Fashion

Now this site is a great go-to-place, to find shops/firms/company's that make modest length skirts!!  I personally  think that Kate Middleton, future Queen of England, has done more to bring back a modicum of modesty than anyone!!  Long live the future Queen!  Anything here grab your fancy???? 

http://ldsliving.com/story/69211-lifestyle-ultimate-guide-knee-length-skirts

No excuse!!

Have not left the planet!!!  

Will post this morning!!

Pondering and mulling things over.

Sunday night was the 3rd meeting I've been to, addressing the needs of families with special needs, in our Stake.  I can't stop thinking about the challenges that some parents have with children that need special help.  Always.

Each time the same thing comes out in comments and conversations and presentations...these parents adore their children.  I don't have these types of problems to solve.  One thing I do know though is a Mother's heart and the pain she feels when her child is ignored, overlooked, left out, slighted, never included, never chosen and never understood by anyone trying to figure out a way to give the child a chance...A chance to participate in some way in the Gospel setting.  It must be heart breaking and there must have been, and maybe still are, buckets of tears shed over this child with special needs.

The Church doesn't need to replace Children's Village or other State programs available but we do need to figure out how to bring these families, yes the entire family, into the Gospel and for all of us to feel comfortable in our Wards and Stakes.

The parents have such compassion and understanding of each other.  I'm the outsider looking in but my heart is tender and touched and I want to do what I can to make people feel that their child is  not a "nuisance" or "bother" to me.  I need to learn, from them, how to do this.  How to communicate with the parents and the child.  What is appropriate and not offensive.

I have a real irritation in my heart, a nasty spot of judgement, over 2 boys that taunted and teased a boy that was suffering behaviorally.  I've been trying to repent but keep holding onto it.  Maybe they don't know how to act.  Maybe that is a part of what is needed to figure out-- how to explain what some people deal with.  (tomorrow I will take my grievance to the Temple and drop it off)

Wouldn't it be loverly if we could know what challenges each of the families deal with and be comfortable in asking how things are going?  Show our caring by asking and maybe that interest would make someone feel less alone?

The hardest thing I heard last night was when a Mother quietly told me that Church is horrible for them to go to.  They are not included and made to feel bad.  Her child is disruptive and she knows it but she also knows what he is dealing with and they are doing all they can to handle him.  She said they go because they are afraid not to go and because they know the Church is true. 

Some Wards are doing wonderful and some Wards are really oblivious to anyone struggling.

I look forward to seeing what can be done to alleviate this situation and look forward to, at some point, having this dealing with families with special needs not be problematic.

We are all children of God.  Aren't we?

Consistency/Constancy is Necessary

 The speaker in the Ward I visited presented a great talk.  She approached it from the perspective of her need of repentance for the things, the acts of obedience, that she hadn't done for her children when they were young.  She felt if she had been more consistent that maybe her children would not have suffered as many mistakes with that as a foundation.

She mentioned the faithfulness, the consistent activity and attendance, of her parents but also the lack of scripture study, FHE and prayers.  With her children they had infrequent Scripture Study, FHE, and prayers.  She talked about the importance of children being taught until they understand what they've been taught.

There were many in the congregation that could completely identify with her remarks, her story, her experience because it was ours also. 

The excellent talk that she made reference to is printed below.  I really liked this quote that she shared from that article.....

 Years ago, Bishop Stanley Smoot was interviewed by President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985). President Kimball asked, “How often do you have family prayer?”

Bishop Smoot answered, “We try to have family prayer twice a day, but we average about once.”

President Kimball responded, “In the past, having family prayer once a day may have been all right. But in the future it will not be enough if we are going to save our families.”

I wonder if having casual and infrequent family home evening will be enough in the future to fortify our children with sufficient moral strength. In the future, infrequent family scripture study may be inadequate to arm our children with the virtue necessary to withstand the moral decay of the environment in which they will live. Where in the world will the children learn chastity, integrity, honesty, and basic human decency if not at home? These values will, of course, be reinforced at church, but parental teaching is more constant.  

                                                                         (excerpt from 2010 talk below by Elder Faust) 

  A Thousand Threads of Love by Elder Faust  -Oct. 2010 
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2005/10/a-thousand-threads-of-love?lang=eng&query=faust+/threads

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her heart was so tender and her pain and regret were so evident.  I wanted to share with her this quote from the talk below.  It's so hope filled.  C., I hope you enjoy this and feel good that you are on the right track in reaching out to your grandchildren.  Thanks again for a great message!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And second, even should we be forgiven at some later time, the Lord cannot restore the good effects our repentance today might have had on those we love and are to serve. That is particularly poignant for the parents of young children. In those tender years there are chances for shaping and lifting spirits which may never come again. But even the grandfather who may have missed chances with his own children might, by choosing to repent today, do for grandchildren what he once could have done for their parents.  

                                                                    (excerpt from 1999 talk below by Elder Henry B. Eyring) 

 Do Not Delay by Elder Henry B. Eyring - Nov 1999
 http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1999/10/do-not-delay?lang=eng

Moving On

My friend Kathryn has lived in the same house for 40 years.  Probably 3 years ago her husband passed away.  Her adult children decided that they would keep her in her home while she decided how to work out where to live and who to live with and those sorts of details.  In the meantime her sainted son-in-law felt to move his wife and himself into her home.  Now there is an emminent change.  It was long discussed and considered and because of her health challenges her local Dr. was consulted about moving to Rexburg.

The son-in-law has been working on the Idaho house that will be her new home and getting everything ready for her comfort.

This is not easy for a mid 80 year old woman to leave a home filled with love and memories of 50% of her life in that one house.  She wonders if future owners will feel and know that the house had been dedicated to the Lord by her husband?  Will they love it and enjoy it also?

Right now it is difficult with so many choices to be made of what to keep, what to move, what to give and most painful of all...what to discard.  What to throw away.

"The notebook from 25 years ago of a page and picture of each Missionary that served while Judd was their Mission President.  This doesn't mean anything to anyone but me.  It's hard to let things go that only matter to me but they need to go."

I think she is very brave.  She is ever the Mother.  Wanting to do what is best for her children and help everyone to get on with their lives.  She loves her extremely large family and they all feel the same towards her.  She knows this will be a good move but it's not easy to do the things that need to be done to help that happen.  Her daughter is such a whirlwind with boundless energy in helping all of this to transpire and makes it as easy on her as she can.

