A highly anticipated event for many LDS Congregations is the annual Christmas party. Food, fun, friends and lots more food–what’s not to love?

Well, except for when you are put in charge of your new ward’s Christmas decorations. AWK!

I have thrown plenty of large-scale, even city-wide events but here’s the caveat–I always hired out on matters like these. So, I did what any non-decorating person would do: I ensured I had the best darn committee brimming with domestic goddesses and I contacted my sister-in-law Tammy a.k.a. the lead domestic goddess.

To let you know her level of commitment, for her ward party a few years ago, she spent THREE MONTHS making these glitter trees. I spent three hours re-glittering them all and it almost sent me over the edge. Truly, I bow down to her. But not in a goddess-worshipping-kind-of-way because that would be worshiping false gods and she’s as true as they come.

Generally ward parties are held at the meeting house but this year, they rented out the Midway Community Center and the outdoor skating rink in town square. The only challenge was the gym (where we served the food) was small, only seating a fraction of our 500+ ward members. The upside is there was less to decorate. My committee met the morning of the party and within a few hours, we had the community center looking beautiful!

Enter: Murphy’s Law.

I was given a special key for the Community City that was only programmed to work from 10 a.m.-noon and then again at 5 p.m. As my friend Tanya and I were leaving at 1 p.m., we tested the door to see if it was locked. Huh. It was still open. We tried a few times but still, the same result.

And this is where my brain damage came into play. I stepped outside with Tanya to test the door and voila, it finally locked!

The problem? My car keys, purse and cell phone were still inside.

And so we made the journey to the city hall offices, only to find out the one person who could open the door was still at lunch,

Eventually, I got back inside to retrieve my items and had to return again at 5 p.m. to open the doors for the party but you’d better believe the first chance I got, I handed that key off to someone else.

As for the party, we had a blast with a video, great performances, delicious food and wonderful company. The Community Center was bursting at the seams so it was a relief to walk next door to the Midway Ice Skating Rink. Located in the middle of Town Square, this rink is the focal point of so many activities in the winter and I’m ashamed to say this was our first time there.

I immediately came to life the moment I hit the ice, channeling all my wonderful memories of growing up in Canada skating at the Willow Park Community Center and for miles along the Bow River. I had a blast teaching the youth how to spin, forming trains and racing around the rink. Bode has never liked skating but had fun with friends while Hadley had a great time with her tween minions. Jamie was en route back to Colorado for his company party.

At one point, I was talking to some of the teenagers and a gal in a long skirt was numbered among them. I kindly asked if she was cold but she said “no,” only to realize she wasn’t with our group… and was with some other young women in old-fashioned long skirts. And I inwardly groaned at my social faux-pas as I wondered if I was having my first polygamist interaction since moving to Utah. I learned they were visiting from British Columbia and often skated on their pond, which begs the question are there polygamists in Canada? Or maybe they were Hutterites? We often visited their colonies in Southern Alberta to buy their delicious farmed goods. Or maybe they just like skating in frigid temperatures wearing long skirts?

Regardless of who they were, we had a lot of fun with them and one of the girls and I formed a spin circle that had me completely discombobulated. Just as I broke free,  Jamie’s home teaching companion Aaron asked if I was dizzy and proceeded to spin me around even more until I was ready to puke.

Ahhh, good times on the ice.

The next day, I woke up feeling like I was Cinderella after the ball (read: it wasn’t pretty) but I had such fun with these princes that night.

We’re still here. The house still isn’t sold but hope is not lost–we had a second showing today. How do we know that? Our scheduling service called as we were driving home from Stake Conference to tell us we had a showing in a half hour. What? We raced home and did a hack job on picking up the house. Thankfully it was still in good shape from a deeper cleaning we did yesterday but then the couple showed up 15 minutes early and rang the doorbell when they saw our car still in the driveway. We told them we needed a bit more time and they patiently waited on the porch and on the way out mentioned this was their second visit.

