Stronger Through Him

  Tonight my daughter, Kyrie, and a group of her friends went for wings night at Buffalo Wild Wings.   There were ten of them and they ordered 45 wings at the B1G1 special rate as well as a few other things. They waited for almost thirty minutes before their waitress came back and said she hadn't been able to read all her handwriting and asked to clarify.  Another 30 minutes went by and finally a different server brought their food out but with more than 200 wings!! They were told it would be worked out and started eating.  They finished eating but were presented a bill for almost $300 - nearly double what they had ordered. Some of her friends said they shouldn't tip the waitress but Kyrie said it was obvious she was young and new and didn't feel it had been intentional.  So she told the others to leave the cash or venmo her the amount they had actually ordered and she would take care of it. Then she asked to talk to the manager.  The manager explained it had n

  One of the skills we work on helping our students (and teachers!) develop is the ability to be still and really listen.   To choose what they are focusing on. To actively calm.  This is a skill that comes more naturally to some than others, but all can build it over time. One key way I illustrate and teach this principal is to actively calm and listen for the quiet hum of the fluorescent lights.   At first the kids won't notice it,  but as we collectively quiet, it becomes more noticeable.   And then an amazing thing happens.  The more closely you listen, the further you are able to hear as your brain zooms in on that task and moves energy from others.  For example, you might now also hear  the water in the pipes, students in the hall, and even individual voices from neighboring rooms.   Keep listening and you may hear the other sounds of a school building- the tick of the clock you didn't know made noise at all.  The clang of the chains on the swings on the pl

  Yesterday I was returning home from an errand and caught sight of a majestic pair of swans floating together on the pond across from the house.  In our nine years here I have never seen them there before.  I pulled into the driveway and told Ella to grab some shoes and come with me to see and I grabbed my camera. It took a bit of waiting in the brutal wind, reminding us that winter hasn't officially departed yet, as the swans alternately plunged their heads down into the water I assume to fish for nourishment.  But I was able to capture a few images before conceding to the cold and returning home. Ella casually asked if I could send the pictures to her and I did, not thinking much about it. Then today I had a couple different people tell me what a fine job she did teaching her young women lesson at church.   It turns out the swans timed their arrival rather perfectly.  (Isn't that the way the Lord often works??!!)  She was buddied up with another girl to teach a

 Thursday I woke up to a strange sensation.   I wasn't groggy and felt clear-headed.   When I stood up I felt almost elated and it took me a moment to realize why.   Nothing on my body hurt.  I was pain free for the first time I remembered in months.   Two days earlier we had been watching my leg swell and swell and swell, wondering when we needed to head to the ER. Now I headed down the stairs and found myself skipping. I ate breakfast and nothing came back up. At work, projects that I had been plodding along trying to complete for weeks I was able to wrap up in an hour and quickly whittled down my to-do list. I found myself running and chasing with kids at recess and felt like I had sunshine coming from my soul. I was laughing and just happy to be alive. Over and over again I took in with some surprise the way in which I could stand up and sit down unassisted, open a bottle lid by myself, or take in a full breath of air with ease.  Human bodies are quite amazing when they work ri

  I am thankful for prayer.   For the ability for my words to reach heaven's door. For an open line of communication 24 hrs a day. For a safe place to share my frustrations, my longings, my hurts and my joys. Elder Neal A Maxwell poses this wonderful question, "Isn’t it marvelous, brothers and sisters, that God, who knows everything, still spends time listening to our prayers?" Have you ever thought about that?  He listens.  Because you matter. And I matter. And we are so very loved. We just forget sometimes.  

  Irina is a 62 year old Ukrainian woman who came out of retirement to use her seamstress skills to create improvised flak jackets, or body armor, for Ukranian soldiers headed to the front lines.   Her living room has been turned into a workshop.  Her son sews 200 blue and yellow arm bands each day which will identify the security teams. The armor is made from whatever materials are available- primarily scrap metal from salvaged cars.  The metal has been carefully field tested.  The 6 mm is enough to stop some bullets but not sniper rifles or machine guns.  The extra time go verify and use 8 mm protection is literally the difference between life and death.  We have also been called to arm ourselves and our families with armor- the armor of God.  D&C 27:15-18 "15Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand. 16Stand, the

  Tonight I was watching Brave with Ella and George and a line from the movie stuck out to me.   "Legends are lessons.  They ring with truths." The scriptures can be like that.  We can spend a whole lot of time and effort trying to verify and tear apart each detail, or we can take the stories and verses and ask what lessons could be learned.   Elder Richard G Scott eloquently promised, "Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high." We can ask in prayer for guidance and we can let the Holy Spirit show us the relevance and the meaning in our lives right now.   We  can ask what truths the story aligns with and if our own actions are doing the same.   And we can correct and with confidence make our own legend and story ring with truth. 

 Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery but eventually Joseph had a chance to reconcile with them, after his family came to Egypt seeking relief from the famine.   When his father Jacob died, his brothers were fearful that Joseph would now enact revenge.  So they told him their father's last wish and been for Joseph to forgive them.  Joseph's response is recorded in Genesis 50:19- "And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for ​am​ I in the place of God?" Joseph knew that judgment was God's and didn't need to have that burden for himself.   That was wisdom.   Sometimes we mistakenly try to take over His job, when the reality is forgiving and leaving judgement up to God is one of the greatest blessings he has offered us.

  Alex is visiting on her Spring Break. She was sharing that on her train ride she decided to splurge since it was vacation and bought an Auntie Anne's pretzel at the train station and some cup of noodles on the train.  That is her kind of splurging as she pays for her living expenses at school and plans for her mission.   This kid will do better financially than her parents!  (Although spending OUR money is a whole different story!😂).  As prices creep/roar upward and global uncertainty lies ahead it's an interesting time to reevaluate our preparedness.   But its is not a time for panic and over reaction.  Rather, as we are repeatedly taught, it is in the consistent day to day small patterns of obedience that we learn to trust and rely on the Lord.   I take great comfort in this statement by Elder Jeffrey R Holland. "Prepare. Plan. Work. Sacrifice. Spend time and money cheerfully on matters of worth. Be calm and feel the assurance of having done the best you coul

  My friend Emily reminded me in Relief Society about a current trend on Instagram. There a variety of catchy song segments which serve as inspiration for Tiktok and Instagram reels.  One of those right now is "Can we skip to the good part?" It shows various people jumping from the start to the end of projects, meal creations, weight loss journeys, trips, even childbirth- while skipping the middle- the work part. It is so tempting to want to skip to the good part!! This is such a real feeling.   But Emily reminded me today that if we were able to skip to the good part, in all likelihood it wouldn't even feel like the good part when we hadn't put the effort in.  It's the effort that changes and strengthens us.  It's the effort that gives the end result it's value.   And as President Russell M Nelson said, "The Lord loves effort." 

  Last night I was waiting in the airport in Dallas as our flight was delayed first once, than twice and then a third time. It was frustrating for all but interesting to watch the various responses.  Lots of sighing.  A few people immediately calculating the potential rewards in flight vouchers if the flight were to be cancelled.  Some looking up alternative routes.  And lots of general murmuring.   But one man took it to a whole new level.  You know those phones at the desks that attendants use to tell you when to board? Well this guy went over and picked it up and loudly demanded, "Ticketing agent to gate E27, ticketing agent to gate E27." When someone came he was asked to stay off the phone and they explained that our plane wasn't here yet and that was the delay.  We couldn't fly on a plane that wasn't there. He proceeded to tell her with a string of profanity what he thought.  Then after she left he repeated the shenanigan with new messages two more ti

 I was sitting in a session at a leadership conference this week and we were working as a team to analyze the work we were doing to reach and teach our children at our school. As we listed some of the support and work we had accomplished this year we commented on different ways that we truly hoped that work would be reflected in our students outcomes. Then the presenter shared a phrase that stopped me in my tracks.  "Hope is not a strategy." We all looked at each other and recognized the truth in that.  Hope is important.  Hope can motivate us, help us look forward with optimism and we do believe in our kids.   But hope alone is not a strategy for success.  We have to all do our parts - leadership, teachers, parents and students - and we have to put in the work and build and follow a plan.  For kids to learn to read we need to determine what skills they are missing, build a positive environment and connection, help them learn in authentic and meaningful ways and follow up to

  Watching the aftermath of the Russian strikes on the Ukranian children's hospital made me heart sick and infuriated. The sheer level of evil required to command or follow through with this atrocity must surely make heaven weep. Sometimes human beings are terrible. And sometimes human beings are amazing. And every single day we get to decide which we will be.   2 Ne 2:27 "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."

  The best part of teaching seminary is getting to know and learning from my students. We were learning about Joseph and his brothers yesterday.  He was favored by his dad and got that special coat.  Envy turned into hatred and led to a desire to even murder if necessary. They cast him into a pit and Reuben planned to go free him, but then Judah suggests they make some money and he is sold to a passing band.  They then kill a young goat and dip Joseph's coat in the blood and take it to Isaac who is overcome with grief.  Deceit. Lies. Hatred. Malice.  All because of envy. "For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one." -Job 5:2 "A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones." -Proverbs 14:30 Envy hurts us from the inside out.  It was because of envy that the Savior himself was turned over to Pilate. "For  he knew that for envy they had delivered him." - Matthew 27:18 We have been cle