Twitterpated!!!

Love is everywhere and I love LOVE.  

One of my past Seminary students has been bit by the love bug and her sweetie was at Church on Sunday, to hear her talk.  She was able to focus on the subject, and not him, and gave a great talk.  He will be leaving on a jet plane, and will be back again.  Probably shortly.  Did she float down the aisle after that talk?  Did they greet each other like they'd been separated for dozens of minutes?  yes and yes!  Ah, young romance!  My heart melts and I sigh. Sweet love!  No wonder sweets are the gift for Valentines day!

I also melt when Terry loves to sit close beside me at Church and hold my hand.  He misses me when I visit other Wards and tells me so. Ah, yes even long-marrieds feel long/strong love.  

Recently, the YW had an evening about marriage and they featured wedding gowns and wedding pictures.  I shared a picture of us.  Two scared, very young looking (because we were!) people walking down the aisle of the Methodist Church in Anchorage. 

People used to look at the picture and say....Oh, you look just the same now as you did then!  
Then came the day that someone said...Who is this couple?

Recently we went to the Temple and it was a large session.  They put 3 extra chairs for the men and 4-5 for the women.  The room was maxed out.  We waited for the three front row seats to be filled.  Soon we realized it was a man taking out his endowments and then when 2 women entered, one with a tag indicating her own endowment and the other a friend that was her escort, we knew it was his wife and they would end up being sealed that day. 

From my vantage point I could see them and their escort friends.  The reverence in the room and happiness for this couple just flowed forth.  I thought how wonderful it was, that even a room full of strangers, could feel thankfulness for the step this couple, probably 60 years old or so, were taking.


What a shock it was to me though when we entered the Celestial room and realized there were only 3 of us couples that didn't know the couple being sealed!   The six of us sat off by ourselves and the remaining entire company surrounded the couple.  Joy just filled the air!  talk about LOVE!!!  


Terry and I sat, holding hands visiting. Then the Celestial room emptied out except for the 6 of us plus the couple.  A Temple worker came over to chat with them and Terry and I left.  The sealing room door was opened and I blatantly looked in. How impressive it was, to see all the chairs filled with friends, waiting for this great event to take place.  

Love was on my mind, for sure.  Sitting there, I looked down at Terry's hands.  Rather gnarled in ways.  I loved those hands when they were straight and strong and beefy and even when there was diesel mechanic grease in the pores or under the nails.  I still love those hands--A bit crooked and lily white, from washing dishes so much and no longer a grease monkey,  but familiar hands I've spent a near lifetime with.  Love is wonderful.

 

Back on Valentine's Day - Feb. 14th

 February 14th!!

Posting again!!

See you then!!

"....then embrace."

I'm at an age in my life of realizing these really are the last days and things are getting worse and will continue to do so.  I'm not rearing children.  I have a testimony.  I sit and munch on popcorn and watch as prophesied events unfold all around me in the world.  I feel rather grounded and settled.  Not whipped around by every wind of doctrine.  Enveloped in a peaceful cocoon in the midst of evil.

And then I heard a 21 year old woman bear her testimony this past Sunday.   Then a sweet boy, looked to be 12, also shared his love of the Gospel and the Savior.  Each shared a beautiful strong certain testimony of the Gospel and it hit me hard.-- The challenge that our youth have to resist what the world is promoting.  They are constantly confronted with the oft-quoted fact that...

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,

As to be hated needs but to be seen;

Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,

We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”

(Alexander Pope, “Essay  on Man,” Epistle II, line 135.)

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 In 1995 the Church made a historic Proclamation.  One of the 5 in the history of the Church.  A Proclamation to the World.  Boldly stated.  Putting the world on notice as to the importance of families and the definition of families and all about marriages.  I remember being rude, in my mind, when I read in the very first paragraph....

"...solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God....

my rude thinking was ...well, of course!  what else would it be except a man and a woman being married?! 

it didn't take very long for me to quickly repent as I watched the world unravel and see how prophetic and protective and emphatic and necessary those words are. 

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Back in the early 1970's the Equal Rights Amendment- and a new word, Feminism- were introduced to us by the likes of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. They tried to convince us that we were unhappy, being distinctly our female selves, in a Church run by men and championed for all women to break through the male-dominated culture and not be in bondage.  As we tried to educate ourselves of how ERA passage would impact our personal lives and what would really be the resultant vote, one item we became concerned about was the draft and that Mother's would not be exempt.  They saw nothing ill-advised about sending the Mom to war and letting the Father stay home.  That happens nowadays and is rather commonplace.  We felt that was not good for the family. I personally still feel that way. 

Feeling that we needed to understand more and hearing that some group, seems it was with Church people somehow or other, was going to have a Conference in SLC and talk about the ERA.  A friend and I decided to go and learn and come back and share with our group of women friends.  She had a grocery store with a spare room and an outside entrance.  So we had a garage sale and all brought items to sell.  My friend and I booked a flight from AK to UT and headed into the unknown.  

