Regrets about Family Home Evening

We had a fifth Sunday lesson today, about parents' responsibility to teach their children the gospel in the home.  The teacher asked the class members to comment on how they had applied the principles of family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, etc. in their family.

I listened to the comments and felt a lot of regret that we hadn't done as well as we should have with Family Home Evenings.  One thing I especially regret was that we didn't get into a habit of having each child give the lessons.  So to all my children, I am sorry we didn't give you the opportunities you should have had to give lessons to your siblings and parents in our home.

I guess the reason I am saying this on this blog is because maybe you young parents will realize, while your children are little, that no matter how hard something is, it is easier to start it early.  Yes, a five-year-old will complain, but a ten-year-old will complain more.  If you start out giving them little parts of the FHE lesson to do at an early age, and continue it throughout their lives, they will be accustomed to it and know that "this is the way we do it in our family."

I feel the same regrets over my children's table manners.  If only I would have concentrated on those consistently throughout the years!

Alas, I can't go back in time.  So learn from my mistakes, and pick the things you want to teach your children, and make sure you take the time to do it, before it is too late.



And here is Peter Schiff talking about the debt ceiling:

"This is not the crisis, the crisis is coming".  14 minutes long.
http://peterschiffchannel.blogspot.com/2011_07_30_archive.html

Random Quotes

She knew how to please a man but most days she chose not to.

It is better to have loved and lost than to live with that psycho for the rest of your life.

I understand the concepts of cooking and cleaning, just not how they apply to me.

Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.  Jean de La Bruysre

The formula for a happy marriage?  It's the same as the one for living in California:  When you find a fault, don't dwell on it.

Jay Trachman.

A happy marriage is the union of two forgivers.  Ruth Bell Graham

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.  Mignon McLaughlin

DirecTV really wants our business

I was going to cancel our satellite TV after General Conference, but Wayne wanted to watch American Idol.  Then he wanted to watch America's Got Talent.

I called about a month ago to cancel, and the guy talked me into just going with a cheaper package.  That lowered our $74 per month to $35 per month.  BUT it took away all the channels we really liked, so it was a stupid decision.

For a month I only had 2 channels I liked.  Last Friday I called to cancel again, the guy said he would put me back on the more expensive package, and give me a credit of $180, which would effectively lower my monthly bill for a year down to around $40 per month, even though I would be getting the $74 package.

For 4 days we did that, then we said, "Enough".  I called back to REALLY cancel, and cancelled.

Four hours later, DirecTV called back, and talked to Wayne.

He got off the phone, and said they really wanted us to stay with them, so they gave us $250 credit, which is free DirecTV for four months.  So now we have FREE satellite until November 26.

Brittany's Prayer

Told by Randal A. Wright:

"A few years ago I attended a fast and testimony meeting where Tammy bore her testimony about the importance of family prayer.  She had grown up in a less active family and married outside the church.  Later she became activated and her husband ultimately joined the church. She was sealed to her husband and children eight days before bearing this inspiring testimony.  In closing, she shared an experience from their family home evening the week they were sealed.

Their topic that week was temples and the eternal nature of families who were sealed together and remain faithful.  Their five-year-old daughter Brittany had several questions about the temple and being a forever family.  At the close of the evening, Brittany was asked to offer the closing prayer.  Her mother recounted that Brittany bowed her head and asked, "Heavenly Father, is it true?  Can we really be a family forever?"

After she had said those words, the room became totally silent.  After a very long pause, her parents wondered if she had gone to sleep.  Peeking at her, they saw she still had her head bowed and seemed to be thinking of what to say next. , so they remained silent and patiently waited.  Several minutes passed, and still Brittany said nothing.  

Finally, she opened her eyes, looked up at her parents, and said, "It's true. We really can be a family forever.  Heavenly Father talked to me and told me we could." 

I'll never forget the warm feeling that came over me when I contemplated the eternal truth that families really can be together forever and the power that comes to a family when they pray together.  This family learned firsthand that Heavenly Father really does answer prayers of faith for those willing to wait patiently for the answer."

