Life according to Angela – Page 30

Video chats

I take a screenshot of each video call with our missionary, but I don’t let on that I am doing it. So, these are regular, unposed expressions. With Daniel, we experienced missionary life without phonecalls and texts, and it was in the last part of his mission that the rules changed, allowing missionaries to contact home via text, a phonecall, or video call once a week.

It probably goes without saying that there is a big difference between the experiences. Our sons haven’t always felt the need to connect with a call each week, but it is nice to know they can. I like to see their faces, and these calls show me how they are really doing. I also see how they interact with companions. This week on our video call, Tim was a passenger in a car, and he showed us what the landscape looked like as they drove home. It helps me place him in my thoughts a little better. I think we hear more details about missionary work during a call because it doesn’t have to be typed and edited. It’s just real. I think it probably helps our missionaries to see that we are still very interested in their lives and can offer personal counsel.

I hope the weekly call doesn’t go away. It was an inspired change.

Picnic ready

I have a few friends with whom I meet to sew, usually around once a month. As we sew quilts or other individual projects, we explore vast conversations on many topics. These are some of the fastest hours of the month for me. I don’t often sew outside of these tiny gatherings, but I have made progress on several projects and learned from the wisdom of women I truly admire. This week I finished a quilt I began sometime last year. It’s ready to take on a picnic…once the ground thaws.

February 1 letter

Dear friend,

We made it through January 2022.

Did you see a lot of friends fall ill? I did. I also bought a lot more masks. I keep hoping each time I buy another box that *this* will be the last. In January, I went ahead and bought 3 boxes.

In contrast, if you are local, did you notice how sunny it was in January? Gorgeous!

We have been watching Masterpiece’s All Creatures Great and Small. I love Mrs. Hall and the sets. Now, THIS is a jewel box house. Every scene, I am hoping the actors will move around more so I can get a better look at the props and furniture.

I didn’t do a lot of organizing like many people in January, but I deep cleaned some rooms, and I got all the pine needles vacuumed from the carpet downstairs before we turned the calendar to February.

I read 7 books on cold evenings, every inch of me below the chin wrapped in blankets. No, I did not use my nose to advance pages on the Kindle to avoid exposing my fingers. But it’s worth considering.

A neighbor in our cul-de-sac just put their house on the market. It is a competitive housing market, so our street has been lined with cars. I learned the house behind us was sold to somebody who plans to turn it into an Airbnb. Boo! Still, I’m thrilled that there will be NO [mean] DOGS living there.

I have a new secretary, and she will be wonderful, as was my previous secretary.

Tim is serving in Maple Ridge, BC with two elders from Canada. One was assigned to Italy, and Tim of course was originally assigned to Guam, but they are “all in.” This is considered a temporary reassignment, and I am still not quite set in my mind that he is in Canada. I’m slow like that. I’m aware it doesn’t matter what I think, but it matters that he is smiling and happy, though. And he is.

Happy February!

♥️,

P.S. write back soon. Ha ha

Bright spots

In this assortment, you will find things that I would like to remember about this week. Wouldn’t it be sad to forget *that* sunset? Or that Mark came home excited about the progress he made on his woods project… And that I worked on a quilt and found a few happy surprises… Wouldn’t it be unfortunate to forget these happy little things?

Favorite minutes of the day

I know if you read these posts, you have seen that I have slowly become more intentional about gratitude. In 2021, I decided to graduate from a haphazard weekly gratitude list to a daily journal. My friend Janine shared this profound quote about gratitude,

…rather than make a list of things, don’t forget to thank God. Gratitude to God — and an indebtedness to Him — is far more meaningful and impactful than simply gratitude alone. In other words, counting your blessings without recognizing their source will not give you true happiness… It’s not about showing off what one has or counting things. It’s about recognizing the source and paying it forward.
Mary Richards

I don’t know how to say it without it sounding cliché, but those minutes of writing down God’s tender mercies are the best minutes of my day. I usually write things down from the previous day when I am alone in the morning. The routine simplicity of this doesn’t make it any less profound. With my little lists, I am learning to see God’s work in my life, and I look forward to it each morning. Sometimes I am surprised by the delight.

When thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God.
Alma 37:37

When we shine, we gather

I taught a singing lesson in Primary today. There were only 18 kids there, between the ages of 3 and 10, and I taught them the song, I Know My Father Lives. The lyrics are a simple group of statements about our Heavenly Father and the Spirit:

“I know my Father Lives, and loves me too, the Spirit whispers this to me and tells me it is true, and tells me it is true.”

I brought an empty picture frame and carried it around the room, holding it in front of each child’s face, and repeating, “You are a child of God and He loves you.” The children would sit up a little straighter as I brought the frame in front of their faces. The older boys shifted a little, feeling the power of the statements and some discomfort from the attention, and wishing to diffuse some of that feeling. Younger children were the most capable of bearing those words without a wobble. As I spoke and looked into each face, it was a sacred experience. When I walked back to the front of the room, several of the kids said, what about you? Aren’t you going to say it for yourself? So, I said it for myself, “I am a child of God and He loves me.” Ah, belonging! You can’t have it without some vulnerability.

Elder Cook wrote, “When we shine, we gather.” Sometimes it takes courage to shine, to carry around that frame, look someone in the eyes, and remind them they are a child of God and He loves them so much. “To gather” can bring to mind the idea of a hug, or any gesture that reminds people that they belong.

(I am adding the themes that our youth learn as teens. I love the doctrine that we are children of heavenly parents.)

Tracks

The crunch the snow makes after resting on a hillside for a few weeks; the sight of deer tracks right beside my own; cousins, belonging; singing songs without knowing all the words (🎶hmm, ba da da da ma da, Madrigal! 🎼Under the surface, hem en em en em a…whoa oh oh oh!)

Our afternoon at Spring Lake.

West is home

I took an Old Testament course a few years ago which taught me to look at the words of Genesis more allegorically, or poetically. So when I read that God planted a garden eastward in Eden, I think the author symbolically places God in the west. Cain chooses to dwell east of Eden, which would be as far from God as possible.

Later, when the Tabernacle is constructed, the orientation is east to west, with the Holy of Holies taking the far west position. East to west, this is the direction the high priest would take to commune with God.

East and west, this is the orientation of my house. In the different seasons I know when the sun will light up my kitchen in the morning, and I know when to look out my western windows for the sunset.

East to west, I follow the sun each day.

East to west, disciples try to follow the Son each day.

Every day is a chance to begin again. Every day is a chance to pray and study and do something kind. I want to follow, east to west, because west is home.

I collect dishes

I have been reading about the art and psychology of homemaking, and the objects people choose to place in their homes to reflect what is important to them. One of my kids commented that I have added things during the pandemic that look like they belong in a temple, maybe because we couldn’t attend for a while. Over time, I have displayed more and more heirlooms, photos of ancestors, and beautiful dishes.

I have an obsession with beautiful dishes.

I wonder what that says about me.

I think my collection shows that I love to make the time memorable at family meals. The dishes I have inherited help me remember the fine ladies in my ancestry. I love many of the same beautiful things they loved. I am old fashioned, a flowery seventies girl, kind of like those brown calico plates. I don’t think I could name a favorite set. I love them all: my wedding china (collected after 26 years), the orange set for Halloween from the dollar store, Grandma Stewart’s Christmas Spode, Aunt Susan’s browns, the blue and white Liberty Blue, the elegant white bone china, the pink Depression glass, and the jade green plates… they help us celebrate seasons and family and beauty. Many pieces are antiques, which means they have seen people through all kinds of things. They are permanence and beauty, so let the world swirl around outside, sit down, and enjoy the serenity of old, steady things and a lovely meal.

Home vs the News

I take part in very different experiences depending on how much news I allow into my head. Again and again through this pandemic, I find a great contrast in our personal experiences compared to the picture painted by other voices. I don’t deny the real suffering going on, but I don’t have to open the door and invite it in all the time. I don’t think our minds are equipped to handle the amount of information in the constant news cycle.

We definitely don’t go out as much. We are blessed with pretty good internet and a home with lots of space. Richard still works from home in the basement office. I am mentally preparing for remote learning for Mark as case numbers rise. The pandemic continues to push us home, and I am doing what I can to make it pleasant. Without question, we are profoundly blessed.