Packing Pause, on to necessary Projects

What a strange feeling it is to walk through the house and see how empty it is getting. A few days ago I had the strange epiphany that "yes, we really are going to move half way across the world to serve the Lord."  That maybe sounds silly because I really have known all along that we are going to go to Australia but somehow as the house empties it just becomes more real.

Yesterday we had some kind folks from Church help us move our second round of packed boxes into storage. It looked like a lot of boxes when they were all stacked in the den but the trailer had room to spare when they were loaded.

Most of the house is now packed. All the pictures are down and packed. The unessential dishes and serving dishes are packed. The folding chairs and tv trays are gone. I think it will take about 2 more times of having help move out our belongings to be done. But before we do too much more packing we will be taking a 'packing pause' to work on some projects.

Most of these projects involve my family history files and binders.  After I receive the rest of the marriage records from Sagard parish for the FREESE surname I need to finish organizing that family before I can pack them away.  I need to scan a lot of old family pictures and get them organized. I need to scan and attach to FamilySearch the source documents that I have for my ancestors. Is there a chance I will find some treasures in the mix? I can only hope. There are many files to be organized before they can be packed. I have a Dropbox account with lots of free space which will save the scans. The photo albums from my mother and Ben and their missions need to be preserved and made available to their posterity. There are the binders I keep with all of the memorabilia from our children, and my many family history binders. It is strange to think of packing away my family history for 2 years since it is such a huge part of my life.

We made a VERY LONG list of things to complete before we are ready to go. I am a list person and it is nice to have things laid out so I can figure when I will accomplish my tasks and not forget anything. Actually I keep remembering more and more items to add to the list. Our finance files need to be purged and our 2016 taxes need to be ready to go. And we need to figure out how to handle some financial matters while we are gone. We hope to be done with all of the projects by the end of September. By the time the projects are complete there will be a whole new set of packed boxes!

Because we misread the email, the training we thought would begin last week will not take place until September. We look forward to really jumping into the material. We miss that we  are not already being trained but realize we already have so much material available to be read and reread. It will be interesting to see how all that we are learning can be implemented into the lives of those with whom we will be working.

As I read more about the "Doctrine of Education" and how it relates to the concept of self-reliance  I marvel at these basic concepts and realize how important it is to help others understand. Here is a quote about education which I really like:

Russell M. Nelson, “Where Is Wisdom?” Ensign. Nov. 1992, 6-8. 

Because of our sacred regard for each human intellect, we consider the obtaining of an education to be a religious responsibility. Yet opportunities and abilities differ. I believe that in the pursuit of education, individual desire is more influential than institution, and personal faith more forceful than faculty. 

Our Creator expects His children everywhere to educate themselves. He issued a commandment: “Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” (D&C 88:118.) And He assures us that knowledge acquired here will be ours forever. (See D&C 130:18–19.) 

Measured by this celestial standard, it is apparent that those who impulsively “drop out” and cut short their education not only disregard divine decree but frustrate the realization of their own potential. 

I love that last part that suggests we can frustrate the realization of our own potential if we do not keep learning. I am excited to help people learn the importance of education in their lives as it relates to their ability to be self-reliant. As they were growing up I tried to teach our children the importance of opening every door and window available to them as they worked through their education.

There is always so much to learn! Until next time...