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Here is our backyard orchard after having completed their spring trimming. And see our apricot tree with popcorn popping. I think the three trees in front (Nectarine, Early Elberta peach, Late Elberta Peach) look like new marine recruits after their first military haircut.
Thanks to Alison (and Rachel) for coming down and overseeing the pruning. I don't know how well this would work without the collegial, thoughtful, cooperative arrangement we had. We discussed each cut thoroughly and generally only made a cut by common consent (How many peaches can this spur carry? Which bud should we save that will best promote growth in the direction we want?) And it was fortunate that the ward Relief Society had scheduled a temple trip, which took Wendy away, so that she didn't have to suffer along with the trees that were getting so royally carved and whacked.
We have started eating last year's bottled peaches from these trees. I have never eaten home-canned peaches that I enjoyed so much--all sweet, flavorful, firm fruit. I can hardly wait for this year's crop.
Last Thursday, Wendy and I attended the caucus meeting for our voting precinct. It was held at Spanish Fork HS along with many other precinct caucuses. I went with two objectives–to try to elect delegates to the state convention that would retain Orrin Hatch as a candidate and to try to urge civility on convention delegates. I didn’t want to see a repeat of two years ago, when a small but organized minority of right wingers got themselves elected delegates and were able to oust incumbent senator Bob Bennett at the State convention. They also treated Bennett quite rudely in the process.
There was a huge crown of people there. Eventually, we were able to find our meeting which was held in the band/chorus room. We estimate there might have been as many as 150 or 200 people present. There were not enough chairs for everyone to have a place to sit. People said that in other years perhaps a dozen people were all that attended this meeting. The extra publicity and especially the urging by our Church Leaders led to a lot more support that has been typical.
The meeting was run effectively by a young women. She allowed input but kept things moving. After reading the state Republican platform, which took 10 minutes or so and making some other announcement, we got down to electing precinct officers. The first nominated candidate for Precinct Chair announced that he was in favor of getting rid of Hatch. When the vote came, he was defeated by a man who favored retaining Hatch, by about a 60-40 % margin. And so went the whole evening. All of the elected officers including three state convention delegates were pro Hatch by about the same margin or greater.
I spoke once urging civility in the processes, especially at the conventions, saying that the treatment of Bob Bennett two years ago was an embarrassment to the party and the State.
At the conclusion, we felt that common sense had prevailed in our precinct caucus. The majority of Republicans who tend to be conservative, but somewhat moderate, had successfully reigned in an effort by more extreme partisans having outside of Utah assistance and moneys to dominate Utah politics.
However, I came away with reservations about the value and effectiveness of the caucus system. It gave us such a superficial look at candidates and platforms. We had a couple of minutes at best to evaluate candidates and their positions. In this case everything turned on whether they were pro-Hatch or anti-Hatch. All we did was prevent a bit stupidity in one race, which was significant, but left off from being able to give our input on all sorts of other important issues.
What's a good alternative? I don't know.
(Pictured: caucus meeting in Pleasant Grove)
Aunt Dorothy, in writing about her maternal ancestors, stated that Samuel Henry Lufkin left his home in Massachusetts and went to Nova Scotia. While there “he met and married an Irish girl, Eleanor Johnson. She as born in Nova Scotia but both of her parents [James Johnson and Eleanor O’Brien] were born in Ireland.”
Contrary to the impression given by the above, Eleanor Johnson’s roots were NOT from the romanticized Irish of St. Patrick’s Day, with the color green, shamrocks, leprechauns, etc. Her parents were born in Northern Ireland and were of a people sometimes called “Ulster Scots” or Scotch-Irish.” The Scotch-Irish were Scotch transplants who came to Ireland sometime before 1700. They were “lowland Scots” which means that they were also NOT the romanticized highland Scotch, with their kilts, bagpipes, representative plaids, etc.
So, what were the Scotch-Irish? (This is an important question, because a number of our Lewis ancestors also had Scotch-Irish roots.)
1) Lowland Scotland was to the south and east of the Scottish highlands, situated between the former and England
2) The people came from a poor, peasant class, living in small villages, under a system of feudalism. The land was unproductive and made worse by centuries of poor conservation methods, and denuded of trees. Families might own a few animals. Heat sources were peat or coal.
3) Most were members of the Kirk of Scotland (the national church, Presbyterianism). Repudiation of Catholicism and establishment of the Kirk by a Scottish parliament in 1560, introduced cultural changes, including increased commitment to religion, and education (but not too much) and began to raise the people out of what some have defined as barbarianism. The tenants of the Kirk were Calvinist, strict, dour, and intolerant of sin (and other things).
4) Society in Scotland tended to be chaotic and lawless. Many people lived by thieving. People banded together for self-protection.
5) Additionally, lowland Scotland had a long history of wars and fighting off invaders, going back to the time of the Romans. After that, they continually fought with the English and also with the highland Scots.
The culture seemed to produce people who were survivors, tough fighters, risk-takers, individualistic, quick to take offense and defend themselves, suspicious of higher authority and elites, responsive to charismatic local leaders. They did not distinguish themselves in the arts or scholarly pursuits.
