And a happy new year!

And a happy new year to each of you!

As most of you know, an awful lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. I won't beleaguer everything that most of you already know, but perhaps I can fill in some gaps.

I've learned a lot that I didn't know that I didn't know. I can see the hand of the Lord unfolding and unfolding and things fall into place in our lives.

I have learned of the wonderful goodness that is in so many people that I'm associated with - even those that I'm not. So many kindnesses have been extended to us as we struggle to get back on our feet.

As for me - this has been one of the hardest physical challenges that I've ever endured. Ouch! It's bone pain - and I've never experienced this type before. It will truly take some time to get me back on my feet. Sometimes the pain is so bad it jerks me awake in the middle of sleep. I wear my brace - my saddle. I use my walker. I take pain pills. But, I still hurt.

The church immediately did its part in helping out Kerry and me. People began showing up before 7:00 am (thank you to Natalie!) so that I wouldn't be alone. Two others took turns staying with me in shifts during the day. Meals were brought in. I couldn't think of a single need that we had.

This week begins another week of much the same.

Things are also falling in place for Peter's memorial service on Jan 16. Kerry and Jordan returned with Peter's belongings - all he had fit into one suitcase, two boxes, plus the box we mailed to him for Christmas that arrived the day he died. He never knew about it. Those items sat in the hallway for a few days - then it just became to painful for me to look at. I can't go through them yet. I will - just not yet.

I have written his obituary and the program for the memorial. That was hard. These are things he should be doing for me. I think they turned out alright.

And the cards and the emails that have flooded our mailbox and our computers! Oh, my! Sometimes I'm so touched I am just speechless.

And, the people that are coming for this occasion also touches my heart. Kerry's brother and his wife, David and Martha, and his sister Content are coming in. Miss Harmony is coming, and her two little ones will be here, too. The fact that people would come that far to help us through such a difficult time....

This is how we will begin our new year. When we begin one year, we just never know all of the things we will experience before the next new year.

I've made another executive decision. When I first started writing this missive over ten years ago, I tried to include everyone's birthdays and anniversaries. It began to be a bit overwhelming, so I decided to just include Kerry's brothers and sisters and mine. I couldn't keep up with all of the nieces and nephews and who they married and their kids and...

But, I now - I'm going to try to put everyone back in. Forgive me if I leave someone out - but I'm real approachable. Send me an email and I will simply fix it and update my own calendar.

This month, we honor:
2 – Shirley Lauritzen - Kerry's mom. I miss her...

17 – Adam Torkildson (Adrienne’s hus)

20 - Travis Funk (Rachelle’s hus)

Rusty Roth(Joan’s son)

22 – Kent Appleberry (Gay’s hus)

23 – Fern Bierce

29 – Truly Maxwell


Love to y'all...
MissP

"What can you do to enhance your capacity to be led to correct decisions in your life? What are the principles upon which spiritual communication depends? What are the potential barriers to such communication that you need to avoid?"President John Taylor wrote: 'Joseph Smith, upwards of forty years ago, said to me: "Brother Taylor, you have received the Holy Ghost. Now follow the influence of that Spirit, and it will lead you into all truth, until by and by, it will become in you a principle of revelation." Then he told me never to arise in the morning without bowing before the Lord, and dedicating myself to him during that day' (The Gospel Kingdom, ed. G. Homer Durham [1943], 43–44)."
Richard G. Scott, "To Acquire Spiritual Guidance," Ensign, Nov. 2009, 6