There and Back Again: Week 66 Receiving revelations

Two weeks ago our mission president encouraged us to prepare spiritually for the Exodus Memmorial we were all taking part in on February 7th. We searched our family history to find ancestors who were in Nauvoo at the time when the government allowed mobs to drive the Saints out of the United States in the middle of winter. This is why they ended up in Utah which at the time they left Nauvoo was Mexico! We hold this special memorial to remember what the Saints/ancestors sacrificed for their belief in Jesus Christ and honor their perserverance and faith.

On Tuesday night we had a special meeting in the sacred assembly hall in the Nauvoo Temple. Elder Cullen and I sat in the high podium seats across from the speakers and those who were presiding. It was awe inspiring to sit in those box seats and think about the skills the early saints had as they built this beautiful building with HAND tools! The moon was large and glowed through the window behind the speakers. Everything was so beautiful.

In that meeting we were told that we were friends in the pre-mortal life and had been foreordained to be on this mission together at this time. President Mehr had asked to use this sacred room, people don't ever get to go into it, but he asked the General Authorities and they gave us permission.

All the temple workers were astounded, and I think a little envious if not just in wonder. They kept asking president Mehr, "WHY did you get permission to hold your meeting here?" or "HOW did you do it?" His pat answer was, "I asked and they said yes" He didn't want to surmise or second guess why the Lord's servants had allowed it.

Then a Temple Sealer pulled him aside and looked him in the eye and said, "It's more than that. You need to find out why." So president Mehr was surprised by this and began to pray and ponder and study scriptures he felt lead to.

After a few weeks he received a clear answer. Heavenly Father adored us and wanted us to have this experience because of the efforts we were making here. Notice the process of receiving revelation: Pray, Ponder, and Deep dive into the scriptures. We talk to God by praying, He talks to us through the scriptures.

We were encouraged to seek revelation daily and to live by revelation through the Spirit daily. Often I have received impressions, ideas, a download of "inspiration" and I ignore it or discount it only to later regret it.

I feel terrible when I refuse to receive the revelations God is sending me. There's all kinds of reasons we do this: afraid of what others will think (i.e. I can't call them now, it's too late or too early, they'll think I'm being dramatic/weird), I'm too lazy (I.E. I'll do it later, I'll do it when the timing is better, I'll ask someone else to do it), or I'm not feeling good(my feet hurt, my back hurts, etc etc ) or I say, "That's a GREAT idea, I'm going to do it right after I do ........"

I came out of that meeting SO uplifted and really recommitting to receive the messages God was sending me and act upon them. I was committed to seeking for daily revelations and acting on them.

In addition to other special temple sessions that week, we had a chocolate dipping class by sister Copeland.

Before her mission she ran a candy shop and bakery. SHE is wonderful and a good teacher!

On Friday Elder Cullen and I were trying to decide if we should go down to the Family Living Center where we would be serving breakfast to 400 people in the morning. Should we go that night and set up or just do it in the morning before hand as we had planned with our committee. We decided we had a great crew, we were totally organized, we didn't need to take an extra trip (30 min each way) that night. We felt good about that and began to settle down for a winter evening inside.

Suddenly I began to feel a strong "feeling" that we should go down and at least set up the tables. I pushed it aside saying to myself, "We just decided this. It's going to be OK". The feeling came again. I verbalized to Elder Cullen, "Do you feel good about not going down tonight?" "YES" was his emphatic reply. It's going to be fine.

The feeling came a third time and suddenly I thought, "WHAT AM I DOING? I'm as dumb as dirt!" I laughed at myself as I said outloud, "Elder Cullen, We need to go down there. We need to go now and not dismiss this feeling." Gratefully, he got up out of his cozy chair and came.

I am SO glad we went down. ESPECIALLY because back in December I had purchased a set of four chaffing dishes but hadn't opened the box because I didn't need them until Feb 7th. We opened the box when we got there and they needed to be assembled. As we unpacked and started assembling we found one of the water trays had a 4 inch crack in the metal,

three of the lids had NO handles, and only ONE set of screws were included...no hardward for the other three. Elder Cullen dashed off to get hardware.

Randomly three couples showed up because they felt they should come help. One had wire in his truck that we could jimmy handles for the lids and it didn't look too LAME. We were there for three hours setting up and decorating tables, setting up benches, and staging the kitchen for everything the next morning. IFFFF we had put off coming Friday night we would NOT have had the lovely smooth calm we experienced Saturday morning.