We attended several classes (was it on the BYU campus?) and then saw one listed that we wondered what it was about.  I don't remember the name but I do remember the class.  It was all gay LDS men.  Most were returned Missionaries.  All with testimonies.  All pleading with us to petition the Prophet to allow them to go to the Temple and be sealed with the man of their choice.  They even had formed a group of support.  Evergreen.  We were stunned.  We had no idea that such an organization existed and we both opted to not go back and share the "disturbing" news of this class.  (nowadays I would not be silent but 40 years ago that seemed right.  to stay on task and not get off subject. We saw no connection with our life and the personal choices of these few people)

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The saga of Ellen Degeneres- probably about 25 years after the above trip.

In 1994 the standup comedienne had her own weekly TV show - "Ellen".  In 1997 she decided to have her character come out and she in real life, would also acknowledge, that she was gay.  She wrote the Emmy winning script, "The Puppy Episode".  The show caused a furor of protest, ratings plummeted, the show was canceled by 1998 and she was pretty much blackballed.

In 2001 she eventually decides to go back to her comedic routine/roots and not be poster person for gays and gets a syndicated show  "The Ellen Show" .  Her popularity grows and the show flourishes.

In 2003 she gets an NBC daily talk show - "The Ellen Degeneres Show".  Wins award after award after award.

In 2008 she became the Cover Girl for Cover Girl make-up etc.
and also....

In 2008 she showed on her daily afternoon talk show, the home movies, of her marriage to another woman.  Like any other brides...the shopping, the rings, the cake etc. etc.  I had to watch as I was just struck dumb that in 10 years....10 short years!....Standards and our society had gone from a show being canceled, because she had that segment, about announcing over a loudspeaker at an airport that her character was gay and so was she.  Just move ahead  those brief 10 years- her lesbian marriage is featured on her talk show! NBC publicized, approved, promoted, embraced the show!

In 2012, just recently, she was announced as the spokesman for family values for  J.C.Penney.  This caused a bit of a fuss and a bit of a flurry but just like the Cover Girl contract it will most likely die down.  We will excitedly buy merchandise at greatly reduced prices and not be concerned about anything other than our purchasing power and getting more for our money.  Maybe I should just speak for myself!

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It amazes me to see how subtle change can be and exactly like the earlier quote stated, I see things go from being rejected to being embraced. My own casualness sometimes alarms me!!! 

In just this week I read...

1-The NY Times, yes- very liberal. has weddings featured, announced engagements etc. of homosexuals.

2-The TV show- the Cake Boss- featured the first two women to be married, at the stroke of midnight as the first couple to do so after gay marriages were legalized in NY.

3-Now WA is ready to join 7 other states and legalize same-sex marriages.  Will I accept that as an inevitable event?

In today's modern Babylonian society we have Rosie O'Donnell with a daily talk show and she said frequently on the first few shows....this show is about families and not just lesbianism.  So Ellen is no longer alone.

The Tony's, awarding Broadway's finest shows, opened with a gay man (recently married to a man.  adopted 2 baby boys), promoting Broadway is "not just for gays anymore" throughout the extravagant song and dance number.  It was more than disturbing to see in that huge production, what appeared to be Mormon Missionaries, in full dress suits/short hair/white shirts/ties/name-tags and holding Books of Mormon, while frolicking and singing the fact that show biz is not just for gays.  In fairness there were also nuns cavorting about from another play and maybe some didn't like that either.

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

As I see this encroaching and pervading our lives, my concern is for the rising generation.  How will LDS parents teach their children, and most especially the youth, that even if their friends or family friends or family members are homosexual, and even if they are in love and want to be married, that we believe that is wrong?  How will they teach them --a basic part of our religious conviction and testimony-- is based on marriage between a man and a woman.  Also that marriage between a man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.  Morality cannot be legislated.  Making it legal doesn't make it moral.

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This talk from 1971 is astounding because of how old and bold it is.  It's from April Conference- 41 years ago!!!  At that time I was living in Alaska and had a brand new 4 week old baby that we'd adopted and I do not remember reading this before.  How prophetic!  I believe in modern day prophets, so this is startling to read, when I see how far we've gone downhill since he said these words.

Spencer W. Kimball-
http://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/06/voices-of-the-past-of-the-present-of-the-future?lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=homosexuality

How about this one?

