President and Sister Landon were
dressed in their temple clothes. They
asked questions about how the temple made us feel, why we go to the temple, and
what does the temple represent. I was
both pleased and surprised to learn that "Understand Temple Ordinances"
had been Sharon's favorite. She had her
hand up to answer questions and participate.
I love to hear Pres. Landon
speak. He mentioned two of his
grandchildren - cousins that are 3 and 4.
He had told us about the three-year-old before. She will often whine
about whatever and say, "I can't do it.
It's too hard." (and he whines as he quotes her - which is most
effective)
The four year old seemed uninvolved
and quiet and often misunderstood. It
turned out that she needed glasses. When
she wore those glasses for the first time, she looked up at the stars - in
taking the beauty. Mesmerized
almost. Pres. Landon said that while
she was out-side star gazing, her six-year-old sister (who didn't need glasses
to assist with her vision) sat beside her and the four-year-old removed her
glasses and handed them to the six-year-old (not realizing the 6-yr-old had
been able to see them all along) and asked her if she would like to use them so
that she could see the beauty in the sky.
I actually don't know which example
he started with. But isn't it amazing
how different people react? We are all
children who react in the same manner.
Some of us whine "I can't do
it. It's too hard" while others do
their best to share their joy.
I think occasionally I am like the
four-year-old. Occasionally. Overall I am more like the three-year-old
whining "I can't do it. It's too hard." or "I know I can do it, but I don't want
to. I don't want this trial
anymore. I don't." I want to lose the three-year-old part of myself and be the one who shares the joy.
There were a few years when I was really
good about going to the temple once a week or a few times a month . . . and
then I allowed it to fade. I went with
the youth to Medford temple just once. I
have never gone through a session. And
honestly I haven't missed it - though I did enjoy the sense of peace I felt
within the temple. I did enjoy the
solitude of "putting the world behind me" I don't see or feel the
worldliness in Myrtle Creek as I did in Salt Lake.
We should go to the temple because
we want to. As of now, I really don't
want to.
We then broke for lunch. Roland had gone with us to help set-up,
clean-up and serve. He wore a purple
shirt. He was supposed to wear a white
shirt and a tie. He hadn't received the
message. I don't know that any of the women cared. Eva, who sat at my table, really liked
Roland's purple shirt. He is leader
material. Wouldn't have made any
difference if he'd been wearing white. He
asked several questions to those "supposedly-in-charge" He doesn't mind helping, but it would be nice
if he were given direction. After
receiving too many "I don't know"s Roland put himself in charge and
said, "This is how we're going to do it" and gave direction. He doesn't do it to insult anyone. He's just a take charge guy. He told the men to be sure and ask at each
table if there was anyone who had special dietary needs.
Eva's pretty "take-charge"
herself. When Sharon announced that she
couldn't eat her salad, Eva volunteered to go to the kitchen to get some more
chicken and rice. She said she would eat
the salad. She LOVES salad. She brought back a plate with Chicken rice
and fresh broccoli but Sharon said she could chew the broccoli either. It wasn't until then that I realized
Sharon didn't have any teeth. So then I wondered how she was able to eat her
meat.
Eva left the table periodically in
order to mingle with other folk. It was fun to watch her enthusiasm. There were two different desserts. An overly tangy lemon pudding or a sugarless
Jell-O that everybody seemed to like better.
No birthday cake this year.
Neither Eva nor Sharon were able to
finish what was on their plates. They
got extra plates to cover their food and a box to cart around to their next
four classes.
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