Missing the Bigger Picture

           I have written a few posts about things being blown out of proportion because of something in the background (here) or interpreted in a way that was never meant to be the forerunner (here) and will share a piece of the latter.

         I believe it was Corey’s senior year in high school when the student directory came out.  On the cover was an art student’s work depicting the mascot and school spirit.  [The artist] had signed his artwork “Zion” as he had with many (if not all) of his other pieces.  It wasn’t meant to stand out as the main theme of his drawing but rather blend into the design.  However an instructor who was anti-religion especially anti-LDS had discovered the “hidden” Zion and made such a great fuss over it that it drew much more attention to the drawing and the word than was intended.

          I don’t remember what year I had attempted to share Tara Parks video  – though it feels like it may have been three years ago.  I meant to put it on the RS page but had posted to the ward page instead (they both have the same area name) At the time I was in a different presidency than I am currently and had added the 1^st counselor to my monitoring list.  I did not get the approval for ward posting – which is fine as I had not intended to share with the ward but rather just the sisters. 

          My current bishop called the 1st counselor to see if I had posted the video to the RS page and requested that the video be removed.  I didn’t even notice the word “damn” had been used in the video until the third time I watched it – and only because I was looking for it.  So we took it down as it might be offensive to some members.  I think that is when our bishop decided to join the RS page – which is why I think it was three years ago (as that is how long he’s been a member of the RS page).  I think many members get so caught up in the letter of the law that they miss the big picture.  But okay.  I get it – but do they?  I thought Called to Share (here) did a great job with it.  Wish I had had it to refer to back then.

          I know the video had had at least one view before it was taken down (here 2nd example).  It was from a sister who had been inactive for and was returning to church and wanted to share the video with her husband.  Sometimes those who have struggled, are returning, or are unbaptized members who may express interest in the church.  How many of those people do we offend by removing said post?  What about Tara Parks? 

          Yesterday I noticed the cover on the RS page still had a Christmas theme going and so I decided to change it. I clicked on a photo that had been posted by another. She had posted the picture in June with a message that she was willing to share her lavender with anyone who wanted one.  That is the photo I used as the cover on the Relief Society page. Today I received a message from the bishop which indicated that he “loves the flowers on the RS page” but pointed out the gay pride flag in the background and perhaps I could crop it.  I explained the picture was from another member in the congregation and don’t feel I have the liberty to crop as I would be offending her and her household and countless others. 

So where is the greater offense?  To those who might have a Pharisee attitude or those who recognize the diversity and want to fellowship with those who may not be as righteous at one affiliated with the letter of the law of the Latter-Day Saint? 

           I mean, I get it.  Representing church.  Setting Boundaries.  When I initially set up the R.S. page I did not have the authority nor did I think to ask.  Someone suggested I change the name to the newsletter hand out – which I may do just to not confuse myself with the ward page.  It’s true I have not prayed about every decision I’ve made regarding the page.  Perhaps I should. We need to understand our hearts as the Savior would.  He didn’t follow the letter of the law.  He didn’t go out of his way to pass Samaria.  He performed miracles on the Sabbath.  He was in the wrong, you know.

Triggers From Stake Conference

 I remember going to youth conference and taking notes – one or two words at a time.  When I would return to the dorms I would pull out my notes and elaborate on what I remembered based on the words.  I don’t remember things as well anymore and often the words I’ve written don’t ever get made into a sentence or paragraph. 

The Roseburg Stake has always had its stake conference two weeks after General Conference. General Conference is great as each talk is recorded and I can return to read or listen, but Stake Conference is not recorded. I have gotten so much out of the virtual conferences rather than in person sitting on hard chairs in a room very far away from the podium.  Each year I have wished the recording would have been available longer than just watching it live.  This year was especially awesome.

Only last night’s adult session and the general meeting today were broadcast.  The leadership meeting had to be attended in person and wearing masks.  I had not bothered making plans for going.  Jenna had a party to go to – I thought in Tri-City but turned out to be Roseburg and so I changed into my Sunday attire and had Roland drop me off at the church after dropping Jenna off at the roller skating party.  I’m glad I went.  It was very good as well as the adult session. 

As I took notes I noticed that some of the examples used would trigger memories from my own life and thought I would share a couple.  Many had made the comment of “being like children” as they have faith and acceptance where several adults do not.  I thought of a time when my sister-in-law related a reenactment among her two oldest children and their neighbor’s boy. 

