Beneath the Wraps

             I have written a few posts about things being blown out of proportion because of something in the background ( here ) or interpreted in a way that was never meant to be the forerunner ( here ) and will share a piece of the latter.             I believe it was Corey’s senior year in high school when the student directory came out.    On the cover was an art student’s work depicting the mascot and school spirit.   [T he artist] had signed his artwork “Zion” as he had with many (if not all) of his other pieces.    It wasn’t meant to stand out as the main theme of his drawing but rather blend into the design.    However an instructor who was anti-religion especially anti-LDS had discovered the “hidden” Zion and made such a great fuss over it that it drew much more attention to the drawing and the word than was intended.            I don...

  I remember going to youth conference and taking notes – one or two words at a time.   When I would return to the dorms I would pull out my notes and elaborate on what I remembered based on the words.   I don’t remember things as well anymore and often the words I’ve written don’t ever get made into a sentence or paragraph.   The Roseburg Stake has always had its stake conference two weeks after General Conference. General Conference is great as each talk is recorded and I can return to read or listen, but Stake Conference is not recorded. I have gotten so much out of the virtual conferences rather than in person sitting on hard chairs in a room very far away from the podium.   Each year I have wished the recording would have been available longer than just watching it live.   This year was especially awesome. Only last night’s adult session and the general meeting today were broadcast.   The leadership meeting had to be attended in person and wea...

                 When we are baptized we take upon ourselves the name of Christ – which means we will do our best to follow his example. The purpose of the sacrament is that it allows renewal of covenants made at baptism.  We have sacrament meetings so that we can partake of the bread and water – which in itself does not require the entire time we are at sacrament meeting but rather a fraction. Every sacrament meeting which I have personally attended has had an opening song, opening prayer and announcements followed by a song for the sacrament, the sacramental prayers and the passing of the sacrament.  That is until yesterday.  Because the ward had decided to broadcast the meeting for those unable to attend in person, the sacrament was held at the end of the meeting. Once a month the congregation are invited to bear their testimonies – express their gratitude for the gospel, share their faith, etc.  Yesterday j...

       When it first came out I remember being interested in seeing the TV series “ This is Us ” but did not start watching it until this year for whatever reason.  Normally I don ’ t enjoy constant flashbacks but have been intrigued with this series about three siblings who have become adults.  We see pieces of memories as they enter the world and grow up.  We see their parents struggles as well as their own.  It ’ s been interesting to watch as their characters are developed based on these memories that the audience members see only glimpses of. Each episode provides a recap of what memories were provided from previous episodes.  The first episode starts off with four different cast members reacting to birthday celebrations.   The first story shows a pregnant woman holding a cupcake while her husband (Jack, the birthday boy) waits for her on the bed.   Her water breaks and they rush to the hospital where the woman is expec...

            I had graduated from high school in 1980 and had signed up for college the following year.  I did not have the internet or Google to help me with assignments.  I used whatever reference books I could find at the library.  It wasn’t until after Corey returned home from his mission that we purchased our first computer and added AOL dial-up.  It wasn’t much longer before the Google search engine was introduced.                I marveled at how quickly Corey could find references without ever having to leave the room.  Before that he had been a whiz at searching the card catalogues and familiarizing himself with the library as though it were his profession.  Google seemed to make life so much easier in some ways.             I had not familiarized myself with the search engines or internet as quickly a...

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...