And then the scheduling service called us to follow-up and mentioned when the realtor opened the blinds in our bedroom, they fell down and she couldn’t get them back up. Somebody shoot me now.

We’re more than a month into selling the house in an insane, inflated Denver market where people are getting multiple offers within a day of listing their homes. Our main issue has been our neighbor’s lot behind us, which he kindly cleaned up about 10 days ago and it has made a world of difference. The only problem is we’ve had minimal showings since then and it’s painful because our yard is in bloom and looks gorgeous.

After several weeks of spiritual confirmations where we would open our scriptures to receive an outpouring of love and answers, this week has been full of frustration and walls. What are we doing wrong? Are we going on the right direction with this? We already dropped our price but should we doing more? 

We received our monthly copy of The Ensign and I turned immediately to the story Vienna Jaques: Woman of Faith and thought, boy do I need a spiritual boost and to read about a faithful woman.

Vienna Jaques had been in her new home in Jackson County, Missouri, USA, for only six weeks when violence erupted on July 20, 1833. Local residents had demanded that the Latter-day Saints leave the county, but Church leaders demurred to accept. Mobs in the area then attacked Church members and their property.

On that day, 46-year-old Vienna saw the mob tar and feather Edward Partridge, the bishop in Missouri, and Charles Allen. Meanwhile, others demolished the Church’s print shop and threw the printing press and papers out the window, including unbound and incomplete copies of the Book of Commandments. After the attack, Vienna knelt in the dirt road alone, furiously collecting scattered pages of the Book of Commandments. A mobber came over and hovered menacingly over her, declaring, “Madam, this is only a prelude to what you have to suffer.”

I chuckled and closed the magazine. This was my answer? I can guarantee you that was not what I needed to read.  A few days later I went back to read the rest of the article (life did suck for a while but got much better). Turns out, God has a sense of humor.

We fasted today and Stake Conference was full of spiritual feasting that I needed. This evening, we went for one of my favorite walks along the Clear Creek Trail in Golden. We fed the chickens at the Clear Creek History Park. We marveled at the idiots floating down the swollen waters on an inflatable mattress. We threw rocks in the river. We discovered a secret trail away from the crowds

I left feeling refreshed and grateful. This whole process of uprooting a life we love for reasons beyond me has been such a roller-coaster ride and test of faith. I really wouldn’t want to do this alone. Without that comfort. Scriptures. Prayer. Reverence. Guidance. I read a quote today by D. Todd Christofferson that really hit home.

If one does not appreciate holy things, he will lose them. Absent a feeling of reverence, he will grow increasingly casual in attitude and lax in conduct. He will drift from the moorings that his covenants with God could provide. His feeling of accountability to God will diminish and then be forgotten. Thereafter, he will care only about his own comfort and satisfying his uncontrolled appetites. Finally, he will come to despise sacred things, even God, and then he will despise himself.

With a sense of the sacred, one grows in understanding and truth. The Holy Spirit becomes his frequent and then constant companion. More and more he will stand in holy places and be entrusted with holy things. Just the opposite of cynicism and despair, his end is eternal life.

A sense of the sacred cannot really be passed from one person to another. It must grow from within. Think about things in a contemplative way; then the Spirit may work in you so that you will not need anyone to tell you what is sacred or how to respond—you will feel it for yourself. It will be part of your nature; indeed, much of it already is.

Stand in Holy Places. Now, that is the answer I needed.

Four years ago, my friend Wendy asked me to write a story to be distributed at a Happily Ever After-themed event for all the Activity Day girls (ages 8-11) in our stake. She wanted it to feature four princesses (Princess Hope, Princess Faith, Princess Grace and Princess Charity) whose father, the King, sends them on a journey through the land. The story was to be about what they encountered and learned on their journey back to him, a parallel of our journey from the pre-mortal life, to earth and then back to our Father in Heaven. (A bit more about the Plan of Salvation here if you’re not familiar).

