March 2022, Week 4

*Today in church Caytie gave a talk during Sacrament Meeting.  It is not something she likes to do, but she did it anyway, and did a great job.  She talked about building spiritual foundations.  She mentioned that she feels she got much of her foundation from her time in Primary, which meant a lot to me, since I was the Primary President during much of her time there.  Scott's friend also spoke today, as he is leaving soon on his mission.  He also talked about the foundation he built during his youth, and the importance of the church.  The other adult speaker spoke about teaching her children small things each day, and how they add up and matter when the big things come up.  Then in Relief Society, we talked about Elder Dunn's conference talk about improving 1% at a time.  I didn't put it all together until now, but all of these things circle together-- do the small things every day.  Look for something that needs maybe even 1% more effort or improvement, and do it.  All of these cumulative increases will bring great rewards, and our foundation will be strong.  It is so important and so worth it.

March 2022, Week 3

*Today at church I was able to substitute for our organist.  After the sacrament hymn, the chorister leaned over to me and said, "I wish you could see how Ben looks at you when you're not looking."  That was about the sweetest thing I've heard.  I do have a pretty amazing husband, and I'm grateful he likes me, too.

*Today in Sunday School we talked about Joseph and his brothers, which has been a favorite story since childhood, when we'd watch a Bible video about it on Sunday afternoons.  I hadn't before noticed how much of a type of Christ that Joseph was in so many ways, but also his brother Judah, who offered himself as a sacrifice for his brother Benjamin.  I am not always quick to pick out the references to Christ in the Old Testament, but He is evident in every story.  I'm grateful for the study helps and wise people who teach me better things.

(This was actually the 1st time I attended Sunday School this year, due to substituting in Primary in various ways.  There were SIX babies under a year in there!  They are so cute.  I am, however, grateful to be past that phase of life.)

March 2022, Week 2

 Today I watched church at home with my youngest (now almost 10 years old) since we both have bad colds.  We're in the end stages (we hope) of the COVID 19 pandemic, so Sacrament Meeting is still being broadcast for those medically fragile and those who are sick.  I'm grateful today for the option, but really, really prefer to be in church in person, since the audio quality of the broadcast was pretty terrible.

Actually, I wasn't going to be able to attend church at all today.  I was supposed to be on an 8:05 am flight to Denver, to go to my niece's wedding this afternoon (beginning 30 minutes from now).  But my flight was canceled by text at 3:45 am this morning.  There's no reason that I can see for the cancelation.  They offered me a 10 pm flight instead, but that obviously wouldn't work for me.  I am really sad to have to miss the wedding.  In the end, though, I am sicker than I thought, so it's probably a good thing that I'm not traveling or associating with lots of people.

Life is good.  The day is definitely not how I planned it, but I can find sparks of delight this Sabbath.  It is a day of rest.

March 2022, Week 1

*Today for church we had Stake Conference.  For the adult session last night and again today, the visiting General Authority (Elder Broc Hiatt) invited people up to bear their testimonies.  I am always so impressed when people can speak so eloquently extemporaneous.  If they're anything like me, they probably are going back in their minds thinking about what else they could have said or another way to phrase things, but I think they did such a beautiful job bringing the Spirit.  They talked of the power of daily prayer, of the "Come, Follow Me" studies they do, of finding God in their daily, mundane events of life, of our God who promises and our Savior who hears and heals.  Then Elder Hiatt said, "I've been learning about who you are here in the Richardson Stake.  Would you like to know who you are?"  And then he quoted parts of everyone's testimonies, and it was beautiful.

It was a delight.

September 2016, Week 4

*Today, before church at Stake Council, I had an answer to a thought that had been rolling around in my mind.  Our Stake President was sharing some insight he had gotten at a Coordinating Council meeting he attended, which had the focus of missionary work.  He shared how in 3 Nephi 11, after the Savior invited all people to come to Him to feel the wounds in his hands, the first thing he taught them was about baptism.  That is really the goal of all the outreach and missionary work we as a church do.  He quoted Elder Oakes when he said that baptism is so important because it is the first ordinance for exaltation.  Living a good, Christian life is not enough.  Being kind is not enough.  You need the ordinances for progression.  (I forgot to write that the thought rolling around was how yes, this is the true church, but people who never learn of it, or for whatever reason don't accept it, can still have good, fulfilling, uplifting lives--and was that their plan?  Was it okay for them?  But the problem is that they don't get the ordinances necessary for exaltation, and THAT is why missionary work is so important.  And we are all missionaries, all the time.)