25 Mistakes LDS Parents Make and How to Avoid Them, by Randal A. Wright, p. 233.

Too much regulation

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/right-out-of-atlas-shrugged-hear-an-exasperated-alabama-businessman-tell-the-feds-im-just-quitting/

I felt sad and angry listening to this businessman, who owns two coal mines in Alabama.  It reminds me of all the times in my life I would hear my dad (who owns a rock crushing company and lists "miner" as his occupation on his tax returns) complain about the excessive regulations the EPA has put on his business.  The stupidest knit-picky things, like exactly how far the water source has to be from the quarry.  There didn't seem to be a single person with common sense employed by that agency, just a lot of busybodies.

Here is what the coal mine owner, Ronnie Bryant, said at the Birmingham, Alabama public hearing:

“Nearly every day without fail…men stream to these [mining] operations looking for work in Walker County. They can’t pay their mortgage. They can’t pay their car note. They can’t feed their families. They don’t have health insurance. And as I stand here today, I just…you know…what’s the use? I got a permit to open up an underground coal mine that would employ probably 125 people. They’d be paid wages from $50,000 to $150,000 a year. We would consume probably $50 million to $60 million in consumables a year, putting more men to work. And my only idea today is to go home. What’s the use? I see these guys—I see them with tears in their eyes—looking for work. And if there’s so much opposition to these guys making a living, I feel like there’s no need in me putting out the effort to provide work for them. So…basically what I’ve decided is not to open the mine. I’m just quitting. Thank you.”

The Blaze contacted Bryant, and he remains as resolute as he was at last week’s public hearing. To him, it’s just not worth the time, money, and regulatory hassle to open up a new mine—even one located in a remote area with less environmental impact."

And just for kicks, you can read this 
http://newsflavor.com/politics/us-politics/white-house-insider-democrats-:disgust:ed-over-obama-incompetence-on-debt-ceiling-debate-2/
This White House insider claims that the story of Obama walking out on the Republicans is a complete fabrication, he says Obama walked out on the Democrats.  Just passing it along.

Rag Quilt for Tessa

 I have always wanted to try making a "rag quilt" or "shaggy quilt".  They are made by putting the seam allowances on the outside, and then clipping the seam allowances about every 1/2", and then washing them to cause them to fray.

I bought these special scissors, which were delightful to use!  They open themselves with a spring motion after every clip, like garden clippers.  It was easy as pie to clip all the seams.

I basically made a large square yellow center and put 6" squares around it for a border.  Everything was two layers, one layer of yellow flannel and one layer of yellow print quilting cotton.  There is no batting inside.

 Here are the seam allowances after clipping.

Here are the seam allowances after I washed the quilt and it was all frayed.  I like it.

What I'm doing this week

Zac came back from the Hill Cumorah Pageant work crew on Friday, got to hold Hannah for the first time, and then attended the rest of Youth Conference Friday and Saturday .  (Zac has such a dark tan from working outside for a month.

I have been in charge, for last several weeks, of getting all the housing and transportation for our ward's kids for Youth Conference. It took me a long time, organizing, phoning, and emailing to get it all arranged.  And hurray, it is over!  All the drivers remembered to drive.  There were 8 one-way trips transporting a total of 30 kids each time, from 4 host families, so there were about 5 vehicles for each trip.

This week I want to can some beef, if the price is okay.  The price of beef should be lower pretty soon, because of all the cattle ranches selling off all their cattle because of the drought.  But beware, because after that, the price of beef will go sky high.  To read more, go to my other blog, http://gottawannaneedagettaprepared.blogspot.com/

Now its time to start worrying about Bryce's and Marianne's wedding and open house.  Their  open house will be here in town, a week before their wedding.  So I am not stressing out about it quite as much as if it was a real reception, I am trying to think about it more as a party.




