SISTER KELSEY GISH

Sister Kelsey Gish was set apart as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on February 14th, 2012.  Besides being Valentines Day, this is also a very special day in the Gish house, even as it pertains to missions.  Elder Tyler Gish entered the MTC just 5 short years earlier on Valentines Day 2007.  So in our house Valentines Day and Missions have connected. 

Sister Kelsey Gish was set apart by President Judd.  It was a beautiful blessing, one that gave me the much needed peace.  Just hours before going into the office, even up until the time we were there, I had short nerves and was ready to cry at the drop of a hat.  By the time I left the office, I had so much more peace.  Then that evening my Husband pronounced a blessing on me, with 2 of my son's Tyler and Braydon, which gave me an even greater measure of peace.  Kelsey also recognized her Heavenly Fathers Love through the blessing.  She has seen how these various blessings in her life are tied together.  First her Patriarchal blessing was connected to Braydon's Blessing (which helped her to finially decide to go on a mission), and Braydon's Blessing was connected to the setting apart blessing.  I am so grateful for the priesthood in my life, and the power and blessing it has been to our family.

So, since Kelsey was set apart and needed now to have a constant companion, guess who was able to be her companion. You are right it was me, I have always wanted to serve a mission, and this was the closest I have gotten so far.  My first companion, Sister Kelsey Gish!!  I tried to be the best compantion ever =D 

We woke up at 6:30 because that is what time missionaries are supposed to wake up, and we wanted to follow mission rules.  We spent the morning pulling last minute things together, then we got ready to go out to breakfast at Village Inn.  It was just the family living at home, and Grandma Tirrell.  Kelsey then said a quick goodbye to Tina and Grandma Gish and we were off.  We went to the Temple for some last minute pictures with Sister Gish, then we had to be to the the MTC about 12:30.  So we pulled up and got her luggage out and hugged her took some quick last minute pictures and she was off.  It maybe took about 2 minutes.  That's it...DONE...it was a drive through drop off.  She walked the same direction we were heading, and so we were able to drive past her and wave one last time. 

Yes there were a few tears on the way home.  This will however be such a great experience for her!!  I am so excited to hear the stories of Sister Gish in Russia!!

GOODBYE SISTER GISH...

 

...WE LOVE YOU!!!

WE'LL SING and SHOUT IN GRATITUDE, "THE OQUIRRH MOUNTAIN TEMPLE"

February 8th, 2012 was a very special day in the Gish Family.  There were no fireworks, no big celebrations, the celebration was more on the quiet side.  However the celebration was on of consequential nature.  It was anticipated for many years, and it happened....on February 8th, 2012.

What was this day of such importance you ask?  First I will give you a clue, and then I will tell you.  The clue happened on February 1st, 2012.  Do you remember?  It was in my last post..........That's right Braydon received his mission call.  So, do you know yet? 
OK no more waiting.....Braydon had a very special day. 

Braydon Received his Endowments in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  Usually when a missionary is called they do not go through quite this fast.  It takes some time to get everything in order, but we were able to make it work.  It was important because Kelsey was going to be leaving for her mission on the 15th of February.  In fact she should have already been gone on her mission, but because they were putting her on a test pilot program she was still here.  It was a simple gathering that came, It was Joe, myself, Kelsey, Grandma Tirrell, Braydon and a couple Family friends.  The most exiting part is Kelsey and Braydon were able to go through the Temple together.  It was a definate Tender Mercy, one of which I was grateful for.   

I know that Braydon was ready for this.  He had spent the last 2+ years going to the Temple every week.  He has brought that special spirit into our house every week.  Now he can go and do other work in the Temple and he can also help with the baptisms and confirmations since he is Endowed.  

It really was a simple occasion.  To the outside world they may not have noticed that a very important event happened.  I know that this event is of an Eternal Nature.  One that can and will bless the lives of many.  I for one am so Proud of Braydon Derris Gish.  I know that as he continues to go to the Temple he will bless the lives of many on both sides of the veil.  I also know this is the Temple Braydon has visited the Most, in a manner of speaking it is his Temple, it is our Temple.  Braydon Loves Temple Work, he is Grateful for it being so close.  It has become a big part of who he is.  It has helped MAKE him who he is.  

