2021- Week 3(Jan 18- Jan 24)

This week I spent the majority of it clearing out the remaining items from the kitchen area so that we would be ready for construction to start next week. I wanted to get it all done because my step mom Yvonne was coming in to town on Saturday. You don't realize how much stuff you have 
until it is all piled up ha ha. 

Jeff painted one of my blue walls back to the tan color it was originally. We are changing up our color scheme to go with the new floors. I love that Jeff doesn't mind working on my little projects.

Whitney started her new job at the University of Utah hospital. 

I have been studying the signs of the times for several months but recently have felt led to read and watch a few videos that have really peaked my interest. I want to feel at peace when the second coming happens and not feel anxious so I am trying to be prepared in all areas- physical, mental and spiritual. This is not a for sure timeline of events just one I have seen several times and that I am using to motivate myself to get ready. No one knows the exact day and time but we can watch for the signs and know that the time is close.

Malia's sweet sister Annie passed away this week. They put her on hospice last week. She was 37 but had suffered from a genetic disease called MLD that took away most of her faculties when she was just 5 years old. I'd only met her a few times. She was an angel on earth. I spent the week listening to Dolly Parton songs. She was Annie's favorite and she got to meet her for her Make A Wish. Her death was a happy/sad death. It's always sad to lose someone you love but it's happy that she is free from her mortal body. Annie was like a caterpillar stuck in a cocoon and now she is a free beautiful butterfly.

Brody was ordained to be a deacon this week. He is such a great kid. 
Kevin gave him a beautiful blessing. 

Yvonne got here on Saturday. We have been having a great visit. She is on her way back to Maryland to help my dad get his house ready to sell so they can finally move west. I made my favorite Island Pork Salad on Sunday for her. Sunday night we played Jeff's latest Finders Seekers box. This one was set in Russia. I really love these boxes. They are so beautiful and well made and it's hard to throw them away at the end but you can't play them again. Yvonne was a big help.

Ashtyn's email for the week.

 Olá todo mundo! I hope everyone is doing well! I can't believe January is almost over! This year is already flying by! This week was a busy one. First off we had transfers! Our whole zone didn't really change but Sister Castillow and I got a new comp! Her name is Sister Carlson and she is thee sweetest girl and also the coolest and wrestles! It was so hard to let Sister Beckstrand go, but I'm so lucky to be with these two sisters! But anyway the work is going great down here in Calvert and we were able to experience some miracles!

First off Chuck is doing great and it was the most amazing thing because he told us he wanted to learn more about Joseph Smith! We were so excited and we ended up having a really spiritual lesson surrounding Joseph Smith and the coming forth of the Book Of Mormon! After Sis. Castillow recited the first vision the first thing he said was "that's wonderful." It was awesome and we definitely see potential in him! We also had an amazing experience this week with a man named Nathaniel! So Nathaniel is our friend Mike's cousin and we always call his phone when we want to talk to Mike (Mike doesn't have his own phone). So one night we called to see how Mike was but he wasnt home, so we decided to ask Nathaniel if we could share a scripture with him. He said yes and we were able to have a mini lesson with him! He then said he wants to meet with us over zoom with his daughter! We were so excited! Unfortunately the lesson didn't happen because Nathaniel couldn't figure out zoom:(

But we are hopeful and are going to keep reaching out! We also have been really focusing on Facebook finding! We actually were able to get some of our Facebook friends to watch a live bible study we did! 

I also did want to share a a really cool experience I had this week! So because of the inauguration, we were locked inside Tuesday night to Thursday morning. And because of this our mission Presdient encouraged to to do a Book Of Mormon read-athon. Our mission President read the whole Book Of Mormon in one day, and so I was so determined to do it. I read every second I had and while I didn't quite finish it I got to Alma 6! It was one of the most challenging things I've ever done but so worth it! As I was reading I kept noticing really good verses that I hadn't marked. I seriously love how every time you read the Book Of Mormon you learn something new. Something new will stick out to you every time. The Book Of Mormon is so so applicable to us at every stage of our life! So read it! Over and over again! It is one of the biggest ways God will speak to you! 

