My journey to learn about keeping the Sabbath Day

In the little community in Washington State where I grew up, most people weren’t religious, but there a were a few persons with various religious backgrounds, and I saw a handful of persons trying to keep the Sabbath in their own ways.  One family turned back the church of the wife’s childhood for comfort and strength at the time that their tiny daughter was dying with leukemia.
This was a church that believed there was special benefit from holding their Sabbath worship on the Hebrew Sabbath–that is, Saturday.  The nearest congregation was an hour’s drive away.  Their farm was a couple of miles beyond our place on the same road.  So at about 8 am every Saturday, we saw their family loaded in their car and heading for church, and we would see the car returning home in the late afternoon.  Besides the long day at church, there was not a sign any outside farm work being done in their fields on Saturdays.  My dad believed that the father in this family had a history of not being a particularly industrious farmer, but thought he saw this man making a special point of working a long day in his fields on Sunday, he supposed, to make some kind of point about his new-found religious commitment.  For myself, I felt some admiration for them in their attempt to establish a standard for themselves which was different from the community.

Lessen #1: Trying to keep the Sabbath may make a person stand out and seem different. 

In my early experience, there were people from several different religious traditions trying in their own ways to keep the Sabbath.  I sense that things have changed.  In our Church we may have to stand alone.
Witness BYU’s position on not playing competitive sports on Sunday and how difficult this seems to be making the finding of a football conference.  I wonder why universities such as Southern Methodist, Baylor (Baptist), TCU (Church of Christ) are not standing with us on avoiding Sunday play.
But If Not...
According to one Jewish author, refraining from work in the Sabbath day had a very significant meaning anciently to the Jewish people.  The animals had to work constantly to have the food needed for subsistence. When people kept the Sabbath Day by refraining from any labor on that day, they demonstrated their superiority to the animal kingdom. Humans are not slaves to their physical needs; they can rise above the level of beasts, as they choose to devote a portion of their time to higher things, to worship, to spiritual development.

Lesson #2: A basic part of keeping the Sabbath is to find ways to rise above the routine weekday
work and activities on Sunday.

From a part member family--mother member, father not–living a distance from a branch of the Church–about the only family in the community with connections to the LDS church.
My mother chose to take her children to the only church in the community, a community Bible
church affiliated loosely with the Presbyterian church.
I also remember Sundays as a baseball day.  My dad loved the game and played with our local baseball team until he was in his 40s.  On Sundays in the summers, we would usually go to Sunday School in the morning at the Community church and then go over to the ball field which was nearby at the High School and watch the Glenwood town team play a game of baseball.  Most of the people watched the game from their cars parked along the left field and right field foul lines.  I gathered with the little boys behind the backstop, where we chased foul balls and returned them for a nickle.  I also liked being able to stand behind the backstop to see what stuff the pitchers had.
Eventually my Dad started to join the rest of us at Sunday School most Sundays.  And one day he surprised us all.  He said that he wasn’t going to do work on our farm on Sunday any more.  He said his reason was that so many things broke down or went wrong when he tried to do farm work on Sunday that he didn’t get anything done anyway.  So this became the new rule in our family – no farm work on Sunday (except for required care of our animals, of course).
But there was one other exception.  He said, “I won’t work for myself on Sunday, but I will work
for someone else who needs my help.”
Most of the men in our community were part-time farmers but also had outside jobs.  They worked together to help each other as best they could.  And sometimes there were projects that required quite a few hands, such as threshing a field of oats.  The only time that there were enough men available was on Saturdays or Sundays, and the harvest had to be done when ready.
So, “I won’t work for myself on Sunday, but I will work for someone else who needs my help.”
While this may not be the perfect example for Sabbath keeping, it helped me begin to get a sense about the Sabbath, that there are times that important judgments need to be made, especially when someone else needs service. It may not always be possible live the Sabbath by a set of rigid,  predetermined rules of do’s and don’ts.  Christ taught something like this, when criticized by the Jewish leaders for considering the healing of a man on the Sabbath:
11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. (Matthew 12:11-12)

Lesson #3: Sometimes (always?) we need to be flexible and to be guided by the Spirit as we decide what we should or shouldn’t on the Sabbath.
Its very personal and individual. I have found that it helped to ask myself the question about things I should or shouldn’t do on the Sabbath: Will this bring me closer to God and welcome the continued presence of His Spirit in my life? Or better yet Elder Nelson’s question: What sign do I want to give to God this Sabbath day?