Two additional points in the history of the Scotch-Irish:
1) England had an “Irish problem” and tried to use the lowland Scots as a solution. They had tried for centuries to subdue the Irish, with limited success. It became more difficult with the Protestant reformation, as the Irish remained Catholic and threatened to become an outpost for Spanish and French territorial expansion. When war with the English depopulated the northern part of Ireland, England created the Ulster Plantation in about 1610 with plans to re-populate this area with Protestants. Because of the nearness of lowland Scotland to Ulster and because of the opportunities it presented to escape poverty, lowland Scots came to dominate the numbers who relocated to the Ulster Plantation. Numbers swelled by refugees during the wars between England and Scotland (1670s). The Scotch-Irish settlers also battled the Irish in the 1640s. And even though the English promoted Scotch-Irish populating of Ulster, their support was very inconsistent and sometimes hostile. Economic restrictions from both the British and Irish parliaments and market fluctuations for products of Ulster manufacturing, plus continuing religious interference from the English, made living in Ulster less attractive.
2) Starting in 1717 and continuing until the start of the Revolutionary War (about 1774), there was mass migration of the Ulster population to America, perhaps as many as a quarter of a million people. Paradoxically, the English elites in the colonies from Virginia southward had an “Indian problem” and tried to use the Scotch-Irish as a solution. The Scotch-Irish were not welcome in New England and the middle colonies because of their cultural dispositions, but the English elites living in the tidewater areas of the southern colonies perceived that placing Scotch-Irish settlers in the edge of the Appalachians would provide a buffer against Indian attacks on their homes. The Scotch-Irish typically de-ported in Philadelphia and made their way southwest on the Great Wagon Trail along the Piedmont through Virginia, and the Carolinas and then filtered west into the mountains. There they established subsistence farms not unlike lowland Scotland. They honed their fighting skills in encounters with Native Americans and became experts with the long rifle.
At first, they were not especially sympathetic to the Revolutionary War, hating and distrusting both the British and the American tidewater elites, but were eventually drawn into the battle by Cornwallis’ and Tarleton’s threats. The “Overmountain Boys” brought their long rifles and Indian fighting tactics to Kings Mountain and Cowpens and destroyed the British army as a fighting force, paving the way for their surrender at Yorktown and American independence.
Post Script 1: The descendants of the Scotch-Irish settlers constituted the backbone of the Confederate army during the Civil War. Although greatly outnumbered and with inferior resources, their toughness and fighting spirit (sadly) prolonged the war and left the ultimate victor in doubt for a long time. Ironically, these were poor, mountain boys most of whom were not slave owners and may not have even seen a black person in their lifetime. Why did they fight? For their community, as they saw it, their homes, family, etc., like their ancestors fought the Indians, the Irish, the English, the Highlanders, the Romans.
Post Script 2: There remains in the southern states a military culture. Military colleges are common. Various wars in the 20th century have seen higher numbers of volunteers and casualties from the south than from other regions.
Post Script 3: Religion-wise, the Scotch-Irish allegiance to the Presbyterian Church did not stand, partly because its tradition was to have university trained pastors and such schools did not exist in America. By the 1800s, many of the descendants of the Scotch-Irish settlers had gravitated to the Baptist church.
References: James G. Leyburn, THE SCOTCH-IRISH: A SOCIAL HISTORY, University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, 1962; Billy Kennedy, THE SCOTS-IRISH IN THE CAROLINAS, Ambassador House: Belfast, Ireland, 1997; James Webb, BORN FIGHTING: HOW THE SCOTS-IRISH SHAPED AMERICA, Broadway: NY, 2005.
I taught Venturing Leader Specific Training last night in the Spanish Fork East Stake Little Philmont program to 12 men who have callings with Priests quorums (Advisers, Bishops). This is our old stake and Emilie's and Scott’s current stake. I had a special incentive to do this well, having five grandsons growing up in this stake who deserve the very best in Young Mens programs and training.
I presented some things differently from the first time I presented this course. I spent a part of the time early in the presentation on trying to help these men deepen their “Vision” of why we use the Venturing program with our Priests Quorums. I gave examples of organizations who have well-crafted mission statements that drive, energize, and focus the efforts of persons in the organization, that state in simple and powerful terms the difference the organization is trying to make in the world:
--To give people the freedom to fly (Southwest Airlines)
--A relentless ally for the individual investor (Charles Schwab)
--To defend America by dominating air, space, and cyberspace (U S Air Force)
--To save people money so they can live better (Wal-Mart)
--To be the flag bearer of Brigham Young University through football excellence, and to embrace truth, virtue, and honor as a beacon to the world. (BYU football team)
I then divided the participants into three groups and had them take a stab at writing a mission statement for the Venturing/Priests Quorum program. The resulting statements were a little wordy but all seemed to emphasize the preparation of leaders. While the groups were working on this project, this is a statement I composed, which I rather like:
–To prepare the next generation of incredible leaders in the Church
(Thanks to Greg for sharing some of the ideas above and also a book by Roy Spence, Jr., IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SELL, IT’S WHAT YOU STAND FOR)
We had a wonderful family gathering on President’s Day, February 20th. A little of what made it wonderful was that it happened without my prompting or pushing. I have a pleasant feeling when members of our family seem committed and motivated to continue traditions that we have tried to establish. This event was our traditional February celebration of Michael’s birthday, with temple session and then gathering for pizza and cherry pie, his favorites.
