Car Accident Warned

 After my freshman year of college I came home for the summer to work.  When the summer was drawing to a close, I had several errands I needed to run before I headed back to BYU.  On the day of my flight, I had run one errand and was on my way to another errand.  The thought/feeling came that I should go home and then do the last errand later that day.  But I was already in the car, and it made so much more sense to just continue on my way to the last errand at the mall.  The thought came again that I should go home first.  But I persuaded myself that once I got home, I wouldn't want to leave again and that it was wiser to just complete the errand.  But this uneasy feeling persisted.  As I drove toward the mall, I was approaching the intersection and had a green light.  Suddenly, a car turned left just in front of me.  I slammed on the breaks and swerved a bit, hoping to miss the car but there wasn't time and I hit the car.  I wasn't at fault, but the car was totalled.  I was fine and so was the other driver, fortunately.  But I learned my lesson.   The spirit had tried to warn me and I hadn't listened.  I could have avoided totally my family's car if I'd listened and obeyed.  I've tried to be much more cautious about listening to the warnings of the spirit since that time.

LESSONS LEARNED:  Listen to the voice of the spirit.  If you have a feeling you shouldn't do something, don't do it!

Randal Inspiring Stories

 As I mentioned, I am reading Make Every Day Meaningful.  Randal Wright includes a lot of stories and personal experiences.  I found two that he shared to be especially powerful right now for me.

Sinai You Qualify

The first story he entitled "Sinai You Qualify" and he wrote it next to Exodus 16.  In 1998, he and his wife took a tour of the Middle East.  They were scheduled to stop in Egypt but there had been a terrorist attack there in November 1997 and tour companies removed Egypt from their itineraries.  This lack of tourism caused serious harm to Egypt's economy. SO Egypt promised the tour company that they would be protected and Egypt was added back into their itinerary. When they arrived, they were taken to a 5 star hotel. They had armed guards to protect them. They had huge buffets filled with delicious food. They absolutely loved their time in Cairo.   

Then they traveled by bus to Mount Sinai, a harsh desert region.  They were in a 1/2 star hotel and the food looked like it had been prepared days earlier.  That evening they had a "brief" meeting in preparation for them to hike Mount Sinai at 2 AM the next morning.  It was hot and there was nowhere to sit. The tour guide launched into Old Testament history and the meeting was anything but short.  It was uncomfortable and people began to grumble. He found himself wishing he were back in Egypt.  As he was standing there, two words popped into his mind...you qualify.

Here's what he wrote:  "Qualify for what?  Then the little voice said, 'You qualify.  You could have easily been one of the murmuring children of Israel with Moses in the wilderness of Sinai.'  Like them, I wanted to go back to Cairo.  Here I was, about to enjoy and unforgettable spiritual experience climbing the mountain where it is believed God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and all I could do was complain about the accommodations."

This especially struck me when I read it yesterday, because we ended up being without power for 8 hours.  But we had food to eat and we were safe and unlike many areas of Salt Lake we didn't have any destruction of our property, we didn't lose any trees, etc.   We were fine.  A sweet neighbor, Aly, even brought us ice to help protect our food.  And yet we all did a bit of complaining.  Sinai---I qualify!!

Bradford 200 copies

The second story took place in college.  In a sociology class, their professor Reed Bradford gave them an assignment to find a story that taught a valuable moral lesson and summarize it in 2-4 pages.  Then they were to make 200 copies of the story.  Many students grumbled as it would be expensive to make that many copies.  On the day the assignments were due, he asked each student to place their stack of copies in the hallway.  At the end of class, he had each student take one copy from each pile..and now they had 200 stories that taught a principle...each person had put in very little effort and gained so much.

He then spoke of the law of consecration.  If we each do our part, everyone becomes "rich" in the process.  In 4 Nephi 1:23, we read that the people weren't poor but "had become exceedingly rich" as they lived the law.  Brother Wright pointed out that we pay tithing and then receive such great blessings.  We have beautiful chapels across the world and the chapels are the same design in poor neighborhoods as in affluent ones.  We have temples, ward activities, camps, hymnals, and so many other blessings that come to us as we pay tithing.   Most of us could never afford all that we receive on our own (I certainly couldn't afford temples or church buildings!) and so he reminds us that "Sharing with others usually brings greater prosperity instead of less."  

Matt Cookies Note

 In college I had a home teacher named Matt Hall.  He was a really great guy.  Truly great.  I've run into him a couple  of times as an adult and always remember what a good example he was.  One of those people that has a solid testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and is continually serving others.  

At one point, I was struggling. I can't really remember what was going on but I just know that it had been a rough week and I was frustrated and discouraged.   I got home one day to a note and a plate of cookies.  They were from Matt and the note just said something like he had a feeling I could use a reminder that I wasn't alone and that people cared about me.  Or maybe that's not what the note said at all...but that is the message I got from the note.  I wasn't alone.  Even though Matt didn't know I was struggling, Heavenly Father did.  And he let me know that others cared through a simple act of service delivered by my friend and home teacher.

LESSONS LEARNED:  Never suppress a generous thought.--Camilla Kimball

"God does notice us and watches over us.  But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore it is vital that we serve one another.”  --Spencer W. Kimball

Quotes on Journaling

 I'm reading Randal Wright's book Make Every Day Meaningful.   He includes a lot of quotes on the importance of journaling.  And I know it is. So while I am sure there are many other places to find these quotes, I thought it might be nice to collect many of them right here.

Wilford Woodruff:  "We are the people ordained of God to establish His kingdom upon the earth, build up Zion, and prepare the way for the coming of Jesus Christ.  Now, should we not keep a journal, record, and history of the dealings of God with [us] as they transpire day by day before our eyes?  We should."

