The speakers in Sacrament meeting were Toni Sproul and her daughter-in-law, Allison Sproul. Toni is the mother of Bishop Willie Spoul, and Allison is his wife. The spoke based on the talk by President Uchtdorf from April 2014 entitled: Grateful in Any Circumstances.
Toni reminded us to see with spiritual eyes because we are not mortal beings but spiritual ones. She reflected on the wonderful grace of the Lord in her life, especially the past five years when tending to a husband who was serious ill and bedridden for much of those years and who died a little over a year ago. The Lord gave her music to inspire and remind her of the great love of God for his children.
Toni is a wonderful woman and a great example to any who know her.
Allison reminded us to be grateful in any circumstance as the title of the talk reflects. If we allow the Savior to carry us, He will. It is a choice to be grateful. Do not murmur in our afflictions. He draws near to us in a very powerful way. As we keep our covenants we can call down the blessings of heaven. We are eternal beings.
I appreciate all I learn at church every week.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Birthday dinner at Black Bear Diner
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| Black Bear Diner - Tropicana off Jones in Las Vegas |
Danny and Michele Hastings took me to dinner for my birthday. We went to the Black Bear Diner in Las Vegas. It's a chain, but good comfort food and large servings. I had the pecan crusted trout, Danny had fried chicken and Michele had French Dip sandwich. Michele and I had the chocolate lava cake for dessert and Danny had the huckleberry ice cream.
I really love and appreciate those guys.
Service at church
Starting a couple of years ago, members of congregations were given the responsibility to maintain the church building and keep it clean. Our ward gives the responsibility for cleaning to each of the organizations within the congregation. The 1st and 5th Saturday of May and the 1st and 2nd Saturdays in June are the Relief Society.
There are very few sisters that attend Relief Society, which is another story, so not many to sign-up to help with the cleaning, so I've been going over each of the weeks. It's actually an enjoyable thing to do, I do windows when possible and there are 2 large windowed doors at the front of the building then four other doors around the sides as well and the small windows in the doors of the cultural hall and classrooms. It takes about an hour or so to do them all and in addition to blessings unseen, is a good workout with lots of arm movement and stretching and bending.
Last week we didn't have enough help to get the chairs set up in the Primary, RS, and overflow areas, but this week we did.
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| Tropicana Building borrowed from the web |
There are very few sisters that attend Relief Society, which is another story, so not many to sign-up to help with the cleaning, so I've been going over each of the weeks. It's actually an enjoyable thing to do, I do windows when possible and there are 2 large windowed doors at the front of the building then four other doors around the sides as well and the small windows in the doors of the cultural hall and classrooms. It takes about an hour or so to do them all and in addition to blessings unseen, is a good workout with lots of arm movement and stretching and bending.
Last week we didn't have enough help to get the chairs set up in the Primary, RS, and overflow areas, but this week we did.
Treading water
Who knew that treading water was such a good calorie burner and toner. At my current weight I can get rid of about 400 calories in a 30 minute span, and other than the tedium factor, it doesn't seem difficult at all to do. It's also good for all the major muscle groups. I can feel it a little bit in my arms and core, but no soreness. It can also be sort of contemplative and I find myself able to zone out during the treading.
Friday, June 6, 2014
FitBit
My health care has wellness options that encourage participants to get active and eat properly. Those of us with BMI of an excessive nature that qualified for participation in the plan through blood work and dental and/or doctor visits qualify for a free FitBit. So I ordered one. I'm not sure what taking the challenges will be like, but we'll see.
Despite me being significantly overweight, my blood pressure is good, my blood glucose is good, all results from the blood panel were in normal ranges except for the triglycerides which were a bit high. Based on other blood tests over the past several years, that's no biggie because it'll be down the next set.
I am very blessed (not lucky, but blessed) to have excellent health. While it's all from God, part I attribute to good genes, and part to a decision early in married life that we would eat whole grains and other nutritious sorts of food. So when the move to Las Vegas occurred and we both got carried away with the buffets and other foodly temptations, we were buffered some by what we ate when we weren't eating poorly.
Despite me being significantly overweight, my blood pressure is good, my blood glucose is good, all results from the blood panel were in normal ranges except for the triglycerides which were a bit high. Based on other blood tests over the past several years, that's no biggie because it'll be down the next set.
I am very blessed (not lucky, but blessed) to have excellent health. While it's all from God, part I attribute to good genes, and part to a decision early in married life that we would eat whole grains and other nutritious sorts of food. So when the move to Las Vegas occurred and we both got carried away with the buffets and other foodly temptations, we were buffered some by what we ate when we weren't eating poorly.
Do I want to be a writer?
