find joy in the journey: learning from Ada

Hello! My name is Shannon. I live in the desert with my husband Scott and 3 kids (Conner, Payton, Anna). I have been blogging since 2005 and I love to write about my family, everyday life, dating my husband, projects and parties, memory keeping, being a mom, faith, setting and working towards goals, and finding joy in the journey.
Thank you so much for dropping by!

Thomas S. Monson - I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey -- now.

since 1999 // about us

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learning from Ada

Another gem from my organizing project . . . .

When I moved into our small town in Oregon I was paired up with a sweet woman, Irene Waite, to be my visiting teaching partner. (Love her.) One of the sisters that we visited each month was dear, Ada Gortler. She was a strong woman who lived a long faithful life. She loved her family. She gave her heart to the church and Relief Society. And everyone in the church loved her. She was definitely a matriarch in the ward.

I remember visiting her home with Irene and Conner and eventually Payton (as a small baby). She had a home that was full of memories and possessions that reflected her life and the things that she treasured. Dozens of family photos, oil paintings that she had done herself, dolls (and more dolls) . . . . And oh my, her home at Christmas time? A menagerie of sights, lights, sounds, and festivity. You can BET that Conner (age 2) loved every inch of it (and keeping his hands off of it was quite the challenge).

Sometime after her passing the Relief Society President passed out these bookmarks to all the women in Relief Society. I just think that this excerpt from her personal journal is such a treasure and I feel so honored that I get to hold a piece of it.

You really learn to give of yourself in Relief Society. I hope if I didn't do anything more than teach the women about what a great organization Relief Society is, and what an honor it is to be a mother, have a good and loving family, and to make it the greatest goal in their life, and to learn to serve each other, I'll think I did great.

-from the journal of Ada Gortler
1913-2007

******************************************************

p.s. We are gaining possession of the house tonight! Eek! I'm about to embark on a massive painting project before we have movers bring all our stuff over on Friday. Wish me luck. Tomorrow, our internet is also shutting down and I'm not sure when we'll have it set up again in the new house. In the meantime, I have a couple posts that are scheduled to pop up this week. And I might even blog from my phone (thanks to Tyepad's mobile app - yay!) It's going to be a big, happy, crazy, messy, wonderful week!

Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2012 at 05:14 PM in faith, moving | Permalink

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Another gem from my organizing project . . . .

When I moved into our small town in Oregon I was paired up with a sweet woman, Irene Waite, to be my visiting teaching partner. (Love her.) One of the sisters that we visited each month was dear, Ada Gortler. She was a strong woman who lived a long faithful life. She loved her family. She gave her heart to the church and Relief Society. And everyone in the church loved her. She was definitely a matriarch in the ward.

I remember visiting her home with Irene and Conner and eventually Payton (as a small baby). She had a home that was full of memories and possessions that reflected her life and the things that she treasured. Dozens of family photos, oil paintings that she had done herself, dolls (and more dolls) . . . . And oh my, her home at Christmas time? A menagerie of sights, lights, sounds, and festivity. You can BET that Conner (age 2) loved every inch of it (and keeping his hands off of it was quite the challenge).

Sometime after her passing the Relief Society President passed out these bookmarks to all the women in Relief Society. I just think that this excerpt from her personal journal is such a treasure and I feel so honored that I get to hold a piece of it.

You really learn to give of yourself in Relief Society. I hope if I didn't do anything more than teach the women about what a great organization Relief Society is, and what an honor it is to be a mother, have a good and loving family, and to make it the greatest goal in their life, and to learn to serve each other, I'll think I did great.

-from the journal of Ada Gortler
1913-2007

******************************************************

p.s. We are gaining possession of the house tonight! Eek! I'm about to embark on a massive painting project before we have movers bring all our stuff over on Friday. Wish me luck. Tomorrow, our internet is also shutting down and I'm not sure when we'll have it set up again in the new house. In the meantime, I have a couple posts that are scheduled to pop up this week. And I might even blog from my phone (thanks to Tyepad's mobile app - yay!) It's going to be a big, happy, crazy, messy, wonderful week!