I spoke earlier of how we loved baseball in my family.  I played on the high school team and did well enough, but I was a year younger than my class and kind of skinny kid and didn’t hit with much power.  Just after my 17th birthday I graduated from high school.  Several of us seniors were invited to join the Town Team, the same team my dad had played for when I was small.  By this time, I had grown to my full height and had begun to add a few muscles.  It was late May and as I started attending the Town Team practices I noticed that something different was happening as I took batting practice.  The ball seemed to fly off my bat in a new way.  I watched my drives consistently going deep into the outfield or even beyond the fence.  It was almost magical and I think the older men on the team were also taking notice.
Early in the first of June we had a visitor drop in.  It was the Branch President who had made the one-hour drive to our place with an invitation.  He said to me and my younger sister, “We have reserved the baptismal font at the Hood River Ward for a branch baptismal service on Saturday.  Why don’t you come and be baptized?”
I had been praying for this opportunity since I was 8 years old.  My father had opposed our being baptized until were grown up enough to make a mature decision but now gave his approval.  We made the 90 minute drive to Hood River and they baptized us and confirmed us members of the Church.
Over the next few days I pondered the implications of what had happened.  Things has changed.  I had made promises to the Lord that I needed to try to keep.  The Town Team played all of its games on Sunday.  I knew that I just covenanted to be obedient to commandments that included keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and spending my Sundays playing baseball games seemed now to not fulfill that expectation.  So I made the choice that I felt I had to make and retired from the Town Team.  You might say that I had retired from baseball at age 17.
From that circumstance Sabbath Day observance took on a lot of meaning to me.  I had had to sacrifice something dear to me to keep my baptismal promise.  Therefore the things I did or didn’t do on the Sabbath took on more meaning.  It was like my Sunday actions were a sort of offering I was making to the Lord.  They were like the tokens of my covenant of obedience, sort of like the whole of the Sabbath being an extension of the taking of the sacrament as an act of covenant renewal.  It seemed as if the entire day became the sacrament, perhaps in the spirit of the Lord’s instruction to the Prophet Joseph:
12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.
13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.
14 Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer....
16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours.... (D&C 59)
If you reviewed the April Conference talk by Elder Nelson in the last Ward Bulletin, he reminds us that the Sabbath was given to Israel “as a perpetual covenant, a constant reminder that the Lord may sanctify his people.”

Lesson #4: Seeing the keeping of the Sabbath for the full day as an opportunity to make and renew my covenant with the Lord.

But a bigger test was in the works, with more discoveries about keeping the Sabbath.  I had been offered a scholarship to Washington State University and other schools had shown interest, but after my baptism there was a spirit that whispered that I needed to attend BYU.  While getting an education I could also become educated about the Church and immerse myself in it.  That would take money.  Ours was an area of small farms and logging.  The major logging company in our area was quite generous in offering jobs to local kids at full union rates and the union was generous also in waving their usually fees so we could work.  The pay was sufficient for me, while living at home, to save enough money in a summer to nearly pay the cost of a year at BYU.
The setting was beautiful. However, the work was dirty, sometimes dangerous, and the human
environment was terrible. The men were hard, vulgar, and profane. The man I was paired with on the logging crew was all of that plus a verbal bully. There was a long dusty one-hour ride back and forth on the company bus to the work location each day and I was the only non-smoker.  I would sit in the back with my hands over my face to try to filter out the smoke in the air.  I did this for the next three summers, because I knew that it was my ticket to a better life, both job-wise and also spiritually.
We were working 6 day weeks with Sunday off. The Sabbath saved me. It gave me strength to endure.

Here is Lesson #5: When I totally cleared my mind of the challenges of the work week and devoted Sunday to spiritual things, I was refreshed and renewed in my heart and mind so that I could endure another awful week in the woods.

Sleeping out

Last night there was a full moon and no prediction of any rain, so Wendy and I decided we would sleep out in the back yard.  We blew up one of our air mattresses and set it up on the patio with some blankets, and started our night out.  The moonlight was pretty on the high clouds.  Some stars shone through.  There was a wind all night, that caused us to have to use a second blanket to stay warm.  We thought that the SF canyon breeze normally doesn't start until early morning, but it was with us for the entire night.

This air mattress has a slow leak.  We pumped it up again at about 2:30 am.  By 5:30 am we were bouncing off the concrete of the patio and the batteries for the pump gave out, so we finished off the night in our regular bed.  We then slept until almost 10 am.

Pictured is our unfaithful mattress this morning.

Congratulations, Jonathan

We need to celebrate another Eagle Scout among the grandchildren in our family.

Forgive me

There is a big hole in my blogging history.  I can't seem to get motivated to add things when so much of the family is around, like they were this summer.  This picture needs to represent family camp and the Chandler's summer long presence, and all the other wonderful things that happened.
I took this sunset picture on July 20th at a time when several of the families gathered for a Family Home Evening to cook s'mores at the little campground above the Spanish Fork reservoir.  (Valerie has great detail in her blog of that date.)  Thanks to her for keeping a better record.

The reservoir is in the foreground.  Utah Lake is a thin sliver with Lake Mt. silhouetted behind.

Wisdom of Isaac

I was quite amused at a statement Isaac made to Henry while the latter was throwing something of a tantrum--he gave his brother a warning that he was endangering his health with his crying, in that he was risking dehydration in his body and loss of saline in his blood.