She and I both love paper, even though she has an I-Pad.  We love holding books, marking, reading, seeing bookshelves filled with books.  I was so surprised to be gifted with a box of her treasured books!!  I was thrilled!!  A part of her will always be in my home now just like my memories of our association will be a part of me.  Always.

Seeking

I missed my Home Ward Enrichment night and I know it was a wonderful event with lots of fun and fellowship.  Our Stake RSP had a Presidency meeting before visiting another Ward's Enrichment.  (and it was fun and wonderful also but I did miss my Home Ward.

 At our meeting the President handed out the stats on VT throughout the Stake.  She was concerned about the low numbers.  Are the sisters doing their VT and not reporting it OR are the not doing it OR are they reporting it and it's not being entered into the computer??

 Is VT an age old problem?  I don't know.  I know we aren't called and sustained and I do believe it sort of separates the men from the boys.  uh, I mean the women from the girls.  I think it will be a real big deal at judgement because of Matt. 25.  Don't you?  It's volunteer all the way and fits in with everything good there possibly is.  VT can be related to the Good Samaritan or the story of the Ten Virgins and all sorts of scriptural situations.  It really is a big deal.  All the more so because it's freewill.

My conversion to VT really took a long time and it is now soul deep and I really appreciate how much I love the program and I see it's worth.

 Tonight I remembered- in 2009 I attended a Welfare Leadership meeting via satellite. Purposeful meetings such as these, from Salt Lake City Church headquarters, are a boon to keeping the Church at large on track. There was something said in that one that really caught me off guard.

Bishop H. David Burton, Presiding Bishop, was speaking on "The Welfare Responsibilities of the Bishop".   He was talking about welfare principles that will help Bishops optimize their decisions in giving assistance.

1. Seek out the poor

2. Promote personal responsibility

3. Sustain life not lifestyle

4. Provide commodities before cash

5. Provide work and service opportunities.

Seek out the poor?  I have compassion for the poor but I've never really sought them out. It's more of filling a need when asked or someone so obviously in need of help that you just do it or acting on a prompting.  Our Bishop has people come to him for Church assistance.  When I was the Ward RSP, at his assignment, I filled commodity orders for those in need and felt good about it plus thankful that such help is available.  Bishop Burton's statement though on #1 really hit me hard.

1. Seek out the poor.

     Bishops should keep in mind that it is their responsibility to seek out the poor.  It is not enough to assist only when asked.  The Bishop should encourage priesthood and Relief Society leaders, along with home teachers and visiting teachers, to help identify those who need assistance.

I want to be a better VT.  I really do.

Balance

I really feel I could fill an entire day with all sorts of things and never lift a finger on cleaning or dusting etc. etc.  Sometimes I hold myself hostage with guilt over what needs to be done and isn't.  Sometimes I revert to my Mother's behavior of not allowing myself to do anything, go anywhere, or be spontaneous unless everything is done.  Balance in this realm of my life is many times skewed off center.  

My admiration runs soul deep for those that seem so effortlessly to keep things tidy.  I always have clutter and varied size messes resting all comfy in the sunlit table dust.  Objects seemingly dropped from space in random alignment.  Hither, thither and yon. 

Unfinished projects and piled papers with notes everywhere on everything.  Books neatly lined mixed with uneven stacks.

Humor resides in my sign, propped and proclaiming in bold print.... 

SIMPLIFY  

Live 

Simply

Live 

Well  

When I get out of balance in my duty list, I love being brought back to the basics, of keeping balance through daily choices.  This is one of my favorite quotes.  I hope you enjoy it!!!

By inattention to household duties, the little touches that make or mar the family peace, many a woman has reduced her home to a comfortless house; and many another has eliminated the essential elements of home by her self-assumed and persistent drudgery, in which she denies to her dear ones the cheer of her loving companionship.  One-sided service, however devoted, may become neglect.  There is time for labor inside the home as in the open; in every family time should be found for cultivating that better part, that one thing needful – true spiritual development 

                                                                            --James E.Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 403

Signaling

Such a lovely Father's Day for Terry and for me also!  Terry is just so handsome in my eyes and he looked wonderful today.  His heart was happy as he heard from our children and then we had the bonus of our oldest son coming for an afternoon visit and a delicious dinner.

Sentiment reigned strong in my heart.  When I set the table I brought out a pair of tiny, newborn size, baby blue fine-wale corduroy, shoes.  So tiny and perfect.  trimmed with white and even little white laces.  All of our boys wore those for just a few weeks with a little white knit romper trimmed in blue, a matching cardigan, and a little hat.  I propped those shoes against a flower vase on the table.  

I think I enjoyed them more than either hubby or son!  The men in our family are strong and sometimes real viking types but their hearts are tender.  Terry absolutely adored his babies.  He loved to snuggle them and rock them and bathe them and feed them.  With our firstborn he would come home from work and bathe the baby, that had been bathed all ready!, just for sheer enjoyment!  He'd take him to the store just to walk around and show him off.

He enjoyed all of his little ones.  And he loves and enjoys them now...just in a different way!

I see our children have actually turned into full fledged adults.  Shocking!  I love that they love their children.

I was tapping into my memory bank and enjoying what I drew out.

My parents are both on the other side of the veil.  Today I thought of my Dad and how when he entered the house, he would always whistle when he came in.  He didn't want to startle my Mother when he came into the house.  He gave her a warning with his whistling that he was coming in the door.  

When he was at the end of his life in the hospital, just before his passing, he started softly whistling.  My Mother then heard excited voices say...He's coming!  He's coming!

Origin of Father's Day...

 Did you know that Father's Day was founded in Spokane?  Read this Wikipedia account and learn about it! 

Today, and every day, enjoy honoring all the Father's in your life!

