I can’t believe that I’ve missed the rest of January and all of February and half of March since I wrote! But I must write about this last Friday and Saturday. I went to Time Out for Women for the second time. The first time was four years ago. It was sooo good and inspiring. It is good for especially young women, I think, who are caught up in being good wives and mothers, who sometimes don’t take time for themselves, to go to things like this. It is also good for older moms and grandmas too. John Bytheway was the first speaker Friday night. He gave such a good talk. He talked about us all being marinated. He said that we become what our surroundings are and if we are marinated in evil and loud “music” and suggestive things, we become those things. Also he said if we are marinated or surrounded with good books, good music and good people we will also become good. He told of his thirteen year old daughter and her science project. She bought eight mice and put four in one cage with classical music and four in another cage with heavy metal music 24/7. She made a maze with card board and had them run it every day. The ones listening to the classical music got better and shorter times consistently. The others didn’t do half as well. The last night of the experiment, she made a gateway/tunnel that led from one cage to the other. The next morning all eight mice were on the side with the classical music. That said volumes.
Macy Robson was the musical artist who preformed Friday night. She told the story of her life thro’ song. She has an amazing voice. Altho’ I hadn’t heard any of her songs before, I thoroughly enjoyed her whole performance. She had grown up in Utah, attended BYU and performed with the BYU Young Ambassadors in Russia, got a degree in music education and performing arts and taught children from preschoolers to middle schoolers. She was married and divorced with no children. She is now married and the mother of two and the step mother of two. She was a joy to listen to.
Saturday we left my house at 7:40 in the morning (Shani picked me up both Friday and Saturday) and got to the Civic Auditorium/IF High School 30 minutes before the doors would open. The line was inside since it had been raining. It wound all the way down the long hall and all the way back up. There were a lot of women there!! The first thing was the musical presentation of Jerico Road. They are four young men who, I think of regular day jobs as well as sing. They look like they are in their 30’s. I had heard of them but not really heard them. I like the way they told us a little about themselves and their families as well as singing. They all have good voices but I liked the way they sounded when they all were singing best. In 2001 they were the Homeless men in Michael McLean’s Forgotten Carols. I don’t know if they are still doing that or not.
The first presenter was Mary Ellen Edmunds. She always does such a good job. She is so funny but spiritual too. She spoke on being good and really good we have to be. She stressed that we shouldn’t compare our good to anyone else’s good. She was a delight to listen to. Kris Belcher was supposed to be our next speaker but she was ill and Emily Watts was the next speaker. She is very funny also. She can really put her point across in spite of the humor. She talked about finishing what we start. Actually completing things even when they are very hard and we don’t think we can do them. She stressed that the Lord is always with us and is there to help us all of the time. We just need to recognize that He is there and waiting for us to ask.
Jerico Road sang again. Then we broke for lunch. We all seven of us (Karen, Shani, Brittany, Marva and her two daughters-in-law, Lanae and Stephanie, and I) piled into Lanae’s van and went to Wendy’s on Yellowstone. That was a good choice. We still had to wait in line for a while but not forever. We got back to the Civic Auditorium in good time.
The next speaker was Merrilee Boyack. She lives in Southern California. She states that her town has been burned out three different times and told of some of the service that she did to help those who had lost everything. She talked about the “power of the moment.” How you can take just five seconds and pay five people a compliment that can make their day and help yourself along the way too. How you can prepare yourself so that you can be ready to help someone when they really need it. She had a new definition for CPR—Caring Plus Response. She pointed out that no matter how much we care, if we don’t respond to do something to help that just the caring isn’t enough. She was very interesting to listen to also.
Our last speaker was Emily Freeman. She looks like a young mother but she has two missionaries out as well as two children still at home. She was an excellent speaker to end with. She talked about “making it thro’ the middle.” She states that when all is said and done and we’ve gotten thro’ our hard times we know what we have and it is good. But she said that it is getting thro’ the middle to the end is the very challenging part. She was so inspirational and left us all teary eyed and thankful we had been there.
It was all a truly good and amazing experience. I’m so thankful that I went. I was able to stand in line for 30-40 minutes without my back absolutely killing me. I enjoyed the company and saw many friends from my ward, FHC, and other places while I was there. It is truly an inspired program. I hope they don’t wait another four years for it to be in Idaho Falls again.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Entry for April 17, 2011
I can’t believe it has been four weeks since I’ve written. We’ve had a busy and good four weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed General Conference this year. It was so great and spiritual. Each talk seemed better than the last. I couldn’t pick a favorite. The Thursday after we went to Utah. It is too hard for us to go down and back in one day so we left Thursday and came back Saturday. Elder McK opened up for me and counted the money with Elder P and then the P took charge for me so we could be in Utah. We went to the Ks’ first and ate supper with them. We had a very nice visit with them. We also watch Tangled by Walt Disney productions. It is a cute show. I can see why it would appeal to the younger set. We got to M’s just barely ahead of him after he finished his second work. It was fun being there with them, especially with their little girls. They make life very interesting. We played a game of Pinochle after Abbie left for pre-school and before she, Kendra and Collin got home. Natasha stayed with a friend since we would be using her bed. She came and had supper with us so we did get to see her and visit with her for a little while. That evening we went to Titanic, the Musical. I had never heard of it before. C played the clarinet in the orchestra. The orchestra was awesome. I especially liked the way they quit playing all together. They would be playing crescendo and all of a sudden there would be silence. I felt for the director. My right arm ached in sympathy with her right arm. She waved her wand for a straight hour without respite in the first act. I enjoyed it and was glad we went. M went with us. We saw Tasha and her friends. T went the Monday before. Saturday morning Mama called and wanted us to visit with her a little before meeting up in SLC at Bonnie and David’s to go out to Sizzler to have dinner to celebrate Mama’s 92nd birthday. All of my living siblings and their spouses were there as well as my sister-in-law who had married my youngest brother. It was very enjoyable. I ordered the Malibou chicken and Karl got the salad bar. That was the way to do it. I was able to eat almost all of my chicken and half of my baked potato and a couple of nibbles from Karl’s plate. He had a couple of bites of my chicken. It snowed the whole time we were there at Sizzler. It was 3:30 or later when we left. The others were going back to Bonnie’s for dessert and to open the gifts. We opted not to go back there. It would have been 5:00 before we left if we had. We didn’t get home until 9:30 as it was. We stopped in North Salt Lake to pick up Kim’s Grace to bring her up here to stay with her other Grandparents. (We were able to spend some time with her Thursday afternoon and evening.) We were glad that we went except for the weather. The temps were colder down there than they were up here in Idaho. However, the wind wasn’t blowing so it was actually more pleasant most of the time. We woke up to snow each morning but it was melted by noon. We got into a bad storm on the way down. It actually snowed from Downy on but it didn’t start to stick to the roads until Ogden. Thro’ Ogden, Roy and Layton, it was horrendous. You could only see 1 ½ car lengths in head of you and there was solid traffice on either side as well as front and back. We ran into some snow on the way back too but it was mostly rain, all be it was heavy rain in spots. By the time we got to Tremonton, the rain had slowed considerably and by the time we got to Malad the roads were dry and we saw the first sunshine and blue skies all week. We had printed off the bulletin Thursday morning before we left. I was really thankful I had because I surely didn’t feel like doing it when we got back home.
The rest of the week was pretty normal. G did come over Thursday afternoon about 3:00. My sweetheart had often told me and others that he wasn’t really interested in the exhibit at the Museum of Idaho…the bodies exhibit. I wanted to see it and G said she would like to see it too. So we went there and my sweetheart went to exercise at Apple Athletic Club. G and I both thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit. It was graphic and I can see why some people would be squeamish but I found it very interesting and Grace said she did too. I was thankful for my medical background because I could explain things to her in a little more detail and we didn’t have to spend so much time reading all of the material. I noticed how much I had forgotten since taking Anat. & Phys. 39 years ago. (My that makes me seem old!) I still did remember quite a bit tho’. The museum closed at 5:00 so we came home and picked up Grandpa and then we drove to the FHC where I showed Grace around where we worked. Then we went to the Temple Visitors Center. We had been wanting to see the exhibit there of Mark Maybry on the life of Jesus Christ. He is so talented. At first glance they looked like paintings but they were photographs. It is something they way he was able to pose people to take their pictures. Grace said she enjoyed it too. They have a Christus there and they take you in and sit you down in front of it and then turn on a recording depicting the Savior speaking to us. I was sitting there looking up at Him as the recording started: “I am Jesus Christ...” a feeling of emotion swept over me like I have never experienced before. I knew He was speaking to me. It was a wonderful feeling. I could really feel His love for me. After the Visitor’s Center, we took Grace to Wendy’s for supper. The tickets for the museum were quite expensive but they had coupons for each one of them for a free softie with a combo. We had a very nice meal there. G’s other grandpa picked her up at our place about 9:30. I was tired after she left but was really glad we were able to spend that time with her. She was grateful and told us thank you many times.
