women's conference & a sunday lesson

Saturday night was the first session of the 187th semi annual general conference.  Conference always starts with the women's session the weekend before.  Some day I would love to go to it in the conference center.  Ideally it would be me and my daughters, and their daughters, and my sisters and their daughters, and my mom.  Then we'd go out to eat.  We'd be dressed in nice clothes, and ideally it would be the fall session so it would be chilly outside and cozy in.

But what usually happens is we are busy on Saturday so I record it and then I watch it in my pajamas in my bed...and sometimes I fall asleep and have to watch it again the next day.  That's okay though because I usually re-watch all the sessions multiple times between conferences anyway.

This one was really wonderful, as they all are.  But really wonderful.  I loved all the talks.

Sister Sharon Eubank spoke first and she was really a powerful speaker.  I loved her story about the 80 person chain.   We all need each other to make it thru life and sometimes being there for someone means being in the water chest deep (or treading water even) in order to reach them and save them.  And we need the 40 people between us and the beach to be there for us while we are being there for someone else.  It's never ending.  I am so grateful for my chain.  I know there are many good things that I do that I can do only because someone else is doing something for me.  For example taking the girls to girls camp this past summer.  A really good thing.  I couldn't have done it without the other leaders, the the men, and Kim who kept Ethan, and whoever kept Ziva (I now can't remember who).

I love Sister Neill Marriott. She is just so cute! I loved her talk about forgiving and "borrowing love" from the Savior when we are hurt and don't feel like we have it in us.  His atonement covers everything about our weakness, including our hurts and sorrows and shortcomings. Not simply our sins.  I am ever grateful for Him.  Sometimes I am surprised that as old as I am my feelings still get hurt.  This summer was kind of a hard one for that.  My feelings were hurt, and I hurt feelings, and in both cases the love of the Saviour was necessary to heal.  I am so glad we can pray and ask Him for help.

Sister Joy Jones, what a rock. She lives up to her name.  She gave a beautiful talk about knowing our worth as daughters of God and how that knowledge guides our daily lives.  She told wonderful stories of faithful sisters around the world.  She bore a powerful testimony never mentioning that the day before she attended the funeral of her son.  A father and husband who had been fighting colon cancer for 3 years and just passed away.  Her sure knowledge that there is life after mortality and that families can be forever must have sustained her and lifted her even in her grief.

And then there was our beloved Dieter Uchtdorf.  Everyone loves him.  He talked about choosing joy and being glad.  It was a good shot in the arm of enthusiasm and a renewal of faith. What a tender and kind parent our Father in Heaven is to know that we need that and to provide it for us as often as we will turn to Him and listen to His servants.


And then on Sunday I was teaching the Laurels and our lesson happened to be on the power of words.  How important our words are, and how we can hurt others with mean words.  Also how our words shape our perceptions of life.  If we are of good cheer and optimistic and hopeful and express those feelings we lift ourselves and others in our times of trial, and in the good times.  It was just Paige, Emily and I and Sister Jarvis.  Paige was so upbeat and courageous during her cancer treatment, I really admired her for that.  Emily is good at looking out for and befriending the underdog.  She uses her words to life those around her. We had a really good discussion.  Then I gave them each a fancy chapstick with a quote by Elder Holland about watching our words.

It was an instructive weekend.

Band

The band played at AVC today. It was quite fun to hear them play. Grace is a talented musician and I am hoping this is the beginning of several years of band events for us!

This morning Lu and I ran errands. Some fun, some not. She was a good helper and partner and kept me laughing with her funny stories.

R went shooting. E played games. 

After the performance we took Grace to Catherine's birthday party.

Rob and I watched the women's session of general conference.

the weekend, ahhh

This morning I slept as long as I wanted, which turned out to be until 7:45.  It was great.  Last night Rob and I went out to dinner with Alec & Kelly, Kyle & Kristi, Norm & Peg and Devin.  They are here because Kristi and Kelly's dad died and the funeral is today.  We had a really fun visit.  It goes without saying that I always wish we lived closer to family.  As that is not an option I am grateful when we get to be together.  I had not seen the Beria's in a long time and it was fun to catch up.  

