Category: Church

Schooling our Perception

I studied a conference talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland last week in preparation for a lesson I was to teach. It was about the parable of the laborers in Matthew chapter 20.

There are many thoughts that emerged from this study, but the biggest for me was that we can school the way we perceive events.

We can make a choice about how we feel about things… perceived injustices especially. We can make a choice to let go of grudges. We can choose to see the good in a person or group of people. We are not naive to wrongs, but wise as serpents, harmless as lambs, we can more forward with courage.

My friend said that the philosophy of trusting and acting on everything that comes into your head is dangerous. We need to school our thoughts so we can act in the best ways. We can’t always trust our feelings to lead us to the best path. We can’t always trust our first perception of things. We certainly can’t trust that desire to hang on to past hurts.

Parables invite us to be participants. I tend to put myself in parables among the sheep and the 99, not as a goat or the lost ONE. The truth is, we all spend time as the prodigal now and then and it would be healthy to read the parables from the sinner’s perspective. It’s when we do this that we can find our Heavenly Father’s love and grace. We can school ourselves to find new perspectives.

I get the impression that many women tend to place themselves in the prodigal’s place too often, feeling that they can never measure up.

There is danger in both kinds of one-sided thinking. When we forget to school our thinking, we either become too concerned about justice in one case or about mercy in the other, forgetting that we need both.

“Be kind, and be grateful that God is kind. It is a happy way to live.” -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Elder Holland’s talk can be heard here.

Conference Memories

What a memorable General Conference. I sobbed when I heard the announcement for a Tucson temple. We are thrilled about lowering the age for missionaries to serve. I loved Elder Holland’s talk.

Richard and Daniel were able to attend the General Priesthood meeting. I’m having technical difficulties with the annual father-son photo, but when I get that worked out, I’ll post Daniel and Richard standing beside one another in front of our house, Daniel’s limbs creeping out of bounds on the hems of last year’s suit.

Richard and Daniel rode Trax to downtown Salt Lake to avoid having to park.

We watched conference at home and one session at my parents’ mountain retreat. The little boys played with blocks and Lego Mindstorms as they listened to the speakers.

I just noticed Timothy’s awesome foundation.

 

Firsts

On Sunday I accompanied the choir on my violin for the first time in my new congregation. The first time is always nerve wracking, but with Daniel’s encouragement and prayers and holding a text message from Richard, I braved another “first” and it went just fine.

The kids are settling in very well to school. It’s taken a month, but we’re falling into a routine. The transition was a lot smoother than I expected. Richard gave each child a priesthood blessing the night before school began. I know that this has helped. I look back without regret at the years we spent together and pat myself on the back when I see their reading, math, and science scores. It helps soothe the ignominy of facing the skeptical public school administration a few weeks ago.

We went to our first church party. Paige and Daniel immediately found their friends and we didn’t see them all evening. Let me repeat: Paige and Daniel IMMEDIATELY FOUND THEIR FRIENDS. Tim and Mark played ball with a handful of primary children and came home with pockets stuffed with candy from the pinata. On the drive home, I asked the kids if they had a good time. They all said yes. Let me repeat: THEY ALL SAID YES! Daniel said, “Mom, this must be the right place for us.”

Absolutely.

I’m emotionally spent, despite most of these things being good developments in our lives. My sister-in-law Becky Sanchez unexpectedly stopped by our house late one night this week. She was in town for a funeral and had an just an hour to see us. It was a good visit. Her conversation was just what my tired nerves needed. I’m thankful to have her as a sister in law and that I got to hold her sweet new baby.

I am a tired but very blessed woman.

 

My 18 month project

Hello, friend. Thanks for reading and checking on our family adventures. Some posts I write for myself, others are a history, and sometimes I write with just you (dear reader) in mind. What can I share that will help and lift you? Today I’m writing a religious post.

Sometimes the familiar can become almost invisible. About a year ago I realized that my religious study was not feeding me. The familiar words of scripture weren’t making a difference in my life. I needed something to help me focus.

I decided to journal what I learned about my Father in Heaven as I read The Book of Mormon. At first I kept a notebook at my side, but then I found that notes in the margins of the scriptures kept my mind focused on the words more effectively. I just wrote short statements about Heavenly Father’s interactions with his children based on the stories I was reading. It wasn’t difficult. I just asked myself over and over, “What does this passage tell me about my Heavenly Father?”

I didn’t use my regular set of scriptures. I used an old copy so I wouldn’t worry about taking up too much room in the margins with my notes. I did this for 18 months (I’m a slow study). What I now have is an old copy of the Book of Mormon filled with insights about my Father in Heaven. I learned so much and I am sure I could repeat the project and wonder why I didn’t see more.