 CALLED TO SERVE HIM....

Soon to be....Sister Gish & Elder Gish

Braydon Derris Gish

With Grandma Tirrell, Mom & Dad

WE'LL SING & SHOUT IN GRATITUDE

THE OQUIRRH MOUNTAIN TEMPLE

                               









I HOPE THEY CALL ME ON A MISSION TAKE TWO!!!

I am so GRATEFUL!!!  I have beens so blessed!!! 

Let me explain...Just about 5 months ago Kelsey recieved her mission call (Take ONE) and on February 1st Braydon received his mission call (Take Two).

On Feburary 1st, 2012 Braydon Received his mission call.  There have been and continue to be Tender Mercies in our lives.  One such Tender Mercy was the fact that Kelsey was there when Braydon opened his call.  I do not know if you remember from a previous post, but Kelsey's date for departure into the MTC was on the 1st of February.  It would have been so hard to make that work since she needed to report at the MTC about 12:30, and the mail does not come until about 3:00.  Kelsey recieved a letter from the Bishop, that came to President Judd, letting her know to report to the MTC on the 15th of Feburary.  Kelsey is to be part of a piolot program to see if her group can learn Russian in the MTC in 10 weeks instead of the 12 weeks that they are normally alloted.  The missionaries will leave for Russia at the same time.  So, in that 2 week period Kelsey was able to witness her little brother open his mission call.  There is one other big miricale out of this, but I will share it in my next post.

So on to the the big day...February 1st we knew that he would more than likely receive his call.  It had been about 13 days and he talked to President Scott and he said it had been assigned.  So, we were so excited to get that white envelope.  The missionariy envelopes are known to arrive in Salt Lake City on a Wednesday.  That makes Wednesday a pretty special day.  It is also the day the missionaries arrive in the MTC.  I will say that Feburary 1st was a close to perfect day.  There was little to no contention, which usually is unheard of.  That is not to say there was not any before or after that day.  I know the adversary is real, because anything that is good, there is always, always a pull from the opposite force.  However, February 1st was a good day.  Before Braydon received his call Braydon, Kelsey and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple together.  I know my time is limited with them before thier missions, so that was so wonderful.  There really was a beautiful spirit there.  It was not very busy and we were able to get right in.  Kelsey and I did alot of Hungarian Names, and some of the Names that stood out for Braydon were form Mexico.  After we were finished and getting ready to leave, the Temple workers came up and talked to us.  They were so excited for Braydon and Kelsey.  There is so much LOVE in the Temples.

On to the CALL...It was near 3pm, our mail comes from 3-4.  So, Quinten Braydon, and I started looking out the front room window.  Quinten saw the mailman going into the culdesac next to us.  We were so excited, would it turn here next.  Well, we watched with anticipation....and...it DID.  So we saw him put in the letters, but it did not look like a mission call, then he reached over and there it was a big white envelope.  Quinten ran outside to get it.  We were all so excited!!!

Here is Braydon with the call right after the mailman delivered it. 

He is so HAPPY!!!

Put the Mission Call Away for SAFE KEEPING...

Now onto the opening....

First invite family and close friends (check)

Make cookies for family and close friends (check)

Get tags so family and friends

can put their guess on the map (check)

WE are READY....

and

HERE THEY COME to SEE where BRAYDON will be SERVING

Guesses are put on the map...

Waiting...

It is now TIME...

ELDER GISH...

 

You have been Called to Serve in... 

 

NAGOYA, JAPAN

Braydon was so excited for his MISSION CALL,

he has been preparing for this moment for 18 years...



PayDAys come in so MANY forms, BuT today's PayDAy was the BEST!!!

I just had what I call a PAY DAY!!  I did not get any money, I did not even get anything of monetary value.  However it was a LARGE PAYDAY!!  This special day happened December 10, 2011.  As you know Kelsey, my only daughter is preparing for a mission. For those who may not know, when missionaries get their mission call they are then able to go through the Temple.  Maybe now you can guess what happened on December 10th.  Yes, you are right, Kelsey went through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. 