Friday afternoon about 1:00, B and S picked us up on the way back from Rexburg and then stopped at K’s and we all got into her car and she drove us down to Grace to see my mother-in-law. B and S were here from Nebraska for her to start her second semester there at BYU-I. We had a very nice visit—all of us—down and back as well as a nice visit with my mil. We were glad we went. We got back here about 7:00. I was tired but happy. It was neat to spend time with two of my children, a granddaughter and my mil. Saturday was our day at the FHC. It was potluck both Wednesday and Saturday. We do the second Wednesday and the third Saturday and occasionally they fall in the same week. Yesterday morning, I was in Brother S’s computer tips class and the man at the desk came and asked me if I tho’t I could help a Spanish speaking couple with new.familysearch.org even tho’ they don’t know any English. They had an interpreter with them so that did help. I am grateful that I am as familiar with new.familysearch as I am because altho’ it was in Spanish and I don’t speak or read Spanish as a rule, I was able to help them. I learned that Buscar means Search. They needed to put some names into the program in order to do their work. There were brothers but no parents. I was sitting there wondering how we could put them in without the parents. I’m so grateful for the Holy Ghost who nudges my mind so I can help the patrons. He helped me remember that if I went into the parents & siblings (padres y hermanos) screen I would be able to do it. I worked with them for about 1 ½ hours. I had to leave and eat lunch because I had a class to teach at 1:00. But Sister Price helped them finish up and they had an FOR with seven people on it when they left. I was able to tell them that on Thursday afternoon one of our missionaries works who speaks Spanish. It was a very good feeling to be able to help them. One sister who came in for a class schedule ended up staying for my class and I think she will continue to come. I had two patrons and two missionaries. A small class but as long as people are learning, it is good.
Today, was our ward conference. The talks by the Bishop and President A. They were very good talks and Sunday School and RS were both very good as well. It has been a good day. I am kind of tired this afternoon after all my activities from Wednesday to today. I am so thankful that I can do things that many days in a row. Six years ago I wouldn’t have been able to do half of it if any of it. I have truly been blessed. We just completed our fourth year at the FHC and have begun our fifth. It is very rewarding work.
The rest of the week was pretty normal. G did come over Thursday afternoon about 3:00. My sweetheart had often told me and others that he wasn’t really interested in the exhibit at the Museum of Idaho…the bodies exhibit. I wanted to see it and G said she would like to see it too. So we went there and my sweetheart went to exercise at Apple Athletic Club. G and I both thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit. It was graphic and I can see why some people would be squeamish but I found it very interesting and Grace said she did too. I was thankful for my medical background because I could explain things to her in a little more detail and we didn’t have to spend so much time reading all of the material. I noticed how much I had forgotten since taking Anat. & Phys. 39 years ago. (My that makes me seem old!) I still did remember quite a bit tho’. The museum closed at 5:00 so we came home and picked up Grandpa and then we drove to the FHC where I showed Grace around where we worked. Then we went to the Temple Visitors Center. We had been wanting to see the exhibit there of Mark Maybry on the life of Jesus Christ. He is so talented. At first glance they looked like paintings but they were photographs. It is something they way he was able to pose people to take their pictures. Grace said she enjoyed it too. They have a Christus there and they take you in and sit you down in front of it and then turn on a recording depicting the Savior speaking to us. I was sitting there looking up at Him as the recording started: “I am Jesus Christ...” a feeling of emotion swept over me like I have never experienced before. I knew He was speaking to me. It was a wonderful feeling. I could really feel His love for me. After the Visitor’s Center, we took Grace to Wendy’s for supper. The tickets for the museum were quite expensive but they had coupons for each one of them for a free softie with a combo. We had a very nice meal there. G’s other grandpa picked her up at our place about 9:30. I was tired after she left but was really glad we were able to spend that time with her. She was grateful and told us thank you many times.
Friday afternoon about 1:00, B and S picked us up on the way back from Rexburg and then stopped at K’s and we all got into her car and she drove us down to Grace to see my mother-in-law. B and S were here from Nebraska for her to start her second semester there at BYU-I. We had a very nice visit—all of us—down and back as well as a nice visit with my mil. We were glad we went. We got back here about 7:00. I was tired but happy. It was neat to spend time with two of my children, a granddaughter and my mil. Saturday was our day at the FHC. It was potluck both Wednesday and Saturday. We do the second Wednesday and the third Saturday and occasionally they fall in the same week. Yesterday morning, I was in Brother S’s computer tips class and the man at the desk came and asked me if I tho’t I could help a Spanish speaking couple with new.familysearch.org even tho’ they don’t know any English. They had an interpreter with them so that did help. I am grateful that I am as familiar with new.familysearch as I am because altho’ it was in Spanish and I don’t speak or read Spanish as a rule, I was able to help them. I learned that Buscar means Search. They needed to put some names into the program in order to do their work. There were brothers but no parents. I was sitting there wondering how we could put them in without the parents. I’m so grateful for the Holy Ghost who nudges my mind so I can help the patrons. He helped me remember that if I went into the parents & siblings (padres y hermanos) screen I would be able to do it. I worked with them for about 1 ½ hours. I had to leave and eat lunch because I had a class to teach at 1:00. But Sister Price helped them finish up and they had an FOR with seven people on it when they left. I was able to tell them that on Thursday afternoon one of our missionaries works who speaks Spanish. It was a very good feeling to be able to help them. One sister who came in for a class schedule ended up staying for my class and I think she will continue to come. I had two patrons and two missionaries. A small class but as long as people are learning, it is good.
Today, was our ward conference. The talks by the Bishop and President A. They were very good talks and Sunday School and RS were both very good as well. It has been a good day. I am kind of tired this afternoon after all my activities from Wednesday to today. I am so thankful that I can do things that many days in a row. Six years ago I wouldn’t have been able to do half of it if any of it. I have truly been blessed. We just completed our fourth year at the FHC and have begun our fifth. It is very rewarding work.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Journal Entry for March 20, 2011
I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since I wrote. Last Tuesday, I had an implant put in the right bottom part of my jaw for a crown so I will have teeth to chew on on the right side of my mouth. I have been having to do all of my chewing on the left side. My dentist told me that if I lived as long as my mother, I my teeth would wear out. I found out that an implant is really more painful than having a tooth pulled. I didn’t go to the FHC at all Wednesday and yesterday I just went to teach my class. I have noticed that it is more painful if I talk a lot. I am still on pain pills but have cut down to one 5mg hydrocodone instead of two 7.5. So I am improving. I have a bruise on the right side of my chin that I can half way cover with make-up.
A week ago Wednesday was our RS birthday party. Wednesdays are usually slow after 5:00 pm so I was planning on going. Well, I didn’t get there. A woman came in in a little motorized scooter. She is big in politics in this area. She wanted my help in giving her children the benefit of all her research years ago. I gave her some ideas and told her what I had done: I take my flash drive with me when I go visit my children and plug it into their computer and transfer all the data. I gave her some ideas how to do that. What with new.familysearch now and the new programs, it won’t be hard to do at all. As she was preparing to leave, she asked my name and wrote it down and then gave me her card. Under her name was the term media assistant. I tho’t maybe she could help us get the work out about our open house we plan on having in the fall. The second time I was prompted I knew I should say something. So I asked her about it. She said, “That is my calling! That is what I do.” We talked about that for awhile. It was so neat. Consequently I didn’t get to my RS dinner but, I knew I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there.
Today, M C C was blessed. Their meetings started at 1:00pm. Ours started at 11:00 am. Shani had called to invite us almost two weeks ago. I hadn’t tho’t about it all this week what with my tooth, etc. I had put it on my calendar but hadn’t looked at it for a few days. When we got to sacrament meeting, P C announced that the bishopric is in short supply. He was the only one there and he would be leaving so to put any contributions under the door to the bishop’s office. I tho’t, “I wonder where he is going…” Then I tho’t, “Oh, my goodness, it is M’s blessing today!” so we left after sacrament meeting, stopped at the house to get a couple of pain pill, (I was glad I had them) then went out to the Summit Park building to the Lincoln 6th Ward. It was a very nice meeting. M wasn’t the only baby blessed. A baby boy named Canyon was also blessed. S explained that they have so many babies in their ward that they bless babies every Sunday. But they can do no more than three at a time. In the circle was Papa Gray (Grandpa G) Grandpa C, Great grandpa R, Uncle W and maybe G J, K’s boyfriend, as well as the bishopric. I got to hold her both before she was blessed and also the rest of the sacrament meeting after she was blessed then a little again at the house. (Since I don’t get to see her very often, I’ll hold her any chance I get.) After sacrament meeting we went to the house for a luncheon. It was all very nice. Paul came later after he went back to the church to take care of things then came to the house to have something to eat. J with the help of his dad, has pretty much finished the family room and M’s bedroom in their basement. They have moved the TV downstairs and have a different couch in the living room. There is much more room in the living room now. It will double the area of their house I am sure. They did a very good job and it all looks so nice. All in all it was a good day.
