What??!! July is gone!

I'm still thinking about love and peace and also the turmoil of the last days.  I'm not sure why I was so innocent that I would think I'd pull up a chair, eat popcorn, watch the action  and it would never really impact my life.  I guess I thought I'd watch the signs of the times unfold right before my eyes and simply choose not to be involved and share my testimony and conviction of the Gospel and the Savior and that would be my part.  Destruction all around and me unscathed.  such an innocent on so many levels. The world seeps into my life.

This stuff, the happenings of the last days, are everywhere.  I'm still okay with realizing this is prophecy being fulfilled and it will get worse and it's amazing to see scriptural things come to pass right before my eyes.  Things getting worse????  How on earth that will happen?...I have no idea.  I just know we haven't hit the pinnacle yet.

I want peace.  peace everywhere.  I want to be adorably pig-tailed waving my pom-poms and cheering for all the good guys.  I don't want people shoving stuff on me that I don't want.  Most especially in my religious beliefs I want no interference.   so therefore I'm really digging into reading about love and peace from the Gospel standpoint.

The gem of discovery for sharing today just really fortified my soul.  it made me remember that love is all we can do.  not saying we have to accept things being forced on us as best can be.  just saying I need to make sure I'm centered in love.

I saw love portrayed on the news.  well, it hit me like love.  it was in the Gaza strip with two battling forces.  Each side showed the wrapped body of a young man that had been killed.  Split screen showed two exact reactions.  Twins to each other in their grieving.  Each wailing as is their custom.  It really hit me hard that each Mother adored her boy and it tore her heart out to know he was so young and innocently caught up, just by being at a place that was unexpectedly hit.  Love was before my eyes as I witnessed these two women's suffering.  Lost because of warring factions but love just manifested in their grief.

I also saw a place that had been declared safe.  the women were inside this building with the children.  50 per room.  the men were outside the building in hopes the children would be safe.  then it accidentally was hit and destroyed and I forget how many lives were lost but I remember an irate women talking about the destruction and them trying to protect the children.

I think of the children, those illegals, spread all over the ground.  it is heart breaking to me.  They are children and I don't view all of them as hoodlums/criminals etc.  I wonder how their Mothers are.  We women think differently than men.

I love the children in our Ward.  I want them safe and to feel confident that there are adults that love them.  Primary workers!!!  gold medals to all!!

I'm going to try to increase my personal goal of loving unconditionally and reduce the boiling factor within me to a simmer of sorts.  Not fooling myself that I won't always be passionate about things!  Simmer would be a great improvement!!

I so enjoyed reading this quote and it really helps put things in perspective...

 Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk. 
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Love of God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 21–24

Isn't that just beautiful the way he said it?  the entire talk is a treasure!!  Enjoy!

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Family and friends are so special to me and I love them.  Yes.  You too!  I just need greater love within myself.  Am I the only one?

Here is someone I love with all my heart.  Our grandson Lance.  He will be home from his mission in a couple of weeks and we are looking forward to seeing him.  He wrote us a tender note.  I just have to share it...

Hey Grandma and Grandpa-
I have about 2 weeks left on my mission.  It is kinda sad but at the same time I am ready to go.  I feel that I have fulfilled my calling.  I wouldn't trade it for the world.  It has been great.
By far the greatest part is my personal growth.  I have gained a deeper understanding of God and His Son, and my relationship to them.  The 2 years was worth it just because of this.
I have made many lifetime friends. It has been great.
I love the Gospel.  I am so grateful that you 2 joined the Church.  Thank you!
I love you All.  I hope you are there in August!  but if not, no worries.
Love you,
Elder Seljestad

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I wanted to put a picture and I can't figure it out!!

 

Thoughts on a Wednesday

Love and thoughts of peace are on my mind a lot.  I love my family.  I love my friends.  I love the Gospel/The Church- programs and classes and meetings and teaching and learning and most especially that weekly meeting to be amongst the believers.  It's a very brief association that often doesn't even involve conversation or contact.  We are all together for that Sacrament hour to renew covenants, to be buoyed by talks, to inwardly repent and to draw strength from the mere presence of each other.  I love to be with the believers.  I enjoy doing a mental pew check as to who is in place and those that are not.  There is peace for me in that meeting. Strength.  Love.

I also love the Temple.  I love the stillness. the hush. the non-world feeling of calm. I love knowing that I can have storms within myself calmed.  I love knowing that blessings will follow me home.  I love knowing personal revelation is a reality and that answers will come with either solutions or greater strength to bear what is vexing me.

And I love the blessing that I have, way down deep in my soul, that we are led by Prophets.  That we have Apostles here on earth.  They will give clear guidance to all of us and I'm so thankful when the Holy Ghost testifies to me of truths they have spoken.  They too give me untold volumes of sacred writ filled with their love/God's love and it rings true in very loud tones.

I love the order of the Church organization and I have a clear understanding of who is in charge.  I have a very small arena of influence and responsibility with family and friends and any calling that has been extended to me via the Priesthood.  I understand the pecking order and know that I will only know what to do in my own life and have no clue of what others in their responsibilities should do or not do. I can only share my own life experience. 

One Lord, One faith, One baptism.  I believe that and embrace that.  I marvel at the fact we are a world wide Church.  It's amazing to me of how the powers that be are able to keep us all connected.  That fact is a testament to me of the Church's truthfulness.