History

Father's Day is a celebration of fathers inaugurated in the United States in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting.
After the success obtained by Anna Jarvis with the promotion of Mother's Day in the US, some^[who?] wanted to create similar holidays for other family members, and Father's Day was the choice most likely to succeed. There were other persons in the US who independently thought of "Father's Day",^[1][2] but the credit for the modern holiday is always given to Sonora Dodd,^[2] who was the driving force behind its establishment.^[3]
Father's Day was founded in Spokane, Washington at the YMCA in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd, who was born in Arkansas.^[3] Its first celebration was in the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910.^[3][4] Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who reared his six children there.^[3] After hearing a sermon about Jarvis' Mother's Day in 1909, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them.^[3] Although she initially suggested June 5, her father's birthday, the pastors hadn't enough time to prepare their sermons, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June.^[1][2]
It did not have much success initially. In the 1920s, Dodd stopped promoting the celebration because she was studying in the Art Institute of Chicago, and it faded into relative obscurity, even in Spokane.^[5] In the 1930s Dodd returned to Spokane and started promoting the celebration again, raising awareness at a national level.^[6] She had the help of those trade groups that would benefit most from the holiday, for example the manufacturers of ties, tobacco pipes, and any traditional present to fathers.^[7] Since 1938 she had the help of the Father's Day Council, founded by the New York Associated Men's Wear Retailers to consolidate and systematize the commercial promotion.^[8] Americans resisted the holiday during a few decades, perceiving it as just an attempt by merchants to replicate the commercial success of Mother's Day, and newspapers frequently featured cynical and sarcastic attacks and jokes.^[9] But the trade groups didn't give up: they kept promoting it and even incorporated the jokes into their adverts, and they eventually succeeded.^[10] By the mid 1980s the Father's Council wrote that "(...) [Father's Day] has become a 'Second Christmas' for all the men's gift-oriented industries."^[11]
A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced in Congress in 1913.^[12] In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak in a Father's Day celebration^[13] and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized.^[14] US President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation.^[13] Two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had been defeated by Congress.^[13][15] In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus "[singling] out just one of our two parents".^[15] In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.^[14] Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.^{[13][14][15][16]}
In addition to Father's Day, International Men's Day is celebrated in many countries on November 19 for men and boys who are not fathers.

Splitting Hair- 3rd and final segment of saga

I was not raised with going to Doctors very much.  We didn't seem sick, we were out in the boondocks.  I think my sister had her tonsils out at some point.  It's all sort of fuzzy and nothing associated with being a constant in my life.  I thought Dr. were sort of magic in making people well, didn't think much of anything at all about Rx.  Surely I must have had some penicillin or something!

I did have confidence in the medical profession and their ability to help the sick.

 

While I kept on board with confidence in Dr.'s I lost a whole lot of confidence in the medicines they dispensed because of what was termed news-wise as the "Thalidomide Tragedy".  I was extremely sick when I was pregnant.  One of those entire 9 months vomiting dramas.  In the late 1950's the Thalidomide drug was found to stop morning sickness completely.

 

Fortunately for me, and I don't know why- Providence maybe?- my Dr. never prescribed it for me.  Medical people in the 50's didn't realize that the developing fetus would/could be hurt by what the expectant woman took.  To the horror of the medical field and the families of the children, they were born malformed.  It was a nightmare with missing limbs and things were they shouldn't be.  

 

Of course it was withdrawn from the market and stricter testing was introduced.  This was the first time that I realized that Rx had to be tested and then there were still unknowns when ingested.  I don't think they had sheets of paper listing side effects like today. 

 

This incident made me leery and cautious and feeling strongly that Rx should be saved for the "big guns".  Those illnesses that really needed meds.  To build up natural immunity and not medicate every sniffle.

 

In the late 60's there was a vitamin and health supplements wave.  We were in Anchorage and some of the sisters in our Ward really got into that phase, downing, what seemed to me, handfuls of pills.  There was a to-do when one of the sisters wanted to teach a RS lesson on it and the RSP said she didn't believe it was the way to go and bypassed it and that caused a big stink.  We'd move to Homer by then and I heard about from my friend who was the RSP.

 

I baked WW bread, we ate meat, potatoes etc. etc.   and we were okay without needing a Dr. very often.  

 

I had really wondered what people did for Rx before the sulfa drugs came out.  Also wondered what a person could have in their food storage for emergency medical care if you were isolated.  Some of my friends wondered the same thing.

 

And then I found out the answers to my questioning mind.

 

There was a woman, a nurse, that had been stationed with the military and saw so many wounded during her Viet Nam tour and it really impacted her.  She saw so much horror that she decided she wanted away from that and move to empowering people to take care of their own needs as much as possible.  She went to a college (in India?) to learn this new to her, and to us, form of medical care.

 

She ran an announcement in our little weekly paper that she was going to teach what she had learned, and open her own Homeopathic Clinic out East End Road.

 

Several of us went and my friend Joyce and I really enjoyed learning this information we'd never heard of before.

 

Over the years I've learned that the different areas of Doctors/Medical care and peoples preferences, are as volatile topics as politics, someone is always offended, there are always those who want to fight about it and tell you why you are wrong etc. etc.

 

This area is called snake-oil by it's despisers.  That's fine.  The only reason I even mention it is....  

 

Calendula ( /kəˈlɛndjuːlə/ Ca-lén-du-la)   This is made from Marigold flowers and is used as a salve/ointment on any cuts.  It doesn't sting.  It helps heal.  It minimizes scarring.  It's a natural anti-biotic and I could go on and on with it's claims.  My son-in-law continues to use Neosporin. 

 

Arnica is used on bruises and after trauma in sports etc. and also has all sort of benefits.

 

Joyce and I went to each class, enjoyed it, learned and used it.  She eventually sold our Fudge Shop, after my move to WA and opened a Wellness center that feature Homeopathy and then she branched into other "natural" remedy type things.

 

After all these years, my family still uses Calendula and Arnica, often.  I have found that people that sometimes do off beat stuff are a little radical.  I have stayed private except for taking a spoonful of ointment blopped in a blob on a piece of wax paper if a friend wants some.  It doesn't matter a hoot to me what people choose for their health care, I just pray for them and hope they recover soon.

 

One man's junk is another man's treasure and so it is with choice of medical care.

 

We have Physicians at the Clinic and enjoy their care so don't think we don't!

 

Now you know the tip of the iceberg!!  Can we stay friends in spite of my erratic behavior???  Maybe I'm radical and don't know it???

 

Here are two little things I pulled off on the Internet....the first one about homeopathic hospitals that used to be in the USA.  The 2nd one about the Royal Family and their use of Homeopathy.  It's a sarcastic article and I really enjoyed it.  It's true the have their own Royal Homeopathic Physician and that's why they don't get colds etc. but poor Prince Phillip needed a remedy after standing on that barge!!

