“An Enemy Hath Done This”
By Lois Kullberg 2-5-15

The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a computer which had good words written in it, and good emails sent from it. They were likened unto the good wheat seeds that a writer wrote about. But while men slept, his enemy came from cyber space and sowed bad words into the writer’s computer.

There was a Trojan Horse virus and 36-thousand spam advertisements. They were like unto tares sown into a wheat field. The writer had seen many rolling hills covered with growing wheat as he drove his car along a route from The Dalles to Maupin. He wondered how in the world he could ever extract 36-thousand spam emails from such a large field of words??

He went to his Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) website. The writer thought he would have to go into the field of words and delete the tares, even though he could only pull out 15 at a time. He went to work slowly performing the task but the huge rolling hills containing the tares seemed endless. In an hour he had only removed one-thousand tares, because the subject lines had to be examined to make sure they were not wheat emails. And the Trojan Horse kept interrupting the work telling the writer to purchase a program to cleanup the virus. Then the owner of the ISP said, “Gather ye together first the tares and bind them into bundles, but gather the wheat into my Inbox.” So the ISP provider told the writer to gather the tares under the title of “show all” followed by “toggle all.” This put a checkmark before each tare. Then the ISP told the writer to remove the checkmark of each subject he wanted to keep, which was much fewer than even one-hundred. Then the ISP clicked on “delete” and all 35-thousand tares were removed except for the wheat words the writer wanted to keep. Then the ISP provider was able to locate the trojan horse virus and delete it. He even tuned up the computer to work better and faster and set the security program so it could protect the computer in the future.

Elder James E Talmage, in his book Jesus the Christ, explains the parable of the wheat and the tares:

“...the sower was Himself (Jesus) the Son of Man; and, as the condition of wheat and tares growing together was one that shall continue until ‘the end of the world,’ those who were ordained to carry on the ministry after Him are by direct implication also sowers. The seed as here represented” is not ...the gospel itself, but the children of men, the good seed typifying the honest in heart, righteous-minded children of the kingdom; while the tares are those souls who have given themselves up to evil and are counted as children of the wicked one. Inspired by zeal for the Master’s profit, the servants would have forcibly rooted up the tares, but were restrained, for their unwise but well-intended course would have endangered the wheat while yet tender, since in the early stages of growth it would have been difficult to distinguish the one from the other, and the intertwining of the roots would have caused much destruction of the precious grain.” Matthew 13:24-30

In the case of the computer, the good words are written and sent by the writer who was not expecting an enemy to sabotage his computer. The tares are those souls who caused the disruption of the writer’s work and represent evil people who extort money from their victims. As we carry on the ministry of our Savior, we can become sowers of good seeds, but we may expect evil persons, either intentionally or unintentionally, to disrupt our work because it is part of Satan’s plan. We know too that this interference will continue until ‘the end of the world.’

The story is true as a modern-day parable, but the method is as old as the world itself, and before.

Books I have read in 2014 - that I liked well enough to recommend:

The Best of Me - Nicholas Sparks
Good love story, surprise ending
Two Runs of Stone Vol. 4 “Wagons West”
Kindle ran out of time before I could finish but seems to leave enough untied strings for a 5th novel.
Windsong - story about Russian spies, good suspense, romance set in Oregon
Skipping Christmas -John Grissom
Story about a materialistic family with good ending
What Would a Holy Woman Do? - Wendy Watson Nelson
Motivational, goal setting and keeping
Walking on Water - Richard Paul Evans
Last of 5 book series - disappointing ending
First Phone Call From Heaven - Mitch Albom
Interesting premise - reasonable ending
Infinite Atonement - Tad R. Callister
Informative reference
Inevitable Apostacy - Tad R. Callister
Informative reference
Cornerstones of the Restoration - M. Garfield Cook
Complicated but understandable, the gospel explained in mathematical terms
The End from the Beginning - Avraham Gileadi
Based on passages from Isaiah and other Bible prophets
Symbols and Shadows - Jay A. Parry
Good reference on Bible Symbols
Living in the Eleventh Hour - Robert L. Millet
Prophecies about the “last days” before the Millenium
Living in the Millenium - Robert L.Millet
Continuation of book one
One Summer - David Baldacci
Nice love story and good character study
The Undaunted - Gerald N. Lund
I’ve only begun the first 100 pages but it keeps my interest

Our Gilbert Temple Experience

Three weeks ago Merle and I and my son Mark and his wife, Sherri, and 11-year old son,Nathan, visiting us from Vancouver, went through the new Gilbert Temple Open House. I had to reserve a wheel chair since I can’t do that much walking, so we got a V.I.P.tour. It was the last day of the Open House and they had 25,000 people go through in one day, or over 400,000 for the whole period.

