Bears hibernate during the winter
when it's cold
I hibernate during the summer
though it actually isn't summer yet
I am preparing ahead of time
Bears hibernate during the winter
when it's cold
I hibernate during the summer
though it actually isn't summer yet
I am preparing ahead of time
The opportunity of blowing up my phone
and wearing down my
battery
I
get it.
I get the group text thing.
Why it’s done.
It’s
convenient for the sender –
instead
of sending out 10 plus texts
that
say the same thing:
Emma’s
Blessing
Service
Activity
Pool
Information
and
so forth.
For
the most part I don’t even
recognize the other 12
numbers
that are coming
up.
Sometimes
I don’t even know
the other people that
the numbers belong to.
It’s
just annoying to have ALL replies
come to me when I know
they are not meant for
me
but
the
initial sender.
Meanwhile my battery
dies down.
Use
my email
or
messenger
PLEASE.
We had another convert baptism in our ward today. Two of his cousins were baptized over a year ago. Their mom is a member but does not attend as English is not her native language and so she does not always understand what is being said. All of her children are bilingual.
I don’t think I felt the Spirit quite as much
then as I did today. I remember watching
Jaime who understood it all. I was so
proud of her for knowing what was being said.
I still am proud of her today.
She truly is my sunshine.
Richard and I had a date on Saturday. We went to the circus. I did not get any pictures of the lions – female liger? The back door was open which gave an appearance of silhouettes within a cage – at best. My photos really weren’t turning out and so we took pictures with Richard’s phone.
I don’t think I’ve been to a circus since I was in junior high. It wasn’t bad. Richard sat behind me so that I could lean on him. My pictures, of course, don't our outing justice.
Elks sponsored C&M circus Saturday May 18 |
Throughout my blog I have created various posts about my personality, growth, and my gratitude toward the “Come Follow Me” program. Last week Bro. Wilcox shared a lesson on “Not Leaving Zarahemla”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRiZgJBzP-8&t=2852s
Metaphorically
that is where I raised. I had heard about
the outside world but had no desire to be out there among the wolves. I feel blessed that so much of what others
view as temptations were not tempting. I
never wanted to do drugs, smoke, attend parties, or what have you. I was safe in Zarahemla. That is where I wanted to be.
I
understand the need for some to leave Zarahemla in order to grow. Unfortunately, due to poor choices, there are
hardships that need to be endured. It
involves a lot of pain – not just for the individual who makes those choices
but those who love said individual and don’t wish to see him or her be in
bondage to dragons and such.
We
can choose our actions but not the consequence of those actions. My siblings and I have always had great
strength and wisdom to learn through the examples of others. We watch and we learn. I think my sibs are better at watching and
learning than I am. I still tend to
judge others rather than look upon them with the same eyes as God does. Still have not humbled myself but am working
on it.
I’m
not happy to have shown what lies outside of Zarahemla. And yet those are still my brothers and
sisters who are living in bondage. They
may not be asking me to assist them directly – but there is a silent cry. I know I need to respond. But I would rather they come to Zarahemla
than my going outside to look for them.
And somehow that feels wrong. I
need to go out among them without allowing myself to be swallowed up. But to remain yoked with Christ for their
return.
In my last post titled “That’s Messed Up” I gave a brief account of those who had traveled during the reign of Mosiah found at the end of Book of Omni and all throughout Book of Mosiah. Zeniff was among the first party who had come from Zarahemla. He ended up as a ruler in the land of Nephi-Lehi. His group of people were in bondage to the Lamanites for at least three generations.
Zeniff had been righteous and had
kept records. Before he died he conferred
the kingdom to his son Noah who was not righteous and who probably committed
every sin there ever was. It was during
his reign when Abinidi was sent to call King Noah and his people to repentance. Alma, then one of King Noah’s priests, believed
in the words of Abinidi. When he tried
to defend Abinidi it was not well received and Alma fled and recorded the words
of Abinidi and went about teaching anyone who would believe him.
Alma was not the only priest to separate
from King Noah. Eventually all the other
priests (we don’t know how many were in his court) also got fed up with Noah to
the point of killing him (about 148 BC).
The kingdom was eventually given to his son Limhi to rule over. All this time still in bondage to the Lamanites.
There comes a time when the priests (still
referred to as the priests of Noah though Noah is deceased) see some of the
Lamanite daughters dancing and decided to kidnap them and keep them. The Lamanites blame the people of Limhi and
attack them (about 121 BC)
Meanwhile
. . .
Alma and his people have wandered
the wilderness before they establish their own city upon a beautiful land
(between 145 and 121 BC) before the Lamanite King decides to invade their land
and assigns Amulon (a former priest of Noah who had probably served in the same
courts as Alma) in charge of bondage to Alma and his people.
Meanwhile
. . .
Limhi and his people escape bondage
and return to Zarahemla (about 121 BC)
Meanwhile
. . .
