Spencer's Miracle

It was Friday, October 25^th and Ben got a phone call. It was Brayden Luke, the deacon’s quorum president. “Can Spencer give a talk on Sunday?” I said I’d ask him. I went to the kitchen table where he was doing homework. “Spencer, would you be willing to give a talk in church the day after tomorrow?” Immediately my 12 year-old son froze and his countenance changed. I knew why. Spencer was extremely bright and was the most obedient person I know. But he had his limits, diagnosed with autism and A.D.H.D. at age 7, he had some trials and struggles that were unique to him. One of them was a fear of speaking in front of large crowds. Still I talked to him about the blessings of responding when we are called to help at church. That we should always say “yes”. That it always works out. “So Spence, do you want to speak on Sunday?”

After a long pause he answered, “Uhhh, not really,” in his newly acquired deep voice. I tried to coax, persuade, and reassure him, but in the end he declined. “What if we tell them that you’d be happy to do it, but preferably with more advance notice?”

“Yeah, but when I do, can you come sit behind me?”

“Sure, Spence, I can do that.”

Our regrets were sent via Ben to the deacon’s quorum president who found himself in a bind. Who would speak on Sunday? Big step-brother Ben selflessly volunteered to speak in Spencer’s place.

The topic was discussed in detail as a family on a scenic drive Friday night. “The atonement.” We tried as a family to make it personal and make it real. Saturday night came and went with Ben becoming extremely sick to his stomach. He was up all night. On October 27^th, Sunday morning came with Ben unable to get out of bed. Now we were in a bind.

I suggested we call the Bishop and cancel, I felt like that was the only option left, but Alfonso felt like we should give it one more try. He asked Spence if we wrote a talk for him, if he would be willing to go up and read it into the microphone. We offered extra re-assurance and coaxing, and in the end Spencer selflessly agreed to give the talk in Ben’s place. But with one sweet condition, he wanted to help write the talk.  

That Sunday morning, the clock never ticked so fast. Yet somehow and rather peacefully, with Spencer’s help, a talk was written, edited, approved and printed within minutes. A true miracle. We said goodbye to an ailing Ben and rushed to church. The chapel was a bit chaotic with the previous ward’s primary program practice going overtime. Yet the Young Men of our ward were able to prepare the sacrament, and the organist and I were able to get through the maze of children and get the meeting’s music ready.

5 minutes before the meeting began, and just moments after the primary rushed out,  Dieter F. Uchtdorf walked in. I had to do a double take, but fortunately I was able to recognize him quickly and do my best to not get too star-struck.  He approached the stand, shook the bishop’s hand, the counselors, and mine. WOW. It really was him! An apostle of Jesus Christ. A member of the the FIRST PRESIDENCY of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Here in our building. To worship with our small congregation. I exchanged a shocked glance with my husband and hid behind the organ while the organist and I, struck with amazement, got our bearings.

Spencer, was seemingly preoccupied with his impending talk and came up to the stand to talk to me when President Uchtdorf reached out to shake his hand. They shook hands and Spencer didn’t even look up. I took him to the side and said, “Spencer, do you know who that is?” “No.” “That’s Dieter Uchtdorf, of the First Presidency of the church! Do you recognize him from conference?” “Really?” His face lit up, “Wow!”

Oh my goodness, Spencer’s talk! “You’re so lucky, you get to give a talk today! I’ll sit behind you like we talked about. Don’t worry Spence, just say a prayer and Heavenly Father will help you. It’ll be okay.”

The meeting began. Our bishop conducted and quite frankly seemed nervous but collected. He announced President Uchtdorf as the presider over the meeting. There was a tangible excitement in the air during the songs and announcements. Spencer looked a little nervous as he helped pass the sacrament and afterwards came to sit by me on the stand. I sensed his worry and whispered to him, “How are you?”

“Scared.”

“Oh Spencer, is it because President Uchtdorf is here?”

“Yeah, that’s part of it.”

“Don’t worry, he’s just a man and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Which means it’s just like the Savior is here. and HE LOVES you. Just think about how much he loves you.”

He still seemed worried so I said, “Lets make a signal. You go up and give the talk and if you have any trouble at all, and want me to stand with you, all you have to do is turn around and look at me and I’ll come up. Does that work?”

“Yeah.”

After the first youth speaker, it was Spencer’s turn. He started shaking and very slowly approached the microphone. The room wasn’t filled by any means, but he obviously felt the pressure of the crowd. I could see him struggling at the pulpit. Within 10 seconds he turned and made eye contact with me. That was our signal. My cue. I struggled for a split second. Should I go up? Or should I make him do it on his own? He’s 12 after all.