I don’t know how recent they had learned the plan of salvation (here) but decided they would use their front door (which was missing a window pane) and crawl through the hole in order to be born.  They would play outside for a while (earth life) until it was time to come inside.  

They would then cross over to death using a different door that went into the house.  I was touched by the experience that she shared.

I thought of another trigger when another sister talked about her children having shared the gospel and inviting a boy with them to achievement days (here).  They had invited him three times in a row and two times the activity had been cancelled. I recall activities being cancelled oh so many times – not with me so much as my own kids.  It can be quite discouraging.

 When I was in primary the meetings were spread out throughout the week.  Our primary was on Thursdays right after school.  Not all wards had primary on the same day.  I remember some snowy days when announcements were made over the school intercom “such and such  a ward will not be having primary today”  I think every ward had been called for cancellation except for ours – and we often had worse days of snow!  It wasn’t until I was on my mission that I appreciated the dedication of our primary president who understood the importance upon our impressionable minds. 

There are many leaders like that – who will put their whole heart and soul into their callings for those that they serve.  There are others who choose to cancel due to circumstances such as the weather, family gatherings, work . . . whatever.  It’s not my place to judge their priorities.  I just know how much I appreciate those who allow their callings to come first.  One of the things we were taught was to not allow circumstances to interfere but to keep our focus on Christ or his example. 

I have more.  I have two pages of unorganized thoughts.  Hopefully I will be able to get those organized and share some more.

Yesterday's Church Services

             When we are baptized we take upon ourselves the name of Christ – which means we will do our best to follow his example. The purpose of the sacrament is that it allows renewal of covenants made at baptism.  We have sacrament meetings so that we can partake of the bread and water – which in itself does not require the entire time we are at sacrament meeting but rather a fraction.

Every sacrament meeting which I have personally attended has had an opening song, opening prayer and announcements followed by a song for the sacrament, the sacramental prayers and the passing of the sacrament.  That is until yesterday.  Because the ward had decided to broadcast the meeting for those unable to attend in person, the sacrament was held at the end of the meeting.

Once a month the congregation are invited to bear their testimonies – express their gratitude for the gospel, share their faith, etc.  Yesterday just happened to be fast Sunday.  Although a mask has been required since our return to church, the person at the podium is allowed to remove while he/she speaks into the microphone.  The podium and mike are wiped down between each speaker. Both Jenna and I made it up to the stand.  I followed a youth who had not removed his mask but spoke loudly and clearly unlike me who often mumbles without the inconvenience of a mask – let alone behind one.

My testimony included that even though this year has had a number of inconveniences – it is a trial that has helped me relate the scriptures to our current situation and have a better understanding.  I also talked about the #givethanks and #lighttheworld programs which have added a positiveness to social media which has been greatly needed.  I concluded with how grateful I am that Heavenly Father has sent Jenna into our lives and how she always has a spark.

        Jenna followed me with her gratitude of being from a stable family as many of her friends have no clue what a stable family is.  To so many of them it’s an unforeseen myth.  The testimonies shared made for an awesome meeting.  After the closing prayer the camera was turned off those in the congregation stayed and prepared for sacrament meeting.  Jenna and I both stayed to meet with the missionaries for a correlation meeting.

    When I returned home, I read about another inspired testimony meeting that took place ten years ago.  So grateful for ward families.

Pieces of Memories

      When it first came out I remember being interested in seeing the TV series “This is Us” but did not start watching it until this year for whatever reason.  Normally I don’t enjoy constant flashbacks but have been intrigued with this series about three siblings who have become adults.  We see pieces of memories as they enter the world and grow up.  We see their parents struggles as well as their own.  It’s been interesting to watch as their characters are developed based on these memories that the audience members see only glimpses of. Each episode provides a recap of what memories were provided from previous episodes. 

The first episode starts off with four different cast members reacting to birthday celebrations.  The first story shows a pregnant woman holding a cupcake while her husband (Jack, the birthday boy) waits for her on the bed.  Her water breaks and they rush to the hospital where the woman is expected to give birth to triplets.  Their names will be Kevin, Kate, and Kyle. Each child is shown as an adult also celebrating his/her birthday except for Kyle who was a stillborn. In the nursery are three babies – Kevin, Kate and an infant that had been abandoned at a firehouse but brought to the hospital and in need of parents.  Jack makes a connection and the third baby is brought home along with Kevin and Kate.

