Category: Church
Paige’s Illustrations in The Friend Magazine
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2020/12/how-i-know?lang=eng
Hooray for Paige! If you want to see more of her art, you can find her on Instagram and her website.
@paigemclaughlinart
Paigemclaughlinart.com
Join us for church online if you like
Daniel has been asked to speak in church on Sunday, Oct 11 at 9 am, Utah time. Church is now live-streamed via YouTube, so as different and new as this seems, I am inviting you to tune in to our sacrament meeting tomorrow. (Link to the channel included beneath picture)
Daniel will be giving a brief report on his mission and a gospel message.
Mark will be speaking, too.
I don’t know how long this link will work, but this was the meeting: (link no longer works)
Press forward
Recently, I took some time to begin our photo book for 2020. With so much canceled, I expected the photo book to be thin and a bit depressing. But friends, it just wasn’t that at all. What a beautiful year we have had so far, despite all, and maybe because of all.
Two pillars of the year for our family are our church’s general conferences in April and October. This year, perhaps more than any other, I have needed extra assurances that God is in control and speaks to His children to help them. So, with familiar rhythms of family time, block towers being built with monkeys at the pinnacle, we listen to church leaders and continue to press forward through the mist. (1 Nephi 8:24, 30)
To read or view the words of prophets, apostles, and other church leaders from general conference, you can follow this link.
The Lord hath Comforted His People
“I am optimistic about the future. It will be filled with opportunities for each of us to progress, contribute, and take the gospel to every corner of the earth. But I am also not naive about the days ahead. We live in a world that is complex and increasingly contentious. The constant availability of social media and a 24-hour news cycle bombard us with relentless messages. If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.
“Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”
-President Russell M Nelson, Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our Lives, April 2018
This is the phrase that stood out to me most from this passage:
“Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again.”
This is an exciting time to be alive. There is hope and comfort to be found in Jesus Christ. Some days I live from prayer to prayer, trying to stay focused on light and goodness. This week has been mentally challenging for me, and the message that kept coming to my mind was to humble myself and reach out for some counsel and comfort from Richard and my parents. As I did this, I found the stepping stones I needed to cross this deep water I am navigating.
I am going to California tomorrow with my parents to bring my grandmother to Utah. This will require finesse, love, and angels. I don’t like to leave my family, but my illness this year has taught me that they are strong. I have done all I can to prepare and to be healthy as we take this big step. Our extended family has come together in prayer and fasting to prepare. My prayers for my grandmother are for her comfort and peace, and that we will know, step by step, what to do and say. I lay my burden at the Lord’s feet, his glorious feet, every few hours, all day.
Isaiah 52:7-10:
7 ¶ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
9 ¶ Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God
Angels are surely with you.
Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.
2 Nephi 32:2-3
And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned.
Alma 32:23
Today I am thankful for this newly baptized little eight-year-old who is already speaking the language of angels.
Just some small talk
On this cloudy monsoon afternoon, we hope that we might get more than three drops of rain, the exact number we saw fall yesterday in similar circumstances. Our grass and trees cry out in newly pale shades of green, hastening yellows, and crusty browns. I move around the hose and sprinkler to dry spots throughout the day.
Inside, the washing machine whirrs and sometimes rattles along. Its noise is the accompaniment to most late mornings and early afternoons. I don’t “hear” the noise, but Richard surely does, and tries, in vain, to keep the door to the mudroom closed.
This week, we are having a full-house fan installed for better ventilation. My sense of smell hasn’t diminished like my sight and hearing. I am hopeful that the fan will help improve what I will call, “air quality.” Richard is hopeful that cool night air can be fanned in, lowering our electric bills.
I read through old notebooks filled with church notes last week while I waited in the car during Mark’s piano lessons. I always felt the notes were helpful during the week following church, but I never guessed how comforting they would be when church was taken away. Some weeks, I took great notes. Other times, I didn’t make a connection with a speaker. I have my favorite leaders and speakers, for sure. Reading their quotes and my impressions as they speak is a way I stay connected to them.
