The Last has Returned

My baby brother, Russell, has returned home from his mission in Colombia! 

He and I are exactly 5 years and 1 day apart. 

(He totally ruined my 5th birthday party by being born.... I have since forgiven him.)

My family, the Steeds, are super close. We all really like each other. And with us all living different places when we get together it's basically a non-stop party.

It is especially fun to have Doug and Russ back together, they are best friends and brothers and it's been 4 years since they were separated. 

Aren't they adorable?

And having four older sisters there isn't much about girls they don't know, which means they will be fantastic husbands. But currently they are both single... wink, wink.

Speaking of Doug, he made a couple of videos in anticipation for Russell's return, please enjoy:

It's my family

Last week I went to a funeral. 
Her name was Hortense Smith she was the wife to my great uncle Eldred G. Smith and truly an amazing woman. 
It was a beautiful service full of many wonderful stories and memories of her. 


I went with my mom. We walked in took our seats, looked up at the stand, and were not so surprised to see Elder Ballard sitting there, he is a Smith. But sitting next to Elder Ballard was President Monson. We were very pleased to see him, but not completely surprised he was there as well. 

So who are these people that they would warrant the attendance of a Prophet of God at their funeral services, you ask?


They are my family.


Did you know I have a rich Mormon heritage? 


I don't often talk about it. 
I am very proud of it, but for some reason I feel like if I tell people that my great grandfather was the Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith I am boasting or bragging. 


Especially if someone talks about their Mormon ancestors I will never bring up mine for fear of looking like a one-upper. (It's hard to top the fact that I am a direct decedent of Hyrum Smith, the brother of Joseph Smith. Unless of course if you are a direct decedent of Joseph, in which case we would be cousins.) 


But why? Why should I not share? Why am I afraid to tell people?


To be honest, there are a lot of us cousins out there, Smith isn't really a unique name. 


And to be fare most people already know the stories and backgrounds of my mormon ancestors. 
But maybe I could make them seem a little more real, more human. 
When I hear stories of my great grandfathers they have, what I believe are more special names than "Prophet" or "Elder" I know them as:
Grandaddy (Joseph Fielding Smith) and
Grandpapa (Joseph F. Smith)

This is a picture of my mother as a little girl with Grandaddy (Joseph Fielding) and Grandma Jessie. 

But then it starts getting confusing because I am actually a direct decedent of Hyrum Smith, twice.  


Hyrum (through his second wife Mary Fielding) begat Joseph F., who begat Joseph Fielding, who begat Mit, who begat Ruthie, who begat me.


Hyrum (through his first wife Jerusha) begat John, who begat Hyrum F., who begat Hyrum G., who begat Donna, who begat Ruthie, who begat me.

(That's a whole lot of Hyrums)

Did you know the Hyrum was called by the Joseph to be the Patriarch to the Church? And that calling actually was passed down from father to son since Joseph Smith Sr.? 


That calling still exists today with my great uncle Eldred G. Smith. 
He has traveled the globe giving many, many people their patriarchal blessings, including myself. I received my patriarchal blessing from him on September 11, 2001. 
True Story.
But now being 103 years-old (seriously) he is understandably not actively serving as Patriarch to the Church, his calling currently holds with it the "emeritus" standing. 
And with the growth of the church and the calling of "Patriarch" extended on a stake level there will never be a Patriarch to the Church again, there is no need.


Eldred also has in his possession the clothing that Joseph and Hyrum were martyred in. 
He and Hortense, over the years, have traveled all over giving firesides and showing the clothing along with other artifacts that were owned by the Joseph Smith Sr. Family. Including Hyrum Smith's sunglasses from 1844. 

Cool, yeah?

I feel honored knowing the blood of prophets run through my veins. 

Makes me feel as though I have a legacy to live up to. That I am capable of great things. 

But shouldn't we all feel that way? Whether we are descended from kings or beggars, prophets or thieves, we are all children of God...our potential is limitless.

Other family members you may have heard of:
-Mary Fielding Smith
-Bruce R. McConkie
-M. Russell Ballard
-Dallin H. Oaks (through marriage)

Day 23:

A picture of your favorite book:

I love this book. I just read it over and over again and it enriches my life every time I open it. If you don't know much about it, go here

Day 07: most treasured item

A Picture of your most treasured item:

I actually thought about this for a long time, there are many things that I really love and treasure. But if any of those items were lost, don't get me wrong I would be sad, but I wouldn't be devastated. So what item do I have that is above all my most treasured?

And then it clicked, the thing I treasure most is my Temple Recommend. Not that I treasure a piece of paper, but I treasure what that piece of paper means. It means I am living my life in accordance to how I know my Heavenly Father would want me to live. It means I am able to be in The Lord's House, a place where He dwells and His Spirit is unrestrained.

I love The Temple.

Best Calling Ever

Yesterday was the first day of my new calling. And as a fact it happens to be the best calling there is, I know, I voted. Now you are curious, what could be better than your calling? Well I will tell you, in fact Jesus will tell you, because......

There is nothing better than those little 3-year-olds. I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time. I actually need to come up with a more discreet way of laughing rather then putting the paper in front of my face. I am lucky enough to be a sun-beam teacher but the fact that I get my mom to be my co-teacher is the jack-pot!

To illistrate I want to tell the following story:

It was my turn to give the lesson which was: "I Can be Kind to Animals" (Trevor thinks it was divine intervention I gave this lesson because I really don't like animals, but that's besides the point). There was an activity in the lesson that we "fish" for animals: I made a fishing pole with a stick, string, and a magnent taped to the end so when they "fished" the paper clip that was attached to the picture of the animal would connect to the magnent and they could pick up each animal.

During primary I had the "fishing pole" propped up against the wall and a little boy names Dane started to play with the magnent. He asked me what it was, I told him it was a surprise and that he would have to wait for class-time. He proceeded to guess, "Is it a Rock?" "No" "Is it a button?" "No" "Is it a diamond?" "No, it's a surprise. Please put it down and you will find out what it is when we go to class."

He then proceeds to play with it, when he let go there happened to be a metal ciruit breaker
box right by his chair, (why anyone would put anything low enough for a 3-year-old to get to, especially in the primary room is beyond me) well, it got close enough to have the reaction magnents are famous for....

with a little snap the magnent attached to the metal and did not pull away. Dane watched all of this and stared at the magnent for a minute before looking up at me with huge wide eyes and a big grin

"IT'S CHOCOLATE!!"



What?!?

And that, my dear friends, is only part of what I have to look forward to every Sunday!

Jealous?? You should be.