A week ago Wednesday was our RS birthday party. Wednesdays are usually slow after 5:00 pm so I was planning on going. Well, I didn’t get there. A woman came in in a little motorized scooter. She is big in politics in this area. She wanted my help in giving her children the benefit of all her research years ago. I gave her some ideas and told her what I had done: I take my flash drive with me when I go visit my children and plug it into their computer and transfer all the data. I gave her some ideas how to do that. What with new.familysearch now and the new programs, it won’t be hard to do at all. As she was preparing to leave, she asked my name and wrote it down and then gave me her card. Under her name was the term media assistant. I tho’t maybe she could help us get the work out about our open house we plan on having in the fall. The second time I was prompted I knew I should say something. So I asked her about it. She said, “That is my calling! That is what I do.” We talked about that for awhile. It was so neat. Consequently I didn’t get to my RS dinner but, I knew I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there.
Today, M C C was blessed. Their meetings started at 1:00pm. Ours started at 11:00 am. Shani had called to invite us almost two weeks ago. I hadn’t tho’t about it all this week what with my tooth, etc. I had put it on my calendar but hadn’t looked at it for a few days. When we got to sacrament meeting, P C announced that the bishopric is in short supply. He was the only one there and he would be leaving so to put any contributions under the door to the bishop’s office. I tho’t, “I wonder where he is going…” Then I tho’t, “Oh, my goodness, it is M’s blessing today!” so we left after sacrament meeting, stopped at the house to get a couple of pain pill, (I was glad I had them) then went out to the Summit Park building to the Lincoln 6th Ward. It was a very nice meeting. M wasn’t the only baby blessed. A baby boy named Canyon was also blessed. S explained that they have so many babies in their ward that they bless babies every Sunday. But they can do no more than three at a time. In the circle was Papa Gray (Grandpa G) Grandpa C, Great grandpa R, Uncle W and maybe G J, K’s boyfriend, as well as the bishopric. I got to hold her both before she was blessed and also the rest of the sacrament meeting after she was blessed then a little again at the house. (Since I don’t get to see her very often, I’ll hold her any chance I get.) After sacrament meeting we went to the house for a luncheon. It was all very nice. Paul came later after he went back to the church to take care of things then came to the house to have something to eat. J with the help of his dad, has pretty much finished the family room and M’s bedroom in their basement. They have moved the TV downstairs and have a different couch in the living room. There is much more room in the living room now. It will double the area of their house I am sure. They did a very good job and it all looks so nice. All in all it was a good day.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Entry for last week of January 2011
Last week was a wonderful week. We had the usual days at the FHC Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday evening after we got home I found a message from Brother Paul Smith, Stake executive secretary, asking that I give him a call. He asked if I could help with Stake Conference. (I tho’t maybe he was asking me to speak) He said that Elder Holland had requested a handout with the agenda on it and the words of two of the verses of the songs we’d sing printed on it too and wanted to know if I could do something like I do for the bulletin each week. I told him I would be happy to if he would e-mail mail me the agenda. I started it first thing Thursday morning. It took a few hours. Altho’ Saturday’s agenda and songs would have fit on ½ a page back to back, the Sunday agenda was longer and wouldn’t have. I decided that rather than having a blank back that I should just put a picture and some quotes as I do for the bulletin. I took the theme from the songs that were chosen. They turned out pretty well even if I do say so myself. I was able to e-mail them to Brother Smith and he e-mailed them or took them on his thumb drive, I’m not sure which, to the printer. His brother, owns the printing company. They did them in color (the printer at the church is just black & white) and on good-quality paper. They really looked great!
Saturday was a very long day and a wonderful day. I asked the Lord to bless me so I could make it thro’ the nine hours at the FHC, what with being in charge and teaching my class, then also Stake conference that night. I had told my Sweetheart the night before that we should just stop at the Gangplank to eat supper then go right onto the church so we could get a good seat. He tho’t it was a good idea. So that’s what we did. We got to the church about 5:45 pm and the whole parking lot was full plus cars parked on the street! We looked at each other and tho’t, “Boy, people really came early tonight; it doesn’t even start until seven!” Well it was the Priesthood session still going. We got to listen to the last 15 minutes of it with about 50 other people standing in the foyer. Karl went in and sat in the cultural hall for the last 15 minutes. I leaned against the wall till it was over. Karl immediately went up to find us a seat. There were none. Men did leave to go get their wives but they left coats, books etc. to save their places while they left. I was just into the chapel trying to find him when I noticed President Andrus, our Stake President, walking toward me, just in front of me. I was aware of a man in front of him shaking the hand of a woman beside me. I looked and it was Elder Holland! He shook my hand too. After a few minutes I found Karl at the front of the chapel. He said that since there wasn’t a choir that we should sit in the choir seats. We decided we would sit in the seats that those who bless the sacrament sit in. When Elder Holland came up on the stand, he shook hands with both of us. I had prayed that morning that I would be able to shake his hand at least one of the days, Saturday or Sunday. And he shook my hand twice!! Elder Gary Walker of the Seventy also spoke. He loves missionary service! He told us of some of his experiences and told that someone had challenged them to write down 100 names and pray by name for each one of them and then told us what happened with his relationship with those people. He challenged us to pray about at least one person by name, but we could pray about more. I decided to pray for our neighbors, J & S M and J’s mother C B. Of course I couldn’t leave out their children so I include them too. And I decided to also pray for my hairdresser and her family. I was able to shake his hand after the meeting. He put his arm around me and when I told him I had already decided who to pray for, he gave me a squeeze and said, “Bless your heart.” He has the kindest eyes. The mission president and his wife also spoke. Elder Holland spoke for almost a full hour. It was wonderful to listen to him. He is so fervent in his testimony of the Savior and of the prophet, President Monson. When he reads from the scriptures, he does it with such intensity. My heart burned as he spoke to us. He told us he wasn’t going to speak from any text. That he was going to speak from his heart. He told us that no matter how bad times seemed to us that things would get better. He said his message was for the ones or even the one who may be having an extremely hard time and about ready to give up. It was a wonderful talk. The Spirit was so strong and the feeling so wonderful. We got home about 9:20 pm. I was tired but not as tired as I tho’t I would be. The Lord truly did bless me.
We had decided that we would get up Sunday morning like we did for Saturday mornings. I was ready to go about 7:40. We left about 7:50 am. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot yet. When we got in there we noticed that most of the seats in the chapel were reserved for the elderly and those who had tickets; and one half a section of the side for the youth choir. I told Karl that it must be an enormous choir. It was. But they sang beautifully. We sat in the row behind the last row of the chapel on soft, folding chairs. I tho’t maybe my back would really ache by the time we got out of there but I was blessed again and it didn’t. The temple President and Matron also were there Sunday morning and bore their testimonies. People came in at 8:30 thinking they could get a good seat, and the chapel was full. I guess a good seat includes the cultural hall, because it has two large screens, one on each side, so people can see the speakers better. Others who waited until 9:30 had to go to the multipurpose room or the primary room to find seating. They also broadcast it to the St. Leon Building. I hope they were able to feel the strong Spirit there also. Elder Walker spoke again. And Elder Holland told the youth that they must promise him to stay in the church for ten more years. He said, “You see, if you stay for ten more years, I will have you because it is between 12 and 22 that we lose our youth.” (I had already figured that out.) He ended up giving us an Apostolic Blessing. He started out by just blessing everyone there, then changed it to those in our families who weren’t there, then changed it to all those we pray for. I was thrilled with that. My tho’t was, “Does that include those we’ve chosen to pray for as we do Elder Walker’s challenge?” I decided it must. So all of my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, both of our mothers, our friends we pray for, all of them were included in that Apostolic Blessing.
I had a wonderful feeling as he pronounced it. It was a wonderful two days.
Monday, I was able to sleep in a little longer—till 7:30 or so. I had my 9:00 Directors’ meeting to go to. My chest kind of ached, so I could tell I was tired. I got home about 11:30 am because I had to find teachers for the 12:15 class for missionaries for February. I didn’t do much when I got home. I didn’t change my clothes because we had to go back to a zone conference by 4:45 that afternoon. I was thankful I went to that too. The speaker was President N of the Iona Stake. He gave a very good talk on the importance of families. He finished by 5:30. He could have gone on at least another 15 minutes. We do have to be out of the building by 6:00 pm. It was a good way to end the last three days. I definitely feel that I have been spiritually fed. I was tired by the time we got home. I was still tired this morning but have made two cards, written out checks after writing out the budget, fixed breakfast/brunch and now written in my journal today. I am going to try to make a batch of oatmeal cookies today. I got some mint chips before Christmas and haven’t used them yet. Oh, and I finished Maddy’s baby afghan yesterday too. So I haven’t been idle.
I almost forgot! M C C was born January 26, 2011. She weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz and was 21 inches tall. Has a lot of dark hair. She’s a beauty! Her proud parents are S & J C. Maddy as they will call her, is our great granddaughter. We haven’t seen her yet…I wanted to finish her baby afghan and take it with when we went. We’ll go either Thursday or Friday.