Eagle 16+

Ethan qualified for the rank of Eagle last evening at a Board of Review here in Spanish Fork.  Congratulations! 
I was going to call him Eagle 14, then thought that we ought to credit two sons-in-laws, Quin and Greg, who are Eagles, so that would make 16.   Then I thought, "Well, why not also credit grandson-in-laws toward our family count--that's the reason for the "+", because I don't know for sure who of this quickly enlarging group are Eagles.  

Here is a quick summary of the progress toward Eagle by other grandsons who are Scout age:
Jamison--Life scout.  Had everything finished for Eagle except to get final approval and carry out his service project.
Jonathan--Life scout.  Needs to complete 2 more merit badges, and then plan and carry out his Eagle service project.
Joshua--Star scout.  Has most of the merit badges, but needs leadership time for Life.  Just appointed Sr. Patrol Leader.
Aaron--First Class scout.  Needs two more merit badges for Star.
Trenton--First Class scout.  Needs four more merit badges for Star.

Eric's Eagle Court of Honor, May 12, 2015

Receiving my endowments in the Logan Temple

I had my “Sacred Grove” experience in connection with the Logan Temple.  All my life it has been foundational to my faith.

During my sophomore year of college I made a determination to serve a mission.  Being able to be baptized into the Church at age 17 and then to attend BYU and learn so much more about our religion and the joys I had felt from this fulfillment and new direction in my life, gave me a feeling of needing to give back something to the Lord.  I got my call to the North Central States Mission in August of 1957 to enter the Mission Home in Salt Lake City early in October.  I planned enough time after leaving my home in Glenwood, WA, for a brief visit with my sister Dorothy who was at Ricks College and also with my Uncle Franklin and Aunt Ellen in Provo, before reporting to the Mission Home.  I also wanted to experience another temple in addition to Salt Lake, so made plans to take out my endowments at Logan, as I traveled from Rexburg to Provo.  I recall thinking that this temple might have some special meaning being the temple in which my grandparents, Frank Davenport and Kate Lufkin, had been married and in which my great-grandmother, Martha Ann Lufkin, had labored diligently for our ancestors.

I left Rexburg on the middle of the day on October 2, 1957, traveling by Trailways bus.  We arrived at the bus station on the south end of Main Street in Logan about 5 pm.  I got off and walked about three blocks north to a hotel where I made arrangements for a room, planning to take out my endowments at the Logan temple in the morning.  However, I had not thought to oversee the removal of my baggage from the bus, and when I returned to the bus station, I was disconcerted to find that my bags had stayed on the bus for Salt Lake City.  I remember the sportshirt I was wearing, with blue and silver stripes.  My suits, white shirts and ties, shaving equipment, personal gear, and worst of all, my temple recommend, were in the bags on their way south.

I went to my hotel room and pondered my situation.  I was especially concerned about not having the temple recommend and being frustrated in my plan to receive my endowments in the Logan temple the next morning.  I began to wonder if this was some kind of sign to me that God did not want me to serve a mission, or that I wasn’t worthy to serve.

I knelt beside the hotel room bed and started to pray.  I prayed out loud, probably the first personal vocal prayer I had ever said.  I expressed my frustrations.  I listed my sins and asked forgiveness.  I think this prayer went on for a long time.  Finally I asked what to do now.  A voice came, not in my ears, but in my feelings I believe, but I knew exactly the words: “Everything is going to be alright.  Go to bed and get a good rest.  In the morning, get up early and go up to the temple.  Everything is going to be alright.”

I was comforted but surprised.  I had no idea that God or His Spirit spoke in actual words.  Then I began to wonder at this experience.  Was this real?  Did I just make it up?

I began to pray again, and offered the same prayer I had just completed, identical to the first, my frustrations, my sins.  Finally I asked again what to do.  I was blessed to hear or feel the same words of assurance and direction:  “Everything is going to be alright.  Go to bed and get a good rest.  In the morning, get up early and go up to the temple.  Everything is going to be alright.”

I thought that I had tested the Lord enough and better do what He said, so I called the front desk for an early wake-up call, and went to bed.  I slept well enough, and when the call came in the early morning at perhaps about 5:30 am, I got up, cleaned up as best I could, and headed for the temple.

It was a clear fall morning, a little before sunrise.  I could see the towers of the temple off and on, so walked up the streets toward the temple.  The sun was just starting to shine between the trees.   At first I did not see any signs of human life around the temple.  I passed by the south end of the temple and circled around to the east.  I had had no experience with temples and did not quite know what to do next. I noticed some people with small suitcases going into a door on the east side of a small annex on the north part of the temple.  I stood watching for several minutes.  I began to again have some questioning thoughts.  “You don’t know what you are doing.  They won’t let you come in.”  I told myself, “You heard the instruction and the promises.”  I gritted my teeth, walked to the door, I pushed it open.  Immediately inside there was a man at a desk.  I stammered something about getting my endowments but not having my recommend.  He said I could talk to the Temple President and immediately called for him and I was ushered into the Temple President’s office. 

I shared the entire story with the Temple President.  He pulled a book out and asked me a couple of questions about my home branch and the name of the Branch President.  That seemed to be consistent with the information in the book.  Then he said, “I will let you get our endowments this morning on one condition–that you tell your story to a group who are meeting in the chapel before the session.”

