Votes Matter

 The RNC convention started last night. I didn’t want to watch. I know exactly how I will vote. I caught glimpses of the DNC speeches last week, and that didn’t inspire me! However, I did watch a big piece last night, and it was exciting TV. In fact, it prompted me to make a list of reasons I am voting straight republican—as soon as the ballot comes in the mail. Here are my amazing top ten:

 

#10 I read and study the Book of Mormon every day, twice a day. I liken the scriptures to today. Wow! No wonder God preserved these records for a wise purpose in Him.  The political and social answers are right there for us to discover.

 

#9 America is the promised land. Whatever (and whoever) it takes to preserve it is the choice I want to make. I believe in America’s founding principles.

 

#8 Prophets have warned us against the slide to socialism and communism. I want our freedoms to be preserved.

 

#7 I believe in law and order. It is the only way to protect the rights to free speech (even when my beliefs don’t align with the mainstream media or the politically correct), freedom of religion, and the traditional family. I believe in protecting the rights to life, liberty, and property. This reason may be closely related to the Title of Liberty!

 

#6 I’m not voting for or against a personality or a political style. I want to live in an America that keeps going back to the traditional wisdom of our founding documents. I want us all to keep improving because of our basic underlying belief that all people are created equal in God’s love and that under the law people must be considered equal. The promise is not for equality in circumstance, talent, or resources—only the opportunity to find what’s best for them.

 

#5 I am inspired by conservative principles. I do not believe that the Constitution is a living, breathing, changing plan. I believe it and the Declaration of Independence were divinely inspired.

 

#4 I believe in the right to life. I could never vote for anyone or any group who is willing in their platform to condone killing babies even up to and following birth.

 

#3 Local and state politicians who want the power but will not stand up against violence and looting against people’s businesses, homes, and lives to not deserve my vote. Where will they be when the mob comes to my home? Giving in to the evils of the mob is like voting for the Gadianton robbers and murderers. Never defund our brave police.

 

#2 I have lived a long time. I love the principles of freedom that my parents and grandparents taught me by word and deed. I have spent many years as an educator and administrator. I can see the effects of false political ideas. 

 

#1 I depend on personal revelation and discernment. Over the last 3 ½ years I have learned to find the correct principles rather than to complain about someone’s tweets or style. I never heard of a politician who didn’t think their own way was the best way. A different viewpoint does not make something a lie. I think that the President is the most transparent person ever to lead this country. He is a doer for the people!  

 

I believe this November is a turning point for America. Freedom. Use it or lose it—America!

Matters of Faith in Affliction

 Matters of Faith 8.10.20

 

Twice a day Cameron, Jim, and I gather for family prayer and scriptures. We cherish the time together, and we are sure of one thing: It is not by chance that during this stressful time we are challenged to study the Book of Mormon. Every day we pray for guidance as we read and discuss the scriptures and liken them unto ourselves. We pray that we will find peace and understanding. Have you ever wondered, “Why all these war chapters?” I do not wonder any more! In every chapter of Alma we stop in amazement at the parallels to the world around us. We are on our second time through the Book of Mormon this year. We love the many videos and study guides. This time of isolation and upside-down chaos is calmed in our hearts and home as we are constantly reassured that God has saved these scriptures for “a wise purpose” in Him. We feel prepared for this crisis by all the studying we did as we learned at home through “Come, Follow Me” last year. We did not know what this year would be like, but Heavenly Father did!

 

We LOVE the people of Laredo! This picture is Eileen who was able to be baptized last week.  Faithfully she kept learning and growing and meeting with the missionaries despite the pandemic. Missionaries all over the world are finding ways to “bring the world His truth!”

 

Our amazing Emma (Brady’s) turned nine on Sunday.

Matters of Opinion

I just finished journaling Elder Holland’s conference talk on hope. His thesis statement is “Because the Restoration reaffirmed the foundational truth that God does work in this world, we can hope, we should hope, even when facing the most insurmountable odds.” I needed to read that exact talk today! 

 

Last night we were talking with our daughter about the difficulties around us and the soul-shaking divisions in our country as we try to sort right from wrong and stand for what is right. Jim reminded us what he used to teach his debate teams: “You cannot have an opinion until you have studied and understood BOTH sides of any issue. Until you have done that, you can only have a prejudice.” We are lazy sometimes and let others tell us what we should believe. If we give in to that, we end up wallowing in prejudice. We cannot trust our understanding to the media or those who refuse to face truth. Like the scriptures teach us, we must soften our hearts and hearken to His word. 

