Dante's first temple trip

Today Dante went to the temple for the first time, and I did not get to go with him. Aaron had a few things to do today that I didn't know about and he always stays home so I can do stuff so I figured that to be fair (and avoid sour feelings) I'd just drop him off at the ward and let him go on his own. It was probably for the best because as much as I wanted to be with him, I would probably have hovered, and he wouldn't have been able to fully experience it with his Young Men's group like he got to tonight. When I dropped him off, I watched how one of the older boys came over and shook his hand and greeted him, and was impressed with the amount of respect he seemed to have for Dante. It always awes me to see him the way others see him (not as a child but as a reverent young man with a pure and simple faith) and I realize that he is among friends and he's safe, and respected, and feels comfortable in his skin with them, which is all a mother can really ask for her child. I see in him some of the qualities that I see in some of the leaders of our church, and I see that people listen to him and consider what he has to say, and I see the smallest glimpse of what kind of a man he can be, and maybe I feel just the tiniest bit like Marry did when she watched our Savior growing into a man...just the smallest fraction of what she must have felt as she watched him with wonder, knowing he would do great things but not knowing what they would be. Maybe all mothers do that.

Wow...just..wow.

It's me. I know that I haven't posted here so months but there's been a bunch of things that I've been doing, both in church and out of it and I just haven't had time to post any of it. We're preparing for our Primary Program and I've got to say that without our new Second Counselor (Rachel Voss) and our chorister (Kristen Wilde) this program would be doomed to crash and burn. We've struggled with consistency with our teachers and just when it seemed that we had that all worked out, our Senior Primary teachers were called away on business for an extended period of time and it was back to chaos. Now don't take this wrong, the teachers did their very best to find a dependable sub to take their class before they left, but their sub was blessed with a new job and had to work every Sunday. We had no idea because no one told us, but the sub did let someone know what was going on...just the wrong "someone". That someone figured we knew (and why not? we normally know everything that's going on with primary, right?), and by the time I realized what had been happening we only had two weeks before our teachers came back. If it wasn't for our primary workers, we'd have died.

So...since we last talked Dante turned 12 in July and joined Young Men's where he was ordained as a Deacon and received the Priesthood. Now, in October Dante has been called to be the Deacon's Quorum President. He is in the middle of trying to choose his counselors right now and has been praying on it everyday since Sunday. About 10 minutes ago I called him down from his room (where like most 12 year olds, he has taken to spending the balance of his day) and asked him if he'd given any thought to his counselors. He told me he'd been praying on it everyday but wasn't sure. So we talked it out a little and he said that of the four young men that are eligible, three of them are more active and more reliable. I suggested that he might want to pick those three because he won't have to worry as much about being stuck with all the work if they don't come to church. Then my wise and big-hearted pre-teen said that he had been thinking about calling the less active boy "because it might help him to get to church more, and he can go to the young men's activities more than [the other boy] can". I felt struck by what he said, and realized that this was definitely the way to advise him to go so I encouraged him to follow that line of thinking and to pray now about which one he wants where. Here I was thinking about how having active boys in his presidency would make it easier on hm, and he was thinking about how to give the inactive boy a reason to come more often.... And this is why he was called into this position, I guess. He's just a simple boy, with a good heart and a true, strong, simple testimony in his Heavenly Father, and he's going to do just fine. I feel like I've been blessed to see a glimpse into his future as a missionary where he'll be successful and bring souls unto Christ with his easy manner and his simple faith and big, bright smile. This child is a constant reminder to me of what our Heavenly Father wants us to be and I'm truly lucky to have him.

Lying and Honesty

it's been forever since i posted here. if you don't know, I've been called as the 1st councilor for the primary and have been working out the details in this calling since September 08. it keeps me busy.
what i want to post today is a paper that my son wrote. it's an assignment that i handed him in an act of creative parenting. I'm searching for an answer for the child that lies...this seemed good at the time.

Lying and Honesty by Dante Washington

Liars live in fear of the law, and lie to stay out of trouble. Liars get punished. Alma 1:17 says "Never the less, they durst not lie, if it were known, for fear of the law, for liars were punished. therefore they pretended to preach according to their belief; and now the law could have no power on any man for his belief." The worst lie is when you lie to God but no matter how scared you are you must always tell the truth especially after lying to God. Jacob 7:19 says "And he said: i fear lest i have committed the unpardonable sin, for i have lied unto God; for i denied the Christ, and said that i believed the scriptures; and they truly testified of him. and because i have thus lied unto God i greatly fear lest my case shall be awful but i confess unto God." anyone who has lied and has not repented will be excluded. D&C 42:21 says "thou shalt not lie: he that lieth and will not repent shall be cast out. when you lie you are being tempted by Satan, who will lead you astray. Moses 4:4 says "and he became Satan yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as may as would not hearken unto my voice."
People who are honest are blessed and are excepted by Heavenly Father. D&C 97:8 says "verily i say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice- yea, every sacrifice which i, the Lord, shall command- they are accepted of me." lies are an abomination to the Lord, but he enjoys the truth. Proverbs 12:22 says "Lying lips are abomination to the lord; but they that deal truly are his delight." the Lord will provide you with knowledge or advice, or food, if you are honest. 2 Corinthians 8:21 says "providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men" when you tell the truth you can be greatly rewarded and you won't get in nearly as much trouble as you would if you lied. Proverbs 16:13 says "Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right." when you are honest you should not lie or not keep a promise. Alma 7:20 says "I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his work, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore his course is one eternal round.

lets hope this sunk in.