The Play Book

Ok, I know, I've been posting a lot lately about what I've been reading in my scriptures.  I'm hoping to give a snap shot of the process that is learning to my posterity.  I think it will be fun to compare my ramblings to the current events of our day with some hindsight vision.

This learning of which I speak is found in 2 Nephi 28

30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, ^aprecept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn^bwisdom; for unto him that ^creceiveth I will give ^dmore; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

 31 Cursed is he that putteth his ^atrust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the ^bprecepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Back to my reading this morning.  There have been several times that I have found the adversary's playbook outlined in scripture.  A pattern to look for.  It is pretty cool when you come across such scriptures especially when compared to what is happening around you.  

Religion is on trial right now.  The individual rights of man are being taken away and replaced with the collective.  You aren't supposed to feed the homeless because you might give them too much salt.  You aren't supposed to help your neighbor because the gov is there for that.  You shouldn't have to be responsible to make wise financial decisions because you aren't smart enough for that.  If you didn't go to college you are not allowed a public voice because you aren't intellectual enough and therefore can't possibly know what you are talking about.  You can't say that people should be held accountable for their actions because we believe in God's laws.  Anyone who disagrees with this administration is threatened and silenced and they of course know nothing about anything...at all...ever.  If you have anything to say against the collective way then you are a racist and considered dangerous and need to be silenced....because we can't have that kind of thinking spread.  

I just got done reading about the crucifixion of Christ.  All the law makers and priests breaking their own laws and conspiring in the night to silence 1 man and his teachings.  Because it was dangerous to them to have the people start thinking that there was someone other than them to rely upon for salvation.  So, they unjustly crucified him. 

After Christ dies and was resurrected and the apostles figure out what they are supposed to be doing next:  Peter and John heal a man.  What happens in Acts 4?  The priests get mad.  They want to know by what power and name they performed this miracle that was witnessed by many people.  Peter gives an excellent response and then the playbook is revealed:

13 ¶Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were ^aunlearned and ^bignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

 14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

 16 Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable ^amiracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.

 17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.

 18 And they called them, and ^acommanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

Isn't that the same old tired play the adversary has always played.  You have to shut the people up.  Keep them in the dark and prey upon what they deem as weakness, being "unlearned and ignorant."

In the study manual it talks about Paul's mission to Athens.  He was there for a very short period of time because they worshiped the wisdom of man.  They had many great philosophers and glorious buildings but they mocked Paul for his simple gospel message and lack of great worldly knowledge.

We, in our day, find ourselves in the same position.  We worship all the wrong things.  We let fear govern our lives.  The great news about Acts 4 is the response that was given to these priest in;

24"they lifted up their voice to God with one accord..."
31"and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."
32" the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul..."
33 ..."and great grace was upon them all."

So, my message today is "Never shut up...." (and I would add, never stop praying) which was taken from a response to Mike R getting criticism from being on GB.  He gave a fabulous response about needing to be able to talk to each other and not shutting out the voices we disagree with.  He did it in a way that was direct and appropriate and, I feel, still very kind, but still saying what needed to be said.

The "priests and law givers" are scared again, just like they were in the times of Christ.  They are trying their hardest to silence the voice that witnesses of Christ.  We know the tactics that will be used against us.  We have the play book.  We need to not fall prey to them and most importantly we need to not use them ourselves.  When we are united with one voice and "neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common" mighty miracles will happen. We can united on the things which united us even if they come from unlikely allies.  We can come together and unite on the doctrines of Christ because the war we are in is not a political one.  It is a spiritual one where evil is trying it's best to overcome good and that has political/temporal consequences.

"The scriptures hold the keys to spiritual protection" ~Boyd K Packer.  The only way to access this spiritual protection is to actually read, ponder and pray about those scriptures.  You're testimony has to be built upon the rock if you are going to prevail against the evil storms.  You can't know how to not be deceived if you don't know how others were.  You can't know how God wants you to act in the face of being deceived if you haven't read his words.

I wish I had some magical string of words to convey the depth of my testimony of God the Eternal Father and in his son, Jesus Christ and in the scriptures and living prophets and apostles.  All I can say is, I know!

FHE with PMG

As per our Family Mission Plan, Emma and Jared are to give 2 minute lessons from PMG every Monday night.  Tonight was the first time I had it together enough to make the assignments so they could be ready.  

Jared started out the lesson with a little repeat after me exercise. 

 "Everyone say with me; family. home. Eve-Ning." 

He had everyone repeat it a few times.  

He then said:

"Now don't ever say family homenevening ever again."  hahahahaha

 We were then treated with a special song Emma and Jared wrote to go along with their lesson.  Honestly I didn't think they would come prepared with a lesson, much less a song!  It took Jared a few min to compose himself enough to get into actually singing it for us.  But once he did, you can see he got into it.  There were lots of dramatics involved -to my delight!

Here's the song set to the Mulan tune.

