The Veil Is Thinner Than You Think

I believe that the veil that separates this life from the life beyond is thinner than we think. Especially for babies and toddlers. They are fresh from the pre-mortal life in the presence of God and in the company of our ancestors and the veil separating them from that is very thin.

Like when my husband and I found out that we were having a boy. We decided to name him Elijah. a few days later we were babysitting my niece and nephew. While we were babysitting I would show pictures of people in our family to my two year old niece and asking her what their names were. With each picture she new exactly who they were and would tell me their names. Then I got to a picture of my ultra sound and thought it would be fun to ask her who it was to see what she would do. "June, who is this?" I said as I pointed to the picture of the ultra sound.

Without even hesitating she looked at the picture and said, "Elijah," very matter-of-factly and went back to playing.

I looked at Zayne and by the look on his face I knew he had heard it too. I knew at that moment that Elijah and June had spent time together in the pre-mortal life and that they knew each other. How amazing is that! That many of us knew each other before we were born? That a lot of us were friends before we were born! I think that's why with some people we just click and it feels like we have known each other forever, because we actually have! MIND BLOWN!

The veil IS thinner than we think, and we DO have help from BOTH sides of the veil.

Another example from my son is after we had decided on the name Elijah we were trying to think of middle names and I just felt like he had a very close connection to my grandpa so we named him Elijah Seymour Glatz after my Grandpa Seymour. And through out the whole pregnancy I felt as if my grandpa was there helping me through it. "Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin. Our loved ones who have passed on are not far from us." (Ezra Taft Benson)

I just know that he and Eli had spent a lot of time together up in heaven. I feel that through out Eli's life my grandpa will be there helping him, even if he doesn't know it. Like the pioneers that felt someone pushing their handcart from behind but when they looked back they saw no one. It was because they had help from the other side of the veil. "You have help from both sides of the veil, and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike... remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection." (Jeffrey R. Holland, 'For Time of Trouble' March 1980) 

CHILLS.

How great is it that not only people we know here on earth are cheering us on and helping us, but people on the other side of the veil are too. We have the help, we have the encouragement. We can beat Satan. And we can make it back to our loving Heavenly Father again. Remember, "heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." (Jeffrey R. Holland)

Memories Are Amazing So Why Not Record Them?

Memories are amazing. How fun is it to look back and relive your favorite memories? I mean its like you can travel back in time and feel all those feelings again. I love it! Our brains may keep everything but sometimes it tucks things away into places that are harder to access and we "forget." So why not record your memories while you can still remember them? It's not too hard I promise. So I've come up with 3 ways to record memories.

1- Journal Keeping- I absolutely LOVE journaling and journals and writing down feelings and thoughts and okay you get the point. But really keeping a journal is an amazing way to put down memories and feelings and thoughts that you might want to look back on later in life. Al Fox Carraway (basically my hero) put a video out about 7 different journal ideas. So if you want to journal but you don't want to do the average journal she has a lot of amazing ideas,  you could even do all 7 if you wanted!

2-Scrapbooks, Photo albums, Chatbooks- Pictures are good at triggering your memories. Scrapbooks, photo albums, and Chatbooks are all good ways to keep photos of memories. Almost everyone has some sort of smart phone they can pull out almost anywhere to capture moments in everyday life. So print out those pictures to show off to friends and family in your scrapbooks and photo albums. Chat books are a little bit different because instead of printing out your pictures yourself you make your book in an app on your phone and they print it out and send it to you. (I discovered these and love them they make scrap booking 10x easier) 

3-Social Media- I love social media because of how easy and simple it is to connect with friends and family. You can upload pictures and they will be in chronological order which is really nice, and they can also connect to your Chatbook app and make a book out of all your uploaded pictures automatically for you. 

Some of My Favorite Scriptures

"O be wise; what can I say more?" -Jacob 6:12 

This is one of my all time favorite scriptures. I love how short and to the point it is. Here is a list of other scriptures that I love. Cause the scriptures are full of amazing verses that are meant to help us. If you ever have questions, say a prayer and look to the scriptures for answers and you will find them. Every time I open the scriptures I feel the spirit so strong. They really are the word of God and a testament of Christ.

1 Nephi 29 (its too long to type out)

"Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work." -Doctrine and Covenants 10:5

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." -James 1:5

"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." -James 2:17

"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." -James 2: 24,26

"And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tiding of great joy how beautiful up the mountains shall they be." -1 Nephi 13:37

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."-John 14:26-27

"And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them." Mosiah 4:10

"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." -Matthew 19:26

"And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?" -1 Nephi 15:8

"For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy." -Mosiah 3:4

"The Lord shall reign for ever and ever." Exodus 15:18

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost." -Moroni 10:4

3 Things I Hope That My Kids Take To Heart

There are so many life lessons and things that kids should learn, like saying please and thank you, washing their hands, and sharing etc. Those things are important for them to learn but there are a few other things I hope they take to heart. Here are 3.

1- To never apologize for their faith. Too many people these days are hiding their faith from others to keep from offending or of being attacked because of their faith. But you should never have to hide your faith. You should wear it as a badge, if someone asks about your faith never be embarrassed, be apologetically proud. I once heard a saying that went, "If you were arrested for being Mormon would there be enough evidence to convict you?" I would hope that answer would be yes. 

