For my father

Dearest padre,

Thank you so much for all you have taught me + showed me. Thank you for telling us stories + sharing good books with me. (I know that I began my Mother's Day post this way too, but it is true here as well ;) ) I especially remember The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fondly -- our bedtime stories when I was already a teenager or at least a tween. I loved having you read to us. Zaphod Beeblebrox + always bringing a towel... + many more delights in the five book trilogy :)

Okay, here I was a bit younger ;)

Thanks for making such cool scavenger hunts for my birthdays :) (And thank you, Mom, for making me creative pies + other tasties when I didn't like cake :) )

Thank you for helping me with school projects + memorizing things, such as state capitals. I sadly don't remember all of them, but thanks to some creative pneumonic devices, I still remember ones like St. Paul, Minnesota (thinking of my grandpa Paul with Minnie Mouse ears ;) ).
Or, when memorizing the Articles of Faith* in primary**, I still use TPR,VHI (or Toilet Paper Roll, Very Hot Igloo) to remember the order of gifts mentioned in #7 "We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues and so forth." :)

Yes, I have a picture of TP rolls...my caption for this was "Saving the world one toilet paper roll at a time", because I collect them to recycle instead of just throw away... :D

In fact, I taught Sunday School last week + told the children about my pneumonic device. Because the letters are different in German, we had fun coming up with a new one for ZPOVHA "#7 Wir glauben an die Gabe der Zungenrede, Prophezeiung, Offenbarung, der Visionen, der Heilung, Auslegung der Zungenrede usw." We decided on "Zebras prophezeien Opa von heißer Asche" = zebras prophecy to grandpa about hot ashes OR zebras prophecy about 'Grandpa of the Hot Ashes'...it's a bit ambiguous in the meaning ;)

A primary "activity days" hike!

Thanks for being crazy with me + inspiring me to be even crazier! You were my very first date ;) for Halloween (+ when I claimed I had been on my first date to one of my best friends, well...let's just say, she didn't think our crazy date counted ;) )

Thanks for singing with us + performing with us. Here's our Forsyth Folk picture again ;). I also have fond memories of you playing the guitar or the piano as I was falling asleep -- but then I always had to lift my head from the pillow to make sure I didn't miss a single note :)

Thanks for traveling through Ireland with me,

And inspiring me with your art -- I just might have gotten my love of the Macro setting from you ;)

This one's from him

+ here's an older one from me :)

And for making funky art with me too!

Thanks for teaching me to dance!

Thanks for your testimony of Christ + your love!
I love you, Dad!

p.s. And thank you, Mom, for your testimony of Christ too! I am so grateful to have you both as my parents. You have always been an example of faith to me. For me it is similar to the account of the sons of Helaman from the Book of Mormon who did not doubt that their mothers knew God would deliver them. I am so grateful to always have known that you believe in God. Your examples have been steadfast and constant for me. I am so grateful for you.

*The Articles of Faith are 13 statements that summarize Mormon or Latter-day Saint beliefs.

**Primary is the children's organization in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

During the 3 hours of church on Sunday, the first hour is Sacrament Meeting, where everyone is together + we partake of the sacrament + renew our covenants/recommit to following God's commandments. Then Sunday School is taught in the 2nd hour, divided by age group (different primary classes for the children, and classes for the youth and adults).

Then, during the 3rd hour, there is Primary Sharing Time for the children all together -- there's singing, a little lesson and such. Then there is Young Women's for the female youth, Young Men's for the male youth, Relief Society for the adult women + Priesthood Meeting for the adult men.

I like to think of it as the different hours meeting different needs. In the 1st hour, we can renew our promise to God to follow his commandments -- that's something everybody needs. Then in the 2nd hour, we can dicuss the scriptures and how to apply our faith in our daily lives in our age groups. Finally in the 3rd hour the children come together to learn + sing together + the youth + adults have the opportunity to discuss things that apply to them more specifically as women + men, young women + young men.