Lent 2012

So, I've been wondering when Ash Wednesday is this year. I asked last night & my aunt Luana said she didn't know. She asked me the same question I get every year when I say I'm going to read The Book of Mormon for Lent. You're not Catholic, why do you even celebrate Lent? I don't "celebrate" Lent, I "observe" it.

In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the season of preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

 This year, as I have done for the last few years, I will read The Book of Mormon beginning on Ash Wednesday. Feb. 22. I will again try to finish it by Easter Sunday, April 8. April General Conference will be held March 31 and April 1. The Young Women conference will be held March 24.

I always feel like I'm unprepared - for anything.

Conference weekend

It's a beautiful weekend for LDS General Conference, warm & sunny. I haven't listened to any of the sessions. Don-Mike went to the priesthood session for the first time in his life. No, actually, he may have gone a couple of times when he was a teen-ager, but Don doesn't go, so the boys haven't gone.

Don-Mike went with Ian Porter. I asked him if he saw Robert Bartlomé in the missionary choir, but he said he didn't. I don't know if Robert got to sing in it or not. I would assume he did, but haven't heard.

Don-Mike wanted to take Nana for a ride today. She loves Sunday rides. He wanted to take his "new" Trans-Am. He offered to take me, I would've had to ride in the back. Riding in the backseat makes me car sick & I already have a headache. He even offered to take the Duramax (extended cab pickup). I don't know how many times in my life I've gone on a ride when I've had one of these headaches. I have not enjoyed the ride nor have I made it pleasant for others. They went & I stayed home today. Nick wanted to take his red Camaro. Don rode with Nick. People laugh at us when we take 2 vehicles wherever we go, but it works.

Listening

Today on our way to church, at the very last minute, I decided I needed something to read. Now, remember, my job or "calling" at church is ward librarian. I am the keeper of the library, along with Don. I have loads of things to read in the library. I even thought of that as I stood there debating what I was going to read. I snatched a book off the shelf, I even wondered which book to grab as there were 2 slim volumes of poetry, Carol Lynn Pearson's Beginnings & The Search. I grabbed the top one, The Search, & ran. Don was waiting for me in the car. We got to the library & I sat there & read my poetry, pondered it & thought, "I've missed this." I also thought, "I've been struggling so hard to read the Psalms & I can sit here, read these poems, & they mean something to me. Why can't I 'get' Psalms?"

Don teaches the priesthood lesson on the 4th Sunday. He said he was having a hard time with the lesson he was going to teach. He's a born teacher & seldom has a hard time with a lesson. I asked him what it was. He told me & showed me. It was "Turn to the Lord" by Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the 70, given in the Sunday morning session of the April 2010 General Conference. I got excited & said, "We had that lesson last summer from Brother Burns (our home teacher). We discussed it." He didn't remember, but I gave him a couple of examples from my parents' life, an example from a family that is struggling right now here in town. And then, lo, & behold, one of the poems from my book leaped to mind, "To One Who Has Been Done Dirt." I quickly thumbed to it, read it aloud to him & then another one. He took my book, read it & took it with him to class. He used 3 poems. He told me later those poems were just what was missing from his lesson.

We got our temple recommends today. Tiffany (our niece) is going through the temple to take out her endowments in a couple of weeks & if the location is right, we can go with her!! I am so excited. She has been called to serve in the Switzerland Geneva French-speaking Mission.

I've stayed up way too late - again.

Mystery solved

Considering I have been singing the first verse of "Lodi" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, I'd say that is what was being sung in my dream the other night.

Just about a year ago, I set out on the road
Seekin' my fame & fortune, lookin' for a pot of gold
Things got bad, & things got worse
I guess you know the tune
Oh, Lord, stuck in Lodi again.

Lookin' for a pot of gold, things got bad & things got worse. Well, there it is. I'm certainly looking for a way to get out of this financial mess & things are going from bad to worse, sigh.

General Conference? I have been reading Leviticus in the Old Testament, that is a powerful book. I am learning so much & it sounds like The Book of Mormon wherein the Lord will protect his people if they keep his commandments. (my emphasis) So many times the Nephites were outnumbered, but still won.

And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.  Lev. 26:18

So ... I need to fast, pray, pay my tithing & be more mindful of other commandments.

CCR sings in LDS General Conference

I had the weirdest dream last night, I don't remember much about it except I was at LDS General Conference & Creedence Clearwater Revival sang. I remembered what the song was when I woke up, but don't remember it now. It was weird. When I woke up I was pinned like Gulliver, only by cats, not Lilliputians. I said it was a 4 cat night. It didn't help that it was no longer morning, but afternoon when I finally awakened.