Anyway I hope everyone has a fabulous week! Tchau Tchau

-Sister Shaw

Pictures:

2021- Week 2(Jan 11- Jan 17)

 I have been going through closets to clear them out for the new floor to be installed. I have found so many things that I never use so I've also been making bags of things to donate. This plate was one thing. It is a plate my mother made to give to my Hughes Grandparents one year. We don't use this plate ever. I love it and it brings fond memories but why am I keeping it? So I took this picture for memory sake and gave the plate away. 

Here are the items that were just in our coat closet alone.

Whitney and I helped Liz do her hair for her engagement photos.

Melinda came over for breakfast as a last hurrah before Brooklyn switches to online school. Ethan's school also just switched to online for ten days. Bronson makes me so happy. He is such a sweetheart. 

I am giving the lesson next week in our DUP Zoom call. It is all about pioneer cooking. Pioneer women use to use their cookbook like a journal or planner and keep all their recipes, tips, thoughts, poems, etc. inside. So finding a pioneer cookbook gives you a wonderful glance into the woman's life. This is the cookbook of Violet Ruben.

My work held a Zoom meeting to show all of the employees the progress on the new Pioneer Center. It is stunning and going to be a wonderful welcome center for the park. 

We got Chinese food to celebrate Whitney graduating.

I found this prairie style dress at Target. It reminded me of something straight out of Little House on the Prairie so I had to have it. 

Jeff went golfing on Saturday with Tom and Scott. I can't believe it was warm enough to do that. But then we took Daisy on a walk on Sunday- in January. That is unheard of but it was also so nice.

Ashtyn's missionary plaque was hanging up. It may have been for a while but we kept forgetting to check. 

One whole spire is filled on Ashtyn's mission count down! Hooray! This week she will have completed 30% of her mission. Here is her letter for the week.

Olá todo mundo! I hope everyone is having an amazing week! This week was busy and p-day is almost over so I'm going to do this email bullet point style!

Some highlights for the week included:

• I hit my month mark this week! I cannot believe that I am almost a 1/3 of the way done with my mission!

• We had video chats with 3 people that we met over facebook! We haven't had a tone of success with Facebook so this was amazing and we even met with a less active who wants to re activate!

• I wrote a letter to a guy named Nick who had previously been taught and isn't too fond of the missionaries! But he found me and facebook and messaged me saying thank you for the kind note!

• we found a new friend named Mike and he is amazing! He committed to attending sacrament meeting and would have attended if he could have figured out zoom:( and we also gave him 3 Nephi ch. 11 to read and hes already read it 3 times!

• We are going to be extending a baptismal invitation to our friends Luna and Francisco (Sister Castillows brother found them in California and referred them to us because Luna speaks Portuguese) please pray for them!

• Ken is doing amazing and bore his testimony to us for a Facebook video! I love him and am so thankful for him!

• Transfers are this week and....I'm staying in Calvert! Wahoo! 

That's about all but before I sign off I want to share a quick thought about the atonement. We had a lesson with Sister Castillows grandma and her dad and her dad shared this thought: When Christ experienced his suffering in Gethsemane, he saw a list of faces. It wasnt just the huge weight of all the sins and pains of the world. It was individual. So personal that Jesus Christ knows EXACTLY how to comfort us. I know without a doubt Christ loves us and he would do anything in his power even suffer again for us. Turn to him and rely on him because he is the source of all healing. Anyways I love you all and hope everyone has an amazing week! 