I love the 11th article of faith.  I think it's wonderful.  We don't find fault with others, so please don't find fault with us.  You can do what you want and please allow us that same privilege regarding worship.

I have found what works for me.  I have found my truth to live by.  I'm content.  I'm at Peace. I feel love for what I have joined and made a choice to support.

With discord raging and actually warring throughout the world, the Gospel means all the more to me, in the peace it affords me.  It's disturbing and disappointing and irritating and embarrassing and somewhat uncomfortable, that members would wage a civil war of sorts, within the Church, petitioning/counseling/marching/pleading etc. the General Authorities to change the Church position on filling their needs.

They say they have a testimony but they don't have a testimony that I do of the line of Authority as was taught to me early on in my joining.  Revelation to change the Church comes from heaven downward and not earthlings upward.

My solution is for discontents to form their own Church and put everything they want in it.  Seriously.  I feel that way.  I shared that with a gay friend and insulted him.

I said... I think the gay movement will really increase and the members will really divide. It will be a mess. Seriously...no joking...if gays feel the Church/leaders are wrong etc., why don't they just form their own LDS Church? build their own Temples? etc. etc. I want peace in my religion. this is not peaceful. seriously...why not? there are discontents with men and women over Priesthood for women and gays wanting to be married in Temple etc. etc. IF the belief is the Church is wrong then why not form a right Church? Why war in the Church I love and accept as is? just create a new LDS Church. what say ye?

He said...
haha is your suggestion that people form their own LDS church really a serious suggestion? or just a lighthearted joke? because if taken seriously i imagine it could be taken quite offensively and hurtfully, something a long the lines of "perhaps you should leave. and if you did, no one would really mind."

I said..I don't understand, really I don't, IF the Church is led by Prophets then why are believers not believing it and petitioning for change? It is what it is.. 
 I joined the Church enjoying and embracing it as is. I still feel that way and I really don't like arguing and being divisive etc. with discontents. I'm a firm believer in the 11th article of faith. I'm satisfied with the way the Church is and when changes occur I'm fine with that also. I'm not fine with petitioning/counseling/etc. etc. the Church leaders for change.

I'm also fine with people forming their own Church to cover their religious needs.

Mine are covered as is. I would like that for everyone.

love that 11th article of faith.

he said...

  i voice my opinion because I feel it is right to push for equality and i believe it's more in alignment with god's reality and i think it will aid the church in the long run just as changing the racist policies helped the church, but i have absolutely no interest in founding a religion, nor am i holding my breath waiting for it to change. My life goes on in peace either way. i don't even really view myself as particularly religious, more spiritual really. i just have have a strong connection and spiritual feeling about this religion, which is my community. the idea of creating a new community that was not my community completely defeats the purpose. i mean, most of my community wouldn't even be in this "new" church. so what purpose would that serve? it's an absurd idea really, and I know you are only playing with me.

I said...not toying with you as much as you might think!! Older folks are many times known for their absurdities!

a few days later he wrote...of course we are still friends! don't ever worry about that. I have been very emotionally wrapped up in the Palestinian conflict, feel sick about how many people are dying. I was a bit hurt by your statement about leaving and starting another church, but I'm quite certain you do not mean it the way someone like might hear it. I understand completely that it is your way of expressing your frustration with these issues that are dividing people in the church. xxx

At this point I dropped the subject. I wasn't expressing frustration. I was stating a solution that seems far out there but would restore peace at least to me!! IF a person believes in the Church then the Proclamation to the World just sums it all up as to what you need a testimony of. I believe that Proclamation is inspired and true.

Well, didn't know I'd be soapboxing about this but I sure did.

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Have been reading about peace. This talk is perfect for the subject. You will be made stronger just by reading it.   

 Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught, “Christ and His angels and His prophets forever labor to buoy up our spirits, steady our nerves, calm our hearts, send us forth with renewed strength and resolute hope” (“The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom,” Ensign, Nov. 1996, 83). 

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I really enjoyed this one also.  Treat yourself to a double read today and read both talks.  you will be so glad you did!!!....

The use of artificial lures to fool and catch a fish is an example of the way Lucifer often tempts, deceives, and tries to ensnare us.

Like the fly fisherman who knows that trout are driven by hunger, Lucifer knows our “hunger,” or weaknesses, and tempts us with counterfeit lures which, if taken, can cause us to be yanked from the stream of life into his unmerciful influence. And unlike a fly fisherman who catches and releases the fish unharmed back into the water, Lucifer will not voluntarily let go. His goal is to make his victims as miserable as he is. 

M. Russell Ballard, “O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov.2010, 108–10

                                  

Life continues....

Thanks for checking on me!  If I stop writing it's usually because I'm struggling in some way to balance my life.  It's like I freeze frame. I keep trying to get a grip on our new norm and find myself letting lose and floating in a bit of confusion.  You know the feeling of when a new baby comes into your life and it takes a bit to figure it all out...schedules...sleep deprivation...concern...guilt over feeling things are being neglected in all areas including tending to individual spiritual growth... uncertainty..doubt of own abilities to handle this newness of life?...that is what I've felt.   This newness is now Our New Normal.  As with a newborn...there are health things that we don't know how to handle...seemingly endless time spent in Doctor's waiting rooms... and all the time figuring out how to cope with limiting health factors like fatigue, poor balance, pain.  Not a pretty scenario but this is our life.

and our life, in it's NewNorm, is great.  We just have to tweak it, readjust our goals to fit a limited energy base.  Stop trying to multitask and do hours of something and realize we need to downsize that goal to perhaps one major task instead of hours or work.  Your mind can think of lists to cross things off and learning...regroup...rethink...refigure.

