Showered with so many blessings!!

Lydia is already one blessed little girl!!

My cousin Jill was right. I was so nervous about all of the things I needed to provide before Lydia arrived. Diapers, crib, stroller, car seat, clothes, the list goes on. It kept me up at night. My cousin Jill told me to not worry until after the baby showers telling me I would be surprised with how gracious people can be with helping me provide for my little girl.

Well she was right! I couldn't believe how much was provided for me.  I am WAY less stressed now knowing that I won't have to provide as much.

I had the baby showers this past weekend. My friend, Kimberly Gazaryan, threw the one on June 11.

She did an amazing job! The food, diaper cake, the cake, everything!! It was all fantastic. I had such a great time. She threw this shower for me and my friends. I was joined by people from church, classmates from school, and even some of my college professors! It was so wonderful! Here are some pictures to highlight that specific shower.

Gift from Auntie Kaylin. She is trying hard to become Lydia's favorite aunt.

 Including having a bib embroidered "I love my Auntie Kaylin."

 She has some competition with Jenni, Sarah, and Liz. :)

Me opening some gifts I was spoiled with. 

The cake she provided for the shower. It was mighty tasty!

The AMAZING diaper cake she made! 

(there were three other tiers decorating other tables around the room)

The next day, Sunday June 12, my sisters, along with my mom's help, threw me a really fun safari shower. Mom went wild with making cards for food and designing the templates for the games. Got to love my artsy mom! She even made a cheese ball that looked like a pineapple and it was TASTY!! Probably the biggest hit of the party. 

Yeah... it looked and tasted that good!

I had a really fun time a few nights before making the cupcakes with my sister Jen. They were funfetti. The wrappers were cheetah print on pink. Kaylin ordered little pawprints to put on top. I frosted them. They looked amazing! Almost to good to eat. But I ate them anyway. What can I say. I love cake. 

Don't they look awesome?! :)

Anyway. At this shower I was surrounded by family and some family friends. They spoiled me rotten with everything else I needed to prepare for Lydia's arrival. I got a lot of Golden books! It was so much fun to be surrounded by so many people who already showed so much love for my little girl.  It was so fun!

Here are some pictures to highlight the Safari Shower. :)

Kaylin presenting the Stroller/Car seat gift from my Mom, Dad, Jenni, and Kaylin!

Kaylin is already spoiling Lydia. Seriously!

The food table! It consisted of Fruit Bat Bites (the rocker with fruit in it), 

Elephant Droppings (Oreo Balls), Meat Eater Mints, Jungle Juice, 

and the Boa Ball with Crackers (Amazing Cheese ball.) Kim's Diaper cake was a center piece. 

My amazing sisters who threw the shower. Jen and Kaylin

Me, Jen, Kaylin, and my mom.

Anyway, this past weekend was such a huge blessing. It was so much fun. My Pt Cruiser was so packed with gifts that I couldn't see out of my back window. 

Thank you everyone for the wonderful time and showing so much love towards me and my coming daughter. I will never forget it.  Thank you. :)

Karin Marie

Most asked Questions and MY Personal Answers.

Not too long ago, I was asked many questions about my faith and what I believed. I was asked many questions about the LDS church. These are some of the most common questions I have been asked, and these are my own personal responses to them. 


If you have any other questions at all please ask. It is better to at least have an understanding of what each other believe rather than having misunderstandings. 


Karin


What is the difference between "Mormon" and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints?


Mormons and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are one in the same. Many people know us as "Mormons" because of the fact we use the Book of Mormon regularly as scripture.


Does your church practice polygamy?


No. Polygamy has not been practiced in nearly 120 years or so. In 1831 Joseph Smith was called to practice polygamy. It wasn't practiced or discussed openly until 1835 reaching its peak in the 1850's. When  polygamy was not needed in the church anymore, it was abandoned. 


How did you decide to become a Mormon?


This question takes a little bit more to answer. I was interested in my husband at school. I learned he was a Latter-Day Saint and wasn't sure what that met. I wanted to marry a Christian man that had the same beliefs and ideals that I did. We discussed all kinds of things about theology from our own faiths to others. Many questions I had about my own faith he was able to answer. He set up meetings for me to meet with the missionaries so I could ask more questions. They were able to answer them and they just made sense! I read the Book of Mormon a lot and prayed to know if it was the true word of God or not. I prayed that God would make it clear to me, and he did. Three months later I was baptized. 


What is the main difference between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Christianity?


The organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a Christian faith. It may not be mainstream, but it is a Christian faith with many of the same Christian theologies as many protestant faiths. 


