Men

If you are raising a son, I strongly recommend watching this video by Elder D. Todd Christofferson:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/brethren-we-have-work-to-do?lang=eng&media=video


Some of the lines that stood out for me:

• Life is not a competition between men and women.
• Adult men need to be worthy models, to teach young men...how to pursue hobbies without becoming addicted.
• We have a perfect Master who wrought a perfect Atonement.
• The church, world, and women are crying for men of God.

Being a More Christian Christian

I listened to this talk today by Elder Robert D. Hales and was especially impacted by his recital of the qualities of those who hear and heed the Savior's voice:  love, faith, sacrifice, caring, service, patience, peace, forgiveness, conversion, endurance to the end.  I want to be better at internalizing and showing these qualities.  And I look at them and think how the world could change for good if more of us followed the Savior.

Being a More Christian Christian

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/being-a-more-christian-christian?lang=eng

They just keep growing...

Josh

Jenna

I wanted to do this age progression to see how my kids have changed from year to year.  Shockingly, I have two children who have run the full cycle from birth to senior year of high school - ahhh!  I designed these in Photoshop and had them printed at Costco.  I love both of those tools!  It was wonderful and a little tearful to see how they've changed from those tiny babies I first held in my arms to the fabulous adults they are today.  Now on the wall in our office so I can travel down memory lane whenever I want.

Auditory Learners

I got a call two weeks ago from the MTC asking if I would be able to take on another missionary.  He had been tutored by one of our sisters, but after one lesson, she didn't know what to do to teach him.  Turns out, this elder has dyslexia and is an auditory learner.  I said, "Oh!  I know what to do for that - my daughter is an auditory learner."  (Did  you know that about Kellie?  She needs to hear books read aloud to her in order to understand them.  I've done a lot of research this last year on it to learn how to help her.)  When I met with the elder, I began by explaining what I knew about auditory learners and told him some of the positive things about that type of learner.  I read aloud to him and had him tell me what he understood - it was very difficult for him.  At one point, he said, "I just want you know, I am not dumb."  I replied, "I know you're not dumb.  You're very intelligent"  and went on to learn that he was a whiz at math, an excellent speaker and an insightful group discussion contributor.  I gave him some techniques to work on, but realized very quickly that he really needed an audio device for his personal study.  You know the rules about that at the MTC, so I followed the chain of command and after a day was able to get permission.  Then it was a matter of finding a player.  Everyone I talked to was positive that there were no iPhones or MP3 players at the MTC, but I kindly said, "I know there are, because I saw my son and his district with them in September."  After another day, we located one and had the scriptures downloaded to it and I was able to present it to this elder.  We studied together with it in Enos:  he had his scriptures open and then also had the Illustrated Book of Mormon open to the section on Enos, and then we would listen to the audio, pausing after a verse or a couple of verses to check comprehension.  What a difference!  It was such a testimony to me of how the Lord provides for His children.  Just before this elder left for the mission field, I spoke with his mission president and was able to get permission for him to use the audio there as well.  

This week, I had another opportunity to be an instrument in this area.  I had a missionary referred to me who came in on Wed who was identified as an auditory learner, just like the one from the week before.  Usually, we don't start tutoring until the following Monday, but I felt strongly when I got his name Thursday evening that I needed to meet with him Friday morning.  So I hauled myself up and to the MTC by 8 am.   This elder is a hardworking farm boy from Rexburg, ID. (He was super tan so I asked him where he'd been to get that tan thinking he'd say Lake Powell or something like that and he said, "I work on a farm.  I'm always outside.")  When he started high school, he knew that he needed a different way to learn, so he searched on his own until he found a computer program that scans in any book and then transfers the page to the screen and reads it aloud to you.  He made sure this program was on every computer at his school and the schools in the area and spent the rest of his high school time promoting its use in schools around the nation.  It changed everything for him - he had been a D student before and he became an A student.  I asked him what he had done in school before he found that program and he said he'd been in special ed classes.  Tragedy!  He was learning less because the schools didn't know how to teach him, not because he wasn't capable of understanding.  I very quickly determined that he needed an audio player at the MTC and went to work getting the necessary approvals.  Since a precedent had already been set because of the work with the other elder, I had an audio player in that elder's hand less than two hours later.  Amazing!  He was so grateful.  He had been preparing himself to struggle and to just accept it and rely on the Lord - such humility and faith - and was praying for help.  When I gave him the audio player, he said, "This is an answer to prayer."  It's wonderful how the Lord is using my experience in helping Kellie to help others, too.  

Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. An auditory learner depends on hearing and speaking as a main way of learning.^[1] Auditory learners must be able to hear what is being said in order to understand and may have difficulty with instructions that are written. They also use their listening and repeating skills to sort through the information that is sent to them.

A Year Today

It is officially one year since my Josh entered the MTC as a full-time servant of the Lord.  It has been a year of amazing growth for him - and it has been wonderful to see.  I am grateful for the opportunity that he grasped to serve.  He is a better, stronger, more spiritual, kinder, gentler man than he was when he left.  Congrats on the year mark, son, you make me proud.

