There can be angels here on earth.

Today is my birthday.  I should be happy that it is my day, but I am not.  I don't have any money to enjoy a nice dinner, or even throw a birthday party, not even to put gas in my tank.  My checking account is over drawn, which I hate!!! I guess I am just being selfish. I should be happy. I should rejoice that I am alive, that I am so important that Heavenly Father has given me life, a wonderful family, and wonderful parents.  I should count my blessings, and say  "yes today is my birthday, no I can not celebrate, but I can rejoice because I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father who loves me and I love him. But yet, I don't.  I wallow in self pitty because I can not have a party, or a grand dinner. 

I was talking with one of my customers today, and I let it slip that today was my birthday but yet I was down because of my troubles I was having.  We talked a little bit, and I got busy here at work.  About thirty minutes later , could be longer,  she comes in with a pretty pink bag. (Of coarse I think it's pretty, its my fav. color) In the bag there is a Marie Calender's turtle pie and what looks like a small bag or book wrapped up on the bottom.  I told her she was going to make me cry and she said oh stop and took off.  I unwrapped the book and it is entitled "Jesus calling; enjoying peace in his presence" by Sarah Young.  It's a book of devotions for every day of the year, I opened it and started flipping through the front of the book.  She wrote on it Happy Birthday, Adriana. (how cute she missed spelled my name) and so I decided to flip to today's date.  The little book mark ribbon was in the middle of the book and I thought to myself, Maybe she marked today.  When I opened the book to that page there was a $50 bill folded in half with a sticky note saying "Do Something for You! :) Renee".  All I could do was cry!!!

She did this out of the kindness of her heart.  Why, because she was showing charity.  Heavenly Father used (prompted)  her, to do his will.  She didn't have to give me anything, but because of her love and her willingness to follow our Lord, she did.  He worked through her to tell me, "My child, you are loved.  I am here for you, no matter what you go through. I love you, your sisters in Christ love you. No matter what you go through you are loved." Heavenly Father truely has angels here on earth that he works his ways through, today I was able to see one.

Genealogy....

For a few years I have been working on my families genealogy.  At first I started on my dad's side, only to go back as afar as my grandparents, I have a name of a great grandpa but that's all I have.  So frustrated I started on my mom's side, I got as far back to my great-great grandparents. But then I hit a snag, someone popped up on a census but ten years later they were no longer on the census with the rest of the family.  I have searched online for birth records, death record, nothing has seemed to pop up.  I even asked my uncles if they knew anything about this misterious family member and nope they didn't know, they thought grandma (their mom) was an only child. 
This is why I want to make these family trees, My family has kept their past quiet and so us future generation doesn't know anything about the past.  It's a shame that we don't know much.  Maybe since I have questions, wonder who people were maybe someone else in my family have the same questions.  Who was our ancesters?

Happy Birthday, Mom

It’s been 20 years since my mom passed away. But, yet instead of celebrating her death date, I choose to celebrate, remember, and think of her on her birth date.  Yup, today is my mom’s birthday!! If she were alive she would be 68 years old, wow 68 years old now that’s old.

            My mom, Rose Estrada Luna, was born to Jose Cuevas Estrada and Juanita Calderon on March 6, 1945 in Garden City, KS.  She was 3^rd oldest out of 6 kids, all of whom grew up in Garden City. Her family moved to California (don't know what year) and mom attended Redwood High School in Visalia, CA.  She met my dad, Pedro Luna, in 1964 (I think) and had my brother Pedro J. Luna on October 24, 1970.  They were then married on May 5, 1974 in Ventura, CA and on November 12^th, 1978 Mom, Dad and Petey were baptized and became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. On March 28, 1980 that’s when I was born.  Mom had a couple of battles of breast cancer, and on December 31, 1992 at 8:15p.m. a wonderful soul left this earth to join her Heavenly Father in Heaven. 

            I know that is just facts that doesn’t really explain who she was…My mom was awesome! Growing up anyone of my brother’s friends would call her mom, that’s how loveable she was.  She was active in quite a few activities that her children were in.  She was band mom, room mother (my mom had a way with my teachers and they would offer her head room mother for the year), PTA member, and she always did things with church.

            My mom was spontaneous, growing up we would go for junk food rides all the time!! (for those of you who don’t know what they are where:  you buy junk food; sandwiches, chips, soda, any type of snacks.  Pack the car and cooler with all your snacks and pick a direction to drive, not knowing where you will end up.) Those were always fun drives, we would just end up somewhere, anywhere.  Sometimes it was in the mountains, or the beach, or just 3 hours away from home, no matter where it was we would end up at the destination spend some time there and then turn around and drive home.  The ones I always hated were when we would end up in the mountains, I am scared of heights and I hated those windy roads, but my mom always knew what to do, she would put on church music and have me lay down to fall asleep.  Another ride that she would do was our ice cream runs.  There was this small little ice cream shop in Visalia, CA called goochies, or at least that is what we called it.  She would come into my room, or find me out side and say, “you want to go to goochies.” Of course being a kid, who wouldn’t want ice cream, we would pile up in the car and go get ice cream.

            My mom was the best!!! If I had to do this life over, I wouldn’t trade her in for anyone else in this world.  The only thing I would ask for is for her not to leave this world so early, and for us to have many, many more years together. But, the memories I do have of her are wonderful (which I will write more stories about her) I love her so much, and miss her deeply.  But one day she and I will be together in Heaven and then I can tell her face to face

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Nauvoo Temple

            As the months in the year fly by, my heart is starting to grow heavy.  June is around the corner and my church family takes their camping trip to Nauvoo, Ill to visit the beautiful city and to attend the beautiful temple.  A couple of years ago, I worked so hard to get to the temple to do baptism for the dead and to be a proxy for my sister.  That was the first time I was worthy to enter into the temple, the peacefulness that was felt, the love…no words can describe it! I yearn to feel that again, no earthly thing can come 1/8 close to those feelings I had in the temple.  And the Spirit was felt so strongly, it hit me so bad that all I could do was weep.  And weep I did, couldn’t explain the reason why to anyone, all I could do was let the tears fall from my eyes and cry like I was a small child in my mother’s arms.  Outside the temple, the “old” city was so wonderful.  The houses are the same as they were back when the Saints were living there, they had pageants of when the saints were there in Nauvoo, old pioneer games, plays.  What fun it was! I am so glad I went, I had such a wonderful time.

            BUT the earthly fun is not why I am being drawn to that city again or why I even want to return.  There is a strong spiritual draw that is coming from the Temple, maybe it’s not the temple.  Maybe it is something else, someone that is beyond the grave, Or maybe it is my Heavenly Father whispering in my ear, “My child this is what you must do.” And how do I do it? How do I prepare myself in just 3 months to be worthy to go?  I am the one that has to do it, I can’t have anyone else do it for me.  I have to make the steps, no one can pull me alone.  I have to make the sacrifice, I have to do it.  I cannot do it alone, I have to have the power and strength from my Heavenly Father.

            AND when I do, I must have the strength to endure to the end.  Once I become worthy to enter the temple again, I must not falter and become not worthy for if I do I will be mocking God.  I do not want to mock him, I do not want to disappoint him anymore that I have. Maybe that is why I haven’t put my whole heart into starting the process, the fear of disappointing my Heavenly Father more than what I have.