GIVE AWAY--Guess Where I Am Going And Win A Prize!!

I am soon going to be leaving on a trip to another country. I am very excited to go and would like to bring back a souvenir to whomever is the first person to guess where I am going! I will give more clues on Wednesday. The first person to guess on that day will also get a souvenir.

EMAIL your guesses to joy4yourjrney@gmail.com Do NOT post your guesses as a comment.

Immediate family members or friends who already know where I am going are disqualified from playing.

Here are today's clues.

1. This country was once part of the British Empire.

2. It was the first democracy in the West to give women the right to vote.

3. It has won the most Olympic gold medals, per capita, amongst all the participant countries.

4. It has the highest car ownership rates in the world.

5. It is home to the oldest reptile, biggest earthworms, smallest bats, and heaviest insects. (I'm really excited for that! :-)

HELP!! I have a new church calling!

So after my 12 years in seminary I now have a new church calling! I am the Ward Activity Chairman!!

I really am excited about this because I LOVE parties!! And I love activities of all kinds!

BUT . . .

I need your help!! PLEASE!!!

Everyone help me!

What are the best ward activities you have had? What were your least favorites and why?

Please email me at joy4yourjrney@gmail.com with any suggestions, ideas, websites etc. you think might be helpful.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Our Worst Summer Vacation Part II Or What happens when you run a police road block in Mexico?

This is Part II of a 2 Part story. For Part I, scroll down.

A few cars passed by, one slowed and then hurried on. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I saw a truck coming toward us, slow down and come to a stop in front of me. I held my breath and sunk lower in the seat.

To my relief, Wes jumped out of the back. No one answered at the house with the light, but this truck stopped while Wes was walking back and offered help. Still thinking the battery was the problem, Wes and the truck driver tried to jump the car.

Nothing.

We realized our only hope was to get a ride into the closest town to find a phone and call for help. The driver of the truck was willing to take us, but insisted we all go since, he said, it was much too dangerous to leave a family on the side of the road. (And I was so grateful!)

We all loaded into the back of the truck and drove the 15 minutes to Janos—where we discovered there were no working phones at that time of night, but there was an open gas station that sold us a tire to use as a spare.

Our friendly truck driver was headed to Arizona and already late, so he flagged down another truck going in our direction and asked the driver if he would tow us into town and he agreed.

With the car not working, we also did not have any steering or brakes. Not understanding that, however, our new truck driver friend hooked up a chain to the back of his car and took off towing us—at about 60 miles an hour down the same pot holed road that caused our two flat tires in the first place!! We all clung to the back of our seats and fervently prayed for our safety as we bounced up and down and swerved from side to side. At one point the truck slowed just enough for us to run over the tow chain. As the man sped up again, the chain caught under our front left tire and shot off sparks into the dark night.

I was so afraid for my children! And I was sure we would not all come out of this alive.

Then it got worse.

Just outside Janos, the federal police had set up a road block. They were stopping all cars passing through and searching them for drugs. For reasons I will never understand, the truck driver ran the road block! The police ran after him with machine guns and ordered him to stop.

And so he slammed on his brakes.

And we slammed into the back of him, scrunching the front of our car and buckling the doors. Surprisingly, the machine gun toting police surrounded OUR car and ordered us out. They then searched the car with their dogs, including our luggage and food we brought across the border.

Although they didn't find anything, they were convinced we must be guilty to run the barrier (even though we tried to explain that we were being towed and it was the truck in front of us that ran the barrier, not us) they impounded our poor, non-functioning, flat tired, smashed car and left us standing on the street with nothing.

Graciously, the truck driver (who caused the problem in the first place) agreed to drive us to Wes’ aunt’s house 40 miles away. So after waiting for him to eat at an all night restaurant, we loaded our suitcases and ourselves into the back of his truck—which was already filled with crates and therefore left us nothing to cling to—and miraculously drove to safety.

I was so relieved when we arrived with all of us still alive that I burst into tears. And it was many years before I dared journey back to Mexico.

One little side note . . . In the morning Wes and his dad drove back to the police barrier to get the car and discovered the police had robbed us. They took our food and all of our cassette tapes—which included several Joy School singing tapes. Those tapes drove Wes crazy, so he felt the police having to listen to them was adequate punishment for what they stole.

