Beautiful Boise

Today was a really great day. In the afternoon Mom and I went down to the Boise Co-Op, which is like our whole foods/organic grocery store here in Boise. I love going there because it's in the North end of downtown and it always attracts the very interesting people of Boise. Boise, although primarily Caucasian, actually does have a diverse culture. Not only with different ethnicities but also with the conservatives (majority) and the liberals (the North end), the hippies and the mormons, haha it keeps things interesting. Anyway, I also love going to the Co-Op because I actually really enjoy eating organic whole foods and they have really great stuff there. I don't always eat really healthy, I still love my nachos! But when I get in a good pattern I just feel so much better. It makes me feel more balanced like I'm really taking care of myself. Well, while we were there Mom and I got a sandwich from the deli along with a fruit and pasta salad. Then after we got a few other items. When we got in the car we decided to go have a little picnic!

Mom and I drove to Dad's office, which is right along the Green Belt. The Green Belt is a biking/walking path along the Boise River. It is so pretty. They have picnic tables along there so we called Dad and he came out and sat with us while we ate. It was such a nice day! It was really fun to watch people biking and floating the river. The weather was perfect, not too hot not too cold. The three of us sat and talked for about an hour. Dad has been really busy with work lately so we haven't gotten to really just relax and enjoy each other's company too often. It was a really nice break in the day. We talked about raising kids and parenting techniques. I admire my parents so much, I really appreciate the way that they raised me. I love to listen to the reason behind why they did certain things. My Dad said something really funny, "you just learn as you go but is seems that as soon as you've figured it out you're out of a job." It made me laugh that he thought he didn't figure out everything about parenting until now when he doesn't really have to parent full time anymore. I hope that I will be able to learn everything possible from them, so that I will be a better mother one day! It was such a treat to be able to go have a picnic by the river. I love summer!

I feel incredibly lucky to have this time at home in Boise with my Mom and Dad. I am starting to get use to it just being the three of us. But I can't wait for Stephen to come home from his mission! He just adds so much to our family. He has such a great sense of humor and really brings so much life to any party. I remember our last weekend in Boise together before he left on his mission. It was the weekend of his farewell, where he speaks in our church sacrament meeting and is given the opportunity to share his testimony of our church. That weekend some of his friends from college came to town. Stephen and I hung out all of the time while we were both at BYU, we're pretty much best friends. So I knew his group of friends really well. All of us went down to the Green Belt and rode bikes. Then we stopped at a place along the river and skipped rocks for about an hour. I cannot skip rocks very well (ask Kory, he tried to teach me once), but it was fun to watch the boys have so much fun with it. That was a beautiful day along the Boise River, just like today!

Be Thou Humble, Charity Never Faileth

Today has been a rough day for me. But I have had the chance to think a lot about how grateful I am for my life and my amazing family. Sometimes things stress you out. But you just have to get over yourself. I absolutely LOVE Mondays because I get to email my best friend in the whole world, my brother! He is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Ventura County, CA. I have decided to share our conversation today:


Hey brother.

Man, I have a lot of lessons to learn. Today I had a moment of emotional weakness and I felt like I needed to talk to someone about what was on my mind. I started going through the list of people that I would want to talk to and it suddenly came to me that I can talk to my Heavenly Father. I always forget that I can talk to him at anytime anywhere. I knealt in prayer, I'm not going to lie it wasn't the most amazing prayer ever or even the most comforting feeling. But it reminded me that I need to call Heavenly Father as often or more often than I call Mom everyday, haha. It is so easy to get truckin through life taking on the world on your own and to forget that you have a "lifeline" or a "fallback" person, that you don't have to do it on your own.

I have overcome so many things. So much of overcoming these things was just overcoming myself. I can tell when I lose my focus because out of no where I will crave my weakness. It will be completely random. I will be driving down the street in Provo and feel stressed out for a second and all the sudden have that craving. I think it is a process to learn how to be so indulged in the gospel and your persuit of the Lord's will that you don't crave your weaknesses.

This month's visiting teaching message was charity. I did my visiting teaching yesterday. I had the opportunity to sit and think about what the Christmas season is for. The message was from Howard W. Hunter. He talked about how "Those who are filled with the love of Christ do not seek to force others to do better; they inspire others to do better, indeed inspire them to the persuit of God." It made me think about my relationships with my family, and friends. I am fasting and praying that I will be able to have the light of Christ, and be so full of charity that I will be able to inspire the people that I love the most to do better. My mind is just running, I'm trying to think of things that I can do to help others. I think that in order to help them, first I need to be strengthened. I think that focusing on me and what I can do to improve, will help me receive inspiration on how to help them.

Yesterday I went to the church website and downloaded a bunch of stuff from the audio library. I downloaded some music and the intro to the Book of Mormon in Spanish. I decided I am going to try to learn spanish from reading the Book of Mormon. I have also decided that I am going to read the entire Book of Mormon before the end of the year. That means I need to read like 25 pages a day. Mom said she is going to do it with me. I need to ask Dad if he will, too.

This week has been a good week. I have been sick. I don't know what is wrong with my health but it is out of control. I feel tired and sick everyday. I am going to start taking some herbal suppliments and I got a personal trainer at the gym. So hopefully I can start to get a lot better soon.

This week is the last week of classes so I have a TON of school stuff to do. Next week is finals. It is going to be a crazy 2 weeks!

Oh man, I love you so much! I hope that everything is going really really well for you and that you are happy. I think of you constantly and pray for you too. I miss you and love you so much! I am so proud of you. Keep working super hard and doing the best that you can, then rely on the Lord for the rest. Keep the faith!

Peace!

LOVE LOVE LOVE,
Ana Lee



I am completly dumbfounded by the spirit that I get from your E-mails. I love you so much, and yes everything you are saying is absolutly true, about most of our challanges come from changing ourselves. I have learned the lossong of being a light to others while on my mission. We learn very clearly here the lesson of agency. President Ellsworth has told us "you cannot fix the problems of others" It is so true. We shouldn't even try, it is up to tohers to choose rightousness and to fiz their own problems, all we can do is the best we can, and love them. I love you so much. you are an example for me. You have always paved the path to show me what to do..... You're getting a packgage soon :)

Love,
Elder Stephen