A trigger for memories of this pandemic will be the smell of my laundered fabric mask as I put it on before shopping. I don’t mind wearing a mask at all, as long as I don’t go overboard with too many filters inside.
These are things I am thinking about:
- WHAT in are we going to do about high school this year? We have a freshman and a senior. We have endless options, including (gasp) the option of teaching the school curriculum at home for full credit. We are living in the Twilight Zone.
- I CANNOT sit another day in the living room without moving around some furniture.
- I think I will read another hefty biography. The Theodore Roosevelt trilogy is calling to me. It must be all the Blue Bloods that Richard and I have watched during the pandemic. When you know, you know.
April 2020 Snapshots
I didn’t post much about family life in April. Days are smudged in my memory, all about the same. Sundays we gathered for dinner and to watch old home movies. Richard worked an unconscionable demand of hours, mostly from home, thankful to be employed. I have watched the clock for entertainment since my surgery, content to do almost nothing. We watched a movie almost every evening. Daniel has been a primary care giver to me, and we have had some good talks. Tim has worked outdoors, mowing and aerating, and has been faithful in completing school work. I learned quickly that I should not ask him about school. He manages his life like a boss. Mark was most content to be home, with days uncluttered by middle school nonsense. He talks through each assignment aloud, frustrations and triumphs sounding in my ears. We have eaten more takeout than usual, hoping to keep our favorite restaurants alive. Also, friends have provided a lot of meals since my surgery. I finished reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy and watched the movies. That was a good choice. April was the best and the worst. I know you can relate.
Master Healer
As we approach the worldwide fast for relief from the effects of COVID-19 tomorrow, I want to share this painting by J Kirk Richards entitled, He Healed Many of Diverse Diseases.*
As you look at this painting, what do you notice? Can you picture yourself here, and if so, which person seems most like you? What do you learn from the child in the painting? Who are the people that are ministering? Who might be feeling fear or anxiety, and what can you learn from their acts of faith? What feelings does this painting evoke? What truths about a merciful God can be found here? What can you do to point others to the Master Healer at this unique time?
I like the following graphic, but it is missing an important point: a prophet of God issued this call to fast. President Nelson is inviting us to plead for ourselves and our brothers and sisters all over the globe.
*This painting can be found in the 2020 Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families manual for the week of February 10-16, page 29.
Home
These weeks have not been easy. The not knowing, the not-so-good news, the waiting, painful conversations with people who heard Daniel was home when he was not, the constant school emails, and the work stress were rough. Things were complicated in Chile. Daniel helped print four different release certificates for himself in the mission office as his evacuation date moved several times. I prayed for peace constantly. One night, out of words to pray, I lay in bed praying the words to “Bring Him Home,” which was one of my more effective prayers.
Neither Richard nor I slept well the night before Daniel’s flight, and Richard tracked that plane constantly throughout the day. I kept busy, but felt my chest tighten as the day progressed. We drove to the airport together, two nervous wrecks. No, we didn’t think he would come home sick or harmed, but we were embarking into an unknown. Daniel arrived, full of light and reassurance. That night, I had my best sleep in years.
It’s not that we lacked faith. It’s that faith sometimes needs to be tested. Would we complain? Would we push our needs ahead of others who were suffering in different ways? Would we keep turning to God? Would we be overly dramatic about circumstances? Would we neglect the needs of our other children as we hyper-focused on our worries about international travel for Daniel? Would we stop acknowledging the blessings that flowed because Daniel was serving a mission? Would we forget hope? Would we neglect the little things like family prayer and scripture study in this sickly, dense fog?
There is much more to live before the resolution of this story. I don’t want to forget the comfort that only came through prayer. I don’t want to forget the light in Daniel’s missionary face. I don’t want to forget that there was a continual flow of understanding and concrete instructions as I read the Book of Mormon each day, pen in hand. These have been precious, soul-expanding days leading up to his return. Now that he is home, I am giving myself permission to breathe, rejoice, rest, and just look at Daniel’s face, in line with the rest of our children, all gathered together again.