MAYLIN2007

NieNie Dialogues: April 18, 2019 Stephanie relied a lot on her sisters during her accident. In this post she wrote about how much she used to look like her sister Lucy and how her daughter Claire reminds her of Lucy. She said, "I see myself in my daughters even if my daughters don't necessarily physically see me in them. And I see myself in my sisters, and am grateful my daughters have a physical reminder of me in my sisters." She expressed her love for her sisters and was grateful for the part they played in her life. Since Stephanie loved her sisters so much, I wrote my sister a note of how much I love and appreciate her. I only have one sister and she is pretty great. I loved how Stephanie hoped her girls would see what she used to look like before her accident. That's a great comfort to Stephanie because it will help her daughters know in a way where they got their looks from. I don't look like my sister, obviously, but it doesn't seem to matter to her...

NieNie Dialogues: April 15, 2019 Christian is the most important person in Stephanie's life. She made this post about him. She wrote about how much she loved him and he loved her. Every year she dedicates a song to him as they enter another year as husband and wife. She said, "Everyday I pray to God, thanking him for Christian. I thank God that he is my husband, my protector, and greatest defender. I thank God that Christian loves and respects me.......And I thank God that I will be with Christian forever and even to infinity and beyond." I am not married, but I related to this post because I love my dad. He is my protector and my provider. He really takes care of our family. He is so great. I can tell my mom loves him too. Even though it embarrasses me, I love to watch my parents hug and kiss. I am glad we are sealed together. After reading this post, I decided I needed to write in my journal characteristics I want in a husband. These are the things I wrote: Must l...

NieNie Dialogues: April 14, 2019 Valentines Day was the focus of this post. Stephanie posted lots of pictures of Valentine's Day and what they did on that day. She said, "During dinner and under candlelight we went around the table sharing what we love about each other. It was the highlight of my day. Oh man, how I love my family."  I really knew she loved her family because when I read her book she would say over and over how much her family meant to her and how they were the motivation behind getting better. In her book, she wrote about living for her family and how it didn't matter how she looked as long as she had her family. It was good to read this blog post written years and years later, since it showed me that her family was still her number one priority. I love my family too. I always share my love with them. Every night before I go to bed I kiss my mom good night and tell her I love her. I cannot go to sleep until I have. I will write notes to my sibling...

NieNie Dialogues- April 8, 2019 Stephanie talked about how much she loves conference and how one of the speakers actually talked about one of her family's ancestors. She shared how she was grateful for that ancestor and grateful for all she learned from them. Conference weekend is one of her favorite things. She talked about how she and her family have been waiting since last October for this conference. She said they have been preparing for it since then. Since conference, she is taking what the speakers said and working on the adding the counsel into their lives. I thought it was very neat how Stephanie's ancestor was talked about in conference. I realized that even though one of my relatives was not talked about, they were still great. I decided to learn about one of my ancestors. I chose my great-great grandfather Andrew O. Nelson.  He barely spoke any English even up to his death. He came to America when he was 41 with his family from Sweden. He was a convert to the ch...

NieNie Dialogues- April 5, 2019 post Stephanie told her kids to get ready for conference. Usually, just she and her husband prepare.  She talked about how her family went around the dinner table and said what they were looking forward to hear in General Conference. She was also reading this talk that talked about how scripture study and prayer were the most important things to get done. No matter if your house is a mess or your kids are screaming scripture and prayer still have to come first. I relate to this blog post because I took a challenge from Alex to read my scriptures every day. I read 10 verses everyday and I study them too. Even if my day was bad or tiring, I still make time. I want to teach my kids to read and pray everyday no mater what. I really liked seeing that someone else felt it was important too.