Speaking of parties:

"The Tea Party:  Right About Everything"

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/the_tea_party_right_about_everything.html


The false narrative is that the Tea Party is a bunch of stubborn nuts, if not outright racists. In truth, the Tea Party has been right about everything

Korihor's Argument

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency

"Korihor was arguing (in Alma 30:20-23), as men and women have falsely argued from the beginning of time, that to take counsel from the servants of God is to surrender God-given rights of independence.  But the argument is false because it misrepresents reality. When we reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be independent of outside influence.  We choose another influence.  We reject the protection of a perfectly loving, all-powerful, all-knowing Father in Heaven, whose whole purpose, as that of His Beloved Son, is to give us eternal life, to give us all that He has, and to bring us home again in families to the arms of His love.  In rejecting His counsel, we choose the influence of another power, whose purpose is to make us miserable and whose motive is hatred.  We have moral agency as a gift of God.  Rather than the right to choose to be free of influence, it is the inalienable right to submit ourselves to whichever of those powers we choose.

Another fallacy is to believe that the choice to accept or not accept the counsel of prophets is no more than deciding whether to accept good advice and gain its benefits or to stay where we are.  But the choice not to take prophetic counsel changes the very ground upon which we stand.  It becomes more dangerous.  The failure to take prophetic counsel lessens our power to take inspired counsel in the future.  The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked.  Each time he asked after that, each failure to respond would have lessened sensitivity to the Spirit.  And so each time his request would have seemed more foolish, until the rain came.  And then it was too late."

(Conference Report, April 1997, 33; or Ensign, May 1997, 25.)

What's Up with the Department of Justice's website?

I think an organization's website reflects the organization's ideals and goals.  For instance, if I went to LDS.org and found out they had pulled all the pictures of Christ and replaced them with, say, political leaders or clothing ads, I would be confused and upset.  I expect my church's website to display the ideals of my church.

I think there are some things going on in the Justice Department, and as reflected on their website, I think the changes are not good.

I got the following email, so I went to the Department of Justice's website and saw it for myself.

(The above are my comments.  Below is the forwarded email I received.)

http://www.justice.gov/

Well, how interesting   It seems the U.S. Department of Justice has changed its web site.Gone are the colorful red, white, and blue U.S. Flag decorations on the page,

Replaced by stark black and white. 



And at the top of the page, is a rather interesting quote:"The common law is the will of Mankind, issuing from the Life of the People."

Catchy, huh?  Just one tiny little (too small to be relevant obviously) point --the quote is from C. Wilfred Jenks, who in the 1930's was a leading proponent of the "international law" movement, which had as its goal to impose a global common law and which backed 'global workers' rights.'

How very interesting that 'they' couldn't find a nice quote from one of our Founders 

19th century underwear

I was a Clothing and Textiles major at BYU, and I really enjoyed my Clothing History class.  I have always liked learning about all sorts of historical clothing.  Here is a 2 minute video showing all the pieces that go under a big hoop skirt.

http://online.wsj.com/video/under-that-bodice-ripper-19th-century-lingerie/6F59DD35-7D10-4BF4-938D-083EDD201ABD.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_mpvidcar_1

IMHO Persecution will start because of our stance on homosexuality

I have been in conversations with other LDS people who share my opinion that the next great persecution of Mormons will be over our belief that homosexuality is a sin.

Here is an article pointing out that persecution of Michele Bachmann is already starting because of her church's counseling program.

"Liberals Launch Christian Witch Hunts",  July 21, 2011, by Peter Heck
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/liberals_launch_christian_witch_trials.html

"ABC's investigation implies that there is something scandalous about a Christian clinic that seeks to use prayer and Biblical teaching to turn a person away from what the Bible calls sin.  Um...is ABC seriously unaware that this is what Christians do?  The real scandal would be if a supposed Christian clinic like Bachmann's didn't offer this kind of hope for those with unwanted same-sex attraction."

Rachel's birthday

Dear Rachel, I know you are recovering from a C-section, but I hope you can still have a happy birthday.  We are so thankful for you!

I got polled, and here are the results

A pollster phoned me a few days ago, and asked all sorts of questions.  Then I saw this article on the internet today, and recognized that it was the same poll.

