THREAD - Things I Sewed

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THREAD

  

Thread bound me to my mother.  Thread was the excitement of creating in my childhood and on into my adult years.  Thread allowed me to have clothes nicer than I might normally have worn.  Thread oh colorful, magical thread with all its possibilities has stitched my life together and given me many joys.

I am an artist.  The creative experience of making something with raw materials has motivated me as long as I can remember.  I was a little girl longing to get my hands on my mother’s magical sewing machine so I could stitch together the little scraps of fabric left over from her sewing projects.  And she let me—she turned me loose with a few instructions on threading the machine and bobbin.  I was hooked. 

I learned the basics of sewing techniques in 4-H with my mother as our teacher.  We met together weekly to make little bags and aprons.  It was all I needed to go forward with confidence.  I learned to read a pattern with a little help from my mother.  She made every stitch I wore up until high school and then I began making my own clothes.  I whipped up a little blouse to wear on a field trip once, the night before.

Fabrics were reasonable compared to ready-made clothes then.  It’s not quite the same now.  I bought a cute little jacket for $7 at Ross recently.  It would have cost me $15 or more for the fabric and buttons today.  Economy might be a motivation to begin with but soon a seamstress loves the feel and smell of fabrics.  Her mind races with visions of what she will make with a piece of fabric under her fingers.  Her eyes roam the colors with relish as the bolt is unfurled on the cutting table.  It is all a good healthy rush.    

At one time, wandering around a fabric store was an adventure of joy for me.  Rolls of colorful fabrics, stacked together in a store, could make my heart race.  Today I am a painter but when I happen into a fabric store I can’t control the thoughts of wanting to create something.   The addiction never really leaves. That is why women who sew end up collecting a lot more fabric than they actually stitch.  Perhaps they believe the adage that “She who dies with the most fabric wins!”  I was as guilty as anyone.  Boxes and boxes of once cherished pieces left my basement for Deseret Industries when we moved from Farmington.  I still have a few lengths—just in case I want to make a baby quilt, which is silly because If I ever did make a quilt I would most likely want one of the new designs.

In my day every department store had its fabric department including Penneys, Mervyns, Kmart, Woolworths and every local store in Price, Utah.   Walmart was the last holdout in the department stores carrying fabric but I heard they are phasing it out everywhere except in Utah.  Go figure.

I didn’t take home economics in High School.  I had an idea that I was going to be a biologist.  I liked biology but math and chemistry didn’t like me so by the time I finished the 12^th grade I knew I would be going a different direction.  My love for sewing made me decide to be a Home Economics teacher.  I had a full tuition scholarship to a state school so I spent my first two years living at home and going to the College of Eastern Utah in Price. 

During these two years I worked as a teaching assistant to Mary Pizza.  She was a wonderful petite little Italian lady who loved me and taught me how to tailor jackets and suits.  Utah had a “Make it With Wool” contest every year and I entered with a short, navy blue, lined, double breasted, pea coat with bound button holes and welt pocket.  I didn’t win but it was fun modeling it on the college runway for the judges.  I wore the coat all through college.   I thought it was very chic.

I didn’t really date much at CEU but I did invite a guy to a girl’s choice dance when I was a sophomore and I made a long, straight, teal blue velvet gown.  I went to the beauty shop and had my hair piled on my head in Audrey Hepburn curls.  It was a nice princess experience.  I had so few that it is a pleasant memory.

After CEU I spent two years at Utah State in Logan finishing my degree.  I had my own sewing machine by now.  It sat on my dorm room desk and I found time to sew my own clothes during these years.  I even made a go-go costume for a roommate who was a dancer at a local bar.  That was a new creative experience with a little bit of sparkly fabric.  She did look cute in it. 

I met Mike in the spring of my senior year at Utah State, while I was doing my student teaching at Bountiful Jr. High.  It would take me a couple of years to convince him that I was his girl.  In the meantime I took a job teaching school in Grantsville, Utah.  This was a new school—a Jr. High and High School combined.  I taught everything including cooking, sewing, home management, child development and interior decorating—grades 7-12.  It makes me dizzy today when I think about all those different lesson plans I had to come up with daily.  Wo! How did I do it? Even then sewing was my favorite subject.   I made $6500 that year—1969.  I never taught school again but sewing continued to be an important part of my life.