Saturday was a very long day and a wonderful day. I asked the Lord to bless me so I could make it thro’ the nine hours at the FHC, what with being in charge and teaching my class, then also Stake conference that night. I had told my Sweetheart the night before that we should just stop at the Gangplank to eat supper then go right onto the church so we could get a good seat. He tho’t it was a good idea. So that’s what we did. We got to the church about 5:45 pm and the whole parking lot was full plus cars parked on the street! We looked at each other and tho’t, “Boy, people really came early tonight; it doesn’t even start until seven!” Well it was the Priesthood session still going. We got to listen to the last 15 minutes of it with about 50 other people standing in the foyer. Karl went in and sat in the cultural hall for the last 15 minutes. I leaned against the wall till it was over. Karl immediately went up to find us a seat. There were none. Men did leave to go get their wives but they left coats, books etc. to save their places while they left. I was just into the chapel trying to find him when I noticed President Andrus, our Stake President, walking toward me, just in front of me. I was aware of a man in front of him shaking the hand of a woman beside me. I looked and it was Elder Holland! He shook my hand too. After a few minutes I found Karl at the front of the chapel. He said that since there wasn’t a choir that we should sit in the choir seats. We decided we would sit in the seats that those who bless the sacrament sit in. When Elder Holland came up on the stand, he shook hands with both of us. I had prayed that morning that I would be able to shake his hand at least one of the days, Saturday or Sunday. And he shook my hand twice!! Elder Gary Walker of the Seventy also spoke. He loves missionary service! He told us of some of his experiences and told that someone had challenged them to write down 100 names and pray by name for each one of them and then told us what happened with his relationship with those people. He challenged us to pray about at least one person by name, but we could pray about more. I decided to pray for our neighbors, J & S M and J’s mother C B. Of course I couldn’t leave out their children so I include them too. And I decided to also pray for my hairdresser and her family. I was able to shake his hand after the meeting. He put his arm around me and when I told him I had already decided who to pray for, he gave me a squeeze and said, “Bless your heart.” He has the kindest eyes. The mission president and his wife also spoke. Elder Holland spoke for almost a full hour. It was wonderful to listen to him. He is so fervent in his testimony of the Savior and of the prophet, President Monson. When he reads from the scriptures, he does it with such intensity. My heart burned as he spoke to us. He told us he wasn’t going to speak from any text. That he was going to speak from his heart. He told us that no matter how bad times seemed to us that things would get better. He said his message was for the ones or even the one who may be having an extremely hard time and about ready to give up. It was a wonderful talk. The Spirit was so strong and the feeling so wonderful. We got home about 9:20 pm. I was tired but not as tired as I tho’t I would be. The Lord truly did bless me.
We had decided that we would get up Sunday morning like we did for Saturday mornings. I was ready to go about 7:40. We left about 7:50 am. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot yet. When we got in there we noticed that most of the seats in the chapel were reserved for the elderly and those who had tickets; and one half a section of the side for the youth choir. I told Karl that it must be an enormous choir. It was. But they sang beautifully. We sat in the row behind the last row of the chapel on soft, folding chairs. I tho’t maybe my back would really ache by the time we got out of there but I was blessed again and it didn’t. The temple President and Matron also were there Sunday morning and bore their testimonies. People came in at 8:30 thinking they could get a good seat, and the chapel was full. I guess a good seat includes the cultural hall, because it has two large screens, one on each side, so people can see the speakers better. Others who waited until 9:30 had to go to the multipurpose room or the primary room to find seating. They also broadcast it to the St. Leon Building. I hope they were able to feel the strong Spirit there also. Elder Walker spoke again. And Elder Holland told the youth that they must promise him to stay in the church for ten more years. He said, “You see, if you stay for ten more years, I will have you because it is between 12 and 22 that we lose our youth.” (I had already figured that out.) He ended up giving us an Apostolic Blessing. He started out by just blessing everyone there, then changed it to those in our families who weren’t there, then changed it to all those we pray for. I was thrilled with that. My tho’t was, “Does that include those we’ve chosen to pray for as we do Elder Walker’s challenge?” I decided it must. So all of my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, both of our mothers, our friends we pray for, all of them were included in that Apostolic Blessing.
I had a wonderful feeling as he pronounced it. It was a wonderful two days.
Monday, I was able to sleep in a little longer—till 7:30 or so. I had my 9:00 Directors’ meeting to go to. My chest kind of ached, so I could tell I was tired. I got home about 11:30 am because I had to find teachers for the 12:15 class for missionaries for February. I didn’t do much when I got home. I didn’t change my clothes because we had to go back to a zone conference by 4:45 that afternoon. I was thankful I went to that too. The speaker was President N of the Iona Stake. He gave a very good talk on the importance of families. He finished by 5:30. He could have gone on at least another 15 minutes. We do have to be out of the building by 6:00 pm. It was a good way to end the last three days. I definitely feel that I have been spiritually fed. I was tired by the time we got home. I was still tired this morning but have made two cards, written out checks after writing out the budget, fixed breakfast/brunch and now written in my journal today. I am going to try to make a batch of oatmeal cookies today. I got some mint chips before Christmas and haven’t used them yet. Oh, and I finished Maddy’s baby afghan yesterday too. So I haven’t been idle.
I almost forgot! M C C was born January 26, 2011. She weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz and was 21 inches tall. Has a lot of dark hair. She’s a beauty! Her proud parents are S & J C. Maddy as they will call her, is our great granddaughter. We haven’t seen her yet…I wanted to finish her baby afghan and take it with when we went. We’ll go either Thursday or Friday.
Monday, January 10, 2011
First Week of 2011
It was good to get back to the FHC last Wednesday. We had more patrons than we’d seen for two or three months. I helped quite a few people. It was good to see the other missionaries and learn how their Christmases went. Saturday was a good day. We had 29 patrons!! That is an all time high for Saturday as far as I know since we started there anyway. We did have a total of 13 missionaries by the end of the day. Elder R has moved over to Saturday from Thursday for which I am very grateful. The B moved to Saturday afternoons and the P have moved to Saturdays too. That is five more missionaries than I would have had other wise. Those 13 were plenty to take care of the patrons. I taught the first PAF class of the series. I had two patrons there—plus three missionaries. I’m hoping that there will be a few more patrons there. There is one woman who came in Saturday afternoon who was interested in taking the class. I hope she does. (Time will tell.) She wants to learn more about PAF. My responsibilities as director went well and smoothly. I had quite some trouble with diarrhea right after prayer meeting. I am thankful I had a change of clothes in the car and was able to get thro’ prayer meeting and then my class without difficulty. There is a sister missionary that also has the same problem. I asked her if she had some anti-diarrhea pills with her. She replied, “Heck, yes!” She lent me two of them and I didn’t have anymore problem. I tho’t I had put two of them in my pocket but couldn’t find them. I found them beside my computer when I got home. I will have to be sure to have some with me at all times. If I carried my purse everywhere I would always have them with. I do usually have pockets in my clothes or at least I will put some in my coat pocket so I will always have them with me. I’m thankful that they work. I took some yesterday morning and didn’t have any trouble. I’m sure that the doctor would tell me that I have IBS or irritable bowl syndrome. But I’m not ready to be diagnosed with that yet. I’ve had problems with it since before my gastric by pass surgery. Dr. L told me it was pancriatic insufficiency. I go for a while with it then go for awhile without any trouble. Since we don’t go to church until 11:00 this year, I’m going to try to get up close to the same time as I did before and then spend that time writing in my journal and maybe, hopefully starting on my life story. After 67 years I should have something to write about. If I write weekly, then I will have more detail as well as the entries not being so long so that will be good.
Our Christmas Holiday
I have been remiss from writing in my journal. Since we are on a later Sunday schedule, I hope to do better. I also want to start writing my life’s story/history. We had a wonderful Christmas. My MIL’s neighbors went to spend Christmas with family and their family lives out highway 39 and so they go right past K’s house. So they dropped Mom off there Thursday evening. We arrived down there Christmas Eve Day just after 1:00 pm. S and J & children came and B, W and O were there too. Kmade prime rib…doing some of it in the oven and part of it outside on the grill. It was very good. He has done it every year and it gets better every year, since he found out that not everybody has clam chowder for Christmas Eve dinner. After wards, we had a short program with M (5 years old) passing out the bags with a nativity scene character in it and a strip to be read by that person. (Next year she will be able to read some of them.) Then we would sing a Christmas Carol. S, B and K all took turns playing the piano. I played He Sent His Son for the opening song and Let There Be Peace On Earth for the closing song. So we all did our share.