At first they call the baby Kyle but eventually change in name to Randall.  We learn why in a later episode. Although the three of them were raised in Pittsburg, Kevin and Kate have moved to Los Angeles.  Kevin has an acting gig with a show called “The Manny”.  Kate attends weight loss meetings.  Only Randall remains on the east coast near to his mom.  Jack is deceased.

I have looked at this series with admiration thinking how each of us has memories we share with those we grew up with as well as memories that set us apart from those we grew up with.  For example, I have created memories in Oregon that I can share with my sibs, but they will never be their memories.  I can share past memories with my sibs that neither Roland nor Jenna will ever have a first account of.  The memories will come in bits and pieces that connect us together though we are still sorting through bits and pieces and do not have the entire picture linked together.

I love how my niece captured this with her words in her first blog post which she has now made private.  Fortunately I still have some of her posts.  In her introduction, she said:  

“My hope is that bits and pieces will seep into this blog slowly over time until my life experiences culminate into something that looks like a finished puzzle.”  (Ellen/Whitney)

Looking forward to seeing the picture unveiled and meanwhile trying to enjoy the journey of fitting the pieces together.

Servants, Masters and Manipulation

            I had graduated from high school in 1980 and had signed up for college the following year.  I did not have the internet or Google to help me with assignments.  I used whatever reference books I could find at the library.  It wasn’t until after Corey returned home from his mission that we purchased our first computer and added AOL dial-up.  It wasn’t much longer before the Google search engine was introduced.   

            I marveled at how quickly Corey could find references without ever having to leave the room.  Before that he had been a whiz at searching the card catalogues and familiarizing himself with the library as though it were his profession.  Google seemed to make life so much easier in some ways.

            I had not familiarized myself with the search engines or internet as quickly as he had.  I’m still not nearly as advanced or well rounded as he, but I have learned a lot more about how to navigate than I had just ten years ago.

            I went back to college and got my degree in accounting.  My courses were online and I was required to provide references for not only my assignments, but discussions as well. I spent more time on the internet than ever before.  I would normally turn to Google or YouTube to assist with my research.  I did not feel manipulated so much as annoyed with advertisements and pop-ups and YouTube’s suggestions of 60-minute videos on how to start my own business.  Okay, maybe they weren’t 60 minutes.  It just felt like they were as the demonstrators would prattle on and on before I had the option of clicking “skip.”

            Advertising, marketing - I didn’t even realize that whatever I might be Googling would also be advertised in my facebook newsfeed.  That was because I rarely ever looked at my newsfeed.  I would look at notifications and sometimes I would look at individual walls.  I did not make the connections until this pandemic.  I have discovered quite a lot during this pandemic—not all of it pleasant either.

            The Facebook novelty wore off about two months after I opened my account.  There was more than one time I thought about deactivating my account and had even attempted to do so at one time, but could not figure it out.  I remained on Facebook mostly to keep in touch with family members living in a different state than I.  Both Corey and my youngest son deactivated their accounts.  My sister is rarely on and my middle son is never on. 

In the beginning of the pandemic there seemed to be more posts created than what gets posted now.  That is a good thing that others have gotten on with their lives by abandoning Facebook or rely on values that cause them to realize that being on Facebook is not good for them.  There are pros and cons to the technology that we use.  One pro that I really love about Facebook is creating groups which allow sharing information with several people at once (such as church activities or family events—depending on the group).

Netflix’s Social Dilemma provides a huge amount of cons (see trailer here).  Those with ethics relate information about how things are.  They went into more detail than what I had already observed.  Good and bad, but most of it seemed to focus on the market manipulation and provided ways that we as users might protect ourselves. MIGHT.

Artificial Intelligence doesn’t know the truth.  Posts get shared and reshared and sources aren’t being checked.  Trump is itching for another civil war (which has already taken place on social media) pitting the red states against the blue.  What the hell?  We are NOT in a marriage contract.  We DON’T have to vote for a certain party.  We are allowed to vote for (or against) the issues at hand.  We even have the option of voting for a third party as I had four years ago.  The mascots of each party are the elephant (Republican) and the donkey (Democrat) as that is how someone had referred to Andrew Jackson (according to this article) and Jackson ran with it.  I think it’s now more appropriate to use for the Republicans as Donald Trump is the biggest jackass the nation has ever had in office.  Still don’t know who is responsible for having elected him in the first place.  He’s a monster who is interested only in himself—and actually so are many of his followers.