And that is the worst vacation we have ever had—and hope to ever have.

Definitely NOT one that brought . . . joy to our journey. :-)

Our Worst Summer Vacation Ever!!!

With the school year coming to an end and summer vacations ahead, I thought I would tell you about one of our most memorable trips. It isn’t memorable because of the fun we had, or the scenery, but rather because it is probably our worst vacation---ever! (And I hope it always will be!)

It happened about 20 years ago. We had three children at the time, the youngest, Kristen, was 2. My husband’s parents lived in the Mormon colonies in northern Mexico, and we were all excited to travel down to see them.

Due to work, we left late in the afternoon. Driving over the pot-holed filled Mexican roads is never a safe thing, but doing it in the dark is pretty stupid. Still, we felt we didn’t have a choice, and so after a prayer for protection, we loaded up the car and headed south.

About an hour after crossing the border, we hit one of the vicious holes and our tire went flat. No problem. We still had a spare. We all got out of the car while Wes changed the tire. Then we all got back in and happily continued.

Not too long afterward, our spare went flat.

Now we were in trouble. This was before cell phones (which probably wouldn’t have worked where we were anyway). We evaluated our options. We could stop a passerby for help, but unless they had a spare tire they were willing to give us, it wouldn’t really help. Besides, this late at night only an occasional car passed us anyway, and even back then stories of road side killings and drug traffickers were common.

Not wanting to damage the rim of the tire, but feeling we had no choice, we slowly crept along the road, hoping to keep moving long enough to get to a small town with a phone.

And then the car died. Yes, dead. We later learned the alternator went out, but when it happened we assumed it was the battery. Although it really didn’t matter what the cause, the important thing is we weren’t going anywhere.

And it was midnight, in Mexico, out in the middle of the Sonoran desert.

Far off in the distance we could see a single light, which we presumed was from a house. Wes decided to leave us all in the car, with the doors securely locked, while he walked down the road towards the light in hopes that someone would be there with a phone.

I was terrified. Tearfully, I said goodbye to him, and fervently prayed for his safety as well as ours. Awful thoughts rushed into my head. What would we do if he were killed? What if someone kills us?

While Kristen slept soundly in her car seat, I tried to convince my two older children that all was well and we were just having a very fun adventure—all the time praying the loud pounding of my heart would not give me away. We scrunched down low in our seats. I decided it would be safer if anyone passing by thought they were seeing an abandoned car rather than a car filled with frightened foreigners. And so while softly singing primary songs, and sitting just high enough in the seat to keep a watchful eye on the darkness ahead of me, we waited for Wes’ return.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

Part II—tomorrow. But I will tell you this—the rest of the story involves a car accident and the Mexican federal police.

Is This The Nicest Thing Or What??!!!

This afternoon my friend SUSAN brought over this candy bar poster. Only it wasn't on normal sized poster board . . .

It was on DISPLAY BOARD!! I should have taken a picture of it next to something so you can see how huge this thing is!

And it was covered in pink paper, given a border and says the nicest, sweetest things



She knew I was sad about leaving seminary so she gave me this as a "thank you" and to cheer me up!

Truthfully I was overwhelmed. I could hardly think of anything to say. I just couldn't believe she would put so much work into this. She even used her Cricut to cut out little words and had flowers covering the words on the candy bar wrappers that she didn't want to show. And I have no idea how she was able to even think about how to use all that candy the way she did. She is so clever!! And so very sweet!!

It really is one of the nicest things I think anyone has ever done for me.

So to my dear friend Susan---thank you so very, very much!

Want A Very Yummy Breakfast Recipe?

Buttermilk Syrup

(Tastes Like Caramel)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda.

Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes. Stir for the first three minutes while it is boiling. (It will bubble up very high so you will need the large pan.)

Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla.

(May store in refrigerator for a week)

Serve over French toast.

Ours was made from homemade cinnamon bread. But we also like to make it with Texas Toast, or day old French bread sliced thick.

For an extra treat, add bananas.

So Who Am I Now ????

For the past nine consecutive years and three additional years before that, I have been the "Seminary lady". I have personally taught well over 100 students and supervised the seminary program at six buildings in what is now two stakes.


