January - February 2024

 Happy New Year! 2024!!

In Our Family The First TWO Months of 2024...

* 2024 started off quite slow with trying to get the family well (particularly Lexi who was fighting off Mono!). We started back to school around the middle of the month and after an almost 3 month break, it felt good to back into a more structured daily routine. One of the first assignments that the kids had to do for World Geography was to interview mom and dad about their time living in Korea. Another assignment (for Marine Biology) was to creatively showcase the layers of the ocean. Aubrie decided to put her baking skills to use and made a 5 layer cake with her famous homemade buttercream! Yum!

* Ben made some BIG changes and life choices! He enrolled in a certified online course for Philosophy. He did the rigorous studies while at work and he ended up acing the course with honors! Throughout the course, he felt the desire to gain more education by going to college and start towards a degree in Psychology. He has since applied (AND been accepted!) to The College of Western Idaho (CWI). Since he hadn't ever taken the ACT and it has been about 4 years since he graduated high school, he needed to take some entrance exams in both English and Math. He has since passed both of those and the plan is to start classes this fall. He is very blessed that he will be able to do most of the classes online and do the work while at his job. We're all super excited for him!

* Valentine's Day! Mom had a "Galentine's Day" Party that was hosted by Melanie Bremer. I've gone for the past several years and it's always fun. Aubrie and Lexi wanted to do one as well with Hallie and Audrey and so they hosted that and had a great time!

* Additional events/pictures: Rugby started back up full time on February 1 for dad, the girls and Nathan. They all practice Mon-Fri from 4-6pm at the Middle School Field. Mom and Dad got free tickets to a Steelheads Hockey game and went on a date. Mom met up with Stephanie and they had lunch together at Red Robin (super fun!). The kids had some dates sprinkled within the weeks, weekly Temple attendance and McKendra sent lots of super cute pictures of the little boys! 

Spiritually Speaking...

By Aubrie Vogt 

15 January 2024

I learned of Heavenly Father’s love through the scriptures. Each semester of seminary, we are asked to make a scripture reading goal. Last semester, my reading goal was rather than listen to the scriptures, read and study them. When I listen to them, I get less out of it, and my mind tends to wander. I have made reading a habit and learned so much from it. 

I was walking to Charlie’s house when I realized I hadn’t yet read my scriptures. I knew that if I didn’t read then, I probably wouldn’t get to it the rest of the day. I decided to listen to them while I walked. I felt somewhat guilty because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get as much out of it as I usually would, but it was better than nothing. This year, we are studying the Book of Mormon. I pulled up 1 Nephi 5 and started listening. In this chapter and the previous chapter, Lehi sends his sons back to Jerusalem to get the plates from King Laban. His wife, Sariah, is upset because she thinks her sons have perished and won't return. Sariah says Lehi is a visionary man, and she doesn’t understand why Lehi took them to the wilderness. Lehi tells her that the Lord has given him visions so they won’t be destroyed. Nephi and his brothers return to their parents in the wilderness, and Sariah is Joyful. 1 Nephi 5:8 says, “ And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they should accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.” This verse stood out to me as I thought, “What has the lord done that has let me know of a surety that he’s there or something that gave me an undeniable testimony?” I thought over an experience I had over the past year or two. 

Due to Ben’s Bipolar Disorder, it’s expected that he won't live as long. I had a hard time first finding this out. I cried, praying to my Heavenly Father for comfort and asking him if he could make things better. As I sat in prayer, I said, “Heavenly Father.” I heard a buzzing noise from across the room the exact second I said that. The noise was a notification from my phone. I thought it was interesting that it happened exactly when I said “Heavenly Father.”. Again, I said, “ Heavenly Father.” again, at the same time, I heard the buzzing sound. I continued to say those words over and over. Each and every time, I heard the “buzz” sound. I felt a wave of comfort and peace come over me. It felt like every time I called for my Heavenly Father, he was there telling me that he was with me and there was no need to worry. After my prayer, I checked the notifications, and each one was Ben texting me. That added to my knowledge that Heavenly Father is there and aware of our needs. 

Ever since this scripture experience, I’ve tried to relate them to my everyday life. For example, another day, I read about Nephi talking about how he won’t write what the world wants to hear but what God wants the world to hear. I was inspired by that scripture and posted a bible verse about God's love for us on my Instagram story. 

I have grown to love the scriptures. The Book of Mormon has grown my testimony and shown me God's love and mercy. I know that if you sincerely ask of God, he will be there with you. I know all these things are true, and God truly loves us all. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

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Reading The Book of Mormon Everyday - by Lexi, age 15

    My whole life I’ve never really enjoyed reading the scriptures, they were confusing, my mind kept wandering,  and it seamed like so much work to take the time to study them. I’ve always wished I loved to read the scriptures, and wanted to have a strong testimony in them, but it felt like such a chore to read them. I tried so many different ways to get my daily scriptures in, like read a chapter a day, or read a few verses, but it always lead to guilt, and feeling like I should be doing more.

    I talked to my seminary teacher about it, and she gave me some advice saying that the Lod speaks my language and knows how to speak to me. She said to pray and ask for help, and I did. Still, I had those feelings towards my scriptures, and nothing seamed to help, until in the middle of October, me and my young women group had a Book of Mormon painting activity. That night I had the thought to just read one page, to try and understand the words it said and apply it to my life. I’d had some colored pencils in my room and highlighted anything I had a thought with. Afterwards I thought, that wasn’t too bad, maybe I’ll read another page tomorrow. Then tomorrow came and it was time to read a page of my new cute book of Mormon.

    I found what made it so much more interesting to me was relating every little thing in each verse to my everyday life, struggles, situations, and future. I decided to continue to read just one page everyday, and highlight as much as I could in each page. As I did I felt the spirit so strong with me every time I read. After about a month of reading I was reflecting on my life since reading everyday, My chest filled with a burning warmth, the most peaceful, exciting, happiness filled my heart as I realized the great blessings it had brought me! The biggest one that has stuck with me and continues to bless me everyday is gaining strength through the hard times by finding so much light in the dark, and counting my many blessings, big or small.

    To me this has been the most amazing blessing to come upon me, trials and challenges aren't gonna go away, they're apart of life. Being able to see the good in each of those times has brought me unexplainable joy. Another amazing blessing that has come from reading my scriptures is being able to recognize the spirit and when it speaks to me or prompts me to do something. I’m still not done reading my scriptures but my testimony in them has grown more than I could have imagined, and my testimony of the power you gain when you take time to study them and gain a relationship with my heavenly father. I am so beyond grateful for the Lord and how he has blessed my life with these strengths as I’ve made a little extra time for him everyday! PS It's been over 150 days now and I haven't missed a day!