*Today, on my way to church from Stake Council, I was listening to the radio to a sermon being broadcast from a church in Dallas.  A couple things stood out to me from this discussion.  One was: "Pray until you pray."  I knew exactly what the man meant by this.  Sometimes I pray without praying.  Sometimes I have to pray for a bit before my prayer really begins.  Sometimes I get it right and can pray for the whole time I pray.  I like that phrase, and I think it will help me in my prayers going forward.  The second thing he said that stood out was: "Growth comes from obedience, not from knowledge." I thought that was insightful because we can study all day every day, but until we start living the things we learn, we won't progress.  Obedience is an exercise of faith.  We give up the power of our mind in favor of the direction the Lord gives us in our heart.

*Today at church, a man who is a recent convert bore his testimony.  He is a sweet, older single man who lives in my neighborhood.  I learned that after the hail storm, he called a number the city provided to get a ride to a doctor appointment, because his car was destroyed.  Our church had provided numbers to the city of members willing to volunteer to do those kinds of things, and the man who gave him the ride was a member in another ward.  He got talking with our neighbor, introduced him to the Book of Mormon, and things progressed from there.  What got me about this testimony is that this man joined the church because of the hail storm.  I am looking for ways that this hail storm has brought blessings, because it is hard to see sometimes, and here was a vibrant example, standing and testifying in front of me of his love of the Savior and of those who act in His name.  I concede that there is a plan in all things, and that the Lord has a hand in all things.

It was a delight.

July 2016, Week 2

Sooo...  I'm back again.  Life took a crazy turn with a destructive hailstorm in April.  I kept thinking of things to write on here, but I never did.  I've officially given myself permission to skip it, or I would never start this up again.  So, without further ado:

*Today at church we had a speaker talking about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, but it kind of was more about how when we have trials, we can still find many blessings from the Lord.  She talked about the Israelites in the wilderness, and how they were provided with manna and quail each day, and twice as much on the day before the Sabbath.  She asked us to think about what our wilderness is.  She also said that if we aren't able to keep the Sabbath Day holy, then we are really slaves to something else, and we need to free ourselves from that.  Interesting thoughts.

*I'm personally thinking about how to make the sacrament more holy, and every time I think or pray about it, I come across an article or a talk or an idea from a friend that covers that topic.  I think I still have a way to go, but I'm glad it's something that is often on my mind.

It was a delight.

March 2016, Week 4

*Today was Easter!  At church we celebrated through song (our Primary children sang "Gethsemane," which, though not an official Primary song, should be an official Primary song, and the ward choir [including me!] sang "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," which, though not in the current hymnbook, should be in the next hymnbook).  We also had a wonderful talk by one of my favorite sisters.  She and I have different personalities, but the same beliefs.  She lives life with flair and boldness, and she invited us to look beyond her fake hair color and false eyelashes to the real, pure message in her heart.  She reminded us how we put so much time into preparing for Christmas, but sometimes overlook Easter preparations, when really, "There would be no Christmas if there had not been Easter" (Gordon B. Hinckley).  I remember hearing that when Pres. Hinckley said that, and it took me a minute to figure out its truth.  He lives--all glory to His name.

*Today I got to sit with my husband's visiting brother and his wife (and my husband!) during Sunday School, which was a rare treat.  Our lesson was on Jacob 1-4, and we had a great discussion about the meaning of "magnifying your calling."  We have some wise people in my ward.

*Our Relief Society lesson was a conference talk about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  We talked a lot about specific trials we have that can be overcome through the Atonement.  After the lesson, my sister-in-law, who has visited our ward a couple times, said she could tell that our ward really cared for each other, and the sisters seemed like we are all friends.  I liked to hear that, since the ward realignments only happened three months ago.  I think there has been a real effort all around to make that happen so quickly.

*It was a delight!