Category: Church

Family Update

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The final weeks of this less than halfhearted winter signal the end and beginning of many things.

Paige has decided to attend BYU. So ends the up-and-down anticipation and insecurity in that area of her life. She is intensely busy with her classes, but beautiful sketches and paintings continue to emerge from her bedroom studio as do A’s on calculus tests and English papers from her classrooms. This end of high school stress has an overlay of fresh excitement for a new life in college.

Daniel and Timothy skied on Saturday and missed their bus ride home. I got to see where they ski for the first time when we picked them up. It was a sunny and warm ski day and the slopes were busy with little figures. These brightly clad skiers, Alpine lodges, trees, and sparkling snow were absolutely the most beautiful things I have seen all winter.

Daniel and I have been watching old musicals that I unpacked from storage. He is busy with an AP class and a research project. He has a busy social calendar which includes church dances, movie and game nights, and last week, an afternoon of sledding with a crowd of friends. We have had some late night talks which are enlightening and entertaining.

Timothy loves his after school jazz band. His goal lately is to build tiny models of all of his favorite Star Wars ships and to tease Mark. He has been attending Scout merit badge clinics and I’m still not accustomed to seeing him at youth activities. I’ll catch a glimpse of him and feel a little sentimental. How did he manage to arrive at age 12 this quickly?

Mark finished his first reading of the Book of Mormon and immediately began reading the Old Testament. If anybody can do it, Mark will. He’s put the pressure on me to help him finish his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts. The boy knows what he wants to accomplish and does it.

Baseball begins in a few weeks. It will be Timothy’s last season. It will be another season of machine pitch for Mark. The parks are beautiful here and the backdrop of the mountains is still a stunning sight to me. I look forward to evenings spent outdoors.

We bought new patches for Richard’s Scout uniform. Soon the Catalina Arizona Council patch and commissioner paraphernalia will be replaced with the Great Salt Lake Council and Assistant Scoutmaster patches. Ropes and pioneering poles are standard equipment these days. We miss having the missionaries in our home now that Richard is no longer the ward mission leader, but I think he enjoys spending time with Timothy and the other boys.

I am writing my book and playing the violin, keeping up with my study goals, and not exercising enough. I smile every time I look at these plates my grandmother gave me on my kitchen mantel.

The End.

Moments of Timothy Greatness

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Last week Timothy hinted meekly that he was playing in a concert during school. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to be there so I asked him on a scale from one to ten, how much he would like me to come. (Helping him avoid having to say the awkward, “Please don’t come, Mom.”) To my surprise, he said, “8 or 9.” So I went and I was one of four guests, three of whom were clearly grandparents. In other words, I was one of the privileged few. He even let me take a picture.

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He is growing up but he still lets me be in love with him.

Last night Paige and I hosted the salad course of a progressive dinner at our house for the Young Men and Young Women in our congregation. We entertained 3 groups of 15 youths and leaders. Timothy and Daniel were in one of the groups together, but Tim didn’t depend on Daniel, nor did he sit by his dad who is now one of his youth leaders. He sat beside the new boy. I was glad to see it.

Family Home Evening #9,000 or something

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Sometimes I am guilty of giving my best to my students instead of my children. I am learning that I can give my best to both. When it is my turn to give a family home evening lesson, I share what I am learning in my personal study or preparations for lessons at church. This month I made some extra copies of the Plan of Salvation kits that I made for a young women lesson. Last night the kids cut them out and added them to their missionary/future family collections. We also prepared some for a missionary care package.

My mom told me that she would make Plan of Salvation visual aids with the missionaries all the time. She suggested that we include transparent “spirit bodies” which enter at birth, are separated at death, and reunited with the colorful physical bodies at the resurrection. I have to admit that this little detail is my favorite part of these laminated kits. Most of these elements come from The Friend Magazine, January 2008. If you want a copy I would be happy to send them to you. You can use my laminator if you’re close by, too.

Enlarge your souls toward others

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This year I am studying the New Testament using some Bible commentary and a study guide. It’s an early morning pursuit that I try to do when the kids are asleep. After a few weeks of study I don’t think I’m much smarter, but I am gaining more empathy for the people around me through the example of the Savior. It has been helpful to know geography, politics, language, and culture of the day to see the importance of passages. However, as I study, what shines out beyond all of the historical trappings is Jesus ministering to individuals. (It’s about people, silly girl.) People occupied his hours, days, and sleepless nights. The needs of the people were relentless. He was busy meeting their needs, which he discerned by the Spirit, not just their words and actions. So many needs are never communicated aloud! There is such a need for love and discernment in our lives.

