Happy Mother's Day! A celebration of all kinds of families. 

• Today the world received the news of the birth of the newest English royal baby: son (and 7th in line to the throne) of Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Harry says it is all amazing and he is "over the moon."

I'm grateful to my own mother who raised my 3 sisters and 2 brothers without a lot of money but with love and patience, and had a special love for her 12 grandchildren. She passed away in 2007 but would have loved being with her 4 daughters and four of her grand-daughters to celebrate my birthday just before my mission to DR in February 2010.

My daughter and young family saw me off and 18 months later welcomed me home from my first mission to the Dominican Republic in 2010.

 I loved watching this Kenyan mom

How fun to be a grandma! (2009)

As senior missionaries and friends, (away from our families except for the 3 Chileans on the left who live closer to their families), we have a special bond as women, as mothers and
grandmothers, aunts, friends.

Women throughout the world bond and enjoy each other's company through common experiences. I took this photo of these wonderful Bulgarian women, sharing the photo I took of them. (I had 2 cameras...will digital cameras soon be obsolete?) 

I am so grateful to be part of a family (as we all are), grateful to be a mother and grandmother, but am sensitive to other wonderful women not so blessed. The amazing thing about families is the different personalities, diverse talents, and challenges that every family faces, but it is in the family that we learn most and grow, hopefully developing eternal bonds with the chance and goal to return together in live again with our Heavenly Father. I'm also so appreciative of all who have helped me raise my children. Thanks!

My 5 children and new son-in-law Neil Chandler(2018)

Younger Utah grand kids (2018)

2017 Thanksgiving photo with (some of the ) cousins, siblings, kids and grand kids at my home in California. We miss all who couldn't be there!

Fun and funny de Schweinitz grand kids in Michigan

It is in the family we ideally learn God’s Plan of Happiness. He wants us to be useful and loving towards others. He wants us to believe in our own worth. He wants us to be innovative and solve our problems, turning to him for guidance. He wants to bless us for our obedience. He wants to forgive us when we repent. He wants to endow us with power. Everything he wants is about our ultimate happiness.

What the Savior came to do was anything but comfortable—both for Him and for those who chose to follow. Those who sought ease were offended when they found none. Those who sought hyper-intellectualism in a scholarly Messiahship were disappointed and left. And those who sought a warrior to tear down the Romans and establish Israel on high in the world’s eyes were perhaps most dejected of all.

Do we recognize Him today? Do we hear His voice, as sheep to the Shepherd? Or do we succumb to the same temptation that the ancient Jews did, hoping to hear what we want, how we want, blind all the while to what’s right in front of us? The Lord has more ways of communicating with us today than ever before: prophets, apostles, the scriptures, Priesthood blessings and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, to name just a few. Will we wait for Him to say what we want just the way we want to hear it? Or will we let Him work a mighty change in us, that we might hear His voice more clearly and come unto the Good Shepherd as his sheep of old? 

 Elder Holland, in April 2017 General Conference, put it this way: “‘Come as you are,’ a loving Father says to each of us, but He adds, ‘Don’t plan to stay as you are.’” In short, while Christ “is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing,” when we choose Him, we choose to change, not the other way around.

Sadly enough, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds. Talk about man creating God in his own image! (Holland, April 2014)

Mother'sDay (quote from an article by Michaela Proctor Hutchins)

"Mother’s Day isn’t always a celebratory day for everyone. This holiday can be an achy reminder for some that they cannot have children of their own, that they’ve lost a baby or child, that they were abused or left by a mother, that their own mother passed away, or that they dearly miss a child placed for adoption.For women who face any of these issues or others not mentioned, Mother’s Day can be poignant, but it can also be an opportunity for all of us to look around and acknowledge women who may not have families or lives that look typical but who strive to nurture and love in their roles and spheres. Put your arms around the women who come, and pass no judgement on the women who don’t. Make it a day to say, 'There is room for you here. We celebrate you.'”

In the DR, as in many places, there are wonderful people who love and help raise sweet children (these are in different  orphanages... where the church has played a role...we visited). In a "mundo perfecto" all children will receive the love and guidance they need.





I loved my visit with the children below, who are living in an orphanage in Ethiopia. I was so impressed with the young 19 year old American who got his father to put up the money to convert an old building and to take in from the street about 15 young boys. They are able to attend school, eat, sleep and play in a safe environment, and all seemed very happy and healthy. There are so many such wonderful men and women throughout the world.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “There is room for the single, for the married, for large families, and for the childless. There is room for those who once had questions regarding their faith and room for those who still do…In short, there is a place for everyone who loves God and honors His commandments…”
Jean Bingham, General President of our church-wide women's organization, said this week that we are all trying to figure out where we belong, and need to put our arms around each other, we need to sustain those put into leadership positions in the church. She said "the Lord is all out of perfect people, so He has to use imperfect people." In all our weaknesses we need, as expressed in my favorite scripture, "to press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men...endure to the end, and (we will have) eternal life.
I know we can all do something to help the world's children (young and old)!

What fun to share lunch and to associate with so many friends and wonderful women: Alma Umber (finishing her mission in 2 weeks to attend the birth of her first grandchild in Utah), Gabriela Huenchur (one of my first Chilean friends and Pathway English speaking partner), Fabiola Torrejon, dear friend and English student, Sisters Gallego and Bair (leaving her new mission after just a month to have shoulder surgery. A city bus stopped suddenly and she was thrown across the bus; US missionaries are usually sent home for surgeries; she will have to have therapy and be reassigned when ready to continue her mission). I will miss them and so many other dear friends in Chile. We learn much from each other and create eternal friendships.