The next day J brought his lap top with the scenes he shot as his children were opening their gifts. He also shot scenes of the program the night before. While we were doing the closing song, K was holding 2½ year old P and they were playing with each others tongues and sticking them out at each other and trying to catch the other one’s tongue. It was hilarious. K came down to see what everyone was laughing about. She was appalled to see. She exclaimed, “I had no idea that we were being recorded!!” We had a lovely ham dinner on Christmas Day. Since J’s parents were down in Utah, they came back down late morning. B, W and O spent the night. K was there too. It was almost 8:00 before we got up. That was the latest we have ever slept. But then we can’t say we slept the whole time because O (she is 15 months old) woke us up twice with her crying. I’m not sure if it was a strange bed or what with her but…
We all went to Church the next day with K & K. They had very good meetings. At RS I noticed there was no one playing the piano so I volunteered my services. There hasn’t been too many years passed that I wouldn’t have dared do that because I was so out of practice. I’m thankful the Lord has blessed me with the opportunities to be in practice so I can do that. After the meetings, while I was putting my coat on a sister came up to me and told me that her sister was the one who usually played and they were out of town for Christmas. I tho’t she must have been so involved with getting ready for Christmas that she forgot to arrange for someone else to do it. When I told K about it, she stated that that was Mrs. P’s sister and she usually played for her. She hadn’t mentioned that when I was talking to her. It was later than five minutes to when I started playing so I guess the sister who usually did it was running late.
We left that afternoon to take Mom back to Grace. (She stated she really enjoyed being there. She just sat and watched quietly. Didn’t have a lot of interaction but she was glad to be there. We were also glad she didn’t have to spend Christmas alone.) We played Five Crowns, the three of us, (Karl complaining the whole time) and after we finished Mom said, “That was fun.” Karl rolled his eyes. We left the next morning after trying to clean the ugly hard water stains from Mom’s bathtub and toilet and having breakfast to head for Utah.
We arrived down at Mama’s a little after 3:00 pm. I had had a tooth pulled the Tuesday before and was running out of pain pills. Since K had gone to Smith’s to have the prescription filled I knew we could go to Smith’s down there and they could transfer the prescription. So I called M to see where a Smith’s in the area would be. I’m thankful he answers his cell at work. I had tried to call his home but it said that that wasn’t a working number. Thus calling M. I later learned that I had put in 501 instead of 801 as the area code. I was glad it hadn’t gone thro’.
We ended up staying with Mama three nights. We were going to stay with Kim one or two nights but Kimberly was soo sick and I didn’t want to get it besides no one wants company when they are feeling rotten. We did get to see K and the kids at C’s Eagle Court of Honor Wednesday evening; so we did get to see them, which was good. Monday evening we played Mormon Bridge. I still don’t know if I could remember the way to keep score. I guess the next time we play I will have to ask to keep score so Mama can guide me. My tho’t was “When she goes, no one will play again because no one will be able to remember how to keep score.” We watched Perry Mason before going to bed. I hadn’t seen that particular episode before, which is unusual.
I talked to C Tuesday morning to see if we could see them that evening. But R since he is bishop now spends his Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the church. I had a very nice visit with C but didn’t get to see R. We took Mama to Olive Garden Tuesday around 2:00 pm. We all had soup & salad. It was very good and we had such good service from our waitress. We really enjoyed ourselves there. We were even able to take home what we couldn’t finish which I didn’t know you could do under those circumstances. We had it later on for supper.
We left, all three of us, Wednesday afternoon, early, We exchanged gifts right after we got there. We had a lovely supper and then went to the Court of Honor. It was very nice. C had planned it well. He is the third Eagle Scout among our grandsons. M was one of the speakers. There were three plus the man conducting. I played the closing song and N led. There was a regular Idaho blizzard there that night. It took K more than an hour to go from his house to the church which usually would take 20 minutes. We were glad to see him but worried about him. We did notice on the was back to American Fork that the weather wasn’t as bad then as it had been going. The roads were slick but the wind and snow blowing wasn’t nearly so bad.
We were planning on leaving around 10:00 or so to go to M & T’s. . We had to wash the sheets and make the bed before we left (we didn’t have to but we wanted to do it so Mama wouldn’t have to). With that and packing the car and eating breakfast it was afternoon when we left to go to M’s. Both he and the children were disappointed that we didn’t get there earlier. I told him that I hoped he was smiling when he called and said he might as well have gone to work since we were getting there so late. T said he wasn’t. We did have time for a game of Pinochle with C sitting in for M on the last hand. We girls won that one which was a surprise since the first hand M was dealt a full family and a double Pinochle which is very rare. And both together being dealt is even rarer. We played two other games of Pinochle before we left to come home Saturday.
New Year’s Eve T had a party. She invited 8-10 people but only three showed up. The little girls were allowed to stay up and watch and play games with them too. They were soo excited about it. M, T, K and I set up the card table in the living room and played Five Crowns and Pinochle while we were waiting for the new year to come in. We were able to go to bed a little after 12:30 am. We left to come home around 11:30. It was a very nice stay there.
I called my mother before we left and she said, “Altho’ we didn’t do anything stupendous, it was a very nice visit. I’m glad you were here.” I felt the same way. It was good to be able to just visit and be with her. It’s been quite a while since I’ve spent that much time with her.
We stopped in SLC and visited with B and D for about 1½ hours. It was good to see them. We hadn’t seen each other since April at Mama’s birthday party. She is recovering nicely from her knee surgery. She is having the other one done on the 19th of this month.
We got to K’s almost 5:00. She was the only one there. We stayed about an hour, loading up our Christmas stuff and visiting about our trip. We got home at 7:00 pm. We found everything just fine. Our neighbors had cleaned off our driveway so we didn’t have to do that. The ground was all covered with snow. Altho’ they didn’t get the storms up here that we got down in Utah. After checking things out, I got started on my bulletin. Since it was Fast Sunday, we didn’t have too many things to do. I waited until the next morning to run it off and fold it since we are now on the 11-2 schedule.
The next day J brought his lap top with the scenes he shot as his children were opening their gifts. He also shot scenes of the program the night before. While we were doing the closing song, K was holding 2½ year old P and they were playing with each others tongues and sticking them out at each other and trying to catch the other one’s tongue. It was hilarious. K came down to see what everyone was laughing about. She was appalled to see. She exclaimed, “I had no idea that we were being recorded!!” We had a lovely ham dinner on Christmas Day. Since J’s parents were down in Utah, they came back down late morning. B, W and O spent the night. K was there too. It was almost 8:00 before we got up. That was the latest we have ever slept. But then we can’t say we slept the whole time because O (she is 15 months old) woke us up twice with her crying. I’m not sure if it was a strange bed or what with her but…
We all went to Church the next day with K & K. They had very good meetings. At RS I noticed there was no one playing the piano so I volunteered my services. There hasn’t been too many years passed that I wouldn’t have dared do that because I was so out of practice. I’m thankful the Lord has blessed me with the opportunities to be in practice so I can do that. After the meetings, while I was putting my coat on a sister came up to me and told me that her sister was the one who usually played and they were out of town for Christmas. I tho’t she must have been so involved with getting ready for Christmas that she forgot to arrange for someone else to do it. When I told K about it, she stated that that was Mrs. P’s sister and she usually played for her. She hadn’t mentioned that when I was talking to her. It was later than five minutes to when I started playing so I guess the sister who usually did it was running late.
We left that afternoon to take Mom back to Grace. (She stated she really enjoyed being there. She just sat and watched quietly. Didn’t have a lot of interaction but she was glad to be there. We were also glad she didn’t have to spend Christmas alone.) We played Five Crowns, the three of us, (Karl complaining the whole time) and after we finished Mom said, “That was fun.” Karl rolled his eyes. We left the next morning after trying to clean the ugly hard water stains from Mom’s bathtub and toilet and having breakfast to head for Utah.
We arrived down at Mama’s a little after 3:00 pm. I had had a tooth pulled the Tuesday before and was running out of pain pills. Since K had gone to Smith’s to have the prescription filled I knew we could go to Smith’s down there and they could transfer the prescription. So I called M to see where a Smith’s in the area would be. I’m thankful he answers his cell at work. I had tried to call his home but it said that that wasn’t a working number. Thus calling M. I later learned that I had put in 501 instead of 801 as the area code. I was glad it hadn’t gone thro’.
We ended up staying with Mama three nights. We were going to stay with Kim one or two nights but Kimberly was soo sick and I didn’t want to get it besides no one wants company when they are feeling rotten. We did get to see K and the kids at C’s Eagle Court of Honor Wednesday evening; so we did get to see them, which was good. Monday evening we played Mormon Bridge. I still don’t know if I could remember the way to keep score. I guess the next time we play I will have to ask to keep score so Mama can guide me. My tho’t was “When she goes, no one will play again because no one will be able to remember how to keep score.” We watched Perry Mason before going to bed. I hadn’t seen that particular episode before, which is unusual.
I talked to C Tuesday morning to see if we could see them that evening. But R since he is bishop now spends his Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the church. I had a very nice visit with C but didn’t get to see R. We took Mama to Olive Garden Tuesday around 2:00 pm. We all had soup & salad. It was very good and we had such good service from our waitress. We really enjoyed ourselves there. We were even able to take home what we couldn’t finish which I didn’t know you could do under those circumstances. We had it later on for supper.