When Mike and I married in 1970 I made my wedding dress and veil for $25.  I sewed long red velveteen brides maid skirts with white puff sleeve blouses.  We got married on December 18 so I stitched some red velvet roses for a flocked Christmas tree. 

Motherhood brought all kinds of exciting sewing experiences including baby quilts, clothes and Halloween costumes.  My beautiful Maren with her dark hair got the lions share of my sewing projects.  It was always fun to sew for her.

When we moved to Farmington Utah in 1978 I met Cheryl Johnston, who was my sister in every way but blood.  We both liked to sew.  We discovered some little hole in the wall places in Salt Lake with very cheap fabrics and laces.  The worst thing that can happen to an addict is to find someone who encourages you and turns your fabric hunting experiences into a social event.  Knits and Sergers were big then and we made dozens of T-shirts for our combined 7 boys.   We crafted beautiful dresses for our 3 girls.  When the kids got a little older we started to make fabric crafts.  We wanted to learn how to make some little puffed baskets we saw in a gift shop once and I dreamed how to put them together.  Yes, a real nighttime dream.  The church still had bazaars then and we made several wonderful baby quilts that I wish I had today. 

I have guilt and regret about some of the time I spent sewing when my children were little.  It took me away from things I should or could have been doing with them, especially at Christmas.  Oh yes, there were many Christmas weeks when I was sewing 4 pair of matching pajamas late into the night.  I missed all those Christmas specials on TV with a little one on my lap because I was sewing a Christmas gift for my mother or a dress for Maren.  In perspective I wouldn’t do it again.  Christmas crafts and sewing became my joyful nemesis.

When Leif was about 5 years old I got involved with a group of ladies in a co-op gift shop making homemade crafts.  At first I sewed little things but soon moved into floral arranging and that became my next artistic adventure—almost as addictive as sewing.  I arranged flowers for 15 years or more. 

So, where is thread in my life today?  I am in control now.  I did make curtains, pillows and bed spreads for my new house with fabrics I bought for $1-$3 a yard at Walmart.  I started to believe that some phantom decorator was planting things in the store because I found so many coordinating fabrics at the time. 

Recently Maren expressed some interest in sewing and she stitched a quilt top with her Christmas sewing machine, a gift from me.  She has lots of artistic genes.  I wonder why she didn’t get the sewing bug as a child like I did?   Maybe it’s not too late.  She is beginning to like those pieces of fabric.  Recently she told me she is finding some nice fabric lengths in DI—dropped off by ex-addicts like me, for sure.

So, is there a place for thread in my future?  If anyone would get me a little granddaughter I would be tempted to make some lacy dresses and bunny Halloween costumes.  If my daughter gets married I would make a wedding dress if she wanted.  I am sure there will be other temptations.  The desire is still there, especially when I walk through a fabric store and feast my eyes on all the goods.  If I am careful and don’t touch anything I can make it out without a bag.

I was born an artist and a craftsman.  I do regret some of the time I let these projects take from my life but I understand how it happened.  The process of creating calmed me.  And then nothing is more fulfilling and exhilarating than holding a beautiful well-crafted piece you made yourself.  The joy is even greater when your project is turned inside out and you can see all your well-placed threads marching in well-behaved little rows along the seams. OK, some stitches are not so well behaved, but those wayward threads just point to my humanity.  Such is life.

ORZO CAPRESE SALAD

This is my new favorite pasta salad.  It is so fresh and summary I can't leave it alone.  I have a bumper crop of basil this year so I am making it a lot.   I included a home made dressing but if you have a favorite commercial Italian dressing it will work.

ORZO CAPRESE SALAD

1 box of orzo pasta, cooked and rinsed in cold water

3 cups grape tomatoes cut in half

1 lb. soft mozzarella cheese cut into ½ inch cubes

¾ cup coarse grated Parmesan cheese

Bunch about 4 or 5 cluster tops of basil in your hand

and with kitchen scissors snip into slivers to make a

generous ½-1 cup of basil (The second time I wanted more basil)
1/2 C. Pine nuts is good but not necessafy

Dressing:  Put 1 T. olive oil in a small frying pan and finely grate 2

Cloves of garlic into it and stir fry until it is a golden brown.

