Book Review - What Would a Holy Woman Do? by Wendy W. Nelson

Are you willing to read a small book in an hour or two, and write your impressions in a journal for the next three days? It will change your perspective on life, and probably change your life as you read it.

You Get Out of Christmas Exactly What You Put Into It!

We get out of Christmas exactly what we put into it. [from a great RS lesson]


President Monson listed four ingredients

   Children [ideas from the our class]
     Talk about Christ and the reason we celebrate Chrstmas
     Begin an advent Calendar
     Let them have their own nativity scene in their room
     For each good deed you do, or others do to you, add a piece of straw to the baby’s manger
     Read aloud a portion of A Christmas Carol each night.

Remembering
     Homemade special treats
     Caroling
     Knock and Run-leaving a treat or gift at someone else’s home anonymously
          [Mike. David & Steve will remember The Candy Lady]
     Going to an assisted living home
     Being in a Christmas pageant or play

Giving - The only true gift is a gift of yourself
     Send “thank you” cards to people who have touched your life
     Have a family day of service

Prophecy Fulfilled - Abinadi only converted one person but the results were great
     Invite people to see the Mesa temple lights
     Invite people to Peoria Stake’s Remembering Christ at Christmas

One additional idea from the class: Simplify
     Make banana bread as gifts instead of 12-dozen kinds of cookies
     Don’t get over-scheduled in activities

Being Thankful for Life's Joys

I am writing to you as I prepare to go to Arizona for the winter. We leave on Monday. But, I will write from Arizona during the months I am away from Vancouver.

My granddaughter, Chelsea, will be going on a Church mission in about two months. She has started putting things on her Facebook page that she is grateful for. I’d like to share some of the simple pleasures that I’m thankful for.

I’m thankful for waterfalls. They are soothing to hear and are beautiful. They are in many sizes and shapes.

I’m thankful for fountains for the same reason. They represent man and nature working in harmony together to reach up to God.

I’m thankful for babies. In 2½ years we have added the first five of our great-grandchildren to our family. Wesley, Eric, Allison, Mitch and Dawson. The bible tells us [Psalms 127:3] “Lo, children are an heritage. of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward.”

Education. I have an insatiable desire to learn as much as I can for my own needs and interests. I like both fiction and non-fiction, stories and biographies. Have you read Randy Pauch’s experiences in a book called The Last Lecture? A professor diagnosed with leukemia, discusses addages he learned in life from parents, teachers and others, and how he came to value love of family, take chances, step out of his “box” to enjoy life and help his students define who they want to become.

Music. I am thankful for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Their music can sooth, comfort, praise, celebrate and inspire every good human emotion that exists. I’m also a fan of some of the great composers. If you want to feel joyful listen to Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Flowers. They brighten and decorate my life When I held a cosmos in my hand I noticed the perfect little points of maroon atop each tiny golden seed in the center of the flower. It has pink petals with two arcs at the end of each of its eight petals, coming out of a perfectly formed little green cup. It is at the end of a slender green stalk I wondered about the Being who created this beautiful, perfectly formed flower and all other flowerrs that I enjoy.

I’m thankful for cool, clean drinking water. It satisfies my thirst like no other beverage. The Northwest has the best tasting water in the world! It is soft enough that it doesn’t fade my dark t-shirts or etch the sides of drinking glasses in my dishwasher.

I love the scent of fir trees, which brings to mind days spent enjoying Pacific Northwest forests, streams, ferns and blackberries. The song, How Great Thou Art plays in my mind.

I am thankful for my home. It is a place of refuge from the world..And for my husband who is my best friend. And the things we take for granted like food and good health and safety as we travel. And the blessings we don’t know even know about, which are tender mercies from the Lord.

I am especially thankful for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ.of Latter-day Saints, which has the Lord’s Plan of Happiness.

