The Law of Consecration

Yesterday my Sunday School lesson was about the law of consecration. One thing I have decided is that we think too much about what we have to give up instead of the blessings we will receive from Heavenly Father.

4 Nephi
2 And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.
3 And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift
13 And it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land; but there were mighty miracles wrought among the disciples of Jesus.
15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.
16 And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
17 There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were as one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

This is the world I would like to live in.

The Personal Hygiene of 12 year old boys, (or lack thereof)

Today I cleaned my house. I realize this is not a big event for some, but for me sometimes it is. I was in Sam's bathroom. I must admit I haven't been there for awhile. I looked in his shower and what did I see--two little slivers of soap and no shampoo. So I ask myself, "How is he getting clean ?" He does take a shower everyday and he comes upstairs with with wet hair. I am mystified.

Like any good mother, I took a whole new bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo to his shower. I wonder if he will notice the difference.

Mother Nature

Mother Nature and I sometimes have our disagreements. For instance, she thinks the perfect temperature for Mesa in the summertime is 110 degrees. I think that is too hot. I think she is showing off with her wild thunderstorms during the monsoon season.

Today, however, we were in perfect agreement. I woke up to a nice cool breeze blowing in my bedroom window. To make it even better, I heard the pleasant sound of a spring shower. It was perfect!

Thanks Mother Nature!

Thanks to all those who are the "another person"

"God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our need."--Spencer W. Kimball

I'm grateful to all those wonderful people who help me (and those I love) in times of trouble, or in times of not trouble. They listen to the spirit and follow his promptings. The world is a better place because of you.

THANKS!

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

HBO has made a TV series out of one of my favorite mystery series--THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY by Alexander McCall Smith. Somewhat surprisingly to me, it is really good. Most of the time I like the books much better than any TV show or movie made from them. The image in my mind is always better than the people who make the movie (i.e. TWILIGHT, ERAGON, and INKHEART, to name a few.)

In the case of the LADIES' stories, all the characters are there pretty much as I imagined them--Precious Ramotswe (a woman of traditional build), Mr. J. B. L. Matekoni (the owner of Speedy Motors), and Grace Makutsi (who got a 97 percent on her tests at the Botswana Secretarial College). Best of all, it is filmed in Botswana where the books take place. The Botswana setting is one of the elements that make the books so wonderful.

So join Precious Ramotswe as she drives her tiny white van on all her adventures. And sit down with her for a cup of bush tea. You won't regret it. HBO, Sundays at 8 p.m. Or, record it to watch later. That's what I do.

What I Did on My Spring Break

This spring break I decided I wanted to accomplish something besides my usual sitting around reading a book, which I really like to do, but sounds really boring when people ask, "What did you do on your spring break?" So here goes. . .

Monday: I decided I really needed to clean my house because when I am working, it really isn't my first priority. The laundry room seemed to be a good place to start since I can't ever find anything. Here's what I found during cleaning: 2 flashlights that didn't work, six bottles of bathroom cleaner (I keep buying more because I can't ever find any.), two pair of Sam's old shoes, which were about half the size his feet are now (size 12!), and some rope which must have been made during a cub scout day camp. Then I decided to move along to my bedroom. I am a pile maker. Going through those piles was like going to an archeological dig. I figured that since I hadn't ever needed the stuff at the bottom of the pile that I could safely throw it away. I was going to clean the kitchen cabinets, but by that time, I had had enough of cleaning.

Tuesday: I made it to the cannery by 8:30 a.m. to do some dry pack canning with our stake. Having never been there before, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I ended up at the table that was canning cocoa mix. I love the smell of chocolate in the morning. It turned out that we had to can 298 cans which was about twice as much as everything else (beans, wheat, etc.) So after everyone else was done, we were still working, for quite a while. According to my friend Lori, I should have followed my other friend Laura, because she knows where the fast canning tables are. So, note to self--follow Laura.

