Crackers

Our lives are very intertwined in our families. We get older and we think we are different from our siblings as we have had many years on our own. But those early learning years are very much binding in our lives. Just the other day my niece asked my daughter if I liked crackers. It seems like to her if she doesn't have any crackers in the house her dad (my brother ) thinks she is without food and goes to the market and brings home a box or two. Now what is so funny about that, doesn't everybody have boxes of crackers around the house? I do. Several kinds, I even discovered these small saltines and I bought all of the boxes on the shelf. I don't see anything odd about that. My daughter told my niece she didn't either, she loves crackers too. When she was in high school, she took a whole pack of them to school in her backpack,every day as she was a runner and runners get hungry, really hungry, and all of the other runners get hungry and bring their crackers too. Cracker lovers unite!!!
All of this is well and good, but,I also discovered that crackers, my favorites even over bread, contain trans fats. It says on the package zero trans fats, but it also says hydrogenated oil. OH MY! What to do. Clog your veins of the worst kind or eat your favorites. I have decided to eat crackers only at a reduced rate. Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Cracker!

It's the little things.

Lately, I have been trying to be more cognizant of the little things that happen in my life and the lives of those around me. It is easy to become distracted in such a busy world with all of the things we think we HAVE to do. So here are a few of the things I have noticed lately, using Elder Bednars' words the "tender mercies" granted our way.
When I was young I never had the opportunity to have a child. I just thought that was my lot and didn't worry too much about. I don't really remember being around someone who was pregnant to go through it with them. I lived with my sister when she was pregnant, but I don't remember being very involved at the time. But being around Marissa while she is going thru the pregnancy with these twins is a bright spot to me. Maybe is is just because we have waited so long, or all of the problems she has had just getting pregnant that makes is so precious, I don't really know, but it has been such a joy to be around her. It is not easy for her, she is sick much, and grouchy, and can't eat sometimes, and has had all kinds of complications. But still it is exciting to me. I love being around her through thick and thin or rather thin to thick. She has lost weight and is getting very round, she is so cute. To her it is miserable, she put up all of her clothes as she was getting frustrated going to the closet and nothing fit. She only has one pair of pants that fit her, I told her to get another pair, but she is particular, for comfort. (Another frustration for her-comfort)
Mason has been so wonderful to her and so concerned, he is good. I am pleased with the way they interact and do things together, it is refreshing. Anyway, my joy is full with these new babies.
Another thing that happened was some years back when I was teaching seminary, I learned about chiasmas (chiasmas is the figure of speech in which two clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the two clauses display inverted parallelism.) It was discovered in 1967,in the Book of Mormon, and I taught some time later but never knew who it was that discovered it's existence in that sacred scripture. The story of the discovery in itself is amazing, but for some reason, I never knew who and always wondered. Last Thursday, I wasn't very busy and discovered an article in a magazine that related the story 40 years later. I was thrilled now I knew. ( Jack Welch) What was even more exciting was I knew him. For the past 8 months, I have been traveling to Provo to attend his Book of Mormon class-introduced to me by my missionary friends the Andersons-and loving it. How honored I felt to be taught by him. A great discovery for me. A really exceptional individual.
Here is a little saying by President Hinckley that sums it up for me.
"Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

Rain? Rain?

Greetings from Rainy Utah,
I talked to my friends in Beaver, UT and they awoke this morning to 4 inches on snow on June 5. This has been a crazy weather year. Isn't the weather a wonderful thing, it reminds us that a higher force is in control and must be respected. I love watching the weather, I should have been a weather person. (politically correct) Although it can be very destructive, it still amazes me the way things come about. Even though the weather people try very hard to predict the weather, an do so with a great deal of accuracy, there are always cracks and turns and surprises to the end results. It kind of reminds me of life. Although we work hard to do things that would bring more order to our lives, there is always something that happens to make us rethink our path or chose a different plan or act in some way 180 degrees different than our orderly planned life. This is a good thing because it always keeps us sharp, thinking, re-planning, finding new and different ways to solve our dilemmas. In this way we are using our problem-solving skills, all or our lives. Now I must admit some of us have more problems than others, and some of us are better at solving the problems than others.
This past weekend I went to Phoenix for a quick trip. I had forgotten how really beautiful the desert is. All of this green here in Utah is nice, but I dearly love the desert. It has its own special kind of beauty. Since the really hot heat hasn't gotten there yet, it was still beautiful. Everything was still in bloom and the saguaros had these beautiful white flowers on the tips, there were still some red blossoms on the ocotillos. There were desert trees covered with beautiful pink blossoms. I'm sorry I'm not good at names of plants, but I do appreciate the beauty of them.
Marissa seems to be doing well with the pregnancy. She is getting round in the mid section, still feels noshus in the mornings, but has been walking with her friend across the street, and she has quit her work as of last Friday. The cats enjoy her being home, and she is milking the twins for all its worth. Just joking, she is doing well, I feel bad sometimes I can't advise her on pregnancy, but she seems to have plenty of help and advise from those around her who have experiences these things.
Yesteday, we had a department devotional. Elder Scott, Elder Bednar from the Quourm of the Twelve and Elder McMullen from the Presiding Bishopric's office were the speakers. These men are advisors over our department. Elder Bednar reminded us that what we are doing here is not about us or about the mediam we are working with, but our purpose is to create material that will invite the Holy Ghost to Teach. So that the Holy Ghost can bear witness of Jesus Christ and the Restoration. We should be searching for the "Lord's Own Way", which many times an entirely different way, he said "you don't know how to do it and neither do I, but the Lord does!". The Lord will inspire us in our responsibilities to draw earnest seekers of Truth.
Bishop McMullen said that when the Holy Ghost is present, teaching and learning occur. He gave the example of a feather, when you are not paying attention to the feather you cannot feel it when it brushes against you, you must pay attention to be able to feel it. To listen with the ears of our minds and hearts and feel the innermost feelings of the heart. The Lord has placed a unique system of intelligence which is intimate and personal in each of us and can be awakened and touched by our invitation. Alma32.(Prepare to receive the word, experiment on the work , word begins to swell and grow in us.)
Elder Scott gave the example of working together. About 6 months before the dedication of the new Brazil temple, the equipment to film and record the preceedings were sent to Brazil and stopped in customs. Try as they may, they couldn't get the equipment released. So they searched around got the equipment from various resources locally, as they wanted a flawless dedication, and then 20 minutes before the dedication the camera stopped working, the camera man was able to get the camera working on time and the dedication went on flawlessly.
He ( Elder Scott) also gave us two saying in spanish one was " El que hace lo que quiere, no hace lo que debe". He who is doing what he wants is not doing what he should. Acts 28:27. Anyway, the thing that I remember most of the whole devotional was Elder Bednar said that there are very good people in the world who do many good things but they have closed their hearts to the Holy Ghost. I have thought about this very much since yesterday and looked at myself and the things I do in my life. I am so thankful to be able to go to these devotionals, they help me look at myself in a way I would not have thought about. This way I can try to change and make myself a person more receptive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Much love to you,
Granee