Carnival of Life

Growing up one of my favorite mutual activities at church was Standard’s night. It was usually because it was a fun event that I walked away learning a lot about the church’s standards for the youth and why it was important for me to use them in my life.

When we moved to Chicago and I was called as Young Women president, I knew this was something I wanted to have for the youth in my ward. After talking with my bishop and my counselors we decided to have it be a Tri-ward activity where we combined with 2 other wards in our building. This added a lot of needed numbers to the activity but also added the complication of communicating and involving a lot more people.

My counselor Jess had an idea from her youth that had really hit home to her and after sharing her idea… Carnival of Life was born.

The idea was this: As leaders we were to hype up this huge upcoming activity and start a few months in advance. We wanted the kids to make it a priority to be there. We wouldn’t tell them what we were doing, just that they didn’t want to miss it.

Everyone involved was told to not speak to any of the youth about it so as to have the desired spiritual effect and lessons learned.

Carnival invitations and posters were printed and distributed. Parents were reminded and we got the kids talking and excited.

On the night of September 16 (Which also happened to by my 24^th birthday) the youth gathered in the foyer at the church. They stood in line and were each given a Ziploc bag with 20 tickets. When they walked into the gym, it was set up as a carnival.

We had booths for food such as hot dogs, nachos, funnel cakes, lemonade, etc.

We had booths for games such as balloon popping, donut on a string, face painting, cake walks, etc.

 

 

 

We had a selfie booth with props as well.

And there were prizes.. Lots of awesome prizes.. From Xboxes, cameras, games, movies, music.. All of the prizes were displayed on the stage in the gym where everyone could see them.

In addition to the game booths which all cost a certain number of tickets, there were spiritual booths that were run by the missionaries in our wards. At these booths the youth could learn about different standards and pass of scripture mastery, etc. At these booths they could earn tickets. But only at these booths.

We let the youth play around for about 45 minutes. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted.. play games, eat what they wished, etc. 

We then had the lights go out and the sliding doors to the chapel open. The kids were to stop playing games, put down their food and line up and walk up to 3 tables where the bishops of the 3 wards sat. Each youth would hand the bishop their tickets to be counted.

All prizes were forfeited before entering the chapel and the number of tickets each youth had determined where they would sit in the chapel. The pews were divided into sections, Celestial, Terrestial and Telestial. The youth were assigned to a section of pews depending on the number of tickets they had – the more you had the higher the kingdom. Typically it went the more church activities you did, the more tickets you had and the higher kingdom you achieved.

Usually the kids who only do the church activities to get tickets to use on games and food end up in the lower kingdoms. 

Once everyone had passed from the carnival into the chapel, we had our Stake President speak about the importance of the choices we make in our lives and how that affects our eternal outcome. 

During the carnival we had assigned a man to act as Satan. He was to tempt the kids to spend their tickets on the games and save up for prizes. (This was Adam's role on the top left)

But we also had another man assigned to act as a prophet. He was given extra tickets to hand out as he saw fit and encourage the kids to learn about different standards. (This was Gary's job, bottom far right)

We revealed these men’s roles in the evening and things really started clicking for some of the youth. Some were very upset when they realized they didn’t get to keep their prizes but the purpose of the evening really came to light after the Stake President spoke.

Our choices are important and they help determine our future. President Thomas S. Monson said, “May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.” Our goal is Celestial glory and our choices will determine whether or not we get there.

Alma 39: 14 “Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you.”

Matthew 19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

It was an incredible activity and the spirit was so strong I feel like we could have sliced off a piece to take home with us. (Hopefully most of us did)

But most of all. I hope we all learned--even those volunteering-- how important our choices in this life are and that we need to do our best to make the right ones.

This last quote from President Monson, “As we contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each day—whether to make this choice or that choice—if we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice.”

To the First Years

Each August a fresh wave of excited and anxious medical and podiatry students move into our area. 

As I was playing with my daughter at a splash pad, a new student's wife asked me if I had any advice to the incoming medical student families.