We met this time at the Salt Lake temple at 9 am, and did sealings of family names. Besides Wendy and me, in attendance were Alison and Quin, Bruce and Angela, Matthew and Kim, Emilie (Scott was with the kids), Nathan and Gloria, and Andrew and Britain. Kim had made the arrangements and had also sorted the cards into families. I was surprised when the sealer performed the sealing of all the children to their parents in each family at the same time. The first family we did was for Robert Poor and Martha Barnes and involved eight children. Wendy and I were proxy for the parents, and we had enough family members present to enable the sealing of all of their eight children, three boys and five girls, as a single ordinance. As the ten of us knelt together at the alter, I felt such a spiritual rush, that I was impressed to conclude that this family welcomed our work to seal them togther as an eternal family, and I was also proud and happy regarding of our own family group.
I had never been a part of a sealing session before in which sealings of children to parents were p
erformed in family groups rather than individually, and it was quite satisfying. We did sealings for a number of family groups in this manner. The sealer, Brother Richards, said that performing sealings in the way was an option given to temple presidents.
After the temple, we drove to South Weber to Angela’s for the pizza and pie. It was nice to see the grandchildren. Before we ate, Alison gave a nice tribute to Michael. A special treat was seeing Katrina and her fiancé, Troy. He seems like a fine young man. I am impressed that he seems motivated to be at our family gatherings. Other news: Alyssa reported that she has been accepted for college at BYU.
(Birthday pictures at ages 1,3,4,7,7,8,9,11)
When I was a young LDS missionary beginning my service in Minnesota, I was puzzled by a response that the more experienced elders gave to a question sometimes asked by contacts: “Do you believe in being saved?” They had a ready answer: “ Yes, we are all saved from physical death through the resurrection of Christ. All mankind will be resurrected.”
Usually the questioner had a background from Calvinist or Augustinian doctrine (Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian), with teachings that all mankind are totally depraved, that God elects whom he will or will not save, that salvation comes as a gift from God and cannot be earned, and that once a person is committed to Christ (“saved” in their parlance), he or she cannot fall. Their question was not about the resurrection, but about being saved from sin and qualifying to live with God in heaven. The missionary answer begged the question.
The missionary then might continue, if pushed, to explain that we believe that we qualify for eternal salvation in heaven, by “obedience to the laws and ordinance of the gospel.” In my mind I had the thought, “Doesn’t the atonement and grace of Christ also play a part in our salvation?”
Retrospectively, I have come to the conclusion that our missionaries of earlier times might have arrived at a way of describing our doctrines that emphasized differences between our beliefs and those of other churches, a sort of layman’s “street doctrine” that developed more as a reaction to other churches than what our standard works actually taught.
Givens, in his wonderful BY THE HAND OF MORMON: THE AMERICAN SCRIPTURE THAT LAUNCHED A NEW WORLD RELIGION, (Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 62-88) cites evidence that for many years the Book of Mormon was largely viewed by the Church as a sign or evidence of the Restoration and not utilized as a primary source of doctrine. Missionaries, early conference speakers (see Journal of Discourses), and even Joseph Smith, taught primarily from the Bible.
In my opinion, recent developments (President Benson’s challenge to us to immerse ourselves in the Book of Mormon, the use of the Book of Mormon as standard curriculum in seminary classes and Sunday School, publication of the missionary manual PREACH MY GOSPEL) that thrust the study of doctrines of the Book of Mormon upon Church members in a major way, has caused us to greatly deepen our understanding of doctrines of salvation, including:
– The central importance of Christ in our religion.
– The role of his atonement and of the grace of God in overcoming the effects of sin in our lives and in qualifying us for eternal life, including how Christ’s suffering meets the demands of justice and pays the price of our sins.
– The presence of the Spirit in our lives as a witness to us that we have been forgiven for our sins and are on the path to eternal life.
It was a pleasure to have David with us this week. It was a working trip, in which he spent time ever day with a testing person in the Provo Novell office, setting up a testing process on the software product that his is currently working on. He arrived late Sunday evening, and stayed nights with us until leaving for MA mid-Friday. He took the occasion to have a visit with each of his Utah County siblings and also with Rebecca’s family. (One of her brothers was entering the MTC on Wednesday,)
We appreciated having the chance to learn more about what is going on in their family and how the boys are developing. David and Rebecca are serving responsibly in their ward as counselors in the Elders Quorum and Primary. They are about fully occupied, like many in our family, in trying to meet and balance needs and expectations of parenting, work (in David’s case), and church. We are grateful to see evidence of what a fine, thoughtful, responsible, caring, and capable young man David has become.
We had another cabin week the week before last week. We had hoped to have family with us but delayed asking because of a predicted snowstorm that didn’t materialize. We spent an enjoyable afternoon on the Tuesday (1/31) with the Smedley’s, a Heber City couple that work in the temple with us. He is a (nearly) retired lawyer and patriarch of his stake. She preceded Wendy as the women’s coordinator for our Thursday pm shift. They raised a large and successful family. One of their family hobbies was backpacking in So Utah canyons, so we had a lot to reminisce about.