So that is how I got my endowments on October 3, 1957 in the Logan temple, without a recommend, without shaving or brushing my teeth, and wearing a sportshirt with blue and silver stripes to the temple.  I also learned some significant things that have helped me throughout my life, about how the Spirit works and how kind and patient is our Father.

More Logan Temple family history

Here is some more of our family history connected to the Logan Temple: 

     “...I heard the late Apostle Marriner W. Merrill, President of the Logan Temple, relate this extraordinary incident.  He was sitting in his office one morning, he said, when he noticed from the window a company of people coming up the hill to the Temple.  As they entered the Temple grounds they presented rather a strange appearance, not only in dress but in their mode of travel.  Some were riding on horses, others were in conveyances, and still others were afoot.  He wondered who they could be as he was not looking for a company of such size that particular morning.  They dismounted from their horses, stepped down from their conveyances, put their animals under the shade and walked about complacently as if they had a perfect right to be there.
     “A little later a person unknown to Brother Merrill entered the room.  Brother Merrill said to him: “Who are you and who are these people who have come up and taken possession of the Temple grounds unannounced?”  He answered and said: “I am Satan and these are my people.”  Brother Merrill then said: “What do you want?  Why have you come here?”  Satan replied: “I don't like the work that is going on in this Temple and feel that it should be discontinued.  Will you stop it?”  Brother Merrill answered and said emphatically, “No, we will not stop it.  The work must go on.”  “Since you refuse to stop it, I will tell you what I propose to do,” the adversary said.  “I will take these people, my followers, and distribute them throughout this Temple district, and will instruct them to whisper in the ears of people, persuading them not to go to the Temple, and thus bring about a cessation of your Temple work.”  Satan then withdrew.
     “President Merrill, commenting on this strange interview with the Evil One, said that for quite a period of time the spirit of indifference to Temple work seemed to take possession of the people and very few came to the House of the Lord.  The presumption was that Satan had carried out his threat which caused a temporary lull in Temple work.
     “It is not to be wondered at that Satan, who is the enemy of all righteousness, is displeased with Temple work.”
(“Lucifer Tries to Hinder Temple Work,” by President Rudger Clawson, Church Section, The Deseret News., Dec. 12, 1936, Vol. 344, No. 61., cited by N. B. Lundwall, “Temples of the Most High, 9th Ed., Salt Lake City, Bookcraft, 1954, p. 107)

There is a reference to this event in the history of Martha Ann Townsend Lufkin.  The Lufkins had moved to Logan to be close to a temple and for her especially to be able to do temple work for her ancestors.  The Satanic visit to the temple president must have been known to persons in that temple district, but, as reported by her grand-daughter Dorothy D. Hall, “for awhile it seemed that every time Grandma planned to go to the Temple, something occurred to hinder her.” [Then she remembered having heard that] Satan can hear what we say but he can’t read our thoughts.  So, after that whenever Grandma appeared, ready  for the street, it was the signal for someone to hitch the horse to the buggy so she could have her day at the temple, unopposed.”  (Dorothy D. Hall, “Histories of Parents and Grandparents of Kate Naomi Lufkin Davenport,” 1986, p. 34)  Thus, Martha Ann was able to thwart the adversary and resume her regular work in the temple. 

The version of the story that I heard from my mother, Hazel Davenport Lewis, as she had heard from her mother Kate, was that the specific signal was for her to have her apron on backwards, at breakfast.  I like that version.

The time when this occurred is not identified.  Elder Merrill was President of the Logan temple from its dedication 17 May 1884 until his death in 1906.  Aunt Dorothy Hall speculates that it happened shortly after the Lufkins had moved to Logan but before her experience in the temple with the appearance of the person for whom she had just served as proxy.

The Lufkin's home in Logan was at 251 South 100 West.  Consistent with the practice of many small-town Mormons, George owned and worked some farm ground away from the town, but the family lived in the city.  They probably had barns or sheds on their city property for horses and equipment.  It was a large lot, with a stream of water (irrigation ditch??) running through it, and was next door to property that was a part of Brigham Young College (a Church-sponsored high school and teacher’s preparation college) which later became the site for Logan High School.  The house was about 9 or 10 blocks (1.1 miles) from the temple.  Since Martha Ann was short in height and in her later life carried quite a lot of extra weight and the trip to the temple involved a significant climb in elevation, she apparently was in great need of a horse and buggy in order to make the temple trip.

Logan Temple thoughts

For our anniversary on Tuesday, May 12th, Wendy and I planned a temple trip.  We went to Logan Monday afternoon, got a motel room, and took Krysta to dinner.  On Tuesday morning, we did a family endowment each in the Logan temple. Then we drove to Brigham City and did an endowment in that temple in the afternoon.  We went to dinner with Dorothy in Ogden, then attended an Eagle Court of Honor for Eric that evening.  We stayed at the Alison and Quin’s that night, had breakfast with Wendy’s son Brian, then while I went to our dentist and got a tooth filled, Wendy had lunch with her sisters. I worked some with Wendy’s sister Sue on some family history things and we go home later afternoon on Wednesday.