 

1) The practice of homeopathic medicine flourished in both Europe and the United States in the late 1800s until the early 1900s. In the early 1900s, there were 22 homeopathic medical schools and over 100 homeopathic hospitals in the United States. The practice of homeopathic medicine dropped sharply with the rise of allopathic medicine, but has regained its popularity in recent years. In Europe, it continues to be practiced along with conventional medicine, particularly in England, France, Germany, and Greece. Homeopathy is extremely popular in India -- which has over 100 four-year homeopathic medical schools - and is also practiced in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and South Africa.

 2) If we now look at why Royals like homeopathy then we can outline various reasons. Royals might be attracted to homeopathy because it is rather nebulous, rather exclusive, rather special, 'divine' and private in the way they probably think they are. It is also a rare, elite and minority treatment reserved for the rich and clerics: traditionally that has been the case. It panders to their arrogance and vanity perhaps, as it stresses the delicate, the subtle, the refined and eternal like they probably feel they are. Those are probably the main reasons. I would mark out the exclusivity and the rarefied and vitalistic or divine nature of homeopathy as being especially important reasons in this list.

     
Another theme is that homeopathy is essentially organic and connects with all life, living forms, plants and insects, which to rural-obsessives as Royals often were/are, is another chord of resonance between them.

     
Homeopathy also very soon became a tradition amongst the aristocrats and Royals and they love nothing more than their traditions. Whatever their father or mother did, they also do. This theme of slavish following of tradition is deeply typical of their approach to life in general. So once something has 'got into their veins' as a darned good thing, then they tend to keep it and lavish upon it an amazing amount of devotion and loyalty. I suspect that private schools in UK use Arnica and Calendula in their sick rooms for precisely the same reasons: it is a tradition of the aristocrats.

     

Homeopathy also pandered to royal and aristocratic squeamishness and horror of leaching and purging, at a time when only they had the money to 'try something different'. No surprise there really, we would all recoil from that approach I suspect.

Splitting Hairs (2nd try)

Calendula ( /kəˈlɛndjuːlə/ Ca-lén-du-la)

So what do I do????  Yesterday I probably lost what I wrote to keep me out of trouble and now I can't ignore that I said I'd write it again and yet it's all so ridiculous.  Now I'm making it worse!!!  I'll Readers Digest Condensed version this little drama that was just so brief.  A few minutes.


My nerves were a bit frazzled.  Feeling sort of like finger in the light socket with hair standing on end.  Actually that sort of frazzled is very much beyond a bit frazzled.  A friend had asked if I had any St. John's Wort and I said...no, but I can order some and we'll share the order.  (I order online and we get it super bargain rate.)


I had also told her I'd see if I could find some pure Arnica oil and Calendula salve plus I wanted some Arnica also.

I went to health food store in Union Gap.  Asked the young clerk if they had Arnica oil.  She took me looking and no, they did not have it.  I then asked if they had Calendula ointment, Hyland brand, not in a tube or bottle but more like a jar.  

She asked again for the name and I said... Calendula/Cuh-linjew-la.  I think I saw it around the corner of this aisle.  

We went around the corner and I said...Oh, there it is.  

 She said...oh! Calendula/Cal-un-doo-lah!!  You wanted Calendula/Cal-un-doo-lah!!  

I said..Calendula/Cuh-linjew-la.  

She said...Calendula/Cal-un-doo-lah.

So we are actually tomatoe-ing/tuh-mot-oh-ing over  Cuh-linjew-la/Cal-un-doo-lah.  Going back and forth and back and forth.

Can you even imagine such a ridiculous scene?  

I finally said...One of us is wrong.

She says...You are.

I say...No,  I'm not.  

She says she is going to go ask the manager!!!  

Which she does and the manager announces to everyone in earshot that... it's Cal-un-doo-lah!!

She comes back and reports to me that I'm wrong and I hate to say that I said....No.  She's wrong.   

I grabbed a bottle of St. Johns Wort that cost 3 times as much as ordering online and went up to check out and could I be pleasant and let this snippy young woman, probably very young, alone?  Could I drop the pronouncing gladiator battle?  Oh, no.  I had to get in one last dig and name drop....Well, my Homeopathic Practitioner taught me to say Cuh-linjew-la.

If ever I was a disgrace to little old ladies it was that moment.  At this age aren't I suppose to be... sweet, grey curls, parchment skin, chunky heeled oxfords, exuding charm, dignity and infinite patience, grace, kindness-- basically all the things I did not portray?

In the car I opened the SJW and took several.  Can people overdose on SJW if they take 4?  In my case the answer is...NO.

Immediately slinking into repentance mode I determined to double check when I got home and IF I was wrong I'd go back and apologize.  IF I was right I'd let it drop and not go back.  No trip was necessary.  The thing is though that I came home and did a BlogBlab.  Lost it. And then I say I'll rewrite it!!!  Why didn't I just write something like....I didn't choose the highest road today. 

Come to the lower kingdom in the next life and see me.  Please.

Then that complicated my blog as you are probably wondering...what on earth is the woman talking about????, and I love writing my blog and I love you for reading my blog and now you know how extremely human I am at times and I'm LDS with a strong testimony.  (If that's not a blithering sentence then I don't know what is!!!??)

So now, in trying to make some sense of words that sound strange to most folks...tomorrow I will tell you what Calendula/Cuh-linjew-la is and why I like it.

How deep a hole can I possibly dig myself into????   Hey!  Is this some bottomless pit???!!

Splitting Hairs!!

 Calendula ( /kəˈlɛndjuːlə/ Ca-lén-du-la)

Had a post about this word and then the Missionaries came to the door, we visited, I came back to get ready to send it and somehow or other it has vanished.  I will rewrite tomorrow!!   That is frustrating!!  Is it my lack of experience or does that happen to the pros?   

My Nestlings!!!

20 years ago the "baby" in our family graduated from high-school and all of his siblings flew in for the occasion plus our 2 Grandsons. 