I have seen the Surprise seminary program go from a small group of six students that met in a small room over a garage to a large group of over 20o. And I have seen our stake's seminary program go from two classes at one building to 12 classes in two buildings.


I worked with five high council advisors, numerous teachers and countless students.

And a week ago last Friday, it all came to an end.

I thought my heart would break.

I know the kids will all move on and be fine. And I know the seminary program in our stake is in good hands and will continue to grow and improve.

It just made me so sad to no longer be a part of it. And I couldn't help but wonder . . .

Who am I now??

Seminary truly has been such an important part of my life for so many years, I hardly know who I am without it.

But then something happened last night that made me feel better. I was attending a wedding reception for a young girl in our ward. Her older brother was in my second seminary class and her older sister was in my third. It was fun to see them and how they have progressed since high school.

Then on my way out, I saw Natalie M. Natalie was in my very first seminary class 17 years ago. She was sweet, kind and receptive, and had a strong testimony of the gospel.

About a week after class ended she came to my house and brought me a little bud vase with a single pink rose in it, along with a thank you note. I still have the vase sitting on a shelf in my bedroom and the note tucked safely in my drawer.

As Natalie saw me at the reception and hurried over to give me a hug, it occurred to me that we really never leave our experiences and those we love behind. For those who have touched our lives will always stay in our hearts, and those with whom we associate, influence who we become.

Each student, each teacher, each advisor, has added color to my life, and dimension to my character.

Each is a part of me. Each is a part of who I am and will always be.

And each has brought great . . . joy to my journey.

The Power of One . . .

Last night we hosted an open house for the missionaries in our stake to bring their investigators. In the picture you can see five of the elders that were with us, (three from the states, one from England and one from Haiti) and behind them, a young man who was recently baptized.

The young man was introduced to the church by a friend, who initially invited him to a dance, then to church on Sunday, and then to hear the missionary discussions. As the young man became more interested in the gospel, his grandmother decided that she and the boy's mother needed to find out what he was up to. They did, and the mother was baptized on the same day as her son, while the grandmother is being baptized May 28.

And all because one boy invited his friend to a church dance.

But there is another story I learned last night that touched me even more.

It was the conversion story of the Elder from Haiti.

When he was only 11 years old, and his younger brother 5, their parents both died, leaving the two boys orphans. Since none of their extended family members were able to care for them, they lived on the street for a year before being placed in an orphanage, where he said the only real change in their lives was they had a place to sleep at night.

Then a woman from Salt Lake City, Utah moved to Haiti with her two daughters. They bought a home and invited eight boys from off the streets to live with them. They fed, loved, clothed and educated the boys. And taught them the gospel.

The woman also spent time helping in the orphanages where she met this Elder and his younger brother. A bond quickly developed between them, and she invited the two boys into her home as well.

Not able to adopt all ten, these two boys were adopted by the woman's friend while she adopted the other eight.

It has been six years since then.

All ten boys have since joined the church and this Elder is the seventh to serve a mission. The other three have plans to serve when they are old enough.

I was so touched by that story! As this young man told of the poverty, loneliness and desperation he once faced and then beamed with joy for the happiness he now felt, I was overwhelmed.

Because of the gospel, his entire life has changed, and now he is helping to change the lives of others.

And all of this became available to him because of the generosity, love and Christlike life of one woman.

The power of one.

I guess we should never underestimate our potential to make a difference.

Fun, fun, fun!!

Life has been busy, but also filled with a lot of fun.

Last night for family night we invited our friends the Holmes family to share the evening with us. We had yummy Chinese/Japanese food for dinner (complete with chop sticks) and then a lesson on the Family Proclamation.

Following the lesson, the Holmes' put on a very cute musical performance for us. They had put a shortened version of the proclamation to song and choreographed a dance to go with it. It was such a riot to see them all marching/dancing across our back porch with their plastic guitars and microphones singing their hearts out.

We loved it!!



And Wes couldn't help but be caught up in the excitement. He started "rock'n out" to the music as well.