Remove to a blender.  Add ½ C. olive oil, 3 T red wine vinegar,

1 small Roma tomato peeled (boiling water), seeded (seeds removed)
and chopped, ½ tsp  dried basil or 4-5 fresh basil leaves, ¼ tsp. salt and pepper

Blend until smooth.  Pour 6-8 T. on the pasta mixture and toss together.
Add some more salt and fresh grated pepper to taste. This makes a big salad
but it will stay fresh in the refrigerator 5 or 6 days.

INSPIRATION AND STEWARDSHIP

 The Carla and Perry Taylor Miracle

Attending a new Ward after 29 years in one is worrisome.  And to make to make it worse our new Ward was not a Ward but a fledgling, 4 month old Branch in a new area of Fruit Heights that was expected to grow rapidly.   There were times when as little as 10 women sat in Relief Society. I didn’t understand at the beginning, that having us all new was a plus.  Our new Relief Society president sparkled with enthusiasm.  She wanted to bring together all the new move-ins and make them feel comfortable.  Her presidency came with dinner when we were packing in boxes; soup, bread, a salad with strawberries.  It was nice but I thought, “Someone is moving in every week, can you keep this up?”  They did.  I learned they had a dozen dinners in their freezers ready to go.  I was impressed.  It did make me feel welcome.  When it was my birthday a month later they all came again with a little gift and well wishes.  “Wow, you all are amazing!”

After a year in the Ward I was called to be the compassionate service leader.  My job would be to work with my lovely, ambitious Relief Society President, Cherise Cragun.  And I hoped I could convince her that the sisters in the Ward needed to take a more active roll in her ideas for helping and serving one another.  I could see that burnout might come if she continued to do so much herself.  E-mail made my job easy and finding volunteers for help was as easy as a morning e-mail to all the sisters.  I was impressed at how eager so many were to help. 

 

Soon after my call Cherise advised me that we needed to find dinners for Carla Taylor’s family 3 days a week.  Carla had 2 small children and a teenage son.  Her husband had recently checked into rehab to deal with some addiction issues.  Carla had gone back to work to support the family.  She was not attending church at the time.  Someone in the Ward volunteered to take dinner into the family every Monday. (How wonderful of you Jackie Giles).  I needed to find two other days. (Plus the RS presidency often did another day here and there)  Cherise said this assignment would be ongoing until further notice.   I learned, in my new assignment, that there are some you can count on over and over.   Mostly everyone wanted to help when asked personally.  As the weeks turned into months I started to question the wisdom in so many dinners.  Was it too much to ask of the sisters? Thankfully, I never expressed my reservations.  It was not that anyone was complaining.  Cherise met with Carla regularly. I had to believe that she had a pulse on the situation.   Finally we were done.  I never saw Carla Taylor during this time.  

The little branch seemed to grow in spite of the downturn in the economy and I started to lose the ability to recognize everyone.  This is a great little family neighborhood.  One Sunday a tall, beautiful woman with long dark hair sat with Mike and I on the short benches.  I introduced myself.  She said, “I am Carla Taylor.”  “Oh, Wow, I am so happy to meet you!” I said.” And I was happy.  Of course, this woman would want to come and be with the generous people that had fed her family for months and helped her get through a difficult time.  Surely she was confident of our love, concern and support.  I began noticing Carla each Sunday in Relief Society with a sweet little girl who was not quite ready to leave her mom for Primary. 

I didn’t make the connection at first, but at some point I started to see a big and tall man with dark curly hair, moving around church with his leg elevated on its own little scooter.  I talked to him in the hall about his ongoing problem with a foot that split open and would not heal.  He could not walk on it.  His name: Perry Taylor, Carla’s husband.  I noticed that their teenage son was actively involved with the boys in the Ward.  Carla told me that his activity was influential in her decision to attend.   It gave me a lot of joy to see this little family sit together in sacrament meeting.  Perry was not a member but he began meeting with the missionaries and eventually agreed to baptism.  I like to look for them on that bench close to the front, glowing in the newness of their spirit.    I misjudged and it humbles me. 