I'm so glad my voice was heard.

http://www.nccivitas.org/2011/civitas-poll-obama-sees-14-point-drop-in-job-approval-rating/

Civitas Poll: Obama Sees 14 Point Drop in Job Approval Rating

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Katie Trout in Press Releases

Raleigh, N.C. – Since May, President Barack Obama has experienced a 14 point shift to the negative in his job approval rating among North Carolina voters, according to a new poll released by the Civitas Institute.  The poll also revealed that voters continue to hold an unfavorable opinion of Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue.

Today 3:00 to 4:00 pm Presidential Debate

Dear Reader,

 

The historic, first Tea Party Presidential Debate is going to be held from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Thaddeus McCotter, and Gary Johnson have accepted our invitation and will be there to answer your questions. Rusty Humphries and S.E. Cupp will be covering this historic debate live on Twitter and national radio in front of over 2.5 million Americans.  This groundbreaking debate has been put together by TheTeaParty.net and can be viewed live at www.140townhall.com

This is your opportunity to watch history in the making as TheTeaParty.net strikes yet another blow to the liberal media by taking control of the presidential vetting process.  This debate platform WILL SURPRISE YOU as it will provide a forum where the candidates will answer the same question at the same time and a discussion will ensue.  This may signal the end of the glorified joint press conferences that masquerade as real debate.  It is important that conservatives turn out in large numbers to this debate!  Please help us strike a blow against the liberal media establishment by viewing this cutting-edge debate at 3pm ET!

TheTeaParty.net is proud to offer this Presidential Debate free-of-charge to all Americans.  Our team has worked tirelessly to build an incredible infrastructure that educates and empowers conservative groups, activists and volunteers. Tools that can be found at TheTeaParty.net include an interactive map to help you locate a local Tea Party organization, the Tea Party Cyber Tour that gives you exclusive access to conservative leaders, and software that makes it quick and easy to contact your elected representatives in Washington, D.C.!  After you watch the debate, make sure to visit TheTeaParty.net.

Finally, the battle over the debt ceiling is reaching its apex.  Congress needs to hear from you!  In just minutes, you can let your specific members of Congress know how you feel on this critical issue by signing our debt ceiling petition.

Thank you,

Todd Cefaratti
Freedom Organizer

Laughing during a hymn

It hasn't been very many weeks that Wayne and I have been going to church together again.  He was in the bishopric for 3 years, so I never got to sit with him or hear him sing.  Before that, he was in the high council, and was always attending other wards, so I sat with him about 9 times a year.

It has been interesting to sing the hymns next to him.  He sings harmony so beautifully!  During the intermediate hymn on Sunday, every time he hit the deep bass notes I smiled, and the more I smiled the more I needed to tell him why.

So I whispered to him, "You sing pretty!"  and then every time he hit a low note he would smile and I would smile and soon it deteriorated into some very suppressed giggling, and neither one of us could sing at all, because he was so self conscious.  We could hardly get through to the end of the song.  I bet the people on the stand were wondering why we were being so irreverent.

I worried about doing the same thing during the closing hymn, but it was "Faith of our Fathers", and all I could think of was Bing Crosby singing it on our Christmas album.  So we controlled ourselves during that one.

More photos of Hannah

Tara with her newest niece.

The proud grandparents.

Photos of Hannah

 She looks just like Isaac's baby picture here.

We love this little girl!

Another Granddaughter!

We have another new grandchild:  Hannah Christine was born this morning to Isaac and Rachel.
7 lbs. 6 oz.  19 1/2 inches long.

Seth and Janette's daughter was born only six days ago.  We have gone from having 2 grandchildren to having 4 grandchildren in only a week.  Our family is growing exponentially!

Twin Presidents

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWAdt07XPgY&feature=player_embedded

32nd anniv of Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech - Obama remix

Fan Mail

I haven't made any blockbuster quilts in more than a year, so I haven't been putting my quilts in quilt shows the way I used to.