This is a group of the most unique people to be in one family.  Not a one of them is alike (well, there is that last name in common!!).  They are all hard workers.  I mean hard!  They give their all (Just like their Dad did in his day!).  Not a lazy one in the bunch.  Extremely independent.  Feisty at times.  Strong willed (make that strong not a puny strong). Also...when the chips are down and trouble looms or crisis of any sort, with anyone, they rally around and champion the cause.  They are incredible as individuals and as a group it's quite the mix of folks!!  They have grown accepting of each other, as they have matured, and that is very interesting to see from a Mom's perspective. 


I could go on and on but I won't.  I love them to pieces!!

They arrived over a very long period of time.  17 years after our first born entered our lives the 5th and last child arrived.  Our oldest graduated from high school and we took his 3 month old baby brother with us!!  We had children at home with no empty nest for 34 years!!  At times I felt like flying over the cuckoo nest!!!  I should never question my insanity!!  I earned it!

Our 12 grandchildren also took their time arriving on earth to 5 different homes...24 years!  

And now we have 2 Great-Grandchildren from our oldest grandson Kipper (in the picture)--ages 4 and 1.  Our other Grandson in the picture, Lance, will be going on his Mission the end of August. (oh, happy day!!!!)


Time flies.  This picture is one of those happy wonderful memory pictures.  It was snapped casually outside the school by our friend, Linda.  Jeanee insisted and I'm so glad she did.  Everyone made such effort to be there for this occasion and each one traveled from a different state.  It was such a surprise when Kipper brought Greg and Lance to the party!  They had flown in from Illinois.  Jeanee from Florida.  Where were the others living???? Losing my mind!


This pictures reminds me of how much I love these individuals.  Of how good they are to me and the love they give me.  I'd do it all over in a heartbeat as my favorite life memory. I'd beg for a do-over, when they were all at home, living under the same roof which at times felt like it might blow off from the grappling man-size wrestlers!  Oh, my...I'd be just so very perfect 2nd time around!!!  Sigh.  No 2nd chance so pay attention to what you are doing and enjoy every moment and make some great memories!! 

Back row:
#1 son- Kipper
#2 Grandson- Lance
#3 My Terry
#4 Me.  Mother of the testosterone brood!!  Just look at them!!
#5 son- Benjamin
#2 son- Gregory (Father of Lance)

Front row:
#3 child. Jeanee. My only daughter.  An angel.  My rose amongst the thorns!!
#4 child, 3rd son.  David
#1 Grandchild.  Kipper.  Son of Kipper.

Memory Enhancement

Our neighbors have 4 little children and they are such a sweet family.  The parents are devoted to their children, give them opportunities to learn and also enjoy life.  Their oldest is in kindergarten and the only girl.  We enjoy watching them play and also seeing the family do chores outdoors and have fun together.

On lawn mowing day, the children will bring out their 2 toy lawn mowers and follow the parent.  On the last mowing...the 5 year old little boy just melted my heart as he followed his Dad with his cape billowing.  It evoked memories of when our youngest boy was wearing a cape and flying around! 

Our little guy had a black cape, beat-up felt cowboy hat and a Zorro mask.  He flew everywhere for a very long time.  Being as how he was the 5th and last child, we, the parents just savored every single minute.   His teenage sister questioned the wisdom of letting him fly while we grocery shopped.  I told her that was his favorite place with long aisles to race down and to enjoy it because one day he would simply stop, take off his cape and regalia, and never pick it up again.

That of course did happen and to this day she talks about his flying time and how memorable it now is.

IF I could do it over....I'd make sure that anything that one of my children did on a regular basis, that would someday be stopped, I'd get a couple of great pictures.  I've never found one single picture of him flying!!!  And he did it for ages!  I also don't have a picture of him holding the metal lunchbox that he stored his Halloween candy in for a year to see what would happen to it.  I also don't have a picture of him with the rock tumbler that he used making Christmas gifts.  He stored it in the pump house and hoped no one would hear the sound as it ground away.  

There are many priceless moments that I didn't capture on film.  I wish I had one of our 2nd son, with his wagon filled with treasures from junk heaps.  He found more things!!  

People take a lot of staged photos but if I had it to do again....  I'd take pictures of those events that give your family a chuckle or is a rather peculiar behavior that will only be temporary.  

And the last thing I'd do.....Snap a family shot each Fast Sunday (so I'd remember the day to do it!).  At Church.  Just ask anyone to take a quick picture as you are heading home.  Just a quick snap.  (ask me!  I'll do it for you!!  really!!)  Think of the amazing amount of history you'd capture in your family if you took one picture a month!!   12 priceless pictures a year.  Children growing.  Babies coming into the family!  Missing teeth.  greying hair. 

These moments, our current moments now, are to be savored and enjoyed.  My children are all adults now but they are still my boys and my girl and how I love them.  I do wish that I'd captured those priceless moments.  They were all born in the age of film...purchasing it, developing, paying for the developing etc. etc.  In this era of digital ease so much is possible.  It would make my memories even more sweet with those select pictures.

So....if you want to have a quick picture once a month, just ask me and I will be happy to do it! 

Summer Tradition

I have special memories of time spent with each of my children and their families.  Always McCall every other year when we all get together.  That is a miracle each year when they arrange their time and vacation and travel from 5 states to be together for a week.  That will be a year from this July!!

There are memories of spending time with them in their homes and then individually with them.  We have been on trips (Thanks, Greg!) and just been overwhelmed with kindness and thoughtfulness.  Right now our summer begins as far as seeing family.

We are excited and plan and hope to see each family member before school starts in the fall!!! 

Time to get ready for the first part of a family summer tradition.  Jeanee and the girls will be going to Alaska and then coming here.  From here our traveling band will go over to Portland, back here, then to Boise, back here, and then to Leavenworth and poof!...it's over! 

Another page in memory making.  Our time together grows shorter each summer as the girls grow older and their personal lives get busier and busier.  Jeanee and I determined when they first flew from New York, or was it Florida?, any how they were 6 months old and we talked about savoring every single minute as we knew eventually it would fade away.  The time would grow shorter and shorter.

Last week we talked about the times of them in the kiddie pool with Poppa and him swirling them around with their over sized swim goggles that were ever half filled with water.  Also remembered how the entire living room was a playpen with connecting panels and Jeanee didn't want them to walk before their Daddy got home from Italy.  She was forever sitting them down as she wanted him to see their first steps.  Times of dress-ups and putting on plays, going to melodrama's and looking like stars.  Reading books.  Cooking porridge like the 3 bears ate.  enjoying their dancing.  In awe that they were identical. Magical!