We left, all three of us, Wednesday afternoon, early, We exchanged gifts right after we got there. We had a lovely supper and then went to the Court of Honor. It was very nice. C had planned it well. He is the third Eagle Scout among our grandsons. M was one of the speakers. There were three plus the man conducting. I played the closing song and N led. There was a regular Idaho blizzard there that night. It took K more than an hour to go from his house to the church which usually would take 20 minutes. We were glad to see him but worried about him. We did notice on the was back to American Fork that the weather wasn’t as bad then as it had been going. The roads were slick but the wind and snow blowing wasn’t nearly so bad.
We were planning on leaving around 10:00 or so to go to M & T’s. . We had to wash the sheets and make the bed before we left (we didn’t have to but we wanted to do it so Mama wouldn’t have to). With that and packing the car and eating breakfast it was afternoon when we left to go to M’s. Both he and the children were disappointed that we didn’t get there earlier. I told him that I hoped he was smiling when he called and said he might as well have gone to work since we were getting there so late. T said he wasn’t. We did have time for a game of Pinochle with C sitting in for M on the last hand. We girls won that one which was a surprise since the first hand M was dealt a full family and a double Pinochle which is very rare. And both together being dealt is even rarer. We played two other games of Pinochle before we left to come home Saturday.
New Year’s Eve T had a party. She invited 8-10 people but only three showed up. The little girls were allowed to stay up and watch and play games with them too. They were soo excited about it. M, T, K and I set up the card table in the living room and played Five Crowns and Pinochle while we were waiting for the new year to come in. We were able to go to bed a little after 12:30 am. We left to come home around 11:30. It was a very nice stay there.
I called my mother before we left and she said, “Altho’ we didn’t do anything stupendous, it was a very nice visit. I’m glad you were here.” I felt the same way. It was good to be able to just visit and be with her. It’s been quite a while since I’ve spent that much time with her.
We stopped in SLC and visited with B and D for about 1½ hours. It was good to see them. We hadn’t seen each other since April at Mama’s birthday party. She is recovering nicely from her knee surgery. She is having the other one done on the 19th of this month.
We got to K’s almost 5:00. She was the only one there. We stayed about an hour, loading up our Christmas stuff and visiting about our trip. We got home at 7:00 pm. We found everything just fine. Our neighbors had cleaned off our driveway so we didn’t have to do that. The ground was all covered with snow. Altho’ they didn’t get the storms up here that we got down in Utah. After checking things out, I got started on my bulletin. Since it was Fast Sunday, we didn’t have too many things to do. I waited until the next morning to run it off and fold it since we are now on the 11-2 schedule.
November 2010
Last Saturday at the FHC Elder Reed came in to help me because we are still so short of missionaries on Saturdays. Toward the end of the day he showed me a new website, roots.cs.byu.edu. It shows you how and who you are related to in the General Authorities and/or their wives. It is fascinating. I've always known that Karl was related to LeGrand Richards. Well, after I had registered and brought my line up, I found out that I am the 9th cousin of his 5 or 6 times removed, I can't remember. Karl is 2nd cousin once removed. Anyway, I got to thinking, if that is the case, then we should hook up back there somewhere. As I was looking at K's and seeing how he was related, I noticed he had some Jenneys in his line. So I got our PAF files out and our common ancestors are John and Sarah Carey Jenney. They are our 8th great-grandparents. Isn't that something? I just found this out a few minutes ago. And all this time we didn't know we were related. Elder Reed had made a comment that if a couple both have pioneer ancestry they will probably have a common ancestor somewhere, even if they have to go way back. I think it was the early 1600's or 1500's. I also I hook up with N S too. We have to go back to the 1500's for that one. The work is really going slow lately tho'. We had only four patrons last Saturday. The week before we had six and we were only open 1/2 a day that day.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
We have had a very busy week
This past week has been a very eventful and interesting week. Richard had called us late Sunday and told us that they were in Pocatello….had gotten there Saturday evening. We saw them Tuesday evening, meeting them at Arctic Circle. It was very nice seeing them. They bought us lunch. I especially enjoyed visiting with Duncan. The other children wanted to play on the toys. We had a very nice visit. He told me about his being the only deacon in his ward after his last friend moves out next month and that he is a home teaching companion with his dad now even tho’ he won’t turn even13 for a couple more weeks. It was soo good to see everyone. All of the children, of course, have grown. We were there about 2 ½ hours and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Wednesday we went to the FHC, of course. I got my hair colored that morning. I look and feel much better. All of the gray hair growing around my face makes me feel so blah. I feel much better (as well as look much better). I was able to help a few people. I left early because it was our Visiting Teachers Conference at 6:30 and they had a very nice luncheon with it. Almost all summer long there have only been 1 or 2 patrons come in after 5:00 so I decided I would ask permission to leave early so Karl and I drove over separately. When I asked Elder Hall if it was OK if I left (it was 6:20), he said “Of course, you can, you are your own boss now.” Referring to my being one of the directors now. I told him only on Saturday not on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning I had called Richard and asked him if he and his family would like to go to the zoo Thursday afternoon. He said they would discuss it and get back to me. He called around 10:00 am or so Thursday and told me that they would very much like to go. We met them there about 2:15. We had a lovely time while there. The weather was perfect…in the high 70’s. A year ago we had gone to the zoo with Michael and his family and it was in the high 80’s or low 90’s then. We didn’t see many animals other than the birds. All of the big animals except the Sloth Bears, were in their dens trying to keep out of the heat. This time we saw the snow leopards (two of them), the lions, the tiger (which roared for us for at least five full minutes), the red pandas as well as the farm yard animals and zebras and yak and llamas, and the monkey house too. It was a very delightful day. I did much better than I had tho’t I could. I only sat down three times in the 2 ½ hours we were there and it was close to an hour before I had to sit down the first time. I really am being blessed. Richard treated us to the new Hong Kong restaurant afterwards. We had never been there before. The food is like the Chinese Garden used to be before it changed ownership. We got home around 6:30. That was my birthday treat with Richard and their children.
Friday, Karen came up and took me to brunch at Perkins. We had a very enjoyable visit. We took our time and weren’t rushed. She had to be to an appointment by 12:30 so we drove separately. By the time I got home, Karl had gone to AAC to exercise and shower. I had a lovely visit on the phone with my mother and Bryan and my mother-in-law. All in all it was a very nice day. That afternoon I made a double batch of zucchini brownies. I took the larger pan to the FHC the next day and saved the smaller one for Sunday. That afternoon Karl found an envelope in our paper box with my name on it. It was a card that one of my visiting teacher had made and a pair of earrings that she also had made. I tho’t that was so sweet of her to do that. I really like the earrings. I also had 15 wishes on Facebook for my birthday and e-mails from my siblings and other two sons too. All in all it was a very nice day.
Saturday, we got to the FHC by 8:00 so I could open it up and get it ready for the day. The Butterworths got there shortly after so Brother B could help me count the money and put it in the till (or I help him). I was very busy helping the patrons and the missionaries all day long. I was so tired when we finished. We needed to go to Winco to get some things for the next day for dinner. Richard and family were coming to dinner after attending church with us . Believe me when I say: it is much different cooking for 11 than for two! But they all seemed to enjoy the food. And there weren’t as many leftovers as it looked like there would be…which is good. We were also supposed to stop and get gas in the Taurus after going to Winco but I was soo tired I forgot. So Sunday after finishing dinner we rested an hour or so then drove to Karen’s and so we had to use the Buick because the Taurus only had 57 miles worth of gas and it is at least 60 miles round trip from our house to Karen’s. We were on fumes with the Buick too by the time we got back but with the Lord’s help we made it and had enough fumes to drive to the gas station Monday morning. Bryan and Sara were there at Karen’s too. They had come from Nebraska the day before to take Sara up to BYU the next day.. Brittany and Wes and Olivia came over to do ice while we were there so we got to see them too. Olivia is sooo cute! And she rules the roost. She has a big sister, three brothers and a grandpa that jump at her every sound. She is 11 months old and already has them all well-trained. She is a very happy baby. We got home from Blackfoot about 8:00. And we were very tired again. While we were down there Richard was able to finally make the final arrangements for Elena and Ken’s baptism. The kink was thrown in because Ken is 21 years old and is a convert baptism while Elena is a child of record baptism. Richard & Téa said they called Bishop Hayes the end of June to start the ball rolling for the double baptism. When Bishop Hayes called the Idaho Pocatello Mission Office then, he was told that since it was a convert baptism that it was out of his jurisdiction. So he breathed a sigh of relief and figured he wouldn’t have to worry about it. The mission President in the Arizona Phoenix Mission told Richard and Ken that all they would need was the recommend stating that Ken had had all of the missionary discussions and the necessary interviews to be baptized and the bishop of the ward here would be able to take care of it. But then the Mission President here in Idaho said that since Ken was a convert baptism that Elders from our mission were required to be there. When Richard was able to contact the zone leaders, he was told that they were unavailable until after 6 pm. That was not acceptable because Ken’s grandparents were driving from Montana to be here for it and it is a 5½-6 hour drive and Brother Rydalch can’t see to drive after dark. Finally Sunday evening Richard was able to get contact the sister missionaries who got the info from him and then passed it on to the Elders, the district leaders. That was about 6:30 pm. Both Téa and Richard were just about sick to their stomachs over the anxiety about all of this. It was so nice for them to come up here to do this. It gets so hot this time of year in Buckeye and neither Téa’s mom nor I tolerate the heat well. It seems to me that if the two mission Presidents had communicated things may have gone more smoothly. Bishop Hayes was finally able to contact President Bach and he deligated the assignment of conducting the ceremony etc. to him. (Bishop Hayes).
