"The most important covenant we prepare for is being sealed in the temple"


Monday, December 14, 2015

The Man without a "Wedding Garment"


I love the story of the man without a "wedding garment"  found in Matthew chapter 22. In the story, the king is marrying off his Son and so they invite people from near and far.  For an occasion such as this it would be appropriate for people to wear white robes. In fact, the apparel that someone would wear showed the kind of respect they had for the host. Often times a host would supply his guests with the appropriate attire for different reasons. So in this situation the king provided clothing for all of his guests. There was one man who chose not accept the kings clothing, because he felt that his appearance was good enough. Therefore he was not permitted to stay. Some might think this was rude, or inconsiderate of the king. Just like there were requirements for people to be allowed to enter the ceremony, there are requirements to be able to enter into the Kingdom of God. Everyone is invited to come to the kingdom of God, but you have to be willing to accept the requirements. There are a lot of places of businesses that have signs up that say "no shoes, no shirt, no business." Everyone is invited in, but if you aren't wearing any shoes or a shirt they have a right to ask you to leave because you aren't following the requirements they asked you to make in order to be able to enter. The world asks more often then not "what is so 'secret' about the Mormon Temple? If you are so inviting why can't everyone enter at any given time?" 
The answer: It is not secret it is sacred. Everyone is invited to enter you just have to be willing to live the requirements that are given to be able to do so. We even wear special clothing in the temple that symbolizes clothing ourselves in covenants, righteousness, and purity in preparation for entering into God’s presence. Choosing not to wear the apparel they ask us to wear is mocking our covenants we have made, rebelling and pretty much admitting to being unclean.  The Lord will always accept those who follow him willingly and correctly.


Sunday, December 13, 2015

Get to Know Him. Recognize Him.

We are reading in the new testament so tonight we read Matthew 21 and it has like 3 parables in it but I wanted to focus on the part that wasn't a parable because it always gets skipped over. In the beginning It talks about Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey and I can't help but wonder what it will be like to have Christ come. How did those people feel when they saw him? Israelite Royalty traditionally came into town on a donkey and so it was prophesied that the people would know it was Christ when he came, and they did. Think of 3 famous/notorious people and imagine them walking into the same room as you are in. How would your reaction be different between the 3 of them? If my favorite actress walked into the room I would probably be thrilled, and exited because I have seen her movies I read about her in magazines and I follow her on Instagram and facebook so I would feel like I know her. I would recognize her instantaneously. If Christ walked into the room would you feel like you knew him? Would you be able to recognize him? Would you feel like you had a connection with him or that you could walk up to him and talk to him and that he would embrace you? I want to feel like that when Christ comes. I want to know that I did my best and that I have come to know him. I want to be able to recognize him so that I can say with an honest heart That I love him and that I know him. I am so grateful for Christ and all that he has suffered for us. This week I will Strive to recognize Christ more in my life and thank him for the things I don't normally thank him for. Just like all those celebrities, He is all around us, he is in the news, he is in our friends, and he is in our minds. We just have to take an extra moment each day to recognize him and get to know him, and to "stalk" him per say. I want to be able to recognize him more then I would be able to recognize any celebrity because he is sooo much more important and he brings positivity and true life to this wicked world in which we live. What are some ways that you can give praise to Christ even though he isn't physically here? 

Friday, August 14, 2015

Always an Adventure

My life with Eric is always an adventure... in the best way!! I love my life. I feel so blessed everyday for the fun that we have and for the fun friends and family we have. Our most recent adventure was to Rocky Point Mexico! Most inexpensive vacation ever, and so many memories.
When I was younger we would go to Mexico every year during spring break and I have very fond memories of it, so I was ecstatic to share this fun place with Eric. 
This was Eric's first time in Mexico, so it is certainly one for the books.
Not to mention, we saw more wild sea life than I think I have in my entire life and we didn't even get in the water that often. 
Mexico had it's lowest tide of the year while we were there, which was absolutely incredible because we were able to see all these cool animals.
The water was beautiful and the temperature was just about the same as Arizona swimming pool water.
Yeah... that's how warm it was there.
It was such a fun trip though.
Baby Sting Ray!
It was so cute, I almost wanted to take it home.


 Little baby octopus. Coolest thing ever!



