I apologize for not finding the original source

original facebook share posted by Ron Olesko

Tapering Off With "Come Follow Me"

When the “Come Follow Me” program was announced last year, it was also announced that our Sunday church meetings would go from three hours down to two but that we, as members, were still responsible for filling that third hour on our own and were provided with a manual – one per family.  Jenna and I both predicted that many, though may have started out with great intentions, would not keep on their studies on their own.

          As the program was new to all of us, I thought our family could invite others to learn with us and we could all struggle through it together.  Not that going through the scriptures is a struggle.  I had taught the youth when the Church did away with traditional manuals and so had a familiarity – the trying to learn it without instruction seemed a little more trying. 

          I felt inspired to invite families or individuals to learn with us.  Trying to squeeze dinner in at the same time was NOT a good idea as my focus was on the learning part whereas Roland seemed to be more interested in the food part. 

          Meanwhile I had purchased notebooks for those who might not have.  My intention was to sit down together and learn things at the same time – well, sort of.  Jenna and I had continued to go through the scriptures and manual first thing after we came home from church.  Roland did not participate with us as he was still at the church fulfilling his clerical calling.

          “Dinner’s ready,” he announced before we had an opportunity to study or discuss.  We hadn’t communicated how we had wanted to present ourselves.  We hadn’t prayed about who we should invite.  We had more people than we did seats at the table.  It didn’t turn out as I had hoped.  There was no discussion.

          From then on I prayed about who we should invite.  I encouraged Roland to pray about this decision in his personal prayers as well as our family prayer.  We went to the home of a widow and had a really great discussion with her.  Every other appointment we had attempted had fallen through.  Eventually so did our efforts to make connections.  Too bad.

          Jenna and I would still continue to read scriptures and go through the manual.  

          I don’t when one of the counselors in RS posted a link to Emily Freeman/David Butler videos (found here) gradually I allowed the video to replace my efforts of setting up appointments with other members.  Jenna and I would return from church and watch the videos.  Sometimes I would print out the study sheet to pass out to my primary class.  I started to slide though when it was Danny’s turn to teach. 

          If I did miss a week, I would watch the missed video the following week in addition to the current week – which I tried to do this week as I missed last week.  I realize I’ve become dependant on the videos and a lot lax on the manual.  I’m always embarrassed to find the bookmark in a spot more than six weeks back.

          On Friday I watched this video followed by the one for first and second Peter.  I took notes on the video for James.  Loved it. I always get more out of presentations if I take notes.  I did not take notes for “Peter’s” part.  I tried watching again later on.  Still, nothing resonated with me.  Yesterday morning I watched it again.  I was in the other room and did not have access to any of my notebooks.  Still nothing.

          Usually, when “Don’t Miss This” video ends, a conference address will automatically play, but yesterday it was followed by this video.  Butler/Freeman videos are not the only video resource for “come follow me” as there are several options.  I got more out of the second video “Teaching with Power”.  I rewatched it after Roland and Jenna got up as I figured Roland would sit through more of it then he does of “Don’t Miss This” – we are two different people.  Videos that usually grab me and Jenna don’t work for him and vice-versa.  He can sit through a monotone documentary.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ – not me.  Jenna and I prefer the animation.

          I was impressed by how much she paid attention and how many correct answers she was able to provide on the questionnaire. 

          When Sunday school started yesterday morning, I could see the questions and scriptural references all had to do with James – and I had brought my notebook.  I figured I’d be able to participate – which I did.  There was more participation yesterday than there had been the time we had met before.

         

          As we wrapped up James, the instructor played a couple of videos and erased the board and rewrote Peter 3:18, 19, and 4:6.  There were also three references for D&C – the last being about 35-40 verses.  I don’t even remember any emphasis being placed on those scriptures in either video – not to say it wasn’t present, I just hadn’t seen it.  In my mind, each of the three messages had been presented differently enough that the three of them together covered more ground as each of them took certain scriptures to dwell on – and there is still so much more.  And I need to reread and study better than I have done.

          I enjoy learning different points of view and what may be meaningful to someone may be overlooked by somebody else.  I enjoy connecting the pieces – or seeing the pieces presented rather so that I may make the connection.