MEXICAN BEAN AND CORN SALAD OR SALSA

This is delicious as a side dish, dip or as a taco condiment

Drain one can of black beans in a colander and rinse with cold water. Place in a 2-quart bowl. Add one can of white beans or pinto beans drained.
Add: 1 cup of frozen baby corn rinsed
1- Yellow or red bell pepper chopped small
1- small sweet onion or red onion chopped fine
1-2 jalapeno pepper chopped fine (take out the seeds and white membrane to minimize the heat) 1-2 tomatoes chopped
1- clove of garlic grated fine
1 tsp. Cumin seeds crushed (that mortar and pistal thing)
1 T. of olive oil and the juice of 1/2 lime. Salt to taste. Add cilantro if desired. When ready to serve add a chopped avacado if desired. It keeps for several days without the avacado so I don't usually add it until last.

EASY FUDGE

I have a friend (Viki Whitmer) who is a chocolate aficionado. This is her recipe and it is quite good especially if you need a quick treat.
**********************************************Pour one can sweetened condensed milk into a 2 quart bowl.

Microwave on high for one minute. Add one 12 oz. package of milk chocolate chips (Ghirdelli the best) and one teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir until melted and smooth. Add one cup of chopped nuts and 1 cup of miniature marshmallows if desired. Pour into a buttered loaf pan or smaller dish and cut into squares when cool.

WE WRITE OF CHRIST

Mike and I were asked to talk in church yesterday from a Testimony of Jesus Christ by President Hinckley. I knew when I read the talk I had to speak about writing our spiritual experiences.



Our talks today are taken from a beautiful testimony of Christ written by President Hinckley and published in the March 2008 Ensign. In the talk President Hinckley quoted the following scripture from 2 Nephi 25:

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do…

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. 2 Nephi 25:23, 26

Today I would like to talk about the importance of "laboring diligently" to write our testimonies and spiritual experiences. How do we "write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look…"

I have had a witness that we can leave nothing more precious and of far reaching importance than our personal spiritual experiences written down. I teach writing classes to convince others that they have the power and ability to write whatever they want. I like to tell my students that: "You may not think you can write but the Holy Ghost knows how and he will help you." I testify this is true. I have had this experience many times.
Our beloved author Nephi was insecure about his writing abilities:2 Nephi: 33 "…neither am I mighty in writing"
"And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong..."
"I glory in plainness; I glory in truth."

"I have been commanded of Him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness. "

I think Nephi is trying to tell us that our feelings of insecurity about writing is not an excuse. God did make Nephi’s words "strong" and he will ours also. I have discovered as I have studied writing books that many writers look to God for help and inspiration. Here are a few quotes from some secular authors:

"Although we seldom talk about it in these terms, writing is a means of prayer. It connects us to the invisible world. It gives us a gate or conduit for the other world to talk to us." (Julia Cameron)

"Now this creative power I think is the Holy Ghost." (Brenda Ueland)

"The thing to realize is that the unconscious must be trusted to bring you aid from a higher level than that on which you ordinarily function." (Doretha Brande)

Greg Hansen an LDS writer of music put it this way:
"The belief that each of us is original, unique and has something significant to say ...is fundamental to receiving the level of…inspiration I am referring to. I believe we are inspired 95% of the time, but do not take the time to listen or follow what we’re told. Inspiration is there for the taking, as much as we want it, if we learn how to get it." (Meridian Magazine)

Have you ever written a prayer? I try to get my writing classes to do this every day while they are taking my classes. It is a powerful experience. Your prayers are much more focused when you write them. And in these written prayers you can ask for help in writing your stories and testimony. It is a prayer God will answer when he knows you are determined.

In the 10 months since we started attending here I have heard some wonderful stories and testimonies from you. Some of them have stuck in my mind and because I love stories I worry that they are not written down.

I wonder about the many sweet baby blessings I have heard here. Did anyone bother to jot down the things that were said as a guide to the parents and an inspiration to the child?

I still think about a wonderful story, told in a testimony meeting, by Brother Tom Barlow concerning someone from his mission he reconnected with. There is no end to the power of this story to inspire the members of his family…written down.

Our first Sunday, in the branch, was a testimony meeting and The Cragun family were thanking God for the miracles in behalf of their daughter Sydney who had recovered from a life threatening illness. I knew there were lots of stories to be told about what had gone on here. Cherise is in my writing class right now and has written a charming, joyful little segment of these happenings. I would love for you all to hear it because many of you were part of the story.