"let's get down to business
to defeat Sataaaaan
did they send me sinners
when I asked for just

You're the saddest bunch I ever met
but you can bet before we're through
mister, I'll make a Mormon out of you

Spiritual as Jehova
but humble with in
once you find the spirit
you are sure to win

You're a Christless, pale, pathetic lot
you haven't got a clue
somehow I'll make a Mormon out of you."

Are my kids just adorable or what?  They each took their turn with their part of the lesson....which ended up being way longer than 2 minutes each.  

Emma had Lehi's dream.  When she asked about the great and spacious building and how to hold onto the rod, Ethan said "I'm a duck, quack quack."  Jordyn looked at him like he was crazy and he said "what? you know?  when you pour water on a ducks back, it just rolls off."  Yes master Obi Wan, that's right.  For a kid who looks like he is paying zero attention he sure pulled out some awesome remarks tonight. 

Jared decided to entertain us once more when it was his turn.  He channeled the priest from princess bride: "Famawees, is what bawings us togewer today, and luv tew luv..."  You're killin me smalls! His part was on "the gospel blesses families.  

Now, these pictures make it look like our little night was all sunshine, rainbows and major doses of the spirit.  Yeah, not so much!  But we did it, and had a lot of fun.... for the most part.  The kids need practice teaching and coming up with answers for themselves so we're gonna call this night a win.  Oh and no, that's not a picture of nate praying, it is of him examining his eyelids while we were trying to hold the night together, he does have to leave the house by 5am tomorrow to work at the Temple, so I refrained from throwing a pillow at him.  

A Glorious Morning

..."for the glory of the skies...

Lord of all to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise."

-or picture :0)

I love this time of year.  Most mornings the sky will look just like this.  What a way to start the day.

Carving Up Some Halloween

 Here it is, our FHE on Sunday.  We carved pumpkins because Daddy wont be home early enough the rest of the week to do it.   It is always hard picking out something to carve.  I printed a bunch out from the internet and then 2 of them were hand drawn.  

I tried out a new technique this time.  I used push pins instead of tape.  Hello, why haven't I thought of that before.  Genius.  I also had to improvise because we didn't have enough of the small little carving knives to go around.  I can never make sense of the dots anyway so I decide to partially cut out with a regular steak knife the pattern and pumpkin at the same time.  You don't go all the way through, just enough to get the pattern on the pumpkin.  It worked really well.  I won't do it the old way ever again.  

Emma drew the minion on Ethan's pumpkin freehand and I drew the pi symbol for Jared.  Jared also talked his little sister into taking all the guts out of his pumpkin for him.  He refuses to touch them.  

 Here they all are lit up.  It is always a surprise when you turn off the lights and see what they look like because in the light they don't look like they are going to look anything like they are supposed to.  We all squealed with delight when we found out they looked so good lit up.  I must say that my Napoleon is looking pretty flippin fantastic.  They all look really good.  The kids each stood in front of the one they carved.  Emma was the master carver this year.  She took on 2 difficult patterns.  Gandalf was for Dad since he was helping Jordy with hers.  

 I thought I would be kind and give Napoleon a chapstick transfer to help those dry cracked lips that were hurting so bad.  

Some Family Love

 Can I just say, little boys are adorable.  You seriously don't need any other form of entertainment when boys are involved.  This is the zombie apocalypse squad.   

 On Friday night I came home to another love note from Jordyn placed on my unmade bed.  This one was 3 pages.  Can you get any more sweet than that?  I think Nate is starting to get a little jealous.  He shouldn't worry too much though because while he was gone hunting for a week she cried for him every night.  

Jordyn has also neglected putting her clothes away for who knows how long so she finally devised a system to help the task not seem so difficult.  She was really proud of herself.  She made signs for 3 bins to sort her clothes into.  The sad thing is that all of those clothes started out folded but because she didn't ever put them away they are all unfolded and wadded up in a big ole pile.  She was feeling like she was going to die before she ever finished....but she didn't die and she did finish.  

The zombie squad needed to chase down some zombies so they hopped on the 4-wheelers and had some good ole fashion redneck fun.  

Jared spent far too much time at the computer on Saturday so I told him that he had to do some indexing.  He hasn't ever done it before and let me tell you, it was quite the experience.  My kid is so stinking literal and he gets very passionate about things that he thinks should be common knowledge.  He was getting so upset that this particular batch of names to be indexed asked for the age of the person but if it wasn't given you were supposed to leave the field blank.  Well, this was not ok with him since he could easily determine the age of the person by the birth date. 

 I almost took up drinking after this little session.  ;0)

The problem was that he decided to do a batch for Canada.  It said it was English but, in fact, it was French.  Did he want to send the batch back?  No, he decided to use a translator program to figure out the months of the year (which was really the only thing we couldn't read).  The fille and fils for daughter and son were pretty easy to determine.  My years of French class did nothing for me!  I can't remember anything.