It was very well organized and nothing was left out. The beautiful theme carried out in the temple decorations was the lotus blossom. The temple had a feature I had not expected, a 3rd floor waiting room for wedding guests. The sealing rooms themselves were much larger had than those in Portland. You could seat large families or half a ward in one such room or 30 chairs on one side times 4 sides.

Last Saturday we had an outdoor cultural event put on by the youth in that temple district but shown in all the valley stake centers and on TV. We also had rain–lots of rain–sheets of rain but the show went on. My son Mike had three daughters in it. All the youth were smiling and you could say, singing in the rain. His oldest daughter, Chelsea, who has received her mission call to Puerto Rico was part of a group of 45 young women who have their mission calls but haven’t left yet, who performed in a flag waving part of the celebration. [I stayed home and watched it on TV]

The next day all the stake centers in east and west valleys were turned into temples, as those baptized members eight years and older were admitted by ticket to watch the cornerstone ceremony and temple dedication. No other meetings were held in any of the church buildings all day. It was so peaceful and reverent as we listened to the music of the Tabernacle Choir before the meeting started. There was no whispering, no babies crying. It was very sacred. Sisters, if you ever get this experience please don’t wear 4 or 5 inch heels on the gym floors.

Merle and I have been reading Tad R. Callister’s books, The Inevitable Apostacy and The Infinite Atonement, so we were thrilled to hear Elder Callister as one of the dedicatory speakers . President Eyring gave the dedicatory prayer which was marvelous. I recalled other temple dedications I have been to. The first one was at Los Angeles in 1956. Merle and I have been to both Seattle and Portland in person, and to the Winter Quarters, Palmyra, Nauvoo II, and now Gilbert, AZ temples via television. Within the year the Phoenix Temple will be dedicated and we hope it will be when we are back in Arizona next time. How blessed we are!

For now, we look forward to coming back home to our friends and family in Washington, about the last part of April. Sunshine is nice, but it gets boring too.

February, A Time for Love

February is kind of a bittersweet month for me. Gleindale, the next town over, is holding, a chocolate festival this week and I hope I get to visit those vendors and choose a yummy treat! The reason February is bittersweet is because February 10th is the anniversary of my mother’s death and February 14th is the anniversary of my dad’s death. They died nine years apart, my mother being nine years younger than my dad .

Today I choose to remember one of each of their best attributes. My dad held several accounting or banking jobs during the Great Depression. I have a box of letters he saved from these employers stating that he was an honest man and a good employee. I have never known him to do a dishonest thing.

My mother’s best asset was her ability to make friends. Even during her nine years as a widow her friends always seemed to be around. One gave her a surprise 80th birthday party. Another did Twelve Days of Christmas with her. She shared her garden with them. Even when she lived at a senior care center she was encouraging the staff to listen to General Conference on TV, sharing her Ensign magazines with her neighbors, and inviting the visiting teachers to visit her.

Today’s theme on the Tabernacle Choir program on TV was also about love. Charity is the pure love of Christ. Love One Another was one of the hymns they sang. The Spoken Word ended with the thought: Love is Time, meaning that the time we give to others shows our love for them.

One other event of this day came up when we learned that a man who lives across the street from us, had his mother pass away about 3 a.m. Helping him through the early days of mourning is something we can do to show our love. Just letting people know you care helps them recover.

Give someone you love a hug today.

Just Think

This message was on a calendar I just bought, written by Roy Lessin of DaySpring products.

Just think,
you're here not by chance,but by God's choosing,
His hand formed you
and made you
the person you are.
He compares you to no one else --
you are one of a kind.
You lack nothing
that His grace can't give you.
He has allowed you to be here
at this time in history,
to fulfill His special purpose
for this generation.

Roy then quotes Ecclesiastes 3:1
To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under
heaven.

Thank you Roy!

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

FAITH, FAMILY, FREEDOM

I attended a 100th Anniversary celebration of a little country community church.  They put on a party like you would not believe such a small group could do.  First, we saw the above words plus a few more,  placed Burma Shave style along the road leading to Venersborg.  When we arrived we saw about a dozen white-uniformed Sea Scouts directing traffic.  They had contacted the county road department to let people use half of a 2-way road for parking and provided a shuttle bus for people who needed to park further away.  Inside the little church people signed in, received a paper plate [not a wimpy one] and utensils prewrapped in their own napkins.  We went through a line where several food handlers placed [free] picnic style food on the plates, then outdoors for hot, grilled sausages [not the cheap ones] or hamburgers, and soft drinks.  We ate at red, white and blue decorated tables while a 4-piece string band played tunes from the old days.   In the stained glass sanctuary we read newspaper clippings, saw photos of early settlers and were treated to a 20-minute video history.  On the adjacent community building grounds was a display of antique autos and farming equipment.  There were kitchen antiques to see and children's crafts.  They had games and contests after we left, and of course, buried a time capsule for the next 100-year celebration. It was an amazing event for just a few people to put together.  They deserve a standing applause for their efforts.  We were proud to be Americans, no matter what our personal differences were.