I was SO grateful I allowed myself to receive the prompting and act upon it. We were TRULY BLESSED! I invite you to notice God talking to you daily. He will talk to you more if you talk to Him and if you read the scriptures more often. I promise this is true. I love you!

There and Back Again: Week 65: Deep Cleaning the Jail

When we were moved out to Carthage last April I insisted that I be able to continue to work with my lovely Blue Belle Shiners at least once a week. Every Wednesday, with few exceptions,I have been working with them and THIS week they were out here in Carthage so I didn't have to drive 30 minutes each way. (or a 6 hour horse ride each way...which is what it was back in the 1840s...lol) The other special treat is that collections care came out to deep clean the historic jail! It's been SO needed.

I got to help. Every item was cleaned, assessed, entered into the computer with a unique number and tasks noted (i.e. needs to be polished, needs crack filled, keep an eye on oxidized hinges, etc) Meanwhile, Elder Cullen was shoveling snow, brushing snow, and blowing snow! That snow blower is a blessing and a curse if the wind changes and blows it all back on YOU!

One of our FM leads needed to return an extention cord she had borrowed from us. We had to laugh. It was 6 degrees outside and she was wearing an open hodie and no socks! LOL Look at Elder Cullen and look at her. WHO is the "local" in this picture. It's amazing what the human body can become accustomed to. Even for us, 40 degrees feels balmy these days. I never imagined that would happen. There are so many things I have learned on this mission...or learned more deeply. I already knew I could do hard things. With God's help I can do anything, but WOW to make cold not feel cold? To make my old arms able to lift heavy loads again...continuously? We truly are limitless with Jesus and Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost!! Just stay in the middle of that triangle of LOVE and you are good to go! It doesn't mean bad things won't happen, in fact, to really notice them bad, uncomfortable, unfair things have to happen. Truly, I am grateful for how my faith has continued to grow out here. The secret to not dissolving into the pride cycle in good times is gratitude and staying in that triangle.

When times are good don't step out of that triangle with a "thanks guys. I'll call you when I need you again" STAY there because you love them and are loyal come rain or shine.

The last JOY of the week was that we got to meet up with the McConeghey's in the temple and do sealings for our families. Mike and Bev are the parents of Aaron (who married Autumn) I am grateful for all my children's in-laws. They are loving, inclusive, kind, and fun! We have been SO blessed.

There and Back Again: Week 64 Extreme COLD.

On Wednesday I took Elder Cullen to the airport. he was going to visit his two brothers and a nephew on the East Coast. The spirit had prompted him to go and do it. President Mehr let him go.

I stayed behind to hold down the fort in Carthage. It was not a heroic act. There was very little to do when it's two degrees outside and no snow falling.

The sites got closed Friday due to the extreme cold and yet we still had a couple of visitors and so I got to open up and do a tour. ALSO a sweet friend called me up and asked if she could come over and hang out. She didn't know I was alone, it was a tender mercy. We played Wingspan and had tea and snacks!

On Friday we saw there was a huge snow storm coming in for the East Coast. We were worried Elder Cullen's plane would be delayed so he hurried to the airport Friday night and changed his Saturday flight home to Friday night and flew to Chicago...where he "slept" in the airport until his morning connecting flight to Burlington where I picked him up. It was so great to have him home. That night it snowed and snowed. Sites continue to be closed, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday due to extreme cold! WOW. We've had time to deep clean, read, sew and crochet too.

I had the pleasure of doing some work for the Carthage historical society. I go in on Fridays and scan catalog cards and digitize them. I am really enjoying working with that group. They are all volunteers, working hard to preserve the small details and regular normal citizens of their town.

It reminds me of my beloved Windsor historical society. I am so glad there are people out there who care about preserving the past. A long time ago, I wrote a musical about my town to celebrate its twentieth year of incorporation. It took Windsor from 1854 when Pomo Families were the majority to present through song and dance

We had only been living in Windsor for five years. We crash landed there after 18 months of homeless nomadism with our four kids, the youngest still nursing.

Some of that time we were living out of our car and camping as we traveled from Healdsburg to Long Island, New York and back looking for work after Elder Cullen lost his job at the state when it went bankrupt. We were so grateful for our new job and home in Windsor, we sank our roots deep.

It took me a year to research everything for the musical. I really felt like I KNEW the families who worked hard to make it a good place to raise a family: The parks, the schools, the Green, etc.. We performed it and many people, especially the old timers were so grateful to be remembered. I think it's important to remember the people who went on before us; who framed our communities, families, and such with their time and effort and caring. I think our ANCESTORS want to be remembered. They are still around us, caring about us. they had hopes and dreams for their posterity too.