One fun thing that happened is that we were indexing a gentleman by the name of Ebenezer who died on Dec 24.  Pretty cool, I wonder if he saw any ghosts?  He was actually lost at see on the 20th and declared dead on the 24th.  

The most hilarious part about our adventure was our fighting over the deciphering of handwriting.  His complaint was that I thought everything looked like an "m."  He was getting very frustrated with me.  Ethan and Emma even got called in to be our arbitrator on some of the names.  The climax of hilarity came just after going on a rant about my "m" problem when he exclaimed "who the heck calls their kid 'messy'"  Really, you really think that's what that says dude?  He apparently has an "s" problem since those were obviously "r."

I think we're going to have to have him stick with doing family history instead.  He doesn't have the patience for indexing.  We did spend some quality time together though....

Baby Steps

The last few times I have been at the physical therapist gym I have had some thoughts.  

I should go over and introduce myself to the woman that I see every time I'm here.  It is silly that we see each other so much and don't know each others names.  

Did I?  Nope.  Why, because I live in my own bubble that's hard to break out of.

Two days later.  There was a man there with an american flag cane.  I thought:

I should go over to him and tell him that I really like his cane.  

Did I?  Nope, when I was trying to make my resolve to do it he walked in the opposite direction and started talking to someone else.  

What is funny is that when I pulled up my phone to check which picture I was going to use for this post, the above picture was there.  How perfect is that?  I definitely failed my challenge.  My son loves to take off with my phone and make all kinds of videos with it, so I'm not surprised to find pictures.  He must have screen shot a message from a game he was playing. 

What was my challenge?  In Moroni 7 we read:

12 Wherefore, all things which are ^agood cometh of God; and that which is ^bevil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to ^csin, and to do that which is evil continually.

 13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do^agood continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and^benticeth to do ^cgood, and to love God, and to serve him, is^dinspired of God. 

I was invited to do good and I couldn't find the courage to do it.  The great thing about the Lord is that he gives you plenty of chances.  He is very patient. 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before....I seem to have quite a lot to say lately and I can't keep track of it all.  But, in my yw class I've got a warm fuzzy jar.  It was inspired by the talk by President Monson called "What have I done for someone today?"  I love the prophet.  Anyway, we are on our second time filling it up....I actually had to take about half of the warm fuzzies out to take the picture.  I loved the contrast of the gloomy rainy day against the evidence of light. 

I always do everything I ask of the girls so it's not like I haven't been trying and being successful at stepping out of my comfort zone and helping strangers.  Some days I'm better than others.  I can tell you that when I specifically pray to find someone to help, it always happens, although usually not in a way that I would want.  Picky, picky! Sometimes I have to remind myself that I asked for it.  haha  

Our specific warm fuzzy jar gets added to in several ways.  I'm trying to set patterns and connect actions with feeling the love of God....I guess if you're cynical you could call it bribing....I call it establishing patterns.  Those fuzzies represent shared testimonies, giving the lesson, working on pp, helping a stranger, giving a talk, bringing scriptures, being a missionary...things like that and then we talk about them.  

So, I've been trying to do a better job, but for some reason at the gym these people weren't complete strangers because I see them 3 x a week.  Well, I was given another opportunity today.  I missed the first one when one of the men tried to make conversation by giving me a hard time about the color band I was using for my exercise.  We shared a pleasantry, but the headphones went straight back in and I was back in my bubble.  

On my way out I noticed another man with a shirt saying "all gave some, some gave all"  shirt.  I thought; I need to tell him that I like his shirt.  

Hey now, I'm in baby step mode.  I'm a recluse and this is the best I've got!

I said a prayer that I would have the courage to follow through this time and he wouldn't do anything to discourage me.  Let me tell you it was just the comment I needed to open the door to a real and touching exchange with a fine american who reminded me very much of my dad.

When we are willing to step out into what feels like the dark and trust the promptings we receive, you prove yourself worthy to participate in God's work and glory.  Just like my incentivizing with a party warm fuzzy jar, the Lord incentivises by letting you do more of His work.  

It was raining when I got home from pt and wanted to go on a walk.  My littlest one wanted to come along so we waited for it to clear up a bit first.  A couple of blocks into our walk, this old rickety car with a kid (probably early 20's) that looked like he lives a rough life pulled up to us.  He was lost and needed help.   He looked like someone that always messes up and just wanted to do 1 thing right, by the things he said.  He needed to pick up his brother and he was late and lost and out of gas with a car about to break down and no cell phone because it had just been turned off.  He asked for nothing other than directions and looked as if he could start crying.  He kept apologizing to me because I was trying to do some detective work on my phone to help him find his way.  I ended up letting him use my phone to call his brother.  We got everything all figured out and I sent him reassuringly on his way.  He was so grateful.  He said "God bless you"  I don't know how many times.  He even yelled it back to us 2 more times as he drove away.  I don't think he was expecting the level of kindness he received or by the his actions perhaps even feeling worthy of it.

