Angela – Page 25 – Letters from Home

Sweet pork salads and burritos

Today I’m sharing our favorite recipes for sweet pork, cilantro lime rice, and cilantro lime ranch salad dressing. Think Cafe Rio. Yum.

Add some fresh tortillas, black beans, pico de gallo, cheese, lettuce, corn chips, and guacamole, and you are ready for a party. Our family loves this meal, and I estimate it serves 12 people.

I like to prepare the meat and dressing ahead of time, then it is an easy Sunday dinner or party menu.

Crock Pot Sweet Pork

3 lb pork (boneless roast, country style ribs, etc.)
1 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
3 T butter

Sauté onion and garlic in butter. Put roast in crock pot and cover with the sautéed onion and garlic. Cook 3 hours on high (or low equivalent). DRAIN. You can add the juice later to taste. Refrigerate the liquid and skim the fat if you want to add this liquid later.

If possible, shred the pork. If it is still tough, you can shred it before serving. Mix the following ingredients and pour over the pork in the crock pot:

2 T. soy sauce
3/4 c. lemon juice
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Cook an additional 2 hours on high (or low equivalent) in the crock pot. Shred the pork and and serve with tortillas, rice, beans, etc. for salads or burritos.

Cilantro Lime Rice

2 c. rice
2 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
2 T butter
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1, 4-oz. can diced green chiles

Pour everything into a rice cooker and follow product instructions. Or, to cook in a pot, heat liquids to a boil, add the rice and other ingredients, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 20-30 min., or until tender.

Remove the lid, fluff with a fork, add salt to taste, and serve.

Cilantro Lime Ranch Salad Dressing (Cafe Rio Style)

3 T. salsa verde (green salsa with tomatillos)
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1 small pkg (3 T.) ranch dressing mix
1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
1/3-1/2 c. milk
1/2 bunch of cilantro, including stems
Juice of 1 lime

Mix together in a blender until smooth. 💃

A Hug

A few years ago, we were taught by a visiting leader in a stake conference that every major writer in the Book of Mormon used the imagery of a hug to teach the Atonement of Christ, with words such as clasped or encircled. He challenged us to search for these passages. As I have studied, I have found other words, including clothed to convey the effects of the Savior’s Atonement. Here are some examples:

Nephi, in a time of grief, pleads with the Lord to “encircle [him] in the robe of righteousness.” (2 Nephi 4:33)
Lehi tells his family just before his death that he is “encircled about eternally in the arms of [God’s] love.” (2 Nephi 1:15)
Jacob teaches that the “righteous…are clothed with purity, even with the robe of righteousness.” (2 Nephi 9:14)
Alma quotes Ammon, about those who repent, “They are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love.” Ammon also says that the repentant are “snatched from their awful, sinful, and polluted state.” (Alma 26:15, 17)
Alma, quoting Amulek, “[God’s mercy] Encircles them in the arms of safety.” (Alma 34:16)
Mormon writes that if the people had repented, they would have been “clasped in the arms of Jesus.” (Mormon 5:11)

What stands in the way of receiving this kind of love and mercy? I think it’s our own cherished ideas, flawed perceptions, our pride, and our shame. Thus the need for humility and faith.

I don’t think it trivializes the Atonement of Christ to liken it to an embrace, being snatched from ruin, clothed with righteousness, or being held during a difficult time. The more I think about it, the more I want to share it.

Constant He is, and kind, Love without end.
Where Can I Turn for Peace, LDS Hymn #129

Repeat

These seasonal displays are a lot of work, so I chronicle them. Everything is old in this array except a few of the books…there are always new books. Do you see that poinsettia being amazing in June? Weird.

Post-Typhoon Missionary Life

Butane stoves to cook things they buy that day, since there is no power.

A modified zone conference held in the mission home instead of their chapel which is damaged. This is an international group of missionaries!

Missionaries have either power and no water, or water and no power in their apartments. Cell service is still out for most areas. They are serving every day to help clear debris from the storm. This week, they also helped a school custodian sweep water from classrooms and went to the governor’s office to help fill containers with water to distribute to people.

Some Photos from our Trip

Today I played violin at my friend Helen’s graveside service in the rain, then we said goodbye to Paige and Michael at the airport. So, tonight I just want to revisit memories full of smiling faces.

Moab Trip

The Ross family tour bus departed on Memorial Day, just as most people packed up their RV’s to come home. We passed masses of traffic traveling home in the other direction, and discovered that the places we visited near Moab were not crowded. Richard made excellent plans and accommodations for us. He is so good at this.

