Easter Matters

 Easter Week Matters 04.02.23

In preparation for this week preceding Easter Jim asked me to print a picture of us at the Garden Tomb almost a year ago. I printed a collage and framed it as a reminder of the Atonement, the suffering and death, and the glorious resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. We will keep it with our Easter decorations as a reminder to center Easter on the risen Son of God. The Garden Tomb was the final site we visited in Israel. It was Palm Sunday that day, too. The hill of Golgotha rises nearby with the “way of the skull” written in the rock (evidence in the picture’s far left). The tomb is a plain and simple place, scooped from the stone. Bars protect the sacred place now, but the spirit persists that this is a special and holy resting place. My heart beats faster even now to think this may be the very place he finished His Atonement and rose from what even His most fervent disciples thought was the end. Today we remember and reflect on the love, the sacrifice, and the saving power that was manifest that first Easter morn.

Matters of Tokyo Testimonies

A highlight of our two weeks in Japan was attending the ward for the Primary program. The music was superb. About fifty children sang from their hearts, led by a skilled chorister and pianist. Not only was the music beautiful, the children spoke of their own personal experiences in feeling the spirit. One girl spoke in Japanese. One wore traditional Tongan dress. They were American, Mongolian, English, Japanese, and from all over the world— but gathered to this little international primary in the center of the largest city in the world to bear testimony. They were new members and investigators and those of other faiths. The sweetest, most evocative parts were their testimonies in song and word. Three little brothers sang “If the Savior Stood Beside Me” perfectly. I admit to tears. Several children told of spiritual experiences during the dedication of the newly-remodeled Tokyo temple, only a few steps away. They proclaimed their joy in being able to hear apostles speak and shake their hands. They told of feeling the spirit through the prayers, meetings, and music. Then they stood tall and their voices resounded through the building singing “I Love to See the Temple.” 

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.