The only thing Jordyn said after he left was; "wow, that wan't in our plan."  Nope, it sure wasn't in our plan, but it was in God's.

I have been doing a lot of wishing lately that I could be doing something else.  That there is something I'm supposed to be doing that I'm not.  That I'm somehow supposed to find a way to be on a mission right now with my family even though that's not mathematically possible and then there's the other little problem of having to be called to such a work :0) This life just seems hard and I don't want to think about the things of the world anymore.  

After this encounter a thought came to me.  

You're on your mission!

Rotten Core

I had parent teacher conferences at the elementary school today.  My state is one of the "lucky" ones that didn't kick the new learning curriculum out the door.  Our state already suffered from being the arm pit of America and now our fate is sealed because we went along with a gov and corporate run curriculum that is supposedly "common" and is the "core" of education.  Whatever.  It's crapola and I know now for myself.  

I've been curious why I haven't seen any homework coming home from my 5th and 4th graders.  Well, I found out the answer  today.  Now before I tell you what went down, know this.  I made absolutely positive that I had kind eyes* and a kind voice and was just looking for real feedback and answers from the very people in charge of implementing this program.  

The 5th grade teacher was very sympathetic and hates the program.  Why does she hate it?  Because it's not even close to being ready to be implemented.  Sound familiar?  Sound like the healthcare system?  Why oh why oh why do people put their trust in government with they have a such a low track record for doing anything right?  There is no curriculum.  Yes, that's right.  The teachers make their own up based on what the standardized test will be.  I was shown their little bullet points of assessments that they had to gear their lessons toward.  I didn't get to see any of the work in this classroom, but we did have a general conversation about my child's education and what this new program is about.  

Next, 4th grade.  This time I did get to see some work, but unlike the last teacher, this one is in love with the curriculum although she kept saying things which could be interpreted as negative....curious.  I was much more direct because I had sample of my daughters work in front of me to scrutinize.  I must say the teacher handled it like a champ.  I was very direct, but working hard on my presentation and kind eyes :0)  It really is nothing personal with the teacher.  She is doing the best she can with what she's got and I made sure to reiterate that.  

Here's the long and short of it.  The math is a nightmare.  This is a quote from her "I don't send homework home with the kids because I know the parents won't know how to do it because it is so different that what they've learned."  Yes, its a bunch of bologna is what it is.  You no longer get a math problem right or wrong.  There can be up to like 10 points or something like that for one problem.  She said that it takes forever for her to grade papers now because it is so labor intensive.  There are different point values for different things.  Something could be a half point something a full point and she has to have her grading sheet there to check point values.  I'm telling you it is more than showing your work - it is a nightmare.  I said "so basically what you are telling me is that my daughter could understand math and get the problems right but because she decided not to draw an illustration and write out a paragraph as to how she came to her conclusion she could actually fail math?"  Yes.  She made sure to point out that she will eventually have a "choice" to use this "system" or not after she fully understands how to solve problems.  I reminded her of her grading process and asked how my daughter had a choice if her grade was dependent on how many points she received.....um yeah, she couldn't answer that.  

The biggest crack up was that she was telling me about my daughters creative writing and she has been working on her to not write so much.  She doesn't have time to read 8 pages for each kid so she is trying to have her get to the point faster and only have essential details.  Now, is that all bad?  No, there is a skill to good writing (I hope you're not looking for it here) BUT in contrast to the pages of writing that is required per math problem......The world of education has gone mad!  It is full of contradictions.  No wonder no one can has the ability to think for themselves because there isn't a lick of common sense in anything that is being taught anymore!

I also loved one last quote from my child's poor sweet teacher that tried her best to defend the system while unknowingly pointing out every flaw (this is already more than I wanted to say on the subject so I'll spare you further details---trying to get to the point faster-ha) "there are a lot of great things about the system, I know there has been a lot of stuff in the news about it, some of which is good and accurate and some of it by people who aren't educators."  Oh, I see.  People that are too dumb to know what good education looks like?  

Don't worry.  Remember all of my previous posts....I'm working on the love.  I really did handle things in a positive way while still expressing my concerns....which is my God given right.  I know the world is trying to make everyone believe that your kids are not your own and somehow belong to the state, but they most certainly don't and while there is breath in my body, I will fight against it.  (I'm sure this post will flag me an enemy to the state)

On an educationally related note.......I have a slight crush on Mike R!   He is a breath of fresh air in a country full of stink.  I have been enjoying him for many years now and before he started talking about eduction and working hard....which sealed the deal for my crush on him ;0)  I also love that he is smart funny- which is the best kinda funny.

Below are some quotes from an interview he did with GB last night:

“That’s not me saying don’t go to college. I’m saying, to start your life [$150,000] in the hole, [$80,000] in the hole with your art history major…that’s why you’ve got a trillion dollars in debt. These kids can’t find a job that they’ve been trained for, and the expectation is, it should be waiting for me. It ain’t.”