 

This country must be protected and revered so it can stand as an ensign to the world in preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord. No other country was good enough, strong enough, or divinely founded enough to bless the world. It is certainly not perfect, and the people’s hearts are not perfect, but we cannot chance letting it fall into disrepair and lawlessness! As I read the Book of Mormon and other scripture, I can see why the rule of law and the Constitution are so essential to preserve the freedoms that are the foundation of God’s plan.

 

It’s not easy! It’s not quick! It cannot be forced upon us by violence and destruction. It takes a changing of hearts. It takes love and compassion for all human beings and faith and trust in God’s love. It takes personal and societal responsibility. There is no escaping the fact that we are accountable for the lives we choose to live. No blame for history. No blame for the system. God has given us everything we need to rise above our circumstances and  lift each other toward Him. We have traveled all over the world. America is the Promised Land!

American Matters

I grew up in the 1960s in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Though it was a time that changed the world, my thoughts and actions revolved around my school, my family, and my church. I didn’t think much about politics or race or illegal substances. The riots in L.A., the civil-rights marches in Alabama, the struggles in Washington’s legislative halls all seemed like something that happened on television. They were about as real to me as “I Love Lucy,” “Lassie,”or “Bonanza.”

 

I was an excellent student, raised in a loving lower-middle-class home. My father was a scientist (analytical spectroscopist) and my mother had been a teacher from a family of educators. I was taught that all people are created equal in God’s eyes and in the eyes of the law. I was taught that the Constitution of the United States was inspired by God and written by His chosen servants, the founders who were the very best men God had to work with. I was taught that Columbus was guided by the hand of our loving Heavenly Father and brought by Him to this promised land as part of an eternal plan. You may say that this is “white privilege.”You may want to wipe away my history, my beliefs, my thoughts, and my words, but I was privileged by my circumstances, not by my skin color.

 

When I was in high school, I was chosen to represent our school at Girls’ State, a week-long seminar on how government works.It was one of those experiences that shaped my thoughts into more of a world view. I began to love and cherish my heritage, grateful to my Creator for the privilege of living in a country that blessed the whole world.I was more thankful than ever for the foundation of freedoms and those who had fought for the rights and liberties of the American Dream and the human rights of all human beings. I also knew that America had to “grow up,”just like I did to know better and do better.

 

I was taught to be a life-long learner. I had a diverse college experience at Ricks College, Portland State University, Grays Harbor College, and finally graduating from Brigham Young University.I do not want my 70-year-old self to be judged by the things I said or did along the way because I am still learning and thinking a better way.I lived in a different world—let’s call it CONTEXT— and I did the best I could with what I knew. Don’t call me a racist! I do not think I should be judged by the color of my skin, and I don’t think anyone else should, either.I try to live by God’s laws to love everyone and treat them all the same.

 

As a teacher I never experienced seeing children act in racist ways. That doesn’t mean that they never did.It just means that I never really saw it. Children seldom referred to skin color—only when pushed for a description like, “You know—that brown boy.”Once a blond parent wrote me a letter accusing me of being a racist because her daughter was not doing well in spelling. I was flabbergasted. I never thought of the child as being of a different race than I was. In fact, I had never thought of race at all! The child’s father, I learned, was from Pakistan. Another time I welcomed a new child into my sixth-grade class in the middle of our preparations for a patriotic program. He was from Southeast Asia. He didn’t want to participate in our American celebration. This was my first experience with a family who had come for the extraordinary opportunities of America, but did NOT love America at all. I still can see the father at the front desk complaining that his child did not need to be told that our country was exceptional.I could not understand why they left Cambodia to come to a place they hated. I am still learning, and as I learn to do better and understand better, I do better. 

 

Isn’t America the same way? As we learn and change, we do better! Don’t judge us out of context.Don’t erase our history! It is America’s childhood—full of mistakes and sins. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I could think of all the horrible injustices that drove the pioneers from state to state and into the wilderness. I could dwell on the extermination order, the mobs who killed children and finally our prophet, the temple burned to the ground, the many difficulties that faced a people driven from their homes and property, OR I can remember how far we have come. I can look at context and what we learned as a people and a country. I do not hold the people of Missouri, Ohio, or Illinois guilty for the sins of their fathers. I am grateful for the history, for the mistakes, for the repentance, for the hand of God. 