I was recently called as 11 year old scout leader. There is some kind of second calling possibly in the works also with the stake Young Men. I am waiting for more specifics about the latter.
I have been gradually picking up more duties in our scouting district in the Venturing area. I have been assisting with Venturing Round table. The RT Commissioner is Tracy Frandson, who is a local MD. He is a very effective Venturer Advisor and does a great job with the Round Table. He also is very busy. I help him organize each RT by arranging with Stake YM presidency member to help with parts of the RT and also have been leading a brief game or activity each month. I also taught Venturing Leader Specific training for our District a couple of Saturdays ago, and have a couple more appointments to repeat this training in two of our local stakes in the next few weeks.
The weather is still mild and dry. We had hoped to get an ice fishing day in, but the close-by reservoirs do not yet have good ice on them. We saw a handful of ice fishermen out on the very edge of Deer Creek near the inlet, but there was open water out beyond them. I would not feel very good about getting on that ice. Heber Valley had about 4-6 inches of snow on the ground. Here in Spanish Fork, the little snow that we had is all melted. Yesterday, the sun was out and the thermometer read 60 degrees mid-afternoon. Wendy and I have gotten into a better walking routine, and have gotten a 30 minute walk in almost every day for the last couple of weeks.
[Pictured: snow scenes from the cabin, including a couple of sunsets and the first morning sun shining on a snowman that someone built on the front deck.]
Wendy introduced me to the book THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGE, by Gary Chapman, and this author has some useful things to say about how to communicate love to a spouse. First, he suggests there might be five different ways (“languages”) in which love can be expressed. These are:
1) Words of affirmation (Complements, words of appreciation, encouragement, asking forgiveness, humble requests)
2) Quality time (Doing things together, empathetic listening, conversing on areas of interest)
3) Receiving gifts (Visual symbols of love)
4) Acts of services (Doing things that please your spouse)
5) Physical touch (Physical contact, holding hands, kissing, hugging, sexual intimacy)
(Note that each language also may “dialects”.)
Somehow, in our own developmental processes, from models we have or other experiences, we each develop individual patterns (languages) for expressing and identifying love. Typically persons learn to rely on one or two of the languages as primary. This may lead us to assume that when we are doing what we understand to be loving things (our language of love), that our partner is getting the message of our love for them. Likewise, it is possible that we may only credit our partner with expressing his/her love for us if they are doing these specific things that fit our way for identifying expressions of love (again, our language of love).
What if our partner has a different language of love and cannot recognize our efforts to express love? Or, what if we are unable to recognize his/her efforts to express love for us? Chapman suggests in these cases that each of us has a “love bucket” that remains unfilled. We are not experiencing the full rewards and fulfillment that marriage could have.
The solution: Each partner identify and share their particular language(s) of love (and dialects). Then each use those insights to improve their expressions of love by learning to speak (using) the other’s language.
How might one discover their own primary love language?
1) What does your spouse do or fail to do that hurts most deeply? The opposite probably is your love language.
2) What have you most often requested of your spouse? That thing is likely what would make you feel most loved.
3) In what way do you regularly express your love to your spouse? Your method may be an indication of that which would also make you feel loved.
In our Gospel vocabulary, there are many words that communicate the ultimate blessings for an individual son or daughter of God which are provided in the Father’s Great Plan of Happiness, the eternal rewards that are available through the atonement and gift of Christ for those who obey his will on earth. Interestingly, almost of these blessings also have conditional meanings, in which an aspect of the blessing is also available to persons in the here-and-now. And most of these conditional blessings are evidenced by the presence of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul called this the “holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance...” (Eph. 1:14; 2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5), in other words a sort of “down payment” from God on the ultimate blessing of eternal life.
President Brigham Young taught this principle very clearly in regard to the term “salvation/saved”:
“If a person with an honest heart, a broken, contrite, and pure spirit, in all fervency and honesty of soul, presents himself and says that he wishes to be baptized for the remission of sins, and the ordinance is administered by one having authority, is that man saved? Yes, to that period of time. Should the Lord see proper to take him then from the earth, the man has believed and been baptized, and is a fit subject for heaven–a candidate for the kingdom of God in the celestial world, because he has repented and done all was required of him at that time....
“It is present salvation and the present influence of the Holy Ghost that we need every day to keep us on saving ground....
“I want present salvation. I preach, comparatively, but little about the eternities and Gods, and their wonderful works in eternity, and do not tell who first made them, not how they were made; for I know nothing about that. Life is for us, and it is for us to receive it today, and not wait for the Millennium. Let us take a course to be saved today, and, when evening comes, review the acts of the day, repent of our sins, if we have any to repent of, and say our prayers, then we can lie down and sleep in peace until the morning, arise with gratitude to God, commence the labors of another day, and strive to live the whole day to God and nobody else.
[Our work] is the work of the present. The salvation we are seeking is for the present, and sought correctly, it can be obtained and continually enjoyed. If it continues today, it is upon the principles that it will continue tomorrow, the next day, the next week, or the next year, and we might say, the next eternity.