Several months ago Perry was assigned to be our home teacher with someone who is seasoned in the church to mentor him in the way to do it.  I look forward to his visits.   We compare our foot problems.  We both had foot surgery in January.   Perry is walking without his scooter now, sometimes with a walking cast, sometimes in a special shoe.  He brings a lesson to teach us.  We are impressed as he is working hard to learn the gospel.  He feels inadequate to his new life.  He read a quote about the Celestial Kingdom from the Ensign once.  He said, “I will never go there.  I spent too many years as a hard drinker.”  Mike wisely brought up the parable of the “Workers in the Vineyard.”  The Lord gave everyone a penny whether they came early or late.  Yes Perry, you can aspire to the Celestial Kingdom.  Isn’t the gospel wonderful!

 It has been about 3 years since we began taking dinner into the Taylor family.  When Perry came to visit this month he had an invitation for us.  He and Carla will take out their endowments on July 12 and we are invited to attend with them.  It has been such a beautiful thing for me to watch this story unfold and to learn that God knew Cherise would do the right thing in organizing us to love this family as long as they needed it.  It is never hard to love those you serve.  I hope I have learned not to question the inspiration that comes with stewardship.  

   

Recently Little Joshua Taylor bore his testimony in church.  He said that he was happy that, “a missionary was living with them.”  Then the missionary got up.   He taught the Taylor family the gospel while serving here. When he finished his mission he moved to Utah and is living with the miracle family he baptized. 

 

The temple experience with the Taylors was sweet.  About 35 Ward members attended the session to show their support.  I have never seen that many members in the temple together.  I sat there thinking about Carla and Perry hearing everything for the first time.  I remembered my first time, knowing that it is so different from any other church experience that it can be daunting.   But with a commitment to return it will soon be comfortable.  There is nowhere on earth with this much peace.

I was surprised to see a fellow writer, Donna Jones, in the session.  She and her husband Kent are leaders in the LDS addiction recovery program.  She told me that Perry was “one of her boys.”  She said when he first started attending the program he told them, “I don’t know why I am here because I don’t like the LDS church.”  So, why did Perry come in the first place and why did he stay?  Donna said that his teenage son convinced him it was the best place and came with him offering tender support.  She said his progress has been a beautiful miracle.  And I liked what Donna said about his wife. “Without Carla’s support and love it never would have happened, because, there was a point when she threatened to leave. “—so many beautiful pieces fitting together to make it all happen.

I felt honored to have a little reception in our home for Carla and Perry that evening after the Temple.  Three years ago no one could have imagined this.  I love miracles.

PARAPROSDOKIAN

My summer has been busy and I am neglecting my blog.  Someone e-mailed me this list of Paraprosdokians today (Thanks Alicia) and they made me think and chuckle so I thought you might need some minds expanding snickers today.  Enjoy!

I had to look up "paraprosdokian". Here is the definition: "Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation." "Where there's a will, I want to be in it," is a type of paraprosdokian.

Ok, so now enjoy!

    1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

    2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

   3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

    4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

    5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

    6. War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

    7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

    8. Evening news is where they begin with 'Good Evening,' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

    9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

    10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

    11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

    12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.'

    13. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

    14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

    15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

    16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

    17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

   18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

    19. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

    20. There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

    21. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.
 
    22. You're never too old to learn something stupid.
 
    23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

    24. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
    25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
 
    26. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

    27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip.

    28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.

     290. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

Words of Wisdom

"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."
 
 
 

CASTELNAUD ON THE DORDOGNE RIVER FRANCE

Last fall we spent 5 days in a condo overlooking the Dordogne River in southern France.  This is a view from a boat we took one afternoon with a view of a medieval fortress,  Castelnaud, on the hill.  It was a scene to take your breath away.  20x24 - Oil on Canvas board

BUTTER CHICKEN

This is an Indian dish but so mild (if you don't add the heat) that picky eaters like my husband and brother-in-law like it.  It does not have a strong spicy flavor.  I can see children enjoying this lovely dish.  I adapted  this to make it easy and quick to prepare.  I like to use boneless skinless chicken thighs.  6 thighs makes about 4 cups of cooked chicken.  I have also made it by boning a rotisserie chicken to make my 4 cups of chicken.  Rotisserie chicken makes a very quick dish with no loss of flavor. 

