We Thank Thee, Oh God, For a Prophet!

On Sunday, Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. For him, it was such a blessing. He had spent most of his life in the service of his heavenly father and his fellowman. I know he is so happy to be reunited with his wife who died a couple of years before him. For me and other members of our church it is an emotional time to have someone so loved leave us. His nature was so endearing and kind. His words and works, so inspiring. I cannot do him justice with my words.

In my kitchen I have a wooden plaque hanging over the entrance to the family room that lists the six "Bs", given by Pres. Hinckley. They are: Be Grateful, Be Smart, Be Clean, Be True, Be Humble, Be Prayerful. He embodied all of these qualities and more. He was a true representative of how the Savior wants us to live. I have no doubt that he was truly called of God to represent him here on earth as our prophet and leader. Let me expound on that.

I am now at the age of having been around for a good many or the prophets. In the song "Latter-day Prophets", I have been around for all of the names in the last 3 lines of the song!

"David O. McKay was followed by Joseph Fielding Smith.

Then Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter.

Gordon B. Hinckley shows the way. We hear and follow his words today."

Each time one prophet passed away and a new one was sustained, I prayed to know personally that this man was indeed the Lord's servant, the one meant to lead us and let man know God's will for us today. Each time I saw that mantle of authority almost literally cloak the man as he was set apart, ordained and sustained to lead this great work. I was given that peace and comfort in my heart to know that miracles still happen and that God has not left us alone in these modern days. He still speaks to his prophets and tells us what we need to know and gives us comfort in times of trial. Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." I know this is true because I have found out for myself.

So, as my final tribute to President Hinckley, let me quote Paul, from 1Corinthians 14:3-4, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church." Pres. Hinckley's words were always words of edification, exhortation and comfort. I will miss him.

If you go to byu.org, you can see a slide show of him at BYU and hear excerpts of some of his speeches given there. They are awesome.

I was tagged by Lindsey!

Four jobs I've had:
1. cashier
2. water slide attendent
3. Bagger at a grocery store
4. Substitute Teacher
Four places I've lived:
1. Clovis, CA
2. Provo, UT
3. Wurzburg, West Germany
4. San Angelo, TX and a few other places besides Phoenix
Four movies that I love:
1. Sand Lot
2. Return to Me
3. White Christmas
4. All Cary Grant Movies
Four favorite foods:
1. Salmon
2. Chocolate
3. Shrimp
4. Strawberries
Four weird things about me
1. I fear almost everything
2. I am overly emotional
3. I have always wanted a strapless dress, even though I wouldn't really wear it because it is immodest.
4. I love dishes more than shoes.
Four favorite TV shows
1. What not to Wear
2. Dancing with the Stars
3. Don't Forget the Lyrics
4. Decorating Cents
Four places I'd love to go
1. Back to Germany
2. Hawaii (or back to Tahiti)
3. Japan
4. England
I tag anyone who even reads this

"Make me a blessing to someone today..."

I was telling Ruth about the Mitford series of books. So, I have begun reading the first one again. It is titled, At Home in Mitford, by Jan Karon. Besides the scriptures, these books are probably the most inspirational works I have read. My title to this blog is from the first page of the novel. Father Tim says this prayer each day. He says and does so many other things that make him a saint. And while I know that this is a work of fiction, I wish he were a real person that I could know and that I could be as Christ-like as he is. Not only does he know the scriptures forward and back, but he quotes Wordsworth with equal ease. He serves others willingly and is totally selfless. His utterances are almost always edifying and kind. The little town of Mitford is filled with such characters and character. There is always humor and there is so much that makes you want to nod your head in agreement. Here are some of his kind remarks to people:

To his less than affable secretary when she hads him a box of Little Debbies: "You are a pearl above price!"

When he walked into his friends' warm home: "A foretaste of heaven!"

And here is a little exchange that I just loved: Vet friend Hal talking to his wife, '"Tim has some heavy-duty stress to contend with. Holy Week, two Easter services, a Vermeer, a new dog the size of a Buuick, fourteen azaleas to get in the ground, and' he looked at Father Tim, 'there must be something else.'
'"A bone spur in my left heel,' he said, cheerfully" Don't you just love that?

So, I recomend the Mitford series to everyone. As I reread this post I see that I haven't done the book justice at all, so you will just have to take my word for it and read it yourself. I will end with one of Father Tim's favorite sayings which I would like to adopt as my own: Philippians four-thirteen, f'r gosh sake!

My Bucket List

My friend Ruth put up a bucket list question on her blog. Now I am really thinking about it and I have to post my own partial list:

1. Swim with the dolphins.
2. Sell this house and buy a dream house, (not necessarily a mansion) a house that is nice and comfortable and it doesn't need remodeling or fixining, but I can just live in it and have time to do other things. Of course, it will be furnished with exactly the right nice pieces of furniture, not make do pieces.
3. I want to serve a mission with my husband.
4. I want to spend 3 days at Disneyland. I love Disneyland.
5. I want to travel to so many places!