“If we are saved, we are happy, we are filled with light, glory, intelligence, and we pursue a course to enjoy the blessings that the Lord has in store for us. If we continue to pursue that course, it produces just the thing we want, that is, to be saved forever and forever, which will amount to eternal salvation. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:124-125; 6:278; 1:131, quoted in Robert Millet, “Joseph Smith and Calvinism”, BYU Studies, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2011, pp. 26-27)
Some scriptures which seem to refer to a person being “saved” or having “salvation” in the present include: 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 6:2; Titus 3:4-7.
Here are some other examples of similar terms that have two meanings, both 1) eternal and absolute and also 2) able to be experienced conditionally in mortality, with a sampling of some scriptural references that may indicate the latter:
1) Enter into the rest of the Lord (Alma 12:37; Alma 13:3, 6; Moroni 7:3). In the conditional sense, this may be synonymous with receiving the companionship and peace of the Spirit or being born again.
2) Redeemed/Redemption (called “preparatory” in Alma 13:3). This refers to being bought by Christ (he paid the price of one’s sins), or having been forgiven.
3) Justified (blameless, or having forgiveness or a remission of sins through Christ and his Gospel, Mosiah 4:3; Moroni 10:32-33)
4) Sanctified (being holy, without spot, through the grace of Christ, beginning with the reception of the Holy Ghost, Moroni 10:32-33; called saints, meaning sanctified ones, 1 Cor 1:2)
5) Perfected (Moroni (chapter 10:32-33) speaks of being perfected in Christ through his grace and atonement by being joined with him).
6) Life (Salvation, having the Gospel, John 8:12; Acts 11:18; 1 John 3:14, 5:16; Alma 5:34)
Implications: For Church members, recognizing the present receipt of these heavenly blessings may increase our sense of appreciation for the gifts of God and may give us increased comfort and hope and sustain us as we try to continue on the path to eternal life.
Here are some thoughts about things I have learned that seem to help to maintain a rich, rewarding relationship in marriage:
1) Be extremely appreciative
Be quick to identify and gives thanks to your partner for specific things that he/she does for you and your family. Try not to miss anything, big or little. Try to credit every attempt at service to you or action toward you involving a good intention, even if it may have missed the mark in some way.
2) Give service constantly
Look for little ways (and big–but lots of little are better than occasional big) to serve your partner, to provide comfort, to make life easier or better for them. Surprises are good.
3) Fix problems fast
If you even have a hint that you may have given offense to your partner in some way, initiate an apology. Your relationship is generally more important than who is right and wrong. On the other hand, be slow to take offense. If you feel you must raise an issue needing to be resolved, try to present it in private, in a non-threatening way (as a specific action, not a trait), and bracketed with praise and appreciation. At the same time, be willing to hear criticism of your own actions.
Regarding all three of the above, try not to worry about how your partner performs. Concentrate on your own actions.
Also be patient. Recognize that there are stages in the life of a family or situations that arise in which parents may not have much energy and time to work on their relationship.
Dear Christopher:
Thank you for the letter. I was really impressed with your hand-writing. It was so clean and clear.
You asked that I tell you of a memory from my grade school. There was a time when Mrs. Berglund, who was my teacher in about the 4th or 5th grade, decided that she would introduce her class to some classical music. She knew that we were all farm kids, and I guess she thought we were all pretty ignorant of the better things of life. She brought some records to play on a phonograph. That was the way that you listened to recorded music in those days.
She started the music. It was a symphony orchestra playing. She asked the class if anyone had ever heard this music before. I raised my hand. I guess I might have been a sort of a Smart-Alec at times. I said, “It is The Toreador Song, from the opera Carmen, by Bizet.” I remember her surprised look, and kids in the class were impressed also.
This music was on a record that my Mother often played in our home.
Love, Grandpa Lewis
Dear Christopher,
Thank you for your letter. You have very nice penmanship.
My most favorite memory from elementary school was during the second grade when I was 8 years old.
My teacher told me it was okay to be left-handed. She helped me with things like scissors and rulers. She showed me how to hold a pencil so that I didn’t have to turn the paper or my arm and hand. Also, the way she showed me how to hold the pencil made it so that the pencil lead or ink didn’t smear on the paper or my hand. I will never forget her kindness and helpfulness. She taught me things that have helped me throughout my whole life. She taught me to do my very best.
Have a great day at school!
Love, Grandma Wendy
In deference and recognition of our time in rural North Carolina, we ate collards and black-eyed peas on this New Year's Day. It is said that by doing this, good fortune will be ours in the coming year.
We scheduled the Lewis cousins gift exchange on Monday the 26th in the middle of the day, rather than on the traditional time we have held it on Christmas later afternoon or evening. From my perspective, this had several advantages:
1) Allowing our nuclear families to have more time to celebrate Christmas in their own smaller group
2) Making Christmas Day (and this year, the Sabbath Day) less hectic
3) Making travel mostly in daylight
4) Giving the cousins and extended family a more relaxed time together.
5) Extending the joy of Christmas another day.
In our way to Ogden, we dropped Michael off in Salt Lake. Then we had a Christmas visit with my sister Dorothy for a few minutes at her home.