Your Happily Ever After: A Message for Young Women
by Amber Johnson

Chapter One: Once Upon a Time

By Amber Johnson

Once upon a time, there were four beautiful princesses: Princes Faith, Princess Grace, Princess Hope and Princess Charity.

They lived in a kingdom of light. There was laughter. There was happiness.  But even in this beautiful kingdom, they always felt like something was missing.

One day, their father, the King, assembled them together.

“Because I love you, I am going to send you on a journey far away. This kingdom will be much different than our own. You will have many amazing adventures but beware, you will encounter difficult times during your journey that will help you truly learn what it means to become a princess….

The princesses were overjoyed to go to a new land, to meet new creatures and have new adventures.

“But how will we find our way back to you, Father?” they asked the king.

He replied, “I will send each of you with a map. But this is not like any map. This magical map is a part of me. As you listen and follow its directions, it will lead you home where you will live with your sisters and me, forever.”

Chapter Two: The Journey to an Unknown Land

The four sisters tearfully yet joyfully said good-bye to those they loved in the kingdom and to each other.  They then went their separate ways.

At first, the map was the most important part in their journey but as time went on and they became more familiar with this strange land, some of the sisters looked at the map less and less.

And before they knew it, many of them did not know how to find each other or return home to their Father, the King.

After wandering for many years, Princess Faith grew more and more lonely. One day, she encountered a strange creature on the roadside. Its mouth breathed fire, its eyes shone like diamonds, and it stood as tall as two buildings.

“Are you lost, little girl?”

Not wanting to admit to the dragon she had indeed lost her way, she defiantly declared, “I am not” and tried to race past him.

“Where do you think you are going? You are NOTHING, Little Girl!” the dragon roared.

As Faith became more fearful than she had ever been, she remembered. She was not “a little girl.” She was not “nothing.” She was a princess, the daughter of the most powerful, loving King in the universe.

Her fear turned to faith. “I am a princess who is on a journey to return to my father, the King,” she shouted. And then, for the first time in a long time, she looked at the map.

And Princess Faith remembered her Father’s words: “You alone have special talents, Faith. You are able to hope and have faith in things others cannot see.”

And her faith returned that if she stayed close to the map, she would return to live with her Father, the King.

***

Princess Hope had always relied on her sisters for everything she needed in the Kingdom. Now that she was on her own, she didn’t think she could survive in a strange land. She consulted the map regularly. Some days, she felt it gave her the guidance she needed, other days she felt discouraged and didn’t want to look at it at all.

Was she really worthy of the map’s guidance? Surely, her older, stronger, more righteous sisters were doing so much better than she was.

Everywhere Hope looked around her in this strange land, she found promises of happiness.  Television commercials promised total bliss if she would only buy certain clothing. When she watched movies, girls looked like they were the best of friends, even though they were saying mean things about each other behind their backs.

In a world where evil is portrayed as good and good as evil, Hope thought it was difficult to know the truth.

Despite her confusion and discouragement, a little voice inside of her told her to never give up on that map. Her persistence paid off for one day, the map gave her this answer: “Your beloved King seeks for your good and your happiness. But you will not find lasting happiness in the things of this new world.”

Then her Father’s words pierced her heart, “Princess Hope. Your name has a very special meaning. ‘Hope’ means longing…and wanting and never giving up on the promised blessings of eternal life through your faith in Jesus Christ.”

And Princess Hope never, ever forgot it.

***

When Princess Grace arrived at this strange land, she was very popular and made many friends immediately. There was always a party and always fun on the horizon. She consulted the map from time-and-time and felt like she was living a good life.

Until some of her friends noticed.

“Do you really think that is a magical map?” they teased. “Don’t you know there’s no such thing?”

And with time, Princess Grace believed them until one day, a strange, small woman—so unlike the beautiful people Grace had grown to know—arrived in her village.

“I hear you have a magical map,” she inquired of Princess Grace.

“I have a map,” Grace replied. “But it is not magical.”