You must enlarge your souls toward others if you’d do like Jesus. As you increase in innocence and virtue, as you increase in goodness, let your hearts expand–let them be enlarged towards others–you must be longsuffering and bear with the faults of mankind. How precious are the souls of men.  -Joseph Smith

 

Imperfect, but having great potential

I have been reading my journals of my marriage years this week. Richard and I have seen some challenges and gone through difficulties of many kinds. We have served in the Church and been apart many nights and early mornings in this service. We have weathered the baby years with little sleep, years of isolation from extended family, financial challenges, and health issues. I have seen my immaturity when dealing with trials in the pages of these journals. I have observed a growing appreciation for Richard and an ongoing discovery of how powerful my need is for his companionship. I have felt sad that I allowed our date nights to slip when the kids were young and so needy. I have felt sad for the times when I was grumpy. Tucked inside my journal was a talk that I gave in church in 2010 about marriage. This was a year when there was little sleep and there were many obligations. Its message helped me feel some comfort about my regrets that we didn’t have a perfect marriage then (and still don’t). I feel a need to share a part of it.

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I think about the house I lived in while growing up. It was a fixer-upper. My parents bought a vandalized and desolate house and over the years made it into something very special. More than one time the ceiling threatened to collapse because of a leaky swamp cooler, and the doors and windows were covered in plastic during construction of an addition. There is a lesson in this. Although the house needed repair, the foundation was sure. And though necessary changes and additions were made, the original foundation served its purpose through the seasons of my parents’ marriage.

Just like a house, a successful marriage must be constantly maintained and nurtured. The most important element of a successful marriage is the foundation of covenants made in the temple. Knowing the importance God places on marriage, this relationship should be our priority.

Elder Richard G Scott said, “Through the restored gospel we learn there is an ideal family. It is a family composed of a righteous Melchizedek Priesthood bearer with a righteous wife sealed to him and children born in the covenant or sealed to them. They fulfill their divinely appointed roles mentioned in the family proclamation.”

Elder Scott counseled us to “Put first things first. Do the best you can while on earth to have an ideal family.”

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I felt better after reading this because Richard and I have been through some years of renovations and additions. “Doing my best” hasn’t amounted to a constantly cheerful countenance and date nights every week. It has meant a lifetime of going to church each week and holding family home evening and family prayer as best we can. It’s meant 20 years of teamwork and loyalty. My attitude has sometimes looked like the early picture of my parents’ house and I don’t understand why we have certain challenges. Some of my favorite people have not had the opportunity to be married. Some of my favorite people have not been blessed with children. Others have been abandoned by a spouse. But the goal is the same for all of us: we strive toward the goal of an ideal family, regardless of our circumstances. We may have a wing of the house missing or the floors that creak, but it’s worth it to visualize and work for something better. Keeping covenants is the foundation of an ideal family. Construction is part of the plan for a beautiful house for each of us.

A Book for the New Year

I never considered that reading the gospel of Mark would be a perfect way to bring in the New Year. It is so good at showing how to prioritize reflection and people despite being busy…even busy doing worthy things.

I read Mark 5 with the kids yesterday after school and asked them what they thought about a question I was pondering. Jesus told the man from whom he had cast out devils to go and tell his friends about it. Most of the time, Jesus tells people to keep the miracle of healing a private experience. (People can’t help telling, though.) Why was this man asked to share?

I didn’t expect an answer. In fact, I hadn’t found a satisfactory answer for myself. However, before we moved to the next verses, Timothy had a thought. He told us that Jesus knew that he would be surrounded by crowds of people asking him to heal them, but he was most willing to heal those with spiritual problems.

There you go. The Savior dealt with problems of crowd control, but he wanted it known that he was available to those who sought to be healed spiritually. That is what he was chosen to do from the beginning, and it’s still his work now. I believe it’s what he loves to do.

Ways to be a missionary

I’m typing this list for myself today and I thought I’d share because I don’t have any happy photos of the kids to show. (School has begun.) This is a list of 98 scripture references about being an effective missionary that I have found in my study during the past few months. I’ve included summaries, personal interpretations, and annotations of these scriptures. You may learn something else from looking up the references.

