Scorching the World

One of greatest highlights for me during the Christmas season is singing in Handel's Messiah. I have participated with my daughters since at least 1991, singing under Doyle West at the Interstake Center in Oakland. He was a wonderful conductor. He was very spiritual and understood the message of the beautiful music, yet he was a lot of fun to rehearse under. (He has since retired after leading the Messiah choirs for more than 30 years.) Rehearsals were way more fun than the performances. The performances were typically on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with Friday being a sing-along. I loved singing in those choirs, which were typically about 200 voices with a full (tho non-professional) orchestra. There were always 4 amazing soloists. On the years that we couldn't participate in all the rehearsals, we really tried to sing with the choir on the night of the sing-along. After we moved to Fresno, it was just too hard to get back to Oakland every year for the performances an...

I love my Miata. My honey bought it for me because he loves me. In our house in Madera, he built an attached garage so I could park it inside and walk right into the house. But since we moved in with Tanya, my poor little Miata has to be outside. I used to park it in the street, but it was very sad and lonely and felt very exposed out there. Poor baby. Then Tanya suggested I park it in the driveway off to the side. Since it is such a small car, I fit in the little cubbyhole under the Crepe Myrtles. My car was happy there, and Todd and Tanya could still get into the garage without my car being in the way at all. The problem is that the trees put out a fine mist of sap that is very hard to wash off. I bought special stuff that takes it off, but needs done constantly if I'm parking there. So since I have a whole lot of fabric that was given to me, I made a cover for it. It fits just fine and has a little pocket that folds under the license plate to hold it in place on the fro...

Ever since Tom and I got married, we've looked forward to the day that we both retire so we can return to Chile where we served our missions. We've looked forward to being able to go on a 2nd mission (3rd for me) and be missionary companions! We've looked forward to being missionaries and teaching the gospel in Chile again. We gave up hope long ago of finding anyone we helped convert, since it has been over 40 years, but we have hope that there might be a relative or descendent or someone who remembers the ones we taught. Well, that day is finally approaching. Tom is planning to retire in January of 2013! So we have just a little over one year until we can finally achieve our 40 year dream. So I printed out this 17 month calendar where we can mark off each month as we reach the end of it. I started it in September, and tonight we got to mark the 2nd month of it! Such celebrations and excitement! The end is in sight and we can really say that we are "basically on ...

Sometimes being married is hard. Sometimes getting along with the same person day in and day out is not an easy thing. Sure I love him more than life itself. Sure I chose to marry him for time and for all eternity, but some days feel like an eternity when Tom is so hard to get along with. Now I know all of you think Tom is easy to get along with, and a delight to be around. If only you knew the truth. Last week was a difficult one for us in the marriage realm. Everything Tom did was annoying. Every comment he made irritated me. When he was home, which wasn't very much, he needed my help. But of course he never had time to help me with anything. When he was away, he was gone 10-12 hours at work, and then came home and worked another 4-5 hours. When he wasn't at work, he was doing Church callings - usually out with the missionaries doing visits (like ALL DAY Sunday). We didn't get any quality time together. When he wasn't at work or doing Church service, he was working ...

We are so happy to announce the birth of our latest and greatest. She is so cute and precious. We just can't get enough of her. And neither can her siblings! Or her mother! Definitely God's Greatest Gift!

Throughout my life, or at least from teen years on, I've paid attention to other women of all ages and looked at how they did their hair and makeup. Some have beautiful makeup that enhances their natural beauty, and others just look like the makeup is sitting there, on their face. I've always, since my teen years worn makeup. I realized about that age that if I didn't wear it, I looked too much like my younger brother. There is nothing wrong with how he looks; he is a handsome man, but I just never wanted to look like a handsome man. So I try to do the best I can with what I've got. I've always read magazines on hair and makeup and looked closely at soap operas because that is where you can see makeup applied perfectly, and I've tried to do what I thought looked best on me. Now as I'm getting into my senior years, I've looked to women older than me to get clues as to how to adjust the makeup for the aging face. There was one sister we knew many years...

Recently I saw those five words posted in someone's house where they would look at it every day. It surprised me at first, and I have continued to ruminate on it ever since. I spoke to her briefly about it, and she explained that it came from a book on money management and building wealth. I do understand the intent of having that posted as a reminder and to keep one focused on the goal. I also believe it is a good thing to keep certain goals uppermost in our minds while we are working on them. So my intent in this post is not to criticize the intent anyone may have in their mind or posted in their home, but I want to consider some other things that I feel I might want to have as an intent for me. Again, it is not for us (meaning me) to criticize someone else's intent; we each chose our own and can know through the guidance of the Spirit what we need to focus on at any given time in our life. So my first thought was that if it were for me, the thing should say something lik...

