Our piano tuner and technician wheeled these pieces of our piano out of our house today on a gurney, loaded them into a truck, and took them to his workshop to be regulated. The process will take a week or more, and having the piano disassembled feels really disconcerting.
My mom made and donated some really beautiful quilts for an auction in her small town to benefit local church youth programs.
Her beehive quilt sold for the highest price of all the items at the auction!
In the photo above, the happy lady who bought the quilt is wearing a gray shirt and she stands behind my mom, celebrating. This was so fun to watch.
My mom also made a baby quilt with the most gorgeous colors which was also popular at the auction. My mom is quite a person.
This is the quilt before it was quilted and bound. Her friend machine quilted it, with different patterns in each block and on the borders. It was absolutely amazing.The baby quilt at auction
I thought I’d do my part to conjure some autumn temperatures by removing the patriotic summer things from these shelves.
It’s still hot, but I feel better having something different to look at. This is a collection of mostly old things, arranged in a new way, and the sight is rejuvenating to me.
We watched this video of the Salt Lake Temple restoration last night and we were left speechless at the painstaking, highly technical efforts to strengthen the foundation of the temple.
I see so many lessons in this video about how to strengthen my own foundation. Sometimes it will require chipping away, inch by inch, at old challenges. Sometimes it will require some intrusion on my precious ideas in order to affix necessary connections to higher things. It will require time, now.
I can’t take lightly this counsel,
We are sparing no effort to give this venerable temple, which had become increasingly vulnerable, a foundation that will withstand the forces of nature into the Millennium. In like manner, it is now time that we each implement extraordinary measures—perhaps measures we have never taken before—to strengthen our personal spiritual foundations. Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures.
My dear brothers and sisters, these are the latter days. If you and I are to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures, it is imperative that we each have a firm spiritual foundation built upon the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
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.