“Then what is your price?” asked the old woman.

Reluctant to part with the map, Grace replied, “It’s not for sale.”

And as she said that, Grace remembered her Father’s words. Grace is the help or strength we are given through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Through His grace, the Lord also enables those who live His gospel to repent and be forgiven.

Grace burst into tears as she realized she had thrown this gift, this map, without price to the wolves. She repented and from that moment on, she only stayed with friends who believed in the map’s magic as she did.

****

Princess Charity traveled a much different path than her sisters. She never went even one day without looking at her map. And even though she became lost, made mistakes, encountered creatures in the woods and at times, wondered if she would ever find her way home, she never forgot her Father’s parting words to her.

“My dear Charity. Your name means the pure love of Christ. This is the love that your brother has and is the highest, noblest and strongest kind of love.”

And she lived every day, striving to become one step closer to her Father.

Chapter 3: Happily Ever After

After many years, the princesses were summoned to return home by their Father, the King.

The reunion was joyous. They were hugs and many tears as these dear sisters celebrated being together once again.

And then their father stood to speak.

“My dear daughters,” this father—their Heavenly Father said. “Many years ago, I sent you on a journey. Though it was difficult for me to see you go, I knew this journey to the strange land was the only way you could grow to become the true princesses I’ve always known you could become.”

As the sisters looked at each other, they noticed for the first time how each had changed. Their eyes were wiser, their confidence stronger and most importantly, they no longer felt like something was missing from their lives.

Their Father continued. “But I did not send you on this journey alone. This map was a representation of the Holy Ghost, prayer, the scriptures and your Elder Brother, Jesus Christ. It was a guide for you in this new world. Some of you relied on it every day. Others of you did not.”

And then their Father paused, finding the words.

“But my dear daughters, I am overjoyed that though your journeys and challengers were so different, that each of you remembered the special gifts that only you possess.  And it was those talents, along with the map, that helped you return to live eternally with me. You are now true princesses.”

Like Princess Faith, Princess Grace, Princess Hope and Princess Charity, you are the daughter of a King. And this Father has given each of you special talents and a map to help guide you home.

Always remember that if you stay true and close to your Father in Heaven that someday you will live your Happily Ever After with Him.

====

Wendy’s official invitation for the event. I was the “Special Presentation” at the end when I read this story.

We were at Disneyland when we heard about the Paris bombings–talk about a juxtaposition. The Happiest Place on earth vs. The Horrific.  After serving an LDS mission in France, I have tender feelings for that wonderful country and one of my dearest friends still lives there.

I was particularly touched by Antoine Leiris’ powerful tribute to his wife, who died in the Bataclan. “I won’t give you the gift of hating you.”

It’s tough not to get swept away in the world of ISIS and I’ve been glued to NPR, Frontline and the news. I’m tired of all the fighting, all the divisive opinions about the Syrian refuges. I’ve had to step back because it’s discouraging to see the way the world is spiraling out of control with no easy solution in sight.

I absolutely love love love this poem:

The Peace of Wild Things
By Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

I’m also giving a call out to my women-folk. As I was preparing a Visiting Teaching message yesterday, I was particularly struck by a General Conference talk “A Plea to My Sisters” by President Russell M. Nelson. In a world where so many women are fighting for their lives and their rights, in the Western World, it seems we’re putting the superficial Kardashian Housewives on a pedestal of how women should be and act.

Thirty-six years ago, in 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball made a profound prophecy about the impact that covenant-keeping women would have on the future of the Lord’s Church. He prophesied: “Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world … will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different—in happy ways—from the women of the world.

“We need women who are organized and women who can organize. We need women with executive ability who can plan and direct and administer; women who can teach, women who can speak out. …

“We need women with the gift of discernment who can view the trends in the world and detect those that, however popular, are shallow or dangerous.”

Today, let me add that we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith and who are courageous defenders of morality and families in a sin-sick world; women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly.

We are women of great power, influence and light. And it’s about time we remember that.