Beneath the Wraps

             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...

                 “ The land never dies ” is the last line spoken Lynn Redgrave ’ s character, Charlotte to her grandson in the 1978 mini-series “ Centennial ” .  The series is a time period piece about settlers in Colorado during the 1700 ’ s.  Roland had watched the movie shortly after watching a documentary featuring the rise and fall of Blockbuster video.  https://www.netflix.com/title/81354557   I remember Blockbuster.   I remember going to the video store to find videos when they were available on both VHS and Beta.   I remember the days long before Redbox and Nextflix.   I had never thought of the details or evolution.   I remember going for VHS – I don ’ t remember ever having checked out DVDs.   But there is still evidently one location in which renting DVDs is still a commodity.    https://www.businessinsider.com/blockbuster-survives-in-bend-oregon-2018-8 Bend, Oregon is home t...

   Today we watched a YouTube video that my daughter-in-law had sent a link for.   The video itself was only up for two hours but shared the primary program of one of the wards in Syracuse.   The video itself was just over 20 minutes and we were able to watch our granddaughter perform her part along with several others.      Throughout this pandemic I have been quite grateful for the creativity and talents of others as they share parodies or bring so many together to perform in ways that they are not able to do in person such as these   Memories by One Voice Choir ( here ) Chicago’s 25 or 6 to 4 ( here ) Family Lockdown Boogie ( here ) Coronavirus Rhapsody ( here ) as well as many countless others. Thank you to so many who have shared their talents and for the minds behind modern day technology which has made this all possible

  I would like to be more humble as I have always had a problem with pride. Whenever I think that I have overcome so much of my pride – wham!   I find myself fighting all over again.  And here are just two examples:   1)    When I was in the young women ’ s presidency the YW president had asked me to write a skit for camp – which I did but it took some time to incorporate my ideas.   When I tried to present my idea the YW pres. said it was no longer needed.   The girls had decided that they wanted to do something else – which really didn ’ t even relate to the topic.  At least at the time I didn ’ t think it did.   I felt a bit put out that I had worked on this skit and they didn ’ t even want to listen to my ideas.   And I knew it was wrong to feel resentment.   After all it is the girls who should be involved and they were.   I should have expressed praise or some kind of encouragement.   I tried to shru...

              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...

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...

            The Best Two Years was released two months before Jenna was born.  I LOVE that movie.  We had it on VHS.  I think it had been given to one of the boys for Christmas – or perhaps it had been a gift to all of us.  I don’t remember.  For a while there, I had been watching it for at least once a month.        I don't fully identify with the characters . . . I never learned a foreign language.  I knew Elders who lived with two sets.  I don't know of any sisters that have lived in more than one pair. . . .  but I can relate all of them to different Elders I had served with in my mission.         On the last birthday I had in Utah (less than two weeks before our move to Oregon) Tony and Rochelle gave me a CD of The Best Two Years .  Actually, a set of CDs.  One contained the movie released ...