These Are Your Days

Have you ever thought about

why you were sent to earth at this specific time?

You were not born during the time of Adam and Eve

or while pharaohs ruled Egypt or during the Ming dynasty. 

You have come to earth at this time,

20 centuries after the first coming of Christ. 

The priesthood of God has been restored to the earth,

and the Lord has set His hand to 

prepare the world for His glorious return. 

These are days of great opportunity and important responsibilities.

These are your days.

Neal A. Anderson, April 2011

David discovered something yesterday and

I wanted to pass it along:  You can go to

to lds.org and on the left hand side is

a link Latest General Conference ~

click, near the top there is a link

"General Conference Highlights".

It is perfect to listen to as we

prepare for Conference this weekend.

It includes highlights from the

First Presidency and the Apostles.

I loved them all. 

Quote Of The Day

Don't loose faith in the

things you know because

of the things you don't know.

We believe all that God has

revealed, all that He does now 

reveal, and we believe that He 

will yet reveal many great and

important things pertaining to the 

Kingdom of God.

9th Article of Faith

~

In times of Distress, let your

covenants be paramount

and let your obedience be

exact.  Then you can ask in faith, nothing

wavering, according to your need,

and God will answer.  He will sustain

you as you work and watch.  In his

own time and way He will stretch forth 

His hand to you

saying "Here am I."

D. Todd Christofferson, April 2009

~

Sometime in the early 90's I started reading

the Tightwad Gazette.  I remember watching 

Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced Decision) on

an afternoon talk show.  When I tuned in

she was getting hollered at by people in the

audience.  

She was explaining how she did all these

things that saved money.  A lot of them were

ways she dressed her children and their

toys, etc.  I remember this one woman 

frothing at the mouth as she shouted  that

Amy was a terrible mother and how could

you treat your children that way.

I was hooked.

She doesn't publish her magazine anymore

but you can find bits and pieces of her on

the internet.  I watched one interview and

realized that she must be my age and I

was so impressed that this way of life

she disciplined herself to live back in

the late 80's and early 90's is still with

her today.  She has a beautiful home

and no debt.  I am so impressed.

It is interesting how much times have

changed.  Consumer lives have changed

so much.  So much of what we purchase is

throw away stuff.  I think it would be

hard to convince people in today's world

that this tightwad mentality is the way to go.

That isn't really the point of my post.  

My point is I loved her ideas and

bought her book.   I looked this evening for

some that is really dated and cause

you to roll your eyes but the truth is

I still like everything I read.

The reason I even mention this book

is I found this recipe and wanted to

share it.  It would win the Tightwad

Gazette award for the day.

I read the ingredients on the back of

a can of Campbell's Mushroom Soup......there are 13.

October Conference

I love October General Conference.  

Well, really, I love them all. 

This First Presidency Address in 

the September Ensign is perfect timing (of course).   

I paraphrased.

General Conference—

No Ordinary Blessing 

Pres. Dieter Uchtdorf

---

A fine member of the Church was talking

with a neighbor who was not of our faith. 

When the topic of discussion turned to general

conference, the neighbor asked,

“You say you have prophets and apostles? 

And twice a year in a worldwide conference

they reveal the word of God?”

“Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence.

The neighbor thought about that 

for a moment. He seemed genuinely 

interested and then asked, “What did they

say in the last general conference?”

At this point the good member of the Church

went from feeling excited about sharing

the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, 

he couldn’t think of the details of a single talk.

His friend found this troubling and said, 

“You mean to tell me that God speaks

to man in our day and you

can’t remember what He said?”

The brother felt humbled by this exchange. 

He vowed that he would do better 

to remember the words spoken by the 

Lord’s servants in general conference.

We all know how hard it is to remember

every message of general conference, 

and I’m confident that we need not be embarrassed

if we don’t remember everything. Nevertheless, 

there are messages in each general 

conference given as a gift and a blessing

from heaven specifically for our 

personal life situations.

In preparation for general conference,

let me suggest three basic concepts that may

help us to better receive, remember,

and apply the words spoken by the Lord’s servants.

1. Members of the Church are entitled to personal revelation as they listen to and study the inspired words spoken at general conference.

As you prepare for general conference,

I invite you to ponder questions you

need to have answered. For example,

you might yearn for direction and guidance 

by the Lord regarding challenges you are facing.