What's a Clean Birthing Kit?

What’s in a clean birth kit? This little headline at the top of page 11, of the May 5, 2013 Deseret News, caught my attention. 57 million women worldwide give birth without the help of a trained helper according to the World Health Organization. Often women give birth on the dirt floors of their homes. Women and children die from the infections contracted from unsanitary births.


Here’s what’s in a $2 clean birth kit:

. Small piece of soap [for the birth attendant to wash her hands.]

. One pair of plastic gloves [for the birth attendant to wear.]

. Five Squares of gause [to wipe the mother’s perenium and baby’s eyes.]

. One sharp blade [to cut the cord.]

. Three pieces of string about 10" long [two for tying the cord, one “just in case.”]

. One plastic sheet, approximately 1-yard square [for clean birthing surface.]

. One sandwich ziplock bag [to pack the contents.]

That’s it! No soft blanket. No diapers, or diaper rash cream. No onsies. No cap. No socks. Nothing else.

I kept thinking about recent births in our family. We are so blessed! And they need so little!  [See Family Reunion ideas on my Pinterest page]

Pre-assembled kits can be sent to: Adriel Brooker, Bloggers for Birth Kits, PO Box 6221, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia. Consult the web page at themommyhoodmemos.com/2012/08 /bloggers-for-birth-kits-faq United Nations Population Fund and Worldwide Healing Hands are two more groups who can forward clean birthing kits.

#21 - How I Got My First Computer

LDSW #21 - How I Got My First Computer


     In the early 1980s while I was working as a secretary at Clark College, I had a sick day off work when I sprained an ankle, so I spent the whole day reading a book I had recently purchased on doing family history by computer.

     I had drawers full of family group sheets, pedigree charts and hand written notes hastily scribbled on various sizes and colors of notebook paper. The collection, all too often, spilled out on the floor every time I tried to access a particular item. I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could organize these things so I could access them quickly? Then I read the book. It had long been a goal of mine to do a thorough preliminary survey to determine which of my ancestors still needed their temple work done. Computer genealogy seemed to be the answer I needed.

     I was also spurred on by a passage in the Doctrine and Covenants Section 128:24 which was imbedded deep in my mind, “Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto he Lord an offering in righeousness; and let us present in His holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead which shall be worthy of all acceptation.” How was this even possible?

     A few of my prayers had been answered from time to time, so I began praying for how I could purchase a computer. It didn’t seem possible at the time. All our regular income was  dedicated to other obligations. Desktop computers in the homes were just becoming a reality, and costs were somewhere around $2,000, which was too much for our budget. Then came the miracle.

     We had invested in a limited partnership, which owned and operated apartments and condominiums, several years earlier. So far we had seen very little return on our investment. But this year the company sent us a dividend of $900 dollars. It came at the same time as a local retail store was offering new, affordable home computers with 64k memory for only $800. We jumped into the car and headed for the store. I got there in time to buy one of the computers. Within a few days, a man my husband worked with, mentioned that he had one of the rachet type printers he wanted to sell so he could upgrade to a newer model, and he was asking just $100 for his old printer. We bought it!

      I was then able to purchase a copy of Personal Ancestral File (PAF) software from our church bookstore, and began entering family names into my own database. It had been only a few weeks since I had read that book. I was convinced that the Lord does hear and answer our prayers!  [And we never got another large dividend from that investment!]

On Being a Perfectionist

In one of my recent blogs I wrote about things I started doing but didn’t take them to the next level and went on to try another craft or hobby.  Now, I’ve been thinking about some things I do that are done well.


I can make real fir Christmas wreaths and boughs like a professional. I can knit baby caps on a rake loom, and I’ve even sold a few. I can write a book about my husband’s white-water rafting experiences. I have a full notebook containing articles I’ve published. I can play the piano well enough to accompany congregational singing. I could even hold my own in a Jeopardy quiz on music and musicians. At 50 years of age, I earned an Associate Degree in Arts and Sciences from a community college. My emphasis was on Technical Writing and computer applications. I can layout and print out newsletters. I can make up lesson plans, and teach how to do genealogy, and how to write your personal history.