  1. Alma 8:32: Preach and prophesy according to the spirit and power that the Lord has given you.
  2. Alma 7:24: See that you have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
  3. Alma 7:23: Be humble, meek, submissive, and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; temperate in all things; diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
  4. Alma 6:8: [Preach] according to revelation and the spirit of prophecy, according to the testimony of Jesus Christ
  5. Alma 6:6: Join with the Church in fasting and mighty prayer for those who know not God.
  6. Alma 6:5: Be liberal (share) unto all
  7. Alma 5:62: Speak by way of invitation.
  8. Alma 5:49: Preach unto all
  9. Alma 5:48: Bear testimony of Jesus Christ.
  10. Alma 5:46: Fast and pray to know for yourself by the Holy Spirit what is true.
  11. Alma 4:19: Bear pure testimony
  12. Alma 1:21: Do not persecute others.
  13. D&C 133:57: Reason in plainness and simplicity.
  14. Mosiah 27:35: Publish all things that you have seen.
  15. Mosiah 27:37: Publish peace, good tidings of good; declare that the Lord reigns
  16. Mosiah 23:18: Watch over one another and nourish others with righteous acts and words.
  17. Mosiah 23:14: Be a trustworthy teacher by being a man or woman of God and keep the commandments.
  18. D&C 124:4: Write in the spirit of meekness by the power of the Holy Ghost.
  19. D&C 123:17: Cheerfully do all in our power and be assured that God will help and save.
  20. D&C 121:45: Be full of charity towards all; have virtuous thoughts continually; then you will have confidence and and understanding of doctrine
  21. D&C 121:26: Receive knowledge through the Holy Spirit.
  22. D&C 115:5: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;
  23. D&C 112:28: Purify your hearts, then go to all the world and preach the gospel to everyone.
  24. D&C 112:10: Be humble and the Lord will lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.
  25. D&C 112:4: Let your heart be of good cheer; bear record of the Lord’s name.
  26. Mosiah 15:16: Publish peace.
  27. D&C 108:7: Strengthen others in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, in all your doings.
  28. D&C 101:16: Be still and know that I am God.
  29. D&C 100:7: Declare in Christ’s name with solemnity and meekness.
  30. D&C 100:6: Remember that it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.
  31. D&C 100:5: Speak the thoughts that the Lord shall put in your hearts.
  32. D&C 98:16: Proclaim peace, seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children.
  33. D&C 98:1: Fear not, let your hearts be comforted, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks.
  34. D&C 90:24: Search diligently, pray always, and be believing; walk uprightly
  35. D&C 90: Be not ashamed or confounded; avoid pride; Set in order your house; keep slothfulness and uncleanness far from you.
  36. D&C 90:15: Study and learn, become acquainted with all good books, and languages, tongues, and people.
  37. Enos: Pray, labor in faith and diligence for others
  38. Enos 1:9: Feel a desire for the welfare of others and pour our your whole soul unto God for them.
  39. D&C 88:124: Cease to be idle, unclean; cease to find fault with one another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to bed early, arise early.
  40. D&C 88:123: Love one another; do not covet; learn to impart (teach, give) as the gospel requires.
  41. D&C 88:119: Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; establish a house of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, order, a house of God.
  42. D&C 88:118: Seek diligently and teach words of wisdom; seek out of the best books; seek learning by study and by faith.
  43. D&C 88:84: Prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come.
  44. D&C 88:84: labor diligently that you may be perfected in your ministry.
  45. D&C 88:81: Testify and warn the people; it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.
  46. D&C 88:77-78: Teach the doctrine of the kingdom. Be instructed in theory, principle, doctrine, law of the Gospel; of many subjects… so you may be prepared share and fulfill the mission the Lord has for you.
  47. D&C 88:74: organize yourselves, prepare yourselves, sanctify yourselves, purify your hearts.
  48. D&C 84:106: Strengthen those who are weak in meekness.
  49. D&C 84:85: Don’t take thought beforehand what to say, but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life; it shall be given to you in the very hour that portion that shall be given..
  50. D&C 84:80: Be faithful and you will not be weary in mind and you will be watched over.
  51. D&C 84:73: Do not boast of things that you have received; Do not share the most sacred experiences you have with everyone.
  52. D&C 84: 61: Be steadfast and solemn in mind and be prayerful; Bear testimony to the world of the things that are communicated to you by the Spirit.
  53. 2 Nephi 33:1: Speak by the power of the Holy Ghost and it will be carried to the hearts of others.
  54. D&C 81:5: Stand in the office you have in the church; succor the weak; lift up the hands that hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.
  55. D&C 80:3: Preach to all; it mattereth not where, for ye cannot go amiss.
  56. D&C 80:1: Preach the gospel to every creature that cometh under the sound of your voice.
  57. D&C 79: The Comforter will teach you the truth and the way you should go.
  58. 2 Nephi 32:9: Pray always and not faint; ye must not perform anything unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ.
  59. 2 Nephi 32:5: Enter the way, receive the Holy Ghost; it will show you all things what ye should do.
  60. 2 Nephi 32:3: Speak the words of Christ; feast upon the words of Christ; the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
  61. 2 Nephi 31:14: Through the power of the Holy Ghost, you can speak the tongue of angels.
  62. D&C 75: 4: Lift up your voice as with the sound of a trump proclaiming truth according to the revelations and commandments of the Lord.
  63. 2 Nephi 25:26: Talk of Christ; rejoice in Christ; preach of Christ; prophesy of Christ; write according to our prophecies.
  64. 2 Nephi 25:23: Labor diligently to write, to persuade others to believe in Christ and his grace.
  65. 2 Nephi 25:4: Delight in plainness, that others may learn.
  66. D&C 71:6: To him that receiveth the gospel shall be given more, even power.
  67. D&C 68:3: Speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
  68. 2 Nephi 22:4: Declare [the Lord’s] doings among the people.
  69. D&C 63:64: Speak of sacred things with care, and by constraint of the Spirit. Receive the Spirit through prayer.
  70. D&C 63:44: The Lord allows us to use our wisdom to make choices in how we will do things.
  71. D&C 62:5: The Lord isn’t going to tell you everything you should do; Do what seems good to you; be faithful and declare glad tidings.
  72. D&C 62:8: Do according to your judgment and the directions of the Spirit.
  73. D&C 60:14: Proclaim the gospel not in haste, neither in wrath nor with strife.
  74. D&C 60:13: Do not idle away your time; do not bury your talents that they are not known.
  75. D&C 60:8: Preach the word not in haste.
  76. D&C 60:7: Declare with loud voices, without wrath or doubting.
  77. 1 Nephi 11:22-23: Seek the love of God in your heart; it is joyous to the soul.
  78. D&C 50: 21-22: Preach by the Spirit of truth; those who preach and receive will be edified and rejoice together if the Spirit is present.
  79. 2 Nephi 3:20: Use simple words.
  80. D&C 43:34-35: Treasure up truth in your hearts, let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds; Be sober. Keep all commandments.
  81. D&C 43:20: Lift up your voice and spare not, teaching all. Prepare for the Second Coming.
  82. D&C 43:16: Be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and be endowed with power. (Attend the temple and receive temple ordinances.)
  83. D&C 43:8: Instruct and edify one another.
  84. D&C 42:16: Lift up voices by the Comforter, ye shall speak and prophesy as seemeth me good;
  85. D&C 42:12: Teach the principles of [the] gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
  86. D&C 38:41: Warn neighbor with mildness and meekness.
  87. D&C 11:21: Seek first to obtain the Lord’s word before declaring it.
  88. D&C 11:12: Put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good–yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
  89. D&C 11:7: Seek not for riches but for wisdom.
  90. D&C 12:8: No one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope and charity, being temperate in all things.
  91. D&C 26:1: Let your time be devoted to the studying of the scriptures, and to preaching.
  92. D&C 24:10: Do not suppose that [you] can say enough in [the Lord’s] cause.
  93. D&C 28:16: Open your mouth at all times, declaring gospel with the sound of rejoicing.
  94. D&C 30:11: Ever open your mouth in the Lord’s cause; do not fear what man can do.
  95. D&C 30:6: Be afflicted in all [your neighbor’s] afflictions. (Sympathetic, sustaining)
  96. D&C 31:9: Be patient in afflictions; revile not against those that revile. Govern your house in meekness, and be steadfast.
  97. D&C 32:1: Declare the gospel and learn of Christ, be meek and lowly in heart.
  98. D&C 33:2: Lift up your voices as with the sound of a trump.