Yesterday, I woke up about 6:45 and got up about 7:00. I made three cards, one for Elena, one for Ken and one for my sweetheart because it was our 48th wedding anniversary. (He wrote me a lovely letter for my birthday the day after it and it counted for our anniversary too) We left for the church about 10:20 because we had to go get gas for the Taurus and then drive cross town because the baptisms were held at the Idaho Falls West Stake Center and we live in the East Stake. There were quite a few people there. Karl said the opening prayer and was one of the witnesses and Grandpa Ryldach said the closing prayer and was one of the other witness. Just after we got there Bishop Hayes informed Richard that Grandma Rydalch was giving a talk on the Holy Ghost. That is the one Téa had prepared to give. So she had maybe ten minutes in all to think about what to say. She did very well. I played the piano. Richard had said I didn’t need to worry about music during the interlude when everyone was changing their clothes. But the bishop came and asked me if I could do it. So I did. As I played I thanked the Lord for preparing me to do it at the spur of the moment with my experience as piano player for the Relief Society as well as the FHC with the prelude music I played then. I have worked up a few pieces with substituting broken cords for the complete cords and it sounded good if I do say so myself. I shook hands with the Elders and they left immediately after helping to fold up the chairs while pictures were being taken. I was able to talk to the sister missionaries a little. Sister Kaveinga led the singing. She is of Tongan descent but if from Los Angeles as was the other sister. She had been out in the mission field 7 months while her companion was a “greenie” and had only been out five weeks. After the baptism we met at Chuck-a-rama for the luncheon afterwards. Téa’s mom and R & T treated us. Téa’s Dad was also there. It was good to see him again and get to visit a little with him. Karen was also at the baptism. We were pleased as was R&T that she was able to come because it is “Fair Week” and that is a very busy week because they keep their business going as well as spend almost all day at the fair supplying the food booths there with ice, and milk and cheese, etc. We got home from Chuck-a-rama by 3:00. Bryan had called about 1:30 to tell us that he was ready to leave Rexburg and would stop at Shani’s and then stop and see us. He got here around 4:00. We had a lovely visit with him. Showed him our “garden” and got a few pointers on it and pruning our peach tree. He also gave me some advice about the computer. He then took us out to eat at the new Hong Kong again for our anniversary. He dropped us off here at home about 7:40. We had a good meal there too. All in all it was a very good day.
I have been so tired by evening the last week that I am so thankful that I can be ready to go again after a good nights sleep. Thank goodness that I sleep well at night. The coming week will be similar in that we have busy things going every day. Will report that next week.
Wednesday we went to the FHC, of course. I got my hair colored that morning. I look and feel much better. All of the gray hair growing around my face makes me feel so blah. I feel much better (as well as look much better). I was able to help a few people. I left early because it was our Visiting Teachers Conference at 6:30 and they had a very nice luncheon with it. Almost all summer long there have only been 1 or 2 patrons come in after 5:00 so I decided I would ask permission to leave early so Karl and I drove over separately. When I asked Elder Hall if it was OK if I left (it was 6:20), he said “Of course, you can, you are your own boss now.” Referring to my being one of the directors now. I told him only on Saturday not on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning I had called Richard and asked him if he and his family would like to go to the zoo Thursday afternoon. He said they would discuss it and get back to me. He called around 10:00 am or so Thursday and told me that they would very much like to go. We met them there about 2:15. We had a lovely time while there. The weather was perfect…in the high 70’s. A year ago we had gone to the zoo with Michael and his family and it was in the high 80’s or low 90’s then. We didn’t see many animals other than the birds. All of the big animals except the Sloth Bears, were in their dens trying to keep out of the heat. This time we saw the snow leopards (two of them), the lions, the tiger (which roared for us for at least five full minutes), the red pandas as well as the farm yard animals and zebras and yak and llamas, and the monkey house too. It was a very delightful day. I did much better than I had tho’t I could. I only sat down three times in the 2 ½ hours we were there and it was close to an hour before I had to sit down the first time. I really am being blessed. Richard treated us to the new Hong Kong restaurant afterwards. We had never been there before. The food is like the Chinese Garden used to be before it changed ownership. We got home around 6:30. That was my birthday treat with Richard and their children.
Friday, Karen came up and took me to brunch at Perkins. We had a very enjoyable visit. We took our time and weren’t rushed. She had to be to an appointment by 12:30 so we drove separately. By the time I got home, Karl had gone to AAC to exercise and shower. I had a lovely visit on the phone with my mother and Bryan and my mother-in-law. All in all it was a very nice day. That afternoon I made a double batch of zucchini brownies. I took the larger pan to the FHC the next day and saved the smaller one for Sunday. That afternoon Karl found an envelope in our paper box with my name on it. It was a card that one of my visiting teacher had made and a pair of earrings that she also had made. I tho’t that was so sweet of her to do that. I really like the earrings. I also had 15 wishes on Facebook for my birthday and e-mails from my siblings and other two sons too. All in all it was a very nice day.
Saturday, we got to the FHC by 8:00 so I could open it up and get it ready for the day. The Butterworths got there shortly after so Brother B could help me count the money and put it in the till (or I help him). I was very busy helping the patrons and the missionaries all day long. I was so tired when we finished. We needed to go to Winco to get some things for the next day for dinner. Richard and family were coming to dinner after attending church with us . Believe me when I say: it is much different cooking for 11 than for two! But they all seemed to enjoy the food. And there weren’t as many leftovers as it looked like there would be…which is good. We were also supposed to stop and get gas in the Taurus after going to Winco but I was soo tired I forgot. So Sunday after finishing dinner we rested an hour or so then drove to Karen’s and so we had to use the Buick because the Taurus only had 57 miles worth of gas and it is at least 60 miles round trip from our house to Karen’s. We were on fumes with the Buick too by the time we got back but with the Lord’s help we made it and had enough fumes to drive to the gas station Monday morning. Bryan and Sara were there at Karen’s too. They had come from Nebraska the day before to take Sara up to BYU the next day.. Brittany and Wes and Olivia came over to do ice while we were there so we got to see them too. Olivia is sooo cute! And she rules the roost. She has a big sister, three brothers and a grandpa that jump at her every sound. She is 11 months old and already has them all well-trained. She is a very happy baby. We got home from Blackfoot about 8:00. And we were very tired again. While we were down there Richard was able to finally make the final arrangements for Elena and Ken’s baptism. The kink was thrown in because Ken is 21 years old and is a convert baptism while Elena is a child of record baptism. Richard & Téa said they called Bishop Hayes the end of June to start the ball rolling for the double baptism. When Bishop Hayes called the Idaho Pocatello Mission Office then, he was told that since it was a convert baptism that it was out of his jurisdiction. So he breathed a sigh of relief and figured he wouldn’t have to worry about it. The mission President in the Arizona Phoenix Mission told Richard and Ken that all they would need was the recommend stating that Ken had had all of the missionary discussions and the necessary interviews to be baptized and the bishop of the ward here would be able to take care of it. But then the Mission President here in Idaho said that since Ken was a convert baptism that Elders from our mission were required to be there. When Richard was able to contact the zone leaders, he was told that they were unavailable until after 6 pm. That was not acceptable because Ken’s grandparents were driving from Montana to be here for it and it is a 5½-6 hour drive and Brother Rydalch can’t see to drive after dark. Finally Sunday evening Richard was able to get contact the sister missionaries who got the info from him and then passed it on to the Elders, the district leaders. That was about 6:30 pm. Both Téa and Richard were just about sick to their stomachs over the anxiety about all of this. It was so nice for them to come up here to do this. It gets so hot this time of year in Buckeye and neither Téa’s mom nor I tolerate the heat well. It seems to me that if the two mission Presidents had communicated things may have gone more smoothly. Bishop Hayes was finally able to contact President Bach and he deligated the assignment of conducting the ceremony etc. to him. (Bishop Hayes).