We arrived at Alison’s right at noon. There was a nice menu prepared, with some of the best home-made soups I have ever tasted as center piece–broccolli and cheese, Italian sausage and potato (like at Olive Garden but with more sausage), and taco soup. Nathan loved the soups, we think. He had a bowl of each of the varieties in turn. Then he finished with his fourth bowl which had some of all three kinds with a big plop of guacamole and sour cream all stirred together.
I was pleased to make this a book Christmas with our gifts to the grandchildren and hope that they will find the Church books we gave to be useful. We tried as best we could to pitch the particular book gifts their individual age and interests. I was also please to make a gift to each couple of our three volumes of Lewis family history that we just published.
The highlight of the day was connecting to David’s family in Massachusetts with Skype. With Scott helping on the set up, we used our laptop and projected the image onto a large screen. The whole group here in Utah crowded into the Soderquist’s family room and gave very happy and enthusiastic responses to things the Lewis boys did as they opened their presents from their cousins.
On our way back home in the early evening we spent a few minutes each with Brian, with Hilary’s family and saw Wendy’s mother, Annette.
--We had only sacrament meeting as per the Church's policy. I sang in the choir.
--After Church we went to the Blakes and saw their Christmas.
--In the late afternoon, we went to Matthew and Kim's for dinner and had a program. The kids acted out the nativity according to an outline I had prepared. Alyssa directed the performance. Megan read passages from the Bible to introduce three scenes, the birth of Jesus, the coming of the shepherds, and the visit of the wise men. After the littler kids had acted out each of these events, Erin led us in singing carols that pertained to each one. Present with us and Matthew's family were Nathan and Gloria, the Blakes, and Wendy's son Michael. [Pictured are 1) the manger scene with Brianna as Mary and Adam as Joseph; 2) the appearance of the angel ((Erin) to the shepherds (LIndsey, Joshua, Adams, sheep (Garrett)); and 3) wise men (Ethan, Justin, Jeremy)].
In our fair city, a lot of people set out and light luminaries in the Spanish Fork Cemetery. Luminaries are candles in some kind of container, including small lunch-size paper sacks, that give out a glow in the dark. It provides a way to recognize and in a way include family members who have passed away, in our Christmas celebration. We have done this for the several years we have been in Spanish Fork. It feels good to put luminaries by JoAnn’s and Michael’s graves, both of whom loved Christmas very much.
Early on Christmas Eve, we went to the cemetery along with Matthew’s and Emilie’s families. We also had Wendy’s son, Michael,with us. The weather was chilly, but the was no snow.
After visiting the cemetery, Matthew and Kim and family joined us to make Davenport fudge (pinoche and cream).
While on and recovering from our mission, we gave money for Christmas. This year we have repented and have gone back to my favorite gift--books.
I take pride in having children and grandchildren who are "readers." And I encourage each of these persons to develop a personal library of books, especially of church books, and to become acquainted with their contents.
My mother, Hazel, helped establish reading as a proud family tradition. She was constantly reading. She was not generally funny, but I do recall a comment she once made that still amuses me. At one time, as she was reflecting on her values and abilities, she said, "One of my talents is that I can sit down beside a whole pile of work and enjoy a good book."
I hope all of us can follow her example.
–We have had a yucky inversion here for the last few days, cold that settles to the valley floor and is trapped along with smoke, smog, etc., for us to breathe. The temperature has been mostly in the high 20s, night and day. The sky is gray and we cannot see the mountains or the sun. A light frost has been falling and has accumulated enough to make things white. Part of the time the humidity in the air has made frost (rime) stick on tree branches and other plants and is kind of pretty. This picture from our front steps shows how it looks outside this morning.
Sometimes the Spanish Fork canyon wind saves us and blows the bad air back toward the north end of Utah County, but not this time.
–We took Ryan to the Salt Lake airport on Sunday morning to catch a plane to go home for the holidays. His plane was supposed to leave at about 9:25 am so we had plans to pick him up at about 7 am at his apartment at BYU. The phone rang at 4:30 am and Valerie was calling to say that his flight had been cancelled, and he was now scheduled on a flight that was to leave just after 8 am. So we go up, got ready, and picked him up just after 5:30 am. The going was a little slow because Utah County was foggy this morning. Thankfully traffic was light and we found a couple of taillights to trail up through the I-15 reconstruction. Salt Lake County had no fog, just smoke, so we dropped him off at the American Airlines gate at close to 6:30 am. Then we came home and had naps.
–Yesterday we got up early to go to Matthew and Kims to see the kids off to school, while they took Jeremy at an early hour to have a procedure to open up and clean out his infected sinuses. We arrived at 6:30 am and had morning prayer with the three big girls before they left, then later helped get Brianna and Josh up and ready and dropped them off at their elementary school.
–I had another medical adventure this past week. Last Monday morning we were headed for the Provo temple to meet matthew and Kim and do some couple sealings, but I wasn’t feeling so good, sort of achy and uncomfortable in the chest, and just generally a little miserable. As we got into Provo we were concerned that this feeling might indicate the start of a heart attack, so we diverted to Utah Valley ER. What it turned out to be was that I was having some arrhythmia. The ER doctor gave me some medication that got it back in rhythm and we went home after a couple of hours. I saw my cardiologist on Wednesday and things were still OK but he is keeping me on a small dose of the medication as a protection.