Alma and his people also make their
escape from Amulon
All (both?) groups end up in Zarahemla
and Mosiah (son of King Benjamin) reads the records of Zeniff and other records that were collected – including the
plates that had been found by another traveling group (about 200 BC) which I
forgot to mention. Those plates date
back to the Tower of Babel.
There is more. Lots more.
The book that follows Mosiah is Alma.
You should really pick up a copy of The Book of Mormon and read it for
yourself.
That’s probably not the best title for this post – but I am not the only mind that has felt a sense of that thought at some point during one’s life time. The Book of Mormon starts out as an account written in first person. Nephi has two sets of plates which he so cleverly refers to as the large plates of Nephi and the small plates of Nephi. Say what?
The large plates share the history of
the people while the small plates refer to the word of God. Nephi writes according to what he is told and
what he learns and would like for us to learn.
Nephi is the author of the first two books.
From my understanding the small plates
were handed down from one generation to the next while the large plates were
passed from king to king (or ruler to ruler).
So before Nephi dies he passes the plates to his brother Jacob who
passes them onto his son Enos who passes them onto his son Omni.
Omni contains only 30 verses written
by 5 different authors – Omni writes 4 verses.
His son Amoron adds five more.
His brother Chemish writes only one followed by his son Abinadom writes
two and the remaining 19 are written by Amaleki. The book of Omni takes place between 279 and
130 BC. In conclusion Amaleki mentions three journeys of various groups leaving
Zarahemla – first to search for the land of Nephi or land of their inheritance.
Third to search for those that did not return.
Amaleki mentions a brother who who had gone with the search party who were still missing when the small plates end. The small plates are given to King Benjamin who also has the large plates of Nephi. The Book of Mosiah starts out with the reign of a righteous king named King Benjamin. But before Mosiah starts and where Omni ends are The Words of Mormon. This is known as a bridge that ties the small plates and the large plates together. And the world was in such chaos at the time Mormon writes (or translates) the plates that Mormon seems to have a lot of time on his hand to do so.
(There is an illustration of this on the church website here. The words come out blurred in the portrait appearance but there is also a PDF (here) in landscape that is readable)
Now comes the confusion (for many of
us at some point within our life time) as Mormon also writes in first
person. His words are recorded about 385
AD. But not to worry he does take us
back to the continued story (or stories rather) of the journeys and the results
of leaving Zarahemla and being in bondage – flashbacks with history and more
important the acceptance of Christ and groups who’d forgotten and groups who
accepted and groups moving through the wilderness and more bondage and more
trials. Eight different journeys and
finally getting back to Zarahemela.
The Book of Mosiah starts about 124
BC. In chapter 7 we meet the third group
that has journeyed to find those who had left Zarahemla initially. We meet Ammon who is part of those who took the
third journey from Zarahemla. In verse 7
they are thrown into prison. Fortunately
the king (Limhi) is willing to listen to their explanation of why they had
come. We learn all kind of things about bondage
and trials and discoveries and so forth.
It is quite fascinating.
Limhi tells about his grandfather Zeniff
from the first journey made about 200 BC.
Chapters 9 and 10 gives an account of Ziniff and his people as told by
Zeniff. But chapter 11 goes back to a
third person account written by Mormon as he continues the story under the
ruling of one of Zeniff’s sons named king Noah. Not every verse is in third
person. Sometimes there is a first person. One of the first persons quoted is Abinidi
who often quotes the Lord also in first person.
I have heard that the first person account changes more than 1,700 times
throughout the Book of Mormon. No doubt.
To be continued . . .
The counselors from the Elder’s Quorum and Relief Society are asked to attend the huddles of either family history or meet with the missionaries. As both RS counselors have been involved with another class (which happens during the time of the huddle meetings) the president and I have filled in for the last three weeks or so. And then Richard was called to assist in the missionary program (which he has pretty much been doing anyway).
In our last huddle the missionaries
presented a list of some inactive members they had contacted and told us that
each had expressed interest in returning to the fold. Each of us were assigned a few names from the
list. Richard felt impressed to bring goodies
– cupcakes or cookies. We settled on
chocolate chip cookies and Richard and I visited two households yesterday.
The first house we drove to was in the
country. 50 Acres. Nice couple.
They used to raise llamas but have only two left. The next house was much closer to
civilization and with the most awesome view.
That was a totally unexpected chain of events.
When we first arrived the member seemed put
off and indicated that she was in a meeting and “didn’t have time for us” which
was okay – we had just showed up without an appointment but did wish to leave
the cookies. At that she asked, “Are you
from the church?”
She then asked if we could sit for ten minutes
while she finished her meeting. We told
her we could come back but were invited in and talked with her husband briefly
until she returned. She gave us a tour
of her house. We were awed. I took a couple of pictures of the view –
which Jaime and I had both seen but from the opposite angle. I couldn’t believe that I was actually in the
house that I had seen several times from the outside.
I didn’t look at the clock before we
arrived but would guess our visit was at least an hour. We have two more visits to make but needed to
come home to eat. Our son called Richard
with a job assignment – which is generally completed in less than 24
hours. We are blessed that we will be
getting some extra income.