Yesterday, I woke up about 6:45 and got up about 7:00. I made three cards, one for Elena, one for Ken and one for my sweetheart because it was our 48th wedding anniversary. (He wrote me a lovely letter for my birthday the day after it and it counted for our anniversary too) We left for the church about 10:20 because we had to go get gas for the Taurus and then drive cross town because the baptisms were held at the Idaho Falls West Stake Center and we live in the East Stake. There were quite a few people there. Karl said the opening prayer and was one of the witnesses and Grandpa Ryldach said the closing prayer and was one of the other witness. Just after we got there Bishop Hayes informed Richard that Grandma Rydalch was giving a talk on the Holy Ghost. That is the one Téa had prepared to give. So she had maybe ten minutes in all to think about what to say. She did very well. I played the piano. Richard had said I didn’t need to worry about music during the interlude when everyone was changing their clothes. But the bishop came and asked me if I could do it. So I did. As I played I thanked the Lord for preparing me to do it at the spur of the moment with my experience as piano player for the Relief Society as well as the FHC with the prelude music I played then. I have worked up a few pieces with substituting broken cords for the complete cords and it sounded good if I do say so myself. I shook hands with the Elders and they left immediately after helping to fold up the chairs while pictures were being taken. I was able to talk to the sister missionaries a little. Sister Kaveinga led the singing. She is of Tongan descent but if from Los Angeles as was the other sister. She had been out in the mission field 7 months while her companion was a “greenie” and had only been out five weeks. After the baptism we met at Chuck-a-rama for the luncheon afterwards. Téa’s mom and R & T treated us. Téa’s Dad was also there. It was good to see him again and get to visit a little with him. Karen was also at the baptism. We were pleased as was R&T that she was able to come because it is “Fair Week” and that is a very busy week because they keep their business going as well as spend almost all day at the fair supplying the food booths there with ice, and milk and cheese, etc. We got home from Chuck-a-rama by 3:00. Bryan had called about 1:30 to tell us that he was ready to leave Rexburg and would stop at Shani’s and then stop and see us. He got here around 4:00. We had a lovely visit with him. Showed him our “garden” and got a few pointers on it and pruning our peach tree. He also gave me some advice about the computer. He then took us out to eat at the new Hong Kong again for our anniversary. He dropped us off here at home about 7:40. We had a good meal there too. All in all it was a very good day.
I have been so tired by evening the last week that I am so thankful that I can be ready to go again after a good nights sleep. Thank goodness that I sleep well at night. The coming week will be similar in that we have busy things going every day. Will report that next week.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
The second week of August already!
It is hard to believe that it’s been five weeks since I wrote here. It has been busy what with the FHC and all. I attended my first director’s meeting last Monday. I and Sister Harenberg, who is the secretary, were the only women there. There is also a Sister Price who couldn’t be there but is also an assistant director. Sister Hendricks will also be there until the end of September. I am the only Supervisor who is a woman. I had my début at supervising yesterday. Things went well. We had to be there by 8:00 am to open the building. The Butterworths were there shortly after to count the money and put it in the till. The others started coming about 8:30-8:35; prayer meeting starts at 8:45. The supervisor is the one who conducts prayer meeting and who is generally in charge and makes decisions if any decisions beyond the individual ones need to be made. As my sweetheart was telling his mother last night, “that things went well and Renée just took everything in stride” my tho’t was, “It wasn’t so different, responsibility-wise as being a charge nurse at the hospital.” And I did a pretty good job at that (even if I do say so myself). I started two weeks earlier than I tho’t I would because the Caseaus were gone to California to a niece’s wedding. I’m thankful that Elder Lyon called Elder Reed to be the supervisor for Friday. I’m afraid it would have been too much to do both Friday and Saturday and go to church on Sunday too. Then there is the director’s meeting at 9:00 am on Monday morning too. I think this will work out really well.
Today for church I was able to wear my sandals with 1 ¼ inch heels--The first time since I’ve had surgery. My foot didn’t even swell too much. I’m thankful that the swelling is decreasing. There for a while I wondered if it would. We had good meetings—all three of them.
In Relief Society we talked about how we are a covenant people. Erin Nelson, the teacher, told us she tho’t how neat it is that altho’ people may not be born into the lineage of Abraham, that they may be adopted in and share all of the blessings as if they were born in that lineage. I made the comment that when someone in this life is adopted that the adopted name becomes the legal name and with what we believe with the sealing, then everything is as if they were actually born to those parents. She tho’t that I was trying to take away the neatness of it. Afterwards, I went up and tried to explain it to her. I told her that it is another way that our Heavenly Father has planned so that all people can take advantage of His plan, if they so chose even if they were not born in it. Then I was inspired to say, “It is just like the way we do the temple ordinances for our dead; those who haven’t heard the Gospel in this life and still need the work done, we do it for them.” I felt the Spirit bear witness to me as I said that as to the truthfulness of what I said. I wished that I had been inspired to say that during class so everyone there could have heard it too. (Because it was a new tho’t to me; I hadn’t made that connection before.)
Oh, by the way, I have lost the three pounds I gained plus one. I should be able to do even better when I start exercising more and get back to Silver Sneakers. I am determined to do that. We got our reports last week of our blood work when we went to the doctor July 27. my A1c is the same as last time, 7.3. I want to get it back down in the 6 range. I know I will have to exercise regularly to do that. Even a couple times a week will be better than what I’m doing now.
We also went to the temple a week ago Friday. We have been averaging once a month. Hopefully we can increase it to twice a month. We’ll see.
Entry for August 1, 2010
My goodness, it does get hot in Russia as well as cold. 40 degrees Celsius is equal to 104 Fahrenheit. Did you know that? That is hot. The hottest it has been here so far this summer is 98 degrees F. That was last weekend. Today it is 89 degrees F. Our house stays fairly cool until it starts cooling off last night then we face the fan out the front door and open the back door and windows and blow the hot air out the front and let the cool air come in the back. That works out pretty well. If it were 104 tho’ I don’t think it would work as well.
My foot is healing very well. I even wore my sandals to church today for the first time since I had the surgery June 25. My foot did swell and I came home and put on my nursing shoes so the swelling would go down. That is what I have worn for almost two weeks to keep the swelling down. I’m in no pain, which is very nice.
Grandpa fell while riding his bike a week ago. He was trying to bring home about 8 feet of chain link fence on it and ran into the curb and fell. He broke a blood vessel on his right shin. So he has a very colorful leg, ankle and foot now. It is starting to turn yellow now tho’ which means it is healing (an excerpt from a letter to Bryce.)
Today for church I was able to wear my sandals with 1 ¼ inch heels--The first time since I’ve had surgery. My foot didn’t even swell too much. I’m thankful that the swelling is decreasing. There for a while I wondered if it would. We had good meetings—all three of them.
In Relief Society we talked about how we are a covenant people. Erin Nelson, the teacher, told us she tho’t how neat it is that altho’ people may not be born into the lineage of Abraham, that they may be adopted in and share all of the blessings as if they were born in that lineage. I made the comment that when someone in this life is adopted that the adopted name becomes the legal name and with what we believe with the sealing, then everything is as if they were actually born to those parents. She tho’t that I was trying to take away the neatness of it. Afterwards, I went up and tried to explain it to her. I told her that it is another way that our Heavenly Father has planned so that all people can take advantage of His plan, if they so chose even if they were not born in it. Then I was inspired to say, “It is just like the way we do the temple ordinances for our dead; those who haven’t heard the Gospel in this life and still need the work done, we do it for them.” I felt the Spirit bear witness to me as I said that as to the truthfulness of what I said. I wished that I had been inspired to say that during class so everyone there could have heard it too. (Because it was a new tho’t to me; I hadn’t made that connection before.)
Oh, by the way, I have lost the three pounds I gained plus one. I should be able to do even better when I start exercising more and get back to Silver Sneakers. I am determined to do that. We got our reports last week of our blood work when we went to the doctor July 27. my A1c is the same as last time, 7.3. I want to get it back down in the 6 range. I know I will have to exercise regularly to do that. Even a couple times a week will be better than what I’m doing now.
We also went to the temple a week ago Friday. We have been averaging once a month. Hopefully we can increase it to twice a month. We’ll see.
Entry for August 1, 2010
My goodness, it does get hot in Russia as well as cold. 40 degrees Celsius is equal to 104 Fahrenheit. Did you know that? That is hot. The hottest it has been here so far this summer is 98 degrees F. That was last weekend. Today it is 89 degrees F. Our house stays fairly cool until it starts cooling off last night then we face the fan out the front door and open the back door and windows and blow the hot air out the front and let the cool air come in the back. That works out pretty well. If it were 104 tho’ I don’t think it would work as well.
My foot is healing very well. I even wore my sandals to church today for the first time since I had the surgery June 25. My foot did swell and I came home and put on my nursing shoes so the swelling would go down. That is what I have worn for almost two weeks to keep the swelling down. I’m in no pain, which is very nice.
Grandpa fell while riding his bike a week ago. He was trying to bring home about 8 feet of chain link fence on it and ran into the curb and fell. He broke a blood vessel on his right shin. So he has a very colorful leg, ankle and foot now. It is starting to turn yellow now tho’ which means it is healing (an excerpt from a letter to Bryce.)
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