--A second thing that the ER doctor noticed from the bloodwork was that I was testing a little high for blood sugar. I saw my family doctor yesterday for some more testing and it looks like I have become borderline diabetic. At this point it does need treatment but we will monitor this (Wendy has the equipment to do the test) every few days to make sure it doesn’t get worse, and I am supposed to cut down on refined sugar intake and get regular exercise.
In an article in the latest issue of Mormon Studies Review (Vol 23, Number 1, 2011), Brant Gardner proposes that Nephi was trained to be a Scribe, which helps explain or give meaning to a number of Book of Mormon happenings and shows as with many other things that the deeper you dig in the Book of Mormon, the more truth and insights you find. Here are some of the highlights:
--Lehi was well-to-do financially, possibly drawing resources from land holdings and from a trade of metalsmithing or metal-working. Evidences: 1) Nephi had these skills, as shown by the fact that he didn’t pray to know how to make the tools to build the ship, just to locate ore; 2) Lehi left behind gold and silver, the possesing of the former being rare and perhaps indicative that he was involved in goldsmithing/making precious jewelry.
–Laban would have inherited his father’s business, not Nephi, so the latter would have needed another trade or profession.
–Indicator that Nephi trained for another profession–he could read and write. (Literacy was not the norm in that day.)
–Beyond that, the production of two complex writings (1 Nephi and 2 Nephi) show writing skills beyond what even most literate people of his day could do.
–What Nephi accomplished in the creating of these books and other facts suggest that he had received the scribal training of his day.
–The great civilizations (Egypt, Mesopotamia) of his day had formal scribal schools, as did Israel.
–Only the higher social classes (money, status) were acceptable sources for scribes.
–The curriculum of these schools included languages (mastery of at least one foreign), writing systems associated with these languages, study and explication of classic texts, public speaking, and perhaps travel to broaden one’s experience.
–Note the extraordinary skill level in combining the phonetics of one language (Hebrew) with the symbolic representation in another language (Egyption).
–For Jewish scribes, there was heavy emphasis on making them scholars of the Torah (the books of Moses and the prophets). For Nephi, note 1) his familiarity with and love of Isaiah; 2) his use of literary parallels with earlier Hebrew scriptural examples, such as the children of Isreal in the wilderness, David and Goliath, Joseph in Egypt. Also there is this telling incident in 1 Nephi 15, in which Laman and Lemuel come to Nephi (a younger brother, whom they resent, no less) for interpretation of their father’s religious teachings. The author suggests that they recognized that Nephi had been trained in the interpretation of symbolic content of religious matters.
Its Saturday. The day was sunny but cold (about 32 degrees), but comfortable enough for us to do some outside Christmas decorating. I suspect our neighbors think that we haven't any Christmas Spirit, since our house has been so light-less.
So here is our lighting scheme for 2011. It makes Wendy nervous to see me climbing around on the roof or on ladders, so we decorated our two Hibiscus plants with net lights.
Interpreting the prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6 about turning “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,” else the earth would be smitten with a curse, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that there must be a “welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children.” That link was baptism for the dead (or temple work/temple ordinances). Or in a sense, we ourselves are the links between the “fathers and the children.”
This concern for past and future in families is expressed in the Prophet’s prayer of dedication for the Kirtland Temple: “We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations and for eternity” (D&C 109:24).
The word "establish" might mean to create a foundation, stabilize, straighten, set a course resolutely, to be firm, true, strong, courageous, or faithful as regards the Gospel of the Savior. I ask myself, “What do I need to do, to stand in my place in the generations of our family, and serve as a welding link to help establish our family in the Gospel, both those of past generations and also future generations (including persons now living and those yet to come)
1) Past generations
Early in my efforts at family history research, I concentrated on finding direct ancestors, but was later persuaded to broaden my search to identify direct relatives and their families, all persons who are descended from end-of-the-line ancestors. For example, as possibly the first descendant of John Lewis to be a member of the Church, to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood, and to receive temple blessings, I might stand in a sense as proxy for John, and have equal interest in performing temple work for all of his descendants. Family history work can also be seen as a way to connect (link) scattered relatives now living.
I experience a powerful confirming spirit when I perform family history research and resulting temple work for the persons identified. It is like the capstone for every other joy derived from trying to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a sense of wholeness, of completion, of fulfillment. It is found in the combination of finding and then doing the temple work for kindred dead. It seems to me that this sense is not fully present in genealogical research alone or in doing temple work for non-family temple extracted names.
2) Future generations
Linking future generations is much more complicated and multi-faceted, but I think, at last equally satisfying and joyful. With the living, it certainly involves the quality of relationships, example, how we perform as parents and grandparents, teaching moments, family traditions, being there for family moments, extended family events and projects, visits, reaching out, forgiveness, tolerance, patience, and especially, our ability to communicate interest, concern, and love.
We try to set a pattern for the future through the Lewis Family Creed: “We seek successive generations of grandparents, parents, and children who are grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sealed in His Holy Temple.” ("Grounded" might be a synonym for "established.")
Keeping records of the present through journals, personal histories, blogs, photographs, videos and recordings, and other writings might extend our influence into the future.