Cory Webb’s testimony touched me last Sunday. Her tender spiritual experience could be a treasure someday to her posterity.

Mikes mother is a convert to the church. One Christmas she wrote a history of her testimony as a gift to her children. This is without a doubt the most important gift she ever gave us.

Last Conference President Eyring spoke and wrote something that I think will help us all to realize how important it is to keep track of the movement of God in our lives:

When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: "Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?" As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.Mike and I spent 2 years as inner city missionaries in Ogden working with people who had various disabilities in a government subsidized housing complex. I wrote many of their stories for them and for me…that as their stories are told "the works of God should be made manifest..." Here is Mike Hayes’ story:

Mike Hayes spoke in Sacrament Meeting our first Sunday at the St. Beneditct’s Manor when we began our mission there. He is a pleasant looking guy standing about 5’8" with dark hair. He was dressed nicely in a dark suit and tie. He is obviously handicapped as one hand and one foot don’t move with ease. He wears glasses and his eyes have a difficult time staying focused. His speech is slightly impeded.

We learned as we visited him that this was his first Sacrament Meeting talk since he became active three years ago. He bore a powerful testimony of his love of the Savior and how his life was better as he tried to live the gospel. His spirit impressed us at the time.

During our visit with Mike we spent a few minutes discussing his work and career goals. He is a bill collector for a nearby business; he does part time drafting and has an online business which he hopes will take off. We were impressed at his ambition with his handicap.

He talked some about a girl friend and his desire to have a family. He happened to mention that he had only been active 3 years. I asked him what brought him back into the church. He told the following story:

"I am an epileptic. I was having seizures so often my life seemed hopeless. I decided the only answer was to end it. I sat on the bed with a 32-caliber revolver. I was contemplating where the best place to shoot would be—in the mouth or at the temple. As I sat there discouraged and distraught something came over me and I dropped to my knees and prayed. I stayed there for a long time pouring out my soul, pleading for help. I glanced at the shelf by my bed. I saw a book—my old dusty scriptures. I put down the gun and picked up the scriptures. They fell open to 2 Timothy 1:7:'For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord…'

I cried and dropped to my knees and prayed again. I had my answer.

He pointed to a spot on the wall with the scripture printed out below a picture of the Savior. He said the scripture sustained him daily.

I asked him about his health. He said he got an implant to control his seizures and now only has one or two grand mauls a year. He told us he was happy and hopeful—that the gospel had given him a new life. "

" Yes...that the works of God might be made manifest..." Elder Scott, CR Oct. 93: "Powerful spiritual direction in your life can be overcome or forced into the background unless you provide a way to retain it...Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a sacred place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. That practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light."

Brothers and sisters, the "Word" is Christ. Our Words testify of Him. We need to leave our own written family "scriptures"…our testimonies and spiritual experiences written down so "Our children may know to what source they may look." I pray you will understand the importance of your "words" --they are not for you alone. In Jesus Name, Amen

LOOK UP

Joseph Smith’s Vision of Discouraged Apostles [The Radiant Life, Truman G. Madsen, p.43]

I have read that Joseph Smith once had a vision of the apostles in foreign lands. He saw them standing together with their heads bowed down in discouragement because of the adversities they were facing. Because they were looking down, they could not see that the Savior was there, just above them, ready to help them if they would ask. All they needed to do was look up, but they kept their heads down. The Savior was weeping. It was said that Joseph Smith could not describe this vision without shedding tears himself.

A LITTLE POEM I LOVE

An Unfinished Woman
by Jaroldeen Edwards (Women’s Treasury, p. 138)


Here am I, Lord
The dishes barely done and night long since fallen,
The children would not go to bed
And would not go and
Would not go—
And now they are gone.
Gone to places of their own with children of their own
Who will not go to bed and will not go…
And I have taught them what I could and
They have learned the things they would
And now they’ve gone their way alone to learn the rest
Most on their own.


And I remain, not half spent.
And I remain, not yet content,
So much to do, so much to learn,
So much to feel, so much to yearn.
My past mistakes make stepping-stones,
Not millstones great around my neck but
Stones to guide my searching feet—
And I must search; I’m incomplete.


I watch my years go tumbling by
And I must use them better, I
Have yet so much to learn to do
Before I can return to You.
The hour is late. The night comes on,
My celestial self I would become.
Ah! What wisdom thou gavest to mortal life—
I,
As sister, mother, daughter, wife—
In earthly roles have seen Thy face.
In my womanly life Thy heavenly place
Is taught through humble tasks and pain.
So, if royal robes I would obtain,
To wear as all Thy glories burst—
I’ll need to do the laundry first.