Off and on over the years I've pondered if I have the desire and enough of it to put in the labor needed to write. It seems like an easy task before beginning - find some idea and write. Of course it's not that easy and it's not that simple. One bit of counsel I see over and over in reading what authors say about writing is you need to actually write. Some set specific times when they write, others have page goals or some other way to push them into the task.
If I, or anyone really wants to write it's necessary to know why you are doing it. Is it because you want to write that great series of stories that the reader can't put down? It is to become wealthy? It is for the fame? Do you wish to record your life, or part of it for posterity?
Regardless - one has to actually DO it.
Years ago, I attended several conference presentations given by Orson Scott Card at Life, the Universe, and Everything which was held for many years at Brigham Young University. I believe it is held an Utah Valley University these days. It was titles 1001 Ideas in an Hour and the whole premise was to brainstorm as a group to come up with story ideas. Scott Card said it didn't matter how many people in the group wrote stories from the presentation because every story would be different. One concept that I remember was a planet inhabited by two sentient races that were quite unaware of each other because one hibernated in the cold season and the other was active then and ate the bodies of the deceased of the other race that were placed in caves.
Quite a different idea, but it ended up in several stories, including Card's.
Don't ever go with your first idea - odds are it's cliched and trite - think out of the box - lots of what-ifs. Stories can come from words or places or random thoughts. Ideas exist everywhere, but it takes training to see them.
If I, or anyone really wants to write it's necessary to know why you are doing it. Is it because you want to write that great series of stories that the reader can't put down? It is to become wealthy? It is for the fame? Do you wish to record your life, or part of it for posterity?
Regardless - one has to actually DO it.
Years ago, I attended several conference presentations given by Orson Scott Card at Life, the Universe, and Everything which was held for many years at Brigham Young University. I believe it is held an Utah Valley University these days. It was titles 1001 Ideas in an Hour and the whole premise was to brainstorm as a group to come up with story ideas. Scott Card said it didn't matter how many people in the group wrote stories from the presentation because every story would be different. One concept that I remember was a planet inhabited by two sentient races that were quite unaware of each other because one hibernated in the cold season and the other was active then and ate the bodies of the deceased of the other race that were placed in caves.
Quite a different idea, but it ended up in several stories, including Card's.
Don't ever go with your first idea - odds are it's cliched and trite - think out of the box - lots of what-ifs. Stories can come from words or places or random thoughts. Ideas exist everywhere, but it takes training to see them.
My thoughts on same-sex marriage from an eternal perspective
Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have mixed feelings about the Church's stand on the legalization and redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples. They feel that we are not being Christ-like when we deny these individuals the same access to marriage as heterosexual couples. It feels like we are not loving them equally and breaking the 2nd great commandment - to love our neighbors as ourselves.
What we fail to consider, I believe, is that we are really -not- loving them enough, because we are not thinking of their happiness in this life and in eternity. To achieve the greatest happiness in the world to come, we need to be in a position to become like God and live the same life He lives. This requires the ability to be eternally with a companion and have eternal increase.
To validate same-sex marriage is to deny those couples the possibility of that relationship ever being an eternal one. To validate as a family, same-sex couples and any children that are brought into that unit is to forever deny those children the possiblity of being an eternal family with those who raise them.
We are not loving our neighbor enough when we support a relationship that can never result in an eternal bond. We are selfishly saying "We love you a whole lot right now - but we don't love you enough to want the joy that God has in the eternity to come."
The purpose of the Church is to assist the Lord in bringing to pass the "immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39) Christ has guaranteed to all humanity immortality. Eternal life is God's life and can only be achieved through obedience to God's laws, including marriage as established by God.
Some words from a song that are applicable:
Neither the man without the woman,
Neither the woman without the man.
This is the life of our Father and Mother,
Meant for their children too.
Our lives and our loves extending forever
A covenant made everlastingly new.
What we fail to consider, I believe, is that we are really -not- loving them enough, because we are not thinking of their happiness in this life and in eternity. To achieve the greatest happiness in the world to come, we need to be in a position to become like God and live the same life He lives. This requires the ability to be eternally with a companion and have eternal increase.
To validate same-sex marriage is to deny those couples the possibility of that relationship ever being an eternal one. To validate as a family, same-sex couples and any children that are brought into that unit is to forever deny those children the possiblity of being an eternal family with those who raise them.
We are not loving our neighbor enough when we support a relationship that can never result in an eternal bond. We are selfishly saying "We love you a whole lot right now - but we don't love you enough to want the joy that God has in the eternity to come."
The purpose of the Church is to assist the Lord in bringing to pass the "immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39) Christ has guaranteed to all humanity immortality. Eternal life is God's life and can only be achieved through obedience to God's laws, including marriage as established by God.
Some words from a song that are applicable:
Neither the man without the woman,
Neither the woman without the man.
This is the life of our Father and Mother,
Meant for their children too.
Our lives and our loves extending forever
A covenant made everlastingly new.
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