Matters of Sacrifice and Sacrament

 MATTERS OF SACRIFICE AND SACRAMENT

Serving as a temple ordinance worker has certainly awakened me to a better understanding of my covenants. As I officiate in the initiatory, the words pierce my heart and soul. I feel my Savior’s love.

 

We had to have our recommends renewed the month before we began our service in the Jordan River Temple. We were standing in the hall outside the bishop’s office when our stake president Neal Peterson and his wife Suzy came in. We love them very much, and we have shared some sacred times with them. President Peterson set us apart with special prayers before our mission to Laredo. His words and sincere heart (and weeping) let us know he is close to the Lord. On the recommend day, while we talked about everything from our trip to Israel to the U.S. government, he shared this special story. (It’s his story, but I want to remember it always.) Cameron often passes President Peterson the sacrament while he sits on the stand. PP says it’s always a sweet experience, but one Sunday, as Cameron held out the sacrament tray, it was no longer Cam’s hand holding the tray, but the Savior’s. He recounted how his eyes filled with tears, and how his heart was full. He immediately wrote this experience in his journal when he returned home. I was reminded of this touching story when my ministering sister Jackie Betts brought this picture to me the other day. (I shared President Peterson’s story with her, and she left a picture for Cameron, too.)

 

 

What Really Matters

 What Really Matters

It’s summer. It’s hot. We have air conditioning. Yay. Yesterday we had a great experience when Donny’s girls came for the day. They drew. They played. We sang lots of songs while I played the piano. They read their favorite Silverstein poems to me, and we laughed together. Zoey read to Preslie. Then it came time for Cameron to leave for Institute across town, so we gathered for family prayer and scriptures. Neither of the girls have been raised active in the Church, and both are unbaptized. We pray for them and all of our children and grandchildren day and night, of course. We want them to have blessings that will bring them joy all their lives. We want them to have Jesus Christ at the center of their lives. We try to be an example, but we aren’t really in-charge of them. Yesterday, though, we had an answer to those prayers. It was little. We held our breaths, wondering at this really special moment. I wasn’t sure if we should invite Zoey and Preslie, so I hesitated for a few seconds. Then Zoey said, “Can we do prayer and scriptures with you?” We welcomed them as they bounced into the family room. Everyone had his own chair, and we were spread around the room. I explained that usually we gathered together and held hands for prayer, but that today it was okay if we just folded our arms where we were. Then Preslie grinned, “We could just come over there!” And they sprang across the room where we gathered, holding hands while Cameron offered the prayer. We then found a Book of Mormon for each. Zoey was SO excited to read, and asked all the way through the sixty verses if she could read, explaining that she wasn’t used to reading scriptures because it had “been a minute.” She was so thrilled to be part of it all! Preslie wasn’t as confident, but she did read a verse or two. When they left last night, they asked if they could come again today, and the first thing Zoey asked was what time we read scriptures again. Oh, my heart! What a tender mercy! Be still and know that He is God, and nothing is too hard for him!

 

Matters of Pandemic

 Here we are starting the third year of the COVID19 pandemic! Unbelievable. We just finished our own bout with the virus (omicron variant) following a week in DisneyWorld and Harry Potter World. It was very warm and wonderful in Florida, and we had a super reunion with Sean’s family. I didn’t feel great on the Tuesday we left, but had no idea that I might have contracted the virus—after-all, we had all been triple-vaxed, healthy, and masked. The amusement parks were crowded, even stuffed, with holiday celebrants. New Year’s Eve in Epcot Center was crazy, and we had to fight our way through the crowds. That was probably the infection point, though we were outdoors the whole time, watching fireworks and eating fish and chips. 

Many flights had been delayed and canceled because of the virus and holiday’s end, and Tuesday, January fourth, the Orlando airport was filled to the max with tired, frustrated fliers. Our flight was delayed for a little less than an hour, but we were in the airport—not able to even get near our gate—for six hours. We were ready to be HOME! By Wednesday night I was quite ill with a headache, runny nose, and exhaustion. Cameron’s red, runny nose showed he was also infected. Thursday we spent over three hours in the car, in line at the fitness center, waiting for our “tests.” Cameron and I were positive. Jim got sick a week later and is on treatment to protect him from getting worse, since he is in high-risk categories. It was hard to get the medications, too! Blood tests (kidneys) across town, waiting for approval and virtual appointments, and picking up meds at yet another location.

We are all on the mend ❤️‍🩹! Julia’s farewell was yesterday, and we had had to cancel our flights and rental car because of the COVID. It was a blessing, though to be able to zoom in! Zoom!

Choices Matter

Choices Matter

 

Last Sunday I watched an interview with Carmen Rasmussen Herbert, a former finalist on the second season of American Idol. When she talked about the decisions she eventually made that took her from the “top of the charts” kind of fame she thought she wanted, it reminded me of some of the choices I made when my own “two roads diverged.” I wasn’t on the road to fame and fortune, but, like everyone, I had to make a choice that determined a set path for the rest of my life. 