No. We had an agreement and that was my cue. I stood up, walked to him and quickly put my arm around him and held him tightly. He still couldn’t speak. With my arm around him, I asked him if he wanted me to start giving the talk for him.

“Yeah.”

I started and improvised the wording a little, “Today. . . we would like to talk to you about the atonement. First we want to discuss the meaning of the word atonement. . . .”

With each word, I began to feel the spirit so strong. It was unmistakable. I finished the paragraph and my eyes filled with tears. Spencer gained courage and started reading the next paragraph. He was so, so brave. The spirit continued to grow and while I absolutely love my son, I felt an even greater outpouring of love for the courageous 12-year-old at my side. I could see through my cloudy teary eyes others in the congregation wiping their tears away. I think everyone could feel the Spirit’s presence that day.

Spencer finished his talk. It was followed by all of the priesthood brethren singing, “Ye elders of Israel.” President Uchtdorf smiled and turned around often to see them. They did a great job. There really is power in the priesthood.

The two sister missionaries in our area spoke and finished with extra time left in the program. Elder Uchtdorf then addressed us. He talked about the musical # and how it reminded him of the small wards in Germany he’d visit and that the whole congregation seemed to go up when the choir sang. He commented on the other speaker sand how he appreciated the messages. And then, he singled out Spencer.

“Spencer, you are a hero! What a remarkable and courageous young man. To be willing to fill in for your brother last minute. Spencer, you have been blessed with a handsome voice.  Continue practicing and you will one day be a great speaker.”

After the meeting, he greeted all who wished to shake his hand. But when Spencer approached President Uchtdorf, he received a big hug. I watched in amazement from the sidelines.

A prophet of God, blessed my son, and the whole congregation that day. He is truly an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have no doubt.

I’ll never forget the day he came to visit and bless us.

The following Friday, November 1^st a letter came in the mail, addressed to Spencer from the office of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We are opening it tonight.

A Letter To Saskia

The other day a friend of mine asked if she could have my email address. She wanted to send it to a friend named Saskia who was wanting more information about Heber Valley. Saskia and her husband are thinking about moving to the Park City area from California. But wanted more information about the surrounding area. This is my "hot off the email-press", "unedited for this blog" response. I'm sure Saskia won't mind. I just thought I'd share with you just why exactly I LOVE Heber so darn much.

 

Hi Saskia,

 

Thanks for your email! I apologize for not responding sooner, this weekend has been so busy that I haven't had a chance to sit down and properly respond.

 

I am so excited for you and your family! I have a friend that lived in Park City and loved it. She loved the trails, the people, everything. My story is a little different but I need to tell it to you in order to explain how we ended up here in Heber Valley.

 

When my husband and I met, he lived and worked about 5 minutes from Park City, and I lived in Bountiful and decided to quit my job and be a stay-at-home-mom. When we decided to get married, we also had another huge decision to make. . . where to set up our soon to be family of 5.

 

We thought about Park City. But from our experience decided against it. These are our reasons. Please don't let them discourage you, it's just how we feel/felt. Park city is absolutely beautiful and tries to be quaint. The only problem is that it is a big city crammed into a little one. Parking in general is always a hassle. Restaurants in general have a tendancy to be overpriced. Small businesses struggle immensely, so if you get a favorite store to buy this or that or a favorite restaurant, by the next season, they could be out of business. I can't tell you how many times my husband has tried to take me to dinner to a place that just isn't "there" anymore. Does that make sense? Anyway, we found the people there to be more contemporary (which is fine), liberal(also fine), but also (in our opinion) somewhat snobby(not so fine). Like I said, this is just from our experience and (I hate to make generalizations) I truly hope I'm wrong about the snobbishness. But I want to be 100% honest with you.

 

Okay, Why Heber City? Heber is 30 minutes from Provo, 45 minutes from SLC, 20 minutes from Park City. It's close to the bigger cities, but far enough away for some peace and quiet. Heber is still a relatively small town. It has maybe 6 traffic lights? It's growing, but it's still very rural. Low crime-rate. The people we have met here are extremely down to earth, generous, and real. The community is strong. I've traveled to some gorgeous destinations in this world but I'd have to say that Heber Valley is the most beautiful place I've ever been, I say this because every season of the four is breathtaking. The landscape at any angle, 360 degrees, still stops me in my tracks and it's all nestled in one valley. We have lived in two different houses on different sides of town & in both areas, found that the schools were excellent and the neighborhoods are peaceful. Our intermediate school and middle school provides laptops for all of the students (which our kids love!) Our high school is huge, brand new and is state of the art in everything. We love our Library. They have great programs year round for all ages. Outdoors in Heber Valley, year round has something to do. There's the Heber Creeper (our train) we have two reservoirs, Deer Creek and Jordanelle, which provide great places for fishing, boating, jet skiing, parasailing, sailing. swimming, paddleboarding, etc. You are surrounded by mountains, trails for hiking, jogging, mountain biking. During the summer nearly every morning, you can see hot air balloons in the sky. In the wintertime, there's cross country skiing at Soldier Hollow, ice fishing, some serious snow tubing also at Soldier Hollow. I'm trying to think of things that you could do with your kids. There really are SO MANY! I've included some links of places and things about Heber that may paint a picture of why I love it so much.