These are the Articles of Faith that state what we believe. This is taken from lds.org. 

1We ^abelieve in ^bGod, the Eternal Father, and in His ^cSon, Jesus Christ, and in the ^dHoly Ghost.

 2We believe that men will be ^apunished for their ^bown sins, and not for Adam’s ^ctransgression.

 3We believe that through the ^aAtonement of Christ, all^bmankind may be ^csaved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

 4We believe that the first principles and ^aordinances of the Gospel are: first, ^bFaith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second,^cRepentance; third, ^dBaptism by ^eimmersion for the ^fremission of sins; fourth, Laying on of ^ghands for the ^hgift of the Holy Ghost.

 5We believe that a man must be ^acalled of God, by ^bprophecy, and by the laying on of ^chands by those who are in ^dauthority, to^epreach the Gospel and administer in the ^fordinances thereof.

 6We believe in the same ^aorganization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, ^bprophets, ^cpastors,^dteachers, ^eevangelists, and so forth.

 7We believe in the ^agift of ^btongues, ^cprophecy, ^drevelation,^evisions, ^fhealing, ^ginterpretation of tongues, and so forth.

 8We believe the ^aBible to be the ^bword of God as far as it is translated ^ccorrectly; we also believe the ^dBook of Mormon to be the word of God.

 9We believe all that God has ^arevealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet ^breveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

 10We believe in the literal ^agathering of Israel and in the restoration of the ^bTen Tribes; that ^cZion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will ^dreignpersonally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be ^erenewedand receive its ^fparadisiacal ^gglory.

 11We claim the ^aprivilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the ^bdictates of our own ^cconscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them ^dworship how, where, or what they may.

 12We believe in being ^asubject to ^bkings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in ^cobeying, honoring, and sustaining the ^dlaw.

 13^aWe believe in being ^bhonest, true, ^cchaste, ^dbenevolent, virtuous, and in doing ^egood to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we ^fhopeall things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to^gendure all things. If there is anything ^hvirtuous, ⁱlovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

We are extremely strong believers in Christ's resurrection. Christ's atonement and what he did for us is usually the main points of discussion.


Do you believe you have to be baptized to be saved?

Yes. Being baptized for the remission of sins is a large part of the salvation process. That ideal is mostly based off of the the scripture in John 3:5 "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." Most baptisms if you are raised in the church happen around the age of eight years old when the child is able to tell the difference between right and wrong, and make their own choice if they want to join the church or not.

Also, Christ was baptized and taught baptism. We believe we need to follow his example.

Why can't people who are not members of the church enter the temples?

We consider temples to be very sacred places. All people need to be spiritually worthy to enter the temple for it is the house of the Lord. 

Who makes the decision on who can enter the temple?

The Bishop and Stake President have the authority to decide who can and who cannot enter the temple. They interview everyone who wants to enter with the exact same interview questions. Depending on how those questions are answered it is decided if you are worthy to enter. If you are not worthy, they will work with you of repenting of those sins that are keeping you from entering so you can eventually enter the temple in the future. 

If you can't enter the temple does that mean you are not worthy of God's love?

Everyone is worthy of God's love. He loves all of us and wants us all to receive his many wonderful blessings. But not everyone is worthy of entering his sacred house. It is kind of like if you committed murder and haven't repented of that. You will not be worthy to enter the temple.

What if you stumble and are not worthy to go in?

That is what the interview process is for. If you are stumbling in your spiritual journey (which we all do) the Bishop works with you until you are able to enter the temple.

Why do you have to be a member of the church to enter the temple?

To enter the temple, because it is such a spiritual and sacred place, you have to go through steps to enter. It is kind of similar to taking a test. You don't just hop in and take the test. You have to study and prepare before you can take it. Even as members of the church we have to go through certain steps to enter the temple. Baptism by the proper authority is one of them. I had to take a temple preparation class to help me prepare to enter. You have to have the right education before you can enter. 

Why didn't you have your husband join your church instead of joining his?

I did not join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to marry my husband or for anyone else. I joined on my own accord. I prayed and sought out the truth. I joined because I truly believe the fullness of the gospel that this church teaches. It is true. No question.

I thought that faith and Christianity was about your relationship with God, not about religion.

Your relationship with your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are VERY important. The thing is, that Jesus taught more than just about relationships. He also taught about how to maintain those relationships and what you need to do to get closer with our Heavenly Father. Jesus taught behaviors and actions and to build a relationship, like any relationship, you have to do some of those things. 

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