We are blessed for many reasons.  First of all we love each other.  That grants us patience and a measure of kindness in realizing life has changed.  Change...I've always embraced change and I am figuring out how to embrace this one.

For starters--at this point Terry's health is okay.  True he has limitation but he does the best he can.  True he laments, at times, missing his bull strength and his ability to climb ladders and all that sort of thing.  He wishes he could go help the Stake crews clean up the wild fire devastation in the Pateros area.  He can't and he realizes he would hinder and not help.  But he doesn't have pity parties and I'm thankful for that.

So with everything being level with all the gall bladder/pancreas etc. and not needing an appointment until Nov. 11th, it just made sense to go on a roadtrip!!  We have a capable car.  A GPS. I can buy minutes for my emergency cell phone.  Between the two of us we feel we have one working brain, decent vision with both of us watching traffic, so why not?

I realize that my paramount solution to everything challenge in life is to party/do something fun and have a family dinner or shared food of some sort!!  (even a breakfast at McD with their added sugar grams!)  all of that is somehow or other very healing.  Plus just the anticipation and planning is so energizing and I love it!!

So I sent a note to our kiddos and they are terrific.  All excited (hopefully about us coming to visit and not that I'm the designated driver!).  We are fortunate to see Kipper often as we are neighbors.  We get to see Jeanee and the girls and that is such a blessing when they visit.  So...

We will make a weekend short trip to see our grandson Kip and his family.  They both work so we go on a Friday afternoon, eat dinner, spend the night, eat breakfast, visit and come home Saturday afternoon.  that gives them time to do some of their weekend things.  It's marvelous!!

We will make a separate trip to visit our son Ben and his family in Carson City.  The boys might be in a play production and we hope to time it around that.

The big leg of the journey will be visiting our son Greg and his family in Kansas.  Oh, I need some red Dorothy shoes to click and just arrive but instead we will drive and drive and drive.  Our grandson Lance will be home from his mission on August 12.  he will shortly be leaving for BYU-I and we want to see him.  so we will leave here on August 25.

then we will see David and his family on the way back from Greg.

See my sister on the way home from David's.

I really want to at least say hi to my friend Tamera.  not sure if it will work out but just wishing so!

Of course I'm hoping weight will just miraculously sluff off and that I will have old time pictures organized, in books and ready to gift each family.  why not make them all quilts???  surely I can write my life history in a couple of weeks.  really, I'm so over the top on things.  At best it will just be us and that will be enough for them.  and us!

In seeking peace and answers...I got a blessing.  was reminded to immerse myself in study.  not just read but immerse myself.  I've had this counsel before and it was good to be reminded of essentials needed in my life to maintain the level of spirit that brings me the greatest personal revelation, peace, happiness and all sorts of goodies.

Today I studied about prayer and this has to be one of the best talks ever on prayer.  Read it and it will really make you think about how you pray.  It's about improving your personal prayers and I loved so much of the information.  like this....

To pray is to speak with God, the Eternal Father of our spirits—not at Him but with Him. He loves each of us perfectly and is full of mercy and understanding. He knows everything about us. He knows what we need, even when we can see only what we want. He has infinite power and capacity to sustain and guide us. He is always willing to forgive us and to help us in all things.

We can speak with Heavenly Father vocally or by forming thoughts and expressions in our minds and hearts. Personal prayers should be solemn, sacred expressions of praise and gratitude; heartfelt petitions for specific needs and desires; humble, contrite confessions and requests for cleansing forgiveness; pleadings for comfort, direction, and revelation. These expressions often cause us to pour out our very souls to our loving Heavenly Father.

Prayer is often a brief communication, but it can also be an open and continuous dialogue all throughout the day and night (see Alma 34:27).

this talk is in the Ensign.  by  Elder Kevin Pearson of the Seventy.  you can read it  here
I love that sentence I made bold!!  that is a great definition of how we pray always...thoughts in our minds and hearts.

I also throughly enjoyed this talk...

 President Thomas S. Monson taught, “Again, my brothers and sisters, our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives” (“Consider the Blessings,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2012, 88).

So there you go.  My life. Up to date.  one more thing...I did get on FB with my own account!  Not sure how it will work but I'll give it a try.  Terry has one and I kept barging in and it was confusing as to which of us was making a comment.  problem solved.  ask...I'll friend you!

Happy 24th of July!!!

Today my Mother would have been 97 years old.  She has been gone for 15 years.  My Dad (I always called him Daddy) died on her birthday 31 years ago.  I was standing by his bed when he died and my Mother thanked him for the birthday gift!  He was suffering and it was so hard on her to witness that she took that as a gift that he was no longer hurting.  There are a lot of milestones in my life on the 24th of July.  I look forward to seeing my parents in the next life.

I did not realize that there were children that crossed the plains.  alone.  I couldn't figure out how to put the site on my blog so I put it on FB.  Actually it reminded me of people sending their children by the droves to the USA.  This story really grabbed my heart.  Made me think about adoption.  You know me, endlessly sniveling and super selfish with my adopted boys, so I felt the pain of the wonderfully compassionate Sioux woman.   The father was evidently a man of great compassion also and did bring George back to see her.