Watching and enjoying seeing them...Digging in mud.  Eating Golden Raspberries.  Gobbling blueberries. 

Snuggling and holding and cuddling and rocking them and breathing in their sweet scent.

Buying two of every seersucker dress that Costco offered each year and each a different color.  Plus a swimsuit and beach robe and towel.  having them hanging on doorknobs.  Jeanee always loved their summer clothes and I had so much fun buying them.

Today I purchased our Sound of Music tickets and secured our Enzian Inn and we are set to go.  I ask if the same woman will play the Mother of the Abby and the ticket man said... yes and she will play it as long as she wants!!   I'm glad- as she is so marvelous.  You have to be 5 to attend the plays and the girls have gone each summer and they are now almost 16!  Jeanee has a picture of the girls and the star when they were 5 and one for each year.  She is going to gift the woman with the first picture and last years picture.  The woman remembers them every single year, comes into the audience and greets them and checks on their schooling (she is a school teacher when not on stage!) and then we take another picture.

And thus things start to wind down as the girls mature and they will now take on more schooling and more responsibility and playing time will be shortened.  I've known this would slow down and have no regrets of any sort.  My memory bank is full of sweet times that make me tear up.  They are tears of joy and no regrets.

Don't Tread Water!!!

Years ago in the YW manual there was a lesson about prayer, revelation, and personal guidance.  It gave me the answers I was seeking of how to incorporate prayer and receive direction for our daily lives.  That coupled with the talk I shared yesterday are my two most favorite talks on how prayer works and what to expect and how to avail yourself of that direction.  This talk is from 1979 and has impacted my life in so many ways.  Again...combined with Elder Oaks talk from yesterday, it is just a powerhouse.  

I have used this process many, many times.  Terry and I used it when we left Alaska.  Moving to a place we'd never even seen!  Moving ahead with faith that I will be stopped if I'm wrong.  This is the part that impacted me, taught me, strengthened my faith and is a huge part of my life right down to today. 

This just grabbed my heart and taught me things beyond measure!  I figured if it went through the Church Correlation Committee and was approved to be in the manuals for the youth then it was a truth!  Read this part and then enjoy the entire talk.  You won't regret it!  I hope you will be glad I shared it!!!

  (John H. Groberg was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address was given at Brigham Young University on 1 May 1979.)

Let me spend a moment on an item that I think a great many people, particularly members of the Church, do not understand. A lot of our people—including a lot of you—have great amounts of faith but sometimes tend to distort that faith a little by saying, "I am not going to move until I receive a positive assurance"—a burning in the bosom, as it were—"that that is the right thing to do."

You are all familiar with the scripture where Oliver Cowdery was trying to translate and could not do it. The Lord explained that Oliver had to figure it out himself, and if it was right He would give him a burning in his bosom; and if it was wrong he would have a stupor of thought. Many people say, "I am not going to move because I do not have that burning in my bosom. I am not positive about this, that, or the other . . . ." Too often we want to be positive about everything. We feel that we need to have this burning all the time. Often people say, "I am confused. I don't know what to do"—and so they end up treading water and not doing anything, not making any real progress—and that, in and of itself, is a great sin. We should not do things wrong—and, as I said before, the Lord will let you know when things are wrong—but, for heaven's sake, we should do something! This lengthening of our stride and quickening of our pace about which our modern-day prophet, the Lord's spokesman, talks so much cannot happen if we are standing still. We must be moving, and we should be moving in the right direction.

Let me tell what I have discovered—and this is somewhat repetitious. I do not say that we will not get that burning in our bosom, for we will when it is the right thing. In my life there have been quite a few occasions where there was absolutely no question about it—that burning was there. For instance, I have had the experience of installing stake presidents when there was absolutely no question, when I was positive that "that is the man to be the stake president now." It has happened in other situations also, but generally it has worked the other way—that is by eliminating the wrong directions to reveal the right direction, especially concerning our opportunities for progress in life in what we often term the temporal sense. We must try to figure it out ourselves. In the past I have tried out whether I should go into business or into teaching or into the arts or whatever. As I have begun to proceed along one path, having more or less gathered what facts I could, I have found that if that decision was wrong or was taking me down the wrong path—not necessarily an evil one, but one that was not right for me—without fail, the Lord has always let me know just this emphatically: "That is wrong; do not go that way. That is not for you!"

On the other hand, there may have been two or three ways that I could have gone, any one of which would have been right and would have been in the general area providing the experience and means whereby I could fulfill the mission that the Lord had in mind for me. Because he knows we need the growth, he generally does not point and say, "Open that door and go twelve yards in that direction; then turn right and go two miles . . . " But if it is wrong, he will let us know—we will feel it for sure. I am positive of that. So rather than saying, "I will not move until I have this burning in my heart," let us turn it around and say, "I will move unless I feel it is wrong; and if it is wrong, then I will not do it." By eliminating all of these wrong courses, very quickly you will find yourself going in the direction that you ought to be going, and then you can receive the assurance: "Yes, I am going in the right direction. I am doing what my Father in Heaven wants me to do because I am not doing the things he does not want me to do." And you can know that for sure. That is part of the growth process and part of accomplishing what our Father in Heaven has in mind for us.

Let me quote from 2 Nephi, again from the thirty-second chapter, in verses one through three, where Nephi says:
And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way [that is, after you have become members of the Church and been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost or after you have really and seriously decided that you want to find out what your mission and calling is]. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts [—why are you not sure]?

Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?

Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ [that is, study the scriptures, and listen to the modern-day prophets and your priesthood leaders]; for behold, the words of Christ [that is, what the Brethren tell you and what you read in the scriptures] will tell you all things what ye should do. [Emphasis added.]

That is rather powerful, is it not? All things? Even what I ought to do for a living? You read it—there it is in the thirty-second chapter of 2 Nephi. Yes, all things that are necessary.

 http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6726&x=51&y=6

"different purposes or types of revelation"

Eight Purposes of Revelation.... That was a fascinating little tease of information on page 19 in the June 2012 Ensign and made me want more!!  I'd never seen such a great explanation about types of personal revelation.  Several of the methods listed, in my mind had been answers to prayers but I never thought of them as "different purposes or types of revelation".  I knew they printed just little tidbits in that half page article and also knew that the talk would be pretty good sized being as how it was a devotional talk.  I was eager to read it because I'd never seen that information listed in such order before nor had I read that talk.