NieNie Dialogues- April 10, 2019 post Stephanie talked about what M. Russell Ballard said, "If mothers are thrifty, so are their daughters. If mothers are modest, so are their girls. Mothers, your example is extremely important to your daughters even though they don't acknowledge it." Stephanie talked about her daughters getting asked to prom and how they chose modest dresses.  She also talked about how she regrets going to prom in an immodest dress. I have been observing my mom, and whenever she goes to the gym she wears exercise leggings and never shorts. She always wears a shirt that covers her belly and her shoulders. She always wears her garments. Even when it is a really hot day she will still wear modest clothes. Even when she is swimming, she wears modest swimsuits. I always wear modest clothes. I know I have been taught to do that, but I did not realize until I read this blog post, that much of what I learned was from just watching my mother. Her actions were...

NieNie Dialogues- April 2, 2019 post Stephanie posted that her and her family do a social media fast two times a year every time before General Conference. Her family does it because they want to focus and prepare for the speakers and what matters most. They also do the social media fast so they can focus on what is coming in General Conference. She said, "It's so nice to leave my phone, and the social media behind. It's so nice to not feel like I need to know what other people are doing, how much more fun they are having than me, or cuter, or more successful, or what I am missing out on, (and on and on)." It helps her have a more focused attitude on her children and the things that matter most. She is trying to show her kids more affection to them daily. I have done a social media fast two times. One time was in the sixth grade and we did it for three weeks. No movies, videos, social media, etc..., unless it was a video or a movie from the church. It was hard dur...

 NieNie Dialogues- March 19, 2019 post Stephanie talked about how each of her kids chose an apostle and learned about them. They had time to learn about their apostle, and after they were able to learn about their apostle, they shared with their family what they learned. Since Stephanie and her family learned about an apostle, I chose to learn about one too. I chose Elder Quentin L. Cook. I read a talk that he gave and I read a little about him. I learned that he received his patriarchal blessing when he was 11 by his grandfather, that said, "I bless you with great love for your fellowmen, for thou shalt be called to carry the gospel to the world... to win souls unto Christ." Even though he is not a prophet he still has revelation from God. I can see how his counsel can relate to my life because Quentin L. Cook talked about the attribute of love and how it is essential to missionary work. I invite a less active girl every week to Young Women's. I feel that I will ha...

 NieNie Dialogues- March 22, 2019 post Stephanie talked about the importance of writing down or speaking your testimony. She shared a scripture from Deuteronomy, “Keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes  have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days  of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.”  Stephanie wrote that if we do not write things down or if we do not share what we know we will forget it. Sharing what we know also helps others make good choices. I learned that she has been doing her blog for 15 years. She said it has been a wonderful way to share her testimony and be reminded of all the wonderful things she has learned in life.  I realized that I have not shared my testimony with a group. I am shy and it scares me. I decided as the Beehive President,  I should let my class know how I feel about the Book or Mormon. Even though I was scared I still did it. It was out of my co...

NieNie Dialogues - March 21, 2019 Stephanie shared about how in her youth she tried to play basketball because she had 5 brothers. She wanted to be like them. She played a lot of basketball and worked on her jump shot. She played for her ward team and eventually she played on the junior high team. She ended up not doing school basketball again and moved to cheer leading. However, she shared how her kids wanted to see her play so she took them to the church gym one day and showed them her jump shot. She said it was a little rusty, but it was good to try again something she had worked hard on when she was younger. I really related to that post. Alex is such a good athlete. He plays every sport and is good at all of them. I remember  watching him play volleyball. He was so good. He could jump high, serve overhand, block balls, and hit them back to the other team so hard they could not return them. While he was on his mission, I decided I wanted to play sports too. My mom signed me...

NieNie Dialogues- March 18, 2019 This post was all about the fun traditions the Nielson family does on holidays. Stephanie specifically talked about St. Patrick's day and how her kids make new traditions every year. She shared some of their traditions and how it made their family closer and the day more special. I decided with Easter coming up, I should add a new tradition to our regular Easter celebrations. I chose three families in my neighborhood to do this new tradition to. My family and I got 12 eggs for each neighbor and filled them all with candy except for one egg. In that egg, I left it empty and attached the scriptures that went along with the Resurrection. I also printed out a sign that explained that we hid 12 eggs in their yard and to not be disappointed that one of the eggs was empty because it represented the empty tomb. My family, even my sister's fiance, hid the eggs. We hid the eggs and then put the note on the neighbors' doors and we knocked and ran. ...