I’m not going to make a list of what I learned, but perhaps if you feel that your study of scripture has become a little peripheral this may help you to focus. I found my Father in Heaven in the words and I felt his influence in my life more fully through the exercise. If God is unchanging, these miracles and principles from the Bible and The Book of Mormon should still occur today. As I searched for principles and practices, I found that my life was rich with blessings and my mind was opened to the miracles in my life. It was a simple way to feel the power and love of God.

Here is what a few of my pages look like. Sorry some pictures are blurry. I’m in a hurry today.

 

My presidency

I’ve been a Young Women president for almost 11 months. I’ve had a full schedule and great counselors and a spunky, awesome secretary to keep me in line.

Emily is my first counselor. She is a great leader for Paige and she is so dependable and cute. She loves Paige and that means a lot to me. Emily can do anything, all while holding a baby and chasing a toddler.

Here is Susan, who just happens to be married to Bishop B. She takes such good care of the Beehives and oh, do they love her. She hosts craft parties for holidays and the girls love to spend time with her. I do, too.

This is Jen, (Lucille’s niece) our secretary who has served with 4 presidents. She keeps me laughing and the girls love her. I do, too.

 

Here is Cindy, our camp director. She pretty much saved the day when she accepted the calling at the last minute and she did an incredible job.

I love the lessons from Jasmine and Liz. They are wonderful teachers because they live what they teach and they have a great relationship with the girls.

Serving in Young Women is a nice capstone for my Arizona experience. I’ve served in the Primary, Relief Society, Cub Scouts, and music in our ward. The Young Women organization is a new frontier for me and such a joy. Oh, how I love those girls and these ladies!

(I didn’t take any of these photos. Some are from Cindy; others are from Jen and one unknown. I took the profiles and Jasmine made them into silhouettes with Photoshop.)

 

More Girls Camp pics

I knew you were hoping for more Girls Camp shots. Photos by Cindy.

Here is our camp. It’s a Church camp on Mount Lemmon, which is named after a WO-MAN. Just so you know…

Here are a few of the girls by our banner. We were the Lucky Charms.

Paige arrived after the other girls because she was on her 4th year overnight hike and had spent the morning rappelling.

If I can’t be Maria von Trapp in a musical, then I will just have to pretend that I am at Girls Camp. It’s a magical place like that.

This is such a good group of girls!

Our camp is special because it has a piano. Paige accompanied our stake in our camp theme song. On Sunday, she played it again in Stake Conference while we all sang. The girls gave her big cheers during the week because she sounded great. 100+ girls cheering for you in a room that echoes makes you feel good, although a little headachy.

We had lots of scripture time, and that was nice.

This sweet girl was my buddy. Love her!

The hills are alive… with the sound of music!

Now, go climb every mountain.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night.

I got to go to Girls Camp. I must have done something good… to deserve it.

 

Girls’ Camp: check.

Shamrock Headbands seemed like a good idea at the time... (Photo stolen from Emily's Facebook post.) 😉

Pioneer Trek and Girls’ Camp are finished. I am tired and there is dirt embedded in my nails, but it’s been a good few weeks with the youth.

The smell of an afternoon rain shower is so soothing. I feel relaxed and ready to take on the next hurdle: our move to Utah.

We’re leaving the desert after 7 years and these recent experiences with the youth don’t make it very easy to leave.

If I think, “Where will we be next month?” I just have a dark space which doesn’t include our house or our friends. It still doesn’t seem real, but as I take down our photos from the walls and we begin to fill in the trampoline hole in the back yard, I see that it is real and that our mark on this house is being carefully erased. I find myself growing less concerned about the house and more concerned about the impact we have made in our little community. I hope that we have made a difference.

Remembering

This was the Ross Pioneer Trek Family. Richard and I were Ma and Pa to 7 children, ages 14-18. We had a baby we carried made from a pillowcase and dry rice.

We worked hard and we were a great team. We worked to make our journey a reminder of the past and relevant to our current lives.

We grew close to each other and stayed with our family most of the time.

This was my last pull with my family. I got heat stroke and had to be taken away for medical help.

Richard carried on without me. He was much admired for his sacrifices on the trail.

I am so grateful that a photographer kept a record so I could see what happened after I left.

I like these photos of Richard. It’s my blog, so I can post as many as I like.

They went up this steep hill with a human chain to pull on either side of the handcarts.

This man helped me when I was ill.

At one point, I looked up and was amused to see this Amish-looking man kneeling beside me. He was a great help to me also and I smiled to think that our Brigham Young actor was also an experienced paramedic.

Although the Ross Pioneer Trek family was “orphaned” they were proud to have finished the trek first, and raced to the end. Richard was there to cheer them on.

Paige did a great job on Trek. She was strong and cheerful.

She was part of a different “family” but we watched her from a distance. She enjoyed carrying her family’s baby.

It was an experience not easily explained in words, but the memories are deep and our faith has increased. And I have a nifty bonnet to help me remember.

Photos by Mr. Zollinger and Kara Egbert