The Word of God (like letters from home)

 In our church meetings today, one of the speakers reminded us of how very blessed many if not most of us are to have constant access to the word of God via our smart devices or phones that we carry with us almost constantly, and if not our phones, then access to a computer or other device that connects us to the internet in our homes.  With just a click or a swipe, and we can be reading the Bible or other scriptures at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures?lang=eng&platform=web.   Another click or swipe and we can have access to the words of latter day prophets from their talks in The General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from the past 50 (FIFTY!!) years.  

Fifty years ago when I was a youth, we did each have our own copies of the scriptures in our home, and we received copies of the talks from General Conference that were then stored in our storeroom for future access.   But how much easier is it now to search through the website for quotes and talks and scriptures by topic, or year, or just about whatever we can think of?

And what of our great grandparents and those who came before them?  Those who were very lucky to have one copy of the Bible or The Book of Mormon, or those who could not read or own books and only heard bits and pieces of scripture from the lips of the local priest or other clerical leader?

Years ago in a General Relief Society meeting, one of the speakers compared the scriptures to "letters from home" from our Heavenly Father.  Since I was a fairly new young mother living all the way across the country from my own family, this really resonated with me.  Back then we didn't have cell phones, and rarely called our family with the long distance charges, so the weekly letters from my parents were very cherished.  And I do cherish my daily early morning time reading my scriptures and listening to conference talks, my daily letters from my father in Heaven.

Stretching and Noontime Walks

 Morning stretches are a pleasure.  I'm grateful to have a body the moves and stretches, even if sometimes it wakes up a bit stiff and sore as mine tends to do after a day working in the garden, or even after a long day of sitting at the computer.  I'm definitively not the one to do a strenuous workout very often, but I do enjoy mowing the lawn, working in the garden, a good 15 to 30 minute walk on the lunch break and a few sit ups or crunches or leg stretches first thing in the morning.  A post on Facebook today also reminded me that using a few hand weights on a regular basis is a good idea too.  So . . . with weights and a bike downstairs, a beautiful world outside, and  the first day of summer, let's get moving and enjoy the body!

A Day off in the Garden

Yesterday at our Church's Sacrament Meeting, one of the speakers was telling about her Dad's extensive collection of journal, and how good he was at keeping a daily record of his life, and the important events of their family.   My Dad was also such a record keeper, and even though he might not have written in his journal every single day, he did keep a faithful record of his life and the important events of our family.  I do keep a handwritten journal, but really only write once or twice every month or so.  I'm very negligent in my journaling.

When I started this blog, I was inspired by Elder Henry B Eyring's talk where he shared how long ago he started keeping a daily record of  the tender mercies that Heavenly Father has shown to his family over the years.   He makes a copy each year for his children.  I have really not done very well with keeping up with my blog either.  So, I'm going to try to do better.  My resolve is to write something, somewhere each day as a record of what has happened, mundane or not, and especially to look for the good things in life and the tender mercies that have been shown to me and those around me.  I may not write on this blog each day, but I will try harder to write somewhere  each evening.

Today is the first day that my workplace has given the staff and employees a paid day off in celebration or commemoration of the Juneteenth holiday.  There will be various events during the coming week at work to honor the holiday, and I look forward to these remembrances of the blessings of the abolition of slavery and the slow, slow progress to reduce the racism that exits in our country today.

But today has been a low key day for me.  It began with clouds and a bit of rain, but cleared up just about the time I finished my morning reading, so I donned my sweatshirt and jeans and headed out to finish planting the flowers and vegetable I had bought this past Saturday.  My garden is my trial and my joy, and each year I struggle to keep the invasive grass  and weeds and snails and other critters at bay and provide enough water and nourishment and compost and work to allow us to have a bit of a harvest.  I'm nowhere as good as of a gardener as my Dad and my Grandpa and most other gardeners, but I keep trying!  And, at the end of the day, we have our small front yard entry flower bed filled with new zinnias and petunias, and several new pots filled with petunias and alyssum.  

Drawback to the day?  I seem to have a fairly bad sunburn on my hands and arms.  I really should use more sunscreen and gloves.  

Valley and Vacations

 

The small mountain valley where I grew up, just about everyone knew everyone else, or at least someone in the family.   There was one school district with an elementary school housing grades K-6 and one high school for grades 7-12.  Many people are related, with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins living close by.  My grandparents lived next door to us on the family farm, and my Aunt and her family lived nearby in town when I was very young, but moved to another area of the state when my Uncle was transferred while I was in elementary school.  These cousins are all quite a bit older than I am, but we still visited with them quite often, mostly when they came to visit our grandparents.

The predominant religion in the area is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with 6 different wards or congregations in the valley when I was young, and one Community Christian Church.  We all went to the same schools, and attended many of the same church activities and community events.  There was one small movie theater that showed a different second run movie every Friday and Saturday night for a very low admissions price, and of course there were always the high school football and basketball games, school plays and concerts for Friday night entertainment too.  There was an annual Fiesta Days celebration with parades, a livestock show, rodeos, a beauty queen pageant, and even a demolition derby.  Everyone pretty much knew everyone else, and 

There are several small towns with farms scattered about between the towns.   The growing season is quite short, so the main crops are meadow hay and alfalfa, and most of the farms raise either beef or dairy cattle.  Goats and sheep and chickens, and of course dogs and horses are also common.  Apples and plums grow quite well, peaches and pears do not. Potatoes and carrots and radishes and peas and cabbage and green beans usually grow quite well, but tomatoes and corn and peppers usually don't have time to mature before the first frosts hit. 