 

I was eighteen and ready to graduate at the top of my class from Idaho Falls High School. Some of my teachers and counselors were pushing me to go East. They wanted me to apply at the big Ivy-League schools or fancy women’s colleges. My decision was to go instead to Ricks College, 30 miles from home. I had a very prestigious scholarship that I could use anywhere I chose to go. It seemed like everyone but my family was horrified that I did not want to “go big.” 

 

So, I went off to Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho), “and that has made all the difference.” My mother died that next year, succumbing to heart disease complicated by the Hong-Kong flu. I was so thankful for the weekends spent at home over that first year of college. Who knows what the other road might have been like? Wherever that road would have taken me, I am happy in the life journey taken. 

  

Matters of Gathering

 Matters of Gathering Blog 8.10.21

 

Sunday I taught the Young-Women’s lesson for our ward combined with the Pheasant Brook Ward. The lesson was on the gathering of Israel, and we talked a lot about President and Sister Nelson’s message to the youth in April, 2018, “Hope of Israel.” I LOVE that talk. I think it is exciting! I encourage everyone to read or re-read it (or watch the video version). It was fabulous to meet with the girls and discuss the gathering of Israel, which President Nelson calls “the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.” I noticed that the young women needed more instruction than the time allowed on “Israel,” the covenant path, and the gathering of the ten tribes, but they are spectacular and will rise to the challenge.

 

This morning our family study was in Jacob 5, again focusing on the gathering of Israel. We watched the old seminary video on YouTube, “The Allegory of the Olive Tree.” I almost wanted to sign up for another mission!

I don’t know how many times I have read, studied, and taught Jacob 5, but this morning it took on new understanding, purpose, and motivation after Sunday’s lesson and study of D&C 86. I absolutely love studying and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ!

 

And speaking of gathering the world into covenant Israel, Sean was made the new branch president in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  He will serve until they move in May, and his calling will be to prepare the branch to become a ward, part of a new stake. In this Muslim country. Zion, expanding. Nothing can stop the work from progressing. We live in scary, but exciting times. We are the gatherers for the final time In the Lord’s vineyard.

 

Matters of Grandmothering

 Three of my grandchildren are graduating from high school—and two of them are the babies of their families! Congratulations Julia, Carson, and Haylee! It seems impossible that you are so grown-up.

Kara, Alisha, Colton, Kelsey, and Victoria are my married grandchildren. Autumn is getting married in September. Victoria got married on December 5 in the Raleigh, NC, Temple. Getting married in a pandemic is a challenging proposition, but Vika’s had the added roadblock of her family’s being stuck in Malaysia and not able to attend—wait! Like so many meetings and celebrations during COVID, the only way the family could gather was by Zoom. Though they could not attend the sealing, they tuned in for the hand-fasting ceremony and ring exchange. Thanks to the Anderson grandparents, the ring ceremony and drive-by reception was a splendid success. Beautifully decorated in true Norwegian tradition with beautiful flowers and ribbons, an event tent welcomed in-person and zooming-in family and friends from all over the world! A food truck served beignets and hot chocolate. Jim officiated in the hand-fasting/ring ceremony. It was so amazing—I am grateful that we got to be part of it all. In the endowment session at the temple family gathered the night before the sealing and shared a unique and spiritual experience. 

Zoom! A headache and a blessing. During this last year we were able to zoom into church meetings where our Colorado grandchildren sang at Christmas time (Kara, Alisha, Julia, Savanna). We zoomed in to hear Julia speak. We zoomed in to listen to Savanna talk. We zoomed in to Julia’s seminary graduation and “be there” for her talk. It was not ideal to have Sean and Shawna be a half-world away for their daughter’s wedding, but it WAS a blessing that they could gather their family in Malaysia and zoom in.

The pandemic was a challenge for missionaries, too. Our grandson Bryce, called to serve in Rancagua, Chile, held his MTC experience online and with zoom from the office in our house. He spent several months in Louisiana  waiting for Chile to open up. During that time he and his companions contracted COVID and were in deep quarantine. Once he finally got to Chile, he spent several more weeks in lockdown, doing his missionary work through social media and zoom.

We are grateful for vaccinations, which now give us confidence to hug and kiss all our grandkids, 26 counting our precious great-grandsons. 

Pandemic Routine Matters

 It is true that my routine is pretty boring these days. To rev up my interest and put a spark in my week, I try to find an adventure walk or a project that is different. I journal every day in the scriptures or in conference talks. I love this task more every day, and it gets the creative juices flowing. I play the piano and the ukulele or guitar—mostly because if it’s not on my daily checklist, it won’t get done! I study Spanish for an hour or two every day. Checklist. There is something therapeutic about checking off what I have accomplished. I walk. I read. (Right now I’ve tackled THE WAY OF KINGS and ANXIOUS PEOPLE.) I try to lift or minister. I always have a sewing project going. As a family we read and study the scriptures along with family prayer twice a day. And then there is my blog!

 

It has been a weird ten months since we returned from our mission at the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic, but it has also presented opportunities for learning and growth. I count my blessings. 

Pictures:

1. One of our study projects is with DON”T MISS THIS.

         

2. Another great study is with Tyler & Taylor at Book of Mormon Central—Come, Follow Me Insights.

 

3. Calendaring

	4.