On that sort of whiny type note I say....Enjoy the 24th of July and I hope all the youth on our Stake trek are having a super time.  The sun is shining here, the cold of night is over, they have already crossed a river so I'm hoping and praying, they are all safe and having a spiritual experience.   I have my Laurels, and future Laurels on that trek!!!

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                                           George Staples-Taken in by the Indians

Fourteen-year-old George Staples was not found nearly so soon. He had been the only one of his family to leave England, sent ahead while his parents lingered to raise money for themselves and the rest of the children. They knew it would be a long time before they could join him and that the boy would have to fend for himself, but a chance to send one of their family was not to be missed.

He left in 1848 with a company of Saints and made it as far as the Sioux country, where, delirious and tormented by mountain fever, he could travel no farther. The company was perplexed about what to do for him. Endangered by warring Sioux, they dared not tarry, but it was clear the lurching of the wagon was unbearable to the boy, who seemed only hours from death. It was the kind of dilemma faced by many during the gathering-impossible to stop and just as impossible to leave him behind.

Finally, they determined that the kindest thing to do was leave him with a trapper with whom he could spend his last few hours in peace and comfort. The trapper agreed to care for him and then bury him, marking the spot with a permanent identification.

That afternoon a friendly band of Sioux greeted the trapper and noticed the sick boy. A squaw, looking at the tormented young man with tenderness, asked if she could take him. In the days that followed, she and the tribal doctor nursed him with Indian remedies, for the mountain fever that was so strange to the settlers was more common to them.

The delirious boy rose in and out of consciousness, but finally the searing pain in his head and the wild expression in his eyes settled down and he realized with some delight where he was. His loneliness and sickness were replaced by the mothering of a squaw and the attentions of a friendly people who seemed delighted to have him among them. They didn't seem to understand when he told them he had to find the white people, they simply broke camp and moved on.

As the months passed and turned into years, George enjoyed his life among the Sioux.  His Indian mother made him beautiful buckskin clothing, and when the braves were on the warpath, they left him behind with the women and children, telling him to take care of the camp. He thought less and less about any other life. Then one day a group of pioneers saw him with the Sioux and carried word to the Salt Lake Valley. Not long after, a group from the valley came looking for him.

Among them was a familiar and beloved face. With a wild whoop, he fell into his father's arms. James Staples had received word in England that his son had died two years before, but when he brought the family to Salt Lake he heard the story about the spotting of the white boy among the Indians, and grasping at a straw, came looking for him. "Could this be my son? Please let this be my son." It was a sweet reunion for an emotional father and son, but George's Indian mother was devastated, weeping inconsolably at the loss of her adopted boy. James took him with the promise that he would be back to visit, and four years later the promise was kept. The Indian mother greeted George with all the emotion of a mother who had been deprived of a dear sight for too long.

Love these pictures....

2 of my favorite Homer pictures.  top one is by Brian Owens and this is the view from his house.  That is Mt. Iliamna in the background.

Beluga lake in the front.  Kachemak Bay and the Homer Spit.

Soapboxing...PS

I was trying to find a quote I'd saved and found this blog I never shared.  Evidently it was right after a general Conference.  I'm thinking Oct. 2013.  One thing for sure...I have strong feelings that have not changed about certain things.  So I'm putting a bit more, a PS of sorts, to my previous Soapboxing...

My gratitude for my testimony of living Prophets is just huge!!!!  I just loved every single talk and they all spoke to my soul and nourished me.  I am so thankful for what these talks mean to me.  Amazingly they are already in place online to be listened to and we decided to start with the Sunday morning session and just go through them in order.  Usually we pick and choose different ones and maybe even one from a past Conference.  No better spiritual boost.

Elder Hales set the entire tone of Conference when he explained how Conference talks come about and promises to those who listen, ponder/think/mull over what they've heard and then endeavor to live it.  I love IF/THEN concepts.  It's not yet in online print to where I can copy a couple of statements for you but IF I had kiddos at home, I'd gather them every day and have them sit and listen, it's only 15 minutes, to a talk.  They would see the speaker, become familiar with his face, learn to recognize his voice and they would hear that powerful testimony at the end of each talk.  Yes, there are women speakers also!!  Those women and their callings will change but the Apostles will stay for life.  Read the promises of General Conference in Elder Hales talk.   Take advantage of it!!!  15 minutes of time could be the saving factor in your life and your family.

True, I'm an admitted Conference nut and have been so for years.  I make no apologies.  That is the way I am.  Monday morning, in that sort of pre-awake/dozing mode, I was thinking of Conference and things I'd heard that impressed me and that I could hardly wait to hear again.  It was rather vague and I couldn't really put the thoughts with the speakers but I was still enjoying reliving the past couple of days.  Unexpectedly, the clear thought came very strong to me....These are true messengers of God...  I was startled.  I realized that I really do believe that fact very strongly.  These are not just good talks by good men.  These are Apostles.  Apostles as in the time of Christ and I actually have a testimony of that fact.  I'm looking forward to the Temple this week and to ponder that beautiful thought that interrupted my half-awake pondering... They are the true messengers of God.

To me there was such beauty and hope in this Conference and direction and counsel and warnings.  The men to me seemed rather serious.  As if preparing us for the days ahead.  Yet there was always that counsel to adhere/obey/stay close to the Gospel and it's teachings/counsel and you will be okay.