When I was 18 years old, and recently graduated from high school, I was hired as a clerk-typist for a custom house brokerage. I worked for a boss who demanded perfection. Though it was after World War II, it was sort of “known” about the office that he and his wife were Jewish and had escaped from Nazi Germany, which had something to do with their not having any family. He was a proud Prussian and used to demanding what he wanted. There were some nights, after dinner, when I helped my mom by wiping dishes, that I would complain to her about how mean Mr. Adolph Carr was.

I became able to meet his demands. We had a complicated 4-digit file numbering system. Over time I had the important account numbers memorized and could put my hand on a file as soon as he called for it–usually during a phone call. It was in the days when we made Consumption Entries on purple ditto masters that could not be erased. The masters were run through a cylinder with an alcoholic solution to print out copies. If I had a strikeover it would eternally embarrass me. When I had “down” time at work, Mr Carr would hand me a big book full of addresses for freight forwarders. I think he must have known every freight forwarder in West Germany. It was my job to type up business solicitation letters to each of them. The letters had to be perfect–no erasures or “white-out” or correction tape marks added. One particularly slow day, I didn’t have any other work to do but the solicitation letters. That day I typed 40 letters and envelopes–my best record.

Mr. Carr also dictated letters which I wrote down in shorthand. One day I missed a spelling error. He held the letter up in the air, and in a booming voice called out, “What is this? I can’t read it. Is it in Spanish or something? All eyes from the office staff were on me as I hurried back to his desk to see what he was so excited about, and with a red face, assured him I would retype the letter.

I remained at this office for two years, until I got married and moved to California. What did I learn from all that harassment? I learned basic double-entry bookkeeping from Mr. Carr. I learned to look words up in a dictionary, and became a good speller. When computers came along I could type over 100 words per minute. When my husband and I are in strange cities I am able to memorize street names, routes and directions quickly. I have ways to remember people’s names.

I still use my shorthand skills when I go to meetings and classes. I became more organized and efficient as I went on to learn more computer applications. There’s one more thing I can do to perfection. I can type professional resume’s without a blemish. As a writer using a word processor, I will reprint a page, several times if necessary, to correct even one tiny mistake. Now I am a perfectionist too! As I think back about Mr. Carr, I’m grateful that he pushed me to do my best. And my mind echoes back, “whatever’s worth doing, is worth doing well!”

Memorizing Preserves the Past

Memorizing Preserves the Past


The power of recalling memorized materials has awed me. I didn’t set out to memorize many things but those I did commit to memory are not only still with me, they are teaching lessons I didn’t get the first time around.

Take the Gettysburg Address, written by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, for instance. My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Nelson, divided this famous speech into four parts. I got the first section to memorize: “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation can long endure...” Then the person reading part two took over, followed by persons three and four. At the very end we chorused together, “we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain–that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” What a great message to give a rising generation surrounded by doubts and fears about the future!

I was a little girl with a big book of Nursery Rhymes. I could recite the verses before I could actually read them. This prompted me to ask, “Why couldn’t Humpty Dumpty be put back together again?” And “Why would anyone put four and twenty blackbirds in a pie? In my book they were all chirping their heads off while singing.”

My dad decided I should memorize the multiplication tables. Every time we went somewhere in the car, he would fire off a set. “What is seven times six?” I was expected to fire right back with “forty-two.” I can still answer the questions quickly. After I perfected the times table he started drilling me on the names of the forty-eight states and their capitols. “The capitol of Michigan is Lansing.”

In church every Sunday we said little verses called Sacrament gems. Six of those verses are now words to a Sacramental hymn we sing. “In memory of the broken flesh, we take the broken bread. And witness with the cup afresh, our faith in Christ, our Head.”

I learned the thirteen Articles of Faith by memory, when my Sunday School teacher, Mrs. June Skyles, offered a prize to the first person who memorized all thirteen. Guess who won? I was given a sweet picture of a cottage surrounded by flowers, to hang on my bedroom wall. Maybe that’s why I love flowers so much. Maybe that’s why I can still do a pretty good job of reciting them today!

Other things I was around a lot just sort of seeped into me. Our newspaper had a little quote by Voltaire, “Though I disagree with what you say, I’ll defend to the death, your right to say it.”   That was noble.  Now its important.

Then there was a radio station that started out the morning news with, Salutation to the Dawn. That poem was in a book my husband and I were reading a few days ago. He had learned the same verse and we both recited it together. “Look to this day for it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence–the bliss of growth, the glory of action, the splendor of beauty. For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision. Look well, therefore to this day.”

Another radio program that I listened to on Sunday nights right after Mystery Theater, and just before I turned off the radio, stayed in my memory. Lying there in the dark, I still recall the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sorrow, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I shall not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Another character building poem I recall was written by one of my favorite authors, Edgar A. Guest, called Myself. “I have to live with myself and so, I want to be fit for myself to know....”  This is one of the truths I have lived by.

