The Measure of an Apostle

From a talk given by an apostle, Elder Harold B. Lee:

"Some years ago...two missionaries came to me with what seemed to be a very difficult question, to them. A young Methodist minister had laughed at them when they said that apostles were necessary today in order for the true church to be upon the earth. And they said the minister said, 'Do you realize that when they met to choose one to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judas, that they said it had to be one who companied with them and had been a witness of all things pertaining to the mission and resurrection of the Lord? How can you say you have apostles, if that be the measure of an apostle?'

"And so these young men said, 'What shall we answer?' I said to them: 'Go back and ask your minister friend two questions.

First, how did the Apostle Paul gain what was necessary to be called an apostle? He didn't know the Lord; had no personal acquaintance. He hadn't accompanied the apostles. He hadn't been a witness of the ministry, nor the resurrection of the Lord. How did he gain his testimony sufficient to be an apostle?

Now the second question you ask him: How does he know that all who are today apostles have not likewise received that witness?'

"I bear witness to you that those who hold the apostolic calling may, and do, know of the reality of the mission of the Lord."

("Born of the Spirit," address to seminary and institute faculty at Brigham Young University, 26 June 1962, 13). Quoted in New Testament Institute Manual, p. 137.

I know the apostles DO know the Lord Jesus Christ.

(For more first-hand witness accounts, see the testimonies given by two other apostles, in two of my previous blog posts: The Resurrected Christ, 4/21/2009, and Boyd K. Packer You're Good Enough post #2 10/10/2009).

Windows of Macy's Dept. Store

I loved this video about how they design and make the windows of the Macy's department store in New York City. I can picture some of my kids doing cool creative jobs like this. And I personally just LOVE the color scheme. I want all my Christmas decorations to be those bright colors. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/11/25/natpkg.macy.christmas.windows.cnn

Paper Ornaments

My nephew Jacob is on a mission to Japan. My sister Carla sent him a big paper cut out in the shape of a tree, to tape to his wall. Then she asked all Jacob's friends and family to make paper ornaments to mail to him, and he will tape them to the tree. I thought this was a great idea for a foreign missionary, because the ornaments were very inexpensive to mail, and I think the finished tree will look really good in his apartment, with a lot of great messages for him to read.

ChickFilA

My good friend Anne has recently started working fulltime at ChickFilA. I stopped in the other day and took a picture of her, and another employee who is an old friend of ours, Brian. I regret having no photos of myself while I worked there.

It brought back old memories of when I used to work at ChickFilA, just the lunch shift, during the school year of 2000-2001. I was paying for part of Adam's tuition to go to a school where he learned digital animation. (SCA- School of Communication Arts). I love ChickFilA, for their good food, as well as the fact that they do not open on Sunday.

I can remember that once I learned how to do the cash register and the orders, from that time on it was pretty brainless. I would stand at the cash register waiting for customers, singing quietly to myself to get over the boredom. For several years afterward, I found myself singing in a whisper all the time, in my house or in a store or in my car, just because I had done it so much at work it was a habit.

When I saw Anne and Brian, I was impressed with the new uniforms, they look just like normal clothing. Ours were UGLY.

Happy Thanksgiving

Last night was "Pie Night" at the Housley's. Every year, they invite all their friends to come to their house the night before Thanksgiving and bring pie. The story goes that someone they knew said "It is a waste to have all this great pie at the end of the Thanksgiving meal when we are too full to eat it. Lets just have pie for supper the night before." So the Housley's liked that idea and have hosted a potluck supper of "pie only" for many years.

Today we are going to the Dixon's for Thanksgiving dinner. Will try to post pictures in the future.

Toe Shoes

Zac got some of these shoes, they are called FiveFingers shoes. When he wears them he looks like he has gorilla feet. He loves to run in them, he is training for a half-marathon in February (and also working on his Personal Fitness merit badge.) We bought them at the Great Outdoor Provision Company. Here is the fivefingers website: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

Christmas Tree made of books

I love to read, but I wouldn't use my books to make one of these. This tree was displayed at our public library in 2008. (Click on photo to make it bigger.)