As an example, JoAnn has written to the grandchildren in this family:
“As I see the many temptations that face young people today, I fear for you. I pray that you will early develop a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and know that by following it's teachings is the only way for you to safely move through the trials and challenges you will face. You received the blessing of membership in Christ's true church when you were born. It was a gift to you because of noble ancestors who heard and accepted the Gospel and in many cases, left their families, country and language so that their posterity would have all the advantages of membership in Christ's Church.
“Those noble ancestors gave much so that you could be born here in this choice land and have the Gospel teachings to guide you. You can repay them, to some extent, by accepting the gift they have given and by living the Gospel as they would want you to do. I know, without question, that gaining a testimony, obeying parents and Church leaders, and committing your life to following the teachings of Christ is the way for you to find true happiness and be truly successful in this life. By doing so you win bring honor and credit to your ancestors, your parents and your Heavenly Father.” (Letter to grandchildren, 22 Feb 2004)
Thanks to JoAnn for the wonderful foundation she laid and direction she established for our family. Thanks also to Wendy for filling a void and loving us all, especially the grandchildren. We will continue, to the best of our ability, to try to make this a celestial family and hope others will also pick up this torch and continue and improve upon our efforts.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, in his October 2011 conference talk, spoke of a “paradox” regarding mankind in relation to God and the universe: “This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it.”
A paradox is opposite ideas or inconsistencies that are seemingly both true, “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true” (Miriam-Webster); “a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth” (Dictionary.com); tensions in a culture that appears to be logical contradictions” (Terryl L. Givens, “People of Paradox: A History of Mormon culture”, pp. xiii-xiv).
Characterizing particular gospel principles as paradoxical may initially strike us as a little strange and inconsistent with what we may have been taught about truth, that truths have consistency with other truths, that “there is right and wrong to every question.” Yet Brother Givens, a the highly regarded LDS scholar, has recently published a book that focuses on four other “paradoxes” for Latter-day Saints or tensions that seem to him to drive the development of a distinct Mormon culture (“habit of mind”).
1) Authoritarianism in the structure of the Church vs. individualism/free agency
2) The certainty of religious knowledge vs. the eternal quest for learning
3) Collapsing the distance and differences between the sacred and the human (seeming opposites in juxtaposition), without diminishing the former
4) Alienation from the larger society/chosen/peculiar people vs. a desire for acceptance and integration
Having this introduction, a couple of more paradoxes come readily to my mind:
1) Salvation by the grace of God vs. our needing to work out our salvation (where should the credit be given?);
2 ) How we relate to other institutions/churches--abominations in the sight of God (1 Ne 14; P of G P Joseph Smith–History 1:19) vs. respecting the relative truths they have (Alma 29).
This first has some common elements with President Uchtdorf’s paradox of man; the second has a connections to Given’s #4.
Here are two questions that come to my mind about the existence of these (and probably also other) paradoxes:
1) What is their source? I would suggest the answer is, God. It seems to me that they would not exist in God’s Church unless he placed or allowed them to be there,
2) What then is their purpose? Is it possible that these doctrinal paradoxes build and bless us? If so, how?
(Image: Nephi and Laban, by Walter Rane)
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We might call this the Year of the Reluctant King. Somehow, Garrett discovered an almond in his cherry cobbler even though he was unwilling to eat this dessert and then stated that he didn’t want to be called “the king.” He did seem, however, to like the cuddly bear that he was given as a prize and led the Grand Parade in a happy chase from the Great Room, out around the balcony and back several times until everyone was winded. He also seemed to enjoy handing out the dollar gifts we had prepared for the grandchildren. So, all’s well that ends well.
--Until Brandon gets old enough or unless Ben or Henry happen to be here for a future version of this party, we seem to have used up all of the grandchildren who have not had the opportunity to be King or Queen at least once (I don’t remember about the Chandler guys). Bruce has the honor of being the only adult who was a King, back in the days when the selection was more truly random. (Please don’t tell this to Daniel and Paul–they still believe everyone has an equal opportunity each year.)
--Most of our Utah contingent attended, except that we were missing some of college students and our three missionaries, Alyssa was with a school group in California, Bruce was ill, and Gloria had to work. We appreciated Ryan’s presence as the token Chandler. We thought that people enjoyed the Piñata (thanks to Amy and friends for turning Pedro into Kris Kringle), and the White Elephant Gift Exchange (conducted expertly by Matthew, who had recently done some research on WEGE options). We heard quite a lot of Christmas music from the player piano. The favorite activity seemed to be putting jigsaw puzzles together until the wee hours of the morning. Thanks to Wendy and helpers for a wonderful dinner (Build-your-own-Mexican-fiesta) and breakfast (apple pancakes). And the sun on the snow on the mountains was beautiful in the morning.
--Lots of people were singing "Am I a man or a muppet?" It made me think that I had missed something in my reaction to the Thanksgiving movie that some of us attended.
--We learned that Jeremy will have surgery later in the month to try to have corrected a persistent sinus infection problem.
--Kimberly heard Friday afternoon that an aunt had passed away. At the party, she and Matthew were making arrangements for her to fly home to Missouri Saturday morning to be with her family for a few days for the funeral. We give our condolences.
--Valerie called Saturday morning with the news that Jaron had passed his Eagle board this morning. Congratulations!