Another fun part of the evening was the readiness activity for the lesson. Kristen wrote a skit that was so cute! She told the story of Nephi building the ship and how his brothers called him a fool and didn't want to help out. Then the story was redone--applying the proclamation, and this time his brothers offered their help. (All of this was acted out by all the kids)

But what was so cute is she did it like a news broadcast. The news network was called "ABC" which stood for "Another Brother Conflict" She had very cute lines like when the reporter commented to Nephi how he quickly got to building after being commanded by the Lord and Nephi responded, "I never wait before I go and do." (1 Nephi 3:7)

And when the reporters signed off they said, "Stay tuned for our story on Able's trek through Cain's Canyon." Of course we know that one isn't going to end very well. :-)

If anyone wants a really cute skit for FHE or for anything else--email me and I will send you her script.

IN OTHER NEWS . . .

Last Saturday was also the wedding of my very darling and talented niece Ronilyn to her high school sweetheart, Justin. She is pictured below with all of her cousins who were there to celebrate with her. We had so much fun at her wedding, luncheon and the reception at the Wright House in Mesa that night. It was all very beautiful--and I really need to get the recipe for her wedding cake. The lemon raspberry layer was delicious!!

And continuing with my update . . .

Michelle has discovered that having both of her older sisters home has been hazardous to the health of her gas tank. So she is trying to rectify that with the jar below. So far I think Wes and I have been the major contributors however, so I am not sure how well it is working. :-)

And lastly . . . Anyone have a clever caption for the picture below? I think it is begging for one.

(And I promise she was not left unattended.)

We are taking care of our sweet little grand baby, Carly, while her parents are having some much needed time alone in California.

We have had a lot of fun with her, but I have also realized that babies are SO MUCH WORK!! How do mothers do it? How did I do it? She seems to keep all of us hopping at all times.

One cute story. In church my husband sits on the stand. When Carly saw him sitting there, she wanted to be with him. About half way through the meeting she escaped and started running up the aisle as quickly as she could towards him, waving the entire time.

It was so funny to see Wes up there--a very proud grandpa, but also trying to be discreet while waving back.

We grabbed her and took her out--screaming. We thought that was preferable to having her up there with him, all eyes on them, and no one listening to the poor high councilor who was speaking.

So that is some of what has been happening with us.

Many good and fun things that are all bringing great . . . joy to our journey!

Missing In Action . . .

I have been a terrible blogger lately.

And what makes me feel worse, I have been a terrible blog friend.

Since returning from Colorado I have had my daughter and her baby with us, my niece's wedding, and finished up my last week of teaching seminary.

So life has been a bit busy and emotionally demanding.

But it should calm down in a few days and then I will be back. I have so much to write about . . .

And I have missed everyone.

So This Is What We Have Been Up To . . .

This past weekend my husband and I traveled to Colorado to attend our daughter Camille's graduation. She received her master's degree in Special Education from Northern Colorado University.

We are so proud of her!!

After graduating from BYU in Linguistics, she moved to Greeley, Colorado to work on her master's degree. At the time she was single. Since then she married Dave, moved to Colorado Springs, and had a baby. Also, not only did she have to take all the classes for Special Education, but because her undergraduate degree was not in teaching, she had to take all the classes necessary to be certified to teach as well--including student teaching.

It has been a long haul and required a lot of work, but she did it! One week after Carly was born c-section, Camille was busy trying to finish up her classes. She would do her homework with her computer on her lap and her baby on her shoulder.

And now that she is all done, she isn't the only one celebrating.

We decided to spend the night in Fort Collins, rather than drive to Colorado Springs late at night, and the next morning we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park to admire the scenery. It was so beautiful there, and soooooo COLD!!

I promise Wes was happier than he looks in this picture. And I know he was much happier to be out and walking than in the car. He made the entire trip up and back, plus all our sightseeing, in the back of a car, seated sideways because the car seat took up part of his seat. What a sport!! Not only did he never complain, but he also entertained Carly for hours! :-)

We drove up close to 10,000 feet and found this beautiful frozen waterfall at the end of a frozen lake (that was just beginning to thaw so we couldn't walk on it). I loved it.

We also admired the mountain peaks--something we don't get to enjoy here in Phoenix. (What we call mountains in Phoenix are called "hills" everywhere else.)

But I have to admit, one of the most fun things about our trip was spending time with this little girl. How can you not love someone with eyes that look up at you like that? :-)

And even better . . . we brought her home with us. She will be staying for a week.