Book Sale, Nativity

Tara and I went to the Wake County Library Book Sale on Saturday, where all the hardbacks were $2 and all the paperbacks were 50 cents. It was great! We each spent about $30, and have enough books to last us for awhile.

The sale was held in a grocery store that had gone out of business. Picture a grocery store with all the shelves filled with books. Also all the freezer cases and refrigeration cases and meat cases all filled with books.

We went on the 6th day of the sale, and the next day was the day people could fill a grocery bag with books and pay $2 for the bag. There was no way that whole store was going to be empty in one more day. When we were there, it had more books in it than our regional library.

AND

I want to invite everyone to attend our stake's Nativity celebration. Every year all the people in our stake loan our nativity scenes to the church to put in a big display. I'm guessing there are about 300 or more nativity scenes, of all different materials and origins. I always have about 25 to loan.

There are also live musical performances the whole time, and a Messiah Sing-In from 7:30-9 pm on Saturday.

The Apex Christmas Nativity Celebration will be held Thurs. Dec. 10, 6-9 pm, Fri. Dec. 11 6-9 pm, and Sat. Dec. 12, 1-9 pm at our stake center at 590 Bryan Drive, Apex.

Go to www.ApexNativity.org for more information.

The Young Adult ward is in charge of the children's room, so I will probably be in there helping out.

Letter from the 2nd Grade

My mother recently found this letter that I wrote to my Uncle Steven when I was in the 2nd grade (Steven is my mother's youngest brother). I will type it here exactly the way I wrote it, see if you can decipher my misspellings. I love the rambling way I change the subject with every sentence.

from Amy
dear Steavan I am fine. Please rite to Larry he is geting mad becase you will not rite. He is geting losom. We just got a new dog. I got Mrs. Porter for the 2nt. Gade teacher. Our new dogs name is moopy. We named our old dog poopy. I still go to Ranch Heights. I brot some sizzers to school but I lost them. I have yellow cleannecs. Carla is geting biger overy day. I will send this picture. I will make my school on it.

The Lost Boy

This is one of my favorite stories from Church History. This event happened in the McArthur Handcart Company, which is the same handcart company in which my father's ancestors, the McCleve family, came to Utah. (See my blog entry of July 25, 2009). It really touches me that my own ancestors probably lived and grieved and rejoiced right alongside the family in the following story.


The Lost Boy
(told by Boyd K. Packer, in his book "Teach Ye Diligently"

"I read the following in the book "Handcarts to Zion" by LeRoy Hafen, and I present it as I have retold it on occasion.

The Lost Boy

In the late 1850s many converts from Europe were struggling to reach the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Many were too poor to afford a covered wagon, so they had to walk, pushing handcarts with their meager belongings. Some of the most touching and tragic moments in the history of the Church accompanied the handcart pioneers.

One such company was commanded by a Brother McArthur. Archer Walters, an English convert who was with the company, recorded in his diary under July 2, 1858, this sentence: "Brother Parker's little boy, age six, was lost. The father went back to hunt him."

The boy, Arthur, was the next to youngest of four children of Robert and Ann Parker. Three days earlier the company had hurriedly made camp in the face of a sudden thunderstorm. It was then that the boy was missed. His parents had thought he was playing along the way with the other children.

Someone remembered that earlier in the day when they had stopped, the little boy had settled down to rest in the shade of some brush. You know how quickly a tired little six-year-old can fall asleep on a sultry summer day, and even the noise of the camp moving on might not awaken him.

For two days the company remained while all the men searched for him. Then on July 2, with no alternative, the company was ordered to head west.

Robert Parker, as the diary records, went back alone to seek once again for his little son. As he was leaving camp, his wife, Ann, pinned a bright red shawl around his shoulders with words such as these: "If you find him dead, wrap him in the shawl to bury him. If you find him alive, the shawl can be a flag to signal us."

