Church Today

I had a great time at church today. Usually by the time I get home my head gets so full of "what comes next" that I can't remember what the talks were about. Today, I remember some specific impressions. Sister Howell (sp?) made a specific point that we "keep the Lord's commandments" with exactness" Her words made me take stock of my own apathy. I go through the motions but there is no "fire" in my testimony right now. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's church with all the keys of the priesthood restored. I know that I, like all God's children, am entitled to personal revelation. It's not that I'm doing anything particularly wrong but watching Sister Howell's impassioned speech lit a little fire under my own testimony, I hope I can fan the flames this week. Next was the sweet feeling of the spirit that attended the talk given in Primary. The speaker was 4 years old and I was struck at the incredible wisdom of having the many jobs that need to be performed in our church community done by "laypeople". Here was this sweet 4 year old girl learning how to speak in front of a group. Nearly from the time our children can speak we begin to develop the skill to stand up before others and share God's word, by the spirit of the Lord. While this little girl was speaking a room full of children were also learning to listen both to their peer and to the spirit who would speak through her. We learn from the Book of Mormon (1 Neph 3:7) that "the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" Most active members in the church have held a variety of callings (jobs). I've had a family member of mine refer to our leadership as "a joke" because they are not "trained" but over the years I've come to understand just how sweet and wise it is that our bishops are not always "polished" and have rote methods by which to serve. We all have to rely on the Lord to "prepare the way" and we learn and grow so much more in the process. My service in the church is the greatest training I've ever had over and above the university level courses I took to prepare me for my career. I do what I do because I was called to it by the Lord and the most useful training I've had I received in Primary, Young Womens, Relief Society, and Sunday School.

Friends

Some people collect friends. It is a gift I don't posses. Don't get me wrong, this entry is not going to be a "poor me, nobody likes me" wallow. As a matter of fact, what's on my mind this morning is how well I have done in making good friends despite my poor skills in the area. A couple of weekends ago I spent Saturday morning playing around with paper in my craft room and decided while I did to check out facebook to see what was going on. It turned out that my friend Sue was facebooking at the same time. We got into a 2 hour long chat online. (Doesn't the internet rock!!) We talked about everything from crafts to family to ancestry and our faith. Sue has always been like that. She and her husband Mike used to be our Saturday night card/game buddies when my children were small. We played Pinochle, Spades, Risk, and Trivial Pursuit. Once, we took a trip together to Mike & Sue's hometown in Idaho. We played Trivial Pursuit over CB radios the whole trip! Sue's children were friends with my children so that when we did get together everyone seemed to have a good time. After we moved away from Winnemucca Sue kept in touch. I'm terrible at that but she is always willing to forgive and forget and when we do manage to connect again it seems like we can just pick up where we left off. Sue is the kind of friend who just seems to encourage you to be better.

Sue isn't the only good friend I have, however, just the one with the most history. I'm lucky to have good friends I work with and friends at church all of whom seem to basically forgive my antisocial ways. I'd list them but I'd be bound to forget someone and run the risk of hurting someone's feelings. You know who you are. ;)

Okay Sue, if you are reading this here is the card I made at your suggestion while we were talking. Thanks for the idea.

Change is Good

Another decade down and a lot has changed since the end of the 20th century.

I am an empty nester.

Some of my children have children.

I finished school.

My best friend is going back to school.

I have a job that I love.

My body does not work like it did in the last century.

We moved to Minnesota.

My son served a mission.

My husband decided against having hair.

My hair decided it is curly - and some of it is gray.

We adopted a cat.

I taught seminary for 6 years

I taught Primary for 2 years

I changed schools (my place of employment) 3 times in 4 years.

Today I spent more than an hour with administrators from our district talking about major changes to take place at the school where I work. I know in my heart that change is good but I can't help wishing next year would be easy enough to skate. But then I'd get bored. Some people are never happy with the grass on their side of the fence.