And now for the rest of the story

How do you put into words . . . feelings?

Today's sacrament meeting speakers spoke with such power. Several years ago a young man by the name of Kyle Copeland bore his testimony in sacrament. He was leaving home to go to college and he said with such tremendous power that I remember it still today, "I just want this ward to know that Kyle Copeland has a testimony." And I thought he's going to make a great missionary.

A couple of months later he got married . . . outside of the temple, and then I thought how did that happen.

Today I got the rest of the story. He's moved back home with his wife and they were our speakers today. She gave many examples of the times and places she has experienced reverence in her life. He spoke about the mistakes they've made in the past two years and how he desperately wished he had served a mission. When he was contemplating a mission he thought of all the pros about a mission: he'd be a better husband, a better father, etc. It wasn't until recently that he realized a mission isn't about the missionary, it's about service. Service to Christ.

Kyle had several experiences where he felt he was being knocked over the head by "spiritual angels." It was those ah-ha moments that led him to realize the lack of the spirit in his life. Last fall they decided to go through the temple and be sealed. After that decision was made, he said how he never felt the power of the adversary so strong in his life. Satan is very real. On the day they were to be sealed, they both overslept, finally got on the road to have their tire blow out. A brother stopped and picked them up, and halfway to the temple (which was 1 1/2 hours from their home) they realized they had left their marriage certificate in the car with the blown tire. In anything could have gone wrong that day, it did. But she relates the peace that enveloped her when she finally made it to the temple and sat down for a breather. "There is nothing more important than families." And that is why temples are so important because it unites families . . . for eternity.

I wish I could describe the feelings that I had during sacrament today. The spirit of Christ was definitely there. In fact at the end of Sister Copeland's talk she sang a beautiful rendition of "Where Can I Turn for Peace." It wasn't part of the program but part of her talk. After she sang the congregation sang a rest hymn "Hope of Israel" which is a rousing song designed to awaken the crowd for the next speaker. It just didn't feel right after her number.

I testify the spirit works through feelings. The whisperings of the spirit are felt with the heart and today I felt I could have floated out of church. Isn't there some way to capture it and put it in a bottle for those days when I feel so void of the spirit? It is definitely something to be seized every day, which isn't easy.

Anyway, I loved, loved sacrament meeting today.

Chewy Chex Mix

This is my latest addiction. I should never make this when I am alone. I can eat the whole batch myself.

Chewy Chex Mix

8 cups Chex cereal (any variety)

1 c. slivered almonds

1 c. coconut

1 c. Chinese noodles

1/4 c. butter

6 cups small marshmallows

Mix cereal, almonds, coconut, and noodles in a large bowl. Melt butter and marshmallows and pour over cereal mixture. Pour on wax paper and let set up. If you store in a storage container, don't store too tightly.

I did come across another recipe that uses 1 cup sugar, 1 cup corn syrup, and 1 cup butter. It also added 6 cups Golden Grahams and cut the Chex cereal to 6 cups. I'm going to have to try that one and see which one I like better. Do I dare?

I'm grateful for . . .

mountains so close to where I live.

the beauty of the earth.
the wondrous smells of nature.

It whispers to me that there is a God, a master designer behind it all. It's awe-inspiring to look at the flowers and trees that just grow and produce on their own, for mother nature who keeps it all watered. I simply cannot believe that a cosmic crash in space could produce something as beautiful as this earth. It takes more faith to believe in the Big Bang than to believe that this world is Someone's handicraft.

I just returned home yesterday from my first backpacking trip ever. Our little entourage included my brother-in-law Jason and three of his boys, Scott, Jeremy, and Porter along with our crew of Ty, me, Kiersten, Erik, and Nate. Since we had little hikers with us, the men decided on a relatively simple hike of about a mile to base camp. The lake we hiked to was Wall Lake. It was breathtakingly beautiful!

After arriving home, we set up the tents and put everything outside to air out and get the smokey smell out. Sometime around 2 am I awoke to hear something banging against our fence. Our backpacking tents (that are known to weigh hardly anything) had decided to take flight with relatively little wind. The 4-man tent was in the neighbor's backyard and the 2-man was hitting the fence even though Ty used rocks in place of the stakes. So at 2 am we were sneaking into the neighbor's yard (hoping their dogs were in the house) and gathering up our gear. Now we know why they advise using the stakes :)

She finally figured it out

We have a very obstinate child who goes by the name of Ash.

Today she refused to ask nicely for anything and simply demanded everything of everyone.

We are no longer putting up with it.

On the way home from the store she screamed at Erik for not sharing the M&Ms he so kindly bought for her with his own money (he took them back when she demanded he give them to her). And she screamed the entire way home giving us all a headache.

I immediately put her to bed and told her she could get up when she could ask nicely for some lunch (again, on arriving home she demanded lunch before putting her in her bed).

A half hour later I had to leave to go with Kiersten to a Mom/Daughter Stake Activity Days function and since she had continually come out of her room refusing to say please, I put her outside on a bench where Tyler could supervise the little stink while he worked on sprinklers.

When I arrived home, she had indeed finally said please and gotten some lunch AFTER TWO HOURS.

Tonight while I was washing her hair I asked what she learned today about saying please. She replied with "I FINALLY figured it out sitting on the bench."

Hallelujah!

Two great stories I heard this week on integrity

My definition of integrity is doing the right thing even when no one will know or see it. It's choosing the right in the dark. It's being a good person because you want to be, not because of a set of rules or commandments or because someone tells you to.

Erik

Several weeks ago Erik was grounded from having pop for a week because he got himself a rootbeer float and left a mess all over the counter. However, several days later he went to Grandma's for a week and she didn't know about the punishment. She asked if he wanted some pop one day and he told her how he was grounded until the first of August. Later that week on July 31 she accidentally poured him a glass of pop for lunch. He reminded her that he couldn't have pop to which she responded that she had forgotten. He decided that he would go ahead and drink what she had given him, but the next day (which was August 1) he would go without.

Nick

I don't know my cousin Nick at all, other than the time I babysat him and his siblings at Grannie's for my Aunt Lisa and he pooped all over my pants. He has just graduated from high school and is going on a mission in December. Financially, hard times have come to his parents and they are having a difficult time making ends meet. This kid works in a law office doing menial work I suppose.,When he gets his paycheck he immediately turns it over to his mother (probably after paying tithing on it). What 18-year-old kid would do that with his hard-earned money?