Beneath the Wraps

  Richard and I will often watch BBC’s “The Repair Shop” ( here ) in which patrons bring their time worn heirlooms to be restored to another time.   It’s great to see so many attached to sentiments in our throw-it-out/replace/upgrade it society.   I don’t recall having any family heirlooms. My mom had been raised in poorer circumstances with many relics that may not have been considered antiques at the time – certainly not of value either financially or sentimentally.   We threw things away and replaced them – though I remember my brother and I both hoarding “stuff” as sentiments.   Perhaps even now.   But nothing worth restoring . . . I don’t think. I do have a set of scriptures that belonged to my mother.   The binding on the triple combination is torn in places and many of the pages have definitely seen better days.   But it is a treasure because I see where she has marked certain scriptures and written in the margin.   That for me...

            In the Church of Jesus Christ there is a meeting in which members of the congregation are encouraged to make their way to the stand to bear their testimonies.   This meeting takes place once a month – usually the first Sunday of each month.   General Conference also falls on the first Sunday of the month and so testimony meeting gets moved to either the last week of the month prior or to the second week (depending on the ward or stake).   In the South Umpqua ward we have held testimony meeting the week prior – except this year. On March 26 we had stake conference – which is a geographical boundary made of up several wards April 1 and 2 was General Conference (which is when the meetings are broadcast world wide) April 9 Easter program Thus our testimony meeting was not until the 16 th of this month.            I recall sitting through a many of sacrament meetings as a you...

  I was not on facebook at all on December 31 or January 2.  It was nice.  So many times I have considered removing myself from being connected but there are aspects I enjoy such as “ Come Follow Me ” and keeping connected with the ward relief society and different community pages.  More pluses than negatives if I will allow myself to look at it that way. The only reason I had turned on my computer yesterday was because Roland wanted to send Randy a card for his birthday – which is tomorrow and will not get to him in time if we were to mail it out.   If my computer is opened I will open the internet and dabble.   Last night I saw a notification from a member in the ward who I have bonded with in some ways but do not always choose to read her posts and wish I would have gone with my first impulse NOT to click on the notification but ignore – but it was Sunday and she often does share inspirational messages.   No, last night was a question and answe...

            We fed the missionaries on Friday though the air quality was not that great.   They did not seem to mind as we built and ate Hawaiian haystacks out on our porch and visited for a bit.   I’d given them containers to take home some food which they said they would give me on Sunday.   Sadly that was my main objective for going as I knew we haven’t returned to normal and I thought it would be depressing.   Only the speaker was allowed to remove his mask.   We were told we could sing but had to leave our masks on.   I chose not to sing as the smoke has been enticing me to cough. Several announcements were made before the bishop talked about how many of us are opinionated and often our opinions will put us into a box. There are a wide variety of boxes that exist – in our jobs, in our community, the way we serve (he didn’t say politics – but that is one I had thought of) . . . some people, such as the Pharisees, will...

“Forty – A Period of Testing The number  forty  is mentioned 157 times in Scripture. The number  forty  symbolizes a period of testing, trial or probation.” – Scriptures Revealed The article then goes on to remind us that Moses was in the desert for 40 years.   He had gone to Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights.   He was still there receiving God’s law while the children of Isreal lost their faith and built a golden calf. For 40 days and 40 nights the Ark floated around in the water before there was sign of land. For 40 days Jesus fasted before his ministry began. This site has a whole list of the symbolisms of the number 40. More than Roland had mentioned when he asked me if I thought this COVID thing would last only 40 days.   It has now been 40 days since the students spent their final day for this school year.   It’s been 42 since the church announced no more meetings.   And not everybody was quarantined on the...

              Yesterday we hid twenty plastic eggs for Jenna to find.  The Easter egg hunt has always been a  tradition  for her.  She has participated in at least one hunt every year - and it is usually with someone other than us.  But as we are stuck inside this year and I won't allow her to go further than the mailbox, I decided to create a hunt for her.  We had purchased Easter candy a while ago and also included scriptures and other Easter thoughts so we could include the true meaning of Easter as well. Because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to. – Jeffrey R. Holland  His Atonement makes available all of the power, peace, light, and strength that we need to deal with life’s challenges – Sheri L. Dew For the Atonement of the Lord and His gift of resurrection—for this sublime message of  Easter  – Russell M. Nelson To understand the meaning of death, we mus...