Then, with the other little children, she took the cart and struggled on with the company. Out on the trail Ann and her children kept watch. At sundown on July 5, as they were watching, they saw a figure approaching from the east. Then, in the rays of the setting sun, Ann saw the glimmer of a bright red shawl.

One of the diaries recorded, "Ann Parker sank in a pitiful heap upon the sand. That night, for the first time in six nights, she slept."

In his diary on July 5, Brother Walters recorded, "Brother Parker came into camp with his little boy that had been lost. Great joy throughout the camp. The mother's joy I cannot describe."

We do not know all the details. A nameless woodsman had found the boy. He was described as being ill with sickness and terror, but the woodsman had cared for him until his father found him.

Here a story, commonplace in its day, ends--except for a question. How would you, in Ann Parker's place, feel toward the nameless woodsman had he saved you little son? Would there be an end to your gratitude?

To sense this is to feel something of the gratitude our Father must feel toward any of us who saves one of His children. Such gratitude is a prize dearly to be won, for the Lord has said, "If it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" (Doctrine and Covenants 18:15)."

Told by Boyd K. Packer, in book "Teach Ye Diligently"

Praying They Vote "No"

I am so sad, so angry, and so frustrated about this pending health care bill. I just finished emailing both of my senators, and I hope you will too.

Sen. Reid’s Government-Run Health Plan Requires a Monthly Abortion Fee
Posted by GOP Leader Press Office on November 19th, 2009

Just like the original 2,032-page, government-run health care plan from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) massive, 2,074-page bill would levy a new “abortion premium” fee on Americans in the government-run plan.

http://republicanleader.house.gov/blog/?p=690

I DO NOT WANT TO PAY FOR ABORTIONS.

I do not want the government to have to approve every procedure, and I don't want the government to have my health records. I fear very greatly that somewhere in the future (when everything in the government goes much, much worse than what it is now) that the government will know everything about me (political and religious views and medical records) and be enabled to deny me health treatments purely because they know I am a conservative.

This bill is going WAY overboard, doing things that the Constitution does not cover and never intended to cover. I believe in the Constitution and states rights.

This bill will raise the costs of health care, and raise our already skyhigh taxes. And the Book of Mormon says King Noah was a bad king because he took 1/5 of the people's property. Thats a laugh.


"The Trouble with Harry's Health Care Bill"
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/19/phil-kerpen-reid-health-care-farce-reform/

No Hunt

There is a junky old building that I drive past every day, and it says "No Park". I always pictured that some foreign person wrote that because they didn't know it should have said "No Parking".

Wow, was I wrong. I bet it was a true blue American, who was just lazy.


When I went to Oklahoma in September, we went to some reclaimed land where our crusher used to be. My own dear brother Larry painted this tire which says "No Hunt". I asked him why he didn't write "No Hunting" and he said he wrote the fewest letters possible to get the message across.

2012 movie

Wayne had the day off on Monday so we went to see "2012". It was advertised as being about the end of the world. I was too much in the mindset of latter-day prophecy, so I was expecting to see plagues, signs in the heavens, crime and wickedness, people dividing into tribes because of political anarchy, etc., but it had none of those things. I was a little disappointed that the plot went totally differently than what I had expected.

The way they showed it, society was totally fine, everyone was healthy, and the polical leadership was intact in every nation. The only thing that was happening, which is in prophecy, is that the natural world was in commotion. There were lots of earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis, and the magnetic poles of the earth got all changed. And then after most of the people in the world died from those things, the world settled down and there were bunches of people who lived to repopulate the earth.

The ways the people escaped from the disasters were completely improbable and implausible, but as Wayne said, "It was a fun ride".

Some Disconnected Thoughts

I was wearing a necklace that I inherited from my mother, so I had Wayne take these pictures of me. You can see a picture of my mother wearing this necklace in the 1960's in my blog post of Jan. 12, 2009.