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I feel concern for the women of the Church and I guess for everyone.  I feel  women wanting the Priesthood and desiring to be Bishops and leaders is going to cause so many problems.  It saddens me.  Didn't these women ever study the way of the Church being governed and the organization of it?  Don't they know that people requesting/petitioning/suggesting/counseling etc. etc.  don't amount to anything?  Revelation for the body of the Church comes from the head of the Church.  From the top down.  Not from the bottom up.  Those who think they, by their endless whining, influenced Church authorities for all worthy males to receive the Priesthood,  had no influence at all.  The Church is run by revelation.  Revelation to Priesthood MEN that are called by authority.  That is a part of our Articles of Faith.  a very basic doctrine.

I have no intention of devoting blog after blog to these causes of turmoil/strife/division and who knows what else but I just have to get some of this off my mind.  True this is taken out of context, of an article in favor of Women being Ordained but I just feel saddened because I see trouble coming down the road at them, and the rest of us also, as we will need to declare ourselves as believers/followers of the Doctrine as it is OR take a stand as believers for Change of Doctrine.

 (I 100% disagree with this statement.)

 McBaine, founder of The Mormon Women Project, which showcases strong LDS women, wrote that she can imagine a future in which "the general Relief Society president is administratively and ministerially responsible for half of the world’s population in a joint venture of administering the church with the prophet."

(I also 100% disagree with this statement)

Alexandra Sandvik, 24, a law student at church-owned Brigham Young University, said she believes it’s a matter of time before women are given the priesthood.  "We expanded the priesthood to African-Americans and now every male can have it," said Sandvik, whose husband, Jason, joined her. "Even if it doesn’t [extend to women], I’ll die a faithful Latter-day Saint."

Remember, Sister Alexandra in your equality for all work, as a "faithful Latter-day Saint" you will want a Temple recommend.  Remember, you will want to attend the Temple.  Remember, your enjoyment in partaking of the Sacrament.  Remember, those questions in the recommend interview, about belonging or supporting groups/organizations, that oppose the Church or it's leaders?  Think it through as you could end up holding a lump of coal and packing anti-Church leaflets in your used-to be Temple bag.

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All of us will have to take a stand, not be lukewarm,  not speak out of  both sides of our mouths.  Maybe not take a stand verbally but in our heart, our soul, we have to know what we really stand for.  How we really feel about Women receiving the Priesthood, and the opposition the Church has to same sex marriage.  BUT....should the time come for us to speak our truth when asked in casual, or not so casual, conversation...are we prepared?  do we know how we really feel?  Remember...silence is condoning.  Aren't we suppose to stand as witnesses of truth etc. etc.  I'm just saying ....  look to your own heart and figure out what is truth to you.

This is a lot of soap-boxing but I just had to share.  I have a bit more to share tomorrow and then my allotted time for discussion of something opposing the basic tenets of the Church will be finished (except for occasionally mentioning it).

(remember this was written in October 2013 and now we know I lie through my teeth!!  Oh, sure I'll never mention this subject again!!  oh, just occasionally??? uh-huh...you bet...of course!!  Serving notice that I most likely will spout off every once in awhile.  Maybe eventually I'll slow to a simmer but I'm just going to let what happens happens as far as what is on my mind and I blog about it!!  thanks for your understanding!) 

Good morning!

Teaching these lovely Laurels is a challenge.  Not them but the time allotment!  I love the teaching outline of the new program.  I'm comfortable and it's what I enjoy.  The problem that I've seen from the get-go, and it really hit me yesterday, is I'm not with them enough Sundays to build a closeness, establish a feeling of how our class is on a comfort level.  I only teach 2 Sundays a month.  2nd and 3rd.  so when I teach that 3rd Sunday...I'm not in class with them again for 2 weeks.  if there is a 5th Sunday then it's 3 weeks!!  how on earth do you create a sense of security, confidence etc. with such brokenness.  Plus I don't text!  Somehow or other I will figure it out.  Actually I have not been able to figure it out.  So my plan is to go to the Temple (speaking of which...another new film!  3rd one out!), fervently pray and receive some personal revelation through the Holy Ghost.  Which by the way was what I taught yesterday!

Love this quote.  a part of what I read in preparation for my class....

From the True to the Faith Book -

Full enjoyment of the gift of the Holy Ghost includes receiving revelation and comfort, serving and blessing others through spiritual gifts, and being sanctified from sin and made fit for exaltation in the celestial kingdom. These blessings depend on your worthiness; they come a little at a time as you are ready for them. As you bring your life in harmony with God’s will, you gradually receive the Holy Ghost in great measure. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that the mysteries of God’s kingdom “are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him” 

I look forward to seeing what I come up with to unify my class and draw them closer to me at the same time!!

I've shared it before but here is my all time favorite quote about the Holy Ghost by Parley P. Pratt.  I WANT MORE OF THIS!!!!

...quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections; and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use.  He inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature. He inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. He develops beauty of person, form and features.  He tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling. He invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. He strengthens, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.

Listening and heeding even without total recall at the moment!

In the midst of trying to get busy around here and clear out things....we are wonderfully cool and so appreciative!  Terry remembered he'd covered a vent, when he built our living room bookcase and laid a bit of wood floor many years ago, so he went exploring and Kip joined the party!  Explorations like this are scary as you never know if he will actually hit paydirt.  He ended up finding the gold and we now have an extra vent for heat/AC!! Whew!  So glad he thought of that!!!

