Category: Church

Desert Friends

Here are some of us at the youth temple trip. It was a good day and 5 of these youth brought family names to the temple. They like family history work and they love the temple.

I smile at the permanent connections that are forged through this service with the youth. T. Nay was a scout leader in this ward, but the first time I met him was when I was 16 and he was a scout leader with my dad. One of the women in my presidency is Lucille S’s niece. Lucille served with my mom when my mom was Young Women president. I didn’t stay in Provo, but despite this, in this tiny town we meet and continue the tapestry of our relationships with these families.

I don’t think that it is a coincidence that there are certain people in our lives with whom we learn and serve. The individual nature of Christ’s rescue and concern is evidenced in the people which seem to be hand-picked for us to meet. We need them and they need us and my obscure location matters little because the Lord finds a way to continue the ties and raise up friends and associates to help us.

Some days it feels lonely in this desert, but I just need to think about the people I know here and it doesn’t seem as barren.

I’ll choose these memories

Black light volleyball photo by Jen C.

Last week I had sad news from extended family and weird challenges sprang up around me. I felt heavy and sorrowful. On the other hand, I had good news, too, and there were opportunities for me to serve and feel needed and this made me happy.

Someday when I look back at this time in my life it will be a smudged, incoherent image because of all of the activity, but I will work to see that the good memories will rise up and be more prominent than the bad.

I will remember how Mark’s little drawings cheer me. I will remember the love I feel for the people around me, of the fun times with the Young Women playing black light volleyball and hearing them sing.

I’ll remember how I much I enjoy Richard’s dinners from the grill and chats with him during a baseball game. I’ll think of the way Timothy twirls his hair when he reads to me and how Daniel looks when he’s acting grown up and unselfish. I will remember the way the little ballerinas watch Paige sweep into the dance studio and how she smiles when Richard teases her.

I’ll remember the good people who serve my family in the community, sports, and church.

I will be grateful for a husband who lets me sleep in and remembers to kiss me goodbye every morning.

The difficult things will just serve as a counterpoint, essential in emphasizing the good and forming character, but they won’t take a prominent place on the mantel.

Now I’m going to get back to work.

10 Years Ago Today

I took Paige and Daniel to Georgetown, Texas for lunch and ice cream at the Courthouse Cafe. It was Grandma Carol’s birthday and we were celebrating, despite the fact that the birthday girl was several states away.

Yesterday Richard and I sat in church and looked up at these two kids sitting on the stand. Paige was giving a talk and Daniel was the Bishop’s messenger for the day. They’re growing up and they still have that happy light in their countenances.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Carol!

Mother Daughter Family History Night

This is what our house looked like last night. I invited the young women and their mothers to come for dinner and an evening of family history research and assistance. We’re getting ready to go to the temple next month and we are trying to prepare some of our ancestors’ names for temple ordinances.

The sister on the right was very helpful and so generous to give up an evening with her family to help us. The young woman is showing an ordinance sheet which she prepared during the evening. The names on the paper are ready for temple work.

As for our family’s work, we found the names we were looking for on census records from 1920 and 1930. Along with an obituary, we have information to lead us to many more of Cerie’s family members. We were so excited that we had Daniel join us and help us to enter some names.

I am learning how much the youth love family history and temple work.

The lion, the witch, and the minivan compartment

Last night I drove six young women to the church cannery to fulfill a food bank assignment where we packaged beans. It was a 30 minute drive each way and this meant that the girls became well acquainted with my van.

I did ask my kids to clean up the van and I hastily stuffed some papers in the trash bag before the girls jumped in. However, it didn’t take long for the girls to begin discovering treasures.

“Sister Ross, why is there a toothbrush on the floor of your van?”

“Sister Ross, is that a 3-foot stick by the driver’s side?”

“Why do you have a food scale in your van?”

I was a little bit mortified, but then I turned it into a game. Which girl could discover the strangest thing in my van?

Would it be the 7 pairs of shoes? Would it be the Lightning McQueen socks? A half-eaten chicken nugget? I listened for more discoveries.

As we pulled into the cannery, I heard a voice in the back say,

“I think I found Narnia in this little compartment!”

And I proclaimed her the winner.

Integrity

Integrity is living the same way no matter what. It involves not just choices about honesty; it involves every choice that we make. Will I be a better person if I read this? Does this entertainment feed the better part of my nature? Do I react with patience to my family, just as I try to react with my other associates?

I don’t have time to read or watch rubbish. If I had to prepare separately for each of my roles, I would never have time. My literature and media choices fill my mind with the ideas that I will use in church lessons, school lessons, and nurturing relationships. I can’t live in the silly, shallow world and still expect to have the time to seek to be worthy of the Spirit.

In church responsibilities, if I’ve been wise in my literature choices and scripture study, these are resources which I can draw upon, adorning my lessons with greater insights than I can come up with on my own.

It’s a relief to realize that our responsibilities as a child of God, a family member, and church member dovetail in their required preparations. Our character, developed through acts of integrity, will be a consistent and dynamic factor in our success as we try to fill many roles.

A life of integrity streamlines and simplifies the to-do lists. I am learning that integrity is one of the solutions to the problem of being too busy.

Outdoor movie night

Sometimes people have to correct me because I confuse the date. I live my life thinking it’s the following day because I’m always anticipating something. I noticed this phenomenon when I began making lesson plans as a student teacher. I still have that problem because I’m always reading the “next book” on our list. Conversely, I spend a lot of time grading, which is like living the previous day over again.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to live in the moment, though, which is what I have been doing this week for Spring Break. It’s involved a lot of napping. Planning for an upcoming Pioneer Trek (Richard and I are going), doing Young Women President things, and teaching 4 grade levels have made my to-do lists grow very long.

Last night was the culmination of a lot of preparation. Since it was Spring Break, we decided to host an outdoor movie night for the church youth in our back yard. We didn’t think many people would come, but wow, did they come! We made popcorn in a movie-style popcorn maker, we set up a screen and a projector and a big speaker. We had the youth play get-to-know you games between the short films to earn points to “buy”  popcorn and hot chocolate.

It was fun. I wonder what my neighbors thought of the prayers offered through a microphone. My next door neighbor sent her daughter over to enjoy the party. It was a good crowd.

Details, details

watercolor by A.

Earlier this month, I set up my visiting teaching appointments but forgot to prepare the message. I did a quick skim of the magazine article I was to share and ran to the first appointment and taught a lovely lesson about women being guardians of the health of our families. We discussed ways we could help our families improve their emotional and physical health. I walked away feeling pretty good about the appointment.

But when I got home and set down the magazine on the counter, I finally noticed that the message was entitled, “Guardians of the HEARTH” (not health)! I was embarrassed and had a healthy laugh at myself. Apparently I need to be more involved in the details. Skimming isn’t adequate when it comes to important things. Some activities require deep, concerted, and detailed effort. And good job to those of you who saw my mistake before you read the second paragraph. Way to go, visiting teacher supreme!

I decided to read a book by Charles Dickins last week because he is a master of details. Each description is so rich and essential. I can’t skim through Dickins. It was a good exercise in focus. I also enjoy how he can moralize about the shady characters with sarcasm and characterize the good with idealism.

So hooray for effort in visiting teaching, flawed as it may be. And hooray for my first watercolor in years. And hooray for people such as Charles Dickins whose detailed efforts show me that I can navigate through experiences with humor and idealism.

In what areas of your life do you choose to be gentle in your self evaluations, while still maintaining an ideal for yourself? Tell me, dear reader. I am curious to hear your thoughts.