At a recent stake conference in Peoria, Arizona, a visiting authority, Gregory Switzer, taught the audience a quick way to learn the Ten Commandments. (See Deut 5:6-21) The first four deal with God. (1) No other Gods, (2) No idols, (3) Don’t take My name in vain, (4) Keep the Sabbath Day holy. The fifth (5) commandment says to honor our parents. The last five deal with others. (6) Don’t murder, (7) Don’t commit adultery, (8) Don’t Steal, (9) Don’t Lie, (10) Don’t Covet. Since we can’t display these signs in public anymore we were told to “Teach them to your children.” He also said to use our walls and refrigerator doors to teach children. I used to display the framed testimony of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon near my front door from D&C 76:22 “This, last of all is the testimony which we give of him. That he lives!...” I think this left an impression on my children though nobody mentions it.

By recalling things I have memorized, and “how useful they’ve been in my life, I firmly believe you can’t start too soon. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6  Babies can be taught with music. 

Memory is the book that can't be burned, or confiscated, or hid in a virtual cloud, no matter how many ways they try to destroy it.  And even those with memory loss retain long-term memory longer than other things they may forget.

A Well-Intentioned Hobbiest

Once upon a time I decided to learn how to upholster a chair. A woman showed me how to strip it to the frame, put back the padding, stretch the fabric to fit tightly in the right places, tuck, tack and make a cushion with cording around the edges. Just when it was starting to look good, and I was proud to say I did it all alone [with Madeline’s supervision of course.] I stopped reupholstering chairs. I never upholstered another chair. Why?
I had done it and wanted to try something else.

I wanted to learn photography, so I took a class, and learned how to develop my own photos, and I bought my own darkroom supplies, from enlarger to trays to solutions, to glossy paper. I did print some photos and even matted some, but you know what? I found it was an expensive hobby, so I sold the supplies.

That was okay, I had done it and wanted to try something else.

So, I decided to do cross-stitch pictures. I made a wall hanging with a baby’s name and a rattle, and blocks, a heart border and his address so he won’t forget where he used to live. Then I made a house with balloons and grandchildren’s names on them. I did a couple of temple pictures for wedding gifts, made myself a design by looking out my back window at a house across the field, (Though it somehow lost its second story when I ran out of room on the fabric.) And then I got neuropathy in my hands and had to quit that activity.

Besides, I had done it and wanted to try something else.

I bought fabric in beautiful colors of purple, lavender, aqua and teal. I was going to embroider butterflies on twelve quilt blocks and make a quilt for a grand daughter’s wedding present. The quilt squares were cut out but the quilt didn’t come together. I didn’t even embroider one butterfly. She got married without a wedding quilt.

I had started it, and decided I didn’t have enough skill. I gave the fabrics to charity and wanted to try something else.

So I invented a project. I took a set of outdoorsey rubber stamps and blew each stamped image larger in my copier. There was a log cabin, and a couple of moose, (or is that meese?) and fir trees and a lazy old hound dog to lie by the front doorstep. I scanned the design and printed each element onto heat-transfer paper. Then I got some tan cotton fabric and ironed on the picture elements with lettering saying “Cabin, sweet cabin.” I couldn’t top that.

I had done it and wanted to try something else.

This time I decided to take upholstery samples about 11" x14" to see what I could do to recycle the samples. I designed a group of wall hangings for a nursery or daycare center. Using various trimmings I already had, I made a scene with fish swimming in an aquarium, a wooly sheep on a plaid background, A big frog about to snap up a dragonfly with his long tongue while a little frog watched the technique; cars, trucks and things that go, and one panel with alphabet letters. But I thought they were kind of stupid looking. I gave them away.

Besides, I had done it and wanted to try something else.

So I took another class–this one on making greeting cards with rubber stamps and other special effects. The class was fun. I began buying stamp pads and a heat embosser, and metal punches, and I got a really good deal on a set of plastic drawers to keep things in. I was going to make my Christmas cards that year. But I didn’t have time, so I bought some cards. That was okay too, except the birthdays came along faster than I could remember to make those cards too! I still might make some gift cards ahead of time.

But, I had done it and wanted to try something else.

Sometimes I mastered a skill. Sometimes I recognized I didn’t have a skill. I always wanted to jump in with both feet, and have the top kind of equipment to do the job. Sometimes my plans were changed by circumstances. I get good ideas and don’t always follow through. Last year I wanted to recognize, collect and sell jewelry over the internet. I’ve purchased all kinds of jewelry to sell, some pretty good stuff. And I have a set of tools, and I’ve noticed how other people display items at their garage sales. I’ve even learned how to sell items on the Internet. So, what’s holding me up now?