At the time I was caught off guard and probably laughed my way through a silly response, but when I got home I couldn’t stop thinking about the question. In fact, in the days since that playgroup I have had many thoughts swirl through my mind.

To the medical student and family:

Congrats! You have made it into medical school. You. Are. Here. In the first few weeks you will be pushed, stretched, and stressed and wondering if this truly is what you want to do.

The answer is yes. And the solution is hang in there.

You thought you were great at studying and time managing in your undergrad, but medical school is going to teach you a whole new way to do things.

You thought going to class would be simple-but sometimes the teachers have thick accents. Then mix that with Latin medical terms and you will feel like you are in a different country.

You thought being a doctor would be great pay. If you are in it for the money--go somewhere else. 

Your new cologne will be formaldehyde-and your house will smell like it too. You will have to set yourself a "bedtime" because there is always more to do and study than can be done in one day. 

As a student adjusts to the time and effort put in to this part of one’s education, the spouse will sit on the side lines and wonder how they can help-because they truly want to help and make themselves useful. She'll apply to jobs all over, she'll clean the house 3 times in one hour, and she'll watch a lot of TV while glancing anxiously at her phone for a text saying “I’m on my way home”

This, my people, is my advice for surviving medical school:

1. Make time for God. This is and should be number one.  If you aren’t a religious person then now is the time to start. 

I watched as many students would go the opposite route and become “too busy” for church and God. The person they are really hurting is themselves. 

Who better to help you know and remember what you are learning then the all-knowing teacher?

I heard people say many times that they would have time for religion after medical school. There is never a time that you need religion more! If it’s medical school now, it’ll be intern year later, then the start of the a new career, etc.

There is never enough “time” for anything. Religion is not something you do if you have the time, it’s what we have been given time to do.

2. Family matters. And I mean it. 

Make time for your family and make sure they know when that time is. Whether that is coming home for lunch for a quick 45 minutes just to kiss your wife, scarf a sandwich and wrestle the baby. It’s worth it. 

If that means that you are done studying every night by 9 pm and spend an hour before bedtime on a quick walk with the spouse or snuggling on the couch snacking on buttered popcorn. Make it matter.

3. No study Sundays. Say what? You read that right. No studying on Sundays. 

This is something we started from week one of medical school. Was it hard to do? Yes. Was it worth it? Heck to the yes. 

This piece of advice helped to combine #1 and #2. By not studying Sundays it meant that Sunday was open for worship and it was also open for family time. Brian knew that no matter what was going on in school-even if he had a test Monday morning- he would have to be completely ready by Saturday night or get up early Monday and review. 

I have felt the blessings pour upon us from this seemingly simple rule. If I didn’t see Brian all week I knew that I had Sunday to look forward to-to go on a walk together and get my alone time in. We never went to church alone, always together as a family.

4. Manage your time. This is huge. It's about prioritizing what is most important. You can still live your life and do things that are important to you.

Say you study 6 hours at a time. How much of that time is actually devoted to study? Do you take a break every so often? What do you do in that break? Did you browse Facebook? Fantasyland? Buzzfeed? How much time did you waste on those?

If you have set apart time to study make sure that, that is exactly what you are doing-studying. 

And when you take a break-because we all know it's needed every so often. Put a limit on it, 10 or 15 minutes. We watched too many students get on Facebook or Buzzfeed for a break and next thing they knew 30 minutes had passed, then 45.. and so forth. 

You will have time for the things you love if you manage your time well.

5. Take turns with your spouse planning date nights. Take a 15 minute break from studying and plan a date night with your spouse. Rekindle the fire in your relationship. 

We often would joke that Medical School was the other woman in our relationship. Don’t let her get all the attention. Make sure the right woman is getting the right attention.

6. Your job is to worry about what YOU need to do to succeed. Do NOT worry about what everyone else is doing. 

I repeat: Do. Not. Worry. About. Anyone. But. YOU! 

Each student is smart. They wouldn't be here if they weren't. But you are too. Remember that you are part of this same elite group of medical students and you deserve to be here as much as the others.

Comparing will steal you of the joy you will have in your personal successes. Do the best you can do. It will be enough.

