Beneath the Wraps

                In April I was asked to outline the RS lessons to correspond with Come Follow Me lessons.   I had only my notes and the titles of the 2020 “Don’t Miss This” Episodes. It was right after general conference and so I didn’t have the titles of the talks we had picked, only the speakers. Of course I prayed for inspiration on where to put the 11 or 12 conference talks that we had picked for our lessons.   There were six that were definitely set in stone but wasn’t quite certain how to place the other talks.   This week’s theme was spot on as the reading in Come Follow Me was on the Strippling Warriors (starting here ) and the RS lesson was from this talk .  

                 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...

                Last night I had a dream that we had gone to the Enchanted Forest and somehow ended up with a book of names.  The names were written in my father’s handwriting – or so I believed.  The only name I can remember was Priddy Meaks – who is an ancestor on my mother’s side.  So maybe it was my mother’s handwriting?  I, of course, do not remember the details as I had when I initially woke up.  I remember telling Jaime that we should collect all the pressed pennies that we could for they each had the names of our forefathers.  Lies.                First of all, Enchanted Forest didn’t even exist when Priddy Meaks crossed the plains with the pioneer company.   There is some monument or structure that bears his name.   I have never seen it but my mom said she did when she was in Illinois.   It is not in Oregon.   It is no...

          I started watching clips of the Bible Project when I was teaching Valiants in primary.   I never shared the illustrations with the class though I am fascinated by the short videos.   The book of Judges ( here ) is referred to as disturbing – which it is – as we explore in this week’s reading of “Come Follow Me”.   As we are limited on time and to spare all the gore (and there is A LOT of it) it has been suggested to study only certain scriptures (which still contain gore, stupidity, arrogance, violence, murders, and so forth) https://meetinggodinthemargin.com/2017/06/02/first- reading-of-judges-11-12-jephthah-his-daughter/         Chapter one gives us the account of the land of the twelve tribes – a recap if you will.   Where mortal corruption and child sacrifice is acceptable.   Chapter two gives the account of the cycle that each generation experiences starting with sin, oppression, repentance, deliverance...

        The largest sized classes  take place in July.   By mid-August the number dwindles as there are several who are instructors and have already started their         “back to school”. There were only six of us in the pool yesterday.             Usually toward the end of class children will start staggering in for their swim lessons which follow our water fitness class.             There was no staggering and I wondered if maybe they had discontinued with the lessons as several life guards may be returning to school as well.           Then they came.   A heard of children entered just as our class was coming to an end. I guess that means summer is            coming to an end as well. I'...

             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 ...

          The ward Christmas dinner is tonight - it's going on right now, actually.   And so is the light parade - which I will be missing this year - am missing.   It's barely past 6:00 and I am hearing fireworks - are you kidding me?   Why so early?   I suppose the answer to that would be because we have more hours of fog than we have seen - this being our forth Christmas in Myrtle Creek.                   It's been so dry, only a few days of rain,   and the fog lingers so much longer than I have ever seen.   Sometimes we have a couple of hours of sun but once it goes down (quite early by the way) the fog makes its way back.   I think there may pieces of smog mixed up in it.   Perhaps that is why it lingers.   It doesn't look as clean as it used to. Anyway, I guess if they don't set the fireworks off right now, ...

            I have mentioned before that both my mom used to   use her children as her sounding board before giving a talk or presenting a lesson.   For my mom, it was a lack of confidence in herself.   She needed the feedback, the practice, the input to build up her confidence.   She yearned for ideas on how to improve.   She would go over it again and again until we knew it better than she did - or at least in the case of Corey and me.             Roland does the same thing - only he does not lack confidence.   I thought he did it for validation - but he says it is because he values my opinion.   Talks and lessons are one thing, but lately his ideas and thoughts have had to do with his participation at the theatre.   I am not in the theatre.   I am not part owner in the theatre.   I don't manage, perform  or have a...

            When I'm teaching primary, I'm sitting down.   When I taught RS, I was standing up.   The sisters have decided to put themselves in a circle, which has its benefits.   I thought I might try walking around and pace myself back and forth as I've seen another instructor do - but my voice doesn't seem to carry as loud as hers nor did I have much of a voice on Sunday and so had to stand behind the microphone.             NONE of the shoes that I wear on Sunday are very comfortable and so my feet hurt as I neared the end of my lesson and later on that night I was experiencing back pain.   I blame the shoes.   I think Roland would blame my weight.   Probably a combination of the two.             There are posts on either my own or my brother's blog which provide several reference...

            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...