Sharing the Gospel

Today I took a late lunch. I was surprised I even went out at all. Normally, I'd just be hungry, but go home an hour early. But today I decided to go to the Novell Cafeteria. It's this fabulous place where you have lots of options to choose from for lunch, and it's all relatively inexpensive, especially compared to Nuskin's Cafe prices. The Buffalo Spicy Chicken Salad caught my eye, and it was awful. It was way too spicy for my tender tongue, and it had way too much sauce. Now normally, ordering an awful lunch would have put me in an awful angry hungry mood... but instead... today was different. I sat just close enough to a table nearby to hear half of their conversation. It was all about the gospel. There were little snippets I heard every once in a while so that I got the jist of the whole coversation. They were talking about Christ's Baptism. And why it was important for him to get baptized to show us the way. They were discussing types of baptism, and mercy vs. grace and how it works hand in hand. They were talking about the atonement, and I was able to eavesdrop in on their conversation for about a half hour, until I left. Normally, I would have pulled open my Polish book and tried to learn a few new Polish vocab words, but instead I was way too interested in what they were talking about. I just wanted to walk over and pull up a chair and listen in... but in reality - that would be so awkward and that would definitely show that I lack in social skills.

It made me ponder and reflect back on my mission. It made me remember all about what kinds of answers I used to give while I was on my mission when people would ask me similar questions. Most of all, it made me just itch to share the gospel with someone. I think that most times we are just "comfortable" where we are at, and we don't really REACH out to people like the way the Savior did. We just figure that everyone is happy where they are at, and that we are happy with where we are at, and we just let things sit happy. But, I was thinking about how when we do share the gospel, yes... it puts us outside of our comfort zone, but think of how much more happy we are when we do it. It not only reaffirms our faith, but helps us grow closer to others by knowing that we are serving them and treating them as Christ would. Sharing the Gospel doesn't necessarily need to be going up to random strangers and "bearing your testimony" it doesn't need to be you giving away countless copies of the Book of Mormon. Rather, sharing the gospel is more about the way that we reach out to others and help them come closer to Christ. We share ways in which we have come closer to the Savior and hope that through our love and example, they will come close to the Savior also.

So I'm sure that even though these gentleman had no intention of going to lunch together to talk about Jesus Christ, that they were both edified and enriched by talking about him. It was a chance that they each had to grow... and this is what I want. I want a chance to grow. I want a chance to reach out to others. I want a chance to bear witness of the fulness of the gospel. I want someone to feel the love of the savior through me.

Michal and I are discussing ways in which we can grow and become better people and a better family together... and I know that this fits into our discussion plans. I know that sometimes we have to take a step into the dark in order to see the light and that sometime decisions that you make can be scary. It is scary when you are trying to piece together your life and make choices that you have no idea how they will affect you. But regardless of the outcome, as long as we are growing and learning from the experiences that we make... it will make us better people, and I know that we will be blessed temporally and spritually from our decisions. Mostly because we choose to include the Lord in them. That is what is so great about life. That there are so many choices. Yes - I admit - I'm the worst at making decisions, but when I look at an eternal perspective of things it helps me to realize that I can only become better by each decision I make. Hopefully, as the next few months unravel and as we continue to try to make our family better... I can "blog" about all these fun decisions that have helped us to become better people.

Birthday Celebrations...

The night before we celebrated and went to a Salt Lake REAL (pronounced: Ree-ahl, not "reel") Soccer Game. I think Michal really had fun because we were able to sit so close.

(Michal was in heaven with his "game" food.)

My favorite part was the south section where the hispanics all sat and played the drums and jumped up and down the whole game. They were so engaged in the game that it was entertaining just to watch them.

For Michal's Birthday - he got all sorts of cool gifts - he is the easiest person to shop for because he loves whatever you get him. Even ask my brother Sam if you don't believe me...

Then on May 17th we Celebrated my Great-Grandmothers 100th Birthday. We had a huge celebration for her up in Salt Lake. They showed a video of her life and had fun facts all about the year 1910 when she was born. They also displayed all of her hobbies and cool artifiacts she had collected or made throughout the years.

It was a fun celebration... and now I can say that I know someone who is 100 years old!

What happens in Vegas...

Last weekend Michal and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Wahoo! We went to Las Vegas, which is where we went on our honeymoon. And we sure had a lot of fun.

The drive down there went SO fast! Michal and I talked the whole way down and once we arrived, Michal just couldn't resist... so we went to Buffalo Wild Wings before checking into Treasure Island.

We made sure that we did a lot of activities, saw a lot of things, and ate a lot of good food.

We went down Freemont street... I didn't particularly like it. I saw way more than I wanted to, and heard way more too.

Eating our wedding cake on our first anniversary. Aside from the frosting, it was really good and we liked it and even ate the whole thing!

Us eating at the same wonderful Italian place we eat at each time we go. It's in the Stratosphere and it's called Fellini's.

Michal really wanted to go to the Pawn Shop which is on TV called "Pawn Stars."

Michal, had to go to the Nascar cafe. He made an awesome choice because as we were asking directions, someone gave us free tickets to the "Ratpack Show" that had just started about 5 minutes prior. It was a good show and it was Jazzy, so Michal loved it!

We also got to go to "The Phantom of the Opera." It was both of our first times going. And we both loved it! It was only 95 minutes, and was cut and especially made just for Las Vegas. The show was great and we'd definitely recommend it to anyone, but if you go, chat with us first... we know how to get great ticket prices instead of the RIDICULOUS prices that the supposedly "half-price" booths promise you.

We went to the Hoover Dam. I'm glad that we can say we went so that we don't ever have to go again. It took a really long time to get there (because of security)... and it made the drive home even longer.

But it was windy... and we have good memories of going there...

So every time we go to Vegas, Michal and I each gamble one dollar in the slot machines. He ended up with 20 cents... but was so excited when he won 20 cents.

However, I ended up with $1.07 - a profit!

Regardless - we had such a good time... and I love you sweetie. Thanks for a great year.