Grace

We had an early Easter service at church, since General Conference falls on Easter this year, and next week will be Fast Sunday.  There was an amazing talk given on "Grace".   It was taken from Brad Wilcox's book, The Continuous Atonement, and on a talk that he had given at a BYU devotional.  We came home and looked the devotional up on Youtube and watched the whole thing.  He used an analogy of a mom paying for music lessons to explain the atonement, and it was so easy to understand.  If you're interested, here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLXr9it_pbY

Good News, Bad News

Good news first - It's the start of Spring Break, which is great.  Even better, I have my report cards done.  Best of all, I have lots of plans with friends and family, plus time to be alone and read or work on projects.

Bad news - Two friends are going through devastating experiences.  I'm so sad for them.  It hurts.  I pray for them every day, and their problems are never far from my thoughts.  I want to be a support and a true friend.  It's hard to think of what will help.

Temple and Dinner

Brent and Krystle came with Terry and I to the temple today.  All the bulbs were up and the trees were blossoming.  We finally make it through all the cards that Fredee gave us. Krystle and I did the last two Cowley sisters.  The lady sitting next to us was also doing a Cowley family card.  I talked to her after and she said that her Cowley ancestors descended from a Charles Cowley.  They settled in Richfield, Utah, where there are a whole slew of Cowleys. Her husband said that you never call anyone Brother or Sister Cowley down there, because there are about 17 of them.  They use first names.  I had to look Richfield up on the map. Now I need to look for a Charles Cowley.

Afterwards we went over to spend some time with Terry's mom.  We took all the fixings for tacos and a bunch of fresh fruit.  It was a nice dinner and a nice visit.  She was happy to see Brent and Krystle. So we spent a lot of time with family, here and beyond. 

St. Patrick's Day

My principal is Irish with relatives still living in Ireland.  She goes a little crazy on St. Patrick's Day, and it's a lot of fun.  We start the day with Irish soda bread, clotted cream (like whipped cream) and jam.  Everyone, who's feeling lucky, puts their name in a pot of gold and a little leprechaun pulls names for prizes such as lottery tickets, green bead necklaces, and boxes of Lucky Charms.  We have a potluck lunch of Irish stew, corned beef, cabbage salads, more soda bread, and green frosted shamrock cookies.  Everyone's spirits were lifted. Green is my favorite color, and it was fun being Judy O'Swainy for the day. 

High Council Sunday #1

Terry gave his first talk as a High Councilman today.  His mom and sister came, and Bry. He was nervous, but he shouldn't have been.  He had written a good talk and speaking should be easy for him.  He can talk without notes.  He knows his church stuff, and he's sensitive to the spirit.  His topic was on using daily spiritual checklists to keep us safe.  Here are a few he mentioned:

1. Prayer - Believe you will get answers.  Watch for them.  They will come.
2. Scripture study - Pray for enlightenment and you will have clear ideas come into your mind.
3. Physical exercise 
4. Healthy eating - You only get one body - take care of it.  After all, it is an amazing gift from our Father.
5. Smile.  Be happy.  Stop criticizing yourself and others.  

I liked this quote he used from Elder Jorg Klebingat of the Seventy:
"Take responsibility for your own spiritual well-being.  Stop blaming others or your circumstances, stop justifying, and stop making excuses for why you may not be fully striving to be obedient.  The Lord knows your circumstances perfectly, but He also knows perfectly well whether you simply choose not to fully live the gospel.  Spiritual confidence increases when you take responsibility for your own spiritual well-being by applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ daily."

He did a great job.  Now he has a couple months off.  He'll speak in the Oregon Trail Ward in May.  He'll have plenty of time to prepare.

Book Review

I just finished listening to this book:



and I didn't think the writing or the reader of the audio book were very good, but I really liked it.  The author also wrote Pay It Forward, and this book is also hopeful and makes you feel good about how good people are.  I related to it in part because the main character is a teacher who can't help but help out a couple kids.  The characters travel through several national parks and it also made me want to visit Zion, Bryce, Arches, and Yellowstone early in the morning.  I want to camp in the parks so that we can be hiking and seeing sites at first light, before the crowds.  I want to read all the information in the visitor centers, go on tours with the park rangers, and learn a little about science.  I don't want to be on a schedule, just stay until we feel like leaving, and have plenty of time to just sit and be and soak it in.  

I wouldn't recommend this book to others, but I really liked it.  I'm trying to figure out why.

Go For a Walk

Terry and I are out of the habit of our early morning walk.  We ride the stationary bike, do yoga videos, and follow exercises with weights from a Fit for Fifty program, but we haven't been getting out at 5:15 for an early morning 2 miles.  I miss it.

This morning we drove down to Bown Crossing and parked.  We walked across the Park Center Bridge and went for a walk along the Greenbelt.  It was glorious.  The weather was perfect and everything was coming to life.  We're just on the edge of spring.  We saw red-winged black birds, hawks, a woodpecker, and a rabbit.  I wish we could have walked on and on, but we had to get something else done on Saturday.  After spring break I'm going to push for our early morning walks again - and every Saturday, I want to be on the Greenbelt.

My walking partner looks a lot better than me in the morning.

So cute!  The click of the camera made him scamper away.