A JANE AUSTEN VALENTINE

"This will be your Valentines gift," he said, as we wrapped up to stay warm in front of the big screen television. "Fine," I said, "this is just what I wanted—for you to watch the first two hour installment of Masterpiece Theater’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’—with me." I know this is hard to believe, but it is true. Even more unbelievable is that this is not the first Jane Austen adaptation Mike has seen. Last week he endured "Miss Austen Regrets" and the week before he watched "Mansfield Park." (After reading this to him Mike reminded me that he has sat through "many" big screen Jane Austen productions.) How did I get him there? I know you are wondering. I will get to that shortly.


So, how did Mike do watching Jane Austen? It was somewhat frustrating. British dialogue is not always easy to follow. Then, the Austen stories are often confusing if you haven’t read the book. Mansfield Park ended for him with many unanswered questions. Some of his frustrations with the story didn’t bother me. I can’t remember what they were but I did get on line to the PBS blog discussion looking for explanations to his dilemmas. There was a woman on line blogging about her husband watching with her. She said he was confused through the entire production. Mike was comforted to know that he wasn’t the only man in America watching and with questions.


The British dialect problem reminded me of the time Leif was in London for a few months. He got a job working for a travel agency answering the phone. I talked to him after 3 days on the job. He said, "Mom, I don’t think I am going to be able to keep this job. When people call I can’t understand what they are saying even though it is in English." He lasted about a week.


After we watched "Miss Austen Regrets" Mike was fuming about the fact that Jane’s niece married the widower with 6 kids at the end. "I can’t believe she did that." "Why, why, why?" he wanted to know. "I don’t know," I tried to answer him. "Maybe she was in love with him." I just accepted it. He didn’t.

OK, why did Mike take on Jane Austen? I think part of the reason was that I had seen the first two stories in the series on a small television. He agreed to tape the last three on his big TV with the DVR recording capability. I say, "his TV" because I rarely watch television. But the complete Jane Austen was definitely something I wanted to see. I think Mike was feeling bad that I didn’t get to have my turn in front of the new big screen. He was being generous and decided to spectate with me. He didn’t have to. He could have gone to one of the bedrooms and enjoyed the golf channel on a small television, but he did the loving thing and we watched it together.

The other reason—he likes movies. He likes women. He would rather talk with a group of women than men. I am not sure Jane Austen was very satisfying but he endured.


Last week, in the spirit of this event, I rented "Jane Austen’s Book Club." I saw it by myself on one of the little televisions. I am not saying I necessarily recommend it. It is about dysfunctional, immoral people but Jane Austen did get discussed some. I told Mike when we went to bed that he might have enjoyed it more than Masterpiece Theater since it was a bit of a modern day comedy and easier to follow. Well, the next night, before I returned the movie, he watched it by himself. I think he might be hooked on Jane Austen. I also know that he won’t miss the next two installments of "Pride and Prejudice" because he is hoping to figure it all out. I even think his British ear is improving since I didn’t hear "what did they say?" quite as often last night. He did say, "the stories are beginning to run together." I think Jane Austen is just what the male brain needs.


What more could a woman want for Valentines Day than to be curled up with the love of her life in front of a Jane Austen movie. Life is good

CELEBRATING THE EMPTY NEST

Lonely and quiet is the norm at our house lately. (And clean) Having all the children gone has been a shock; it happened too fast. I’m thinking of all those exhausted evenings when I wanted to run away when they were little. I wish I had enjoyed them more. I didn’t realize how short my time with them would be; at the time I could see no end. Mike told me the other day that he was mourning the loss of our little children, almost like you would mourn someone who had died. When we discussed it we decided that it was even worse than death because they would never exist in that form again. We know we will see our loved ones who have passed on in the eternities but those sweet little babies and bouncy boys and girls will never be with us again.


A few months ago I was grumbling to a friend in our neighborhood about my longing for my departed children. We are of similar age and her kids are also out of the house. She expounded for some time about the joys of the empty nest. She said that she and her husband were having the time of their lives, going on trips, skiing, golfing, eating out and on and on. When I left her I felt like she had taught me an unexpected lesson about attitude. All I had to do was change my line of thinking. We are having fun. We are hiking and biking together. Dinners are easier. Mike is doing the dishes every night. We are free to go and do anything our heart desires and we are actually doing many of them. Is it always this hard to appreciate change? Would I really want to go back to getting those little monsters in bed? My empty nester friend has helped me see that there is a life after children and we need to enjoy it--together.