I found a delicious-looking recipe in a magazine for "Eggnog Cheesecake Bars". I never try recipes because they never turn out like I think they are going to. So I made these supposedly wonderful bars, and discovered I had left out most of the sugar. We ate them anyway, by dipping each bite in some sugar that we poured on our plate. And I threw away the recipe anyway, because you couldn't taste the eggnog. I wanted them to taste like eggnog!

Our new home teachers came last week, and said something that really filled me with guilt. He and his wife moved into our ward 11 months ago, and he said that no one has been friendly to them. (I don't think I have ever seen this man before, or ever heard his name until he called us to make the home teaching appt.) I thought of how little I really look around and try to greet the new people, and decided that I really need to be more aware of my surroundings at church. I feel sad that I wasn't somebody who had made them feel welcome.

Wayne and I have been having fun watching "Project Runway". There are only three contestants left. We hate Irina.

We bought some furniture from Penney's, Wayne had to put it together. And one whole section is a different dyelot of paint. So it looks stupid. I am not happy about it.

And yesterday I read this article about the H1N1 mutating in Ukraine. Its pretty scary, if it is in fact getting more virulent. They are reporting viral pneumonia.

"A doctor in Western Ukraine who did not want to be named, said:” We have carried out post mortems on two victims and found their lungs are as black as charcoal.
“They look like they have been burned. It’s terrifying.”"

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/140492/Million-hit-by-plague-worse-than-swine-flu-

JungalBook

We went to see Tara's high school play on Saturday night. The title was spelled "JungalBook". It was WEIRDOLA.
(Above) Here is a scene from the play, with Baloo, and Bagheera, etc. (just like in Jungle Book).
(Below) Tara is the mask-faced person sitting on the left of the stage. She came on and off the stage anytime humans were in the plot. All the humans walked like robots and wore those masks. It must have meant something, but I didn't get it.











(Right) After the play, I took this photo of Tara in her costume. For the first time, I volunteered to help with sewing the costumes. They were SO UGLY.
(Below) These masks were so bizarre. I thought she looked like Yoko Ono.
All in all, it was a very strange production. But the kids made the best of it, and did as well as they could with a lulu of a script. The kids that played Perchey the monkey, Bagheera the Panther, SheerKhan the tiger, and Kaa the snake really got into their parts.

Inti Rug

When Wayne was on his mission in Bolivia (1975-1977) he bought this handwoven rug. The design is of the Sun God, Inti (pronounced "een-tee"). It is about 9 feet tall, and has been a bit of a problem to fit into any of our houses. Usually it has hung on the wall of one of our sons' rooms. It doesn't quite go with my decor.

The Final Battle

I read a lot of scriptures that talk about the last days, the days just before Christ comes again. In the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 14:13-14 talks about a battle between the forces of evil and the righteous people right at the end of the world.

1 Nephi 14:13 And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God.
1 Nephi 14:14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

(If you want to read the rest of the chapter, click here: 1 Nephi 14)

President Hugh B. Brown, one of the Twelve Apostles in the 1960's, spoke of the “final battle” between Satan and his followers and the followers of God:

"I hope that every young man under the sound of my voice will resolve tonight, ‘I am going to keep myself clean. I am going to serve the Lord. I am going to prepare every way I can for future service, because I want to be prepared when the final battle shall come.’

“And some of you young men are going to engage in that battle. Some of you are going to engage in the final testing time, which is coming and which is closer to us than we know.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1967, p. 115)

My husband Wayne was 11 years old when Pres. Brown spoke that prophecy. It really makes me wonder how close the end is now. Most of the apostles are older than Wayne, except for David Bednar, I think. So that age group is definitely in the running for being in that final battle, "which is closer to us than we know".

