Beneath the Wraps

                 The year that the Church had come out with the “Come Follow Me” program is the same year that having three meetings at the church was cut back to two meetings and strongly suggested to continue study that third hour but at home with the family.  Richard’s calling kept him after church and so Jaime and I would come home and read the manual and watch videos together.  Read scriptures with discussion, but that tapered out.  We weren’t so diligent about studying together quite as often.           I continued to study the manual and watch videos though not as diligently as this year or even in 2022 with the Doctrine and Covenants.   Good until summer hits and slowly have gotten back on track during fall – except for the Old Testament which I wasn’t so diligent about.   But I have gotten much better this year.   I try to study each week as though I will be...

             Shortly after we had moved to Oregon I remember a Book of Mormon class having been offered on a Tuesday night of each week.  The missionaries would teach the class which seemed well attended. I became familiar with the class when I would go to the Relief Society activity meeting which was held once a month – also on a Tuesday. There were some sisters who chose to attend the Book of Mormon class rather than support the sisterhood of the Relief Society.  I remember being annoyed that they were on the same night usually at the same time.              It must have been in 2019 when the Book of Mormon class was changed to the Come Follow Me class.   In addition to Sunday school there were members of the ward who would meet once a week with the missionaries – but the time was changed to 4:00 on Wednesdays.   During nice weather we would meet outside.   It was a nic...

            I vaguely remember a class called “Culture Refinement”.   It was taught in Relief Society on the 4 th Sunday of the month.   I remember my mom was a cultural refinement teacher.   I know that was her calling while I was out on my mission. The subjects of her lessons seemed to focus on arts, literature, and customs.   I liked the custom part of it – learning about other cultures, nationalities and backgrounds. The class was dropped sometime before this century – though I can’t pinpoint a date.   I was serving in the primary for so many years.          I guess I was reminded a little bit when we had our lesson on Sunday.   The theme (from my point of view anyway) was on acceptance and loving a person though you might not agree with their lifestyles.   It would be nice to understand different walks of life – what makes one tick.   Becoming more aware of our diversiti...

 We ate dinner as a family and I asked if it would be okay to do a family home evening each week.  I really would like to know these three extra people who are now a part of our household.  We know OF them but don't feel a connection to them.  And so I introduced Define Your Dash and answered only one question and asked if we could do at least one per week.   https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/define-your-dash-start- writing-your-personal-history-with-the-52stories-project After we each answered the question Ally and Clair started a game of "Never Have I Ever".  We each started out with five fingers but within six questions three of us had only one finger left, Clair had two and Ally had three.  She said she had never been to Disneyland which made the rest of us go out.   Ally drew with markers while the rest of us played a few rounds of Blokus.  Could be the start of something positive.

                 Every essay needs a thesis statement, at least three body paragraphs and a concluding paragraph.  Jenna is now taking an English based on writing letters to solicit scholarship funds.  Her first theme currently is “Beat the Odds Scholarship”.  I looked over her first rough draft and we changed some of it.  It’s still not perfect but we knew that going in.  One of the suggestions that her instructor has was that she should focus on overcoming disabilities or hardships that affected her life.   Jenna’s only comment was the pandemic which is definitely NOT a personal struggle.   It is still a struggle nonetheless – and the only one that either of us can think of.           The fact that Roland and I are college graduates has already kept Jenna from the summer program that at least one of her friends had gone to this year.   Our family way of life...

                Recently someone posted that the churches were closed in California – again.   It had been posted in the World Wide Unified Group – which has become a support group among various faiths originally to join in a fast and now to continue with prayers. I’m sure there was disappointment as she created her post – probably even more when the administrators shut off the ability to receive comments.   I   understand why they did it – to avoid confrontation and politics.   There are several cases of outbreaks due to large indoor gatherings.   Church just happens to be one of those indoor gatherings that isn’t immune to the virus.   These are just three sites of many here , here and here                Church does not have to be a large gathering of people sitting on pews inside of a building.   We can worship within our hearts. We c...

          Valentines Day is a non-Federal holiday full of traditions and legends which may or may not be true.   There were at least two, perhaps three, patron saints who bore the name St. Valentine.   Their lives ended in tragic massacres; perhaps it was the way they lived that got the Valentine’s celebration started.   There are many websites to choose from when “Valentines” is the subject entered into a search engine such as Google.   I have never been much into the Valentine spirit.   The concept behind Valentine’s Day seems noble enough, but the commercialism is what keeps the holiday alive and I could do without that.  No one gets off of work or school in honor of Valentines. https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day             President’s Day was created in honor of George Washington, first president of the United States.  President’s Day was initiall...

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 wi...

Another restless night and stomach pains What did I eat that made me so sore? I didn’t have anything scheduled for work but checked the availability as I was willing to work at the middle school today. No jobs were posted.   Just as well. I thought perhaps I would sleep for much of the day and then I received a text. I really like working with the aide who text me. If it had been anybody else, I would have said “NO” but I got dressed and scraped my things together.   Roland fixed me a lunch.   And then I was off. The morning drive was in thick fog.   I thought that would mean sun and heat during the day, but it was cold.   All day.   I only had to be outside two times for recess. In each class I’m supposed to help with phonics And letter sounds.   What a confusing language! ONE – a word that rhymes with “sun” or “fun” – where are the phonics? Nobody looks at the “O” and expects a “wwww” sound. What th...

             When it was announced that church meetings would be cut back to only two hours on Sunday so that the third hour could be spend with families, neither Jenna nor I believed it would last.   It has been left up to each family or individual to study the "Come Follow Me" program to prepare for the following Sunday.   I could hear Jenna's moans - wishing that would happen but predicting that it would not.                 Like many New Year's Resolutions, there is diligence within the first month, perhaps a couple, but then we start to taper off from what we started and had every intention of keeping.   Jenna and I have been pretty good about going over the manual first thing when we get home.   She stops me and asks lots of questions or rewords the message (or scripture) according to her own understanding.   During the ...

          It is the first Sunday of the year and the year of change as we have dropped an hour.   There will now be two Sunday schools per month, two RS (YM/YW, Priesthood) per month.   Apparently all the organizations except for the primary will meet together on the 5th Sunday.   Primary is still its own separate thing.   Whereas, two hours of primary seemed way too long at times, this one hour deal is like blinking your eyes.   At least that is how it felt today.                     On the first Sunday last year there were 15 children the valiant class alone.   I don't know how many were in the others.   This year we have only two classes: CTRs and Valiants.   There are no Sunbeams this year, and only three Valiants.   Two instructors are definitely needed in CTRs this year - what a wide assortment o...

            Currently I am taking two classes through the University and one for the library.  All three are online.  Currently two have to do with project charters.             I hadn't made the connection of the Grants Magic class being related to any of my schooling courses until after I contributed my thoughts to the discussion of my other charter class.  We were supposed to come up with a scenario in a situation gone wrong and how more productive it would have been to use a charter.  I had read some material and looked at countless videos and was still at a loss.  I sent a few links over to my husband and asked him to please review and dummy it down for me.   How would I possibly be able to explain how a charter would work for me if I haven't ever remembered using one before.              Roland ...