Category: Life according to Angela

11:30 friends

You may remember my goal this week to call, safely visit, or write to someone each day at 11:30. What you may not know is how hard it is for me to initiate a call. It’s one of the hardest things I ever do. Once we’re talking, I am fine, it’s just getting courage to interrupt someone’s day that’s hard.

Monday, I didn’t think, I just called, and that helped. My conversation with sweet Pat was long overdue and we talked as long as we wanted.

On Tuesday, my 11:30 communication was via email to someone and it needed to be full of details (not my favorite), but it’s what this friend asked me to do. I had missed my window of opportunity to make a phonecall, and moved on. Just before dinner, Anne called unexpectedly, and we ended up talking for a long time about deep things, not business. It’s like my morning laden with details was canceled.

Later, after a borrowed appliance kind of blew up in front of me, I sat at my window and watched the sunset and tried to calm down. Charlene chose this moment to stop by with her mask and a big bag of homemade cookies. We talked in the yard for a long time as the light faded from color to gray. The timing of this visit was angelic.

Today, at the allotted time, before I could pick up the phone, Gisela called me, and we talked for an hour about facing difficulties, the Supreme Court, misadventures in doctors’ offices, and some other things.

I have had more true conversations with friends in three days than I have in a long time. I have only had to dial the phone one time, and Heavenly Father delivered an army.

I have a plan for who I will call tomorrow. She’s a dear. They all are.

It’s easier to love my neighbor when…

…I don’t know their preferences on politics and television shows.

…I stay away from social media.

…I speak to them in person.

…I cease to label them.

…I don’t replay hurtful situations in my mind.

…I use the phrase from Pahoran to Captain Moroni, “It mattereth not,” when somebody speaks in ignorance about me or mine.

…I work on becoming closer to God, and pray for the gift of charity.

…I do something nice for them.

There have been times in my life when I have loved more than I love now, and the key was to be with people, listen to their stories, and do all I could to help them. I have made a commitment at 11:30 each day to reach out to someone, to have a real voice conversation, or to be helpful. I am still struggling to regain my health six months past surgery, but sick or well, I can make a phonecall or write a letter.

Be thou my vision

In the Book of Mormon, Jesus visits the people of the Americas. He teaches His gospel, and gives commandments, just as He did among the Jews. I like this verse,

“And ye see that I have commanded none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world; and whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation.” (3 Nephi 18:25)

Today, I thought about the words, “Come unto me that ye might feel and see.” This is an invitation to a tangible, sensory relationship for the people of the Americas who met him. I like to think it is also an invitation to anyone. As we come, He enhances our ability to feel and see.

He will help us feel His love for us and for others. He will increase our depth of feeling, so we can be better ministers to others and comprehend greater truths.

He will help us see beyond fears, pain, and limitations, and expand our vision for our existence.

As we give ourselves to Him through our obedience, He becomes our vision, the lens through which we see the world, and the heart and guide by which we feel the safe path through the darkness. I am thankful for a Savior who helps me to feel and to see a little better day by day.

Shuffling

Last week we sold our old black 1999 Toyota Sienna. It sold immediately after we listed it, and the emotions caught us a little by surprise. I guess it symbolized the adventures of raising our kids. It was a hassle-free car, with very few repairs needed during the past 18 years we owned it. I gave it a good pat and said thank you before it left our house for the last time.

During the past few months we have sold the van, Richard’s car, and three trailers, but Timothy fills in the spaces with his hobby cars. One of these must go before the snow arrives.

Tim’s Covid cars: lots of ventilation and only room for two people.

Join us for church online if you like

Daniel has been asked to speak in church on Sunday, Oct 11 at 9 am, Utah time. Church is now live-streamed via YouTube, so as different and new as this seems, I am inviting you to tune in to our sacrament meeting tomorrow. (Link to the channel included beneath picture)

Daniel will be giving a brief report on his mission and a gospel message.

Mark will be speaking, too.

I don’t know how long this link will work, but this was the meeting: (link no longer works)

https://youtu.be/IymgXDkpJJA

The Lord hath Comforted His People

“I am optimistic about the future. It will be filled with opportunities for each of us to progress, contribute, and take the gospel to every corner of the earth. But I am also not naive about the days ahead. We live in a world that is complex and increasingly contentious. The constant availability of social media and a 24-hour news cycle bombard us with relentless messages. If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.
“Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”

-President Russell M Nelson, Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our Lives, April 2018

This is the phrase that stood out to me most from this passage:

“Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again.”

This is an exciting time to be alive. There is hope and comfort to be found in Jesus Christ. Some days I live from prayer to prayer, trying to stay focused on light and goodness. This week has been mentally challenging for me, and the message that kept coming to my mind was to humble myself and reach out for some counsel and comfort from Richard and my parents. As I did this, I found the stepping stones I needed to cross this deep water I am navigating.

I am going to California tomorrow with my parents to bring my grandmother to Utah. This will require finesse, love, and angels. I don’t like to leave my family, but my illness this year has taught me that they are strong. I have done all I can to prepare and to be healthy as we take this big step. Our extended family has come together in prayer and fasting to prepare. My prayers for my grandmother are for her comfort and peace, and that we will know, step by step, what to do and say. I lay my burden at the Lord’s feet, his glorious feet, every few hours, all day.

Isaiah 52:7-10:

7 ¶ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
9 ¶ Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God