To the Spouse:

1. Encourage, encourage and encourage some more. Even when you don’t want to.

2. Keep yourself busy. Before having a baby, I worked 7 am to 7 pm some days just to stay busy like the hubby.

Join a book club or learn a new skill. This keeps you busy and learning. 

Sometimes Brian would study at home and I would drag a pillow to wherever he was studying and camp out on the ground with a good book. 

At least we were close in proximity. It made it easier.

3. Make dinner-even if he doesn’t show up-left overs make great lunches.

4. Get yourself ready for the day. Especially on the weekends when the hubby is studying. You feel better when you feel clean and ready.

5. Find a support group and stick together. Meet other medical student’s spouses, church friends, or neighbors and get together-often!

It's great to have family at home cheering you on from the sidelines and praying for you, but life and medical school get ten times better when there are friends nearby to help and rely on. 

The best way to have friends is to be a friend right? That means getting out of the comfort zone and inviting people over for dinner or games every once in a while. 

In the beginning, we rarely had a Sunday where we weren't feeding some new couple or family.

The first year of medical school the wives of the students would get together the night before the test when the husbands were all studying and we'd each bring a pot luck item to share. Then we'd pack up the food and take it to the husbands so they'd have some nutritious and delicious goodness to fill their stomachs while they filled also their brains.

6. Don’t wait around. If you want to do something, do it. 

This one was my hardest. Out of everyone that I want to spend time with, I want to do everything with Brian. I want to have the memories of doing something with him. 

In the beginning I wouldn’t go to the museums and events if Brian couldn’t make it. But then… it meant that we didn’t do anything because Brian could never really make it. After a while it made me become a hermit and that just wasn’t working either. 

Not waiting around means that even though you want to go to ice skating with your hubby or pick apples together, sometimes you just have to go by yourself and understand that they can’t make it.

It means packing up the baby and leaving to visit family-alone because there is no "vacation days" from medical school. You still have to live your life while they are living theirs.

Medical school is sacrifice.

And being married to a medical student means even more sacrifice.

It means waiting. It tests your patience, when you are waiting in bed at 11 pm just to hear the car door shut outside and know that he is home.. finally. It means that some birthdays go without gifts because food is more important. It means some anniversaries are celebrated months later because it fell on test day. It means learning to live on loans and pushing away pride to get government help and not buying that shirt even though it'd look cute, and it also means a lot of time alone.

It means getting over yourself and your loneliness and getting out to do things. You will make many sacrifices in your years of medical school-not only monetarily, but emotionally as well. 

You will see many of your high school and undergrad friends living it up as you are peering at them from behind a large and boring medical book. 

You will miss events, funerals, and family vacations that are really important to you and watch Instagram and Facebook for the updates from family on what you are missing.

It will be harder and it will be easier than you think. At times you'll breeze through it and at other times you will be brought to your knees. 

But it's worth it. You can do this. Stay strong.

] Anna

E L E V E N months

Lydia turned 11 months in Utah with family. Plane rides with this girl are a joke and usually leave me stressed out and looking at the clock every few minutes. Thankfully we've been blessed with some great people who sit next to us and help out. It's also a blessing that this girl has no stranger anxiety at all because everyone wants to hold her and play with her.

This random guy kept kissing her cheeks and playing patti cake with her, and then others try and feed her the airline pretzels. I have learned to think second of germs and first of gratitude for others for entertaining my very active and wild child.

I truly hope that someday we will be able to live a bit closer to family. I can't begin to describe how it makes me feel to see my family love my little girl. Watching Lydia with her cousins and aunts and uncles warms my heart. I want her to get to know these fabulous people that we love so much.

Lydia learned to walk these last few weeks and watching her toddle everywhere is the cutest thing I've seen for a while. Her cousin Jace (4 months older) is much more steady when he stands, but he is cautious and nervous about walking though I feel like he could do it if he really wanted. Lydia is very unsteady and wobbly but it doesn't stop her. She keeps walking until she's off balance and running and then she dives at whatever she is walking toward (often hitting her head), She got her first black eye not long after we arrived in Utah.