Our visit to the Logan temple made me quite pensive.  I had the thought that almost 130 years ago my great-grandparents, George W. and Martha Ann Lufkin had been present in these same halls and rooms doing temple work for our ancestors, and I felt a strong kinship to them.  I found this bit of history about a family history and temple experience of Martha Ann’s, as summarized by my aunt Dorothy D. Hall:

     “In 1884, when the Logan Temple was dedicated, my grandparents, George W. and Martha Ann Lufkin, were living in Salt Lake City.  After making several long, tiring trips to Logan to do temple work for their loved ones, they decided  in 1888, to move to Logan to be close to the Temple.
     “My grandmother especially, was an ardent genealogist and faithful temple worker. But, once when her day's work at the Temple was finished and she was on her way to the dressing-room to lay aside her white clothing and dress for the street, she felt very discouraged and depressed.  She wondered if what she was doing was of any worth.  Did those for whom she was proxy care what she was doing, did they even know of the long hours spent in their behalf?  Maybe it was all of no use.
     “As she walked down the corridor, dejected and alone, she glanced up and saw a woman coming toward her, smiling happily.  She nodded and Grandma nodded in return.  After taking a few more steps, Grandma realized that the woman was in street clothing instead of white as was usual and turning to look at her again, she saw that the corridor was empty.  Wondering at this strange and sudden disappearance, Grandma continued on her way.
     “Not long afterwards, while sorting through some old family pictures that had been received from the east, she picked up one which she immediately recognized as the woman in the Temple corridor.  And when she turned it over to read the name written on the back, she found to her amazement and joy, it was the name of the woman whose work she had done in the Temple the day she was so discouraged.  It was the woman who had smiled at her and whose picture she held in her hand.  So, she was answered, they did know and some of them did care.”
(Dorothy D. Hall, “Histories of Parents and Grandparents of Kate Naomi Lufkin Davenport,” 1986, p. 34)

Scott and I at Wood Badge

 

Scott and I finished our Wood Badge course this afternoon on a cloudy and rainy day.

Wood Badge training

Scott and I are half-way through a Wood Badge course at Camp Maple Dell in Payson canyon.  The first half was held this last Thursday through Saturday and the second half will be Thursday through Saturday of this coming week.  I have been serving in a lesser (but necessary) staff position, an Assistant Quartermaster.  Our responsibility is pretty much limited to food preparation.  There are five of us in the Quartermaster group.  We have 44 course participants and about 20 staff total to keep well-fed and happy.

I have viewed Wood Badge as a sort of graduate level education in youth leadership.  It has been very valuable to me in the whole range of Church and youth leadership assignments I have held over the years.  We worked hard in our Taylorsville Gardens Ward to encourage Wood Badge attendance, and when we had about 15 persons with this training it became a lot easier to run quality youth programs.  

My Wood Badge course was in 1989 at Camp Tracy in Millcreek Canyon and had a Varsity Scout specialty (which has since been discontinued).  I also attended a Wood Badge-like course for Exploring leaders that same year.

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Scott is one of the participants and it sure is fun to be in camp with him.  When he completes the training he will be the fifth member of our family with Wood Badge.  Others are Quin, Alison, and Matthew.

Here is more information about Wood Badge (Adapted from “Wood Badge” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
Wood Badge is an international  Scouting leadership training program for adult leaders. Wood Badge courses aim to make Scouters better leaders by teaching advanced leadership skills, and by creating a bond and commitment to the Scout movement. Courses generally have a combined classroom and practical outdoors-based phase followed by a Wood Badge ticket, also known as the project phase. By "working the ticket", participants put their newly gained experience into practice to attain ticket goals aiding the Scouting movement. The first Wood Badge training was organized by Francis "Skipper" Gidney and lectured at by Robert Baden-Powell and others at Gilwell Park (United Kingdom) in September 1919. Wood Badge training has since spread across the world with international variations.

On completion of the course, participants are awarded the Wood Badge beads to recognize significant achievement in leadership and direct service to young people and become members of Gilwell (or international Scouting) Troop 1. The pair of small wooden beads, one on each end of a leather thong (string), is worn around the neck as part of the Scout uniform. The beads are presented together with a taupe neckerchief bearing a tartan patch of the Maclaren clan, honoring William de Bois Maclaren, who donated the £7000 to purchase Gilwell Park in 1919 plus an additional £3000 for improvements to the house that was on the estate. The neckerchief with the braided leather woggle (neckerchief slide) denotes the membership of the 1st Gilwell Scout Group or Gilwell Troop 1. Recipients of the Wood Badge are known as Wood Badgers or Gilwellians.  It is estimated that international membership in this association is in excess of 100,000 persons.

More Temple Thoughts

The Givens, in their book “The Crucible of Doubt,” point out that, contrary to the norm promoted by our secular culture that the primary sources of truth are science and logic, much truth can be discerned from love.  Recent experiences related to the Payson temple seem to confirm this.