If you are using raw chicken  toss 6 chicken thighs or 3 breasts cut into 3 pieces each  in 1 T. oil and some garlic powder.  Broil on a cookie sheet until lightly brown, turning to brown both sides.  Remove from oven.  Continue to broil the drippings in the pan for a minute or two to make some nice brown crusty drippings (but don't burn).  Remove from the oven and add 1 cup of water to loosen the flavorful drippings and save to pour into the sauce.  If you are using a rotisserie chicken boil the bones and skin and use 1 cup of the strained broth for the sauce.   Cut up the cooked chicken into bite size pieces making 4 cups.

Grate 5 cloves of garlic into a large saucepan with 3 T butter.  Add 1/2 chopped onion (about 1 scant cup)  Cook and stir in the butter until the onions and garlic start to brown.  Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper and 1 - 14 oz can of petite diced tomatoes and 1 small can of tomato sauce. Use an immersion blender and crush the  sauce until it is a bit smoother.  Add your 1 cup of broth.  Add:

1 tsp. ground Coriander

1 tsp.  ground Cardamon

1 tsp ground Cumin

1/2 - 1 tsp.  Garam Masala (optional, only if you like a little more spice)

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (most people can tolerate this much but could be eliminated)

Juice from one small lime

Add the chicken and simmer for 25 minutes - If using rotisserie chicken don't add until the last 10 minutes.  Add 3/4 cup whipping cream and heat through Serve over white or basmati  rice with chopped cilantro on top if desired.   Makes 6 servings. 

ARIZONA WITH LOVE

(Click on the pictures to see larger size and eliminate the words over the pictures, should you have that problem.  You can then watch it in a slide show)

 ARIZONA WITH LOVE

A morning drive to St. George

Enjoying an afternoon in the temple

Four, packed for Arizona

Stopping for the Wire Canyon slot hike

Lovely slivers of golden light

Bouncing on the tunnel walls

And to our eyes

Route 66

Winslow Arizona

Elegant old Spanish hotel with

The hollyhock garden courtyard

Ornate iron gates and rusty metal animals

A little taste of lovely bread pudding

Painted desert, glowing in the sun

Petrified forest walk

Pressing forward in a stiff wind

Reading Addie Hamblin’s story on the road

Awed by her life of love and service

Anticipating Alpine

Grandmother Iris’s birthplace

Jacob Hamblin’s burial spot

Where it all began

Up the canyon through the tall pines to Alpine

Eerie red sky

Dull light and smoke

A fire in the forest

40,000 acres burn in 2 days

Evacuating Alpine

Find the cemetery, at least

A look at Jacob’s resting place

Clear skies encircle the little burial plot

Reading all the names amid fallen pine needles

Serenity there

Disappointment, I wanted more of Alpine

A peek at Eager

Cedar trees and Sage

Also once home to the Hamblin Clan

A giant, awesome explosion cloud over the forest fire

Wow!

On to Snowflake

And the precious little temple on a hill

A session with Viki

Peace and joy

Quaint little Jerome

Artsy city on a hillside

Earrings for Maren

Lunch at the old Palace Inn,  Prescott

Old cars and Dog fair

Sedona at last

Surprise red bluff setting

A visit to the Frank Lloyd Wright hillside chapel

Happy to unload for a week

Hot tub, card games, cooking again

Pasta, chicken, grilled tomatoes and Lava cakes

Morning walk at Red Rock Crossing

Ahhhh’s abound

Millions of rocks for millions of cairns

Shallow broad stream

Flowing over rusty colored slickrock

Cathedral  Rock

Rising in the clear blue like a giant castle

Climbing the sheer sandstone cliffs to a view of the world

Not too old to climb yet, but

Sore thighs are the price we pay

Dinner at the Elote Café

Recommended by friends

Arrive at 4:30, queue until 5:00 PM seating

Beautiful presentation, tasty food with a Southwest flare

Recipe book for me

Chef Smedstad coming to sign my book

Can’t wait to cook from it

Grasshopper point hike

Viki swims with phone and float away money ($15)