Tchau Tchau

- Sister Shaw

Pictures:

1. KEN

2. Sister Beckstrands death photo

3. White Plains district!

4. Cutie comps

2021- Week 1(Jan 4- Jan 10)

 Some years I have chosen a word to focus on for the year. I haven't done that for a while but recently I came across a 2021 word generator from dayspring.com. You answer a few questions about your desires and goals and it generates a word for you to focus on for the year. I tried it and the word that it generated for me was Overcome. This took me by surprise because I don't feel like I have anything big that I need to overcome but the more I thought about it the more I realized that was the perfect word for me. I have let fear and anxiety control me for most of 2020. I wanted to fully give my will to God and do anything he asked of me but I couldn't. Anytime things got tough I buried my head in the sand. I used the virus as an excuse to not act. My wish for this year is to overcome that fear and to be willing to do anything God wants for me and my life, to follow through with previous goals I have set and to be spiritually, mentally and physically healthy. To OVERCOME the world in all areas of my life.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have OVERCOME the world.

D&C 75:16 And he who is faithful shall OVERCOME all things, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

Whitney took her boards this week for the Surgical Tech program. She passed! We were all very excited that now she is official. She can begin her job on the 19th. I drove her up to the hospital to finish her paperwork and get her ID badge.

A group of very passionate people broke into the US Capitol on the day that the Presidential vote was being certified. There are many people that believe there was wide spread voter fraud and that the results are not accurate for Biden's win. The only reason I am posting this is to remember that my daughter who is serving a mission in Washington DC was safe and that all the missionaries were protected. They were allowed to call home and let their parents know and the mission president kept them all inside while this was occurring. I have never seen such divisiveness over an election. Our nation needs prayers!

Her professor held a small pinning graduation ceremony for her and her class. There are 12 of them. Only Jeff and I were able to attend because of Covid but it was still so special. We are beyond proud of Whitney. She is an amazing person. Her professor told us that it was wonderful that she got hired on at the U because they do not usually hire 18 year olds immediately out of college. So excited for her to begin this new adventure in her life. She has a career, insurance, a mutual fund and is well on her way to being a successful adult.

I got a mammogram on Friday. I haven't had one since the beginning of 2019. I don't have my results yet but based on my previous mammograms where they had me stay for further testing each time I think this one was normal because they sent me on my way and told me my doctor would get the results.

We purchased and picked up our new flooring on Saturday with the help of Paul. We had checked the inventory every day but when we checked it on Friday the only store that had enough stock was in Riverdale up in Ogden. So Paul was kind enough to bring his truck too so we didn't have to make two trips. We are getting pretty excited to see it installed.

Here is Ashtyn's letter for the week:

Olá! I hope everyone has had an amazing week! This week was awesome and I experienced a lot of growing! Missions are challenging but the growth and experiences you have are priceless. This week we've been cranking up the new youth album and there is a line in one of the songs that says: "...if you change just one life that's all he asks, even if that life is yours." I absolutely love that because yes it is amazing to see other people's lives change, but it is also incredible how you can change your life! 

Anyways this week was likewise amazing because we were able to find 3 new friends! When Sister Castillow and I first arrived in Calvert we were teaching one person. The previous sisters had dropped everyone so we pretty much started from scratch. But as we have been diligent and hard working we have been able to build the area back up! We started teaching Sister Beckstrands friend from back home! Even though I don't participate in the lessons (we don't want to scare her with too many missionaries), she is doing amazing! We also started teaching a former named Roger! He is the cutest old man and hasn't showed interest in the past but now wants to learn more! Oh also we are sort of teaching our neighbor Chuck! Sister Castillow put a Book Of Mormon in his mailbox a couple weeks ago and we have been chatting with him! He's awesome and looks like Benjamin Franklin haha! 

