Home Church

We’re home from our trip to Utah! It took us 14 hours to make the trip home, and we brought our cousin Ciel back with us too. She’ll stay with us for the next 10 days and we hope to show her a little bit of the Southern California sights. I know she’s glad she gets to fly home and doesn’t have to make that long drive again! We were all so exhausted from the drive and just couldn’t get up and ready for 9:00 church. We did have a nice “Home Church” though. We have had Home Church a few times in the past when we’ve had a large group of visitors or a lot of sickies in the family and it’s usually a good compromise.

Today we read and discussed Ether Chapter 2 and the beginning of Chapter 3. It is all about how the Lord helps us solve our problems. The story is of the brother of Jared who was directed to build barges to cross the ocean to the promised land. He built the boats and found that there were two problems because of their design (Ether 2: 16-17). The first was that there was no way to get fresh air from the outside. The brother of Jared told the Lord he was worried that they would die without any air. The Lord then told him just what he needed to do: Go put one hole in the top and another in the bottom that you can plug closed. Open the hole that is above water to get fresh air and if the boat turns and water starts coming in, close it up again.

The second problem was that there was no light in the boats, to which the Lord answered- You’re right, you can’t have windows that would break and you can’t build fire inside the barges either. What do you want me to do to help you solve this problem? The brother of Jared then went and made glass-like stones out of melted rock and brought them to the Lord telling Him that he knew the Lord could give them light by touching them. The Lord did touch them and they did give the light needed in the barges.

We discussed some reasons why Heavenly Father would want us to come to a solution on our own and then come to Him with our ideas. We shared stories of problems that we have faced where the solution came right away, or only came after we did some work for it. As a parent I can appreciate this gospel lesson even more. There are times when I as mother do the same thing. Some problems get an immediate answer and other problems get the answer: What do you want me to do?

True Princesses

The other day Hannah was all dressed up in her purple princess outfit and just couldn’t wait to “play princess” with Sabrina. She grabbed a dress from the dress-ups and as she ran upstairs said, “I gonna play sisess wif Beena.” She ran into Sabrina’s room, where she was still enjoying an unusually long nap, all excited and started jumping up and down yelling, “wake up Beena, tine a play sisess!” When Sabrina finished waking up we got her dressed and they posed for these pictures.

The whole princess obsession has reminded me of one of my favorite stories about a feisty princess that isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. It’s The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Amazon summarizes it like this:

“Elizabeth, a beautiful princess, lives in a castle and wears fancy clothes. Just when she is about to marry Prince Ronald, a dragon smashes her castle, burns her clothes with his fiery breath, and prince-naps her dear Ronald. Undaunted and presumably unclad, she dons a large paper bag and sets off to find the dragon and her cherished prince. Once she’s tracked down the rascally reptile, she flatters him into performing all sorts of dragonly stunts that eventually exhaust him, allowing her to rescue Prince Ronald. But what does Prince Not-So-Charming say when he sees her? “You smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag. Come back when you are dressed like a real princess.” In any case, let’s just say that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Ronald do not, under any circumstances, live happily ever after.”

My favorite part of the story is where Elizabeth tells Prince Ronald that he is a bum, and then happily runs off into the sunset. I like that the princess is smart and strong and won’t allow herself to settle for a loser of a prince… I know it’s a bit of a stretch using this as my Sunday Thought, but I always enjoy an empowering children’s story!

A Bad Memory

I was reminded today of one of my weaknesses that I also consider a blessing. It is having a bad memory. I tend to forget stories and experiences that others can remember vividly. This is especially frustrating to me when people are reminiscing childhood stories that I wish I could join in on. The plus side though is that I can also forget when someone has done me wrong. Once I had a conversation where the person said to me, “don’t you remember how badly they treated you back then?” and I honestly answered, “no.” I was glad that my memory only held onto the positive interactions I’d had with that person.

One experience I do remember quite clearly that has shaped who I am today happened when I was about 16 years old. I was having a particularly hard time dealing with all of the social issues that come with high school, friendship, boyfriends etc. I was at one of my friend’s homes and talked a little about this with his mom Kim. I don’t know if she remembers doing this for me or not, but it has had a huge impact on my life. She was very understanding and comforting as I told her of my troubles. She wrote down a quote for me on a little piece of paper and I carried it with me in my wallet for years. It read:

“The way people treat me has more to do with them than me.”

This simple yet profound statement helped me keep perspective in many situations. Instead of being offended or carrying anger when someone treats me badly, I have memorized this line and repeat it to myself when I’m dealing with a tired toddler, a bad driver, a cranky postal worker, etc. In a way, it could be seen as a judgmental statement like “that’s your problem,” but I see it more as a way to bring empathy into the experience and try to see why the person is acting the way they do. I’m still working on getting forgiveness to be second nature, but this is a good start.

I’ll Go Where You Want Me

Today I was thinking a lot about the hymns that we sing in church. There are so many inspirational messages and strength giving hymns. I was thinking about some of the hymns that have meaning to me. You can click here to hear a simple version of each hymn. I’m not linking to each one because I’m too tired!