2-  To "always be humble and kind"- Just like Tim Mcgraw teaches us. Nobody is better than anyone, no matter what. No matter faith, skin color, the amount of money they have, no matter what. It is never okay to  have a holier than thou mindset or think you are better than anyone. Everyone is amazing in their own ways. 

3- That family is always important- No matter if you are getting along at the moment or not family is always family. You should always be there to support and uplift your family, as they would for you. "Families are Ordained of God." (The Family- a Proclamation to the world) God created the family unit because it is essential to his great plan. Families are so important to him that he created a way for them to be together through the eternities, by being sealed together in the temple. 

(My little Guy)

Hold Him a Little Longer

I know how stressful it is to be a mom. Life gets busy, chores pile up, errands need ran, and the baby still needs fed every 2 hours. The mountain of laundry mocks me every time I walk into the room. The dishes from yesterdays dinner are still sitting in the sink waiting for me to wash them. And if I'm being completely honest, I haven't showered in a couple days. There is so much to get done in a 24 hour day it causes most moms major stress trying to keep up with it all.

But today, I'm not going to do any of that, it can wait until tomorrow. Today I am going to pull my little guy close and whisper to him how much I love him. Today I am going to cuddle with him and try to memorize the way he smells of baby lotion. Today I am going to read him a story, and then a few more. I'll sing him my favorite primary songs and nursery rhymes. I'll count his little fingers and toes one more time. I'll hold him tight and take a note of how small he is. 

Because soon he will no longer be this little baby I'm holding right now. Soon he will be an adult and will be moving out. Soon he will be getting married and having kids of his own. Soon but not today. So for today while he is still my little baby boy, I'm going to hold him a little longer, and love on him a little more. 

Returning to The Temple

Me at the Manti, UT temple

 I am nowhere near perfect. I have made so many mistakes in my life. But, because of Christ's Atonement I can be washed clean of these mistakes and sins. 

"though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 

though they be as red as crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18

We have all sinned; and sometimes those sins are what are keeping us from entering the doors of the temple. How heart wrenching that is to know your not worthy to enter the temple.  I have been there before. But because of Christ atonement I was able to be forgiven of my sins and make my way back into the temple. 

I remember how it felt as walked into the temple for the first time after becoming worthy again through using Christs atonement. I went the morning after I was given my temple recommend. I was so excited I walked through the doors and immediately felt peace. I knew for a fact that I had been forgiven. Being in the temple is the most amazing thing. I got to walk where Christ has walked. I know he has visited each and every temple, and how amazing is it that we can walk where he walks. That we can enter his house. Like it says on every temple, "holiness to the Lord, the house of the Lord." 

To anyone who is letting a sin keep them from entering the temple, please don't be afraid to utilize the Atonement and become temple worthy again. If you are afraid of talking to your bishop, don't be. He doesn't judge you, he doesn't think of you as a bad person. He wants to help you. I promise. He will guide you in knowing what the Lord wants you to do, and help you in using the Atonement. God wants you to be worthy to enter the temple, he wants you to visit his house. He loves you and has his arms open. He invites you to come unto him. All you have to do is take the first step, he will show you the way. 

My Understanding (A post I wrote a while ago but never published until now)

Photo by: Rebekah Hatch, Hatch Photography
I’ve come to realize what this life is really like, (The military life) what it’s really about. It took me going to the hospital to understand.

I woke up at 3 in the morning with a stabbing pain in my chest and back. It hurt so bad I couldn’t breathe. Seeing me in so much pain scared my husband Zayne to death so he made me go to the hospital, practically forcing me. (If you know me you know I absolutely HATE going to a doctor of any kind.)

We get to the hospital around 5, since it took a lot of convincing to get me to go, and the hospital staff admitted me to the labor and delivery department. Since I’m 33 weeks pregnant they wanted to make sure it’s not labor related first. As I sat in the hospital bed, holding Zayne’s hand, I watched as the clock got closer and closer to 6:30. Why? Because it was drill weekend.

Why does something serious happen when my husband has to leave my side and go to drill? I’m only 19.. I haven’t got this being an adult thing down yet. I just wanted to cry. But the inevitable happened and he got in his uniform, kissed me goodbye and left alone in the hospital. I felt like crying but then one of the nurses said something that made me understand, She said to my husband as he walked out, “Thank you for your service, I’m sorry that you have to leave at such an inconvenient time.”

And then I realized it. Someone has to give up everything to serve and protect. Someone needs to be willing to put their life on the line for America. Ya it sucks that my husband had to leave me alone at the hospital to go to drill, but I’m proud that he is willing to do what most are unwilling to do but take for granted everyday. I’m proud to stand behind one of the great men that serve our country.

So thank you to every man and woman serving in our military. Thank you to their families who give up a parent, son, or daughter during hard times, holidays or just everyday life because they are at drill, or deployed. Thank you because your sacrifice of giving up that special someone give America another soldier to protect her rights and freedom. Because as we all know freedom doesn’t come free.