I hope I don’t find something else to try before I make this one successful!

Dedicated to all of you who have drawers full of barely used craft paints, yarns, embroidery floss, fabrics or card stock and colored pens. Can someone out there teach me how to use a Crikut machine?

Three Books Worth Reading

Three Books That Will Inspire You and make you think about your life


The Timekeeper by Mitch Albom

We only have a small amount of time to live our lives. An ancient old man, a teen age girl with an identity crisis and a businessman with a fatal disease all play out the scenarios of their lives, which at a future time intersect with one another. The history of the world is their stage. The reader is compelled to think about what time he/she has and what they value most.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pauch

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.

Thank You Power by Deborah Norville

Some people advise keeping a gratitude journal. Some sing, “Count Your Many Blessings.” But gratitude is much more than that. It can affect your outlook on life, help you resist illness, get a job, and make many friends. You might even become rich! Even adversity can be turned into a positive experience. Thinking about others instead of yourself can bring blessings too. You might even learn to be truly happy.

I don’t have publishers names for these books because I have already given my copies to others, but all three are listed at discount prices on www.amazon.com And most likely, you can find them at your public library.

Wait...Wait....Wait

TOP 25 Waiting Rooms which cause Anxiety

   Yesterday I waited for 1-1/2 hours to spend 2 minutes renewing my driver's license.  I didn't count ceiling tiles but watched the TV monitor for each number in line.  There were about three F numbers (firsty time?) to the R numbers and a couple of A numbers.  The first one I saw was R-343.  my number was R-363.  I could tell it would be a long wait.  Then I looked around at the people who were there.  There were moms with babies in car seats, and little kids by their moms, and dads who might have been sitting in an employment office.  There was one well-dress man wearing a golf shirt.  Most of  the people looked i n a hurry and some were studiiously studying the driver's manual with portions underlined.  No open books were allowed beyond a point leading to the testing area.  I was glad I didn't have to do that again.  Next, I started watching shoes.  It seemed like most of the moms and most of the kids and even a few men wore flip flops today.  i didn't think the day was THAT hot!
     So, then I made a list of other places wait that cause anxiety or at least impatience.  HERE'S MY LIST:
1. Driver's license office
2. Hospital Emergency room
3. Bank home loan department
4. Dentist office
5. Doctor's office
6. Sheriff's office/Police department
7. Outside a store selling new I-pads (or I-pods)
8. Movie theater showing the next sequel to Harry Potter
9. Pawn Shop/Payday loans
10. Divorce Court
11. Bankruptcy Court
12. Child Services department
13. The Dean's office
14. Your own car when stopped by a traffic cop
15. Employment office
16. Long line at the Post Office
17. First time at an AA or NA Meeting
18. On the phone while reporting lost or stolen credit cards
19. Auditioning to sing or act
20. Funeral Home director's office.
21. Waiting for an I.R.S. Audit
22. Applying for Social Security or Disability
23. Waiting to find out what you bill will l be at the auto repair shop
24. Waiting for a Pharmacist to fill your prescription
25. Waiting behind five full baskets in line at a checkstand.

There seems to be a common thread here.  A - many are run by a government agency or hold some power over you, and B - Almost all will cost money.  C - Most will cause a permanent change in your life!  Whatever society can do to ease tensions should be considered to make the world a nicer place to live.

What are the top 5 on your list?  I'll talley them up and report.

#20 How I Met and Married Merle

     This episode of my life is directed to my adult children and grandchildren, with the hope that you will more fully understand how and why I married Merle. Some of you were very young and most of you were not yet born And, your spouses know only what they’ve been told second-hand.
     Taylor is the only one brave enough to have asked me outright, why I got divorced. My answer to him was that “Grandpa Ben decided he didn’t want to be married to me any more, and he married Grandma June after we got divorced.”
     This is to help you understand some of the rest of the story.