 

As you can clearly see, I'm a little bit biased. We love this valley dearly and have chosen it for some very specific reasons. However, I'm sure that whatever area you choose to settle down in will be the right place, as long as you're together. At least that's how I feel.

 

Please let me know if there's any questions I can answer or anything else I can do.

 

Best Wishes!

-Rochelle R. Flores

rochelleflores2@gmail.com

 

Local Attractions: http://www.gohebervalley.com/Recreation

Images and Info: http://www.gohebervalley.com/Photo-Gallery

A new program the community implemented this last summer to keep kids "unplugged" from video games and out enjoying adventures in our own backyard. This was a huge success! Heber Valley Unplugged, read some of the activities: http://heberunplugged.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/hvup_mtnvalleymag_2013.pdf

Our High School's Webpage: http://www.wasatch.edu/Page/2930

Our Library (be sure to check out programs and events, kids and teens, and especially the photo gallery (My daughter and I LOVE storytime with Miss Sally): http://www.wasatch.lib.ut.us/

 

p.s. A great part of Heber Valley to live in is Midway, Utah. It's just beautiful and has zero traffic lights. Very "small town" feel. It is definitely worth looking into. If we move again, it would be to Midway :)

Happy Halloween 2013!!!

0 Audience

If you are reading this blog post then you have proven the title incorrect. Congratulations on proving me wrong. It would be ever so kind of you to leave a comment for me to know I'm not alone in my rantings.

There's a lumbering question hovering around out here (my brain). A first world problem. Not really dealing with life or death. Rather life on the web. Does one tend solely to boring their friends on facebook? Or do they attempt to do so in the blogging world as well? For the last 5 almost 6 years I've been writing on this blog. Randomly and unimportantly, but happily nonetheless. Now that its a private blog it doesn't get read much. And now that I've been neglecting to write in it, it gets read even less. Now we are down to you and me.

I've decided I'm going to keep trying to bore you in this blog. With such gripping subjects as, why I disdain musical theatre now, what it's like to be in a blended family, my favorite recipes, my artistic aspirations, more confessions of an admitted hermit etc. Bored yet?

Stick around.

Swiss Days

Swiss days is coming! Have you ever been to Swiss days? When I first moved to the area, I had no idea what all the hullabaloo was about. Until I went to it. The shopping is my favorite part. But there's food and music and art and a parade and lots of fun.

Go. Ladies, bring a little extra spending money. I DARE you not to find something fun to bring home.

2013 August 29, 30, and 31st. Midway, Utah.

Howdy

Hi there,
I haven't written since January? That's not okay. Here's what's going on. Alfonso's working. Hard. I'm staying sane as the summer break has settled in and my role as entertainer and referee have kicked into high gear. I'm really trying to let the kids work out their own arguments and come up with their own solutions, instead of butting in like I like to do. It's a work in progress. Ben's in Florida and will be there for another week. His mom moved there in March and he's been gone visiting her since early June. It's been really hard without him. I'm sure he's having a blast though. We look forward to having him back. Spencer is so tall. He's almost as tall as me. And just between you and me, his voice has changed. He's becoming a man. I love him to pieces. Will is just as smart and stubborn as ever. Always making me laugh. Mia has really jumped onto the "potty train" and is doing really well. She loves to sit on her potty and is making momma proud.

My saving grace this summer has been a cool program that our community has embraced called "Unplugged". Basically it's encouraging kids to get away from the t.v. or video games and get out and experience life. I think this program is genius and other cities/communities should start similar programs. Check out the site here: http://heberunplugged.com/ So far Spence and Will have collected about ten brag tags. Some kids have infinitely more, but it's cool. We're just going at our own pace. So far, SO fun! What are you doing this summer?

Bye.

Evidence of 13 year-old-ed-ness

Last night I recieved an anonymous note stating the following, "Hey Rochelle, guess what? . . . .
Poo Poo!!! Ha Ha."

I guess that's proof that we have a 13 year old in the house.