NieNie Dialogues- March 11, 2019 post In this post, Stephanie said, "Even when there are lots of silly, sad, and mad moments, people still can have spiritual moments."  Stephanie explained that even when was tickling her kids or doing a fun family activity, she would still have spiritual moments realizing that they were an eternal family because they are sealed in the temple. I chose for my challenge to observe my home to see if I could find a spiritual moment even if we were not having family night or prayer. I had some recent experiences that showed me that this is true!  For example, when we went to Florida over Spring break, I met my grandpa's new wife for the first time. I have been really sad since my grandma died and was nervous to meet his new wife. When we were at Disney World and having fun on the rides, getting wet on Splash Mountain, enjoying teasing each other, and eating good food, I found that I started to have loving feelings toward this new lady. In f...

NieNie Dialogues- March 8,2019 post In this post, Stephanie talked about how men and women, (husband and wife), complete each other and they don't have to be physically with each other because their roles and actions are the same because they have the same goals. She wrote about how a couple needs to be on the same page and be working toward the same thing.  She also talked about how the best relationship in her life was with Christian, her husband. For my challenge, I chose to observe my parents and see if they work together and have the same goals. I chose to watch them on a Saturday when we were working in our yard. I wanted to see if they worked well together. I saw how they took each others' ideas and worked on them together. They had a good time because they were with each other, even though they weren't doing the thing that they absolutely loved. I saw them discuss and compromise on many things. Usually, my mom would get her way, but my dad was happy and understo...

NieNie Dialogue post- February 27, 2019 In this blog post, Stephanie talked about how she loves it when her youngest sneaks into her bed to sleep with her. She points out that it's the little things like that that make people happy. She also said that she is grateful that she makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for her children's lunches. Even though she goes through many loaves of bread and many jars of peanut butter and jelly, she still was happy she got to do it. If she died in her plane crash, she wouldn't have the chance to make her children's lunches. It is small things that show love. When I was younger, I slept with my parents because I loved them so much. I loved sleeping with them because I was nervous and wanted to know they were there. Once I got a little bit older, I slept with them for a little bit and then they would move me to my own bed after I was asleep. Now, whenever my dad leaves on a business trip, I get to sleep with my mom even though I ...

NieNie Dialogues - February 6, 2019 post                           This post focused on mothers. Stephanie said, "I know not all women feel the same way I do, and I believe all women are valued and needed no matter what they choose to become in this life." She then went on to write about how much she loves her children and being a mother to them is her most important calling. After Stephanie's crash, she was devastated because the doctors told her that she would probably not be able to have any more children. She only had 4 at the time. Stephanie and her husband wanted to have a huge family because they both had come from large families. For my challenge, I chose to try to improve my future mothering skills. I decided that I would try to babysit more often and every single time, I would bring games and try to have more fun with them. I have been getting more people wanting me to babysit because I have shown them how gr...

At American Heritage School, in seventh grade, we do Master Projects. A Master Project is where you choose a person and do a huge assignment on them with the goal of learning about a person who made a difference in the world. The whole assignment is based on 4-Ring. You go through the steps of  Research, Reason, Relate and Record. For every Master Project, you read a biography on the person you chose to learn about and then you do various projects showing what you learned and you do activities that help you develop one of their positive qualities. You record all that you do. Some of the assignments are, interviewing them, doing a character chart, word study, a paper on the major settings in their life, service projects and art projects etc. Then you use a protocol that takes you step by step. For my Master Project, I chose Stephanie Nielson. Stephanie Nielson was in a terrible small plane crash. She was with her husband and her friend. Those two were flying the plane and Stephani...