Because dairy cattle require daily care with feeding and milking, we didn't take very many family vacations.   The hay usually wasn't ready for cutting until July and August, so June was usually the best time for us to get away for a few days.  Grandpa and a cousin or local young man would take over the milking and other chores and we would all load up in the current family car with our parents -- four of us in the front seat and  four of us in the back, and  we would head out of state for a few days to see new places, historical sites and national parks, and usually to visit with extended family members.  During my high school years we visited Spokane and Seattle Washington one year, and San Francisco, the costal highway, and Los Angeles another year.   Some years we packed up our tent and sleeping bags and drove a few miles further up the mountains to camp and hike and maybe even fish for a  few days .  Another year saw us visiting Yellowstone National Park and relatives in Montana, with the adults traveling on to Alberta Canada and leaving us young ones in the care of our young adult cousins on their family farm.  We also visited Zions and Brice Canyons in Utah another year.   Some nights we would rent a motel room or a cabin and cook our own dinners and breakfasts, and other times we would stay with the relatives in their homes.  After a few days of such wonderful togetherness, we were usually quite content to arrive back to our own home to the mountain valley, ready to face the busy/lazy summer months of work and play before school began again.

What was the community like where you grew up?  Did you take family vacations as a child or teenager?  Did you go camping and hiking?  What are some of your favorite memories?
 

Typing and Temples

 

Typing was one of my favorite classes as a teenager, and I signed up the first year that it was offered to our grade.   It was nice to learn on the IBM Selectric electric typewriters that we had in the Business classroom at our school.  They had the roller ball, that was removable so you could even change the font, which was very cool for those days.  We did need to have a good eraser with the brush on the end for correcting our errors (I'm sure I had as many or more than most students), and learned to use the carbon paper to make copies too.  At home we had a big manual typewriter that my mother used to type letters to her parents and siblings, type up her reports as Stake Primary Secretary at church, and sometimes even write some fiction or other articles that she submitted to magazines.   Many of my siblings and I have also tried our hand at writing some fiction . . . mostly just for the fun of it.  Now days children learn to type at a very young age, and can quickly adapt from traditional computer keyboards to cell phones, to any type or size of device.  I wonder how well they would do on our old fashioned typewriters?

Temples  of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are different from the thousands of Church meetinghouses located around the world where we meet for weekly worship services and other regular activities.  Temples are holy places set apart for sacred service and ordinances.   When I was a teenager we very rarely had the opportunity to attend the temple, and during all of my growing up years I was only able to attend our nearby temple one time to participate in performing baptism ordinances for ancestors and others who have died without having the opportunity to be baptized.   Things have changed over the years, and when my children were teenagers, they were able to attend the temple at least several times a year, if not weekly if they wanted to.   All of the temples were closed for a period of time during the recent pandemic, but have gradually been opening up, and now most are open for us to attend by appointment.  I'm grateful to have had many opportunities since my teenage years to visit and participate in sacred temple ordinances in many different temples all over the country, and there is one currently being constructed just a mile or so from my house!

When and how did you learn to type?

Have you ever visited a Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?

Quilts

 

My mother wasn't a fancy quilter, but a practical one.  She put together and quilted or tied a large number of quilts in her life-time, mostly for her children and other relatives.  Especially during my teenage years when we were "mostly" grown, she had more time for sewing and quilting.  Much like her mother and aunties had made quilts for her and her siblings and cousins, she sewed and quilted for her own children and nieces and nephews.  I remember one Christmas break in particular when my siblings and I were all participants in the quilt creation process.  We had an assembly line with probably two sewing machines sewing the patches together while listening to Christmas music on the radio.  Mums mostly did simple patterns with square blocks, many created from leftover fabric from our dresses or other clothing that she had sewn over the years.) Once the quilt top was sewn, the "sandwich" was created with a plain backing fabric, the fluffy batting filling in the center, and the patchwork on the top.  These were all stretched onto the quilting frames put together by my Daddy, and then we all gathered around to put in our share of the stiches, either right next to or right inside the "ditch" or the patchwork seams.  Once everything was quilted, Mums would hand stitch the binding around the edges, and then the quilt was ready for gifting.  

Other times we would gather together with Aunts and Uncles and cousins for quilting showers for whichever cousin was about to be married.   The Aunts would have the quilt top and sandwich all prepared, and we would gather around stitching, visiting, and of course, eating delicious pot luck lunches with lots of goodies.    And of course, when I did marry in my early twenties, we were gifted several quilts that were made by my dear mother, and another very treasured quilt made by my Aunts and quilted by my cousins . . . and including many stitches put in by my own dear husband.

Did you grow up with any quilting traditions in your family?   Do you have a treasured quilt?

Happy Easter