It was a busy and productive week for me.  I enjoyed seminary a lot but when Karen called me on Thursday and said she would be back at it on Monday I rejoiced!  

So, as soon as I was awake I grabbed my laptop and went to start preparing for my lesson on Sunday for the Laurels.  Of course the Facebook tab caught my eye so I went there first and ended up getting sucked into an article a friend posted.  It was about one woman's journey to God and finding faith.  It was very well written and moving.  One idea really stood out to me and I loved how she put this into words. She was talking about obedience, and specifically in her case of choosing not to act on her feelings of same sex attraction.

"In the end, it came down to trust. I knew Jesus was worthy of trust, because he had made a greater sacrifice. He had left the bliss, the comfort, the joy of loving and being perfectly loved, to live a sorrowful life on earth. He took the pain and shame of a criminal’s death and suffered the Father’s rejection, all so I could be welcomed. Who could be more deserving of trust?

The obedience of faith only works when it’s rooted in a person, not a rule. Imposed on its own, a rule invites us to sit in judgment, weighing its reasonableness. But a rule flowing from relationship smoothes the way for faithful obedience. When a child doesn’t understand her mother’s command, the mother’s character plays a strong role in what happens next. A cruel, capricious mother is likely to meet resistance. But an affectionate, nurturing mother inspires trust, because you know she’s on your side, profoundly."

 Rachel Gilson
CHRISTIANITYTODAY

I loved her use of the word trust.  It is very powerful.  I have often thought about this idea, of believing Jesus Christ.  Believing that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He said He would do.  The idea of giving my will to Him.  The idea that He knows better and that when things in my life don't look the way I want them to, for whatever reason, that it's okay and He has a better plan. I love the label TRUST for that.  I do trust Him, and will follow Him and do love Him.  

It was a nice way to start the day.

and now on to my lesson.

Thursday

We are down to two babies. Sophie keeps eating them. Grace took them away from her and is hand feeding them. It's been 2 days and so far they are alive. This one is Matilda. She looks cute. Tiny.

It is snowing in Rexburg. We ordered some boots and tights for Hannah. I think Nana is making robes for her and Kenz, and sending scarves for the girls. They are super excited.

Tuesday Pres. Eyring and several apostles came to BYU for the innauguration of Pres (of the school, son of) Eyring. Hannah is a devotional usher and therefore got great seats!

Tonight we are supposed to have a RS swim party at our house. Yesterday Grace and I went out to clean the pool ( see the wetsuit....that lets you know how warm it is outside. ) last night R went out in the dark and did some touching up and cleaning of the filters so the vacuum would work. Today it's sparkly ....and it's raining. So we are having an un-pool party instead. 

Oh well:)

I can't believe what a good artist Sierra is! This looks just like Penny!
I've been teaching seminary this week. It's been good. Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to work the Alec plane crash story into a lesson. We were reading in 2 Nephi 10 and talking about making choices but not being able to choose the consequence. I showed a picture of Alec and told the class that he is my brother. That he loves adventure and fitness and that he is an awesome man. One day he and a couple of his buddies went on a back country hike. The flew up early in the morning when the weather was cool. Enjoyed hiking and nature. Then in the heat of the afternoon decided it was time to head back.  The problems were not a few, high weight makes flying harder. High heat does too. There are a lot of reasons why this is but I won't go into them now. (Mostly because this is all I remember about it but trust me there are a lot)  The point is at the time they took off many factors were not in their favor. 

The pilot, at least, should have known this. He decided to try anyway. 

As they were going down the runway things were not right. They could have aborted. They choose to keep going. 

Then they were in the air and soon after they were crashing. Then crashed. The story ends, thankfully, okay,  everyone lived. 

The parallel we drew this morning was that when they were above the trees, moments away from crashing, it was too late to decide anything. They were in the middle of their consequences. The time for decision-making was when they were on the ground. Or maybe even while they were taxiing down the runway.