 Too scared to hold the stinking crab by myself. As soon as i went to grab it, it tried to pinch us

 The Crazy Crab








Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Happy One Year to Us

I am a little late posting this, 
and by a little bit I mean 
a month late. 
Eric and I Celebrated our 1 year Anniversary on May 31st, 2015
I can hardly believe it has already been a year. 

Here is a quick run down of our year.

May 2014

We were married and sealed in the Gilbert Arizona Temple for Time and all Eternity and honeymooned in good ol' Las Vegas Nevada



Las Vegas Temple

June 2014

We moved into out cute little town house that Eric's grandfather so lovingly let us rent from him. 
and we also added a new addition to our family who we like to call Penelope. 


Our dwarf Hamster Penelope

July 2014

We visited California for a Baker family reunion.
and enjoyed some time on beach. 
Can you guess the temple?? It is pretty obvious 




August 2014

August quickly became a busy month.
We lost Eric's Sweet Grandpa Joseph Reed. and I had the opportunity to put together a musical number for his funeral. It was really special because my sister in law Jessica played the Violin, I played the piano and then last minute we asked Eric's Uncle Rod to sing, and the spirit we felt there was so strong. "I know that My Redeemer Lives." 


 We also hiked Havasupi which was such a fun experience and something I want to do again! 
This was the only picture I could find from our trip 


This one is just for kicks and giggles

September 2014

I don't remember much about September except that I had gotten my AA Degree at Mesa Community College as well as I was getting ready to quit one of my jobs and I got a new job. Eric also began his second semester as MCC and was only working part time at Wells Fargo as a Teller

October 2014

October is always a fun month because of Halloween. I was sad because my Aunt didn't throw her annual party but it all ended up being fine. I always had my last day with one of the families I was working for and started working more days with my new family. I was sad to say goodbye but it was the change I needed to make. 
We also were able to be a part of our friends wedding and were so excited for them to be a family and get baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was such a sweet moment. 





November 2014

In November we attended the 5 seconds of summer concert who we didn't know much about but we had a fun time anyway.
I also became a Mary Kay Cosmetics Consultant and was so thrilled to sell something I was passionate about... Skin Care. 
You can visit my website here: www.marykay.com/savanna.mckay











 December 2014

Christmas!! Our Very First Christmas together was a lot of fun and what more could you expect?? I still woke up early an could not contain all my excitement. I ever knew what all the presents were and I still was so excited. I hope that never changes! We also went to Eric's uncles production of Christmas carol at gammage







January 2015

January was such an exciting month because we were able to have our second honeymoon and celebrate our birthdays in Hawaii!! And what an incredible experience it was!! It was so much fun and we did all kinds of things while we were there. The beaches and weather were absolutely stunning and I can't wait till we get to go back. In case you didn't know Eric and my birthday are a day apart so that was super fun. We plan to do big adventures like this for our birthday every year.










February 2015

This month is always considered the month of love but Eric and I didn't get many pictures together. However, Eric did begin his training as a banker at wells Fargo and began working there full time while taking online classes and a few night classes. This was a hard semester for him. I got a Cricut in this month and started getting crazy with the crafts. 




March 2015

We started getting the idea that we wanted to buy a house so we made an offer on a really cute one and the offer was accepted and then fell through. so we were disappointed about that. We still kept looking though. 
I also bought a season pass to Disneyland and went without Eric so that he could go to school... I hated having to leave him behind but it was still a fun time. He works so hard for our sweet family. 
I also attended my very first Mary Kay Event.
 The two of us also enjoyed many game nights in March and ATTEMPTED fishing, it wasn't very successful, but it was good to spend the day up north together. 





April 2015

We attended the Easter Pageant in April and decided we were going to have a pet sheep because of it... just kidding, but seriously look how cute that lamb is?? Maybe in a different life we will have enough room in our hearts to actually have a pet lamb. They are pretty cute and cuddly if I must say so myself. 


May 2015 

I have to end with May of 2015 because we didn't get married until the 31st so it doesn't seem fair to leave out the whole month of May. We celebrated our one year anniversary with a stay-cation, which are typically my favorite! Oh and Eric also had surgery in this month. He had hurt his shoulder earlier in the year at a different job he was working and happened to have planned his surgery 2 weeks before our One Year which put a little bit of a damper on our activities because we had planned to go sky diving... hopefully we will be able to get around to that next year!!!
It has surly been a blissful year and I can't wait to see what  many more adventures lie ahead of us in the year to come. 
I love you More Eric!