My topic today is Gratitude, and I seriously considered writing my whole talk from the lyrics of many of the songs in the church hymnbook.

I could focus our attention on the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies, for the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night, “Lord of all to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!” (LDS Hymns pg.92, "For the Beauty of the Earth")

Or I could encourage you to count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. (LDS Hymns pg. 241, "Count Your Many Blessings")

And with that realization, each one of us must admit that because I have been given much, I too must give. Because I have been sheltered, fed by the Lord’s great care, I cannot see another’s lack and I not share. (LDS Hymns pg. 219, "Because I Have Been Given Much")

I am grateful for how simply songs teach us important doctrine. With catchy tunes that stay with us, the words repeat in our minds and we are able to drink deeply from their messages.

Having sung these songs so many times in our lives, have we really internalized their message?  Or is this just a message of gratitude something we put into practice during the month of November to prepare ourselves for Thanksgiving and then forget it for most of the year?

Pres. Monson gave a talk in 2010 entitled “The Divine Gift of Gratitude”. In it, he  expressed, “This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good… Our lives are blessed in countless ways.  We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude.”

While that talk was first given over 10 years ago, the words still ring true today. Life is tough right now. Whether you are frustrated about the continual effects of the pandemic on the world, or are anxious over the discord in politics and in society, or are even passing through your own personal gethsemane, there are miracles and answers waiting for you…and many of them come through gratitude.

Let’s look at the Savior for an example of how gratitude can bring about miracles (this is again taken from Pres Monson’s remarks). As Jesus traveled in the wilderness for three days, more than 4,000 people followed and traveled with Him. He took compassion on them, for they may not have eaten during the entire three days. His disciples, however, questioned, “Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?” Like many of us, the disciples saw only what was lacking.

What!? My little baby is 2 years old? I seriously cant believe it. And yet, Maddy has no desire to grow up slowly. She has always wanted to be part of the big kid group.

Maddy practically potty-trained herself before turning 2. She had recently seen her sister learn to use the toilet, so she wanted to try it to. After having a difficult time teaching Grace, Maddy was a dream to teach. It's crazy how different kids learn. I was anxious about putting underwear on Maddy 24/7, but she has even graduated out of pull ups at bed time and even mastered a road trip with no accidents. This girl is amazing.

Maddy is a really sweet kid. She will lean in and tell you, "I wuv you, Mommy". She even does it to her stuffed animals or to things she sees in book.  Maddy is especially fond of birds; she has always loved pointing them out as we read or as we go on walks. She likes to be outside and play in the sand, dust, water, bushes...whatever she can get her hands on, really.

But as sweet as she is, she is also aggressively independent. She will often get furious if you are doing something she feels she could do herself, like putting on her underwear or opening up the yogurt cup. And every day it seems there is some new task she feels she is now mature enough to accomplish on her own.  I love my little Miss Independent. 

In this past year Maddy has started learning how to swim, and she loves being in the water. The beach is her happy place and she asks to go there almost every day. Madelyn LOVES eating tomatoes. She will pick a tomato out of Grammy's garden and immediately start munching on it like and apple. She also is obsessed with avocados, butternut squash ravioli, and the inside cream of Oreos (but she will leave the cookie part uneaten). 

Such a fun, funny, adventurous girl. I love being her Mama.

Coming to America, Dad didn't know anyone. He didn't know the language. He didn't have any money. But he knew how to work. He started working in construction and brought home $75 a week for our family of 4.  One day a woman from welfare contacted him and he told her that he had gotten a job in construction and hoped to be able to learn the trade.
"You can't work," she said. "If you work, you wont qualify for the welfare program and you and your family will lose all the benefits." 
He pondered this a moment and said, "Ok, remove welfare, but can we keep the Medicare in case my kids get sick?"
Her response was matter-of-fact, "Sorry, sir. It's all or nothing."
"Well," he said, "I did not come all the way from Cuba to sit in an apartment and wait for a check."

In that moment, my dad made a difficult decision. He kept his job and continued to work hard. He knew that he had traveled to the United States to provide for his family and he wanted to do that with his own two hands. He was an example of the value of hard work and of the power of the American Dream.

