No Zombies in the Temple

 I recently taught my little guys about what it means to go to the temple. I was able to teach them about being married forever and ever, about moms and dads getting to be moms and dads forever and ever, and also about baptism for the dead. I left the conversation feeling like I had really taught them something. 

What I did not take into account was our close proximity to Halloween. "Baptism for the dead," gave a completely different picture for my little man, Tucker, than that spiritual fire I was shooting for! While I appreciate his festive attitude for the "zombies in the temple," I was given the perfect opportunity to break things down to tiny little levels. I had to start over with the basics and constantly double check with him that "there are no dead people in the temple, right Tucker?" 

These little repetitive baby steps I found myself teaching are so much like  the baby steps I am taking in my classes. In my 111 class, I am constantly referring to my chart on "Classification of Evidence," to make sure that I am doing things properly. In my 120 class, I feel like every assignment and activity should be such an easy thing for me to understand, but in reality, it is a struggle sometimes. In my 130 class, I feel like I take one step forward, and two steps back. Handwriting is hard! Talk about baby steps!

It is very easy for me to get down on myself for being so behind in my family history efforts. I am almost thirty years old and I am just this year starting. There are so many terms that I just don't know yet. It is easy to entertain thoughts of wondering if "I am enough." 

I use that phrase, "wondering if 'I am enough,'" because of my own "baby steps" experience this week. My wonderful Visiting Teacher came over and talked to me for a while about my life. After listening to me tell her about my poor children and how terrible a mom I feel sometimes for having to do so much homework instead of playing with them, she was inspired to talk straight to my heart. She reminded me that feelings of "not being enough" or wondering all the time if "I am enough," are not feelings from Deity. Those are thoughts and feelings that come from someone who wants me to feel bad about myself and angry with where I am at in life. I know those are not thoughts my father in heaven would have me feel. 

When it comes to family history, the effort is what makes things happen. It isn't about numbers or names, as much as it is about love and work. I need to remember to not get discouraged. I need to remember that my effort is the best tool that I have. I can't know everything and I will never get everything right. But I can try! I may need be the brightest crayon in the box, but I know that I am enough.

Click right here for a wonderful video on "trying." It is less that thirty seconds, and very inspiring!

Have a great Halloween everyone!

Side note: I am grateful for the resources that we have to get things explained and re-explained to us. I love the ability I have to login to the FamilySearch or Ancestry websites and spend time learning how to research. This week during my research and discussion board work, I found an interesting resource that I am very excited about! It is found here. I am amazed that when I am stuck on a Dutch word in my family history searches, that there is a great chance that that old word might be right there for me. Aren't we so blessed?