Tag Archives: the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints

Words from the Field

by on October 13, 2010 in things i love

Elder McCracken going to the MTC

I got a letter today from my little brother in Peru. I miss him, but I’m so happy that he is serving a mission. I bet he’s a great missionary.

He wrote the letter during General Conference weekend. He said that they can’t watch or listen to General Conference until the week after because Peru is getting ready to have an election and the law in Peru doesn’t allow people to gather together right before an election.

Here’s what he said about it:

This is conference weekend by the way. We have to wait till next week to watch it. I’m really bummed about that cuz shoot conference is like spiritual crack…

So there you have it. Words of wisdom from the mission field. I love to read his letters and hear about how much his testimony is growing, but also love to read things like this that show how much he’s still my little brother Joe.

I LOVE YOU ELDER JOE!

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I’m Thankful For…

by on October 4, 2010 in movie monday, things i love

I’m thankful for the words of the living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.

If you didn’t get the chance to see this talk from the General Relief Society Broadcast from September 25, then you need to watch this video. It was a wonderful reminder of how important charity is.

I enjoyed General Conference this weekend and am so thankful that I have the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I don’t know what I would do without it. I’m thankful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and especially thankful to parents who loved and taught the gospel in our home.

I missed a few of the talks because James needed some love, but I’m excited go back and read them and reread the wonderful words that I did hear. I also love that The Church has already put some of the talks on YouTube and will probably have all of them up any time now. Technology is so wonderful sometimes.

What were your favorite talks from General Conference? What are you thankful for today?

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I Love to See the Temple

by on September 22, 2010 in james, me, things i love

For Labor Day this year, I didn’t want to just sit home and do nothing and neither did my mom. So we decided to go up to Temple Square to see the model of the Salt Lake Temple.

I haven’t been up to Temple Square for a while, so it was great to go up with Bryan and my parents. And it was James’ first time to visit Temple Square. He was pretty excited about going:

Getting Ready to Go

Getting Ready to Go

We met my parents at their house and all drove up together. The model of the Temple was really neat. I haven’t had the opportunity to go inside the Salt Lake Temple yet, so it was interesting to see what it looks like. Also at the Visitors’ Center with the model was a lot of information about building the temple and its materials. It was kind of fascinating to learn about.

We also shared with James that this is where it all started… Bryan asked me to marry him on Temple Square. The beginning of our little happy family.

We wandered around and enjoyed the fabulous pre-fall weather (not too hot and not too cold; warm in the sun with a cool breeze; perfect weather). James was so good. He did get a little tired of the stroller, but grandma was more than happy to carry him. :)

James and Grandma

James and Grandma

Then enjoyed taking some pictures by the temple.

James and the Temple

James and the Temple. Crazy kid won't smile for the camera to save his soul.

James and the Conference Center

James and the Conference Center

Our Cute Family

Our Cute Family

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa McCracken...Weird to call them that. :)

After that we went on a tour of the Conference Center. It was so cool. I have only been to the Conference Center twice. Once for a session of General Conference and once as a reporter for Scroll for a session of General Conference. Both times, we were in such a hurry to get to our seats and enjoy the session that I didn’t really get a chance to look around and enjoy the beauty of the building. And we got to go on THE ROOF! I have always wanted to go on the roof of the Conference Center and see the plants up there. It was so interesting. I learned that the plants are all native plants and they start on the east side of the roof with plants that grow on the other side of the Rocky Mountains (the first part of the pioneers’ journey to the Salt Lake Valley) and end on the west side of the roof with plants local to the Salt Lake Valley (the final destination of the pioneers’ journey. Neat. They have so much beautiful artwork in the Conference Center and all of it was originals. There is one room where they have portraits of all the members of the Quorum of the Twelve ever. They are going to run out of wall space in there. I showed James the picture of James E. Faust, one of the other reasons why I wanted to name him James. He was very excited to see it. His blank stare said it all.

It was wonderful.

We ended the day with yummy Cheese Cake Factory. A perfect way to spend Labor Day. I’m so glad that we didn’t stay home and do nothing.

I love Temple Square.

The Salt Lake Temple

The Salt Lake Temple

p.s. did you see James’ super awesome Nike Air Jordan’s in the pictures? Love those shoes. Thanks so much to Kim!

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I Miss Him

by on September 1, 2010 in me, things i love, wordless wednesday

Joseph and Katie

Elder Joseph McCracken - Peru, Cusco Mission

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525,600 Minutes Later

by on August 1, 2010 in me

525,600 minutes, 8,544 hours, 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months; Its amazing how much of a difference a year can make.

Just a year ago:

I had just come home from girls camp. I was serving in the Young Women’s in our ward in Orem.

I worked at HSPS, and our new Director of Marketing had just rearranged the department a bit and assigned a new manager over the graphic designers.