After such a wet winter, the landscape was more green than we can remember. There were so many wildflowers, that whole fields were dusted in color, mostly orange, but many other colors, too.

Do you spy Paige and Michael, and Daniel and McKenna traveling with us? Lucky us! My brother Joe shared his van with us so we could all ride together.

New name, expanded purpose

In Genesis, we read about God changing Abram and Sarai’s names when they make a covenant with Him. The name changes seem slight, but they indicate a huge leap in purpose and influence. With a shift in a couple of letters, God shows that He has very big plans for them.

Abram became Abraham, and with those two new letters, the meaning of his name moved from “exalted father” to “father of multitudes.”

Sarai became Sarah, and with that change, “my princess/ woman of strength” grew to “princess/ woman of strength to many.” (Concepts for these names are from the Israel Bible Center website.)

This ancient story becomes our story as we make covenants and become “numbered among the people of the first covenant,” (Mormon 7:10) which began with Adam and Eve. God intends the same thing for us as He did for His ancient covenant people,

I will bless thee…

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Genesis 22:17-18

Just as He gave new names to Abraham and Sarah, I think that the Lord continues his mighty work through small and symbolic changes. As I look back on my life, my covenants with Him have set me on a journey that requires me to move beyond self into a larger area of influence, one mothering moment, one calling, one chance at empathy, one apology, and one change in personal philosophy at a time.

At baptism, and each week during the sacrament, we show our willingness to take upon ourselves Jesus Christ’s name. Truly, His Name gives infinite potential and purpose to our lives.

A book for the desk and a book for the nightstand

This is volume 2. I am working on volume 3, and have loved each one.

My books from this New Testament series are so full of personal marginalia that they are probably ruined for anyone else’s use.

I like to leave helpful notes to my future self in the Table of Contents and throughout the book.

I like having different kinds of books in different places in the house, and save lighter reading for the bedside table. Light fiction at bedtime is a wonderful idea.

My current light reading? 😂

I had forgotten how funny this book is. I laugh every day.

Mawar Typhoon

Scroll down for updates. We are not overly anxious about Elder Ross’s safety, but we know this is a serious situation for Guam.

Tuesday afternoon (USA)/ Wednesday morning (Guam) update:

The storm is stalled, gaining intensity, they are sheltering in place and know that it won’t be long until the power and water are gone. This storm is a once in a lifetime storm for Guam in terms of intensity and how directly it is expected to hit the island. Tim is concerned about the islanders. This will likely be devastating. The US military bases have sailed the ships away and taken the planes elsewhere. The missionaries have food and water and shelter. Thank you for the prayers. I am not overly concerned, and our Elder Ross isn’t anxious, but it is definitely a serious situation.

5:30 am Wednesday Utah time/9:30 pm Wednesday Guam time

He says they have no electricity. He checked in with three words, “lots of wind,” since he has internet for now. They still have water. The news says they are in the worst of the winds and rain right now.

Yesterday, I asked what he had packed when he evacuated his apartment. Among the list of essentials: his two machetes and a ukulele. In the apartment where he is sheltering with 8 other elders, there are 4 ukuleles and 2 guitars. Musical bunch.

Wednesday 5:00pm Utah time, 9:00am Thursday in Guam:

He made it through, and all the missionaries are okay. No power or water, and no leaves are left on the trees. Things don’t look as bad as he expected.

No communication on Thursday. No communication on Friday. No communication on Saturday.

Sunday 5/28 communication:

There is no power or phone service where he lives, but he has access to water. The mission home has power, so each missionary can do one load of laundry there on a schedule. They are eating dry cereal and canned foods. His town received 24″ of rain in one day, and his apartment suffered minimal damage and miraculously, the windows are intact, despite not having shutters. (He sheltered in a different apartment during the storm.) There is a gas shortage, so he is somewhat stranded. The temple and chapel are damaged and they are not able to be used for a while. Lots of cleanup efforts are happening all over the island. He says that he saw how the Lord protected the people. This was a big storm and many people lost their homes, but not their lives. His machetes are coming in handy as he and his companion help with cleanup efforts. Missionary work looks like constant service and no lessons right now. His mission president has asked him to continue as planned for his zone conference this week, despite all. (He is a zone leader on Guam.)

To me, he looks like he is warm without fans and air conditioning, but I see he was well prepared to handle this big cleanup because of his landscaping job before his mission. He loves to do this kind of thing.

Author: Angela