The House that Jack Built

This poem sounds like the food storage my mother used to have. And yes, she did cook wheat cereal for us a lot when I was growing up.
Nowadays, we are being taught more to store food we actually eat, rather than so much bulk raw ingredients that are pretty foreign to our everyday lives. So I have a lot of spaghetti sauce, canned corn, macaroni, canned soups, tuna, etc. that we eat every day. I think its very important to have a year's supply of food, and try hard to keep my food storage up to date.

This is the house that Jack built.
This is the basement under the house that Jack built.
This is the food that's stored in the basement
Under the house that Jack built.

These are dried beans frugally placed
As part of the food, that's stored in the basement
Under the house that Jack built.

This is the powdered milk that goes to waste
Next to the beans frugally placed
As part of the food
That is stored in the basement
Under the house that Jack built.

These are the canned goods, bland in taste
behind the powdered milk that goes to waste
Next to the beans frugally placed
As part of the food
That is stored in the basement
Under the house that Jack built.

These are the buckets full of wheat
Stored in a row so nice and neat
Alongside the canned goods, behind the milk
Next to the beans
As part of the food
That is stored in the basement
Under the house that Jack built.

This is the mother of children born
Who cooks wheat cereal every morn
From the wheat in the buckets
Stacked by the canned goods, behind the milk
Next to the beans
As part of the food
That is stored in the basement
Under the house that Jack built.

These are the children all forlorn
Who are sick of wheat cereal every morn
That their mother has cooked since the day they were born
From the wheat in the buckets,
Stacked by the canned goods, behind the milk
Next to the beans
As part of the food
That is stored in the basement
Under the house that Jack built.

Written by Gayle Platt Spjut
From the book, "Mother Goose for Mormon Youth"

Foaming Handsoap

I received this foaming handsoap for a gift last Christmas, and when it ran out I was going to throw the bottle away.

Then I decided to experiment, because I wondered if possibly it was the container, and not the ingredients of the soap, that made it foam.

So I filled the bottle with half generic liquid handsoap, and half water. Hooray! It foams just as well as the original did. Now I have foamy soap all the time, and I don't have to buy it at Bath and Body Works!

Memory Loss

I sent Anne a birthday card a few days before Oct. 11 and had put a blog post on Oct. 11 saying "Happy Birthday Anne!". I called her on Oct. 11 and then she told me it wasn't her birthday. Today is actually her birthday. So I did everything for her one month too early. I am losing my marbles.

So I told her one month early wasn't that big a deal, I will send her a birthday card 6 months in advance next year.


ALSO:
Here is the information for the play Tara will be in this weekend:

Panther Creek High School Theatre Arts presents:
Jungalbook
by Edward Mast
A Youth Theater Adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books

Nov. 13 th at 7 pm
Nov. 14 at 10 am and 7 pm

Tickets $5 available at door
Panther Creek High School Auditorium

Lost Ten Tribes

(Note: I think it is difficult to find quotes I like on lds.org, because their search engine stinks. So whenever I want to remember a quote, I'm just putting it onto my blog. I can search my blog better than on lds.org.)

Topic for today: The Lost Ten Tribes. Here are a bunch of quotes and scriptures that are all related to this topic. I am no expert, but putting these all together gives me an idea of what is going to happen when the Lost Ten Tribes return. The following is just my understanding. If my understanding is incorrect, I guess I will find out when the time comes.

Jeremiah 16:14-15
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,
But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

I have heard the above scripture explained this way: That the miracle that accompanies the return of the lost ten tribes will be such a big miracle that people will start referring to it, and stop referring to the parting of the Red Sea.

So, what do the scriptures say this big miracle is going to be?

Doctrine and Covenants 133:23-30 (I will only type some parts of these verses, you'll have to look at your D&C for the whole verses)
verse 23: He shall command the great deep and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land:....
verse 26: And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice thall flow down at thier presence.
verse 27: And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.
verse 30: And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim...