Bryan and I had taken a month of time off from having a baby, and were getting ready to start again, hoping it would work this time.

Now:

Bryan and I are serving in the Nursery in our new ward in Saratoga Springs.

I quit my job at HSPS and am now a full-time mom. I’m also getting ready to start babysitting my friend’s sweet little girl.

And most important of all, we have our sweet baby!

Sometimes a year doesn’t seem like that much time, but it’s amazing how much my life has changed.

Change is good.

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Individual Worth

by on December 14, 2009 in me

I have been serving in the Young Women in my ward for about a year and a half now and have been working on completing my personal progress as a leader.  I have been working on it a bit here and there, but have set a goal to be done with it very soon and need your help with one of my value experiences.

I am currently working on Individual Worth Value Experience #7:

7. Heavenly Father has given you special gifts. Read 1 Corinthians 12:4–12; 1 Corinthians 13; Moroni 7:12–13; Moroni 10:8–18; and D&C 46:11–26.

Ask a family member, a Young Women leader, and a friend to write down positive qualities the Lord has given you. List your gifts in your journal, and write how you can continue to develop these gifts and use them to serve your family and others.

If you have a few moments and can think of something off the top of your head, can you please be my friend (that the goal mentions) and list one of the positive qualities that you think the Lord has given me?

If you have the time, I would really appreciate it.

As I have been working on these experiences, I have forgotten what a wonderful blessing the personal progress program is and how much these simple value experiences can strengthen my testimony.  If you have the chance, if you work with the Young Woman or for any reason, these goals are a wonderful way to add a little bit extra to your personal scripture study or just to help continue to grow spiritually.

You can get a book at the distribution center, or find it online here from www.lds.org.

Thanks for any help you can give!

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Handle with Prayer

by on August 3, 2009 in design, things i love

This last week for Young Women our lesson was on Prayer and I loved one of the quotes from the book by President Harold B. Lee.  Some of you may have heard it before, but I loved it and decided to make a little handout from it.

Life is fragile, and therefore, should be handled with prayer.

I did change the quote just a little for my handout, so it’s more a paraphrase than a quote, but I think it turned out pretty cute.  So cute in fact that I printed a bigger one off for myself and framed it.

It matches my office!  I’m pretty into that font lately.  The one thing I don’t like though is the E.  Specifically the middle post of the E.  Whatever though. It’s a fad, and I’m sure I’ll get tired of it soon. Kind of like at one point my favorite font was Gill Sans, it’s a nice font, but really?  Gill Sans.  Oh well. And, my handsome, handsome husband says that I should share my talents, so if any of you love it and would like a copy, I would be more than happy to share.

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General Conference

by on April 5, 2009 in things i love

I love, love, love, LOVED General Conference this weekend.  If you didn’t have the opportunity to see it this weekend, make sure to read the conference edition of the Ensign when it comes out.  It was really WONDERFUL.

I wanted to share a few of my favorite quotes from Conference.  Here they are:

  • “You can’t do a Google search to gain a testimony,” Elder Ballard, Quorum of the Twelve
  • “Fear and faith can not coexist. One will overcome the other,” Elder Cook, Quorum of the Twelve
  • “Discipleship is not a spectator sport,” President Uchtdorf, 2nd Councilor in the First Presidency
  • “I am a nobody… and if you ever forget it, the Lord will remind you instantly and it won’t be pleasant,” Elder Packer, Quorum of the Twelve (quoted by Elder Anderson)
  • “Fear not; Be of good cheer. Our future is as bright as our faith,” President Monson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • “You can’t be a lifesaver by looking like all the other swimmers on the beach,” Elder Oaks, Quorum of the Twelve
  • “You are never lost when you can see the Temple,” Elder Stevenson, Quorum of the Seventy
  • “… Decisions determine destiny,” President Monson (Quoted by Elder Teixeira, Quorum of the Seventy)

These are only a few of the wonderful things that I was able to hear and feel during this Conference and just wanted to share my testimony that I know that as we listen to Conference, if we go to the Lord with a question or thought in our heart, the Lord will answer our prayers through His prophets. There were so many times, that the talks were so personal and perfectly inline with my life, that I know the things they were saying are true.  And I have a testimony that the Lord does know me personally and knows my deepest thoughts, feelings, heartbreaks, joys and loves.  I am so thankful for this Church and the truth, joy and peace it brings to my life.

I’m turning this into a tag and I tag you all!  Post on your blog at least 3 of your favorite quotes from Conference (and write in your journal at least 3 of your “to-dos” that you felt during Conference).  Then leave a comment here and let me know that you posted.  The Internet can be a wonderful blessing in our lives to spread the Gospel or a horrible trap to pull us into sin…Let’s use it for good!

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