Sunrise On a Mission.

Well, here it is, one shock of a mission call and 9 months later, I find myself in Mesa Arizona. It's a suffocating 110 degrees outside.  Kirk and I have inherited nearly 200 young single adult children!  And it is the most wonderfully, yet challenging experience of our lives . . . next to raising our own family in the gospel.  We left the Idaho sunrises behind (as you saw in my previous post) only to discover there are just as beautiful ones here.  See?   The southwest skys and landscapes are spectacular in their own ways, just as in Idaho.  But I am learning about another type of sunrise.  It is the kind that people experience deep within their souls as they discover the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  At first, I thought these experiences of an increase of "truth and light" only ocurred in investigators as they would come to know through the teaching of the missionaries that there is a better way of life, that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them and has a plan for them to return to live with Him in the eternities.   I am learning that missionaries experience sunrises in their own lives as well, as they come to a more clear understanding of the Atonement.
 And I am a missionary.

About 6am while out running.

Pink Paradise!  

Right in our own backyard. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. It all happened one morning earlier this week.  The Treasure Valley got dumped on with an unusual amount of snow and extremely cold weather, which of course made for a winter wonderland.  But to add to that beauty, the clouds cleared one morning allowing the sun to rise and greet the world with a most glorious pinkish glow. Still in my pj's and blue, mid-calf  fuzzy bathrobe, I grabbed Kirk's camera (which by the way he gave to me for our anniversary), my snow boots, and headed out the back porch to capture the wonder of the morning sky.  I only intended to take a few photos, not wanting the neighbors, human or mammal to witness a real live housewife (June Cleaver would have been jealous).  But realizing this was a once in a life time moment that may never happen again, I boldly ventured out around the yard, front to back and finding myself caught up in rural Mother Nature.  So here's what I witnessed one treasured winter morning, a Pink Paradise.

I think Noah just might want to trade it for his rainbow . . .  :)

Gitter Done!

Well, after 7 months of fear and trepidation, I finally decided to buck up and get this blog going.  Certain things motivate or compel a person and I got motivated and feel compelled to connect with y'all.  Some of you may know just what I am referring to, others will learn here shortly.  Moving right along . . . 

A big thanks to the most recent son-in-law in our family for designing our blog to fit our rural life style.  Well, that's it for now.  I'll post more later.  Hopefully not 7 months from now!  Hermana Jenkins

Happy Mother's Day!

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."
   Abraham Lincoln


"Motherhood is near to divinity ... the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind."
   J. Reuben Clark, Jr.

"I'd rather be a mother than anyone on earth

Bringing up a child or two of unpretentious birth....

I'd rather tuck a little child all safe and sound in bed

Than twine a chain of diamonds about my [carefree] head.

I'd rather wash a smudgy face with round, bright, baby eyes

Than paint the pageantry of fame or walk among the wise."

   Meredith Gray

"Your success as a family ... our success as a nation ... depends not on what happens inside the White House, but on what happens inside your house."

   Barbara Bush

"She who can paint a masterpiece or write a book that will influence millions deserves the admiration and the plaudits of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters, whose influence will be felt through generations to come, ... long after painting shall have faded, and books and statues shall have decayed or shall have been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choices blessings of God.  In her high duty and service to humanity ..., she is co-partner with the Creator himself."
   David O. McKay