Husband threatened to take the Halloween candy with him to work tomorrow if the kids don't behave. Me who didn't eat anything but 6 fun size twix's today:

Here's my talk: ------------------- Families can be together forever 10/25/26 In 1993, my mother gave birth to a daughter who spent 8 months in the NICU. She fought for every breath, instinctively knowing how precious every moment is, until eventually, her lungs could not continue to fulfill their duty to her growing body. At the age of 16, with me in her womb, and with very little support, my mother had to make the decision to let her first child die. They turned off her oxygen and the Lord took her home. Two months later, My paternal great grandmother, who was integral to our family and much beloved, past beyond the veil just 12 hours before I was born. I entered the world at a time of intense turmoil, a sort of light in the dark, I suppose. As such, death and loss was familiar to me at an early age. It left me with many questions. I frequently considered the fate of these souls that passed before me. Would I ever meet them? Is it true that infants who aren't baptized go to Hell? How could that be? I never felt truly satisfied with the answers I received until learning about our heavenly fathers plan of happiness and the joy of eternal families. Two of the most spectacular moments for the journey of our eternal spirit is that of birth and death. The moment in which we enter this world—spirit to body—and leave it. The next greatest moment is the joining of two souls in the new and everlasting covenant—the sealing ordinance—performed by one with authority in the House of the Lord. A gift given by our Eternal Father to His children, that we may have hope in this promise—a Plan of Happiness—that families may be together forever on both sides of the veil. Moses 1:39 states “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” We are our Fathers Joy. Before we were born, we lived in families with our Heavenly Parents as spirit children. Because our Heavenly Father loves us, He has instituted a plan that enables us to progress and become like Him through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the making and keeping of sacred covenants. A plan that would allow us to open the doors to exhalation, to be with our families forever– progressing, growing, and learning. After my baptism, the most eager desire of my heart was to be sealed in the temple and start a family. I prayed every night that I would be led to the man that I’d be sealed to. This desire of family echoes our spirit’s memory of a premortality in heaven, when we experienced love in it’s purest form. Our desire to be with our family forever is heavenly and innately who we are. God commanded Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth” (genesis 1:28) this commandment is still enforce today. Families are the crowning glory of our time spent in this mortal probation and an essential source of everlasting joy. At this time of our life, we find our resources to be scarce. We have been blessed in abundance and the Lord always provides, but paychecks go quickly and nearing the time of pennies at the bottom of our coin purse, meals are prepared with what I can find. Sometimes this means leftovers are upcycled into creative concoctions so that nothing is wasted. I have young children who tend to turn their nose up at anything green or not strategically masked in cheese. After an especially long day, I combined ingredients to make a meal that I was sure my children would refuse to eat. I didn’t want another evening at the dinner table to be spent in a standoff and battle of wills. My husband came home after long hours spent working to provide for his family and approached me with a kiss. I expressed my concern to him and through his own exhaustion, sensing mine, he brought our children over to the stove, hoisted them up and encouraged them to add ingredients to my pot. With joy, Ezra added onion powder and willow added salt. (Continued)