I went to prison.

That's the bad news. The good news is that Paige has freckles! I love freckles! Always have and always will! Lately we've been spending as much time as possible outside and the other day I noticed the cutest, daintiest little spots on her cheeks. See?

So cute!

And about prison...they only kept me there for a couple hours and then they made me leave. I am now part of a group in this area that presents a musical elaboration of the "Parable of the Ten Virgins." *I'm not sure what the production is even officially called.--see next paragraph as to why* But the only reason I'm even writing this down is because it was one of the neatest experiences of my life. I was so excited before we got there because I knew we had the potential of really helping the women feel the love of God for them. However, when we arrived, my feelings changed. It was scary walking into multiple huge fences w/ barbed wire on top and the guards there kept warning us about all kinds of dangers. At this point all I felt was fear. As we dressed into our costumes, I said a silent prayer that we would be able to touch at least one person. For the rest of the night, I felt calm and I, too, felt the spirit testify to me of the great love our Father in Heaven and His Son have for us. However, I was also filled with a great love for the women. These women were criminals in our society, yes. They had committed major crimes. But to our Heavenly Father, these women were still His lovely, beautiful daughters with divine heritage and with divine potential. Each is still special to Him.

That night as we sang and spoke of struggles that each of us encounter, the Spirit reaffirmed to me that God's love is eternal, despite mistakes and that our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ has the ability to fix all our problems, carry our burdens, and heal our wounds; we simply have to turn to Him, reach for Him, ask for Him.

The reason I know so little about this is because the director called me Sunday night and asked if I could jump in last minute for a Wednesday performance. By the time I got the script and music I had less than 48 hours to memorize 2 songs and a monologue. sTReSs! However, I know that Heavenly Father strengthened me beyond my own abilities because I remembered my song and my lines better than I ever had while practicing. I get to be a permanent part of this now and I am very grateful!

As I said, we've been spending lots of time outside. The weather has been perfect for kite flying, so that's what Parker loves to do now!

And Parker and Paige have been playing so well together lately! It makes me happy to see and hear them grow into great friends!