OCEAN OF OPPORTUNITY

It would be fair to say that there is an ocean of opportunity and we are heading out to sea.
There has been so much going on these past few weeks that I'm not really sure where to start. I haven't downloaded pictures yet and that probably won't happen until next week after Robert leaves, so needless to say there will be a post of just pictures to play catch-up!
We are into single digits now! Only 9 more days until Robert leaves. Did you hear that? NINE days only! The tears are harder to control and the pit in my stomach is getting larger by the day. Every time I look at Robert I try to notice something and remember it! His long eye lashes, his smile, his one crooked tooth. When he talks I record his voice in my mind so that I will remember it. It will be hard to hear his voice only twice a year for two years, so I want to remember his laugh, etc. I think I will even miss he and Brian teasing each other and driving me crazy. When I go in to wake him up in the mornings sometimes I catch myself just looking at him and thinking that just yesterday he was a baby and I was holding him in my arms. Protecting him from the world. A war started the day he was born (the Gulf War of 1991). I wanted to keep him safe from harm and just hold him forever.
Now he will be returning to the land of his birth. His "home". He has come full circle. He left there as a child and now he is returning as a man, albeit a young man, but a man no less. He has a message to share. There is an ocean of opportunity out there for him. He will learn so much about the gospel and also about himself. He will leave a young man...and will return a man. But he will always be my little boy!
I know he will do great things while he is gone, and because of his obedience and service to the Lord he will be blessed, and we will be blessed as well. Not a day will go by that I won't think of him and worry, but at the same time I will pray for his success and happiness and I will be comforted knowing that the Lord will be with him. Take care son! We love you!!!

"And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God."

Brian had his district dance competition this past weekend. It was so fun to go to UVU and watch all these young kids dance. He is a first year dancer, and his team took 1st place. He received a gold ribbon and a medal. There will be nationals in March..hopefully he will make it there. The teacher will decide on the best dancers from both teams who to send. His team also won their basketball game on Saturday and that was fun too! This next week he has the district science fair. We need to do some work on his project this week as well. A lot to do!!! We will be busy!

Giovanni lost his job this past week. It didn't all go down the way we thought it would and things didn't end on the best of terms. A very long and complicated story.
Needless to say we are now a bit concerned because of the economy and Robert leaving, etc. The first few days were difficult for us, but we are doing much better now. Better than I thought we would be!

Our Bishop came over to visit with us on Saturday evening. Thank goodness our Bishop is a man who listens to the spirit and follows the promptings he receives. Saturday evening was difficult. Gio said that he was starting to feel like a tiger in a cage and ready to explode. He was doing the best he could to keep his feelings under check, but was thinking it was time to go for a run just to let loose some of the emotions he was feeling. About 10:30 PM our Bishop knocked on our front door. The following 1 1/2 hrs were the sweetest and most comforting moments that we had experienced over the past few days.

The Bishop gave us some wonderful advice and suggestions, not just for overcoming this experience, but also how to bear it well. Not just to endure, but to have the right attitude and feelings toward others, especially when you feel you have been wronged. Talking with him we realized that over the past year we had been preparing for this moment. Our testimonies have grown, we have been trying to do the things we know that we need to do; tithing, temple attendance, church meetings and callings, scripture study, prayer, fasting, etc. And as the bishop said, sometimes the Lord's hands are tied and he can't help us, but because of the things that we have been doing we have untied the Lord's hands and he will bless us. Also the fact that Robert is serving a mission and the desires of his and our hearts are heard. We know that there are lessons to be learned from this trying time. We are concerned, but we have not arrived at the point of being worried. We know that the Lord will give us the strength to overcome and that his spirit will be poured out to us. He will guide us because we are close to him.

There is an ocean of opportunity out there...be it for Robert, Brian, Giovanni, or myself. So much for us to learn and achieve. How blessed we are to have the gospel and to know that "all these things are for thy good and will give thee experience".

"Be patient; be sober; be temperate; have patience, faith, hope and charity".
"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not".
"Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days."