Answers to your specific prayers may 

come directly from a particular talk or

from a specific phrase. At other times 

answers may come in a seemingly 

unrelated word, phrase, or song. ....

2. Don’t discount a message merely because it sounds familiar.

Prophets have always taught by repetition;

it is a law of learning. You will hear 

repetition in themes and doctrines in

general conference. Let me reassure you: 

this is not due to a lack of creativity or imagination. 

We continue to hear messages on similar issues

because the Lord is teaching and impressing

upon our minds and hearts certain foundational

principles of great eternal importance 

that must be understood and acted upon

before we can move on to other things.

A wise builder first lays the foundation 

before erecting the walls and the roof.

3. The words spoken at general conference

should be a compass that points 

the way for us during the coming months.

If we listen to and follow the promptings 

of the Spirit, they will serve as a Liahona,

guiding us through the unknown, challenging 

valleys and mountains that are ahead (see 1 Nephi 16).

........It is our responsibility to listen

and then apply the messages the Lord

provides for us.

.......Today, as well as in times past, 

He has appointed apostles and prophets.

He continues to reveal His word to them.

Quotes for the Day

So if you have problems in your life, don't assume

there is something wrong with you.  

Struggling with those problems is at

the very core of life's purpose.  As we draw 

close to God, He will show 

us our weaknesses and through them

make us wiser, stronger.  If you're seeing more 

of your weaknesses, that just might 

mean you're moving nearer to God, 

not further away.

Bruce C. Hafen 2004

When we realize that the purpose 

of life is not so much 

the process of being judged but rather

the process of learning and growing, 

we can look with new eyes on our problems here. 

If we focus on life being about judgment, 

it doesn't take very long for us

to make enough mistakes that we feel like

we are going to fail this test. 

It can be discouraging....We are very 

imperfect beings, who have been asked

to be ye therefore perfect (Matt. 5:48).  

Being perfect

is not a reality of this 

lifetime for us.  

It just cannot be done.

Roger Stark

The Waterfall Concept

Tis the Season

I love wood heat.  I love the sounds and smells of

chain saws and wood.  I love the memories we

have of the years we have cut our own wood.

And I love this load of wood. 

What I don't love it David going out by

himself and getting wood.  He says he

has done it before but it has been a long

time ago.  I had things that needed to be

done Saturday and he didn't want to sit

around so he went.

I was amazed at this load and the size

of the wood that he brought home.  He

told me it would be a small load.  But his

saw was sharp and cut through the  logs

so easy that he enjoyed the work.

His back hurt and he was tired.

  He was pleased, too, but

he told me he is looking forward to

his sons coming up and helping him

finish up the wood getting.

Me, too.

God's Tender Mercies

 
When our apple trees blossomed this

past spring I prayed that we would have

apples.  I watched the blossoms every morning

after a frost and there were plenty that

were bitten by the cold.  The remaining

ones required a little testing to see if

they would make it.  I was told to pinch

one or two in half and if the center was

black ...it was curtains.  I had some of those.

As you can see we have apples!

I love Heavenly Father.  I love his Tender Mercies.

To me these apples are evidence of his love

for me. 

....all things denote there is a God; [and that he loves us]

yea, even the earth, 

and all things that are upon the face of it, yea,

and its motion, yea, and also all the planets

which move in their regular form do witness 

that there is a Supreme Creator"

(Alma 30:43-44).

Pondering Tree

I look out this window and think

about life more than any other window

or door in my home.  Can you see the rain?

I think it looks beautiful.

I love the rain. 

Spring, Summer, Football, and Winter

I like Fall.  I like football.

I wonder when I die and tell

the powers that be that I watched

X amount hours of football if

the response will be...."Really~

you're kidding, right?"

I don't look the type.

But I like football.

I once watched every Blue Ridge

High School football game.  Now I

pick and choose.  Sometimes I 

love staying home and listening to

the game on Friday night.  Other times

it just feels good to be out in the

fall weather.  

I get to see good people.

Sharman and Roger Toronto

And hob nob with the coaches.

 Frank Garardi.

Scenes like this bring back so many feelings.

The man.

The other man.

Paul and Bob have been coaching for at least

25 years.  How many boys lives have they effected.