There was no being let down!!  He explained in detail about each of the 8 topics and then came the gem of all gems!  It was not printed or mentioned in the Ensign that he had one more thing to say!!   So many times we question the why of asking and not receiving from our pleadings and yearning.  As he said... "Before concluding I will suggest a few ideas about revelations that are not received."  

Ever questioned why you couldn't get an answer to your prayers??

I copied that "not received" section for you below and then where you can access the entire talk.  You will thoroughly enjoy every detail of this address.  He details all 8 topics!!  It's a gem!!!

Dallin H. Oaks was a justice of the Utah Supreme Court when this devotional address was given at Brigham Young University on 29 September 1981.

Revelations Not Received

I have now described eight different purposes or types of revelation: (1) testifying, (2) prophesying, (3) comforting, (4) uplifting, (5) informing, (6) restraining, (7) confirming, and (8) impelling. Each of these refers to revelations that are received. Before concluding I will suggest a few ideas about revelations that are not received.

What about those times when we seek revelation and do not receive it? We do not always receive inspiration or revelation when we request it. Sometimes we are delayed in the receipt of revelation, and sometimes we are left to our own judgment. We cannot force spiritual things. It must be so. Our life’s purpose to obtain experience and to develop faith would be frustrated if our Heavenly Father directed us in every act, even in every important act. We must make decisions and experience the consequences in order to develop self-reliance and faith.

Even in decisions we think very important, we sometimes receive no answers to our prayers. This does not mean that our prayers have not been heard. It only means that we have prayed about a decision which, for one reason or another, we should make without guidance by revelation. Perhaps we have asked for guidance in choosing between alternatives that are equally acceptable or equally unacceptable. I suggest that there is not a right and wrong to every question. To many questions, there are only two wrong answers or two right answers. Thus, a person who seeks guidance on which of two different ways he should pursue to get even with a person who has wronged him is not likely to receive a revelation. Neither is a person who seeks guidance on a choice he will never have to make because some future event will intervene, such as a third alternative that is clearly preferable.

On one occasion, my wife and I prayed earnestly for guidance on a decision that seemed very important. No answer came. We were left to proceed on our own best judgment. We could not imagine why the Lord had not aided us with a confirming or restraining impression. But it was not long before we learned that we did not have to make a decision on that question because something else happened that made a decision unnecessary. The Lord would not guide us in a selection that made no difference.

No answer is likely to come to a person who seeks guidance in choosing between two alternatives that are equally acceptable to the Lord. Thus, there are times when we can serve productively in two different fields of labor. Either answer is right. Similarly, the Spirit of the Lord is not likely to give us revelations on matters that are trivial. I once heard a young woman in testimony meeting praise the spirituality of her husband, indicating that he submitted every question to the Lord. She told how he accompanied her shopping and would not even choose between different brands of canned vegetables without making his selection a matter of prayer. That strikes me as improper. I believe the Lord expects us to use the intelligence and experience he has given us to make these kinds of choices.

When a member asked the Prophet Joseph Smith for advice on a particular matter, the Prophet stated:

It is a great thing to inquire at the hands of God, or to come into His presence: and we feel fearful to approach Him on subjects that are of little or no consequence. [Teachings, p. 22] 

Of course we are not always able to judge what is trivial. If a matter appears of little or no consequence, we can proceed on the basis of our own judgment. If the choice is important for reasons unknown to us, such as the speaking invitation I mentioned earlier or even a choice between two cans of vegetables when one contains a hidden poison, the Lord will intervene and give us guidance.

When a choice will make a real difference in our lives—obvious or not—and when we are living in tune with the Spirit and seeking his guidance, we can be sure we will receive the guidance we need to attain our goal. The Lord will not leave us unassisted when a choice is important to our eternal welfare.

I know that God lives and that revelation to his children is a reality. I pray that we will be worthy and willing, and that he will bless us to grow in this principle of revelation. I bear you my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6846&x=42&y=7

Increasing in Stature (attempting to do so!)

So here I am 4 weeks out in my self-gift of health.  This was going to include sitting on a chair yoga and serious meditation plus gobs of veggies and fruits.  I did the chair sitting for several days and then conveniently forgot to do it after that.  The serious meditation DVD never even got opened and I'm not sure where I put it.  But....I have eaten enough veggies and fruit that would comfortably fill a roadside food stand!!  And maybe some boxes sitting over to the side!!!

My oldest son, gave me the eating program that we now share, and checks in daily.  My 2nd son, went on the program and encourages me daily.  My youngest son, caring about my health, gifted me with a Vita-Mix for my daily smoothie!!  Terry is supportive and drinks a smoothie with me.  My 3rd son is my cheerleader and my daughter just loves me no matter what but is very proud of my latest attempt!!!

I feel good.  I'm enjoying it.  It's right for me.  I will keep with it.  Remember, I'm in this for health and yet overall health will come about as I downsize.  My downsizing at this point can best be explained as this....think of a roll of restaurant size Saran wrap and tear off a piece big enough to wrap around an orange.  Hold that piece up to the light or crumple it in your hand.  That is the amount of my downsizing!!  It will all end up off of me.  Eventually!! Me...A melting ice sculpture.  Situated on an Alaskan Glacier so it's not a real fast forming puddle!  drip.  drip.  drip.  But the sun is shining in my heart!!  That surely will help.  (me.  ever the dramatist!!  sigh.)

One of my footnotes led me to an address given at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, on 20 September 1983  by President Ezra Taft Benson.  Entitled... In His Steps.   It was based on “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:52.)  I decided to take this one part to cheer myself on in my eating event!!!  Prophet approval!

 

 Jesus Increased in Stature

"There is no question that the health of the body affects the spirit, or the Lord would never have revealed the Word of Wisdom. God has never given any temporal commandments—that which affects our bodies also affects our souls. There are at least four basic areas which make a difference in our health—in our growing in stature.

"First—righteousness.

"Second—food. To a great extent, we are physically what we eat. Most of us are acquainted with some of the prohibitions of the Word of Wisdom, such as no tea, coffee, tobacco, or alcohol. But what needs additional emphasis are the positive aspects—the need for vegetables, fruits, and grain, particularly wheat. We need a generation of people who eat in a healthier manner.