A CAT hat is essential!!  as are knee pads!

see the teeny test run square?  so thankful it wasn't a full excavation!!

Dad, you hold the lantern.  I'll chop the wood!

cleaning up the sawdust!

 Here are fans ready to be packed away.  There are two others not even pictured!  We were so thankful for a measure of comfort and especially that our AC is now fixed!!!

We use these at McCall!  so glad we had them!!!
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Today I've been thinking about the love I have and appreciation for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  Sunday I get to teach/talk to my Laurels about this amazing gift that we are each given at baptism.  I hope to share the gratitude I have for the Holy Ghost in my life.

I thought of how much I appreciate the little prompts, many times unknown in the moment, such as...My Laurel, Madeline, had just graduated from high-school and Early Morning Seminary and achieved her Personal Progress.  We were having a special time on a Sunday in honoring her and I really wanted to give her a picture to remember the 3 accomplishments and also to represent her Beehive through Laurel years.  I debated all kinds and was thinking of two beautiful prints that I'd seen at the Bookstore.  Was thinking to get one of them.  But it just wasn't the one.  Then the idea came...take the picture of Christ from the front of a personal progress book (with the overlay of the Temple) and frame it.  so I mounted it on beautiful rich deep paper and framed it in a super dark cherry frame.  glued a scripture on the back.  put the year.  etc. etc.

On that Sunday I gave a talk for a few minutes and presented it to her.  She was touched.

Imagine me being surprised and touched when she told me...remember when we went to New Beginnings, my Beehive year, and you told me that you would frame this picture and give it to me when I got my YW recognition?  

No, I did not remember it!  When she told me that day?...yes. then I did remember.  I have one framed for myself as it is one of my most favorite pictures.   I was thankful that something I meant when I said it, 6 years previous, had been brought to the forefront of my mind and it felt so right and made me happy as I knew it was the perfect picture for the occasion.  It's those sorts of things that make the Gospel alive in my life.  true also...by small things are great things brought to pass!

Small prompt but very important.  I love that aspect of the Gospel!  The Holy Ghost bringing things to our remembrance.  I really appreciated that being brought into my mind.

You have seen this with the Temple overlay.  Love it!!

Soapbox time.... Ah, how sweet it is!!!!

Another chapter book!  remember when I said I had 4 things that I had to get out of my system by climbing on my soap box? here   So here is #2 of those things!

 Chapter 1

My parents were smokers.  The gospel had not yet entered my life and I thought absolutely nothing of this fact.  Everyone seemed to be smoking.  Movies were dense with ciggy smoke and we actually thought it was so romantic when the man lit the woman's cigarette.  My Dad was a chain smoker that actually resulted in heart disease and his eventual death.  He had to quit his 3-pack a day habit and my Mother quit also to help him along.

When my Dad died, my Mother started smoking again.  Pretty heavy.  They were in Boise and I was in Homer.  One year I flew out to see her and I was surprised that she had quit smoking.  I asked her how difficult it had been and she said...It wasn't hard at all.  What?  Huh?

She said she'd gone to buy a carton of her favorite brand and the price had gone up so high that she just got mad and said...They' ll never get another penny out of me!!  I quit!  and she did!  forever!

I have had weight struggles for what seems forever and I've tried every which way known to mankind to get down and stay down.  When I saw the movie Fed Up, I felt like my Mother had.  I felt I'd been duped...tricked and I would never buy into the foolishness that I'd been drawn into.

Chapter 2

The Word of Wisdom to me has been about coffee, tea, liquor, tobacco and things addictive and harmful.  Also of course the grains/fruits/veggies/meat etc.  While it made no sense when I joined the Church to connect these things with religion, I became converted.

I've always been interested in D&C 89:4 being for/about "the last days" and felt when pornography and drugs entered into the picture that it was coupled in consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days..... I've always been fascinated by that part and really felt that hit advertising/music/videos etc.

The Word of Wisdom has now expanded way beyond my initial understanding and now is at a new high!

Chapter 3

It took 50 years before the tobacco industry finally owned up to the fact that tobacco was addictive and they fought legislature like crazy to not be monitored.  Now they are doing the same thing on added sugar and saying it's harmless.  reading what recently happened in New York and seeing the food companies really fighting for any sort of control, just confirmed their power to me.  I'm not siding with the Mayor in trying to force the issue but I certainly side with him on it being harmful and it was interesting that the food factory money makers were making sure nothing changed.

a quote from article....Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal, which polls showed was opposed by a majority of New Yorkers, set off a global debate over soda consumption. It also prompted panic among powerful beverage companies, who feared that their products could be widely branded as a threat to public health.  and also .....The soft-drink industry, through lobbying and public-relations campaigns, has helped defeat soda taxes and other regulatory measures in states and municipalities around the country. After Mr. Bloomberg announced his plan in May 2012, the industry poured millions of dollars into an ad campaign that framed the proposal as infringing on consumer freedom. The industry later retained the law firm of Latham & Watkins to challenge the limits in court.
(soft drinks New York)....  here  

Chapter 4

The 1st day I went to see Fed Up  was like any other day in my life.  I puttered about on home projects etc. and then unexpectedly within myself, I felt directed--go see the film as it will help you.  Fat folks are always looking for help and I'd been really pleading for help and was at my wits end, running out of options, felt my health being compromised somewhat.  when that prompt happened, I asked Terry if he wanted to go, he said No thanks and I ended up going alone.

