First off, I want to admit that I began writing this
blog/letter on Thursday, so that I'd have some thoughts fresh in my head, and
so it wouldn't be so hard to find enough time to get it written. I asked Roy to read some of the letter
to ask him if it made sense. He asked
me, "Is this the letter that never ends?" I hope you don't feel that way about my
weekly letter, but if so, you don't have to keep reading. I like the discipline of writing it every
week and it is a good way to keep track of our lives.
I missed the Relief Society lesson last Sunday (July 19),
due to Ruby's blessing, but while visiting teaching on Wednesday, the other two
ladies spoke about it a little bit and I got a bit of a recap. The point that kind of hit home was this statement: "This Life is Eternal" This seems to be almost an oxymoron. We know that we are born and that we die and
this life ends. In a sense, we are in a
box, with borders on all sides. But this
life is eternal. It's part of our
eternal existence. It does not stand
alone, it is not a time out, it is part of the whole picture. The choices we made before we came here have
affected this life in ways we don't remember, and the choices we are making
here, will completely determine what comes later. Looking at it this way, it makes each choice we
make even more important. I was reading
in Alma 36 on Thursday, and it illustrated this point very well. Alma is recounting the story of his
conversion to his sons. He tells of the
angel coming and telling him, "if thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek
no more to destroy the church of God--" Then Alma says, "I was struck
with much fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to
the earth and I did hear no more."
And the next verse, " But I was racked with eternal torment,
for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my
sins...the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul
with inexpressible horror."
We know that finally, as his thoughts turned to the idea of
Christ and his atonement, that he had learned from his father, he says, "I
could remember my pains no more."
And I love this, "And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did
behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! Yea, I
say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as
were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto
you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and
sweet as was my joy."
I have thought about this exceeding joy lately. I know I have told you of the spirit that
completely infused your dad and I, as we knelt to pray after losing Tom. We were in a sense in the "Gall of
Bitterness," we were, as Alma,
experiencing "exquisite and bitter torment", and yet the Lord gave us
this comfort that was so wonderful it cannot be expressed. I am not sure that I could call it
"exceeding joy" at that time, but I think the experience gave me a
sense of what it might be like to feel such.
It was also a reminder that this time period that has been set aside for
us to be tried and tested, is but a short part of the eternities. As I said before, "This life is
eternal."
Concluding this thought, an earlier scripture in the chapter
is important. "I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall
be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and
shall be lifted up at the last day."
It is up to us whether to follow the adage, "Eat drink
and be merry for tomorrow we die," or "This life is the time for men
to prepare to meet God."
We had a wonderful week this week. Thursday night we began our 24th of July
Celebrations. Dad rides his bike in the
parade every year to help out, along with other members of the HAM Radio Club. Their job is to keep the parade moving, to
keep the floats and all the participants in sync with each other. I wasn't planning on going, as it's no fun to
go alone, and Caitlyn was planning on going with Annika, but Jieun was over and
asked if I wanted to go, so I went with her family. Hyeji wanted to go right into the street with
the other kids, so I went with her and helped her to get candy and other
paraphernalia that was being thrown out.
I didn't feel too guilty about helping out until she got tired and
headed back to the family just as someone with Frisbees was coming. I hung out for a minute and caught a
Frisbee. My grandchildren were happy,
but I felt a little bad taking it from all the little kiddies that were vying
for it. (I certainly hope it wasn't
caught on anyone's camera!)
I was talking to Elise about the holiday, and commented that
of course Texas doesn't celebrate the 24th.
She said no, but in June their mayor (who is, incidentally, lesbian),
declared a "Mormon Helping Hands Day" because they have had so many
disasters lately where the Mormon's have been quick to help.
Now, a quick note on the reason for this Holiday. It's a day to remember the settlers of this
valley and the sacrifices they made so that we can be here and live such a
wonderful life of ease and convenience.
We should be so grateful for ancestors that were obedient to the Lord
and the Prophet and truly suffered a lot for their posterity. I am amazed by Phineas Wolcott Cook's faith
and commitment to both his God and the prophet Brigham Young. When he first tried to meet up with the
Saints in Nauvoo, he heard that they were being driven out and that it would be
no use to go there. He was in a little
settlement with other travelers. Some of
those were exiting Nauvoo and heading away from the Mormons. One of these defectors was William Smith, the
brother of the Prophet. They told
Phineas and those he was with that he should not join the Mormon's. He told him that they were taking more than
one wife and , in Phineas own word: "they said everything in their power to
turn us back but we had enough of the spirit of the gospel to overcome their
arguments and they would turn and leave us after pronouncing all manner of bad
luck to us." Phineas, being somewhat disturbed by the continual arguments
of these apostates, went away and prayed that the Lord would "grant me His
spirit that I might know what more to say to them and to give me power to
resist them, after which I felt much strengthened. That night I dreamed that I had
two young wives. One had red hair, slim
in stature, the other black hair, not quite as tall as the other. I looked at them and could hardly believe
that it was so, but after I had convinced myself that the ancient order was
again restored and it was right, I awoke being convinced, in that it was a true dream and that I should
live to see the fulfillment. This dream
gave us great comfort and satisfaction and it strengthened our faith so that we
felt as though we could ask no odds of all the powers of darkness or its
emissaries." [punctuation added] I
seriously cannot imagine how much faith it would have taken to face such
apostates. Especially as much of what
they said was true, though probably distorted, and in worldly eyes, what they
were saying the saints were involved in, would have indeed seemed terrible.
We had a great time celebrating the holiday. We began with the parade on the 23rd, then on
the 24th we had dinner at Adrienne and Aj's.
She had made delicious chicken jalapeno burgers, even grinding the
chicken herself. She also served fruit,
a veggie tray (that Jieun brought), chips and guacamole, and homemade cookie
ice cream sandwiches. The kids
absolutely loved the home fireworks show that was put on with fireworks that AJ
and Dan had purchased (and a couple that Mark Green brought over before we were done.
On Saturday night we met at our home for more of the same.
Crista was now present (she'd been with Matt's family up until this point), and
so we needed another get together. I'm
not sure if the highlight for the kids were the water balloons Jennie had
bought, or the Fireworks. Probably the
water balloons. The kids were all soaked
and were okay with it (unlike Sunday night when there were a few tears when
they tried to repeat the activity). Ori
especially liked getting her balloon and squeezing it until it popped all over
her. She was soaked.
Sunday night was another family evening. Dad smoked a pork roast and chicken. We had fresh corn and beans, and homemade rolls.
I had so much fun this past week that to be honest, I'm kind of exhausted. We have to enjoy summer while we have it, though.
It's Monday morning and we've just received word that Nick accepted a job with a company called "Experticity" He'll be working across the street from The Melting Pot restaurant. Congratulations Nick, and Happy Birthday on Wednesday. We are so glad we had you 34 years ago. You've been a wonderful son.
Have another great week!!!
And thus concludes this week's portion of ...the never ending letter.
