I am grateful for all of the families that continue to teach their children righteousness in these difficult times. I am grateful for my own family that instilled these truths in me. I know the Family Proclamation will guide us today and for many more years to come.

 “Hi Daddy! How are you?”, I cheered as I ran into the kitchen with my bouncing piggy tails.“I’m doing great Ashley! How was your day at school?”, he replied. I took in a big breath as I excitedly let out my good news, “Since it was fun day Friday we got to learn about jobs today and we get to have our Mommies and Daddies come to school next week to share their jobs with the class.” Ashley smiled at her Dad as he slowly stirred the soup he was making for dinner. A big great smile grew across his face. He leaned down and picked Ashley up. He held her tight and whispered in her ear, “We can’t wait.”

Ashley wiggled out of her Dad’s arms and ran upstairs to wait for her Mommy to return from work. Ashley quietly thought to herself while looking out the big window upstairs of how she couldn’t wait to be just like her parents. My Mom sells houses and my Dad sells software. Both of my parents work very hard. They take turns helping make dinner while the other is still at work. They spend time with me before I go to bed every night. I love them both very much. I try to be a big helper by giving lots of hugs, helping make meals with them, and color lots of pictures for them. 

“Daddy?”, I asked as I skipped down the stairs. “Yes?”, he replied. “Where is mommy? When will she be home from work?” Dad had a tear roll down his cheek. As he quickly wiped it away and put on a half-smile he said, “She didn’t go to work today sweetie. She is in bed. She had something happen today, but she is alright. We will talk about it together tonight. Will you wake your mom up with some kisses and let her know dinner is done?” Confused I held his hand and told him Mommy will be okay.

 I quietly peeked into their room where she was sleeping. I stepped up to the bed and put my hand on her growing belly. I like to feel her belly get bigger and bigger from baby Carson. But when I put my hand on her tummy it wasn’t very big anymore. My Mom rolled over slowly and brought me into bed with her. Her face was all puffy from crying. I held her tight as she cried softly. “I love you.” I whispered. “I love you more.” She whispered back.

As I told her dinner was ready she slowly got out of bed holding her belly and made her way to the kitchen table. Dinner was quiet that night. My parents held hands as they ate and looked at each other sweetly. I pushed my peas around on my plate and suddenly I realized my parents were sad, but I remembered what makes us happy. Spending time as a family made us happy. Family home evening is the best! We get to spend time together on those nights. Sometimes we play games or watch a movie. Sometimes we go to the park too. But we always have a short lesson at the beginning. “Can we do family home evening tonight even though it's Friday?”, I asked. They both smiled and answered together and said, “Yes. Tonight will be special. We are going to talk about faith and family.” 

As we gathered around in the living room we started with a prayer. After the prayer was said my Daddy held in his hands The Family: A Proclamation To The World that hangs on our wall every day. He read aloud, “The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.” I could feel a warmness cover my whole body. I looked at my parents as they wept. 

When my father was done reading he took in a deep breath and said, “Ashley, baby Carson has gone back to heaven with Heavenly Father.” I began to feel sad and asked, “Why? Why couldn’t he stay with us?” My parents explained to me that, “sometimes Heavenly Father blesses Mommies and Daddies with kids, but sometimes they aren’t ready to stay with us. Heavenly Father wanted Carson to stay with him in Heaven.” My Mom expressed that because they go to the temple and keep the promises they make with Heavenly Father that we will be able to see baby Carson again one day. “Really? I will get to see my little brother again someday? I am so happy.”, I exclaimed.

“Ashley, we are so thankful you have such a pure faith in these truths. We know we need to be obedient and then we can go to Heaven and be with each other for eternity. Do you remember what faith is Ashley?”, they asked. “Faith is when we choose to believe even when we don’t know all the answers.”, I replied. "I know when I have faith that it can help me be happy even when sad things happen to our family." 

I know Heavenly Father will let me be with my family if I make good choices. “Can we go see the temple?”, I asked. “That is a great idea, but not tonight. It's late! We can go first thing tomorrow”, My mother expressed. The house fell asleep quickly that night. My parent's kisses woke me up that next morning. They picked me up and put me in the car. As we drove and got closer to the temple my family started to sing my favorite primary song. “Families can be together forever through Heavenly Father’s plan. I know I want to be with my whole family and the Lord has shown me how I can. The Lord has shown me how I can.” We sang the whole way to the temple. 

As we got out of the car I could see the pretty white walls. I walked quickly with my arms folded till I reached the temple. My parents soon caught up to me. I placed my little hand on the big white doors and turned to my parents. “Can I go in some day?”, I wondered. My Father replied, "Yes you can. As you get older and stay obedient you can too enter the temple and make the same promises that we have.” I smiled softly. I am so happy we have a temple nearby. Footsteps began to come up quietly behind us. I quickly turned my head to see who it was. It was Me-maw and Pa-pa! They hugged my parents tight and then hugged me. I am glad my Grandparents are with us. It’s always so fun to have them around. 