     We (Ben and I) had been living in very tight circumstances for close to ten years, during which years most of our children were born. There was a recession, jobs and money were scarce, there were few, if any, grants available to help us get a better education, and we accumulated debts, all of which placed us both under a lot of pressure and strain. Ben worked mostly at sales commission jobs. I remember having to choose between buying a cheap pair of tennis shoes for a child who really needed them and buying a gallon of milk. I couldn’t afford both. We felt we couldn’t afford to pay tithing. This was a big mistake. We had family prayers but not family home evening or scripture reading together, because Ben worked extra jobs in the evenings. We did attend Church every week but I felt like we were putting up a “big front.”
     I choose not to retell of the months leading up to the divorce, because it’s too painful, with one exception. Shortly before “the end” came, Ben became very sick and was hospitalized twice for extremely high fevers caused by hepatitis. [He says it was something else but Karen and I both caught it. We had priesthood blessings. She recovered in a week and I recovered in two weeks. Ben took much longer. The boys were given gamma-globulin shots to help prevent them from getting it. I recall the terrible stomach cramps I got each time after eating. Ben’s brother Terry said he probably had a permanent personality change from the fevers.] The “last straw” occurred when I found some pornographic magazines under our bed and I thought to myself, “I’ve got these pre-teen boys to raise, and I have to get them away from this kind of environment.” [I didn't think girls had porn problems in those days.]


     We separated in February 1971. I filed for divorce shortly after. In July the court date was scheduled for about the 19th. A few weeks before that I was feeling very depressed. Late one night I was curled up in a tight ball, lying on the living room floor and crying and praying all at the same time. I told Heavenly Father that I was not meant to raise these six children alone. I asked for a person who would (1) like kids, (2) would be a Mormon or at least let me practice my religion as I chose, (3) had a stable income, and (4) would like me for myself, and not have to play silly kids’ dating games. The thought that came into my mind was that the Lord doesn’t work against his own laws, and I would have to wait until the divorce was final.
     Meanwhile, my friend, Shirley Poyfair, was going out of town. She handed me a copy of our singles group newsletter and told me about a single man [Merle] in another ward, whom we should invite to the activities. She asked me to mail the newsletter to him, which I agreed to do. However, I decided to deliver it in person and went to his home. I was only at his front door for a few minutes but, seemingly left a favorable impression on him. I only weighed 117 pounds at the time, which helped. I forgot to tell him my name, so he contacted Shirley a few days later and arranged for all of us and my two oldest sons and Shirley’s two oldest sons to go to a singles family bowling activity. Merle spent the whole time teaching the boys how to bowl, and wondering which woman he would invite out to dinner. Shirley had a baby she needed to pick up at her babysitters’ so I got invited out to dinner. I think my other kids went with their dad that night.
     During that dinner I learned Merle was a Latter-day Saint, an Elder but had never been to the temple. He had been divorced from Alice about two years. He was a computer programmer with a steady job. Merle learned that I would be going to court on Monday, and that I was taking my kids out to Lewisville Park that same evening to go swimming. The judge granted the uncontested divorce that day but it was not considered final until the attorney’s fee was paid on August 2nd. Merle just sort of showed up while we were eating our picnic, and endeared himself to the kids while they rough-housed in the water with him. He met all four of my criteria. The Lord’s timing was so accurate it was almost scarey. We went on more dates. When Merle told his mother he was thinking of marrying a woman with six kids, she told him, “Oh, kids have a way of growing up,” which meant he had her approval. Merle and I, each having previously been married and in the prime of life, felt a strong physical attraction, and it seemed like a logical next step for us to get married, because neither of us wanted to commit adultery. We had a whirlwind courtship and were married by Bishop Roy King on August 27, 1971 in Vancouver. I had to wait a couple of years to get a cancellation of my temple sealing, but we were sealed in the Oakland Temple on March 30, 1974. I hope I did the right thing. Ben had broken his temple covenants and that was no trivial matter.

     I recognize that we should have taken more time for the kids to adjust to the new situations, and the fact that Ben had married June P. on August 16th. Merle did not counsel with his kids either. I thought that the Lord had answered my prayer so quickly and specifically, that all would work out, and I did not give the kids a chance to participate in the decision. I will say that Merle did a great job of raising my children while Ben went off and had the career he really wanted. He did not spend much time with the kids until years later, after he retired from his job as County Assessor. We were more amicable and respectful of each other after the divorce than before, and never used the kids as “spies” to get information. We did not talk down about each other in front of them. We did have “discussions” over who paid for what. Also, Merle and I did not disagree about discipline in front of the kids, but worked it out in private later on.
     I believe the kids led fairly normal lives as if they were in a 2-parent family. We did not move far away so they kept their friends at school and church. Merle and I set a goal for me to work for a year to pay off the debts I incurred from the divorce [we met the goal and moved into our home on 16th Ave. In June 1972] and then I could be a stay-at-home mom. We attended church regularly, paid tithing regularly and held family prayer and family home evenings regularly. Merle was called into the bishopric. I became a Primary President. We supported the kids’ school and church activities. Merle taught them how to be good workers, which they have thanked him for many times. They have all had the opportunity to learn to love white-water rafting, a legacy passed down to the next generation as well, by Merle.
     In looking back over these 40 years, I see why Satan tried so hard to break up this family. Four of my five sons went on church missions, and Merle’s two sons as well. They each married in the temple except one who died unmarried. At this time 2012, seven grandsons have also served missions and Merle and I served a couple mission. There are several more who plan to go. Two granddaughters have been married in the temple, so far. Of my sons, two have served as bishops [one later in a stake presidency, the other a high councilor] and another son has been a bishop’s councilor. I believe we will yet have more serving in leadership capacities. Most of them have college degrees, some post-graduate degrees, hold good jobs and have chosen wives who are good counterparts. They are good family men. Our two daughters are successful in their careers.


