Halloween!

First, Happy Halloween (yesterday)!  It was a great first Halloween for Tate.  We were able to do some fun things, which were mostly fun for me.  Stacy and I went and ran some sprints in the IPF and while we were there the women's team was practicing on the practice field.  So we stopped by and said hi to everyone.  Everyone loved seeing Tate and it was totally what I needed.  I needed to see all my friends and laugh and talk!  I felt so full afterward!  When we got home I put Tate down for a nap - he didn't go to sleep.  And then I looked for his Halloween costume.  It is a Finding Nemo costume I bought and wore when I was a sophomore at BYU.  It is supposed to be for a 2-year-old.  But it works.  I looked and looked and couldn't find it.  Stacy, Tate, and I went to Rocco's Tacos to get a free taco, but when we got there I didn't have my phone to show them the coupon app that would allow me to get a free taco.  And I didn't have my keys, so I went back to the car to get my keys (luckily a door was unlocked) and couldn't find my phone there.  So we went home, but we were so close to getting a taco.  Then I decided to look for the costume one more time and I found it!  So Tate and I went to the BYU football stadium to meet Josh and go the farmer's market they have in the parking lot.  I put Tate in his costume and we were off.  It was a fun farmer's market.  It's pretty small, but we got free samples, and that's all it takes to make us happy.  Then we went to the Jackson's house and saw Rachel and Kenzie's costumes.  And I got this picture I've been wanting to get.  One of their neighbors has some ghosts on their front lawn, and I've wanted to get a picture of Tate with the ghosts.  Here are some pics.

I had a few great experiences this week.  So during Stake Conference, the Stake Presidency talked a lot about the "Hastening the Work of Salvation" broadcast and how we can be better missionaries.  Well, I feel like the General Authorities have really been emphasizing sharing the gospel and how missionary work is a group effort.  So I decided I would be a part of this and not be idle in regards to missionary work.  I felt like I should facebook message one of my old friends from high school and see how she is doing and if she is going to Church.  So I did.  And she messaged me back and told me she was just thinking she should start going back.  Then I told her it was meant to be that I messaged her during the time she was feeling prompted to go back to Church.  It is such a small thing, but for me it was a way to show Heavenly Father that if He will give me the prompting I will do my best to follow through.  And I think He was telling my friend that He loves her and wants her to come back.

As part of this missionary effort I am also trying to serve more and really follow Elder Ballard's counsel to pray every day for a chance to help someone (that was from a few conferences ago).  One day I felt like I should go visit my friend and I did and we ended up talking for a long time and she's been sick and has had so many big events happen and at the end she said she had needed to just talk to a friend...and I needed that too!  And Wednesday Josh ran into a friend on campus.  This friend got in an accident a few years ago and suffered a traumatic brain injury and so he has some challenges.  Well, when Josh saw him he told Josh it was his birthday and no one had done anything for him yet.  So he gave Josh his number and later that day Josh told him I had an intramural game he could come to and we could celebrate.  Then he wanted to take us out to dinner, and we had this moment where I looked at Josh and I wanted him to text him back and explain how we couldn't, but I really felt like we should make an effort to go.  So we did, we asked our neighbors to watch Tate and we had Stacy bring some cookies and I made a card and we went to dinner with him and then he came to my game.  Then afterwards we all sang happy birthday.  It wasn't a very big deal at all, but the next day he texted Josh and said he hasn't had anyone sing happy birthday to him for 3 years and no one else day anything for his birthday.  So I was grateful Josh ran into him and we were able to do something really small for him.

I wanted to make sure I documented these experiences.  I think writing down our experiences reminds us Heavenly Father answers prayers.  If we really want experiences, he'll give them to us.  I think I've missed probably hundreds of chances to serve or share the gospel because I didn't follow an idea or thought.  So I'm trying to just do what I feel I should.  These have been really, really small things, but they've been big to me.  I really want to be a part of the missionary wave.