Moab Trip

The Ross family tour bus departed on Memorial Day, just as most people packed up their RV’s to come home. We passed masses of traffic traveling home in the other direction, and discovered that the places we visited near Moab were not crowded. Richard made excellent plans and accommodations for us. He is so good at this.

After such a wet winter, the landscape was more green than we can remember. There were so many wildflowers, that whole fields were dusted in color, mostly orange, but many other colors, too.

Do you spy Paige and Michael, and Daniel and McKenna traveling with us? Lucky us! My brother Joe shared his van with us so we could all ride together.

New name, expanded purpose

In Genesis, we read about God changing Abram and Sarai’s names when they make a covenant with Him. The name changes seem slight, but they indicate a huge leap in purpose and influence. With a shift in a couple of letters, God shows that He has very big plans for them.

Abram became Abraham, and with those two new letters, the meaning of his name moved from “exalted father” to “father of multitudes.”

Sarai became Sarah, and with that change, “my princess/ woman of strength” grew to “princess/ woman of strength to many.” (Concepts for these names are from the Israel Bible Center website.)

This ancient story becomes our story as we make covenants and become “numbered among the people of the first covenant,” (Mormon 7:10) which began with Adam and Eve. God intends the same thing for us as He did for His ancient covenant people,

I will bless thee…

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Genesis 22:17-18

Just as He gave new names to Abraham and Sarah, I think that the Lord continues his mighty work through small and symbolic changes. As I look back on my life, my covenants with Him have set me on a journey that requires me to move beyond self into a larger area of influence, one mothering moment, one calling, one chance at empathy, one apology, and one change in personal philosophy at a time.

At baptism, and each week during the sacrament, we show our willingness to take upon ourselves Jesus Christ’s name. Truly, His Name gives infinite potential and purpose to our lives.

A book for the desk and a book for the nightstand

This is volume 2. I am working on volume 3, and have loved each one.

My books from this New Testament series are so full of personal marginalia that they are probably ruined for anyone else’s use.

I like to leave helpful notes to my future self in the Table of Contents and throughout the book.

I like having different kinds of books in different places in the house, and save lighter reading for the bedside table. Light fiction at bedtime is a wonderful idea.

My current light reading? 😂

I had forgotten how funny this book is. I laugh every day.

Mawar Typhoon

Scroll down for updates. We are not overly anxious about Elder Ross’s safety, but we know this is a serious situation for Guam.

Tuesday afternoon (USA)/ Wednesday morning (Guam) update:

The storm is stalled, gaining intensity, they are sheltering in place and know that it won’t be long until the power and water are gone. This storm is a once in a lifetime storm for Guam in terms of intensity and how directly it is expected to hit the island. Tim is concerned about the islanders. This will likely be devastating. The US military bases have sailed the ships away and taken the planes elsewhere. The missionaries have food and water and shelter. Thank you for the prayers. I am not overly concerned, and our Elder Ross isn’t anxious, but it is definitely a serious situation.

5:30 am Wednesday Utah time/9:30 pm Wednesday Guam time

He says they have no electricity. He checked in with three words, “lots of wind,” since he has internet for now. They still have water. The news says they are in the worst of the winds and rain right now.

Yesterday, I asked what he had packed when he evacuated his apartment. Among the list of essentials: his two machetes and a ukulele. In the apartment where he is sheltering with 8 other elders, there are 4 ukuleles and 2 guitars. Musical bunch.

Wednesday 5:00pm Utah time, 9:00am Thursday in Guam:

He made it through, and all the missionaries are okay. No power or water, and no leaves are left on the trees. Things don’t look as bad as he expected.

No communication on Thursday. No communication on Friday. No communication on Saturday.

Sunday 5/28 communication:

There is no power or phone service where he lives, but he has access to water. The mission home has power, so each missionary can do one load of laundry there on a schedule. They are eating dry cereal and canned foods. His town received 24″ of rain in one day, and his apartment suffered minimal damage and miraculously, the windows are intact, despite not having shutters. (He sheltered in a different apartment during the storm.) There is a gas shortage, so he is somewhat stranded. The temple and chapel are damaged and they are not able to be used for a while. Lots of cleanup efforts are happening all over the island. He says that he saw how the Lord protected the people. This was a big storm and many people lost their homes, but not their lives. His machetes are coming in handy as he and his companion help with cleanup efforts. Missionary work looks like constant service and no lessons right now. His mission president has asked him to continue as planned for his zone conference this week, despite all. (He is a zone leader on Guam.)

To me, he looks like he is warm without fans and air conditioning, but I see he was well prepared to handle this big cleanup because of his landscaping job before his mission. He loves to do this kind of thing.

A drive into Salt Lake City

My friend Janine took me to the roof of the Conference Center so we could get a view of the construction surrounding the Salt Lake Temple. Each crane was in use, cement was being poured, and there were workers everywhere. There was a lot going on.
There are many beautiful pieces of art on display at the Conference Center. This is an enormous mural of the Savior greeting people of all nations. If you look carefully at the clouds, you will see that they are angels. 🤍

A few quotes I want to remember

Reading this book was like revisiting my old life as a college student, doing field work, collecting insects, identifying trees, and watching for wildlife. My interests in the Bible, theology, zoology, botany, and writing held a party in my mind as I read Annie Dillard’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. I loved this book.

A few quotes:

I had been my whole life a bell, and never knew it until at that moment I was lifted and struck.

I cannot cause the light; the most I can do is try to put myself in the path of its beam.

Fish gotta swim, and bird gotta fly; insects, it seems, gotta do one horrible thing after another.

The creation is not a study, a roughed-in sketch; it is supremely, meticulously created, created abundantly, extravagantly, and in fine.

I have often noticed that even a few minutes of this self-forgetfulness is tremendously invigorating. I wonder if we do not waste most of our energy by spending every waking minute saying hello to ourselves.

I am buoyed by a calm and effortless longing, an angled pitch of the will, like the set of the wings of the monarch which climbed the hill by falling still.

Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Concert

My friend Stephanie took me to a Millennial Choirs and Orchestras concert on Friday night. This was one of the songs that they performed, although this recording is from an Arizona performance. There are chapters of this choir and orchestra in several states, including California, Arizona, Texas, and Utah.

My favorite piece that they performed was A Mighty Fortress is our God, arranged as a piano concerto with a full choir and orchestra. The pianist was Brandon Stewart on a Fazioli concert grand piano. I never want to forget this. However, there doesn’t seem to be a recording of this piece available. Were You There When They Crucified our Lord was also very good. If you have a chance to see this group perform, I hope you can go.

Enlightened faith

Above, you’ll see a short clip of one of the best devotionals on the topic of faith. The speaker is eloquent and sincere.

If you like the short version, I’ve also included the full version, below. A friend shared this with me right after it was given. I searched my post history and realized I hadn’t shared it here, and I had to fix that.

I like to listen to things like this while I do the dishes or clean a room because words like these are such good company!