Beneath the Wraps

       Twice a year the presidency of either Elder’s Quorum or Relief Society (at least in our ward) are asked to pick out three talks from the latest general conference that will most benefit the members.   I’ve been in the presidency for six and a half years under three different presidents and have always picked Tracy Browning (well, since she's been in) as one of the talks I would like to see taught in Relief Society. Since she was ordained to the primary in April 2022, Sister Browning’s talk has made the list . . . except for this last Conference. I was the only one who had picked it. And yet I had several opportunities to slide it in.   Each time thinking, “ This is a great talk but maybe one that won’t resonate with the sisters; another talk may provide them with what they need.”       We went to Kevin’s ward on Sunday February 23. I think the chapel and Relief Society Rooms squished together were the same size of our entire build...

           Sometimes the chickens behind us will fly to various branches of the cherry tree.  They will roost there for a while.  Bonnie will often climb the hill to watch them in hopes at least one will fall into our yard.  I don ’ t know if they were in the tree of Friday night, but evidently the storm knocked at least one into our yard.        She ’ d been clucking all night.  I guess she was scared and wished to return to her own yard.  I would have not anything about it except for Jai and I left the house on Saturday via the back yard – and there was a white chicken near the door.  Thankfully, Bonnie was not behind us or the white chicken would now be a corpse in my yard.          Jaime and I had used the back door in order to dodge Bonnie.   I took Jai to the hair salon.   We also went to the store to get some clips for her hair.   I was co...

            I did not go into detail about the cancelled R.S. activity in this post .   I had suggested it before but it had always been on the back burner either due to the weather or stake activity that took precedence or lastly, the pandemic.   https://jeopardylabs.com/      We had scheduled the activity to celebrate the RS birthday but also a category for St. Patrick ’ s sounded fun.  We had planned to meet for the activity on a Saturday.  We had discussed whether to continue with it or not – but hey, enough is enough already.  Let us play the game that I had prepared – more than one time.  But no.  On Thursday the prophet announced no more meetings.  We stayed home for the next six to eight months and the game was living in the closet all that time. https://www.steelecreek.org/churchathome-daniel      Thus I wonder if we will have to cancel again.  I finally brought the g...

          On Wednesday one of our most beloved ward members returned home after fighting a battle with cancer.  I don ’ t know if she had cancer before she and her family had moved out of the ward.  I first learned about it at the Christmas party last year.  She had lost a lot of weight and told her that she looked good.  That is when she sprung the news on me “ in confidence ” .  She said she had told only a few selected people – those who were her closest friends – which I learned yesterday was just about everybody.  That seemed to be her purpose in life – making each person feel as though he or she was her best friend.           I have referred to her as Aurelia in my blog and so will continue with it.   She was the 2 nd counselor in the Relief Society when my family moved to Oregon in 2015. I think she lived further southeast than anybody as it would take her 45 minutes to just ...

            Being in the primary has never been among my favorite of callings - which may be why I've been in it so long.   On Saturday there was a breakfast provided by the Relief Society for those who are visiting teachers.   While there, I was asked to teach a Relief Society lesson on this coming Sunday.   I made an impulsive decision to say yes.   I can still teach my primary class but will be missing singing/sharing time.   I'm certain that the primary leaders would much rather have me there than teaching a Relief Society lesson,   but sometimes I feel the need to be elsewhere.   On Sunday it will be in Relief Society.             On Sunday I was given the subject of my upcoming lesson.   "By Divine Design" by Elder Ronald A. Rasband.   Hey, I remember that talk.   I had actually created a blog post ( here ) about i...

            The RS presidency was in charge of the activity.   The theme was on gratitude.   I didn't raise my hand when our president asked for volunteers.   I was helping another sister sort toiletries that we had collected to put in bags to send to the women's shelter.   I don't know how many volunteers she ended up with, but her demonstration didn't actually go as well as she had hoped.             To each sister (and the two Elder missionaries who happened to be there) she gave each a small rock and a candy kiss.   She told each to put the rock in her (or his) shoe and walk around, but to please enjoy the candy.   The idea was "to enjoy the candy so much that you didn't think about the rock in your shoe."   I'm afraid I would have focused on the rock more than the candy.         ...

I did not watch the voting reports on November 8.   I was at a Relief Society activity sharing my life story – making a plug for gratitude, because even when circumstances seem to be at their darkest, there is still a glimmer of light.   We need to focus on the light and good things that were dished out along with the bad such as mentioned in this post         I had invited other sisters to share their stories also.           A few shared experiences related to failed health and how other family members were affected and the pluses that continue still.   One sister shared her testimony on faith and gratitude about contributing to the building fund raiser (back in the day when members were required to help raise monies to build temples and ward houses and such) She baked bread and collected Susan B. Anthonys.   It was really quite touching how she described how the money was rai...

As with yesterday, I will use this font for the agenda of the activity, things taught and learned.   I will use this font for my own thoughts and (unfortunately) wandering mind    and quotes that don't have pictures             Each of the instructors had the option to decorate their room or boards to go with the theme.  I think the next class I had gone was decorated in balloons.  I had enjoyed this class the most. It was taught by Sister Tieger, a kindergarten teacher.  The subject:  Celebrate Failure             "Failure is not the end of the world, it is the beginning of growth"             Nobody starts out doing something well. A child who is just learning to walk - there is a reason why we call them TODDLERS        ...