This is our Temple (not really, but we like to call it ours), and it is special to our whole family.  We LOVE Temples and here are some recent Temple opportunities:

• First of all this is the Temple Tyler and Amanda were married in, almost one year ago.
• I had the opportunity to help write a third verse to the song "I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE", for our Cobble Creek Stake which the Primary children love.  
• There is a Sacred Temple, That I can call my own. A Beacon on a hillside, And its nearby my home.  The GREATEST BLESSINGS CAN BE MINE, as I LEARN to LIVE the GOSPEL. We'll sing and shout in GRATITUDE, The OQUIRRH MOUNTAIN TEMPLE.   
• This Temple is only 5 miles away from our house and it is the one that we as a family visit the most, in fact as I used to run one of my longer runs was to the Temple and back, and I loved it. 
• Braydon has set a goal to go to the Temple weekly, he has done this for nearly 2 years and this is the Temple he most often visits. 
• Kelsey also has some great Temple traditions that she has established.  One is when conference week  rolls around you will often find Kelsey each day at the Temple so she can be better prepared for the message on Saturday and Sunday. 
• Devyn also goes to the Temple often, he likes to visit once a month.  Devyn has been the one in our family that has visited the most Temples in Utah.  He has been to 9 of the 13, soon to be 15 Temples.  Some of those he went with groups and some just he and his mom went to visit.
•  Quinten is following the examples of his older siblings and he is going to the Temple once a month.  In fact that was his gift to his Savior in 2011, that from his birthday on he would go to the Temple once a month and he has already completed his goal for the year. 

So yes Temples are of great importance to the Gish family.

Anyway, I guess I did get sidetracked on the Temple theme because I love them so much.  Now back to my PAYDAY.  First of all scheduling for anything can be difficult.  It was not different here.  We wanted our whole family there, but since Tyler and Amanda live in Logan and finals were looming and Amanda is teaching, it was difficult to match schedules.  We decided we would just schedule the earliest appointment we could and have Kelsey her grandma Tirrell, Joe and I go through with her.  It would be a small group, but she wanted to go, so she could keep going.  So, that being said, the Tuesday before we went we tried to schedule an appointment.  Kelsey wanted as soon as she possibly could, however with her work, and when the Temple could schedule a time it ended up being Saturday evening.  That is a busy night typically being date night, but this is the time that worked best overall.  Well we decided being a Saturday night maybe aunts and uncles could come.  I could not believe the desire of my brothers and their wives and Joe's brother Merle and his wife.  They all were so excited and wanted to be there.  Not all could make it for various reasons.  I thought it was an amazing turn out for last minute.  Kesley had many there that she loved and she was ready.  That is one thing that a Temple worker that was with her and helping her most of the time said to me.  She is really ready for this.  Yes, Kelsey was prepared.  Because of this the spirit was felt very strong, not only for Kelsey but I am sure for all that knew here and were there with her.  Thank you Kelsey for your LOVE of the gospel.  I sure do LOVE being a MoM, have I ever said that?  It is also pretty sweet being a wife!  So, there were sweet experiences at the Temple, some that will be in my heart forever.  So, no money can give me what Saturday, December 10th gave me. 

We'll SING and SHOUT in GRATITUDE The OQUIRRH MOUNTAIN TEMPLE!!!

I HOPE THEY CALL ME ON A MISSION TO....

Its here, Its HERE...

No way it was just submitted 9 days ago...
and it is HERE...

There are so many tender mercies (blessings) that sometimes we are not even aware they are there.  Our Heavenly Father LOVES us so much and he wants us to be happy!!!  Of this I know.   I want to share some insite to this very special day.  I will start with October 26, 2011.  This day was really no different than most other days at the Gish home.  In fact it was really quite typical.  There was one thing that set this day apart from other days.  This happened after I went to pick up Kelsey from work at Deseret Book.  We might have gone for a drive after because this is something I love to do with my children.  I do know however we pulled into the driveway of our house and just kept talking.  We knew Quinten was in the house and would love to see us come in, but we kept talking.  While talking we saw the mail man go to our house with some type of package (probably for Joe).  I wondered quickly what it might be, then it left my thoughts just as quick.  We decided to go in and as we entered Quinten had an envelope that he was examining.  He said something like Church of Jesus Christ and this is for Kelsey.  It didn't take long to realize that it was Kelsey's mission call.  It continued with Quinten and me screaming and Kelsey in a mild form of shock.  We did not even plan on it coming on that day.  We knew most mission calls came on Wednesday, but this was only the 9 days from being submitted.  So now what....where do we open it...when...we really were not to prepared.  Really, how hard can this be to open a Missionary Call.  We did want family there and Kelsey had already asked her Uncle Jason if she could open her mission call at his house when it came.  So we just made a few calls to invite family and friends.  We also had to wait for Braydon to come home from his important BYU basketball game. 

