to lie. For a split second, I wanted to say no for various reasons. But. I believe in blessings. So I put on a happy heart and said yes. We went to go visit an individual who ended up not being home. I thought we were just going to call it a night (we started late anyways), but the sisters suggested another lady to visit. I quickly made a connection that this lady had been brought to my attention multiple times from another sister in the ward. She was recently baptized (about a year and a half ago), but had become inactive. She is the only member in her family, and has a rough past. She was home, YAY, and let us come in to talk with her. I asked her questions like, "How did you meet the missionaries? What stood out to you about the gospel? Why did you decide to get baptized? How was that day?"

I learned that strategy with marriage. Whenever I feel myself struggling with Trent (yes, world, we struggle sometimes), I go back and read these posts. I read about his selfless acts of love, our funny adventures, and how we fell in love. Suddenly, I feel a little more connected to him and my heart is softened with love and compassion towards him.

That is what I do with the gospel. When people start talking and remembering their favorite parts of the gospel, it brings up all those good feelings that made them want to be apart of it. I want them to remember that again, and hold on. Well, it worked! She said she would be at church this Sunday and I told her I would save her a seat next to my circus! I hope she is there!