I have no idea if verses 23-25 actually go with the Ten Tribes returning, we'll have to see what the actual chronological order turns out to be. However, the footnote on verse 26 does refer to the Lost Ten Tribes, so we'll have to believe that verse 26 is talking about them.

So my understanding of Doctrine and Covenants 133:26-30 is that the Lost Ten Tribes will be led by prophets; some miraculous things are going to happen involving rocks, ice, and a highway in the midst of the great deep; and they will bring forth rich treasures (I am guessing this means their records.)

And as it says in Jeremiah 16:14-15, this is going to be a greater miracle than the parting of the Red Sea. Cool!

When is all this going to happen? I am betting it is going to happen pretty soon (but I'm nobody, don't pay any attention to me.)

"At the October, 1916, general conference of the Church, Elder James E. Talmage made this prediction:
"The tribes shall come; they are not lost unto the Lord; they shall be brought forth as hath been predicted: and I say unto you there are those now living--aye, some here present--who shall live to read the records of the Lost Tribes of Israel, which shall be made one with the record of the Jews, or the Holy Bible, and the record of the Nephites, or the Book of Mormon, even as the Lord predicted; and those records, which the tribes lost to man but yet to be found again shall bring, shall tell of the visit of the resurrected Christ to them, after he had manifested himself to the Nephites upon this continent. (Articles of Faith, p. 513)"
(Mormon Doctrine, pp. 455-58)

Time is running out for this prophecy to come true, since he said it in 1916. I wonder how many people are still alive who were in that meeting?

Who is going to lead the Ten Tribes?

"When the ten tribes return they will come at the direction of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for he now holds and will then hold the keys of presidency and direction for this mighty work."
Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign April 1980, p. 22

Could the Lost Ten Tribes already be gathering? Elder James E. Talmage warned us not to look at it that way:

"There is a tendency among men to explain away what they don't wish to understand in literal simplicity, and we, as Latter-day Saints are not entirely free from the taint of that tendency....
Some people say that prediction is to be explained this way: A gathering is in progress, and has been in progress from the early days of this Church; and thus the "Lost Tribes" are now being gathered; but that we are not to look for the return of any body of people now unknown as to their whereabouts.
True, the gathering is in progress, this is a gathering dispensation; but the prophecy stands that the tribes shall be brought forth from their hiding place bringing their scriptures with them, which scriptures shall become one with the scriptures of the Jews, the holy Bible, and with the scriptures of the Nephites, the Book of Mormon, and with the scriptures of the Latter-day Saints as embodied in the volumes of modern revelation."
Elder James E. Talmage, Conference Report, April 1916, p. 130. As quoted in The Coming of the Lord,p. 163, Gerald N. Lund.

The return of the Lost Ten Tribes is one of the things that I am most looking forward to.

And getting the sealed portion of the Gold Plates.

And Adam-ondi-Ahman.

Plus I really really want to fly up and meet Christ in the air.

News and Junk

Zac is surprising us all, he has decided to compete in a half-marathon in Myrtle Beach in February.

Wayne was on duty all weekend, and it was awful for him. Friday night he was on a call until 4 am (he usually goes to bed around 9 pm and gets up for work at 3:15 am). He finally got to sleep around 4 am, and then his beeper went off again at 6 am and he was on that call until Sunday evening. (He did not have to stay up all night Saturday night, though.)

We still haven't gotten into our new church building. Still having our church meetings 4:15-7:15 pm at the stake center.

Tara will be in a play at Panther Creek this Fri and Sat, so she will be busy with rehearsals all this week.

I'm trying to pick out some neutral paint for our downstairs. I absolutely hate to paint. But Wayne said we are going to paint it ourselves. Yuck.

Adam took Zac "draining" for the first time on Saturday. Draining is going into the storm drains under the city and exploring them. They had a great time.

Since our ward got split on Oct. 3, I just found out that we are getting different hometeachers. We had Bro. P. and Tyler M. for the last 3 1/2 years. I am going to be sad not to have them anymore.

