love Archives - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Antonio

January 16, 2022October 28, 2022

A Miracle to be Seen

Written by Shanna Glover Wheeler

Traditionally this time of year is a time of reflection for so many people around the world. As my family and I have thought a lot about what the next year will bring, it’s looked a little bit different than it has in the past. You see, something happens when you’re told that you’ve got three to six months left to live. This is not the news I expected to hear at forty-five years old, after a three-year battle with breast cancer. It’s the kind of news that really makes you look long and hard in the mirror. It makes you contemplate your life, the choices you’ve made, and whether or not you’ve used the time you’ve had in ways that will leave a lasting impact on those you love the most.

Time is a funny thing when it’s something you’re running a little short of and it’s a masterful teacher. It’s taught me a unique perspective. Consequently, my family and I have learned a few lessons over the past few months. I’d love to share some of these with you.

“Why me?”

As I think back over the past number of years I can see how the Lord has been preparing me to come back home. Interestingly enough, I’ve seen His hand mostly in helping me prepare my children. My husband and I have ten kids. We’ve adopted eight of them and fostered another forty-two throughout our marriage. All of this has been especially challenging for them as most of my kids have already lost a parent and experienced so much trauma in their lives. Again and again I’ve asked, “Why wouldn’t God want me to be here to help them?Why me? I have more work left to do!” Daily I wrestled with these questions and the concept of needing to give my will to God.

Finding Peace

During this period I’d also been spending time at the temple. It was there that I was able to receive peace and was finally able to reconcile my will to His. The Spirit spoke to me and reminded me that I don’t stop being their mother when I’m not here on earth any longer. That fact doesn’t change regardless of which side of the veil I’m on. It was a beautiful reminder that being a wife and mother is what knits together my eternal identity. It’s who I am. Furthermore, my understanding deepened of why God made it possible for families to be eternal. It’s because He loves us! He doesn’t want us to be separated from those we love the most. I’ve felt so grateful for this perspective! I have received so much peace because of it. Continue reading “A Miracle to be Seen”

January 11, 2022October 28, 2022

The Center for Young Adults (CYFA) Makes Life Better

Written by Bryan Vogler

CYFA, also known as the Center for Young Adults has made my life better. One reason is because it’s given me something to do. I can choose to spend my time in countless ways. It’s easy to find myself caught in the time warp of electronics spending endless amounts of time on social media, watching movies, and video games. I can even spend my time sleeping and finding other ways to “take a break.” Now don’t get me wrong, those things aren’t “bad”, but they can definitely take way from the time I could be using to spend doing things that are better. Ultimately how I choose to spend my time may become a hindrance to my own happiness.

CFYA has given me a reason that helps peel myself away from doing things that are just ok, to doing things that are better for myself. I’ll also most likely have a better time than I would’ve had choosing the other activities.

The different classes offered at CFYA have helped me have a more consistent, clear and relevant personal study of the scriptures. In the past, I’ve struggled with making a habit of a daily personal study of the scriptures or talks from General Conference. The classes at the Center For Young Adults encourage me to make this a habit. I’ve found that the classes are a wonderful supplement to my own studies and also help provide a focus.

Sometimes I miss my personal study because life gets busy. However, because I’ve registered for a class and set aside the time to feed my soul at CFYA, it will ultimately help strengthen my spirit. If you were to think about the gospel word being like food, the classes you get at the Center for Young Adults isn’t just a little snack. It’s more like a big steak dinner! The things you learn in class give you the spiritual energy and nutrition you need to be productive and live happily.

There is also a wide variety and diversity of people who attend the Center for Young adults. This has had a huge impact on me. People from all sorts of backgrounds and different ways of thinking attend and are registered for classes there. I love hearing from people who are different than me and what their life is like. It’s so cool to see how the gospel attracts people with a huge variety of backgrounds. Continue reading “The Center for Young Adults (CYFA) Makes Life Better”

January 10, 2022October 28, 2022

Gratitude: A Lesson from a Monarch Butterfly

Prior to a couple of weeks ago, I don’t think I would have ever considered that a butterfly could express gratitude. I’ve always marveled at these tiny, little, beautiful creatures. They hatch, go into metamorphosis to become an adult, emerge subtly, yet magnificently only to make a 1500-3000 mile migration to warmer climates (that they’ve never been to before) to find a mate. And then? They die. The entire life cycle of a monarch takes up to 9 months. Incredible, right?

With all of those things considered, I would have ever considered that a tiny, little creature could have such a big impact on my kids and our family.

Over Christmas break my daughter and I went for a walk each morning. This particular day she chose to walk with me and help push her younger sister in the stroller rather than riding her bike. It was probably about 40 degrees which, I know, I know.. isn’t insanely cold.. but this is Texas y’all. We don’t own a lot of warm clothes.. we completely forget how to drive and we don’t have the right tools to deal with colder weather. I can’t count the number of times I’ve scraped ice off my windshield with the edge of a CD case! Nevertheless, there we were with an itch to get out of the house, regardless of the temperature outside. Continue reading “Gratitude: A Lesson from a Monarch Butterfly”

January 1, 2022October 28, 2022

The Gift

Written by Kristen Pack

A couple of weeks ago I was working at my computer. It was relatively quiet in the house, a feature some homes enjoy but in ours it usually means one of our little blessings is either creating sharpie colored Picasso’s on the wall, “going for a swim” in the toilet bowl, or opening all of the yogurt cups and “taste testing” each one. Occasionally we’re surprised, but most of the time, well.. it’s just not the case. I winced, thinking about what form of catastrophe our youngest “curly-haired tornado 2.0” had conjured for me to have to spend the next three hours cleaning up. With it being a week before Christmas, in the middle of my busiest time of year professionally, pouring oodles of time into my church calling, creating all of the magic for Christmas to happen in our family.. it was three hours I did not have. Even as I type this, I can feel my heart rate increase. I turned slowly in my chair to see that the couch where she was sitting was abandoned, her sippee of milk turned on it’s side and her blanket, affectionately called “’Nuther one blanket” (because she has three and this is her favorite), crumpled in a little heap where she sat. I winced again and strained my ears to hear, searching for some sort of hint preparing my heart and mind for what was about to unfold. I took a breath again and slowly pushed myself away from my desk.

In the past decade that I’ve been a parent I’ve learned to be prepared for anything.. and by prepared I mean, have your camera ready to capture whatever weird/awesome/funny thing your kid is doing for the sole purpose of either posting to your social media circles so that others can commiserate or to pocket for later years if you need either proof or bribery. And so, prepare I did. As I pushed myself away from my desk I grabbed my cell phone and began stealthing through the house to find our little four-nado. As I walked into my bedroom I saw a light streaming through the master bathroom doorway and heard little rumpling sounds coming from the closet, followed by the words (which either could be interpreted as the sweetest sounds or some of the most terrifying), “She is going to love this.”

Continue reading “The Gift”