Rasmania 101: Flaming Gorge...

When I get to the last third of Alma, I usually just read through the chapters quickly. I know they have value, but as “the war chapters” I have not always been that interested, (though of course, I love the story of Helaman and the stripling warriors). This time through I paid more attention to the symbolism and other things that are going on. I really saw Amalakiah as a type of Satan, and Moroni as a type of Christ. Amalakiah (and later his brother Ammoron) wanted glory and power. He wanted (as Satan always does) to take away the freedom of the Nephites. He was like Satan in that he “cared not for the lives of his people.” His quest for power was ruthless (this time I also saw many similarities to Hitler that I hadn’t noticed before). As a Nephite dissenter, he was hardened against truth and was more blood thirsty and hard hearted than his Lamanite counterparts. When he joined the Lamanites, it was part of his plan to gain more power over the Nephites. Gaining power over the Lamanites was just a means to that end. Even when he was king over all the Lamanites, it wasn’t enough. He desired to rule over and enslave the Nephites. It was interesting to me that all of the Nephite dissenters (Amalakites and Zoramites) joined together with the Lamanites (or like-minded people) in search of gaining more power as part of a larger group.

Moroni ‘s only desire was to retain the liberty and lives of his people. He never began a conflict, but only responded. He also did everything he could to preserve the lives of the Nephites, building fortifications, giving them armor, etc.

We are living in a divisive time. It is so easy for people to dissent to join with like-minded people who will give them positive feedback for their views. We need to build our spiritual fortifications as we study and pray. Notice also in these chapters that the divisions that caused most of their problems began within the Nephite community with arguments and dissensions. This is something we should be aware of.

I listened to a You Tube Come Follow me video this week. Alma 53:5 was quoted:

And this city became an exceeding stronghold ever after; and in this city they did guard the prisoners of the Lamanites; yea, even within a wall which they had caused them to build with their own hands. Now Moroni was compelled to cause the Lamanites to labor, because it was easy to guard them while at their labor; and he desired all his forces when he should make an attack upon the Lamanites.

In the video the presenter likened this to keeping ourselves busy, he said, "If we spend less time being idle, then it's easier to guard those forces that are part of our character, those enemies within... it's easier to guard the natural man or the natural woman when we're actively building fortifications of faith and serving people than it is when we are sitting idle.

He went on to quote vs. 9: And thus because of iniquity amongst themselves, yea, because of dissensions and intrigue among themselves they were placed in the most dangerous circumstances.

We need to guard against contention within ourselves, within our family and withing the church.

Going along with this, Phil quoted Neal Maxwell in his letter last week:

"Though I murmured as a young man at times with chores, I have acquired in the space of this passage of time a hardened view of the spiritual necessity of work. Even if work were not an economic necessity, it is a spiritual necessity. If I have any concern about your generation [addressing college students], speaking collectively, it is that a few of our wonderful youth and young adults in the Church are unstretched – they have almost a free pass. Perks are provided, including cars complete with fuel and insurance – all paid for by parents who sometimes listen in vain for a few courteous and appreciative words. What is thus taken for granted, however innocently, tends to underwrite selfishness and a sense of entitlement.... As I look at the rising generation, the gospel of work, which is part of the fullness of the gospel, will need more attention, not less.”

Of course, this applies to all of us, not just college students and the younger generation.

When I wait three weeks to get a letter out, it really tests my memory. We have been concentrating on playing as much as we can up to Flaming Gorge this summer with a few days at home between trips. Roy and I managed to even take a short trip up there with just the two of us. It was very enjoyable (but I also like to go with family). We’ve had some summer birthdays, which I won’t list because I don’t trust myself not to miss anyone, but I was able to take Effie for a birthday date. I bought her lunch at Chick Fil-et, took her to Jennie to have her nails done, and then shopped JoAnn’s and Target to let her choose her gift. I didn’t have to guide her very much, but I was glad she picked paints, art paper, and some treats rather than toys. I also bought her a little dress. We had a good time. Ori never forgets anything and she said, “I don’t think grandma has ever taken me to lunch for my birthday.” She’s right because it’s right after Christmas and I’m either overwhelmed or out of town. I told her I’d take her to lunch soon to make up for it.

Nick and Effie celebrate their birthday on the same day every year.
July 29

Jennie doing Effie's nails

Long horn sheep. We have been spotting these every
trip up to the gorge this summer. This time there were quite
a few of them--mostly female.

We put this puzzle together on the
camping trip with just Roy and me,
It's only 100 pieces. We tried it out to see if the
kids would enjoy it.

One of the Sunday's this past 3 weeks Elise and Andy had a baby blessing via Zoom. We were able to join as a family and listen to the blessing. They named him Harvey Andrew Jackson. Some of the effects of Covid.19 are positive, like being able to attend even though we are far away.

The Jackson family on Harvey's blessing day

Harvey has found his feet

Roy, Dan and Nick went on an overnight backpacking trip up in the Uinta Mountains. They hiked a total of about 7 miles. They invited all the sons and son in-laws, but these three were the only takers. Because of the Parley’s Canyon fire, they had to detour up by Brighton. Here they were able to see a bull moose and some deer. It was a detour of about an hour and a half--too bad that I forgot to tell him that I got a notification that morning that the road was closed. They had a great time. Nick and Roy were a little cold during the night, but Dan was warm—probably because he came prepared after being cold the week before camping with his four kids. Roy said it was beautiful—they saw lots of wild flowers in the day, and shooting stars in the night.

Dan and Nick (Sara spells it Nik)

We took Caitlyn and Dallin up to the Gorge with us this past week. For my siblings who read my letter, Dallin is the new, old boyfriend. We were happy Caitlyn could get time off because she just started a new job as a marketing director for a dental group. There was a lot of competition for the job. She was told there were 300 applicants. When it was narrowed down to 6, the owner of the business made it a contest and offered $500 and the job to the winner—the one who had the best marketing ideas. He told Caitlyn that he normally wouldn’t have even considered hiring a 20 year-old.

Nick also got a shout out at his work for all of his efforts. I am happy that my children know how to work hard and put a lot of honest effort into their jobs.

Flaming Gorge with Cait and Dallin:

Dallin and Caitlyn. This is the first time we've tried pulling two at the same time.

After being at the Gorge for a couple of days, we headed out for a walk to the cliff and passed some campers just two spots away from us. It so happened that two of Roy’s cousins were camping right by us and we didn’t even know. Kenny Rasband and Katie Rasband___ I don’t know her married name. Kenny was there with his wife and their twins (age 21) and Katie was there with two of her four children. Apparently we missed Uncle Lynn by just a few hours. He had been up for the day. We visited with them for a few minutes. Kenny is a microbiologist. He works at the U, but Roy thinks he works for a private company. He told us he has been working on Corona Virus for a long time. I can’t remember if he said that Covid.19 is the 3^rd or the 4^th strain of Corona they have seen. He said that we’ve actually been lucky, because, though this strain is way more contagious, it isn’t as deadly as the others. He said the first strain had a 10% mortality rate, and the 2^nd strain had a 35% mortality rate. No wonder the CDC was concerned when all of this began. We made Caitlyn go over and introduce herself to her 2^nd cousins. One of the twins is named Caitlin Rasband.