Some time later our church held a special fast for this woman’s husband. He had cancer and would be dead seven weeks later. This woman’s good outlook is blessing all that know her. She came to church to tell us about her husband’s illness with amazing grace and composure. She stood and bore a sweet testimony of God’s love for her family. She taught me a cherished lesson about enjoying my empty nest and now she is teaching me about accepting God’s will.


Church associations help people to share joys and sorrows in a way that is not possible in any other situation. Rabbi Harold Kushner in his book "Who Needs God" wrote about this: "In congregational worship, regularly scheduled services on a Saturday or Sunday morning, I have come to believe that the congregating is more important than the words we speak. Something miraculous happens when people come together seeking the presence of God. The miracle is that we so often find it. Somehow the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. A spirit is created in our midst which none of us brought there. In fact, each of us came there looking for it because we did not have it when we were alone. But in our coming together, we create the mood and the moment in which God is present." (Pocket Books, p. 149)


I have thought about this couple and know they cherish every wonderful minute together before his untimely death. What if they had been sitting around feeling unhappy because their life had changed and missed all the good times? These memories are surely a joy and comfort now.


God planned for the pains of the empty nest--they are called grandchildren. We have our first and are beginning to understand this. Those lost babies are restored to us in a little different form.

[I wrote this a few years ago but thought of it yesterday in a conversation I had in my writing class. The sting of the Empty Nest gets less and less and we are enjoying it more and more. ]

SCARBOROUGH HERB BREAD

This bread is wonderful and will elicit raves when served.
Soften 2 T. of yeast in 1 cup warm water
Add the following:
3 T Sugar
2 ½ tsp. Salt
¼ C. dry parsley
1 Tsp. dry thyme flakes
1 tsp. dry Rosemary
¼ C. dry onion flakes
1 C. warm milk
¼ C. oil or butter


Add enough flour to make a stirable dough. Mix until well blended. Add 2 beaten eggs. Add more flour to make a soft kneadable dough. Knead 5 min. Let rise until double.


Divide the dough into 3 pieces and then those 3 pieces into 3. Roll into a 12 inch rope and braid together folding the ends under to make a uniform loaf. Place side by side on a large greased cookie sheet. Let rise until double. Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Bake 375 for 15-20 minutes until light brown.


I usually double this recipe and make 6 loaves. After they are baked wrap them individually in foil sealing tightly and put in the freezer. You always have some nice bread for unexpected guests or to take to a pot luck. Warm in the foil in a 350 oven for 15 minutes after they are thawed.

BEARING GIFTS FOR ONE ANOTHER

I am teaching a writing class right now. I have 8 amazing ladies in the class who write better than I do. Mostly I am a motivator for getting others to write their family stories. I am always quite blown away at how well everyone can write their own stories with just a little practice. The other discovery I have made is that when you share your stories with others they get inspired to try. My new Ward assigned me to visit Tresa. She is a young mother with three little boys. I liked her instantly. I took a story I had written to my first visit with her. She got so excited I couldn't believe it. "Oh please, she said, let me be in one of your writing classes." And she is there writing wonderful things. Her first story was "Wow!" She is one of my blogger friends. Her writing will inspire you too.

My favorite writing books are by Julia Cameron. She has a wonderful philosophy of the spiritual aspects of writing--something beyond ourself that helps us write what "wants to be written." I tell my classes: "You may not think you can write but the Holy Ghost knows how and He will help you--especially with your family stories." I have had it happen to me many times.

The following quote from Julia Cameron made me think of Tresa and I connecting. I said from the beginning it was no accident that I got assigned to be her visiting teacher. We had gifts for one another. Then I think about all the women that have taken my writing classes--I get more than I give.

"We intersect one another's lives for a purpose, and we bear gifts for one another. When we are hypercritical of ourselves, we are afraid to offer the gifts that we bear, gifts of acknowledgment and appreciation, gifts of acceptance and respect." (The Sound of Paper, Julia Cameron, p. 188)

A DRESSING FOR A GREEN SALAD WITH FRUIT

This is a great salad dressing for a green salad or a spinach where you add strawberries, oranges, apples or other such pieces of fruit. It makes a good amount and keeps well.

1/2 Cup red wine vinegar
3/4 Cup oil
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/3 Cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 Cup strawberry jam

Blend in blender.


Other jams can be used in place of the strawberry. I made it with Orange Marmalade and it makes a nice dressing for a salad with orange sections in it.