As soon as I struggled out from under the covers, Marsha stood up & yawned & stretched. Could have made it easier if she'd got up first.

Do what you can

More thoughts from ReadTheScriptures.com

"Remember, tomorrow is connected with today, and what we do with today determines the tomorrow."
--Marvin J. Ashton, "The Time Is Now", Ensign, May 1975, 85

Very thought provoking. Not something I want to expound on, just want to find it for future reference.

And another one:

Please don't nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort."
--Gordon B. Hinckley, "Rise to the Stature of the Divine within You," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 94

Reading The Book of Mormon is a goal I actually thought I could achieve, but reading 144 books in 1 year?? That is actually "far beyond my capacity to achieve."

I am enjoying the Kindle4PC that I downloaded from Amazon.com I enjoy reading books on the computer. I can make the words bigger for my "old" eyes.

Everyone says how wonderful conference was this time. I didn't even listen or watch it, my bad. But, I'll read it, or watch it online. A Facebook friend, Muriel Garvis, posted this about conference:

Yes, and you can see all the conference as they keep an archive. Just go to the church web site. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Right on the front page you can see the video stream. You may have to download the program they suggest but it was so good. There are actually lots of other videos that the church puts out on this site.

Palm Sunday

Another day of General Conference, therefore no local church meetings are being held, thus a holiday for Don & I from the library.

Bedtime last night was - drum roll please - 11:30 p.m. Wake up time was 9:15. Nick woke me up, but I was laying there without the CPAP mask on my nose. He figured I was awake. My nose was so plugged up, I couldn't breathe through it, sigh. I haven't been taking my Zyrtec-D because Nick needs it & I've been giving it to him because Medicaid won't pay for Zyrtec. I guess I'll have to buy some OTC so we can both use it. My mouth was so dry. We're out of prilosec too. I've got to buy that also.

Now, for confession time. I was sitting on the bed, ready for bed at 11:30 p.m. I turned out the light at 12:30 because I finished reading an Anne Perry book, A Christmas Beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's past due at the library & I need to return it. I have 2 other books out too. The librarian told me she couldn't renew one of them anymore. So, I need to read that too, or just bite the bullet & return it.

Don is finally doing our taxes. He needs a couple of things, but that's why I wanted the taxes done now & not April 15. I can look for them now, I've got a couple of days to do it. It's probably out in the basket of mail on the front seat of the car. I've been going to sort through it at Mother's.

Don-Mike's decided it's time to upgrade his daily driver. Nick found him a truck at Axtell Chevrolet in Logan. Speaking of dealerships, Tapper Motor in Montpelier has closed. Not that he was planning on checking with Tapper, but I remembered when he was talking about checking Hunzeker Chevrolet in Soda Springs.

Well, it's noon. Onward & upward, or in other words, I need to get up, take my meds, get dressed & go over to Mother's.

Fourth Sunday in March

Not sure which Sunday in Lent this is, 4th or 5th, but I know it's the fourth Sunday in March. It was my turn to cook Sunday dinner & Don's week to teach the Elder's Quorum lesson.

The fourth Sunday lesson in our ward was on Celestial Marriage, a talk given by Elder Russell M. Nelson, an LDS apostle, in October's (2008) General Conference. I'm in the library, so don't get to hear these lessons, but Don & I discuss them. It was an interesting lesson. I wish I'd been in Relief Society to hear Shannon Knapp teach it.

We have a couple of nieces that have live-in boyfriends & another niece lived with her husband before they got married. It makes me sad. Elder Nelson likens marriage to shopping. He called cheating shoplifting. In talking about cohabiting, I said it's more like renting, than shoplifting. The couple is not ready to take on ownership.

Spent a long time getting to sleep last night. It was a hard night. Another work day tomorrow. Don says it's supposed to snow tonight.

It rained in the night. I washed my car yesterday because I park under a couple of trees & my car is always covered with bird poop. This morning, it didn't even look like it had been washed. I knew it had because I got a new crack in the windshield yesterday in the car wash. A rock chip spread on the passenger side. On the driver's side a crack that has been slowly inching out into my line of vision, took a turn & is now spreading up. Our deductible is so high, that I just need to save money to pay to have it replaced.

Our health insurance deductible is $4,000 per year. At least the car insurance deductible isn't that high.