July Dear Elder

It's been a weird month around here. For starters, I had my wallet stolen from a grocery store called "Save-A-Lot". How ironic is that? Luckily it was found the next day (scattered in a back alley somewhere) and turned into the police department, so even though my credit cards were all cancelled and my cash was all gone, I at least was able to recover my driver's license, temple recommend and all the kids' immunization records. Whew! Prayers really are answered.

Another answer to prayer came over the weekend while the kids and I were cleaning up our little rental house by the lake. It was the old, pre-civil-war cabin, which only has a single, antique skeleton key for the door. Brock, Austin and Brandon were helping me mow and clean, but when it was time to leave, the key was lost! We looked everywhere--under the beds, in the yard, under the carport, high and low. It was nowhere to be found! Finally, we decided to pray. We pleaded with Heavenly Father to help us find the key. It's the only one we have and we've tried to have a copy made, but it turns out that old skeleton keys are hard to come by! We looked again. Outside, inside, high, low, we unpacked the whole van, purse, diaper bag, unmade the beds to see if the key was in the sheets somewhere. It had VANISHED! Finally, we decided to give up and go home. The boys got in the car, and I decided to make a last ditch effort in the carport. Guess what I found? Sitting on top of the tire of the Skid Steer was the little brass skeleton key! I must have set it there while I was putting gas in the lawn mowers. It was perfectly camouflaged on the tire--but it was there! What a HUGE relief and testament of the power of prayer! You know what's funny about praying with kids? Long after my faith has wavered and given up, I feel this sense of desperation that if my prayer isn't answered, my kids might doubt their own faith--so the need that I have for my children to believe--that desperation for my prayer to be answered for their sake--makes me hold on a bit longer. Once again, I am so thankful for the blessing of being a mother and the lessons I learn from my kids.

One of my sisters and her family are having some real struggles right now. We are praying desperately for them. The week that I heard about their troubles, I felt a real darkness looming over me. I was irritable and ornery. I didn't want to be around people. I mentioned something to my sister in law about how I was feeling, and she suggested that maybe Satan works on those who are praying for others. I think that is absolutely true. Satan knows that our prayers and faith can and will bless others, so when we are in a spirit of fasting and prayer for our loved ones, he will do all he can to clog our hearts with his lies and darkness. We cannot give him an inch of ground. He has already stolen so many hearts. He will not claim mine!

Summer is getting hot and the school year is looming ahead. I don't feel like I've had enough of a break and I don't want to go back to school yet. But alas, I find myself ordering books and going to homeschool group planning meetings and filling up calendars with more activities than we can possibly find time or energy for but I still find it impossible to cut any of them out. *Sigh* I keep telling myself "Many things are good. Many are important. Few are essential." What are those essential things? Prayer. Scripture study. Temple worship.

Besides Moe's wedding, I haven't been to the temple in almost a year! I am going this Friday with Justin and Brock to do some baptisms. I'm so relieved and excited to be going back! There's nothing like the peace and perspective that comes from temple worship. I need that perspective in my life daily. Without it, I feel spent.

My dear niece and nephew, your missionary work is important. The Lord's work is the one "essential" in this life. It does not end when you come home from your mission. It does not end after this life. It is endless and eternal. What you are doing matters. I love you for doing it. Thank you for your testimony and your service. You inspire me.

Love & prayers,
Aunt Bobbi