A Letter from Sister Dopp Awhile Back

That's so exciting about Araceli! She really is stunning, inside and out! I just keep remembering all the relatives, strangers, and friends that told me "Better watch out for your little sister! She'll steal all your boyfriends!" hahahha so true! She's gorgeous. Modeling will be a fun adventure. Just make sure she's always modest!  Dad sent me some pictures of her holding Escher and it freaked me out a little because she looks like such a little mom! She has such a loving, tender, aware spirit. Escher is lucky to have her as a cousin and example!

Thank you so much for your email. You always know what to say and how to say it. I'm glad that I still have a place in your heart as your little daughter, because that role is something that is really sacred to me. The love you give me as my mom is just something nothing else can replace or compare or describe. It's a special kind of charity Heavenly Father has given women, and I feel like motherhood is the only way to cultivate and feel it. So thank you for taking your calling as my mom so seriously. Even though I'm more grown up, I think growing up is kind of like a cycle. Some of the things I become or want to become are just more reminiscient of who I was as a child. The Golda who cried about Clara but smiled for Kindi, who would always sing on the way to Morgan Elm from our old house, who looked in the ballet mirror and just wanted the teacher to be proud, who was happy for my classmate's kindergarten accomplishments, etc. It was easier to have unconditional love, to not judge, to remember what was important, to have joy in others' success, to love the simple things. I think all kids are like that. That is why Christ commands us to become as little children. We just have to find those intrinsic Christ-like attributes that we are born with as children of God, and decide to cultivate them among change, adversity, and sorrow as we grow.

When I forgot those things and was a selfish, ungrateful, unaware teenager, thank you for loving me anyway. For showing generosity anyway. For cleaning the house anyway. For paying for lessons and driving me anyway.

I feel the same: I can't even thank you enough for being my mom, except maybe in heaven.

Eternal families has always been a big part of my testimony, but now it's something I truly desire. And I understand why families are central to Heavenly Father's plan. They teach us the true nature of God, because we get to experience the most pure form of love possible. I'm sorry words can't explain how I feel or encompass the glorious truths of the gospel that I am coming to understand.

Thank you for being my mom. Thank you for letting me be your daughter forever.