     Although this seems like a success story, we’ve had some problems. Not all of the kids are active in Church. We pray for them. Mine were born in the covenant and there is a promise that they will come back in due time of the Lord. Merle’s family has been more resentful of me being their stepmother and I pray that in time their hearts will be softened. I believe I have done the best I could with the challenges I’ve been given in my life.
      I love each one of you and your devotion and love for serving the Lord. We have a very special family. Each one of you has above average intelligence and gifts, are healthy, handsome or beautiful, well educated, and have meaningful jobs and church callings. You are blessed beyond measure. Please live up to your potentials so we can be together in the Celestial Kingdom. One of the attributes I’m best known for is researching and collecting family history and I want more than anything else, to have a loving and supportive family in the eternities.


Sincerely your mother and grandmother,

Lois K, March 20, 2012

I invite your feedback, especially from family members

#19 - Miracles in Arizona and Vancouver

#19 - Miracles in Arizona and Vancouver
     We went to Arizona in January 2010 with the intention of buying a house because prices were low and also interest rates. We wanted more sunshine in our lives. It rained a lot while we were there and we didn’t find anything that interested us. So, early in March, my husband flew back down. We decided we wanted a double-wide manufactured home in a gated park, for security reasons. We wanted to spend about $50,000 and had received a home equity line of credit approval before he went to Arizona. We preferred it to be in the valley west of Phoenix. Merle only had about four days to look.

     Our son Mike, and his family live at Buckeye, so they helped Merle look. The first day he looked they found a good prospect on Craigslist, which they went to see. It had 4-bedrooms and everything we wanted, and then some–even an orange tree! (A tender mercy). It’s price was $55,000 and Merle bargained it down to $50,000. Everything fell into place and we knew we had a purpose in going to Arizona. We just didn’t know we’d have to wait awhile before we could get there. We had hoped to go down there for the first time by October 2010 but we had to wait until late January 2011 until our surgeries had healed enough to be able to drive for three days.

     Our surgeries? Yes! In June 2010, I broke my ankle on Father’s Day. It was just three days before Merle was scheduled to have back surgery and he was suffering in tremendous pain. Before my surgery that night, my son David and stepson Kurt, gave me a priesthood blessing. He blessed me to heal quickly. During the five weeks I spent at the care center the therapists kept warning me not to put any weight on that foot, but sometimes I just couldn’t help not balancing on it. My prayers were “please don’t let me do anything to reinjure my ankle.” The doctors said I might have to have a second surgery because a tendon on the other side of my leg was out of place. Their time table was always four months ahead for me. I didn’t realize until after I was healed that the blessing was true. I heard about another woman who broke her ankle the previous November and she was in bed about six months because her leg wouldn’t heal. Finally in June her doctor told her a leg heals faster with a little stress, so he had her get up and start putting some weight on it. I actually had my cast and boot off before she did, though my injury came seven months after hers.

     While I was at a care center for the next five weeks, I kept thinking about all the things I couldn’t do and going home to a makeshift bedroom in my dining room. I was at the mercy of others for my basic needs, and afraid I might need a second surgery, and worried about Merle’s recovery too. Four months seemed like an eternity. One night I felt especially depressed. I prayed to the Lord for comfort. I wanted to see my deceased mother or at least an angel, but nothing came. At seven o’clock the next morning, my son Mike called. He was just wondering how I was. He is the most spiritually in-tune of my children, so the quickest to respond to the promptings of the Spirit. We talked for over an hour. I felt like he was an answer to that prayer.

      We both healed and went to Arizona in January 2011.  We spent 3-1/2 months in Arizona and returned again in the fall of 2011. This time we stayed for six months. When we were set apart for our mission to Toronto in 2000, we were set apart to serve for 18 months, but due to my health problems we actually served about 12 or 13 months, so I felt we owed the Lord another six months. When we went to Arizona in October 2011 we put ourselves on a service mission by volunteering our services at Deseret Industries. We worked there two mornings a week (or 8 hours a week, the same as called service missionaries serve). Our time there was greatly appreciated, and we were richly blessed.