If you were unfortunate enough to watch Netflix’s 2022 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, I recommend the following:
Read the actual novel. This will give you the most thorough reset.
Watch the 1995 BBC version of Persuasion for the most faithful version of Captain Wentworth’s spirited character.
Watch the 2007 BBC version to get the most faithful version of Anne, an introverted character you come to know by her thoughts more than her conversation. (Netflix, what you did to the character of Anne Elliot is inexcusable.)
I have completed steps 1-2 and I am beginning step 3 while I tackle a stack of ironing.
My cousin-once-removed lived in Zimbabwe for nearly 40 years, and in 2020, he and his wife decided to move back to Utah. They opened a Pogo’s restaurant on Center Street in Provo last year, and the food is delicious. Think pizza and chicken, but with sauces with complex flavor.
My mom sent an early morning text to meet her and her siblings at Pogo’s for dinner. An impromptu family reunion and a midweek meal at a restaurant felt special.
“It must needs be that we should be led with one accord to the land of promise.”
1 Nephi 10:13
I never considered this line from Lehi until today. He has seen a lot of disunity in his family on their wilderness journey, and chooses to emphasize the need to act with one accord.
“With one accord = all together”
Why?
Lehi sees his family as being important in the overall plan of our Heavenly Father for his children. He is looking for unity stemming from a common faith.
Maybe we should think of our families like Lehi thinks about his family. Hey, our family is important to God! Together we can help each other and the world, beyond anything you can imagine. First things first: we need to understand Jesus.
“Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer.”
1 Nephi 10:6
In what ways can a family be led with one accord?
In resolve to keep covenants.
In thanksgiving
In love
In work
In testimony
In support
In faith
In humor
In working for peace
What has helped my family to live with one accord?
worship
good traditions
communication
routines
goals
recreation
acts of love
Never have weaccomplished or needed to do all of these things well at the same time.
I note the first word in the phrase, “Led with one accord.” Our success doesn’t come down to how well we did all the things, and you know the long list of all the things. This is, above all, a journey in grace, God’s help, God’s path, and God’s love. Sometimes our self-imposed lists can be the biggest barrier to the grace that would lead us along. Being led by the Lord means being true to Him through keeping covenants.
We are here to learn how to allow ourselves to be led, together. That looks different, day by day, week by week, year after year. For us, it once looked like prayer and job charts, singing Primary songs, and even shouting “Bam!” when we heard an important word in the scriptures. Now, it looks like intentional mealtime conversations, different ways to study scriptures, and more fun time together. Being “led with one accord” is simply to allow the Good Shepherd to lead your family along.
It works to just ask in prayer, “What should I do today to help my family?” An idea or thought, phrase, or call to action will come. It will definitely be a simple instruction, manageable and meaningful.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and he have not as yet understood the great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you.
“And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.”
I love reading works of history, and I definitely have favorite historians. I was sad to learn of the passing of two of my favorites this month.
The first was David McCullough. Years ago for fun, I wrote my dream guest list for the best dinnertime conversation, and he was one of my wishlist guests. My favorite books that he wrote are Truman and John Adams, but I have enjoyed many others. Here is a small clip of his voice that is worth listening to, especially from about minute 2 until the end.
The other historian was Kate Holbrook. Her passing was especially sad to me, as she was young and had such a vibrant faith. I have met her, and in the few words we exchanged, I saw a very kind and earnest scholar and mother. I am a fan of her work to get Latter-day Saint women’s stories into the hands of Church members. I am a fan of her efforts to nurture her own living faith. I am sharing a Stanford Convocation address she gave in 2019 if you feel like listening to a smart, wise woman scholar who worked for the Church History Department. I can’t embed the video in this post, but this is the link.
I have definitely felt a low after coming down from so many high-impact events this summer. I think this is pretty normal, kind of like the days after Christmas. I have retreated from extra events, and count, stitch, and pull strands of thread to reestablish some order in my mind. I have just needed to be still.