Lots of galleries but not to satisfy me

Call of the Canyon hike on a cool pristine morning

3 hours of glorious red rock vistas, numerous stream crossings and

Sparkling reflections of sky, stone and wildflowers

 Might be the most beautiful hike ever

Afternoon at Slide Rock

Natures waterslide with all the spills and thrills

Mike and Steve mustering nerve to slide

Finally, zip off to screams and laughs

We women wade

A sweet day for families with children

Cathedral Rock on fire at sunset

Reflections shimmer in the stream below

Dual red images steal my heart

Desire for another sundown here

Last hike, climbing briskly to the Eagle overlook

Back across bridge covered waterways with

Firecracker green grasses in the Red Rock State Park

Windrush Gallery, my kind of art, finally

Paintings to inspire me

A straight shot home, 11 long hours

Finish reading the Hamblin story as the miles melt away

Humbled by this family’s amazing experiences

Wish I could turn it into a novel

Goodby,  sweet Arizona

A BETTER HOT FUDGE PUDDING CAKE

I have made a Hot Fudge Pudding Cake for years. Fresh out of the oven it is gooey and rich, with only 2 T.  of fat.  It is quick to make with stuff you already have.  But ice cream is a must.  The recipe makes only 6 servings.  If you double the recipe it needs a bigger than 9x13 pan.  I have made it in a 11x14 inch successfully.   You might want to bake it in 2 separate pans if you don't have a larger one.   The rich chocolate flavor is much improved with the addition of chocolate chips in the batter and some vanilla or coffee in the water.

IMPROVED HOT FUDGE PUDDING CAKE

1 C. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. milk
2 T vegetable oil or melted butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/3 C. semisweet chocolate chips

1 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 C. baking cocoa
1 3/4 C. very hot water

1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 350ºF.  Mix flour, sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, the baking powder and salt. Mix in milk, oil and ½ tsp vanilla until smooth.  Add 1/3 C. chocolate chips.  Spread in 9 inch square pan or a 7X11 caserole. Mix brown sugar and 1/4 c. cocoa together then sprinkle over batter. Mix 1 tsp. vanilla and (optional) 1 serving of instant coffee powder in the very hot water and pour over batter. (Since I don’t drink coffee I buy the little box that has 10 serving packets in it.) The mocha flavor makes it extra rich.   Bake 30  minutes. 

THE JOY OF THE SAINTS - TALK

I was asked to talk in church a couple of weeks ago.  This is my talk.

THE JOY OF THE SAINTS

Recently I sat in the Temple reading Enos in the Book of Mormon.  It happened as it does sometimes, I read something I had never read before.  Enos was in the forest praying and contemplating words that he had (quote), “often heard my father speak concerning eternal life,” but that’s not all.  Then he wrote this beautiful phrase new to me but I will cherish it always now.  Enos said he also remembered the words his father said about , “the joy of the saints.”  --the Joy of the Saints—the two things he remembered from his father was, eternal life and the joy of the Saints. I like that a lot!  What kind of things do you think Enos remembered about the “joy of the saints?”  Maybe his father talked about Primary and what a great teacher he had and songs that they sang that he still remembered, or how wonderful it was to have home and visiting teachers who came every month that loved his family.  Maybe he talked about how nice it is to be with good people like we have here every Sunday and how they inspire us to be better.  Maybe he talked about how these good saints all fasted one Sunday when his child was sick or how they brought in food when his wife had a baby.  There are so many good memories when you begin to contemplate the “joy of the Saints.”  With inspiration from Elder Ballards recent Conference talk I would like to talk about how blessed we are to be here together as a Ward Family loving, serving and teaching one another. 

Our 4 years here has been a joy.  I am so impressed with the wisdom and goodness of you wonderful people.  If I had time I could tell specifically how you have touched my life.  When I was a child my family was not active.  My stepfather was an alcoholic and there was domestic violence in my home.  When I went to school I tagged along to Primary in the afternoon with the other children.  I sat on the long wooden benches in the old Wellington church and sang “The Light Divine.”  The sweet spirit enveloped me. That song still makes me cry.  The “joy of the saints” touched me very young.  My mother had a beautiful soprano voice and these good saints invited her to sing and she did and came back to church.  The missionaries came weekly to teach my step-father for 10 years.  I sat there and learned the gospel with him.  He eventually joined but could never give up the alcohol but the “joy of the saints” in that community taught me and loved my dysfunctional family and I knew, when I was young, that I always wanted to be with good loving people like they were.  And I can say that I have had great joy in my church associations, because I have been loved, served and taught in so many ways.