Through the years, he learned enough to be able to build his own business in construction. His company, Mayans Building (later became Mayans Development), still stands today and continues to bless the lives of his family and others. He believed in building quality and in working honestly. 

Dad loved his family, but he didn't always show it in the ways you'd expect. He rarely vocalized his affection or showed it in hugs or kisses. When he started having grandkids, however, his heart seemed to expand, and he started showing his love to them with hugs to his grandsons or gifts of flowers to his granddaughters.  And when he got great-grandkids, his heart grew even more. He loved to watch them playing at his feet. He threw the baseball with his great grandson Jepson, and he watched his great granddaughter Cassidy put on a show and dance around whenever she'd visit. He truly loved his family.

He watched his grandchildren, Maichael and Benjamin, serve missions in Chile for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He admired their service, but it wasn't until his grandson, Jacob, served a mission in Romania and had very little success that his own heart changed. Hearing of Jacob's struggles, he exclaimed, "Why wont the people listed to him!" I responded, "Dad, you've had missionaries visit your home almost weekly for 40 years (Mom would always feed them lunch). Have you ever really listened to them?" That made my dad sit back quietly, but I was still shocked when the missionaries from the area called me about a month later and told me that my Dad had a date to be baptized. I had had no idea he was finally listening to the missionaries. I will always be grateful for the struggles my son, Jacob, had on his mission, because it was that struggle that softened Dad's heart so that he could finally accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in his own life.

Grace's favorite clothes to wear are dresses. She likes to pretend she is a ballerina (I'm pretty sure she doesn't actually know what a ballerina is, but she learned that word from her cousin), and she enjoys twirling around while listening to "A Whole New World" (her current favorite song). Her favorite movie changes almost weekly. This week it is Cars. For the last few weeks, it was Aladdin. Before that...maybe The Little Mermaid, or Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella. It changes constantly, so I cant keep track. Grace likes to pretend she is a character in the story, and of course that means that other family members are also characters too. It is not uncommon to hear Grace say, "I love you, Aladdin," while addressing her Daddy, or hear her yell, "Come here, Anna," (from Frozen) when she is wanting to play with Madelyn. But my favorite is when she simply calls me Queen Mommy :)

Grace LOVES to dress up. She has a collection of princess dress up outfits and requests outfit changes at least three times a day. The froofy tulle fabric and glitter encrusted skirts one these outfits makes it impossible for her to get out of them on her own, so I am the designated "ladies maid" to help her change. Good grief! The glitter around our house is really getting out of hand.

Grace is interested in art. She likes to paint, color, and draw. She has recently learned how to mix the primary colors to make secondary colors, and she has been enthralled in this discovery. We like to mix the color tablets for the bath water to see what new colors we come up with. 

For her birthday, we had a mermaid party. Her California cousins all celebrated with her at Grammy and Abuelo's house. We painted wooden masks, played a fishing game, jumped on the trampoline, and ate delicious chocolate-coconut cupcakes. Grace loved dressing up as a mermaid and having all the attention. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, a video must be worth at least a million, and lucky for you I have a video of our whole trip (if you care to see it).

It really was a wonderful trip, but there were plenty of difficult moments during the week. Grace was especially tricky and seemed to only want her Daddy. I'll admit, there was one truly terrible tantrum that did me in. Daddy was on a ride; I was waiting in line with my sister-in-laws and the kids; Grace decided to freak out about having to wear a mask; she screamed and screamed and ran off and told me to "Go Away" and "I want Daddy" more times than I can count. I cried. I couldn't help it. But a sweet mom in line came up to me and offered a lolly pop to see if that would help my feisty daughter calm down. Luckily, it did. Seriously, as I write this I am tearing up again because I am so grateful for the kind people who were so supportive even as I was drowning: my sister-in-laws, the sweet people in line behind us, the aware mom who offered the candy, my husband who came to my rescue and let me have a few minutes away. They all were answers to the silent prayers I was practically screaming as I dealt with a difficult 2-year old.

I wish I could say there was only one difficult moment like that, but the truth is that traveling with little, little kids is hard work. The pandemic and current requirements to wear masks don't help either. And yet, I watch the video of pictures and clips I compiled through the trip, and I smile to think of the happy memories we created. I don't regret going. We had a lot of fun, and I am grateful we have the means to do fun trips like this.