Free Eczema Advice from Someone Who Knows What She's Talking About

Do you or anyone you know have eczema? Otherwise known as atopic dermatitis? Well, 4 of our 5 kids currently have it or had it at one point. In a nutshell eczema is is a long-term (chronic) skin disorder that involves scaly and itchy rashes. We have spent many hours at Dr. visits both Family Dr.s and Dermatologists, many dollars on bills, we've filled plenty of perscriptions, and recieved a variety of instructions and advice mostly good, some of it wierd. The wierdest thing I've been told is to put Crisco on baby Spencer's skin. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Eczema is usually at it's peak in the winter months due to the intense dryness in the air. That being the case, I've been wanting to write this post in hopes that it may help anyone out there dealing with it. So here goes.

To keep eczema from spreading or worsening, I strongly recommend the following. 1st, preventative care. Make sure the clothes and sheets, blankets, and towels basically anything touching their skin is laundered right. Many laundry detergents and softeners reek havoc on sensitive skin. The main culprits being perfumes and dyes. The two laundry detergents that I recommend are All Free-Clear & Arm and Hammer Free. Fortunately Downy has come out with a laundry softener that is free of perfumes and dyes. It's great.

The second step is direct skin care. Anytime the person with eczema bathes or showers, make sure they use a very mild soap like Cetaphil, again, free of perfumes and dyes. Cetaphil makes liquid soap or bars. Now this part is very important: The second they step out of the shower, have them towel off quickly and then immediately apply salve. The trick is to lubricate the skin before the skin fully dries, trapping in the moisture. My product of choice is Aquaphor. We have gone through SO many tubs of Aquaphor, they should send me a thank you card for keeping them in business ;) No really. It's expensive, the generic version is fine. Vaseline works really well too and is a much more affordable option. Regardless of the brand, salve is the thing to have. Rub it in all over. Legs, arms, waist, back, underarm, the inner elbow creases, the creases behind the knee. Eczema loves to hide there. Rub it in relatively well (otherwise the leftover salve will kind of stain their clothes & sheets by making the fabric look wet).  As far as bathing frequency is concerned, I've had some Dr.s recommend bathing everyday while others would say to bathe a little less often. Either way, as long as you follow the tips above, you'll be set.

And that is my advice on eczema treatment. For free. Once again, I must emphasize that this is many Dr. bills, hours and trials and errors in the making.  Let me know if you try it and whether or not it helps. I'd seriously love to know.

p.s. Swimming pools are really tough on those with eczema. Shower a.s.a.p. after swimming to rid the skin of chlorine and remember to ALWAYS follow up with salve.

 p.s.s. If your kids have eczema, don't lose heart. 3 of my kids have pretty much grown out of it. Hallelujah.

Random Favorite Things

Warning: These are random, but I just felt like sharing.

Favorite Store Bought Ice Cream: Turkey Hill - Dutch Chocolate sold @ Smiths Grocery Store
Favorite Ice Cream Store: Fill-er-up in Midway
Favorite most authentic Gelato not in Italy: Spin Cafe
Favorite Movie: It's A Wonderful Life
Favorite Brand of Colored Pencils: PrismaColor
A Few Of My Favorite T.V. Shows: The Vicar of Dibley, Northern Exposure, Good Times
Favorite Pastime: Sleep
Least Favorite Pastime: Having nightmares
Favorite Store Bought Mexican Tacos: Betos Carnitas Tacos
Favorite Homemade Mexican Dishes: Posole and Mole
Favorite Moments with Mia: Cuddling and Laughing
Favorite Moments with Will: Laughing at His Jokes
Favorite Moments with Spencer: Snuggling
Favorite Moments with Ben: Playing Games and Laughing
Favorite Moments with Alfonso: All of them, including the ones that cannot be written about.

Tell me some of your favorite things! Please?

What a new year means to me.

2 things: I'm going to stop drinking soda. I'm looking forward to this. I think it's something I can actually do & it'll be good for me. Second thing starts with a tangent. . . Santa brought me a super uber cool phone. Quite an upgrade from the dinky slidephone i had before (and was extremely happy with). When I opened the box on Christmas morning, I have to admit I was terrified. A droid Razor. Could I handle the responsibility? Now I'd have internet Access virtually all the time. Now I'd have to be even more picky about how I spend my time & what I allow to distract me. Don't get me wrong. I adore technology, but I think we are facing a social dilema, a phone etiquette problem that would make miss Manners weep. (calmly stepping down from soapbox. ) So my second goal is to keep my hands free for my family. I want to be sure to make face to face time counts.

Speaking of faces, I deactivated my facebook account. I'm taking a break, just to prove I can. May be back in February, we'll see. In the meantime I plan to update this blog more. Speaking of this blog. I don't think anyone is reading it. Oh well. Happy 2013!

p.s. What's YOUR New Year's resolution?