I put this quilt, "Five-thirty A.M." in a big quilt show in May.  If you don't know, this quilt represents my years of teaching early morning seminary.  My house is at the top left, with the lights on.  My car drives past all the houses in town (with their lights off) and then arrives at the full parking lot of the stake center, bottom right, with the lights on.  I also machine quilted lots of scripture mastery verses all over the quilt.

I told about teaching "a religion class" in the little card that hung with the quilt at the show.

To my surprise,  I just received a nice note in snail mail from someone I don't know.

"Dear Amy,
I so enjoyed your quilt.  But I was blown away by your years of faithfully teaching Bible at 6:00 a.m. in the morning.  May God bless your faithfulness.
Sincerely,  Stephanie B________"

That was so nice of her.  I wish I could tell her that I taught one year each of Old Testament, New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants and Church History, and Book of Mormon.

Photo of Bryce and Marianne

Here is my favorite of Bryce and Marianne's engagement pictures.

Tessa's Two Grandmothers

Introducing Tessa!

Baby!

Seth and Janette's daughter Tessa Jill was born Wednesday night at 10:21 pm.

7 lbs. 9 oz.  And she is so beautiful!

I will try to post photos tomorrow.

Janette is in labor

I'll keep you posted.

Photos from Cumorah

Wayne and I went to the Hill Cumorah pageant on Thursday night and Friday night and watched Zac do the special effects.  We got to eat lunch and supper with Zac and his companion, Bro. G. from Las Vegas.  We also ran into our old friend, Roxanne (she is Michelle I.'s sister, we knew her even before she joined the church.)

More photos of "Time to Blossom"

My sister, Carla Jorgensen, just got through producing two weeks of "My Time to Blossom" for girls.  Here are lots of pictures:

http://staceykayphotographyblog.com/time-to-blossom/

What Zac is doing at the Hill Cumorah Pageant

Zac has been on the work crew at the Hill Cumorah Pageant for over 2 weeks.  Wayne and I drove up to New York on Thursday, saw the dress rehearsal that night, then watched opening night on Friday night, then drove home.  It was very nice to see Zac there, he only gets to write us letters once a week.

Here is what he has been doing:

When they arrived June 24, they began by putting up the stages.  This year the work crew made a record by putting up all the stages in three days and three hours.

They put all the lighting up onto the lighting towers, also setting a record for how fast they did that.

Zac chose to be on the ground crew, so these are his duties during the performance:

Put smoke into Lehi's altar.
Do the hydraulics to lift the Tree of Life into place.
Take down Lehi's Palm trees.
Help put up the stern of Nephi's ship.
Put up a pillar, put up a lighted torch, then stand by it during the whole King Noah scene.
Put a lot of fake boulders and rocks up on stage for Alma Baptism scene.
As the cast is carrying on a large green Jaguar idol, Zac plugs it into electricity to make the fire glow.
Destruction scene: This scene is only 70 seconds long, Zac has to run from place to place and do everything on the exact time.  He wears headphones, and the technical director counts the seconds and they have to hit their marks at the correct second.
Here is what Zac wrote about the destruction scene (he wrote this a week before opening night):

"At 5 seconds I have a smoke machine to run on stage six.
Then at 30 seconds I knock down a pillar.
At 37 seconds I do the same smoke machine again.
Then I run from stage six, slide down the hill under some facing, run under more stage to get to stage one.
At 54 seconds I shoot off a water cannon.
A few feet from me (I can touch it if I reach) is a fireball set up.  It is supposed to go off at 54 seconds when I am supposed to fire off my water cannon.  Luckily Brother W. hasn't made it to his post yet to fire it off, or else I would surely die.  I talked to Brother J (the head technical director) about it and he said I will probably move my water cannon.
My last effect is a large flame on the other side of stage one, I get to it right as Brother G. fires off a water cannon next to my flame."

When we saw the pageant on dress rehearsal and opening night, Zac had an additional duty.  He also set up the box for Moroni to take the plates out of.

