Welfare, the way it should work.

Find the text here. This talk is about the poor. He is not addressing the poor but the care that needs taken of them. Welfare if a really serious subject in the LDS church. I seriously recommend watching or reading this one. It is only moderately doctrinal.

This REALLY surprised me. The commitment of Church leaders to relieve human suffering was as certain as it was irrevocable. President Grant wanted “a system that would … reach out and take care of the people no matter what the cost.” He said he would even go so far as to “close the seminaries, shut down missionary work for a period of time, or even close the temples, but they would not let the people go hungry.”

 Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those who are in need. However, many of these programs are designed with the shortsighted objective of ‘helping people,’ as opposed to ‘helping people help themselves.

The prophetic welfare plan is not merely an interesting footnote in the history of the Church. The principles upon which it is based define who we are as a people. It is the essence of who we are as individual disciples of our Savior and Exemplar, Jesus the Christ.


I don't know what to say about this talk. It is fantastic and it would be really beneficial to read or listen to it.

Make him stop

I realise this is simply playing into his hands. Commercials are to get your attention. Here I am passing it along to you.

There are lots of car dealerships in this area. Dealerships are known for terrible commercials. This just happens to be the one close by who insists on making MANY commercials and playing them on TV and radio ALL the time. Just close your eyes and listen to this mans voice. Why on Earth is he allowed to be the spokes person? (probably because he owns the place.)

I can't find the right one off hand, but during the Super Bowl they ran one that used super imposed heads floating around the screen.

For some reason he thinks it is great to yell Yee-Haw,often.

I do not understand this man.

Oh and the idea of "certified per-owned" cars. Really? I could certify to you that my car has been used. It isn't that hard. Surely there is a better term for a used car they have checked over.

The "P" word

I have a lovely young lady living in my home. She is my eldest daughter. Full of personality that one.

Yesterday was "take your kids to work day". So she and her brothers went to go wash cars, answer phones and check in and out cars with their dad.

My husband's boss is INCREDIBLY generous. I can give you example after example. Last year and this year also, the children (including the baby who stayed home) each received a gift bag of fun things to play with. Coloring stuff, silly bands, bubbles, puzzles (1,000 piece), etc. This year among the goodies was included a squirt gun. They were THRILLED and needed to use them immediately.

So into the bathroom they rushed. While in there Naomi had a realization.

"Dad, this gun looks like the end of a penis." Loud enough that the two young ladies and young man that my husband works with can hear her.



This is not our first incident with penis discussions, oh no. At one point it seemed like the only topic of discussion around here. After many talks about how we do not need to talk about penises all the time I wound up at this point-

Sitting there eating lunch calmly with my kids. Out of nowhere comes the comment-
N: Let's not talk about penises.
Me: Good plan.
End of conversation.

While she was still in serious discussion mode we had a few friends over. Each one of them at some point would be either declared to have a penis or not depending on their gender. She really knows how to make you feel right at home.

I am glad we went through that rough stage. I am glad that she knows what it is; no mystery. I am also glad that stage seems to be mostly over.

Why is life so hard?

Text here.

This talk can help give perspective and meaning to the hard things in life.

Elder Orson F. Whitney said: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. … All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable. … It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.”

Did you ever think about trials in life like that?

We don’t seek out tests, trials, and tribulations. Our personal journey through life will provide just the right amount for our needs. Many trials are just a natural part of our mortal existence, but they play such an important role in our progress.

I like where he says "just the right amount". It is personalised to what you need, and no more. Oh, I know you may think it is more than you need. Luckily God is in charge of that stuff. If left on my own I am sure I wouldn't come near to achieve my potential, since I wouldn't chose many challenges.

Update on violets

So we made the violet jelly. As far as I can tell it tastes.... sweet. That is what happens when you make jam and it includes lots of sugar.

It started off as a beautiful shade of  Kool-Aid blue. Then we added the lemon juice, beautiful dark lavender.  Boiling it at that stage was just really neat to watch the colors.

So after processing it in the canner we got.... um.... honey?

Not sure of the flavor yet. It seriously looks like it turned the color of honey. I think I cooked it too long. I hope I didn't kill the flavor too. It almost looks like there is just pure amber inside those jars.

Now I get to sit back and listen to the jars pop. I love that sound so much.

Tiptoe through the violets...

Tomorrow is "Take your child to work day". My husband's boss is awesome and invites ALL my kids to go to work with Dad. So tomorrow Phebe and I will drop Dad and kids at work and go do what we want to do.  That being...

Making violet jelly.

That's right. Tomorrow I am going to have a friend over and together we will make violet jelly.

The violets are already steeping. We are only making one batch right now. That way, if it is awful we won't have wasted lots of effort. I am pretty excited.


Today's news is - mattress shopping!
My generous sister watched the younger 3 children while Ethan and I went to a Select Comfort store to try out Sleep Number beds.

What was my opinion you ask?
They are nice. They are expensive. They are more than we had budgeted for. However they claim to last for a very long time. So in theory that means you will just make this one investment and won't have to buy another mattress for 20 years.

I am going to do some more research. I would love to hear your stories about mattress shopping. Did it work out well for you? What kind do you have? How long has it lasted? Would you recommend it?

I like horror stories too. So you can throw some mattress drama in if you would like.


On an unrelated note- I think Mr Winky Rex- the one eyed toad- seems to be suffering. He was doing well for a while, even moving around the tank. He has relapsed and I think death is pretty imminent. He had me fooled for a while there. I thought he might pull through. I guess we will just have to capture some other poor pathetic animal and pretend we are capable of keeping it alive.

Oh, and my 3 year old decided to "get on the 'puter". He managed to switch things around so you could only see what the computer was doing by turning on the tv connected to it. I had to have my husband stand in the living room yelling directions to me as to where to move the mouse to fix it.
"Down, down. Left, just a little."

Luckily it was fixable.

Waiting

Ok, my loyal followers. I know you have all been following faithfully along through the conference talks. We can now move onto the Sunday morning session. All of the talks from now on are for everyone.
Here is the text.

I think sometimes I find myself "waiting on the road to Damascus." Sometimes I seem to want something more dramatic than the small impressions that I can hardly recognize at times.

President Spencer W. Kimball taught this concept when he said: “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other.” I know I have personally been helped out by other people. Later I realize that God had sent them to help me.

Love this-Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.”