Okay before I sign off I want to share something that has really benefited me this week. This week for a few days I felt like I was in a spiritual rut. Satan works so hard and definitely was throwing shots at me this week. I think this feeling is a common thing among not only members of the church but everyone. And that's okay. Heavenly Father knows we will experience doubts and he wants to help us find ways to overcome them. One thing that I found to be especially helpful was to make sure to bear my testimony all the time! There is power in bearing your testimony because you hear your beliefs out loud. So if you are ever struggling with your testimony or doubting your beliefs, bear your testimony! You will hear it and you will start to believe it and the spirit will testify it to you. God is mindful and knows your struggles. Just keep getting back up and he will be there with open arms. Anyway, I hope everyone has an amazing week! Catch ya later. 

Oh we also went to Annapolis for p day and it was really fun and I love Maryland!

-Sister Shaw

Pictures:

Annapolis and Crumbl run

2020- The End(Dec 28- Jan 3)

 Somewhere along the line I miscalculated a week because I think this week was actually week 52- but rather than go to all the trouble of relabeling years worth of posts we will just call this week The End. The last week of what some are considering the worst year in history. But not me. There were definite lows but so many highs like I mentioned last week. I haven't loved being in the middle of a pandemic and the fear and anxiety that it has brought but I have loved getting to decide how things go inside the walls of my home and that has been nice. 

This week we got to meet the neighbors cat. In fact he has now visited every house ha ha. I don't know his name but he is very friendly.

On Tuesday we went to dinner with the Zengers. They live on our street and Jeff is their minister and has been telling them that we should go out for a long time so this time he decided to make it happen. We went to Tios because it is never ever busy and the food is pretty good. I love Kelly and I haven't really visited with her for way too long so it was great to catch up.

We saw Wonder Woman 1984. I LOVED it! Even more than the first movie. I loved the story line of "you get what you wish for" but at what cost? I think Gal Gadot is one of the best actresses and I pretty much love any movie that has to do with female empowerment. I also loved how social distanced the theater was. No one in front of us, no one behind us and three chairs separating us on either side from anyone.

On New Year's Eve we watched a movie called Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace. Our neighbors the Stevens are the executive producers and their daughter in law stars in it. It was a B class movie but the story was so touching. All of us cried through the whole show. It was a very inspiring message. We also played Ethan's VR and some card games. We ordered our favorite Indian food from Barwachi's and then to end the night we watched Jo Jo Rabbit- another of our very favorite movies that really makes you think.

Bowling was of course cancelled this year so we decided to carry on the tradition at home. I made a big breakfast and cinnamon rolls. We played Wii bowling and I won the second game. Wish I could bowl this well in real life. Then we had our cinnamon rolls and spent the day finishing putting Christmas away. It was nice to not have to get up at the crack of dawn but I really missed seeing the Pearsons and Randalls.

This is a picture of a little girl named Angela Eatchell that was one of my activity day girls when we lived in our first ward the Central Park Ward. She was so sweet and gave this to me as a gift. I have kept it all these years and I keep it in my Christmas box. Every year I think about her and wonder where she is and what she is up to. Well this year I decided to track her down with the help of my friend Alissa. She is now married and lives in Wyoming. She has three children and is doing well. I am going to send the photo back to her so she can give it to her children. 

During the favorite things party for relief society Debbie Miller mentioned her love of Tru Fru chocolate covered raspberries. I was finally able to get some- the milk chocolate variety have been sold out because of Christmas. They are so good although I am not a fan of the raspberry seeds.

Cobra Kai is back- we are going to try and pace ourselves and not watch the whole season in one day ha ha. 

We got a new relief society presidency. The old one included Amee Rock as president with Patrice Pederson, Leslie Varner and Heather Heyland. The new one is Crystal Twitchell as president which means we won't be partners in activity days any more. Pam Maddock, Julie Young and Elissa Olsen as secretary. They will be amazing.

This is a little quote I read online and I love it. I love the thought that we can't remove ourselves from God with out dying spiritually.

The Shaw's have decided to start back up our monthly dinners. Tom and Sharon hosted this month and Tom made prime rib- mmm. We sill wore our masks and boy was I sweating all night with that many bodies in one small space.