After the temple we went and got breakfast together. Then we went to Grandma's and Grandpa's house. I got to watch Saturday cartoons! After spending all day there as a family we returned home. When we got home it was dark. We were all very tired. As my parents tucked me in I fell sound asleep. I could feel their soft lips kiss my cheek. A little while later I woke up because I was thirsty. The clock said 11:30. I tip toed downstairs and opened the fridge. In the fridge was my yummy chocolate milk from earlier. Walking away from the fridge with my chocolate milk in hand I could hear my parents crying. When at their door I could see them holding each other. They were kneeling down and saying their prayers. 

They asked for strength during these hard times and that they could be blessed with peace. It made me sad to see my parents cry, but I knew Heavenly Father was listening. When my parents finished their prayer they turned to each other and said, “We can get through this. I know the Lord is with us.” Before my parents could hear me I ran back upstairs and jumped into bed. 

The morning came quickly. The sun peered in through my window and tickled my face. I jumped out of bed and got ready for church. Every Sunday morning my Mommy always makes us delicious pancakes for breakfast. My Dad and I ate all of them till our bellies were full! “Thank you for saying your prayers.”, I squeaked with a mouth of full of pancakes. “What do you mean?”, they giggled. “I heard you praying last night. It makes me happy that you talk to Heavenly Father.”, I replied.

They both held me tightly and told me that they were proud of me for listening to what they have taught me. My Dad said, ”You have the chance to do so many things that make us and Heavenly Father very happy.” “Like going to church today?”, I asked. “Yes and saying prayers, reading scriptures, being nice to others, going to the temple, and so much more!”, he beamed. When I do all of these things Heavenly Father is happy and proud of me. 

As I got ready for church I could hardly wait to sing to my Mom for Mother's Day. My little body wiggled like a worm in the church chair as I waited for Sister Wells to tell us we could come onto the stand to sing our song. As we sang I was so happy because I love my Mom so much. All the day at church we spoke about them and all that they do for us. My Mother loved her gift and I couldn't wait to tell my best friend all about! The night came and went and soon I was up again to start the day. Monday means I get to go to school! I got ready as quick as I could and sprang downstairs with my bouncing backpack.

I quickly finished eating my cereal and screamed when I saw the clock. There was only five minutes left until my bus would get here. My Mother chuckled at my reaction. I grabbed her hand as we rushed into the bathroom. She pulled out two matching hair clips to go with my pink outfit. As I ran to grab my back pack, Daddy handed me my lunch and they both gave me a big kiss. “Have a great day at school!”, they yelled as I ran out the door. “Remember who you are and that we love you!”, their words echoed as I climbed into the bus. 

My best friend Sammy saved my seat. Sammy asked how my Mother’s Day went. “It was great! I gave her my gift that we made in class!”, I replied. She loved it. I drew lots of pictures and wrote all of the things that she does that I am grateful for. She makes me food. She helps me when I am sad. She teaches me. She tells me I am beautiful. She is fun and beautiful! I love my Mom.

The bell rang as we got to our seats. My first grade teacher is Mrs. Daisy. She held up her hand to remind us to be quiet because she would begin talking soon. We all raised our hands until the whole room fell silent. “Good Morning class! How was Mother’s Day and how did your Mom’s love your gift?”, she sang. All of our hands popped up into the air as we squirmed in our chairs waiting to be called on. We each got to talk about the special weekend we had. Mrs. Daisy was pleased with all of our stories and she began to scribble on her chalkboard in big letters. “What does this say?”, she asked. We all yelled, “Father’s Day!” I already realized what we would get to do today. She passed out colored paper in the shape of ties. “Today we are going to start our Father’s day gifts.

Father’s day is about a month away. So today we are going to color these fun ties and write what they do for us that we are grateful for.” Everyone was busy coloring their ties and writing little notes to their Dads. I knew exactly what I wanted to write. I love my Daddy! He goes to work for us and helps us have a house. He also teaches my Mom and I every day. He helps us know what we should do. He also gives me blessings when I am sick or sad. As I finished putting the last sparkly sticker on my tie I smiled seeing everything that I had written down. I hope he will like it! 

As I was finishing up my Father's day card something sparkly caught my eye. A pretty pink pencil was shimmering on the desk next to me. "Kate, can I used your pretty pink pencil?", I pleaded. "Sure! Just give it back when you are done." I held the pencil in my hand and knew that I wanted it to be mine. I tried to use it for everything in class that day so I could use it as long as possible. I used it for my spelling test, my math quiz, and my doodling. I love this pencil, I thought to my self. The time came to give it back to Kate my desk buddy, but I just couldn't. As the bell rang I ran out of the classroom with the sparkling pencil in my hand. My tummy felt sick as I ran out of the room, but I thought... Oh, well she will understand.