She loves to wave and clap her hands when you sing "If you're happy and you know it." She enjoys testing her voice and likes to experiment with screams that drive me crazy. She is loving to eat grapes and avocado-sometimes at the same time!

Becca returned from her mission to Paraguay at Christmas time this last year. I've missed this girl and it's always great to catch up on life when I come to Utah to visit. And what better to do when talking than go kayaking in this gorgeous place?

 
Lydia loves LOVES dogs. She especially thinks they are so funny when they are chasing a ball or a stick. She doesn't love them licking her, but she'll follow one around if she can. My parents recently got a new dog, a Border Collie names Charlie. He's a very sweet dog and soooo good with Lydia.

The beach at my parent's house is gorgeous. It has black sand and perfect skipping rocks. Brian has gotten a lot of practice at his next career of professional rock skipping on these beaches.

Her hair is getting longer-especially in the back and I keep wondering if I should cut it. But I guess every baby girl has that in between hair stage where it just needs a little longer to look normal. It will happen.. but until then and as long as she'll let me put headbands on her.. we'll do it this way!

This is the reality of our house in a matter of only a few minutes. Sometimes I have to remind myself to let her explore and make messes and to just relax. This little girl is very very busy and on the go always.. Even if you are feeding her she has to be moving or jiggling a leg as she goes.

This girl is still a pretty good sleeper. Her front teeth have broken through and while they were kind of on the surfact of breaking through the gums she was up crying in the middle of the night. But now that it has passed she is back to her 12 hours a night sleeping with 2 naps in the middle of the day.. 11 and 3:30. I assume one of these naps will be dropping soon.. but I guess we'll hit that road sign when it comes.

She still uses her binky at night and for naps and then if we need it for on the go like at church. She has attached to a white furry blanket with pictures of cupcakes all over it. It already is becoming raggedy because she uses it so much but she just loves rubbing her face against it as she falls asleep.

With summer coming to a close, we've been trying to soak up as much sun as possible because soon the cloud cover will officially fall over Chicago and the Sun will only poke her head out every now and then to say hello.

Lydia loves the park-but she usually either wants to just swing in the swing and will cry if you take her out. Or she wants to just play with the bark that covers the ground.. unless there are older kids. If older kids are playing, she'll make sure to clasp a piece of bark in a fist and toddle after all the older kids to watch and try and play with them.

Date nights are pretty important for us in medical school. With this kid sometimes having very late nights-it's always nice to get away.. sometimes our date night are as simple as wrestling in the grass at the park with the baby, and sometimes we get all dressed up to go laser tagging and we get super super sweaty and wonder why we bothered dressing up. Ha.

Lydia and her cousin Taysom are 6 months apart. Cousin Jace and Lydia (4 months apart) played and ate dirt together and so a bath was definitely in order. I love that this girl will have cousins to grow and play with throughout her life.

I love this family of ours. It has been really special to have James home and feel the special spirit that he carries with him. I am grateful for what our little family has, does, and will learn from each of our wonderful families. "Families are the Lord's workshop on earth to help us learn and live the gospel." -Cheryl A. Esplin

JAMES IS HOME "The kingdom of God or nothing"

Home had multiple meanings this week. First it meant Utah-being home in a place that I love, and second it meant that for the first time in 2 years my family was all together in one home. It was magical.

My brother James returned from a 2 year mission to Seattle Washington on August 24th. The wait at the airport was worse than a 4 year old waiting for Christmas morning. We arrived at the airport at 6:40 but his plane wasn't supposed to land until 7:30. And so.. we waited.. and waited.. and waited some more. We were tracking his flight on some app on my Dad's phone and it seemed like he was never going to make it across Idaho to get here. 7:30 came and went and then 8 came and went. I think my heart had transformed into a giant drum in my chest.

And then.. he came. Down the escalators came a group of young boys and honestly as my eyes quickly searched and found his face, I am not sure what else happened. We all started bouncing up and down and screaming and yelling and crying..