 “work is the thing you admire, [and] labor is the thing you have to do.”

“This whole topic always boils down to management vs. workers…the blue, the white collar. Enough with the color of collars,” he declared. “The way to talk about work is through the context of, what are you addicted to? Are you addicted to smooth roads? …Cheap electricity? Indoor plumbing? I am. So if you share my addiction to the fruits of skilled labor, you’ve got skin in this game.  So I think if you start to engage a bigger hunk of people, not just management and not just labor, if you really start to have a conversation about work and education, about affordability, everybody can take a micro-macro look at this thing.”

"Work smart not AND hard"

*I just retold this story to my husband and he said "wait, what did you say?  Kind eyes?  Jedi, you should have consulted me first.  You're not ready yet.  You should have gotten clearance before trying to use the kind eyes.  You need to pass a test and get a certificate from me first."  Buwahaha  I am known for having, I could kill you right now with my eyes, eyes.  But I'm sure I used the kind eyes properly and they worked!  I guess we'll know if when the next time I go to the school, I'm promptly escorted out.  hahaha

Mixtape

While I was at physical therapy this morning I was listening to a song that I have heard several times before, but not really heard what it was saying.  When I actually listened to it I realized that I loved the message.  

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I have a little pep talk through music on my playlist.  Whatever happened to the days of mixtapes anyway?  Do people still make them? The themes of the songs have been going along with what I've been thinking and talking about lately.  I'm pretty tricky like that :0)

So, how did I miss this song?   A perfect practical example of these next couple of scriptures:

"having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear yet not? and do ye not remember? ~Mark 8:18

"For this peoples heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." ~Matthew 13:15

Now, I wasn't needing to be spiritually healed, but when thinking about what having ears that hear and eyes that see really means, my not hearing the message in a song is a perfect example.  In fact a lot of songs are written that way.  Only if you are looking for the message will you find it.  Take for example "What if" that is on my playlist.  Are you thinking about a romantic relationship while listening to it?  Or, can you hear the message of coming together and understanding each other?  

I wanted to put the song "caught in the storm" by the ggdolls but it wasn't avail without a live concert, so some of the lyrics will have to suffice:  

"I was taught to always turn the other cheek

And you know I took the beating and I stayed up on my feet

And this faith is getting heavy

But you know it carries me

From the streets to the river

Where the broken dreams flow out into the sea

I keep on looking but somethings always missing

I keep on looking for something bigger than me

To the saints to the sinners, all the losers and the winners

Yeah, we're all just looking for something, something to believe in

...I'll give you everything that you ask of me

And I'll give you all I have if it makes you believe

Cause I'm caught in the storm

That we call love"

I was able to put another song off the same album that has a message about not giving up that will have to do in place of the one that I wanted.  Are these songs perfect?  We know from the scriptures and the parable of the 10 virgins that we can't give anyone anything that will make them believe.  But we also know that to loose yourself is to find yourself and giving up all that we have is required for the treasures of Heaven.  So, I still love the songs and they each have something positive and uplifting about them.  I can't imagine a life without song.  

So, are you blindly obedient or are you obedient because you can see?  

Can you feel what is happening?  Can you feel the ground swell of good overcoming evil.  We may not win the battle, but we are going to win the war.  The only question is what side are you on. (Elder Holland gave a great talk about that -I don't remember when or what it's called)  I have said this before, but I believe it more than I ever have.  It goes something like this: "you don't go to war with the army you wish you had, you go with the one you've got." 

That's why we have to teach each other the doctrines.  To mourn with each other.  To build and lift each other and help each other to hold on tight with both hands to the iron rod.  To build the perfect spiritual army that will overcome evil.  

"I threw a line out to pull you to me, if you don't get it, then you don't get it..."  

It doesn't matter if you're a 'broken vessel' like Elder Holland talked about, we need you.  The Lord needs you.  Don't give up, I'll keep the car running.  

because there will be no future record of this playlist, I am documenting it below:

SS ~ These Times 

KP ~ Roar

RF ~ Feels Like Today

SB ~ Brave

jew ~ The Middle

Sf ~ The shadow proves the sunshine

ggd~ keep the car running

t ~ bruises

OK, So Maybe I'm Wrong....

So, you know how I said that I think that the person expressing gratitude is probably the most happy?  Well, today in the mail -in a random set of events- got a thank you card.  It was completely unexpected.  Since no one reads this I can say that it was from my Bishop.  Which reminds me, I need to put the card in my "all things spiritual" smash book.  I do have his daughter as one of my Mia Maids, but she went home sick and wasn't part of the gratitude lesson.  His wife is always really good with sending random thank you cards so it's not a complete surprise, but a surprise no less.  It definitely put a pep in my step.  So, when expressing gratitude, everybody wins  :0)  I have resolved to do a much better job expressing gratitude. 