I stepped away from reading for a while, but this week, I finally finished a book that I started in early July. It was called The Worst Hard Time 😂, and maybe you can see better than I could that this was not a great reading choice for me this summer.
We are still trying to establish some footing in our new schedule for the school year, but we are getting there. It feels like layering, one piece at a time. Eventually, we’ll find our rhythm, melody, and harmony again.
I am maintaining my goal to work on temple and family history work for a short time each week. One project this month is to go through old mail and cards that I have kept throughout my life. I am letting go of a lot of it. For scale, I would say I have one banker’s box left, and still plan to say goodbye to much more.
I haven’t been reading every letter, just sorting them by sender. Even without reading, I am amazed at what I learn about my grandmothers as I do this. I thought that I had already gathered their writing, but I have found so much more. Perhaps I am coming to know them better after they are gone, when the sum of their words and kindness are laid bare on the sorting table. I always knew they were good to me, but seeing their words from every stage of my life is an incredible gift.
I visualize my Grandma Ruth standing in the grocery store next to the greeting cards, finding just the words and images she wanted to convey. I picture my Grandma Stewart at her writing desk, penning her brief notes, often ending with “Take care–,” which of course meant, “I love you.” I see them, clearly in my mind, and know they are still with me.
We are losing a tree this week, one of our tall Cottonwoods, and for some reason I didn’t take a hundred photos of it while it was alive. I took a moment last night before the carnage began to look up through its empty branches into the sky in gratitude.
Cottonwood trees sound like a canyon stream as the wind blows through their leaves. They have kept our yard cool and full of shade in the mornings, and given us privacy from neighbors. We have three Cottonwoods, and these trees were one of the things that drew us to this house, as their presence felt kind of sacred. We traveled hundreds of miles to see the Redwood trees one year, and the stillness and permanence of those forests made an impression on me. The blessed realization is that we have a similar feeling in our own backyard. It is a good thing to have tall trees and some wilderness space. I will miss our middle tree!
There were so many surprises awaiting me when I was called to be a stake Primary president. Actually, everything was a surprise. I didn’t know anything a stake Primary president was supposed to do. (Someone told me that my job was to show up and look pretty… Um, no, but I do find myself smiling a lot.)
I didn’t know how much I would be working with bishops and their counselors.
I didn’t know that high councilors would become my friends.
I didn’t know that in addition to my presidency, I would grow close to the stake Relief Society and stake Young Women presidents. (Pictured above.)
I didn’t know that the stake presidency would take so much time to listen to the concerns and ideas of sister leaders.
I didn’t know how often I would be called upon to speak to different congregations, sometimes with very short notice.
I didn’t realize how much I would admire the ward Primary presidents and see their strengths so clearly. I didn’t know that I would be praying for so many children and parents.
On Sunday, the stake Relief Society presidency was released and a new set of sisters was called. I will miss sitting with Molly in stake council meetings and on the stand during stake conferences. She served in her calling while I was a ward Relief Society president, so she has been a kind of mentor to me for 7 years.
I never pictured myself in this leadership role. I don’t see myself as a Primary leader type, but the more I let go of my ideas, my limiting thoughts, and my personal script, the more I grow.
Mark’s junior year will bring less time at the high school, more time at home doing online classes, a new piano teacher, and longer hours at the piano. He has a calling to serve the special needs youth in the area as a counselor/companion/ “buddy” to someone during weekly church activities. It is a very different formula than we could have predicted for his school year, but we will trust the Lord.
Mark’s screen print T-shirt collection from his travels is refreshed, his maroon shoes match his school colors, and he remembered to get a photo before he left for school.
Richard gave Mark a priesthood blessing last night and I “covered him in prayer” this morning. Let’s go!
Our family story is punctuated by late summer adventures, year after year. Summer 2022 was important, so we ended it big. Seven of us traveled to Yellowstone in my brother’s 10-passenger van. We stopped short of ordering matching T-shirts, but we were pretty much a tour bus with people that poured out of the doors at each stop.
My heart dwells in so many memories of Yellowstone. But this time, I was a mother of adults and a junior in high school, which is a very different experience.