So we waited and waited and at about 10pm we had all that were going to come there.  WAITING....and EXCITED about what this letter held.  We knew this would change Kelsey's life and ultimately the families lives.  

Joe, Devyn, Quinten, Ryan and Jason Waiting Patiently

Two of Kelsey's Best Friends Cicely Fabiano and Melissa Eisert

So HERE WE GO....ARE YOU READY FOR THIS....

  

Opening...Wait first is everyone on the phone? 

OK... 

 

Now watch the next three pictures really close and you can almost see her mouth the words...

TO

MOSCOW

RUSSIA!!!

Did you see that we caught her words.



...and then a BIG HUG from mom...



What a special day.  This is a day Kelsey has been preparing for, for the last 21 years.  She has always wanted to go on a mission.  ALWAYS...and now it is her time to serve.  There are some interesting points that may or may not have lead up to this mission.  I do know however that there is someone greater at the head and we often are prepared for things before they happen.

• It started back when I was in the 6th grade I took Russian from my Uncle Howard.  I also participated in a Russian Dance Group where we danced and I also played the accordian.  This group performed all over.  This definitely brought back a flood of memories, and was one of my favorite childhood memories 
• Kelsey had a cute Russian friend who lived next door to us in Glendale.  They looked  like twins, it was amazing.  We loved this family, who now the children are all grown up and making their own way.
• My mom and dad befriended a Russian couple shortly after coming to America.  I believe they were the Russian Family that I met.  
• One interesting point was when my father guessed that my son Tyler was going on his mission to Russia.  My father passed away before he was able to witness where Tyler was going, and Tyler was called to the Belgium, Brussels Netherlands Mission, so he did not guess right.  My father might have known something however because now Kelsey is going there.   
• Kelsey guessed Braydon's best friend (Austin Argyle) was going to Russia just weeks before she opened hers.  He is going to Spain.  
• Since she has opened her call we have found and met several Russians, or people who have gone to Russia.  Our very own neighbor 2 doors down is a Russian lady.  She is not a member of the Church, but she is very sweet and she is helping Kelsey with her Russian.  Mostly by reading in the Russian Book of Mormon. 

Really there is a bigger hand in all of this, and we can see it.  

Sister Gish is going to the Moscow, Russian Mission

she will report to the Provo MTC on February 1, 2012.   



Surprise!!! Your mom’s a bLOgGer!!!

Everyone needs to start somewhere and this is me starting a blog. I know...I know, I am shocked too. It reminds me of something that happened about 3 years ago. I think I frightened my oldest child. At the time he was serving a mission in the Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission, and I FORGOT to tell him Happy Birthday. You see this might not have been a problem, but I could only e-mail him once a week and that moment had just slipped by. What kind of mother was I to forget my oldest son's birthday of whom I had not seen for almost two years. Well…I had an idea. This is where it gets a little spooky. I had just really started dabbling in facebook. I also had just recently met one of Tyler’s missionary friends Nathalie Van Emple from his mission in the Netherlands, who had since moved to Provo. She quickly became a facebook friend, which really ended up blessing my life more than I could have imagined. Nathalie had a sister in the Netherlands. Maybe you can guess the rest of the story...I will share anyway, because to me this was a MIRACLE!! So, I contacted Catherine (Nathalie's sister) via facebook and was able to send a card to my oldest son ON his birthday. How in the World. This could not have happened even two years before. Anyway not for me =D So Elder Gish (Tyler) was in definite shock. MY MOM HAS A FACEBOOK...what has the world come to.

Well family, your mom has gone one step further...she has started a blog. Not sure how good I will be or if I will become famous, can't guarantee I won't embarrass anyone. Mostly myself with my FaNTasTiC writing skills. But, none the less I am starting a blog. Because....We definitely have GiShuEs!!!