Some would say "In what way?"  :)

But they are icons!

It is not what it once was to me

but it is still good.  I hope they

continue to have a good season.

Dave's Off The Wagon

My husband, David, has been eating the Atkin's Diet way.  He really

had good will power and stuck to it and lost around 30 pounds

over 4 months.  It is actually one of his favorite ways

to loose weight......meat....his favorite food group.

But when it is over ~ it is over.  I have mixed feelings

about him eating carbs.  I don't think he feels his best

when he eats breads.  The other carbs probably aren't

as bad on him as bread.   But we are eating bread again.

and other things on the carb list.

Including this Mexican Meatball Soup.  I know, why

post this?  Well, I enjoy comfort food.  The

Atkin's Diet is totally void of any comfort.  This is the

kind of food I fixed for our family and every now

and then it just needs to be made again.

It brings me comfort.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it.

White Mountain Therapy

 I find that the older I get the more I live in the moment.

Not as when I was young and focused

on what was "happening now".

I just get consumed with what

needs to be done and if that is

an extended thing then it consumes

my thinking.  

For example, I remodeled my bathroom

in August....it was a project that required

adhesive, grout, caulking, staining

and varnish.  All require dying time. Honestly,

it took nearly the whole month.

Ergo~I had this project on my mind

the entire month.  I have to admit this makes

me so boring.  I don't have other interesting

things on my mind and you can only

talk about your bathroom remodel in so

many words.

Then there is this:  when I do something

like this in my home I want to stay

in my home and enjoy it.  (All right~

you can only "enjoy" a bathroom so much!)

So that is another aspect of being a

dull and boring person.

So it was hard for me to let go

of my death grip on my house and go camping.

I spent the first good day wishing I

was home.  But the beauty of the

mountains did its therapy on me.

By the second day thoughts of my home

were taking a more balanced place in

my mind.  And by the end of our little

camp out I was renewed.

The beauty has stayed on my mind

even after returning to my home and

my remodeled bathroom and all

the things I love here at home.

Brace yourself for scenes

that renew the soul.  At least my soul.  

 Looking south from Green's Peak.

And, again, looking southwest from atop of Greens Peak.

And Then there were the sunsets.

My camera can't begin to capture the

beauty of these early evening gifts.

Changing scenes.....These cows were on

a cattle guard and just stood there looking

at us.  The looks on their faces was just

daring us to try and make them move.

I think these must be twins.

We drove up Big Lake Lookout Mountain.  The

tower house just fell straight down.  There were

all the regular housewares directly dropped

to the ground.  The kitchen stove was sitting

straight up on the ground.

These are pictures from the south

and the north of the lookout.  The

fire came from the south and

scorched everything.  We heard

that the fire reached the top and then

split going east and west.  It certainly

bares that out with the picture

looking north.

This is so encouraging.  I know it is not trees

regrowing but this is the forest floor two months

later.  There are hundreds of Aspen babies and then

all this grass and bush totally covering the ground.

And then we went on the quads.

We got Boo to ride on the back of David's

quad.  At first she didn't really want to but after

running along side us for a couple of miles

she was glad to get on.

We stopped for a while and looked for Christmas

trees.  Didn't find any but David found this

most interesting trail.  It was made by

these giant ants.  I had a couple of these in

my house (came in with the firewood) and

I stepped on them and they were hard

to smash.  Blow the picture up and

see the interesting trail and a couple of

the ants. 

When I got back on my quad here was this beautiful

Aspen leaf.  David had set it there for me.  

Portent of things to come.

 And there was Lee and Daisy.  We were so glad to

have Lee come for the week. 

Sorry, Lee, but I love this picture.

Jeff and Tammy came up for dinner on

Sunday evening.  The older we get the

more dear these people become to us.

This is our cetranella candle.

Keeps mosquitoes away but

brings in the moths.

Look close on the tower....there's a man

up there working.  Yikes!

And just a random shot of my man.

We did enjoy ourselves.  I do have to mention

that we came home Sat. night so we could watch

BYU and Mississippi and Boise State and Georia.

Found these when we came home.

I come home from Labor Day camping and I

always feel like summer is over and fall is

on the way.  And that is how it feels today.

If you were need to get out of your head

go camping.  Give yourself 3-4 days away.

I promise you you will feel better.