Gordon B. Hinckley said, "May I suggest that you write, that you keep journals, that you express your thoughts on paper.  Writing is a great discipline.  It is a tremendous educational effort.  It will assist you in various ways, and you will bless the lives of many-your families and others-now and in the years to come, as you put on paper some of your experiences."

Spencer W. Kimball:  "Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives."

Orson Pratt:  "[If every person had] kept a faithful record of all that he had seen and felt of the goodness, wisdom and power of God, the Church would now have been in the possession of many thousand volumes, containing much important and useful information.  How many thousands have been miraculously healed in this Church, and yet no one has recorded the circumstances.  Is this right?  Should these miraculous manifestations of the power of God  be forgotten and pass into oblivion?  Should the knowledge of these things slumber in the hearts of those who witnessed them, and extend no further than their verbal reports will carry them?...We should keep a record because Jesus commanded it.  We should keep a record because the same will benefit us and the generations of our children after us.  We should keep a journal because it will furnish many important items for the general history of the church which would otherwise be lost."

John A.Widstoe:  "As I view it, in every family a record should be kept....That record should be the first stone, if you choose, in the family altar.  It should be a book known and used in the family circle; and when the child reaches maturity and gets out  to make another household, one of the first things that the young couple should take along should be the records of their families, to be extended by them as life goes one....Each one of us carries, individually, the responsibility of record keeping, and we should assume it."

Dr. Marshall Duke, psychology professor at Emory University, studied how family stories impact resilience.  He found that family stories "help children by evoking pride, personal history, a sense of connectedness and feelings of being special, even in the most ordinary family."  He wrote, "There are heroes in these stories, there are people who faced the worst and made it through.  And this sense of continuity and relatedness to heroes seems to serve the purpose in kids of making them more resilient."

Printed in the Millenial Star in 1840:  "Do you keep a journal?  If so, well--and you will have your reward; and if not, we would again enjoin it upon you, and upon all who have not before heard the admonition, to commence forthwith to keep a Journal, or write a history; and see to it, that what you write is strictly true and unexaggerated; so that in the end, all may know of all things concerning this last work, and all knowledge may flow together from the four  quarters of the earth, when the Lord shall make his appearing, and we all may be ready to give a full account of our mission, our ministry and stewardship, and receive the welcome tidings, "Thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

First Day Postponed

 2020 has been the most unusual year I have seen.  My district made the decision to stay fully online...at least at the beginning of the year.  Hopefully we will move to a hybrid model in November.  We have spent tons of hours preparing for school to start and today was the day.   I awoke early, got ready, and then started getting texts from teachers...there has been a huge wind storm during the night and today...and many teachers were without power and unsure what to do.  At first our principal said to just keep trying each hour and he'd let parents know to check Zoom each hour.  But then about 20 minutes before school started, the district cancelled school. 

I already knew this first day would be different than any other...but it was even more unusual than I expected.  I keep thinking...3 years ago I never thought I would ever see the district have a snow day!  We never had in my 19 years of teaching to that point.  Now we have had two snow days, closed school/moved online for months due to the pandemic, cancelled school for an earthquake and cancelled the first day of school due to power outages.  If I had told myself these stories three or four years ago, I would not have believed they were true!

Also, I met with students and parents last week in preparation to begin this year.  I told most of them that there would likely be some technology bumps in the road in the first few weeks...this wasn't quite what I expected.  As another teacher pointed out, at least the technology issues weren't my fault.

This morning as it was all happening, I just kept laughing.  I figured it was either that or cry.  

And I guess my overall feeling should be one of gratitude.  We're fine.  Our home wasn't damaged.  We didn't lose our trees.  So many I know were not so fortunate.  Teachers from my school sent me these photos of the damage at their homes or in their neighborhoods.

LESSONS LEARNED:  In the words of Marjorie Pay Hinckley:  "“The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.”

Expect the unexpected.  Especially in 2020.

There are ALWAYS things to be grateful for.  Even in the midst of hard.

Grocery Didn't Act

 On a (different) grocery shopping trip to Winco, I had just checked out and was heading to my car.  I saw a woman with two carts and a couple of young children struggling to push two carts to her car.  I felt a prompting to ask if I could help.  But I felt awkward and didn't.  I often think of that and genuinely try to be better at noticing when others need help and then ACTING.  I want to be someone the Lord can trust and that He knows will act on promptings.  I'm sorry that I wasn't that time.

George Riser Faith

 Yesterday I did a virtual tour of Nauvoo.  My kids started off watching but soon walked off to other things (Michelle would probably have watched...but she was napping).  The sister missionaries told church history stories and connected them to our reading in Come Follow Me in Helaman 13-16.

One of the stories they told was of George and Christiana Riser.  They had heard about the Mormons and so they moved to Nauvoo to learn more.  George opened a boot shop there with his brother.  they learned more and wanted to be baptized.  Then their son, John Jacob, became very ill.  They asked Joseph to give him a blessing.  Joseph blessed him that he would be healed and he was.  The Risers were so anxious to be baptized that they went to the river the next day.  It was December 12, 1842 and very cold so  a hole had to be cut into the Mississippi River for them to be baptized.  About a year and a half later, John Jacob became ill again.  Joseph returned again to bless John Jacob.  This time he didn't feel he could bless him to be healed and soon the young boy died.  The Risers stayed true.  Their faith was in Christ and they knew He lived.  That must have been so hard but I'm impressed by their faith and courage.

LESSONS LEARNED:  Faith can be strengthened through healings, signs, and miracles but miracles and signs alone won't produce faith.

Our faith must be securely anchored in Jesus Christ.

Trials and afflictions will come to us agll.