Chapter 5

The documentary was amazing and I was bowled over by the news clips and statements and hearings and lies presented in ways to fool us. (in consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days!!!!)

I was stunned to realize how I'd been fooled by a very simple fact.  Added Sugar!!!!  Not home cooking and adding a bit of sugar, no I mean added sugar to all processed food by the manufacturers.  When they take out the fat & reduce the calories in "weight loss foods", as the man in the movie said...it tastes like cardboard.  Sugar is added to make it palatable! 

Sugar is addictive.  Yes.  My drug of choice!

Chapter 6

Those Weight Watcher years of devouring angel food cake and cool whip and all of the low-cal/no-cal/reduced-cal/low-fat/no-fat foods were so sugar laced that it actually made it impossible to lose weight and just piled the pounds on and locked it in place along with fueling my rapidly developing personal sugar addiction. thereby increasing my sugar cravings!!

On food labels they never print the recommended daily sugar requirement and % met because it would so exceed the allowed limit that they would be exposed. I have checked so many food labels and am bowled over ddevery single time I read about more than the 24 grams of sugar or the 6 tsp. I can consume per day.  All of the cartons of yogurt, soy milk, almond milk and all sorts of things...loaded with my drug of choice!!!  Not to mention angel food cake...I remember when WW really promoted that and Cool-whip as a legal treat.  Perhaps it was WW members, and not the company that shared that glad news but it was at a WW meeting that we all got hyper that we could legally eat it.  Fatties never eat the recommended amount of any food so of course there was lots of going overboard on that sweet along with other things as the market picked up the pace and started really making lo-cal/low fat ice cream etc. etc.  Well, anyhow you get the picture!

Chapter 7

 I had to get some gas before I drove to the movie and as I went in to pay for the gas, I thought...hmmm this show will probably be something about not eating to much sugar... and as all sugar addicts do, I started looking at candy bars to eat on the drive.  I actually love real smooth delicious chocolate and not gas station stuff but I ended up with a Rocky Road,  a York Peppermint Pattie, a Butterfinger and 2 chocolate covered cherries (they were right there at the register when I paid.  could not resist!)

I stashed the wrapper evidence in my car after eating some of the purchase.  it was so old and nasty that even I couldn't eat it all.  well, I ate a lot of it!

Both of the cherries, all of the Rocky Road, most of the York pattie and 50% of the Butterfinger.

Incriminating evidence for my crime pictured below.  Sometimes I have no shame!!!  deciding to enter the confessional booth aka my blog, I went out to the car and brought my little evidence bag in and dumped the contents out.... 

Devil food!!!! 

Note their lure in the corner!!  Eat me!!!--  As Always...70% Less Fat!

Oh!!  My ENTIRE sugar grams for ONE Day in this 70% less fat product!! 

so there!!!!  They got me good!!  back at them!

Chapter 8

It's very risky for a fatty to put anything on a blog on losing weight/health as people start to check you out and ask questions and that is not fun.  I'm posting this because this is about my health and maybe it will also end up being about yours.  I ended up seeing the movie 2 times.  or was it three?  I felt exactly like my Mother did about her anger over the tobacco companies raising the price of cigarettes so high.  She went into the store to buy a carton of cigarettes  and walked out vowing, to never give them a plug nickel!  And she didn't.  

I was so ticked off at being hoodwinked into thinking all the promoted prepared weight loss foods had added sugar and that would make it impossible to lose weight.  It's addictive and harmful.  I walked out and vowed to boycott processed food with added sugar!  I know...that is extreme but I will watch them like a hawk and not give them my money.  In this case the apple did not fall far from the tree to match my Mother's ire.

Chapter 9

They had a segment in the movie that showed when the fitness craze started and how the food companies came out with helpful products--low-cal/low fat.  Fact checkers were stunned to see that the obesity rates went up on a parallel level with the increased physical exercise activity.  The more gyms/fitness centers came into play, the more obese the population grew.  Because of added sugar to the diet products!!

Chapter 10

True I was prompted to go with the inner whisper that the movie would help me and this, I repeat, is about health, not being a bone rack.

    Elder Jeffrey R. Holland also noted that vanity of physical appearance is spiritually dangerous:   “In terms of preoccupation with self and a fixation on the physical, this is more than social insanity; it is spiritually destructive and it accounts for much of the unhappiness … in the modern world. And if adults are preoccupied with appearance—tucking and nipping and implanting and remodeling everything that can be remodeled—those pressures and anxieties will certainly seep through to children. At some point the problem becomes what the Book of Mormon called ‘vain imaginations’ [1 Nephi 12:18]. And in secular society both vanity and imagination run wild. One would truly need a great and spacious makeup kit to compete with beauty as portrayed in media all around us” (in Conference Report, Oct. 2005, 30–31; or Ensign, Nov. 2005, 30).
 

Chapter 11

Added sugars now joins the Goliaths mentioned below....

“There are Goliaths all around you, hulking giants with evil intent to destroy you. These are not nine-foot-tall men, but they are men and institutions that control attractive but evil things that may challenge and weaken and destroy you. Included in these are beer and other liquors and tobacco. Those who market these products would like to enslave you into their use. There are drugs of various kinds which, I am told, are relatively easy to obtain in many high schools. For those who peddle them, this is a multimillion-dollar industry, a giant web of evil. There is pornography, seductive and interesting and inviting. It has become a giant industry, producing magazines, films, and other materials designed to take your money and lead you toward activities that would destroy you.