Boyd K. Packer:  "In one sense, we ourselves may participate in an atonement, when we are willing to restore to others that which we have not taken, or heal wounds that we did not inflict, or pay a debt that we did not incur, we are emulating His part in the Atonement."  (CR Oct. 1995)

As Saints in a church community we have numerous opportunities to “participate in an atonement” with our fellow Ward members because we know them and we organize to serve and teach each other.  It is a beautiful thing.

Rabbi Harold Kushner in his book, “Who Needs God” has touched me with his words in support of a religious community.

“It makes an immense difference whether we see ourselves as isolated individuals at war with the rest of the world, or as links in a network of human beings working for each other’s happiness as well as our own and depending on other people to help us find what we cannot get for ourselves.  On this question, the teaching of religion is clear:  ‘It is not good that man should be alone’ (Genesis 1:4) P.99 

“True religion offers to redeem us from loneliness… by teaching us to see our neighbors as ourselves, to be aware of their humanity, their fears and feelings, instead of only being aware of our own.  True religion teaches us not how to win friends but how to be a friend, to be concerned with alleviating the loneliness of others, learning to hear their cry instead of wondering why no one hears ours…When we learn to see the people around us as needing love, as being entitled to love, every bit as much as we are, we discover that we cure our loneliness in the act of reaching out to them.  And furthermore, true religion teaches us that, once we have met God, we may find ourselves widowed and unmarried, unemployed or unpopular, but even then, God’s closeness will protect us from a sense of abandonment and despair. 

“What does religion offer that we lonely human souls need?  In a word, it offers community.  Our place of worship offers us a refuge, an island of caring in the midst of a hostile, competitive world.  In a society that segregates the old from the young, the rich from the poor, the successful from the struggling, the house of worship represents one place where the barriers fall and we all stand equal before God.  (P. 102-103)

“And that is why I feel there is something lacking in the life of a person who says, ‘I believe strongly in God; I don’t need a building or a formal service to find Him.”  Religion is community.  It is the way people learn to relate to each other and to belong to each other in truly human ways. (p. 105)

“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.”  (P. 149) Harold Kushner

I love Moroni  chapter 7.    Mormon talks about the “peaceable followers of Christ” and how he knew they were because of their “peaceable walk with the children of men.”  I know we all want to be “peaceable followers of Christ” as we move through our daily connections.

Of course we are not perfect and we are sometimes offended and offend.  Mormon taught us about charity in this chapter.  He gave us a list that we would do well to contemplate every day.  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own,  is not easily provoked,

It is hard not to envy and we so often are puffed up and easily provoked.   This list is not always easy but Mormon gave us the key to success at the end of the chapter.   He said …”pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is;  that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.”

  I love this scripture! For me it is a key to being a joyful saint

 

What if the main focus of our prayers every day was not on what we need but on pleading with all of our energy to be “filled with love” --  asking to be guided as we try to become “peaceable followers of Christ.”  Surely this is a prayer that God would answer as he helped us to suffer long and be kind.  Surely many joyful things would happen as we grow to become more like Christ as the scripture promises. 

 I look forward to many more joys with you great Saints of the Fruit Heights 9^th Ward as we go forward together as “peaceable followers of Christ,” seeking to participate in an atonement daily as we are guided by the spirit of Christ.  And hopefully our children will recall the “joy of the saints” as Enos did.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen  

NEW PAINTING - CHENONCEAU KITCHEN WINDOW

I am painting again.  I finished 3 commissions for my kids (I will show you the one I did for Colette soon, if I dare, it is an abstract symbolic painting--a little weird.)  and now I am on to my photos from Europe last fall.  Chenonceau is a wonderful Chateau in the Loire Valley of France.  It was my favorite Chateau of all because it was designed by women.  All the rooms had a fresh flower arrangement in it.  If I live long enough I will paint other pictures from here.  This Chateau had a kitchen with the most wonderful copper pots, kitchen tools and old jars.  This is a scene from the kitchen window.