After that adventure, Sam and I headed off to Costco to get some strawberries to make jam. Except things like that always take longer than one thinks and Tuesday was St. Patrick's day and I was fixing corned beef and cabbage for the family. Also, my visiting teachers came. I totally forgot they were coming. Now I have some yummy strawberry jam in my freezer, but it took forever to clean up.

Wednesday: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat was playing at the Mesa Arts Center. I bought tickets so Sam and I could go. We both really enjoyed it. The brothers were hilarious. Although I was disappointed that Donny Osmond wasn't playing Joseph.;) We got a really great parking place too, because somebody left just as we were coming down the street behind the arts center. Sam wanted to go to Olive Garden to have dinner, so we did.

Thursday: Both Sam and I wanted to see RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN. It was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. Dwayne Johnson (formerly The Rock) starred. I think I like The Rock better than Dwayne, but whatever. He was pretty fun to watch. After the movie, we decided to find the Scout Shop (We were at Mesa Riverview.) to buy Sam a scout book. I mean he has only been a scout for a year, it was about time to get him a book. Yes, I'm a slacker mom sometimes. We purchased the scout book. Then we hit Sam's and I's favorite pizza place--Red Brick Pizza. It's right by the Cinemark, so if you are ever in the neighborhood, you should check it out. Gary stayed home to work on tax returns, so we were nice and brought him pizza too.

Friday: April doesn't have to work on Fridays, so she, Sam, and I went to have breakfast at Crackers and Company. Yummy. Afterwards, April and I went shopping at the Rustic Hutch. Sam didn't want to shop. He thinks it is boring.

About a month ago, I bought a pressure cooker. I have been wanting to try it out. I bought some hamburger and beans at Sprouts. I cooked the hamburger and put it in the jars. Then I put the jars in the pressure cooker, fearing that I would do something wrong and something bad would happen. Like, maybe I would blow something up, even though Shar, the lady who I bought the pressure cooker from explained that it would definitely NOT blow up. Well, everything worked according to plan, so we will see how the finished product tastes.

Saturday: I thought I would have a peaceful day reading my book, finally. However, I had agreed to feed the missionaries, which I thought met I just had to take dinner to them at the Temple Visitor's Center. They called and it turned out they understood they were coming to our house. So I had to speedy quick get the kitchen cleaned up. Sam and April came to dinner also. That way, I didn't have to worry about any lulls in the conversation. Sam and Jacob were around also, but roast pork, sweet potatoes and apples didn't appeal to their picky appetites. I also had to finish preparing my Sunday School lesson. I haven't taught for three weeks because of ward conference and stake conference, so I was having a hard time getting inspired to sit down and finish planning it. Thankfully, the Lord always helps me know what to say as long as I have done my part in preparing.

So today I taught my Sunday School lesson about Emma Smith and Section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants. I admire Emma for all she had to endure. I don't completely understand why she didn't come west. I can guess some of the reasons she didn't. Since I don't know everything, I am in no position to judge her actions. I appreciate the chance I have to study church history and the Doctrine and Covenants this year.

Tomorrow it's back to school for Sam and I and when people ask what I did, I will have something to tell them. Plus, I am pretty proud of myself for getting some projects done instead of wasting my time.

Needles

Today I had to go for my quarterly taking of blood. Normally this is no big deal. Except. . .

Three months ago when I went, it seems my veins were MIA or maybe the phlebotomist didn't know what she was doing. Anyway, two different people ended up sticking me THREE times. Since all the sticking was really starting to hurt and I wasn't too happy with the whole situation, I started to CRY. So, of course, everybody in the room was trying to distract me. What am I, a little kid?

Well apparently I am, because today in the waiting room I started feeling a little uncomfortable. I decided I was a little traumatized from the last time. Go figure. My name was called, I sat down in the chair and I STARTED TO CRY! Now the phlebotomist was very nice and asked me if I was feeling sick. I told her my whole pathetic story. She was surprised that I had such a bad experience because her colleagues were all good at their jobs. (Whatever. At least two weren't.) This wonderful person found a vein and I was done in about 2 minutes. YA-HOO!!!! Only one problem, I didn't get her name for the next time. :(