Next wrong,  my little princess had a bit of a swollen eye this morning.  What did I do?  Drugged her up and sent her to school.  I did tell her that if she just couldn't make it through the day to go to the nurse and i would pick her up.  She was already looking pitiful with a rag on her eye when I put her on the bus.  She wasn't making a big deal about it, so I didn't either.  Poor thing.  Well she didn't even make it an hour before the nurse called.  It was really swollen by this point, so I brought her home.  

She is quite the little problem solver.  We have a mantra in our house: "focus on solutions, not problems."  Well, I think she did this when she decided that holding a rag to her eye wasn't working out for her so she got a pirate patch to hold it in place.  She even wore it to church tonight.  The beehives were super nice to her and invited her to their class.  They were having a modesty night and they wanted her to be their dress model.  That dress is made out of a plastic table cloth, so stinkin cute!

Third wrong, I ordered a pizza online for the kids and didn't notice that it sent me to the wrong location.   I forgot that I needed a different city than where I live for the closest location.  I went to pick it up where I always do and they didn't have my order.  I really didn't have time for this little mix up this evening.  I showed the nice girl my email to see where the problem was and I was at the wrong location.  A nice big "L" for my forehead would have been appropriate.  

Fourth wrong for the day....at least that I am aware of....there could be more.  We only had 2 girls for our class activity tonight, but we had a lot of fun.  We had some quilts for charity to finish and I brought a laptop to have the girls work on some indexing.  Neither girl had done indexing before so I got them set up.  Funniest line from the night said by A: "I'm your training video, she says."  Um yeah, that would be referring to me.  I had told her where to find all the links to training but told her she didn't need any of that because I was her training video.  OOOPS! haha We got a really strange batch that was confusing for a level one.  I have indexed a couple thousand names and for the most part, know what I'm doing.  Apparently my blond was out in full force tonight because I totally messed up.  I had to apologize to A because she was going to have a 0 percent accuracy rating to start her out (I was going along for a long time at 98 percent accuracy rate, but I got a couple of small batches where I got 1 thing wrong and it brought my percentage down to 94 -boo).  The good news is that we had it figured out by E's turn so her percentage will be way better.  haha

I don't think I am in any danger of loosing my status as president of the losers club anytime soon...which is alright by me, it's a pretty fun job.  

I Took My Own Challenge

I wanted to report back on my challenge. The challenge of picking someone who has been an influence in your life and writing them a thank you letter. I wanted to see what effect it would have on me and what it would have on the person I sent it to. I am hoping that because I'm not revealing the identity of this person that she wouldn't mind that I posted her reply here. I just want to share in the joy that I feel and hope that it will encourage someone else to take a chance on feeling pure joy. I tell you that I can't stop smiling right now. Expressing gratitude feels like it was probably more beneficial to me because of the way I feel.

President Eyring also said this in his "O Remember, Remember" talk: My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. 

When I wrote this, I didn't let myself take more than a couple of minutes.  I don't like things like this getting a life of their own where it makes the task seem too difficult.  I was not waxing eloquent.  Don't let the words you need distract you from your intent.  Words will never seem adequate.  Just let go and let it be what it will.  

FB can be a useful thing sometimes.  Luckily my long lost friend and I are friends on this site.  I just privately messaged her my letter and I got a response back very quickly as well.  Hopefully she was able to feel as much joy as I have over this experience.  I highly recommend it.  

I just realized that I missed your birthday. Happy belated birthday

One more thing..... I taught a lesson in yw today about gratitude. I challenged each of my yw to write a thank you letter to someone that has been influential in their lives. I picked you as one of the people to write to.

It has been a very long time since we have had any real communication, but I wanted to let you know how much our friendship in high school meant to me. I really can’t believe how incredibly blessed I was to have been placed on a path with you. I was on a path to a future that would have led to misery and despair....at least not a path that would have led me to the fullest potential of the joy that can be had here upon the earth. Your willingness to be my friend was the single biggest blessing I had in my life at the time. I was introduced to the gospel in a way that let me take it at my own pace. I never felt like a project. I only felt love and acceptance. I learned what being a Mormon was about by being around you and your family and I knew that was what I wanted for myself. Because of your example, I knew that kind of life was possible.

I can’t even imagine my world without the gospel. I can’t believe that the girl hanging out with my Mormon friends in high school is now teaching other yw the gospel and to be examples. It’s hard to wrap my brain around sometimes. I still chuckle when I think of the attitude I used to have about Mormons and Never becoming one. My days with my Mormon friends are often mentioned in lessons.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to know my Heavenly Father. To be instructed by living prophets, to be able to gain strength from the Book of Mormon. I have been given the opportunity to learn and grow and become more like my Savior. The line of posterity that this single event created is too much to ponder sometimes. The effect that it has on my future posterity and all those in my family that came before me as I do their sacred work. It is breathtaking to ponder. You my friend, are apart of that legacy.