Our ward testimony meeting this morning exhibited some differences from usual, with a surge of young people and parents who have toured the Payson temple in the last few days, trying to express the wonder of their experience. 

For example, one of my favorite persons, Randy R. talked about not really feeling much of anything as he struggled to help contain two rambunctious pre-schoolers, as the line progressed from room to room.  Then suddenly he and his wife and all six of their children were together in the Celestial Room.  They stepped into a corner of the room and thought of the significance of this–that their entire family was together in the temple.  He was able to express a strongly felt hope that this pattern would continue both in this life and in eternity.

Another example was the Juan S. family (whom we home teach), where the dad expressed to Wendy after the meeting the overpowering sense of love he experienced with his family as they toured the temple.  Both of these dads had daughters, ages about 11 an 12, who gave their testimonies of what they experienced as they walk through the temple with their families, and who seemed moved to make personal commitments to make the temple a lifelong pursuit.

As our family members toured the temple on April 25th, one experience stood out to me.  Our part of the line stopped briefly in one of the spacious and beautiful sealing rooms, where an elderly couple spoke briefly of their love of the temple.  The reported of having a non-temple marriage, but at some time the wife had expressed her love to her husband her desire to be sealed to him and their grown children for eternity.  He decided to make this his goal also.  They reported with great emotion how he then knelt before her and formally proposed marrying her for eternity, to which she said "Yes."  They met with their bishop and began to prepare themselves for the temple.  At some point, they also called all of their 5 children and their spouses together and asked if they would like to be sealed to them.  Then the whole family worked together to go to the temple and be sealed together as a family.  I had tears come to my eyes as they expressed how the temple had enhanced their family and their love for each other.

So, what is the message of these feelings, in which love seems to dominate, especially love in families?  It seems to me to testify that we are built to form relationships, and that the love and joy and meaning that these relationships promote give hope and promise of enduring into eternity.

My birthday party

After touring the temple, the family came to our house for pizza.  While its not our requirement, most persons deposited their shoes by the front door.  I want to remember this huge pile of shoes, which was more than a foot high and three or four feet across.

Family Payson Temple tour

April 25, 2015

Payson temple progress

A lot of things have happened in the last several weeks regarding our service in the Payson Temple, when it opens the second week in June.  Let me document these things.

Early in March, Wendy got a call from Kelly W. (Temple Recorder, also counselor in the Blake’s Stake Presidency, also an acquaintance of mine from district scouting) to come to an appointment March 10. 

At the March 10th meeting, she was interviewed by Sister L. (Assistant to the Matron), and was called to be an ordinance worker. 

On March 12th, Brother W. again called on the phone asking her to serve as a Sisters Shift Coordinator for the Thursday midday shift.

Wendy attended three meetings for Shift Coordinators in March--the 15th, the 21st, and the 27th, all held chapels in Payson.  She received maps or floor plans and learned much about physical features of the temple, number of endowment rooms, initiatory booths, etc., and location of elevators, stairways, restrooms, etc., and also names of her assistants.

She was set apart as a temple worker by President S. on April 3rd at the Temple and had the opportunity to walk through the entire building for a couple of hours with her two assistant coordinators.

Sister R. (Assistant to the Matron) called Wendy on Wednesday, April 8th and invited her to be on a “small and select” committee that would help plan details of the procedures that would be followed in the Payson Temple.  Sister R. asked her to bring her husband, even though I had not yet been called and set apart.  Wendy explained my knowledge and experience in leadership roles in Provo Temple.

Wendy and I attended a meeting in the Temple of this small group of Coordinators on the afternoon of Friday, April 10th.   We arrived early and walked through much of the temple prior to the meeting start.  At the meeting we were in a group of 4 assigned to work on the second floor processes.  The second floor contains the chapel where patrons wait for endowments to start, the three endowment rooms, and the celestial room.  We received an introduction by President R. (Counselor to Pres. S.) and Brother W., then spent a long time walking though and talking through the processes for starting up and finishing an endowment session, and other functions and stations that are needed on that floor.  I finally volunteered to write up a draft of the things we had talked about after our group had discussed things as we walked through the entire floor.  We were in the temple for a total of over four hours.

I started writing on the process steps for the ordinance (2nd) floor of the temple, with help from Wendy.  I worked into the night and most of Saturday and also Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday night, April 12th at the SF Seminary, I was set apart as a Payson temple worker by President R..  In one of the tender mercies of that evening, we had a preliminary interview before the setting apart, with Sister S. (the temple Matron).  It turns out the she is one of the major movers as far as how the temple should operate.   As we visited with her, the conversation immediately turned to the work of the committee to describe temple procedure and process steps.  We had a wonderful 30 minute time that she extended to us, to ask and answer questions, to hear her philosophy and ideas and vision of how the temple should work.  I had received more clarity to my thinking, went home and started more revisions to the write-up I was drafting. 