Wayne bought us a new blender. I am excited, because now I can make those delicious blender whole wheat pancakes that Tiffany and Adam made for me for Mother's Day.

Only three days of seminary this week.

Thats all the news for today.

Wake County Library Book Sale

Last November, I took Tara to the Wake County Library Book Sale, and we each spent about $40 on books. It was one of my funnest shopping experiences. She and I both really love to read, and we both picked out such great books.

I just found out that the 2009 sale will be happening soon at a new location, 1514 Garner Station Blvd., Raleigh, NC 27603 in the South Station Shopping Center.

Saturday Nov. 14 10 a.m. -8 p.m.
Sunday Nov. 15 10 a.m. -6 p.m.
Wednesday Nov. 18 10 a.m. -8 p.m.
Thursday Nov. 19 10 a.m. -8 p.m.
Friday Nov. 20 10 a.m. -8 p.m.

PRICES FOR THE FIRST 5 DAYS ARE $4.00 FOR HARDBOUND BOOKS;
$1.00 FOR PAPERBACKS

Saturday Nov. 21 10 a.m. -8 p.m.
HALF PRICE DAY: HARDBOUND BOOKS $2.00;
$.50 FOR PAPERBACK BOOKS
(This is the day I am planning to go. I had no problem filling a grocery cart last year with books to buy, even after the books had been picked over for several days. The prices are right!)

Sunday Nov. 22 10 a.m. -6 p.m.
$5.00 PER BOX; $2.00 PER BAG

BAGS & BOXES PROVIDED BY THE LIBRARY---CUSTOMER PACKS.

Click on this link to see the webpage:
http://www.wakegov.com/libraries/events/booksale/default.htm

For Me Alone, by Sally DeFord

At a devotional at the Hill Cumorah pageant last summer, I heard a woman sing the most beautiful song about the Atonement of Jesus Christ that I have ever heard. I finally found the song on the internet. "For Me Alone" is by Sally DeFord, and it is a free download. However, I don't know the fastest way to show it here on my blog, so you'll have to do a couple of steps.

Click here to see the page containing this song. Then click on "For Me Alone" and listen to the vocal solo. (I prefer Heather Prusse's recording.) I bet you will want to add it to your Sunday music.

Lyrics:

Every earthly sorrow; every mortal pain
Every sinner's anguish; the bitterness of shame
The weakness and the heartache that burden all mankind
For these the Savior suffered, for these He bled and died
And the lost and fallen multitudes of all the earth
Are ransomed by His offering of love

But if I alone had stumbled; if I alone had strayed
If I alone had wandered from the straight and narrow way
If I alone bore guilt for which my all could never atone
He would have come for me
For me alone

Tears of all creation; every debt unpaid
Warfare of the nations; every trust betrayed
Every falsehood uttered; every truth denied
For these the Savior suffered, for these He bled and died
And the lost and fallen multitudes of all the earth
Are ransomed by His offering of love

But if I alone had stumbled; if I alone had strayed
If I alone had wandered from the straight and narrow way
If I alone bore guilt for which my all could never atone
He would have come for me
For me alone

For love of all God's children Christ redeemed us from the fall
His mercy without measure is sufficient for us all

But if I alone had stumbled; if I alone had strayed
If I alone had wandered from the straight and narrow way
If I alone were foolish; if I alone were frail
If I alone had faltered when the power of hell assailed
If I alone bore guilt for which my all could never atone
He would have come for me
For me alone

Circus Purse

I found a cute purse pattern and made this purse out of some vintage 1960's fabric I had. It has pictures of tightrope walkers, clowns, bareback riders, and elephants on it.

Sarah Susanka Books, Ikea catalog

After going to the Parade of Homes, Wayne and I have been doing nothing but design our dream home. (In three years we hope to move.) So we have been reading all the Sarah Susanka books we could get at the library (Not So Big House, Creating the Not So Big House, Not So Big Remodeling, etc) because we really like her style of architecture. It would be nice to build a house like the ones in her books.