          There were several signs of spring before it the equinox made (or will make) it official.   So many trees in pink and white blossom and all the daffodils and allergies.    Though my eyes appreciate the view from a distance, I have a hard time with spring up close as my sinuses go ballistic.   My ears tear and my nose runs.   Allergies.   I’m not sick.   I’m annoyed.   I need more moisture than the air has been providing me with lately.   Time to bring out the humidifier – which always seemed like an oddity for this part of Oregon.   But with Roland always being cold at night, the electric heat is really not agreeing with me right now.             It’s the heat.   It’s not a virus.   I’m not sick.   Even if I do get sick, I won’t admit it.   I’m not going to the doctor’s or hospital.   Ther...

This morning my alarm went off as I had set a reminder to meet with the bishop this morning.   Of course that never happened.   It is weird not going to church on Sunday.   The dismal air outside mirrors the way Jenna and I feel with summoned isolation. Jenna and I watched a “Come Follow Me” video before reading Jacob in its entirety.    She still plans to study independently according to her daily schedule starting with seminary and each class that she has – except for maybe one of her math classes as she has no reference from the school.   I told her to watch math videos during that time. I did get a message from the friends of Myrtle Creek library.   They may be staying open as they are not considered to be a public library.   However, the library is still in a city-owned building and so the decision may not solely be left for patrons and volunteers of the library to decide. This is such an odd reality – or is it?   A...

          Compare means estimating or measuring a difference or similarity.   For instance, you may compare the prices that are in one store compared to the prices in another.   Or you may notice the name brands generally have higher prices than the brands you have never heard of.   Albertson’s used to have a knock off brand called Janet Lee and Smith’s Food King had actually marketed one called “No Name” if you can believe that.   Today the most common knock off that I am familiar with is “Great Value” found at Wal-Mart.           I’ve compared my life to Salt Lake with the one I have in Oregon.   I’ve compared the library systems, the transportation, the road conditions, and education.   I am always comparing the weather to itself.           We may test the waters by first getting our feet wet.   We may practice for even...

My initial post is costing more time than I am able to give for the moment anyway.  Guess this one will have to tie my readers over:             The meeting ended early today and so the bishop decided to call a few members from the congregation to come and bear their testimonies.   I smiled as I thought about how often meetings were based on impromptu due to short meetings or just lack of speakers.   In this post I mentioned the majority of youth had their favorite impromptu meeting which was sharing one's favorite hymn and a little bit about why it was/is our favorite (or one of our favorites) and then we would sing that hymn as a congregation.   I think that is something we could do in this ward with our regular pianist, but I know there several in the ward who would not be comfortable playing some hymns out of the blue that they hadn't practiced for a while.       ...

        A garden, by definition, is either a cultivated plot of ground or a gathering place such as a park which is generally adorned with plants and trees.   I guess I have never considered the definition until quite recently.   We had our Stake Conference this weekend, and one of the speakers mentioned two specific gardens found in the scriptures and discussed the symbolic differences between them.           The Garden of Eden, as mentioned in Geneses,          is outlined as a paradise.   We see paintings of fruit and vegetation, peace and waterfalls, a beautiful place where everything is tranquil.   I guess it represents a kind of perfection.           The Garden of Gethsemane, as portrayed by each of the gospels, does not have the same appeal.   Paintings often depict a drab setting wi...

         Khonie uses ideas and outlines from Printerest and Sugardoodle.  She presents them in such an awesome way that we all learn.  The theme for primary this year is "I know the Scriptures are True" With our latest sharing time, the children were introduced to a treasure map and were given bags Khonie made several bags and will be making more  (as our primary has gotten bigge) to fill with charts, reading material and a "message in a bottle"   which included directions for parents and child to help their children, and the first reading chart (Jenna ended up with 2nd Nephi - I think because her class may have already read 1st Nephi before this "treasure hunt" sharing time was introduced.          In the future we will be given clues that will help us find the treasure.       ...