In the New and Everlasting Covenant we are promised all that the Father has. I've been trying to imagine and understand the magnitude of what that means. I think It might be like having Bill Gates as a father and being entitled to an inheritance from him - billions of dollars; more than your wildest dreams! But there are two huge differences that I can see: 1. If you inherit from B. G., you get a portion of his money, divided up with his other children, charities, taxes, etc. But with God's inheritance, you get it all. The fact that everyone gets as much as you doesn't mean you receive any less. All of us can receive all that the Father hath! Sharing with everyone doesn't lessen yours. You still get 100% of all of it. 2. B.G. can only give cash; only money. It is only temporary, and only temporal. He can't give you any happiness with that money. You might feel some happiness at receiving a whole lot of money, but he can't help your family be together; he ca...

There has been some mention by general authorities lately about the importance of being able to receive our own inspired guidance in our lives. Too many times members feel it their only recourse is to go to their Bishop every time they have a problem. In our Ward, members line up before and after meetings to discuss an urgent and life altering event and to see guidance. This is a quote whose author I didn't write down: "We seem to be developing an epidemic of "counselitis" which drains spiritual strength from our Church. That is very serious! If all mankind would live in strict obedience to the gospel and in that love which is begotten by the Spirit of the Lord, all marriages would be eternal and contentions would cease. If we are not careful, we can lose the power of individual revelation." Boyd K Packer said, "We have become very anxious over the amount of counseling that we seem to need in the Church. Our members are become dependent." Spi...

The last time I took an airplane, I was reading the Sky Mall magazine. It's always fun to read the Sky Mall magazine; it always has fun new technology that I haven't seen before. So I spend a good amount of time reading the explanation and description of each fascinating item. But there was one that I just can't forget. I might have to find the money to cover the high price of this item - and it was expensive! It was a WATCH! Wow! New technology. The description said, "A watch so feature rich you won't need a phone!" And if that wasn't convincing enough, it added, "No more need to shuffle around in your pockets for your cell phone. It's right there on your wrist whenever you want it!" What more could anyone want!

Sometimes I look at the way things are in personal situations or in the world in general and wonder how things will ever become how we've been promised. I know that good is supposed to triumph over evil, but I see all the evil in the world and wonder just how that can possibly happen. Evil is everywhere, and values are so upside down that people who are trying to do what is right are targeted and ridiculed, while those who live adulterous lives or lie and cheat are applauded and become rich and famous and extremely popular. One talk show host I used to watch got huge cheers and whistles and screams of joy from the audience any time she alluded to drinking to excess, having affairs, stealing, or anything of that nature. I try to have faith that good will triumph, and I know God is all powerful, but some pretty big changes have to happen in a very short amount of time and I just wonder...... Course I know things are supposed to get worse first, which isn't something I look for...

I think I've figured out why so many senior couples don't go on missions: it is just too much work at a time of your life when you're ready to just calm down and take it easy. Since deciding to move in with Tanya, I've been cleaning and packing. (Well, mostly packing. I haven't started cleaning yet.) I've worked for a couple of weeks to get things sorted and ready to go out to the garage. Tanya has come over almost every day and helped for many hours. Without her, I'd be dead by now. This week I'm trying to finish. I'm trying to get everything out of our house and either tossed, packed, given away, or recycled. I've sold some things on Craig's list and given away quite a few things. But in a house that has 9 rooms, 7 closets, 2 garages, and 2 back patios full of stuff, it is overwhelming, to say the least. I am so tired. Yesterday, a neighbor came over and bought some padded, folding chairs. There were 6, and 3 adults came over to carr...

Tom and I are now seriously preparing to leave on our mission in 18 months (or so). We've been looking at our finances now that we're close enough to see how they will be, and we've been looking at our possessions and responsibilities to arrange all things for us to be gone for 2 years - out of the country. We are so excited! I have begun to dream that I'm in Chile again, and I'm so happy to be there. We loved it so much the first time and really can't wait to get back. We already know the people are wonderful, the country is beautiful, the food is great, and we'll be by the ocean breezes. One of the biggest concerns is what to do with our house and its expenses while we are away. The plan from the time we got married was to have our house paid off by the time we retired. Unfortunately, we got old faster than we had planned, and we missed that goal by about 15 years. So we need to have someone rent our house while we're gone and pay all of our bill...

For Christmas, Tom and I gave our kids a copy of Tom's life story. We loved compiling it and preparing the gift for them. Our greatest hope is that they will read it and share it with their kids. We hope it will help them get to know us better and feel closer to us and in some way our lives can be an inspiration to them in their lives. So, that said, Caeli had an assignment for school, and she decided for her project to make a booklet with some of the stories from her grandpa's life, complete with pictures of the events described. Here are her pages. So cute!