I am pretty sure life doesn't get any better than this. :-) It was definitely a weekend that brought great . . . joy to my journey!

Why I Will Never Be Mother of the Year.

I was cooking dinner one night when my daughter Kathryn complained to me about a hurt finger. Keeping my focus on the meat browning in the frying pan, I said, “Oh, that’s too bad.”
A few weeks later Kathryn came to me once again. This time she held up a very crooked finger and asked, “Should my finger look like this?”

“Kathryn!” I exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me you broke your finger?”

“I did tell you”, she answered. “I told you my finger hurt, and you just said, ‘That’s too bad.’”
I whisked her off to the doctor in hopes the finger could be fixed, but was told it was too late. The finger had set, but over time it could straighten a bit.

And that is just one reason why I will never be “Mother of the Year.”

I could list many others. If you were to ask my kids they would say I should never win because of the time I got them all out of bed at five in the morning to weed the garden. Or they might say I don’t qualify because I once got them all up at 3 a.m. to watch a meteor shower when all they really wanted to do was sleep. But personally, I think both of those are good things.

At the end of this life, though, I hope my kids won’t remember the times I lost my patience and yelled at them (yes, I have yelled, but not in a long time— having only one child at home certainly helps), how dinner wasn’t always perfect, or how the laundry wasn’t always (never) done, and how I forced them all to take piano lessons.

Instead I hope they remember all the nights I stayed up late waiting for them to come home and then stayed up even later listening to stories about their night. I hope they remember helping them with school projects or when I let them ditch school (on a very rare occasion) to help me make salsa. I hope they remember when Camille told me she was running away from home so I went with her and we spent the afternoon at the park, or all the times we would sing at the top of our lungs in the car to the sound track for "13 Going On 30", the foot rubs, and all the telephone calls made from college.

Those are the things I hope they remember.

Because, my dear sweet children . . . I may not be the best mother in the world, and I may not receive any public recognition for my motherhood, but . . .

Being your mother has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.

From the first moment I knew you were a microscopic possibility, to the moment I held each of you in my arms following your birth, I have loved you. And that love has continued to grow and strengthen through time.

And every day of my life I am so thankful to a wonderful Heavenly Father, who sent you all to me.

Camille, Ryan, Kristen, Kathryn and Michelle . . . I love you!! And am so glad you are mine!
You all have truly brought . . . joy to my journey!

Women's Conference . . . so much good stuff!

I really enjoyed going to Women’s Conference this past week. It was fun to see my sisters, listen to the speakers, meet new people and learn from the talks.


I had a special treat on Friday when I met Kristin Klein from Alpine Klein Bunch for lunch. After reading her blog for over a year, enjoying her insights and admiring her beautiful photography, it was so much fun to meet her in person. Thanks Kristin for a wonderful time!!


I will write more about my sister’s presentation another time, but right now I want to comment on a few highlights for me from other talks.


I loved the talk given in the general session Thursday night. Sister Forste spoke about how we as women are frequently hard on ourselves, and never feel we are good enough, smart enough, thin enough, etc. In contrast, studies have shown that men are more content with who and where they are.



A study was cited where men and women were given a survey of 31 questions where they were asked to rank their level of performance in such areas as church attendance, scripture reading, etc. Although men ranked themselves lower than women in 26 of the 31 categories, when asked “If you were to die today, which kingdom of glory do you think you would inherit?”, most men said, “Celestial” while most women said one of the lower kingdoms.


I found that more amusing than anything else. And although we were encouraged to see ourselves in a more positive light, it struck me that Women’s Conference itself exists because women always want to do better. When I later asked some men if they would ever attend a “Men’s Conference” their response was, “No! Why would we want to go to another meeting?”


Another talk I enjoyed was by Sister Savage. She talked about building unity in marriage by keeping our baptismal covenant. I loved that. It is interesting to me that although we enter into the baptismal covenant individually, we renew the covenant each week as a group when we partake of the sacrament. That alone helps us to build unity with those in our families and church congregations.


But in applying the covenant specifically to marriage she made three main points.