I recommend a recent talk given by Elder Timothy J. Dyches, of the Seventy, from the recent general conference held in October 2013. I hope you will read and feel his message.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Magnifying a Calling

My blogs tend to be more philosophical and less day-to-day.  Probably that comes with the differences in my life's activities.  Merle and I are both going to a chiropractor to relieve back pains.  I had my very first massage yesterday.  All I could say afterwards was, "It was interesting.  I' much rather write about the fun things Wes and Eric do, but it's not my turn.

So, I am now in my 78th year. As look back over the callings I’ve held I see a pattern of progress in myself. Callings are for the development of the person called, more than for the persons being taught. I developed an attitude change.


If I could do one calling over again, it would be the time I was called to teach one BeeHive girl in San Francisco Ward. She was the only one in her age group, and she only came part of the time. I was newly married, age 20 and worked a full time job. I did not feel like preparing lessons for one girl. It seemed like a waste of time. I didn’t go out to her home to meet her or her family, or send notes or a birthday treat. I don’t think I even knew when it was. After a year and a half we moved away and I was mercifully released.

What could I have done? –some of those things I mentioned. I could have found out what school she attended, her interests, whether she played sports, did she have a pet? Did she play an instrument? What kind of family did she have? Was the family active or less-active? Did she need a ride to M.I.A.? Did she have a friend she could bring with her? Might that friend have joined the church?

How might this have benefitted me? I grew up in a less-active family. My BeeHive Teacher was a great example, who helped me become active. I was shy and might have learned some social skills. I would have learned basic gospel lessons I had missed out on while growing up. This girl might have become the “little sister” I grew up wishing I had.

In the intervening years I’ve held lots of “important” callings–stake dance director, ward Primary President, Social Relations teacher in Relief Society, stake newsletter editor, ward Family History Consultant and teacher, ward missionary , to name several,.plus my husband and I served a full time mission. I’ve held responsible full time work. I’ve been a volunteer in my community, written newspaper columns and taught community education classes.

My latest calling came unexpectedly about six months ago. I was simply asked to write letters to five women in our ward who didn’t want visiting teachers or home teachers. I thought, “Okay, I can write.” It was the kind of calling where I didn’t report to anyone. No one in the ward saw the letters, so I didn’t get any feedback as to what I wrote or how I wrote it. It was kind of like that first BeeHive teaching position I had over 50 years ago–a seemingly worthless calling.

But this time I thought to myself, what ways can I magnify this calling?

I decided I would share something about myself each month so they would sort of get to know me. It was not about successes, I touched lightly on trials because I wanted them to relate to me as not being a “Mollie Mormon” kind of woman. I weave a part of a Relief Society lesson into the letters, or an article idea from The Ensign magazine, or an idea from the church website.  I tell them about upcoming ward activities. I give them my contact information each time and invite them to call or email me if they would like to.

Another way I make the letters special is to use actual photos such as a still life photo of vegetables in my own kitchen. I sometimes use stickers like on the 4th of July, and I looked for fun stationery to print my letters on. I always address them by their first names and sign my first name at the end. No letter is longer than one side of one sheet of paper.

In preparing for each month I may get an idea and take it to the Lord. If He wants me to use that idea, materials, quotes, scriptures, poems or whatever start coming to me. After I write the letters I pray about the sisters who receive them and ask the Lord to open their minds to the gospel truths they include. My rule of thumb is that they must be in the mail by the 15th of each month, preferably by the 10th. I want the women to start expecting the letters..

It is a privilege to write these letters. I do not withhold my stamps, stationary or ink, or ask to be reimbursed. I haven’t had any replies so far, but hope I am planting seeds that will take root in their hearts.

July 5th Lament

My Letter to the Editor:

Cannons to the front of us, Cannons to the rear of us,
And overhead we saw the rockets red [and green and white and blue] glares
It was a war zone pure and simple.

But today, by dawn’s early light, we saw the aftermath
Which rained down on our roof and lawn like falling leaves all over the place
Why don’t these celebrants go around the neighborhood they’ve littered and offer to sweep up?
There’s a couple of older women on our street who would appreciate the help.
How long before our homes become blazes of glory?

We need to designate safe places where the fireworks may be lighted off.



Lois Kullberg
Salmon Creek