Well, this takes a lot of thought. So, I will have to add to it as thoughts come to mind.

I am getting too old to teach kindergarten!

Yesterday I taught kindergarten. It wasn't too bad of a day really. There were a couple of kids who could have done with one more year at home before starting school, but overall I thought it went well. Then at the end of the day, the principal came it to say that a parent had called and complained that I had left the kids out on the playground for a really long time in the afternoon. I was floored. In the afternoon, about an hour and a half after lunch, the kids were to go to music class. So, first we went to take a bathroom break. Then, after checking the time I saw that we had about 3 minutes left before our music time, so I lined the kids up and we played Simon Says for 3 minutes before going into class. They seemed to be having fun, and the child whose parent complained didn't have any problems at the time. What child complains that they got to be outside playing instead of in the classroom working? The other thing that baffles me is that this child arrived at school nearly 2 hours late that day because they hadn't woken up. I get the impression that this is not a one time event, but that it happens often.

I have found that there are some people who just look for things to complain about and for reasons to have drama in their lives. I wish that they would find some other way to fulfill this need than to stress me out. Now that this is off my chest, maybe I can continue with my life. Unfortuately, I have to teach this class again on Thurs. and Fri. Arghh! If only I could become independently wealthy...........

29 years and counting

These Pix are in the wrong order. The top one is at our reception. That is a light , not a bubble coming out of my nose. The pic below was taken on the night we were engaged. We are in my apartment in Provo. It was Oct. 4, 1979.

Before I wrote about the New Year, I should have written about our anniversary. On the 28th of December, Glen and I celebrated our 29th anniversary. Doesn't that sound amazing? It does to me because I can remember our wedding day and many other days since then as if they happened yesterday. In another way, it does feel like a long time, since when I look back, some of our memories feel like it was other people living our lives then from who we are now. Does that make sense? I guess that just means that we have grown and experienced a lot in 29 short years. Here is a short synopsis of these 29 years.

We were married 29 years ago in the Los Angeles Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After the wedding, we drove up to Clovis, CA. My sister Donna had prepared a wonderful lunch for us all to enjoy. Glen's family was there. We had a reception at the Gettysburg building that evening. It was terribly foggy that night, so it prohibited a very large attendance. But, it was nice. My Uncle Floyd sang and so did my past youth leader, Connie Bybee. We spent our wedding night at the Airport Marina Hotel, which is now named something else. The next morning, we went back to my mom's house and opened our gifts. Then, because my car needed a new radiator, we ended up driving to Phoenix with Glen's parents towing a little trailor with our gifts and a little furniture from my mom.

On New Year's Eve in Phoenix, we had an open house. It was well attended. It was held in Bishop Pottle's home here in Phoenix. Elsie Webster was here visiting her daughter Chris Mecham who was having a baby. She was the only person from home that I knew, and I was glad to see her. Finally, after that night, Glen and I drove his mom's Plymouth Valiant, a circa 1960 something orange car, on to Provo Utah.

In Provo, We had an apartment on State Street, next to the Beasley Monument Co., and across from the cemetary. I had graduated from BYU and needed to find a job. Glen had been going to school at BYU, but transferred to Stevens Henegar Business College hoping to finish more quickly. But, he was going to school on the GI bill, and they decided that they needed to council him before they sent him any more money. Unfortunately, It snowed badly, the worst storm in 50 years, and the Valiant wasn't very valiant. We walked most places and getting Glen to Salt Lake was not working. We also couldn't afford a phone. We had to walk to a pay phone to call our parents to borrow our $100 rent each month. Soon, Glen found a night time job as a janitor at the Orem Mall. He couldn't stand owing our parents money though, so one day he talked to the recuiter and re-enlisted in the army as a russian linguist

We moved to Monterey CA, then to San Angelo , TX and after that, Wurzburg, West Germany. That was when there was still the Berlin Wall. We saw the guards and wire and so forth. We lived there for two years, and that was where our first baby was born. After we left Germany, we finished the military life in Manhatten, KS. Since that time, we have lived in Phoenix, AZ, in three different places. This is where our other 5 children were born. I am trying not to continue to bore you all with the details, but they are vivid to me. I have truely loved my life with Glen. I can't say that we have never argued, but mostly we don't and I feel sorry for everyone who isn't us because we love each other so much and we feel so blessed. We are not rich and we don't live in a mansion, but I love what I have, and I am so thankful

For our anniversary this year, we went and ate at a very expensive Brasillian restaurant. It was awesome. We did it in honor of two of our sons, Aaron who served and Tyler who is currently serving as missionaries in Brazil. They are such great young men. All of my children make me feel so proud. The Lord has truely blessed us. I have felt His love in our lives throughout our marriage, and that is what I want for my children, because there is nothing better than to be married to a good companion who is spiritual, smart, strong and good. Everyone's lives should be filled with such love and I know the source of that love that is eternal. So, for this first 29 years, I give thanks to my Heavenly Father who has blessed me beyond my capacity to be worthy of those blessings. And I will end with this, I love you Glen.