1. When we covenant to “take His name upon us” we are covenanting to act as Christ acts. To do as He would do. If we remember that in our marriage relationship we will always be kinder, more loving, and more patient with our spouse.


2. When we covenant to “Always remember Him” we are covenanting to remember and apply His atonement in our lives. This means we are willing to sacrifice our will for the good of others. It means we are willing to forgive and to seek forgiveness.


3. When we covenant to “Keep His commandments” we are covenanting to always put the Lord first in our lives. And when we both put the Lord first, everything else becomes easier. We won’t have to argue over who is right, because we will always be trying to do what is right—according to the will of the Lord.


Another talk I LOVED was by Sister Elizabeth Ricks. She spoke on standing for truth and decrying evil. She told a story of a time when Sister Elaine Dalton, general young women’s president, was asked to address a gathering of 900 priesthood leaders. As sister Dalton walked into the room, all 900 men stood out of respect. Sister Dalton later commented that they were not standing for her, they were standing for womanhood.


I loved that. I wish we could always show that same degree of respect for womanhood and manhood, motherhood and fatherhood.


Sister Ricks went on to say that we can “stand” for righteousness in different ways. She told of Queen Esther who saved her people, Mary Elizabeth Rollins who rescued the pages of the newly printed “Book of Commandments” when scattered by a mob, a ten year old girl from Yemen named Nyrood, who stood against spousal abuse, Issac, Abraham’s son who was willing to be a sacrifice, and Joseph Smith, who was killed.


She then said, “Esther stood by kneeling, Mary Elizabeth stood by hiding, Nyrood stood by escaping, Isaac by lying and Joseph Smith by dying.


I thought that was beautiful and it left me with a greater desire to always stand for truth and righteousness in everything I do.

It's A Small World After All . . .

It is seems like where ever you go, you meet someone who knows someone you know or discover your path has crossed before with a person you thought you just met.


I supposed it is likely, especially in the church, for this to be common, yet it still surprises me how often I discover a connection I have with another person.


Take my friend, Jenny from Oregon. After becoming good friends we learned that at one time we lived only four houses away from each other in Orem, Utah, when she was five. In fact, my sister was her primary teacher. We also discovered I knew her husband’s aunt when I was at BYU.


Then there is my friend Sonia. While visiting with her uncle, for what I thought was the first time, I learned my father was his mission president and that he had actually been in my home on numerous occasions.


This past weekend at Women’s Conference I had a few additional “connection” experiences.


I arrived at the Phoenix airport an hour early and glanced around at the bubbly groups of women, all going to Women’s Conference. Finally, I spied a sister from my stake and went over to sit by her. She introduced me to her friend Heidi from another stake. I learned this past week that the most often asked question to anyone attending conference is, “Who are you with?”. (I think I was asked that at least 30 times in two days)


I told them I was meeting my sisters and we were all going to hear our oldest sister speak. Heidi asked me her topic, which I was not sure of, so we looked it up. As she saw my sister’s name on the program she asked, “You are Terri Ballstaedt’s sister? When I said yes, she exclaimed, “My husband grew up with her husband, Rock!”


I thought how funny that out of everyone there at the airport, I found someone to sit by who knew my relatives.


But, the most surprising “connection” was revealed after my sister’s talk. Sister Sylvia Allred, first counselor in the General Relief Society presidency was sitting in front of me during the presentation. Not being able to resist talking with her, I went over to visit after the presentation. During our chat we discovered that not only had we lived in Costa Rica at the same time, but she remembered my family. She had several family home evenings at our home, remembered the school we attended, my siblings, (especially my older sister Ruth who was a teenager at the time) and even the topic of a lesson my father gave.


But mostly she said she remembered how amazing she thought my mom was. Not only did she have teenagers at home and missionaries to care for, but she also had just given birth to my little brother Mark.

I have to admit, I think it is pretty cool, that Sister Allred thinks my mom is amazing. But then I think she is pretty amazing too.

One of my favorite pictures ever. I think it is such a classic.

This is my brother Randy, and my sister Ruth, standing in front of the mission home in Costa Rica. Sister Allred particularly remembered Ruth because of all the boys who had a crush on her.

Here is a picture of me and my four sisters with Sister Allred.

There are 21 years age difference between my oldest sister and the youngest.