Happy 20th Elder Crowther!

Newborn Josh

Today my son is 20 years old.  Whoa.  I can't even wrap my mind around it and yet, it is true.  Seems even more unreal because it's the first birthday I haven't celebrated with him.  I just can't fathom him leaving his teens and being grown-up and mature (okay, maybe he's not mature, but he did leave his teens!).

Actually, I have a feeling that he is different from the young man I last hugged in October of 2011.  There has been growing and stretching and learning in him.  He has had challenges and experiences that have shaped him.  I have absolute faith that this mission in Korea was the very best path for him.  The only path, really, for him to become the man I always knew he could be and the man that God wanted him to be.

A few memories of my Josh:

• As a newborn, he'd go right to sleep if you scratched his back.  He still goes right to sleep when you scratch his back.
• His favorite movie as a toddler was Dumbo.  He loved it when the mama elephant rocked little Dumbo to sleep.  We watched it 3 times a day, every day for months.
• For years, he was a Power Ranger for Halloween.
• Up to age 6, he refused to eat any foods that were the color green.  
• He liked getting dressed up for church in nice pants, a white shirt, and tie.  For his 8th birthday and baptism, he insisted on a suit.
• As a 4th grader, he was put in charge of creating and maintaining his class website.  He and computers have a symbiotic relationship.
• When he started cooking on his own, he liked to get creative with the ingredients.  I distinctly remember the slightly under-cooked scrambled eggs seasoned with cinnamon.
• The first time a girl broke his heart, he came to me and wept in my arms.
• He drives like a mad-man.  I blame myself.  It's those darn Gresko genes.
• He stole the basketball on the inbound pass in game after game after game with those lurpy arms of his.  
• The look on his face on Skype when I opened up his mission call with it facing the camera and he read the word "Korea".

Happy birthday Josh - I love ya!

The Dumbo phase - about 20 months

Looking good on his 5th birthday

Hiking together when he was in 6th grade

Those long arms in basketball

Dropping my boy off at the MTC

Taken just a couple of days before his 20th birthday in Korea.  I love that he looks so happy!  And he's wearing the tie I sent him :)

Dad

The most enduring memory I have of my dad is his  voice.  It is distinct--deep and strong, like a foghorn cutting through the mist.  When I was little, I could pick my dad's voice out of any crowded room and knowing that he was near, I felt safe.  The notoriety of his voice was acknowledged among all my friends.  "What a loud, scary voice your dad has!"  But it wasn't scary to me.  It was the sound of love and acceptance and strength and fun.   It was the sound of laughter and songs sung and stories read and blessings given.  It was the sound of my dad.

My dad drives trucks for a living.  As a kid, when we rode in the car, I could be found on my dad's lap.  I would talk to him and listen to he and my mom talk back and forth and over time, I learned to drive while sitting there.   He taught me how to shift the gears and handle a long bed truck and by the time I got my learner's permit, it felt like I'd been driving my whole life.  Cars and trucks and driving.  That is the work of my dad.

My dad loved to read.  I remember him always with a book or a newspaper or scriptures in hand and our home overflowed with books.  I first began reading on my own at the age of 3, but I know that my dad read to me often before and after that achievement.  One of my favorite things was to sneak down early on Sunday mornings.  I knew my dad would be there reading the Sunday paper and I would take my own book or grab the comics and sit near him and just feel the camaraderie of two people reading together.  My own personal library was begun by my dad giving me books for my birthday and Christmas.  A love of reading is the gift of my dad.

When I was born, the first words out of my dad's mouth when he saw me were, "Oh no!  She looks like me!"   My mom quickly assured him this was not a negative and the oft-heard comment, "I could tell right away you were John's daughter" has always filled me with joy and pride.  In addition to his physical characteristics, I like to think that I am like him in his faith.  I have known, always known, that God was my Father, that He loved me, and that I needed to follow the example of my earthly father and have faith in my Heavenly Father and His Son.  Indeed, I have been born of goodly parents.  Believing in and following Heavenly Father and Christ is the faith of my dad.

There is a song that has always reminded me of my dad.  In tribute to my dad on this Father's Day, I include the lyrics here for him.  I love you, Dad!

An ordinary man,

He says he's nothing more than just an ordinary man,

And you might think you'd believe him,

though you'll never understand,

how love can flow so gentle from an ordinary man.

And there's magic in his touch,

When I'm sick or brokenhearted,

There is magic in the touch 

of his hand upon my head and when I hear his soft command,

I know that I have felt the special magic in his hands.

If the government could know his worth, I'm sure they'd raise his pay.

It's sad but true which we needed what a good man gets today.

He tells me I am beautiful, that I'm his Miss Universe.

I wish he wasn't taken, but my mother saw him first.

An ordinary man,

Still with his arms around me,

An extraordinary man when I'm heading straight for trouble,

And I'm leading with my chin,

He saves me from a crash by flashing me that knowing grin.

And if my Father up in Heaven is anything like him,

Then I would give the world to be with Him for all eternity,

And tell Him "thanks" for sending me to just an ordinary man.