 

The year-end photo swap

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Photo by Matt Sanchez: Polar bear challenge at the Weber

I’m trying to compile pictures for 2014 and I’m relying on lots of sources to do it. There has been a big exchange of photos among my sisters, a brother, and friends. These are some of my favorite finds this month.

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Photo by Susan Vaughn: Mark’s room
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Photo by Dean Brockbank: This was the most harrowing event of the year (more than rappelling and Angel’s Landing). Boys are sprung at each other in this human rubber band contraption.
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Photo by Dean Brockbank: Youth Conference
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Tubing at youth conference
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photo by Andrea Donaldsen: Les Miserables at Jordan High (our kids are in the pit!)
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Photo by Sarah Hainsworth: Thanksgiving at Spring Lake
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Photo by Sarah Hainsworth: Thanksgiving at Spring Lake

A few of my questions

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I don’t have a picture to go with this post, but some of you come to the blog for the pictures. This is how I do not look today. This is when I had just won my third beauty pageant… or was it my fourth? 😉

I am finishing my reading of the Doctrine in Covenants in the next few days. I decided to read with a few questions in mind. In my study of the Book of Mormon I am focusing on other questions. Here are my D&C questions:

Topic: Missionary work

  • Am I called to the work?
  • How can I share the gospel?
  • What are some words of encouragement as I do this?

Topic: Priesthood: What are the differences between…?

  • Priesthood keys
  • Priesthood power
  • Priesthood authority

Wow. I have found some beautiful answers. I have found many answers. I read the D&C this time using the Gospel Library app on my phone and tagged the verses that apply to these questions. I am not very technical, and I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday to see that all of my annotations and tags are saved on my lds.org account so I can access them on my computer and print them, etc.

It’s funny how we think we know everything when we are young. The older I get, the more I see that I have to learn and the more I want to study. Is this what they call the beginning of wisdom?