Zac is having a wonderful time.  He has a companion that he has to be with all the time, they have a rule that if a girl speaks to them, they can only speak to her for 5 seconds.

He really, really wants some mail, so please write to him:

Brother Zachary ___________ (I don't put last names on this blog.)
Hill Cumorah Pageant
659 State Rt. 21
Palmyra, NY  14522

He will fly home on July 22.

Hot Air

A story from the 4-yr-old Primary class

Experience told by Nikki Alley:

"I teach the 4-year-old Primary class and have a little boy in my class who volunteers every week to say the prayer. Last week he thanked Heavenly Father for not letting us talk to strangers, then he thanked him for the alphabet, and proceeded to bless the letters A, B, C, through Z, then he thanked Heavenly Father for numbers and blessed the numbers 1-20, then he thanked Him for colors and blessed 10 different colors.  I wondered if I should stop him.  I didn't mind the prayer's length, but I worried that his classmates were getting impatient.   When I looked around the other children had their eyes closed and were listening intently, so I just let him keep going.  I was glad I did because he finished by saying, 'And thank you for Sister Alley because she doesn't make me stop praying like my mom does.'".  

(Church News, January 8, 2000  p. 2.)

Eating Dog Food

I went to BYU Education Week in 2007 and attended a class on teaching methods.  The woman told us about this so I did it at my seminary class that year as I taught about the Old Testament.

I was teaching about how the prophet Samuel chose David as the new king of Israel.  Men look upon the outward appearance, God looks on the heart.

I purchased a can of Alpo dog food, and a can of roast beef hash.  I carefully took the label off the Alpo and taped it over the can of hash.

During class, I took a can opener and opened the can, and started eating from it with a fork.  The students started screeching and telling me to stop eating it.  They could smell its meaty smell, and they saw me open the can, so what else could it be but dog food?

After annoying them for a minute or so, I finally removed the Alpo label and showed them it was really roast beef hash.  And we talked about how often we misjudge other people or situations because of our limited understanding.

When I see my old students from 2007-2008, that is one of the only things they remember about that year.  "I remember when you ate dog food!"

Cute little tent for stuffed animals

Here is the cutest tent to make for kids to play with their dolls or stuffed animals.
http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2011/05/mini-tent-pattern-tutorial/

(Thanks, Tiffany!)

Prejudice against Mormons is alive and well

I was talking to one of the women in charge of our stake's Nativity celebration.  Our stake has been doing this event for over a decade, and it is a huge lovely display of over 600 nativity scenes, plus live music over about three evenings.

This particular woman (Sister H.) is in charge of contacting all the high school choirs and other musical groups, and inviting them to sing at our event.

My daughter was in our high school's honor choir, and there have been other nice Mormon students in that same choir, so I asked Sister H. to contact Mr. B because I knew how much he enjoyed having those youth in his choir.

She said, "Oh, no, that choir refuses to come to our church."

I was stunned, and asked why.

She said, "Mr. B. said he would be happy to schedule it, but when he told his Booster parents there was one very influential mother who was very vocal and absolutely forbade permission.  Mr. B had to back down because of her."

Anyway, I feel bad about that.  I am thankful for all the other high school and civic groups that are willing to perform there, regardless of any doctrinal differences they feel.  I think it is almost always a positive experience for them.  The group members tend to mingle throughout the cultural hall after their performances, looking at all the nativity scenes, and they appear to enjoy the event quite well.

I'm sorry that the honor choir at P.C. High School is denied that same experience, just because of one very prejudiced woman.  Phooey on her.

Adam has been working on this a long time

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/05/the-joystiq-indie-pitch-digitanks/  Here is an article about the video game which has MY SON as the art contractor.

"What is Digitanks?

Digitanks is a 3D artillery-based strategy game in which players command digital tanks to save their computers from an invasion of bugs and hackers. "


"How big is the team?

All of the programming and design was done by three programmers working as a close team: me, myself, and I. There's one contractor who does the art and another who composes the music. That's a small team compared to most game industry projects. I'd even say it's a micro-team."

