1.25.15

It’s funny how a thought or idea can come to mind and it is something that you think about for some time. As most of you know, I teach preschool. We do a letter of the week for our theme and then I pick things starting with that letter to emphasize the letter. I’ve been doing this for a few years now and usually have the same ideas to pick from. This year for the letter “N” I thought of something a little different. I thought it would be fun to talk about their names. I asked all the parents to tell me how they got their names. This was so fun. I have loved hearing about all the different ways people get their names. So, this has been on my mind all week. I’ve been asking everyone, How did you get your name or how did you come up with that name for your child? The most common answers have been: something we just liked or named after a relative or someone that was looked up to and loved.

The 2 most original stories are: 

Layla Virgo in our ward and my preschool class, her parents took a list of their favorite names to the hospital. They said when she was born, she just didn’t look like any of the names, so they didn’t know what to do. A day or so after she was born, the dad went out to get some pizza and the song “Layla” by Eric Clapton was playing on the radio and he was like, that’s it.. so he went home and told his wife, and she said, you’re right, that’s it,so that is how she got her name.

The other one that had me laughing was Elder Bing in our ward, his name is Grady. He said his parents were going to name him, Baxter, but it kind of sounded like a bad word if said wrong. (I had to have someone explain it to me.. I didn’t get it at first.. ) Their other son was named Tucker, which can sound like a swear word sometimes, so they didn’t want to be bad parents.. so they decided to name him something different. hahaha  They heard the name Grady from someone saying it on the street in L.A. !! And liked it and named him that. He said he has only met or known of one other Grady.

Where did you get your name? I love hearing all the stories!

I got my name from my dad- his name is Don and my middle name is the same as my moms Kay. Donna Kay. Melissa Kay got her name from my best friend and roommate in college, her name is Shelly Melissa. She got to meet her namesake a couple of years ago. (Another interesting thing I heard was people being named after college or good friends, but never having met them before). And obviously her middle name Kay after me and her grandma. Keagan was a name I had heard only once before and I really liked it. It means little and fiery.. but I didn’t know that until after we named him. It fit for the first 12 years or so of his life. He can still be pretty fiery. His middle name is James after my gpa. Ray is named after his 2 grandpas on both sides.

All this thinking about names had me thinking about names... What do we do with our names? What will we be known for? I remember a story, but couldn’t find it yet about one of the Smith prophets (I think) who had a dream and was asked how he will live up to his name. Also it makes me think of it being said about Joseph Smith, his name will be known for good and evil. Also it made me think about taking on the Name of Christ. (That could be a whole other topic and discussion) I looked up in the topical guide name and read several things about it. One said, And I called him by name..  I think it is pretty wonderful that our Heavenly Father knows us and knows our names. It makes me think of the advice the mission president here gave us and that I took to heart., (obviously I’m paraphrasing) Get to know your missionaries, pray for them, pray for them individually and by name, you will grow to love them when you do this and it will make the work go better and easier. I know this is true. Every day I pray for our missionaries by name, the ones in our ward and the ones serving from our ward and the others I know personally. I have grown to love all of the ones that have served in our ward, that often times I pray for them, too, and the ones that have gone home. It has been a great blessing in my life to have so many to pray for and so many to love!

Last night we got to take Elder Bing and Elder Pyne to the temple for new convert baptisms. They just had a convert baptism a few weeks ago and she went to the temple for baptisms. It was fun to be able to spend time with the Elders and visit with them. Elder Pyne is serving in Silverdale now and we got to meet him in Tacoma and pick him up and leave Bings companion with Pynes companion. The temple is beautiful at night! (Well.. anytime) I got to go do iniatories. It is one of my favorite things to do in the temple! The words are so beautiful. It made me smile so much when one of the sisters was really getting into her words.. she was using her hands for emphasis and using her voice.. is the best I can describe it.

I had time to wait for the Elders to get done with the baptisms and was sitting in the waiting room for a while. I love people watching. What a great place to people watch! Everyone is so smiley and happy! I was there long enough to see several of the temple workers come out and meet up with their spouses, that was very sweet, too.

One of my favorite stories from being in the temple was one time I was in the dressing room and some older lady came up to me and said something like, You have the most beautiful smile and then kissed me on the cheek. First, it made me day... year.. but where else could you have something like that happen to you - a complete stranger coming up to you and kissing you on the cheek and not be weirder out by it .. and it be normal and nice.

 Elder Pyne and Elder Bing

 1.24.15 

Seattle Temple