Thank you from the deepest part of my heart. I thank you for all eternity. You’re friend for always, Heather

"Oh you are so sweet. Ironically, you too have been mentioned in many of the lessons I teach. Today I spoke to my Sunday School class about you and I and teaching people through parables. Sometimes we teach gospel principles through relating current issues to gospel principles. I told them about planting seeds in someone's heart. I felt like that was what I did for you.....Nathan was the one who actually opened you heart and eyes to it. , but I feel I prepped you. What you don't know, is that you challenging me, was what opened my eyes and heart to the truths. You challenged me and made me really think about what I did believe. So, I think in many ways you helped me more than I ever helped you.

I too treasure that friendship. I know that Heavenly Father was looking out for me when he directed me towards you. I also know that the ying/ yang of our relationship is what made us both who we are. I often wish I could go back to those days.... and then I change my mind. . It freaks me out a little that you teach young woman, but then I think oh no... She is perfect for it. I miss you a lot. Thanks for being such a great friend and an awesome person! Nate is one very lucky guy!"

Isn't life good? Isn't God great? Can you believe we were thinking and talking about each other on the same day many miles and what seems like lifetimes apart? Miraculous! Nothing short of it!

President Monson said this : My beloved friend President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives.”

I'm in the quoting mood, so another one by President Monson :We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” ⁸

...The English author Aldous Huxley wrote, “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” ¹⁰

To that I say, don't let that be you. Claim the joy and love God has to offer a grateful heart. Express it to everyone and to God and see what happens to your heart, you wont regret it, I promise!

Now.....who should my next letter go to? :0)

Gratitude

There is a line in a song that I find appropriate for this post.  It goes: "I guess we're all one phone call from our knees."  I got one of those calls last night....But before the phone call...

I mentioned that my nieces were over.  Emma is still working on her Honor Bee and I am as well.  Emma had plans for mentoring Megan over the summer as well as another cousin that lives in town and it just never came to fruition.  When I picked up my niece I seized the opportunity and had her bring her PP book with her.  Emma thought it was sweet of me to help her out.  Help her?  I was helping myself. Oh, alright, you can have her... was what I eventually said.  I have plenty of mentoring opportunities built into my calling.  

When we dropped her off, I seized on yet another opportunity.  I'm the merit badge counselor for the Genealogy badge and Jared had yet to interview a relative.  Kamron also works with the Scouts in his ward so he helped him do a great job of interviewing him.  Jared wasn't dressed up especially for the interview.  He was going to a Halloween stake dance dressed as the 11th Doctor (Dr Who, for those not in the know).  His brown sports coat was not on, but it he had it - we found an awesome one at Savers for 11 bucks....Score....he was bummed that we couldn't find some brown leather shoes to complete the outfit, but it was close enough.  

 Nate is out of town hunting elk, my lesson was ready to teach for Sunday, I needed to stay awake to make sure Emma went and picked Jared up from the dance....so I decided to watch Sleepy Hallow.  I was on the second episode.  It's a little bit freaky but the man character is esthetically and audibly pleasing, so I decided to give the show a try.  

My cell phone rang with my son's number on the caller id, but it only rang once.  I thought it strange that he would call me because he should have seen that his sister was there to pick him up by that point.    While I trying to decide what to think about the 1 ring, the house phone rang with my son in a distressed voice say "Mom, come to the round about near our house right now.  We got in an accident."  That was it.  That was all I got.  

I threw on some clothes and said a prayer....several prayers.  I needed my emotions to stay in check.  I needed to make sure I handled the situation properly with my daughter and I had no idea what state of mind the other driver was in and prayed to know how to diffuse the situation or whatever I needed to do- that it was right.  

The good news is that everyone was fine, the bad news - the other driver was a nightmare.  Luckily I had forgotten that it was completely dark outside and some undead creature could be coming to take over the world with darkness, because there was too much adrenaline coursing through my veins.  

This lady was cussing and yelling and telling every car that passed that an idiot teenager hit her car.  When I pulled up both the cars were blocking traffic.  I got out and immediately went into taking control of the scene.  I can't help it (my control freak nature comes in handy sometimes).  I'm sure the other drivers were too scared of the woman to help her do the right thing.  Not me.  She was not about to move her car out of the way because the bumper was rubbing on the tire and she wanted it left there until the police came.  

I assured her that it was perfectly legal and fine to move the cars and in fact, mandatory.  I helped Emma back her car out of the way and pull over to somewhere safe so that traffic could resume.  The lady just kept yelling into her phone and to people in the street.  

My daughter if very tender hearted and was completely distressed by the events and wanting to crawl in a hole and die.  I got her set up to wait in her car and went back to check on the lady.  I needed to see if the police were called and see if I could calm her down at all.   More prayer were being rambled off in my head.  