On Monday, I called Brother S., the other brother on the committee, and went over and got feedback on several ideas we were working, the finished a revision of the write-up draft (it was nine pages long).  Also Wendy had scheduled time with the Sister R., the other sister on our sub-committee for later in the morning.  We went back to the temple and did more walking and talking and shared our draft with her and another sister coordinator who was working on First Floor procedures.  As another tender mercy, we also saw the Brother J., the man who was to receive our write-ups, as we finished working with Sister R., and got other clarifications and also a target date, this Friday, to give him some kind of product.

I took my laptop to the cabin Tuesday morning and kept working.  By evening I had an improved version ready.  Wendy and I drove over to The Homestead parking lot in the dark, where we could use their unprotected wi-fi and sent this version out to the other two on our sub-committee.  I continued to work on clarifications and to polish up the write-up to make it more presentable and readable.  After one more set of phone contacts, by mid-day today I believe we had a creditable work which could be more broadly shared.  We again utilized The Homestead’s generosity and sent out the new version.  It has 18 pages, including a table of contents and details about the new methods and roles for overseeing the chapel, loading the endowment room and starting and conducting the session, the veil process, and also the roles of sisters who will be stationed in the halls and the celestial room.  It has step-by-step process descriptions, detailed job descriptions for all workers functioning on this floor, and even a mock-up of a form.

This work over the last 6 days has been quite intense, but quite enjoyable,  to apply some skills I used extensively before I retired, both in the conceptualizing and writing such, but also working with people to get their ideas and their buy-ins.  And to do this in the service of temple work. Amazing!

We are so looking forward to touring the Payson Temple with family next weekend.

Ode to the Provo Temple

O Temple Provo, we leave thee
Filled with a thousand feelings--
For the masses of faithful Saints,
Entering thy door(1) with joy and quickened pulse(2)
Emerging through the shining lake-sun.
For our fellow laborers, left with double burdens
To cover our abandoned lines.
For dear Heber friends, our neighbors(3),
When will we see their sister sanctuary,
Shining brightly on the hillside by the river?
For young elders, supporting promises
With a resounding “Yes,”
And strengthening our commitments.
For young couples
Radiating love’s prospects.
For the words of life, God’s poetry,
Oft repeated, always fresh with glowing power.
For the spirits of the departed,
Rejoicing, encouraging,
Giving their approvals.

Thou cupcake with one candle,
Workhorse(4) among temples,
Born for efficiency not beauty(5),
But with a special majesty
To those many-millions,
Released from custody through thy ministrations.
Like Henry’s factory,
Every twenty minutes,
Churning out new liberty to the captives.
And like the duck on water(6),
Feet furiously flailing underneath,
Displaying peace and calm,
With nary a ripple to reveal the root of your locomotion.

You maverick,
Facing away from the East,
Where temples are thought to gaze(7)
But toward the missionaries(8),
Who fill thy rooms,
Becoming armed with power,
And making acquaintance of the angels,
Who will have charge over them,
As they bear great and glorious tidings
Unto the ends of the earth,
And toward the co-ed multitude(9),
That streams into thee in the dark of early morning,
And then emerges into the first dawn
With hope and glistening hair.

O Temple Provo,
What will now give meaning to our Thursdays?

     (1)As viewed from the recommend desk on afternoons
     (2)Its an uphill walk from parking
     (3)We have a vacation home in Midway.
     (4)Karen Ashton, Temple Matron and Robert Daines, Prior President
     (5)Hugh Nibley
     (6)President Larry Dahl
     (7)Hugh Nibley
     (8)MTC
     (9)At BYU and elsewhere

Temple service update

We were released, along with about 1500 others, as Provo temple workers on March 28th at 2 pm.  The time there was good to us.  I wrote a slightly silly Ode to the Provo Temple.  See it next.

I have an appointed to be set apart as a Payson temple worker next Sunday. 

Wendy has been called to be a women’s Shift Coordinator in the Payson temple, Thursdays, Shift 2 (about 10 am to 2 pm).  She has learned much about this temple in meetings the last several weeks-- schedules, procedures, layout, the new temple leadership.  She likes the new temple president a lot.

She had the opportunity yesterday to walk completely through the temple.  Very beautiful she says!

Its Eagle 13!!!

Eric passed his eagle board tonight.

Spring blossoms

At this moment, 3 pm, on March 16th, the temperature is 74 degrees.  Our fruit and flowering trees have suckered by the warm winter to believe that time for frost is past.  The popcorn is fully popped on our two apricot trees.  Blossoms started to appear today on the Bradford Pears.  And pink is starting to show on our Early Elberta peach.

Monday morning bullets

• We had the 6 Lewis grandchildren come for Sunday dinner yesterday, while their parents are traveling in Europe after Matthew’s work related visit to Dubai.

• We will be released from our work at the Provo temple at the end of March, and assume that we will be recalled as temple workers in the Payson temple when it opens in June.  Actually Wendy already knows something about her position.  She had an interview with one of the matrons on last Tuesday and then got a call asking her to be a women’s shift coordinator for the Thursday 10 am to 2 pm shift.  She attended a meeting for the new coordinators last night.