I would invite all of you to find your local historical society and see what you can do to help. Or get on familysearch.org and start researching your own family history. It's a game changer and way more fun than watching the news. I promise you will feel your life changing for the better as your reach out and serve around you. Have a GREAT week!

There and Back Again: Week 63: A Tale of Two Strokes

Pictures are random events from this week. Not necessarily connected to the text.

About two and a half weeks ago one my my sweet friends on this mission had a stroke.

She was an FM missionary in the painting group. She was a hard worker, fun and kind.

A few days later our dear site missionary Elder L. had a stroke. I was there when it started. He was slurring badly and couldn't come up with simple words.

Luckily the hospital is five minutes from the Jail. I told his wife to take take him. He protested saying he'd be fine in a minute! That night we were called to come to the hospital and for Elder Cullen to give him a blessing of healing. Elder L was in the hospital for five days.

Last Tuesday, Elder Cullen and I were in a reader's theater version of Pizzaro. It was written in 1799!. I was so impressed with the story and amazed to see how people have always been people.

The struggle between good and evil, politics and perception have not changed.

The next morning we found out that Sister N, the painter, had passed away. I wept off on throughout the day. Elder L. was released from the hospital and recovering at home that same night! A day of tears and cheers.

At these times I ponder on God's ways. We all prayed equally earnestly for both missionaries. Why does one pass and another stay?

I came to the conclusion that it's like asking why some graduate from school early, on time, or later. Everyone is on their own schedule and when it's their actual time to go, then they go.

Its not a bad thing to "graduate" from Earth School (through death) but it is a great loss to those still slugging it out behind. See you on the other side Sister N.

Hey Elder L great to have you back, can I borrow a pencil? LOL

We just spent a few hours at the Native American Eagle Days Festival today and Elder and Sister L were there too looking beautiful and healthy!



We love you all.

Remember we can do all things in Christ who sustains us.

There and Back Again: Week 62: When you got pain...Someone's Gonna Help You

When My Oldest Grandson was three years old he made up a song that he would sing to himself and others. It's sort of become a family song. The words are simple, "When you got paaaaiiiinnnn, someone's gonna help you. When you got paaaaiiiinnnn, someone's gonna help you. When you got paaaaiiiinnnn, someone's gonna help you..When you got paaaaiiiinnnn, someone's gonna help you" The tune is simple and sweet and I felt it really showed the greatness of his little soul.

When I am in physical or emotional/mental pain I think of this song and sing it. LOL It helps. We have 17 weeks left of our mission and I've been reflecting on what we've learned and accomplished. Elder Cullen and I have been talking about giving it our full best to the very end.

We DON'T want to get "trunky"/"retirement syndrome".

I was pondering on all the times when I was tired or in pain and Heavenly Father and Jesus sent me friends who just appeared and said, "Can I help?".

Or when I was feeling my efforts didn't matter, someone would call or text out of the blue and cheer and comfort me.

Or I'd be wondering WHAT am I supposed to be doing next?...or what will become of me in this world of increasing darkness?...

and then I would see a butterfly, a gorgeous flower or tree, glorious sunrise/sunset,

or a bald eagle (no joke) flying by with such power and it just made me feel so happy that it brought me peace. God is truly at the helm. He can make all this cool stuff and if I listen he can direct my path.

So this week, ponder your pain and look for how Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are influencing people in your life. When someone calls out of the blue give them your time maybe that WASN'T a coincidence. When you have an opportunity to donate time or resources do it. (go to JustServe.org for local needs!) When someone says, "Can I help" LET THEM. It will bless you both.

There and back again: Week 61: Happy New Year

Happy New YEAR!!! What a great way to start the new year than to be at Ben and Courtnie's house AGAIN! This time Ephraim and Autumn and her family were there as well. The High Lights were...

WE WORKED HARD

WE PLAYED HARD

WE ATE DELICIOUS FOOD AND We Shared our talents, laughed, and prayed together. My New Years Goal is to try to loose weight AGAIN...every time I do this I gain another 10lbs...ugh I'm scared. Please pray my body will become fat burning. I already eat clean (except on holidays...moderation in all things), raw food, lots of plants, little bit of clean meat, LOW sugar, healthy fats, exercise...blah blah blah. My medical dietician (a first for me) is amazed at how I eat and am still so chubby LOL. She has suggested a couple things I'm going to integrate. By small and simple acts great things are brought about...so hard to trust this right now.

I've really taken this to the Lord and felt inspired to start meeting with the dietician. So let's put this scripture to the TEST. Proverbs Chapter 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 ¶ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.