Coming from a house full of women, I am not sure what James was thinking as a welcome for when he arrived home-but I doubt we surprised him with all our tears.

He walked into a cloud of estrogen and tears-with 4 crying sisters+a weepy mom and dad. There was so much love, I wish I could have just gathered it all up in a bottle and held it forever.

It has been amazing to see the change in James in the past 2 years. He left an 18 year old crazy kid and came back a selfless and humble spiritual giant.

                    

I think James's last email home sums up how this kid has changed. It's amazing, he's amazing.

This is it.
My heart is full, but no words are coming to mind. There isn't a letter I could write, or a speech I could give, that would properly convey the feelings I have toward my mission and my Heavenly Father.
That's okay though; I believe the greatest sermon one can give is the way they live their life. I hope that when I come home, you will see the impact that my mission has had on me and who it has helped me to become.
It's hard to see changes in yourself, because change happens incrementally. One change I do see and feel is the presence of the Spirit. I have become well acquainted with Him and know why He is essential in this spiritual battle we are engaged in. I don't believe there is anything more important than keeping the Spirit close and learning to recognize His call.

I will forever be grateful for my mission. I wasn't a foreign speaking missionary, but I did learn the language of the Lord. I'm grateful for that.

The lessons learned, the friendships made, and the experience's the mission has given me mean everything to me and I wouldn't trade them for the world.
I love my Heavenly Father. I love my Savior. I love serving God's children.
I feel I have always known the church was true but serving a mission has helped me become true to the church.
The motto, "The Kingdom of God or nothing." has rooted itself deep in my heart.

I will always be a missionary for the Lord and have handed my life over to Him.
"I'll do what you want me to do and I'll be who you want me to be, dear Lord. If you ever need an errand run, James Kendell will run it for you."

I testify this is the work of Almighty God. He is real. This work is real. There is nothing more real! For real.;)

"You find yourself when you lose yourself" (David W. Hart) That is true.

I hope my offering is acceptable to the Lord.

I love you all! I'll see you real soon.

-Elder Kendell

A Little Child Like Me

"Jesus once was a little child, 

a little child like me; 

and he was pure and meek and mild, 

As a little child should be.

So little children,

let's you and I

try to be like him, 

Try, try, try."

This was the song that came to mind as I watched my daughter Lydia sit beside a picture of Jesus for a good 5 solid minutes just staring.

When Brian and I were married I remember our sealer telling us to make Christ the center of our home and by so doing we would find great happiness in our lives.

When we moved to Chicago, I knew that our home would be entered by many who were not of our faith. I didn't want there to ever be a question on what we believed in and so in our front entryway we have this picture of Christ hung so that right when you walk in, it is the first thing you see. I have had many people comment on this.. friends, UPS guys, and repairmen. It has been a great segway into talking about what we believe. We have had some great conversations with people when they ask about this picture. 

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26)

Across from the picture I have hung a mirror.. this is for my own benefit more than others. Sometimes it is hard to always have positive thoughts about myself-especially when I look in the mirror. With Christ on one wall and the mirror on the other, as I leave the house and take one last look at myself in the mirror I see Christ in the background as I leave which is a reminder to not only think positive thoughts but to always represent my Savior and act like a disciple of Christ.

 “Seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life” (D&C 101:38).

How can we seek the face of our Savior as I see my daughter doing? Surely it means more than just recognizing him in a picture for us.

I think it means coming to the understanding of who He is as the Son of God, our brother, and our Redeemer. It means understanding what He has done for us by His sacrifice allowing us to return to live with God our Father again. And it also means understanding what He wants us to do with our time here-turning our weaknesses into strengths through our humility and continually bettering ourselves and building up His kingdom through our love for him and others.

The next time you see a baby smiling in his sleep or laughing out of the blue as they stare off at nothing in particular as they play... think about the heavenly dreams that baby must be having or the wonderful things they can see because the veil is still so thin. They know our Savior and so should we.

One day Jesus’s disciples asked Him the following question: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Jesus, having summoned a little child, set him in the midst of them and said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1, 2–4).

"Let's you and I

try to be like him, 

Try, try, try."