What have we been up to?

Wednesday: I went to a job orientation meeting at the YMCA (I’ve been hired to teach group fitness classes starting in the fall). I’m not on the schedule yet, but that will be worked out shortly. I’m also interviewing for a preschool position next week so I can supplement Rick’s intern salary. The Y seems like a great place to work and should provide some fun opportunities for me and the kids.

Thursday: Rick had his very first day off (yay)! We packed a picnic lunch and drove up to Lake Erie. We spent a few hours at Luna Pier Beach. Emma was the only one brave enough to get completely wet, but the rest of us waded in up to our belly buttons. After the lake excursion we stopped at Costco (a.k.a. our home away from home). We sampled, shopped, and ate churros with frozen yogurt. Later that day we went to the Farmer’s Market in downtown Perrysburg. We did some more sampling and treated ourselves to a small bag of kettle corn. It was incredible! On the way home, we took in some live country music at the park until the rain hit.

Saturday: Rick got home from his 32-hour shift late in the afternoon. The kids and I snuck out for awhile so he could examine the back of his eyelids. While we were out we got our $5 pizza from Little Caesars with a $2 side of crazy bread (super deal). We brought it home to our sleeping beauty and had ourselves a little party. To top things off, we went to see Wall-E at the local drive-in movie theater. The mosquitoes ate us alive, but the weather was perfect.


Today was a memorable Sunday because Rick had the day off from work and we went to church as a family. Since our ward choir performs on the fly, we even participated in a musical number. Emma also spoke in Primary. She found a story on missionary work in the Friend and made her very own illustrations to go with it. She spent hours sketching and coloring her visual aids. Here is a copy of her talk and the artwork she made to go with it:

Emily Shares the Gospel

By Kersten Campbell, Friend, Sep 2004

Eight-year-old Emily bit her lip as a smiling missionary handed her a small card with a picture of the scriptures on it. The missionaries were visiting Primary this week and handing out pass-along cards to all of the children.


“We want to give you a challenge,” the missionary said. “We want you to share the gospel with a friend. Think of someone you want to share your happiness with, then give the person one of these cards and talk about it.”


“Tell a friend about the gospel?” Emily thought. The idea made her nervous. Did she know anyone who would really listen? She wasn’t sure about that, but she did know someone who would make a wonderful Latter-day Saint—her best friend, Alyssa. She looked down at the card. What would Alyssa say if she gave it to her? Would she think it was strange? Would she laugh? Emily tucked the card inside her scriptures. She loved her friend and she loved the gospel, but she didn’t know if she was brave enough to accept the missionaries’ challenge. It seemed too hard and scary.


The next weekend Emily got all her jobs done early so that she could invite Alyssa over. She couldn’t wait to play their favorite game—Cannonball—which they had invented themselves. They piled up all the blankets and pillows they could find, then leaped into the pile, yelling “Cannonball!”

When they began to pile up the blankets again, Emily’s little brother and sister joined in, helping to make the pile bigger.


“Can we play, too?” her brother asked.


At first, Emily was annoyed. She wanted to play the game with just Alyssa. But then she realized that everyone would be happier if they all played together.


“Sure,” Emily said.


When they were tired out from Cannonball, they all pretended to be deep-sea explorers in a submarine.


“This is so fun!” Alyssa said.


Soon Emily’s brother and sister went outside. Emily took Alyssa to her room and played a new CD of really pretty Church music. Alyssa loved it. She even began to sing along with the chorus of one song. Hearing Alyssa sing about the gospel made Emily happy.

“Time for lunch,” Emily’s mom called. All the children ran to the table, and Emily’s brother reached for a slice of bread.

“Not yet,” Emily’s mom said. “Time for prayer.”

“I’ll say it,” Emily volunteered. Alyssa watched Emily and folded her arms like she did.
After lunch Emily and Alyssa went outside to play on the swings. Emily couldn’t believe it when she saw Alyssa’s mom coming to pick up her daughter. Time went by too quickly when she was having fun with her friend. She said good-bye and went back inside to help her mom.
That night as she opened her scriptures, Emily saw the card. Oh no! She had forgotten the missionaries’ challenge. She had spent the entire day with her friend and hadn’t said one thing about the gospel.

Her mother poked her head through Emily’s doorway, smiling. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.”

Emily looked up, surprised. “What for?”


Her mother came in and sat down on the bed. “For sharing the gospel with your friend today.”
Emily shook her head. “But Mom, I didn’t say anything about the gospel.”


“Yes, you did,” her mother said. “When you played with your brother and sister, you taught her that including others makes games fun and that we’re happy when we’re kind to our family.”
Emily thought about it.


“And,” her mother added, “you taught her gospel principles when you shared your Church music with her. You showed her how to pray when you blessed the food at lunchtime.”
Slowly, Emily smiled. It was true. She had shared the gospel with her friend—not with words, but with actions. She thought of how glad she felt when she heard Alyssa singing about being a child of God. Maybe someday Alyssa would remember those words and want to know more. Suddenly Emily felt very happy. She couldn’t wait to go to Primary on Sunday and tell her teacher that it wasn’t hard to share the gospel at all.