In our life there are many times when we make decisions and making the right decisions, righteous decisions, can keep us away from harmful consequences. At some point it is too late to change our course and we must live with the consequences of our choice. Much like Alec and his friends when they found themselves crashing towards the treetops, at that point they had no choice but to live with a consequence. I think the lesson was very well received and had an impact.

This summer I was pondering my understanding of the words of Isaiah and feeling bad that I was very much lacking in that department. I decided to study, and to make a real attempt at understanding his words. I bought a study guide, which I have been using, and it's been really great. Still I have struggled and have sometimes spent quite a long time trying to understand even a small portion of the text. I have prayed for better understanding. This is been ongoing for the last couple of months. When Karen called and asked me to sub of course I said yes and the very first morning I found myself knee-deep in the Isaiah chapters. As I have been studying these last two weeks in preparation to teach the youth each morning I have had several sweet and enlightening experiences. It has literally been an answer to prayer and I am so grateful and humbled to be tutored by the Holy Spirit. 

It has been a "delight to my soul."

Update: 10pm, finally. Today was busy. Seminary. Then subbing special Ed. Then rush home to clean. Then help Kayla set up for the RS un-swim party. Then the party. Which was fun. Then finally time to prepare tomorrow's lesson. Now I am tired. Phew!

my day

• taught seminary this morning
• took Grace to school
• took Ethan to the orthodontist
• came home and cleaned the backyard with Bub who was too "sick" to go to school after the orthodontist
• went to ihop for brunch with my boy
• did laundry
• prepared tomorrow's seminary lesson
• facetimed Hannah
• picked up Grace
• bought tickets to JFK, where we will catch our flight to Tel Aviv!  
• talked to Nana on the phone
• made dinner
• talked to Val on the phone
• fed the missionaries.  Elder Olds had never heard of apple cider??? We had a welcome fall dinner because I felt like it and I'm tired of being hot. 
• we had turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, salad,  and for the dessert pecan pie and hot apple cider
• bub went to soccer
• I cleaned the kitchen
• Rob went to the gym
• Grace baked pumpkin muffins
• went to bed early (at least that's the plan) 5am comes early in the morning!

Camping report

Rob's horse was named Pepper

So the men went camping.  Wes, Marc, Larry and Rob.  They rode in on horse back, it took about 5 hours to get to the camping site.  They were very remote.

There were some big surprises.  Larry and Wes camp here often, over the decades, and have built up a little camping spot with all the amenities and things they want.  Unfortunately some time in the last year a huge fire came thru and many things were burned.  They had tents with them and enough to survive but there were things that were sorely missed.  It ended up being a time of rebuilding.  Rob said it was good, but hard.

The nights were pretty cold.  Wes is a mean camp cook and they ate well.  The fish were biting and Rob caught a lot.  Larry is an all star story teller.  The campfire conversations were pleasant and team building.  Everyone enjoyed each other's company and the time outdoors and unplugged.

fishing

It looks like such a pristine, beautiful place.  It sounds like everyone agreed that it was a good trip.  Just also hard.  I think they were glad to get home to their wives, hot showers and soft beds (not necessarily in that order)

fishing

five star facilities

happy camper

Sunday

Hannah and Kenz ready for church. These girls are having a great time. I'm so glad they are living together and enjoying this college time!

Fun!

Dani and Greg are in Austin this weekend for Nazli's wedding. She looks so beautiful. Dani and Nazli were BFF's when they were teenagers. I'm so glad she and Greg got to go to the wedding!

We had a ward ice cream social tonight. There was a good turn out, who doesn't love ice cream?

We also had our primary program today. It was very sweet. 

This afternoon we had a presidency meetings: lots of fun stuff coming up. While we were meeting Grace and Z walked to the mailbox and brought back a surprise box that Maggie sent from Maryland! So fun. She wrote a cute note saying she missed us and sent Lu a little elephant and me this cute necklace that she made. 

Poor Karen is still not allowed to drive and is still suffering from her accident so it looks like it'll be one more week of seminary teaching for me.