"Third—exercise.

"Fourth—sleep."

The original talk, given in 1983, was published in the Ensign in 1988.  Enjoy reading it!!

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1988/09/in-his-steps?lang=eng

My Own Class!!!

 All those years of the joy of having my own class were so exciting to me!!  What a way to grow and learn about the Gospel.  Study and share.  When it ended several years ago I really sort of felt myself floundering and wasn't able to recapture the excitement and joy I'd previously felt.  I tried all sorts of ways to study and none satisfied.  A lot of times I sort of dreaded it as I wasn't excited to get into it but I was always feeling great by the time I'd read things.  Sometimes I followed along in some sort of a past Seminary book or study guide or commentary.

Every thing changed though when I figured out how to use Conference talks to teach myself.  I can generate the same feeling, the excitement of learning and understanding, experiencing the joy of learning, knowing the Holy Ghost has testified to me of some truth.  I can understand doctrinal things by a study of the Conference Reports.

I LOVE IT!!

So simple.  I take a Conference talk and, if I choose- I first relax and just listen to it on my computer.  Then I take my magazine.  just my plain old paper Ensign.  nothing new and modern.  I love paper and I love to mark pages and flip through pages and make notes in margins.  Did I mention I love the feel of paper as I read?  I do!  Then I check and read all of the footnotes and pull up all of the references as far as other talks and read those also.

The footnote study is essential, as this shows me what the speaker has been led to study, in preparation of the remarks that are delivered.  I've read all sorts of things by checking out the footnotes.  For instance in the last April Conference, Elder Cook's address- In Tune with the Music of Faith, footnote 2 reads....

 2. Jonathan Sacks, “Has Europe Lost Its Soul?” (address delivered on Dec. 12, 2011, at the Pontifical Gregorian University), chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical.aspx?id=1843.

I can access this online and actually view the Rabbi who met with the Pope deliver this address.  I would never have seen or heard about this except for that footnote.

From the footnotes I learn of books that are used in their research and several are common to many of the speakers.  That leads me to read those books.  If Lectures on Faith, or the like, is mentioned quite often then I feel to read it.  There are Wall Street Journal articles and other type of data from the world, so to speak.  I can access the full article online and see how all of this helps to make or clarify the Gospel point being made in the brief allotted conference talk time.

Footnotes, study of them, makes me feel that I'm being tutored by the speaker.  I'm gaining access to the path he went in developing the inspired concept for that extremely condensed information.  The footnotes expand the talk, make me think and ponder and enjoy immensely learning.

In some footnotes the speaker gives asides to what was said and it's very personal.  Sort of like a ...oh, by the way, I.....  Like Elder Cook's- In Tune with the Music of Faith- footnotes  8, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, 25

 21. I met Dr. Ebeid Sarofim in London when the elders were teaching him. See also N. Eldon Tanner, in Conference Report, Apr. 1962, 53. Many scholars of ancient Semitic and Egyptian writings have noted the repetitive use of the conjunctive phrase “And it came to pass” at the beginning of sentences; see Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd ed. (1988), 150.

Elder Cook's talk....

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/in-tune-with-the-music-of-faith?lang=eng


Sometimes favorite quotes, that I have absorbed into my soul, are used in a talk and I feel comforted and on the right track.

Sometimes a personal incident is shared, of how they were inspired by something they had heard at a General Conference and how it impacted them and they give that reference.  Maybe it's an incident that also impacted my life and I realize that we are all sharing our mortal journey here and are so much alike as children of God.  Like footnote 14 in Elder Cook's talk.  Two things come to me when that happens.  One is the law of witnesses.  It's a double whammy.  when they bear testimony of what someone else has said then it intensifies the impact and importance for me.  It becomes even more real to me.

 Sometimes they footnote hymns and I like to sing them.  sometimes on the interactive Church music site for my solo accompaniment!!

Sometimes there are no footnotes but just parenthetical things and I study those also.

Sometimes there are great Scripture chains in footnotes.  A compilation of the most relevant scriptures relating to the speakers subject.  For instance Elder Packers recent talk on children, at this last Conference, has great powerful footnote scriptures about their worth.

I cannot imagine preparing and sharing a talk and it goes to press and it can't be tweaked.  And yet that is the rules of the game if you speak at General Conference.  It's set in stone!  Of interest to me is the fact that they do add greater insight or greater conviction by sometimes repeating a part of a previous talk and share a bit more information.

For instance....

In 1987 I heard Elder Packer speak at Oct. Conf... The Balm of Gilead.  I was sort of caught off guard as he told a story that I knew I'd heard before and felt it was by Elder Monson.  I wondered why he didn't credit him- for this very distinct story about forgiveness and letting go.  Recently in my study and quest for greater spiritual growth I was led to Elder Packer's 1977 Oct. Conf. talk entitled Balm of Gilead.  He mentions right in the 1987 talk that 10 years earlier he'd spoken on that same subject and I had forgotten that fact.  Each talk had the same main story but the second talk built on the first talk.  Check them out!

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/1977/10/the-balm-of-gilead?lang=eng&clang=eng

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1987/10/balm-of-gilead?lang=eng

Elder Cook mentions in footnote 14 about a favorite talk of mine.  on the "approximate 1980" date he lists the talk, by Elder Oaks, was given when he was BYU President, I don't know about that particular one but I do know that Elder Oaks talked about Sins and Mistakes twice.  In 1994 as an Apostle at BYU and then at General Conference in 1996.  There is so much information in the combined talks!!  Amazing!

 http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=7718&x=45&y=7  

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1996/10/sins-and-mistakes?lang=eng        


So now you know I figured out how to once again feel that I have My Own Class!!!  Me!!  And what a joy it is to have no imposed deadlines to do a lesson tomorrow or next week or next month but to just leisurely be totally self-indulgent at this wondrous stage of my life.  When I finish studying this current CR then I'll go to one of my other old magazines and start selecting from the banquet table for my feasting.  No rush, just steady studying and enjoying the journey!!

I 100% believe that Conference Report talks are true and they are Scripture.  Not only because the Scriptures tell me so  (D&C 1:38 and D&C 68:3-4)  but I have my own conviction way down deep inside me.  Soul deep.