I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go – This is a song that was sung in church the first time we came to our new ward here in Orange County. I have to admit I couldn’t sing it because I was too choked up and teary at the thought of having to move again to a new place. I was pretty upset and thought that the Lord was being unfair to keep having us move our kids and start over. I have since come to peace with the move and I have always believed that the Lord will put us where we can do the most good.

I Believe in Christ– This is my backup hymn that I play in my head whenever I get a thought or song stuck in there that I want out!

Be Still My Soul, How Great Thou Art– As a teenager at girls’ camp I had one of my best friends, Debi, with me every year. We were only in the same ward for the first year, but always requested to be together at camp. I remember one particular year we went on an overnight hike and shared a tent. We sang hymns together when the sun went down, and sang for what must have been an hour. I’m sure those around us were laughing and wishing we would stop because we were not the best singers. However there was something about singing these hymns that made our voices sound nice together and we had fun trying to remember all of the words.

As Sisters in Zion– This hymn reminds me of my first year at college. We would sing this as a Relief Society quite often and it always sounded amazing. There were so many of us, many of them talented musicians, and I remember feeling how important it was to build up the sisters around me and really started to understand what it means to be a friend. There were young women of all different backgrounds, and this is when I really started to appreciate what I could learn from each of them.

Lord I Would Follow Thee– This one is less known but I know all of the words because back in my youth we used to have a practice hymn at the beginning of Sunday School. I remember she made us sing this song for weeks and weeks because nobody was singing it loud enough or with real feeling! Now whenever I hear it I feel like I should be belting it out.

Come Thou Fount– This hymn is not in the standard Hymnal, but it is sung by the Tabernacle Choir and other Christian singers. It is Rob’s favorite hymn and we have several different versions of it on our playlist. Whenever I hear it, I not only appreciate the beauty of the music and lyrics, but also think of my sweet husband!

Blind Obedience

In Relief Society today we discussed obedience. Spencer W Kimball gave this great quote regarding the difference between blind obedience and faith obedience. I think it explains the concept so well.

“We render intelligent, constructive obedience when we voluntarily, humbly, and happily obey the commands of our Lord. To obey! To hearken! What a difficult requirement! Often we hear: “Nobody can tell me what clothes to wear, what I shall eat or drink. No one can outline my Sabbaths, appropriate my earnings, nor in any way limit my personal freedoms! I do as I please! I give no blind obedience!” Blind obedience! How little they understand! …

When men obey commands of a creator, it is not blind obedience. How different is the cowering of a subject to his totalitarian monarch and the dignified, willing obedience one gives to his God. The dictator is ambitious, selfish, and has ulterior motives. God’s every command is righteous, every directive purposeful, and all for the good of the governed. The first may be blind obedience, but the latter is certainly faith obedience. …

Is it blind obedience when one regards the sign “High Voltage—Keep Away” or is it the obedience of faith in the judgment of experts who know the hazard? Is it blind obedience when the air traveler fastens his seat belt as that sign flashes or is it confidence in the experience and wisdom of those who know more of hazards and dangers? Is it blind obedience when the little child gleefully jumps from the table into the strong arms of its smiling father, or is this implicit trust in a loving parent who feels sure of his catch and who loves the child better than life itself? …

Is it then blind obedience when we, with our limited vision, elementary knowledge, selfish desires, ulterior motives, and carnal urges, accept and follow the guidance and obey the commands of our loving Father who … created a world for us, loves us, and has planned a constructive program for us, wholly without ulterior motive, whose greatest joy and glory is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life” of all his children? [See Moses 1:39.] It is not blind obedience, even without total understanding, to follow a Father who has proved himself.”

Talent – Use it or Lose it

One parable discussed in today’s lesson was “The Parable of the Talents.” The master gives his servants talents, or money. The first he gives five talents, the second two, and the third one talent. Upon his return he asks the servants what they have done with the talents while he was gone. The first two say they have multiplied them and increased their worth. The third, being afraid to do anything, hid it away and this was the exchange he had with the master:

Matthew 25:25-29
And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

I would like to encourage everyone to discover, or acknowledge, the talents they have and then use them to increase your own blessings and benefit others. Because we are often not able to see our own talents, I’d like to hear about the talents you have noticed and admired in others. I’ll mention one person I haven’t met, but admire, and one person that I know well:

The first person is the well-known Fred Rogers from the PBS series Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. I admire that he used his talent in an imaginative way. He was a pioneer in children’s television and used his ability to care about people and learn about things to open up the world for children. I could probably do a post all about why he is a hero of mine, and maybe I will later.

The next person is my sister, Erica. She is always so thoughtful which may seem simple, but to me it’s a huge talent because it is one I am lacking. She always remembers people’s birthdays, and things that she knows are important to you and then asks about them. I often get off of the phone with her and realize I was so busy talking about myself that I forgot to ask about her!