A Purpose And A Plan

     I was talking to a friend tonight and observed her crocheting a scarf.  I asked about the pattern and who she was making it for.  The answer gave me a new purpose! 
     This friend works with adults that suffer from mental illness. Tragically, most of the people she works with are also homeless.  She is making scarves and hats for them to protect them from the cold.

     I am an accomplished knitter, so I have decided to put my skills to work for those who are less fortunate than I.  Here is a scarf pattern I picked out.

     I want the scarves to be pretty and functional.  I think this pattern will work great.  I was also thinking I might use this pattern for a hat.

     And I think I want to make these mittens...

     Hopefully these will be functional (very warm) and pretty.

     I might even find some simple, beginner crochet patterns and get Kristen to help me make some things.  She loves to crochet.   I love to knit with a purpose!

It's Good To Be Me!

Today was a good day to be me! I woke up to a little girl snuggling me and anxious to be on our way to General Conference. This is a semi annual meeting where we are able to hear from the General Authorities of our church for two days. It was so wonderful to be able to listen to the two sessions today and come away feeling spiritually fed. There were so many wonderful things to take in but a few really caught my ear.

From Elder Richard G. Scott: The Lord will not force you to learn; you must exercise your free agency...

Sister Vicki F. Matsumori: One reason we are encouraged to read the scriptures and pray daily is to allow a time to invite the spirit into our lives.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: The first step in walking in righteousness is to try it.

I think this last one is my favorite of the day.

During the break, Kristen and I went to the local Wal Mart to buy some yarn for her. She is learning to crochet and wants to make an afghan for someone special to her. We picked out colors and tomorrow morning she will go through some patterns. I am letting her crochet during conference sessions. I was a little worried that she would not take in anything from conference because she was concentrating on practicing her stitches. I couldn't have been more wrong. Tonight while we were lying down she told me that she had listened to a talk from Elder David A. Bednar (she didn't mention his name, I'm just filling in for her) that really touched her. She wanted to make sure that I knew how much she loved me. My heart melted. She told me that she wanted to do as Elder Bednar counseled and tell me how much she loves me more often.

See? It's good to be me!

And the cap for the good day? The Razorbacks kicked butt tonight! Yeah!