Family – shazzamber

Life Update

Here are 3 photos to depict the last 3 weeks of my life:

Girls Camp was a total joy. This is why is attend the family ward! #familywardsarebae We had a Jungle Book theme, and ate incredible food, and did archery and canoeing.

Super fun cabin trip. This is after we swam in Firehole and went to visit the hot pots that flow into the water (making it almost like fire. Not.) If you can’t tell, we were literally freezing to death.

I don’t recommend this show. It’s pretty lame. But it’s on Netflix, and for some reason I just started binge-watching and I can’t stop. I watched approximately 63 episodes in three days. (They’re only 20 minutes long!)

Musings on an Incredible Woman

If I could choose one word to describe my Grandma Hall, it would be loving. The woman never stops serving, despite a barricade of obstacles standing in her way. Alzheimers has taken a good portion of her memories, as well as her most of her ability to remember. But despite those challenges, she remains one of the most Christlike people I know.

When I’m at her house, she literally never stops asking if she can get me anything, or bringing me candy or water, or offering other things to ensure my comfort. She is always doing something nice, be it ironing Grandpa’s clothes, or making food, or any other need she observes.

She doesn’t remember that she was the stake Relief Society president for years, but she remembers that she loves the Lord, Grandpa, and all her kids and grandkids.

She took care of me while my mom was doing her student teaching, and I’m sure those were some of the funnest days of my life. I miss the energetic, clever grandma that I grew up with, but I look forward to seeing it again one day. I’m grateful her loving core has remained. I love my Grandma Hall, and I honor her this Mother’s Day.

Robert Wallace Blair: Leader, Mentor, Fan

Think of the biggest BYU Coungar fan you can imagine. Now multiply that by 6. You are thinking of my grandfather, Bob Blair, who is the most devoted Cougar football fan in the world.

Grandpa Blair passed away on Friday, after 11 years of dialysis, and countless “See you in the next life”s and “This is the last time I’ll ever see you”s. Every time I left for school, I said my last goodbye, and he imparted wisdom. And then he was still there when I came back! He was there for another concert, another missionary farewell, another birthday. He was my most devoted fan.

My grandpa was a man of great faith. He loved the Lord, and he served Him will all his heart. He and my grandma opened the Baltic mission, and presided in unity and love.

My grandpa never answered the question “How many languages do you speak?” but I settled on 45. He served his mission in Finland, he translated the Book of Mormon into Mayan, he spoke all the languages in his and my grandma’s mission, and he and my grandma taught English in Guatemala and China. He was told in his patriarchal blessing that he had the gift of tongues, and I always talk about him when I needed a Gift of Tongues story.

Although the last decade of my grandpa’s life was physically painful, he never failed to show love and interest in his wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We gathered every Sunday to eat and sing hymns, and he always expressed his love for us and the Lord.

Grandpa had lots of ideas about Education Reform. I hope to carry on his legacy as I try to do my best with my own students. I’m counting on him to help me from the other side.

Lessons learned from Harry Potter: Eternal Families

I spoke in church today, and do you know what I spoke on?

You guessed it. Harry Potter.

Of course! And why? Well, today is Neville Longbottom‘s birthday, and Harry’s is on Tuesday. So it would only make sense that I’d have to speak about them in church.

You’re probably wondering how a girl such as I could talk about such a devilish, horrible, sacrilegious, wicked topic in Sacrament Meeting, so I will gladly explain how Harry Potter is a perfect illustration of the importance of family, (which was featured in roughly 87.88% of the talks in this past General Conference) as well as a plethora of other essential gospel topics and principles, and why every human should read the tales of the Boy Who Lived. ….

THE WEASLEYS: correct me if I’m wrong, The Most Fantastic Fictional Family Ever Created.

Why are the Weasleys such an amazing family? Well, they gather together for meals and all other occasions, they communicate with each other, they work out their problems together, if they had the gospel in their lives, they would most certainly attend church together, pray together, and read their scriptures together.

Maybe I’ll get called to the Hogsmeade Mission.

So, the Weasleys are an example of a strong family that sticks together, takes care of each other, shows LOVE for each other, forgives one another, protects each other, and stands for truth and righteousness. (Obviously that’s what Dumbledore’s Army is all about.)

Let’s agree that they are just the greatest fictional family ever. Don’t correct me, because I’m not wrong.

THE MALFOYS:

Oh them. We thought they were evil, and they were nasty to Harry and the Weasleys and Dumbledore and Buckbeak and Hagrid and Sirius and Lupin and pretty much everyone, and led the Death Eaters in that stupid rampage at the Quidditch World Cup, and allowed Voldemort to dwell in their manor, and participated in the dark works of the Death Eaters. But they were different.

Do you know why? Because they had love. (Obviously not Bellatrix. I won’t even go there.)

That single characteristic is what sets them apart from the other Death Eaters, and what ultimately saves them (to a certain degree) in the end.

Are we seeing a pattern? The most powerful weapon is love, and the most powerful love is the love in a family.

THE DURSLEYS:

Yes, I am including these folks. They are cows. We all know that. But I still want to point out that they loved each other and tried to protect each other.

As Dumbledore said, Do not not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living. Above all, those who live without love. Dumbledore is so great. What a blessing it is to have an eternal family.

In conclusion, Harry Potter teaches the importance of family relationships. From the example of the Weasleys, we can add our own knowledge of the Plan of Happiness (“happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ”) and prepare for our eternal families. (Yes, I had to add that. I’m a college student. That’s the law.)

Isn’t Harry Potter awesome? There are SO MANY lessons to be learned from this fantastic series. Siriusly.