My no good, very bad hour...

My fridge needed cleaning. Enchilada sauce had tipped over and spilled down the back and into all the nooks and crannies. The veggie draw had mushy, ex-fresh produce as the majority population. Unnamed sticky stuff skimmed the top of each glass shelf. My Dad's nurse came to change his catheter so I took the opportunity to dive in. Of course, he finished with the nurse (or the nurse was finished with him!) before I was even half done with the fridge.

"Would you like to go for a drive?" my Dad asked. "In a minute," I replied while dashing like a mad woman from the fridge to the sink and back.

Three minutes later, "Shall we go on that run?" "As soon as I put this stuff back," I answered.

That same scenario is repeated several more times and I had just put the last few items on the shelf when I realized that I had forgotten to put in the meat drawer. In an effort to slip it in without taking out all the stuff already there I once again tipped over the open can of enchilada sauce and it spilled down the back of the fridge, into the fresh produce drawers and all the nooks and crannies.

Clapping my hands for joy (lie detector immediately beeps) I took EVERYTHING out of the fridge to wipe up the why-was-an-open-can-in-my-fridge-in-the-first-place sauce. I noticed the red tomato stain wasn't coming out of the nice clean white interior of my not yet 6 weeks old fridge. I ran down stairs to get some Oxy-Clean, the miracle stain remover. The laundry hadn't been switch for a day or so. I opened the door of the washer wondering if I needed to re-run this load so it wouldn't have that stayed-in-the-washer-too-long odor. I hastily grabbed the first article of clothing and hurriedly took a whiff. MUCH to my surprise the load had not been started, but the Tide with Bleach (Costco brand) had been added. I recommend if you are going to take up sniffing something that it not be Tide with Bleach. Yes, I admit it did give me a buzz, something akin to being shaved by a blow torch.

I groped my way up the stairs sneezing, eyes watering. My Dad inquired, "Is that you making all that noise? When are we going for a ride?"

I give unto men weakness.....

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.      (Book of Mormon | Ether 12:27)

We don't like them.  We want them to go away.  They just interfere with our happy lives.  I am talking about our "thorns in the flesh" as Paul would say.  The reluctant reality is that Heavenly Father really has given them unto us.  It's part of mortality.  They drive us to our knees and potentially into the arms of the Savior.  What is He trying to teach us?  Perhaps that He is the only real and unlimited and perfect source of power and strength.  Our struggles will eventually lead to an endowment of power to do what we really have come to earth to do.  If our every desire was given us on a platter we would truly be weak indeed.  

The Ant and the Grasshopper in varying forms....

There's been a re-worked version of the age-old Aesop's fable, The Ant and the Grasshopper, making it's way around everyone's email boxes, particularly if you happen to move and shake in the more conservative realms of our political landscape.  I think I've received it two or three times.  It goes as follows:

Two Versions Of The Ant And The Grasshopper!

OLD VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying
up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool, laughs, dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter,
so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!


MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying
up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool, laughs, dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, & ABC provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everyone cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Jesse Jackson attends a demonstration in front of the ant 's house where the news stations film the whole group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has everyone kneel down and pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in a Larry King interview that the ant has gotten rich
off the back of the grasshopper, and they call for an immediate tax hike to make the ant pay his fair share.

The EEOC drafts an Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is also fined for not hiring a proportionate number of green bugs. He has nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, so his home is confiscated by the government.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last of the ant’s food while in his government house, which just happens to be the ant's house that is also crumbling around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident so the house is now abandoned, and is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be VERY careful how you vote in 2010.

 I received a "revised" edition from my humanitarian minded son that scrambles the fable in a different direction.  

ANOTHER VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying
up supplies for the winter.

One particular grasshopper jumps and plays all day long during the summer. The other grasshoppers work hard but all everyone ever notices is the one grasshopper that is jumping and playing all the time.

The ant lives in a far too comfortable home, with a boat and a big screen TV. The ant looks down on the grasshoppers because they don't have as much as he does. The ant assumes it is because the grasshoppers don't work.

Further inspection reveals a few interesting things. The grasshoppers actually work harder than the ant. The ant has an air conditioned office where he works some of the time, takes coffee breaks and jokes with his co-workers. He just thinks he works hard for his money. The grass hopper works hard doing manual labor for low wages. Come to find out the grasshopper provides most of the things that make the ant comfortable and at a low cost. The ant actually was able to go to college and get a job primarily because of what his parents provided for him - money and status. The grasshopper went to school in a poor area, not getting the education the ant did. He didn't have the options the ant did.

Because of the social and economic structure when the winter comes the ant has enough in store while the grasshopper, although working hard, didn't have excess income and suffers. The ant turns up his nose and says that the grasshopper deserves this situation and will not help out the grasshopper. Silly ant.

Come spring the Gardener sees the ant's prideful attitude and destroys the ant nest and gives the goods from the ants to the grasshoppers

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't be arrogant.

 

A Companion and Guide

We had Stake Conference a few weeks ago. The entire Sunday session was on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. As I listened to the talks, I understood in a way I haven't before, our critical need for the third member of the Godhood. The Holy Ghost isn't just a nice Guy that helps us through mortality. He is essential for our return trip Home. Ever since I have wanted to share with you (whoever you are) a few thoughts from my notes. This desire hasn't gone away so I will now do so:

The Holy Ghost is the connecting link between us and the Savior and thus the atonement. (The H.G. testifies of Christ, calls us to repentance and reminds us to keep the commandments.) The Savior is the connecting link between us and the Father. (The Savior testifies of the Father and has atoned for our sins that we might return.) Our journey back home to our Father begins with the Holy Ghost.

"The Holy Ghost is a lamp to light our onward march."

"It is Lucifer who will lead us off the path that we may thus lose the companionship of the Holy Ghost. We then are left alone and he, Lucifer will abandon us."

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

(Book of Mormon | Moroni 10:5)


"The Holy Ghost comes as a therapy that heals the sin sick soul."

"God bless us to associate ourselves with the Holy Ghost."

My three siblings minus me...

Aren't they cute!

New York Times Piece...

Allysha emailed me the following:

The New York Times has a fantastic photo documentary series called One in 8 Million that I love. Today's story focuses on an LDS Sister Missionary from Shanghai serving in Chinatown.

I thought you might like it.

Cheers!

Allysha

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#/naisi_zhao

This was lovely.

Visiting Grandma's grave with Grandpa

Last winter when we brought my Dad to Utah from Colorado to live after my Mother's death I promised him if he was able, I would bring him back in the summertime to visit Mother's grave. I wasn't sure how he would do but I wanted to keep my promise if at all possible even though his dementia impeded his memory. The trip was a great success. He enjoyed it thoroughly. All of my siblings were able to meet us there. It was great.

Purple was my mother's favorite color. She also loved red.

Yes, he is still alive....

...and actually he's also looking well. We received a letter from the LDS Branch President at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. When the soldiers came to church on Sunday they were invited to write a letter, get their picture taken and member of the branch mailed it to their families. The soldiers can write a letter every week and someone in the branch will email it to us. Also, if family members email something before noon on Sat. they will print the emails and give them to the soldiers. They do this for 125 to 150 soldiers every week. How awesome is that!

Nathanael on his way to fulfill his dream

He's finally there after all these years of "pretending." I could say "I'll bet he's loving it" but that's probably untrue so I won't.

The last of the facial hair....practicing the tough guy look.

The nice guy always wins out however.

 He won't be walking through our front door again for a while.

Nathanael with his proud but slightly anxious parents.