Red-letter Day

Today is one of them. You know - one of those days when your kids get along beau-ti-fically, everyone is cheerful, your house is clean, and you feel at peace with the world.

We started out today going for a walk, conversing with every ant and flower we met along the way. Our destination today was a certain blackberry tree (yes, tree - not a bush) within our condominium whose branches literally touch the ground with hundreds and hundreds of juicysweet berries. All three of us stained our clothes and our hands and filled a whole bucket to boot. I made muffins - complete with struesel topping - and we GORGED on them, washing 'em down with fresh mango juice.

And then I was completely blown away.

One of the Primary presidency stopped by ... the fact that she stopped by didn't blow me away, but what she did while she was here. She had told me previously that she wanted to visit Nathan sometime this week, hoping to strengthen their relationship so that he would stay in Primary better. (The transition from nursery ain't goin' so well.) So. She came today fully armed. She brought a present - a Hot Wheels car, a lesson from the Book of Mormon, crayons and colored pencils, and even paper airplanes. I was instructed to leave them alone - which I did - and they played HARD together for a solid two hours. Everything from tag to hide-and-go-seek to Candyland. Nathan was in absolute heaven.

I was - and am - so impressed with Marciela's dedication. We talked a long time about how concerned she is about Nathan, and how we can help each other help him. It was ... incredible. And inspiring. Especially when she told me she was doing these kind of visits to ALL THE KIDS IN THE PRIMARY.

It gets me thinking about demographics.

I have 18 young women. Ten are recent converts - three in the past two months alone. Nine are either the only members in their family, or the only active one. A whopping TWO are sealed to their parents.

Sometimes I get depressed, you know? My girls are ... struggling. It's a tough world out there. Temptations galore. And let me tell you - I do NOT want to raise teenagers in this country. It's insane here. Morality is non-existent. I could go into details, but it would depress you all. Suffice it to say that it's hard. Harder-than-hard. And I lose sleep at night worrying over my beloved daughters of God. Can I really make a difference? Can I really help them? The answer is yes. If Marciela can do it, so can I.

Today, I can conquer the world.