She just lit into me about my idiot teenage daughter who is ruining her life.  I calmly mentioned to her that she might remember what it was like to be a teenager and what my daughter must be feeling right now.  More swearing at me.  When I realized that she was completely irrational I decided to leave her with one final thought.  Very calmly I mentioned to her that someday she was going to do something to hurt someone and it was going to be her fault.  She was going to remember this day and wish that she had handled it differently because she would now be the one searching for mercy.  I think I may have said 1 or 2 more times "you will remember this day."  It was kind a like turrets syndrome with that last phrase.  I really don't know why I felt compelled to tell her that and so many times.  

I know she got the take home message because whoever she was talking to on the phone - she screamed at the person that I was a lunatic or yelling or something to that effect saying that I was telling her that: "I should remember my teenage years and one day I will remember this day and be sorry."

After that we had no further contact.  A very nice police officer came on the scene and told us that we didn't need to interact with her (she did turn on the super sweet personality once he arrived- not sure if it stayed)  We were allowed to go back to our car and wait.  

The police officer that came on the scene looked remarkably like the cop from the show I was watching that came back from the dead and was helping the headless horseman.  Luckily he was so super nice.  I mean really nice.  Poor Emma was beside herself with grief.  

Long story short....or shorter:  Emma didn't get sited.  Thank goodness.  We ended up having to leave the car there while we went home to get some duct tape to try and get the car off the tire enough to get home.  I almost called my neighbor and asked for help, but I'm allergic.  When I told my friend about it this morning,who's husband I was going to call, she hit me and told me that I should have.  I know.  I don't know why I have to do everything myself.  We got the car home and I called the insurance and everything is all taken care of.  They are picking up the car at the house tomorrow.  The claims officer was also super nice.  

So, there it is.  The damage.  The drivers side door doesn't open more than about 2 inches in addition to what you can see.  Good times.  

This is turning into a marathon post, but here's the moral of the story.  

Today my lesson was gratitude....which went really well, btw.  I tried some new things out and tried extra hard with my prayers....I wouldn't say it was "super spiritual" (I need tears for super spiritual or light bulb looks on faces) but it was really good and I know the girls liked it because they all thanked me for the really good lesson at the end of class.  

Anyway....my first thought last night was: "this is all my fault, if I hadn't been such a meanie about the stake training, this wouldn't have happened."  I tell you - I am so narcissistic sometimes.  I had just read a bunch of stuff for this lesson on gratitude, one of which was a talk called "O remember, remember" by Henry B Eyring.  This is one of those talks that I still remember and think about often (it was given in 2007 Oct General Conference)  One of the things that came to my mind after I had those thoughts about it being my fault was this  “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

The entire talk is good.  I love Henry B Eyring.  He is one of those guys that I love to see cry.  He can hardly hold it together whenever he talks and I love that about him.  He also usually, but not always, mentions Albuquerque in his talks.  Another quote from the talk: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

What is also interesting about this talk is that when I noticed the date it was given, it made me stop in my tracks and wonder....when did I start this blog?  Only about 1 1/2 months before this talk.  I didn't start out this blog by saying anything of value, but it has grown and morphed into so much more since then. I am beginning to find that there are more and more things that I do that I had no idea where they came from because they sank deep into my heart.  There is so much credit I need to be giving to what has been contributing factors in my journey to becoming sanctified.  

So, what am I grateful for?  I am grateful for my children.  I am grateful that they are working hard to become disciples of Christ. That they are eager to do the right things.  I am grateful that I was able to keep my anger at the belligerent woman under control.  That I was able to not add to my daughters grief at the accident.  I'm grateful for the lesson on gratitude.  I am grateful for Sacrament meeting today.  It was one of those really spiritual and edifying experiences -that I don't have all the time.  I knew I was in trouble when I started tearing up in the opening song. "Israel, Israel God is calling."  All 3 speakers were remarkable and I ended up taking notes.  Now that is good stuff.  I am grateful for training videos online that can help me be a better teacher.  I'm grateful for second and third and fourth chances to do something right.  I'm grateful for car insurance.  I'm grateful that a nice policeman showed up and a very nice claims person answered the phone for my insurance.  I am so grateful that the car accident wasn't more serious.  I am grateful for family that we can serve and they can serve us.  I grateful for friends that remind me to do the right thing and not be so prideful.  I am so grateful for living prophets.  I'm grateful for opportunities to learn and grow.  The list goes on and on.  

The challenge I gave my girls today was this: I handed them nice note cards and told them to think about someone that has been an influence on them and then to write a thank you card to them.  If they wanted to feel pure joy and give someone else an opportunity at pure joy, they could actually give it to them.  So, my first challenge on here is the same.  I'm going to do it as well. 

 I'm hoping that this blog has turned into one big "Thank You" to my Father in Heaven for all the blessings he has poured out upon me and my family.   

One final quote from Elder Packer "we are not obedient because we are blind but because we can see."  I just loved that quote and it was given today in Sacrament meeting.