Lately Richard has been receiving several calls from home warranty and mortgage places wanting us to refinance or invest or purchase or whatever. He’s had enough calls – some from companies we have already dealt with – that he now gets rid of the caller by stating, “Oh, we have decided just to sell”
We did look up the address that was given - or tried to. There is no street bearing that name in Myrtle Creek. It isn't even a house number where we have lived or looked at. It would be nice if we could sell just to have money in our pockets – but it is a bogus address.
We’re stumped at where the address materialized and how Richard’s phone or name got attached to this bogus address. Seems like all these companies were scammed. Just to make things clear: WE DID NOT INICIATE THIS!
Ever since we moved to Oregon
members of our ward have indicated that finding jobs comes easy to those in the
Church. Maybe before 2020. I didn’t get a job right away with the school
system – but I did get a job. Haven’t
found another. But I have put in MANY
applications and have had interviews. I
didn’t think I was being all that picky.
Maybe.
The most frustrating thing was
having Richard get on my case – also believing that it would be easier to find
work than it has been. Now (with on
bachelors and two masters) he’s the one putting in applications and interviewing
and not getting hired. I feel for him –
I do. He wants to work. I wouldn’t mind working part time
somewhere. I’m okay with volunteering at
the library – though just a bit of extra income would help financially. A lot of extra income would help keep Jaime
in school.
I’d like Richard to be working
again. I am sorry he has to play the
game of job hunting. But at least he has
a better understanding of how it really is and not the painted picture we led
ourselves to believe.
I was volunteering at the library the other night and was given the assignment to find some missing books. As I was searching the shelves I came across Heather Vogel Fredrick’s book – Pies & Prejudice from The Mother Daughter Book Club series. I grabbed it for the series title. One of the books that Jaime and I had read at the library mother daughter book club was Pie by Sara Weeks (here). I did not see it as a play on words from the title “Pride and Prejudice” until later nor a book series. Nor do I understand why something in the Juvenile section would have such a tiny font. I have seen bigger fonts in the young adult. So for the most part I have been reading with a magnifying glass. That is getting tiresome. Thus I may not finish.
The characters in the book have just
started high school – I’m guessing their freshman year. But nowadays it’s hard to know what age
starts at which school as the age groups are different across the nation. I had gone to sixth grade my last year at the
elementary school where I had started kindergarten. My mom had gone to a school that went from 1st
to 6th grade and completed her 7th and 8th at
a school that went from first to 8th. I was in my last year of
junior high as a ninth grader and hadn’t been referred to as a freshman. Jaime started 6th grade at Middle
School – the equivalent of my junior high and completed four years of high
school as freshman to senior.
The book club takes place not in the
library but in each of their homes. Thus
far I have only been introduced to three characters – each telling a chapter in
first person. I do like that. Thus far I haven’t relived any of the nostalgia
I had with Jaime. I don’t really expect
to but did think it would be fun to try. Mother Daughter high schoolers . . . I guess it's possible.
If I don’t finish the book it will
be because of the font size more than anything.
But I may take up reading books that are targeted to the 8-12 year old
to act as a guide for the librarian who would like to start some kind of book
club here. I’d like to see that event
unfold. I don’t know if it will
though. Happy to see that it is still a
part some libraries across the nation.
During the course of our blogs, my brother and I have both mentioned how our growing up years may have seemed idealistic – how our share of problems pale in comparison to countless others. I don’t relate to dysfunctional families and am highly grateful for that. As I looked around the room during Relief Society yesterday I noticed each one of the sisters (or most of them) had been a part of a dysfunctional family either in childhood or parenthood – sometimes both I felt a sense of sadness. I don’t/didn’t wish to appear like I was boasting with my “unexpected answer to prayer” example compared to great struggles and hardships of others.
I am GRATEFUL to be an oddball. The closest I have come to experiencing the dysfunctional
thing has been on the outside seeing a glimpse of Biff’s challenges and his
in-laws. I hadn’t thought of them as dysfunctional
but there are some definite issues there.
But we all have challenges. Mine
have always been financial – a worldly matter. At least that is how I’d like to
view it. I have had great respect for my
parents and sibs – especially with age.
I don’t know that I receive the same respect from my boys as I gave my
own parents – but they came with baggage.
All three have some form of ADD or ADHD and often (or perhaps always)
offhand behavior displayed (if any) is not their fault.
I believe that Jaime and I have the
same kind of relationship as I had with my mom.
My mom was a great friend and nurturer to all four of her children. We all seem to have married well and have
carried the torch into our families – or tried to. One brother has four children in the same
order as me and my sibs. My sister has a
girl and two boys. My other brother has
cats who are loved every much as the biological children of the other two.
Two of us have married spouses who don’t necessarily come from dysfunctional families but have in-laws with dysfunctional issues – unglued for whatever reason. We pray for them that their hearts will be softened – that they may return to a life without so many complications. I’ve met all of Richard’s sibs, two of the spouses, some of the cousins – just a handful. It’s strange.