Plus, I don't know where I've been, but I never knew what Ikea was and had never seen an Ikea catalog until I saw one at Rachel's house a couple of weeks ago, and had to come right home and order my own. I love Ikea! I think I will have to order some Christmas gifts from it.

Also, Wayne found a really good deal on two more kayaks. Now we own 7. And miraculously, they will all fit on our trailer at one time. But, this just shows you why we need about six garages. He is never going to stop buying boats and things, so it is wise for us to move in a few years so he will have the room to store everything.

Complete change of subject: I was talking to my mom a few days ago, and she said that my Aunt Alice (her sister) is about to finish up the Clarkson data base to turn it into the Church for the new Family Search. With 105,000 names, it will be the single biggest data base in the whole church to be uploaded. Although I don't do family history, I can feel a little proud to be related to those who do.

Nielsen Ratings

A few weeks ago, we were notified by mail that we would be participating in the Nielsen survey. They called us later to see if we would do it. Then we received the stuff in the mail.

Since I have always wondered how they compile their ratings, it is quite interesting to see it firsthand.

Because we have 3 TVs, they sent us 3 booklets. Since Thursday, we have kept one booklet by each TV, and are recording everything we watch for one week. Zac watches the Discovery channel almost nonstop, Tara watches dramas like House and NCIS, I watch BYU or HGTV, and Wayne watches old movies starring Fred Astaire.



I am pretty sad that we are not able to help the ratings of some of our favorite shows (Psych, Burn Notice) because they are not playing right now.

And Wayne has not been watching Jay Leno because there always seems to be something else on at that time (like our favorite show Project Runway).

I think the networks are going to be sadly disappointed in our household viewing habits. Our booklets are not going to help them receive advertising money, because we keep writing down that we record shows on the DVR and then watch them later, zipping through the commercials.

Also, we almost never watch the regular networks (CBS, NBC, ABC). Everything we watch is only on satellite or cable.

Bumblebee and Puppydog costumes

Last week, Wayne was sick Mon-Fri, I was sick Thurs-Sat, and Zac started feeling sick Sun. We assume it was H1N1 because everyone keeps saying that is the only virus going around right now.

I got well enough by Saturday night that we all went to Isaac's and Rachel's house to see the little kiddles in their Halloween costumes. They were SO CUTE! Bob and Sarah (Rachel's parents) were there too, and all of us were taking photos as fast as we could. The children would not pose, so we took what we could get.

Thomas is the 8th child to wear that puppy costume. I made it for Adam when he was 18 months old, and it has been worn by all 6 of my children, and then Elizabeth and Thomas. I guess by now it is a family heirloom.





Rachel found the bumblebee costume second-hand. Sarah was wondering if it could have been a dance recital costume, it is so fancy.

1956 Hill Cumorah Pageant

In the summer of 1956, my parents, with their three little children, joined my mother's family at a reunion at the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I think it is really interesting to see what the hill looked like back then. There were rows of benches, and a strange backdrop on the left.

(Click on photos to make them bigger.)


(Left to right)My older sister Cheryl (about 3), my mother's sister Lynette, my mother Christine, my Granny Norma, my sister Cindy (1 yr old), and my mother's youngest brother Steven, about 6.
For those of you who have been there, I think they are walking in the bowl near the road. I see the line of chairs beyond them, and that weird backdrop far in the distance.


Here are some of my mother's family standing at the Moroni monument.
My oldest sister Cheryl, 3, is in front. My mother is holding 6-wk-old Larry. My grandparents, Norma and Joe, are in the back holding my sister Cindy, wearing a bonnet.

Grandad Joe and Granny Norma

Here are the newlyweds, Joe Clarkson and Norma Shupe Clarkson, in New Mexico.


Here is Norma, with their oldest child, June. June is 3 years older than my mother, Christine.