Display of Zimbabwe currency $1 to a $1 Trillion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcaa0KV2xVg&feature=player_embedded#at=166
The hyperinflation took only one and a half years.  In one day a Coke cost $50 billion dollars in the morning, $100 billion at noon, and $150 billion that evening.
The YouTube is 3 minutes long.

It is interesting that Belarus seems to be starting down a similar path.  On June 25, 2011, the article below talks about how their currency was devalued by over 50% earlier that week.



Welcome To Hyperinflation Hell: Following Currency Devaluation, Belarus Economy Implodes, Sets Blueprint For Developed World Future


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/25/2011 17:22 -0400
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/wel...lodes-sets-blu


"A ‘91-style meltdown is almost inevitable." So says Alexei Moiseev, chief economist at VTB Capital, the investment-banking arm of Russia’s second-largest lender, discussing the imminent economic catastrophe that is sure to engulf Belarus following the surprise devaluation of the country's currency by over 50%, which we announced on Monday. 

Thoughts for the 4th of July

Ezra Taft Benson, 1986: 

"In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Savior declared, "I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose" (D&C 101:80)....

In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith on August 6, 1833, the Savior admonished: "I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land" (D&C 98:6).

In the Kirtland Temple dedicatory prayer, given on March 27, 1836, the Lord directed the Prophet Joseph to say: "May those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever" (D&C 109:54).

A few years later, Joseph Smith, while unjustly incarcerated in a cold and depressing cell of Liberty Jail at Clay County, Missouri, frequently bore his testimony of the document's divinity: "The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner" (HC 3:304)."

Ezra Taft Benson, "The Constitution, A Heavenly Banner", devotional address at Brigham Young University, 16 September 1986.

Statement of Boyd K. Packer (2004):

Will the Constitution be destroyed? No. It will be held inviolate by this people; and as Joseph Smith said "the time will come when the destiny of this nation will hang upon a single thread, and at this critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction." It will be so.

I do not know when that day will come or how it will come to pass. I feel sure that when it does come to pass, among those who will step forward from among this people will be men who hold the Holy Priesthood and who carry as credentials a bachelor or doctor of law degree. And women, also, of honor. And there will be judges as well.

Others from the world outside the Church will come, as Colonel Thomas Kane did, and bring with them their knowledge of the law to protect this people.

We may one day stand alone, but we will not change or lower our standards or change our course. 

(Source:  Boyd K. Packer, "On the Shoulders of Giants", Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law Society Devotional, Saturday, 28 February 2004, 6:00 p.m)

Statement of J. Reuben Clark, Jr.,  1944:

“Brethren, let us think about that, because I say unto you with all the soberness I can, that we stand in danger of losing our liberties, and that once lost, only blood will bring them back; and once lost, we of this Church will, in order to keep the Church going forward, have more sacrifices to make and more persecutions to endure than we have yet known, heavy as our sacrifices and grievous as our persecutions of the past have been.” [J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report, April 1944, pp. 115–116] 

Up the wall

Elizabeth and Thomas painted our retaining wall with water on Thursday.  Rachel said Thomas insisted on wearing Elizabeth's pink Tshirt that morning.

More updates on the Cumorah work crew blog

http://hcpworkcrew.blogspot.com/

They worked all week building this 15-level stage.

Zac is on the work crew at the Hill Cumorah pageant.  You can see new photos of him on the blog listed above. 

 (He arrived June 24, 2011.  Anything before that date is last year's work crew.)

Baby Boy due in Nov/Dec

Tiffany had an ultrasound yesterday, and she is having a BOY!  With the two baby girls that Janette and Rachel are having this month, that will be good to have a little variety amongst the cousins.

Seth's birthday

Happy birthday to my wonderful third son! Thank you for all the help you have give me over the past year. Here are just two examples:

Fixing my Featherweight sewing machine when it had a piece of thread impossibly jammed into its inner workings.

And contributing MANY MANY hours of work to Zac's Eagle Project. Thank you so much!