 This blog, along with the one previously mentioned, show how two LDS women are dealing with the challenges, heartache, pain and adversity in their personal lives.  This one is from Australia.  It's always interesting to watch people make a comeback.  There is so much to be learned from others and these two blogs are honest and open and teach a lot as they share their personal journey of surviving life! 


http://lisajking.blogspot.com/

Do you read this blog?

http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Plate of Goodies

Wednesday there was a knock on the door and when I went to answer it and opened it up- no one was there!  On the porch there was a paper plate, filled with a loaf of bread and some brownies, and a small card addressed to Terry and I, resting on top of it.

A tiny card filled with sweet sentiments from young hearts and signed by a YW class and their leader.  This was the treasure!  A keepsake!!

It made me teary.  

I so love these YW and their marvelous leaders.  They work so hard in encouraging these young women to learn who they are and live up to it.  Tonight I felt they did a good deed and it will go on throughout their lives--the giving goodies, giving time, giving love and showing appreciation and expressing gratitude.  

Our YW are remarkable and they have exemplary women as leaders- living what they teach, as they guide them in their personal progress.  

What a great Ward I live in!!!

 

12 Helps

 The year was 1974 and depression had hit a lot of sisters in the Church, in trying to find balance and be perfect in ever role, that encompasses an LDS woman's life.  Worst of all was putting on a happy face and hiding the pain and pretending that all was well in our little personal Zion. It was as if we feared the judgement of each other.  I could go on and on about this time period but I won't right now.

This was also the time when the Equal Rights Amendment was just coming into the forefront of our lives and confusion reigned in the minds of many.  


I'd flown up to Anchorage as I was responsible for a Woman's Conference and Sister Barbara Smith was coming to be our guest.  I got to stay at the Stake RSP house, had the opportunity to go to the airport and pick her up with the RSP, then got to share the basement with her,  and even got to, by choice, iron her clothes for the next day. We visited and she was so wonderful. 

I asked her what the greatest challenge was amongst women at that time.  She said (me paraphrasing) the aspect of expectation of perfection which resulted in lots of depression.  She said- goals are stepping stones and not sticks to beat ourselves with.  She also shared about feeling bad that the Church had to add Compassionate service lessons as some women in Utah were saying no to helping people out and gave a couple of examples.  So I guess it was elsewhere.  (I was happy when they took those lessons out as I felt things must be back on an even keel with most of us being true to our nature!)


Anyhow it was about this time that I was stunned when President Ezra Taft Benson gave a frank Conference talk about "despair, discouragement, depression, and despondency". He mentioned 12 things that would help defeat these problems. He was acknowledging that people sometimes struggle with these emotional issues and I'd never heard that before.  This was a time that things weren't talked about openly.  No one I knew took "tranquilizers" as we called them.  We'd never heard the word "anti-depressants".  It was not the era of Prozac, Zoloft etc. and what is common in today's Rx world.  Therapy was not common.  It was a relief to have a leader offer some solutions!


Today I shared a couple of my favorite scriptures with a friend and remembered that President Benson had been the one that led me me to these scriptures in this specific talk. 

"Sixth, reading. Many a man in his hour of trial has turned to the Book of Mormon and been enlightened, enlivened, and comforted.

The psalms in the Old Testament have a special food for the soul of one in distress. In our day we are blessed with the Doctrine and Covenants, modern revelation. The words of the prophets, particularly the living president of the Church, are crucial reading and can give direction and comfort in an hour when one is down."

I remembered reading the psalms and loving them.  today I shared...  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble  and  Be still and know that I am God...  and Call upon me in the day of trouble:  I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 

I also really enjoyed re-reading today these two paragraphs.....

Yet, of all people, we as Latter-day Saints should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic. For while we know that “peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion,” we are also assured that “the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst.” (D&C 1:35–36.)

With the assurance that the Church shall remain intact with God directing it through the troubled times ahead, it then becomes our individual responsibility to see that each of us remains faithful to the Church and its teachings. “He that remaineth steadfast and is not overcome, the same shall be saved.” (JS—M 1:11.) To help us from being overcome by the devil’s designs of despair, discouragement, depression, and despondency, the Lord has provided at least a dozen ways which, if followed, will lift our spirits and send us on our way rejoicing.

Some of you will recall in that great book Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan that the main character known as Christian was trying to press forward to gain entrance to the celestial city. He made it to his goal, but in order to do so, he had to overcome many obstacles, one of which was to escape from the Giant Despair. To lift our spirit and send us on our way rejoicing, the devil’s designs of despair, discouragement, depression, and despondency can be defeated in a dozen ways, namely: repentance, prayer, service, work, health, reading, blessings, fasting, friends, music, endurance, and goals.

May we use them all in the difficult days ahead so that we Christian pilgrims will have greater happiness here and go on to a fullness of joy in the highest realms of the celestial kingdom is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Do yourself a favor and read this, print it and tuck it away for reference.  an oldie but goodie!!!  Words from a Prophet!!!!

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1974/10/do-not-despair?lang=eng&query=ezra+taft+benson-+depression#