There are so many times I have prayed and prayed for things that I consider 1. righteous desires and that 2. I think are within the Lord's desires for me or my household, and which 3. I can't see any answer in sight after years of praying for it. I know there are reasons for this, and recently I saw a glimpse of an answer to something I've prayed for for many years. It made me ponder how the Lord answers righteous petitions. While I was in the temple Saturday, I remembered the scriptures where the Lord says He will grant the petition "In my own due time." * Doctrine and Covenants 67:14 Let not your minds turn back; and when ye are worthy, in mine own due time, ye shall see and know that which was conferred upon you by the hands of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun. Amen. * Ether 3:24 For behold, the language which ye shall write I have confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men...

Serving in the temple is said to be the Church's best kept secret because if everybody knew the pure happiness and blessings that come from serving there, and the pure joy you feel being there and having all the experiences you have there, the whole membership of the Church would want to have a weekly, six hour assignment. I have to agree with that. The time spent there is nothing less than joyous. Every week I wake up at 4:30 am in pain from lack of sleep and wonder why I'm doing it, but as soon as I walk through the doors, the pain leaves and the joy enters. Enough about that. I don't want the secret to get out. But after a year serving there, I just realized that the service there is changing me. I can see that without even trying, I have begun to feel more love and be less judgmental towards others; even those people I really didn't respect or who irritated me to death. So this post should be called, How the temple helped me learn to love all people, even the an...

We've had Trina and her family living with us since last August. To make it easier for them, Tom and I moved into a room we built in the garage so Trina and Chris could have the master bedroom and be closer to their kids at night. It worked out nicely and we enjoyed our cozy little apartment. It has been lots of fun to have all the laughter and giggles bouncing off the walls. But Trina decided to move back to Hayward so she could see her husband more than once or twice a month. This meant that we could move back into our bedroom, so after we helped them move their stuff out, we've been working on moving our furniture back in for a couple of days. Now the funny story about setting up our bed. We have a captain's bed. We really like it, but it is very heavy and cumbersome and very hard to set up. I decided to use Trina's room dividers as a headboard and put the bed on an angle in the corner. So we set up the room dividers, and I put a white blanket on them. I was excite...

I want to say something without sounding like I'm bragging 'cause I'm really not. I am totally amazing on the organ! I amaze myself every week! You may think that was bragging, but it really isn't and I'll tell you why. First of all, saying I'm amazing isn't meant to imply that I play all that well. I still make mistakes and if you put me in a room with a bunch of pianists, I would never admit to any of them that I know anything. I am so far from what anyone would consider a REAL pianist/organist, I don't qualify for the name. The part about my playing that is amazing is that I AM playing every Sunday- the organ in Sacrament meeting and the piano in Relief society, at every baptism, and I am accompanying choir now, too. It is amazing because 2 years ago, I couldn't play even 2 hymns all the way through. It's kinda sad that I was the most obvious candidate to become the ward organist. When I was growing up we always had a piano in our house and I...

5 year old while holding the laptop: To open a new tab, you press the apple key and the "T". Me: Wow. you're smart. I didn't even know that. 5 year old, still holding the laptop: Its because Geneva taught me when I was 3.

My 7yr old granddaughter, Geneva, decided she wanted to have a party. There was no special occasion. The closest upcoming event was Trevor's birthday a week away, but she wanted to throw a party. So she began to decorate. I think it all started when she found a bag of crepe paper and ribbon. She put up crepe paper in the kitchen and family room. Then she wrapped a gift and put it in a gift bag in the center of the table and told her Mom to invite her cousins over for the party. Unfortunately, it just wasn't convenient or feasible at that moment. We finally celebrated Trevor's birthday a week after she started the decorations. It was so nice to not have to do anything new in the way of decorations for his party. She sure had fun preparing for it. I wonder what she will do when she grows up; maybe a future in party planning?

Last Sunday Tom and I went to a special fireside for temple workers. It was soooo good, I wanted to write down some of the important teachings. Sister Flake, wife of the counselor of the temple president who just released said, We need to remember when we go to the temple that we go by the Lord's invitation. When we go there, we need to go seeking additional light, remembering that the Holy Ghost is the one who teaches us in the temple. President Flake, who just got released from the presidency had just returned from being the Mission President in the Australia Brisbane mission when he got called to be in the temple presidency. He spoke of teaching the natives of New Guinea where they speak 850 languages. The only missionaries they had in New Guinea were couple missionaries who had to leave every month to renew their visas. They converted the first couple who were so excited to receive such light and knowledge of Heavenly Father's love and know of His Plan for us. That couple g...