Brady’s Family, our doormat, My Dad

Isolation Matters

Yesterday as I was couch-potato-ing, Cameron put his hand on my head and asked, “What happened to you?” I gave him a questioning glance, and he answered it with, “Your hair is MESSY!” Then I realized that I had not brushed my hair and had pulled it into a stubby ponytail. No make-up. No personal care whatsoever. That’s what isolation has done for me—a complete lapse in caring what I look like day by day. So, today I am dressed up with earrings and make-up. AND I feel perkier and more on-top-of-things. It was a good reminder that isolation and worry can be an excuse or an incentive. 

The COVID19 spike in Utah has sent a new kind of panic in our household. Haylee’s work closed down temporarily (Starbucks), and it sent us all into a bit of a funk. Being isolated leads to having nothing to look forward to. When they canceled our ward meeting this week because of the rise in cases here in West Valley, we realized once again that we need to renew our self-care and care of others for the unforeseeable future. I think we can do it with a little more faith, a little more cheer, and a little more awareness.

06.28.20

Today in America

Today in America

I have been meaning to write a post-TMM blog for weeks now, but I finally committed and put it on my to-do list for today. We have been trying to keep calm, have peace in our hearts, and live with hope in Christ for a resolution to some of today’s problems. A few weeks ago, when Jill was home-schooling Haylee on communism and socialism, we pulled out the old Disney movie NIGHT CROSSING. It is the story of two East-German families caught behind the oppression of the Iron Curtain in Berlin. The story is moving and inspiring as the families risk everything for the simple freedoms that we take for granted. . . until these last weeks. They were living in fear—fear of saying their true feelings, ideas, or opinions; fear of being pulled from their homes or put in prison; fear for the future of their children in a socialist regime; fear of losing their jobs and property. I’ve thought a lot about how I would have responded under such circumstances, and here we are today. Someone on Twitter said that we need to stop thinking about voting for or against a personality and start thinking about saving our country, America. This is an excellent video about how to look at what is happening today, and I hope you will listen:  https://youtu.be/zxLi-6RtmUQ  One of my favorite inspirational sayings goes something like this, “Not knowing is bad. Not wanting to know is worse.”

The Sunday before we left Laredo, we watched the BYU TV show FAMILY RULES. The subject was about positivity. I loved the segment featuring Hillary Weeks so much that I took this screen shot. It suggests that we make a family poster of all the positive things we do this summer. The segment was filmed before we were overcome by the pandemic or the riots or the isolation of a lockdown.  What a great way to make our homes and families remember all the great things in our lives!

Matters of Endings TMM

Matters of Endings TMM 4.5.20

Our 23 months as missionaries would have come to an end this week. We asked to extend until June 1 to see our beloved students through seminary graduation. Then the world turned upside down when we and other seniors were asked to return home immediately in the face of an other-worldly pandemic. President Peterson came to the house on March 27 and released us as missionaries. I’ve been putting off writing an ending to our story, but the time has come to face the fact that we are no longer full-time missionaries with Christ’s name worn on our hearts. I’m really not complaining. We were blessed to serve almost our full mission time, and we are grateful for every minute we spent teaching, studying, preparing, and standing with the missionaries and saints in Laredo, Texas. We will always love the people there and feel honored that God sent us to that little corner of Texas to learn, love, and live for almost two years. Many stories to come…

We are blessed with the spirit in our home today. Conference was a great experience. As it ended, Cameron insisted we have a little testimony meeting with the three of us. Jim and I bore testimony of prophets, apostles, the Restoration, and many of the things that touched our hearts. Then, Cameron. As he bore his testimony, tears literally ran down his cheeks. He talked about the parts of conference that really touched him and how grateful he is to have us home. I honestly had not realized how much he missed us. He has grown spiritually so much while we were gone. I didn’t see it until we actually sat with him twice a day over the last two weeks for prayer and scriptures. He had so many insightful questions as we read from Alma. He wanted to talk about the stories and the principles like he never had before. It is a great blessing.

We have been asked by President Peterson to write or record our mission report so that it can be sent out to our friends and neighbors, so we will soon get that ready. We have many more stories to share about the faithful saints and converts in Laredo. We love you all. Thank you for your love, support, and kindness to us.