“The giants who are behind these efforts are formidable and skillful. They have gained vast experience in the war they are carrying on. They would like to ensnare you.

“It is almost impossible to entirely avoid exposure to their products. You see these materials on all sides. But you need not fear if you have the slingshot of truth in your hands. You have been counseled and taught and advised. You have the stones of virtue and honor and integrity to use against these enemies who would like to conquer you. Insofar as you are concerned, you can hit them ‘between the eyes,’ to use a figurative expression. You can triumph over them by disciplining yourselves to avoid them. You can say to the whole lot of them as David said to Goliath, ‘Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.’

“Victory will be yours. … You have His power within you to sustain you. You have the right to ministering angels about you to protect you. Do not let Goliath frighten you. Stand your ground and hold your place, and you will be triumphant” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1983, 66; orEnsign, May 1983, 46, 51).

Chapter 12

sugars.... ADDED sugar to processed food.  These pics are from the movie.

My former drug on left.   Me...the ex- addict!!! cocaine addicted rats chose sugar water if it was available OVER cocaine!

what a racket!!

criminal!!!

Yes!  I am definitely FED UP!!!!

that is what a committee came up with!!  pizza is a vegetable!

family meals.  advocate of them!!!

nothing liquid is real!!  all sugar!!!!

Cereals marketed to children are pure sugar!!!

I have eaten so much yogurt!!  .5 tsp over what I'm to have in a day of sugar grams!!!


Chapter 13

I wonder if Stevia is on this list?????   fruit juice concentrate = source of sugar!!!

Chapter 14

35 Jelly Beans=28 grams of sugar!

20 oz. Mountain Dew=77 sugar grams!!  (single serving.  check all soda!!!  shocking!!!


 Chapter 15

I have become an avid label reader on added sugar.  I'm alarmed!!  It's not by accident that the % of needed sugar is left blank.  The food companies like it that way as it appears harmless and not worth your time to watch that %.  also they put it in grams which makes it harder.   ADDED sugar is what I'm talking about here.  not fresh fruits etc. 

There are packages of little cutie-pie snacks for babies/toddlers that are absolutely nothing but sugar.  All the juices are sugar.   some of those diaper bags are unknowingly loaded with a vanload of sugar by Moms that love their babies. 

Now this is a shocker....The first generation of children that will die before their parents, being raised right now,  are fed the very non-food, sugar, that will do them in.  Little children have little organs and those bitty little organs can't survive being squeezed to death by fat.  There is no data on what will happen diabetes wise to the current children as this has never happened before.  There are babies that are obese.  toddlers that are obese.  teens that are obese and oh, yes...my fellow adults with sugar addictions!!!  Our nation is the most obese in the world!  nothing I'm proud to be a part of!!!

(Our granddaughters just got back from 3 weeks in Europe.  They were surprised that people weren't heavy.  when they got back to the USA it was really surprising to see mostly obese folks!)

I like this chart....

Chapter 16

There is a group called the World Health Organization and they recently lowered the level of sugar grams needed.  They try to come up with guidelines that all areas concerned with health can agree on throughout the world.  They agreed and then the food industry, with all of their money and power, came in and pressured them to raise it a bit.  They did somewhat but it's still down a lot.  I think this was done in March of this year. If you want to read something about the recommended WHO grams/tsp of sugar then go here  and here

Chapter 17

Actually I can go on and on but I'll spare you the tirade!!  hopefully not lose my readers and friends!!  and just proceed to be aware and alert to added sugar in processed food. 

Afterward

Going to let this rest but I will not support the food industry that is marketing added sugar.  Just plain old food of my own making.  If I add sugar?...well, that's my life, my body, my business and I know how to account for it and can figure out my 25 added sugar grams but I am boycotting suppliers in food industry that add sugar.  If I was a young mom, which I'm not, I'd really watch what I pack in the diaper bag.  Just sayin'.  Just sayin'.

Muzzling my mouth!!  this will be my one and only obnoxious outlet about me single handedly going to fight the food industry!!  (I admit I shouldn't say that as I'm so passionate about the gimmicky stuff and their power, really...can I just say it once?  I'll really try!!!)

This is a single subject blog...added sugar to processed food.  so please don't tell be about carbs, exercise, fat, protein etc. etc. and balance that is needed for weight loss.   Also it will take a lengthy time to free myself of my sugar padded extra self that I daily haul around.  So you can watch me but even I don't expect an overnight miracle!! 

One more controversial thing...I will eat wheat.  In my personal copy of Doctrine & Covenants, Sec. 89, it says...wheat for man.  The wheat we have, has been stored for decades, so maybe that is why it doesn't bother us?  Who knows!!!!  

friends still??????

You can now pre-order Fed Up from Amazon or I-Tunes.  For this blog to really come together you absolutely MUST see the documentary.  It will change your entire way of thinking about eating.  Especially if you have a weight problem.

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Now I'm thinking....does this even make sense the way I wrote it?  Does it even come across what I am doing?....pretty much boycotting processed foods...checking added sugar grams on all food labels....endeavoring to keep my sugar grams to 24 or 6 teaspoons.  All of the processed stuff that has been suggested/recommended for weight loss is what has packed the pounds on.  I've eaten tubs of yogurt!!  one Western Family itt-bitty 6oz. low-fat, 1% milkfat, vanilla yogurt has a whopping 26 grams of sugar!!!