• Here are some things she has learned.  The shifts are to be shorter at Payson because they don’t have a cafeteria–4 hours at the most.  The line assignments will probably feature 45 minute rotations throughout, since endowment sessions will start every 45 minutes.  The temple has three one-phase endowment rooms with capacity of 92-94.  This will give the temple about three/fourths the capacity of the Bountiful and Mt. Timp temples.  She brought home a detailed map of the floors of the temple, so we know quite a lot about its layout now.  There appears to be a grand staircase from the 1st to the 2nd floor on the west which houses the endowment rooms.  And the celestial room is on the east and rises from the second floor a couple of stories.  The 3rd floor is for sealing rooms.  The temple has prospects of being popular with brides.  Since the phone opened for scheduling a week or so ago, they already have appointments for 10 marriages for the first day it is open, Tuesday June 9th.  They said there are already more weddings scheduled for the summer than Provo has for an entire year.

• We were at the cabin this week but came back twice.  We left here Monday evening after my 11 year old scout meeting, stayed over on that night, came back to Salem for Wendy’s temple interview on Tuesday night, but drove back up and stayed at the cabin on Tuesday night.  We came back home on Wednesday evening, did our temple shift and then a temple session on Thursday. Slept here again on Thursday evening, so that I could do my family history library shift on Friday morning, then went back to the cabin Friday afternoon, and came home Saturday evening.  So, we had three nights at the cabin and parts of five days.  The weather was warm and sunny with beautiful blue sky most days but cloudy and gray on Wednesday.  We got in 4 1-hour walks during the week.  We had a fun lunch in Heber on Wednesday with our friends, Jim and Betty S., from the Provo temple. 

• We are beginning to understand why seemingly no one over 60 likes DST.  Our bodies just don’t adjust to the change in schedule as easily as younger people.  Its been a week, and we have trouble going to sleep and trouble waking up, and have to take naps every day.  We wonder how a vote on DST might be arranged.

The easy yoke of Christ

I taught Gospel Doctrine class in our Sunday School this morning substituting for the regular teacher who is out of town.  He asked for volunteers last week and I raised my hand.  I was preoccupied with it and thought about it about all week.  The lesson was on Christ’s invitation for those who are heavy laden to come to him, to take his yoke upon them, that he would give them rest, that his yoke was easy and his burden light, in Matthew Chapter 11:28-30. 

Here are a couple of new insights about these verses--You can read it as contrasting the yoke and burdens of the world with the yoke of Christ.  The former are heavy and hard; the latter is light and easy.  A reason for this difference is that in the yoke of Christ, you two become a team and he pulls with you.  He has capacity to pull harder than you, so that you as a team you always have the combined strength to be successful.

Stephen Robinson explains,  “When we become one with Christ, spiritually we form a partnership with a join account, and his assets and our liabilities flow into each other.  Since he has more assets than we have liabilities (he has an infinite ocean of assets), the new account has a positive balance as soon as it is formed, and the partnership is justified even though its junior partners (you and me) could not make it on their own.  This is what the Apostle Paul refers to as being “in Christ (1 Cor. 1:1) and what Moroni calls being “perfect in Christ” (Moro. 10:32).  Taken together, Christ and I make up a new creature.  The old creature, the imperfect me, ceases to exist, and a glorious new creature, a perfect partnership, takes its place.  Taken together as a single entity, the two of us, Christ and I, are perfect.  I do not mean (this is absolutely crucial!) that we can become perfect later on.  I mean that from the moment the partnership is formed in good faith, from the moment we have sincere faith in Christ, sincerely repent of our sins, and receive baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost–from that moment the partnership is celestial.  The merits of the Senior Partner make it so.” (Stephen E. Robinson, Believing Christ, Deseret Book Company, 1992, pp. 25-26)
light, in Matthew Chapter 11:28-30. 

Cloud and sky from the cabin

Affirmation and appreciation in families

     I used to attend yearly conferences of AMCAP (Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists).  An account given by one of the speakers has stayed with me because of the lessons it taught about successful marriages and families.
      The speaker was a marriage counselor who had been trained in the West but had initiated a practice in Florida.  Soon he was also called to be on the High Council of his LDS stake.  The stake had wards and branches scattered about in quite a few cities and towns in that area of the state.  Soon his Church speaking assignments took him to these scattered places and he began to become acquainted with many LDS members throughout his new stake.
     His practice continued to grow and a day came when he met a new client at his office that he recognized as a member from one of the scattered wards.  A picture came to his mind of a family sitting in one of the front rows of the chapel as he gave his talk, a young father and mother and several little children close in age to each other.  This was the father who was coming to his office.
     As the interview developed, the man shared his situation.  He had fallen out of love with his wife, and then with a person at his employment believed he had discovered his true soul mate.  The counselor, who was trained in Rogerian non-directive therapeutic techniques, began to make a response along the order of “So you feel that you no longer love your wife” but what came out of his mouth shocked both himself and the client: “No!  You cannot leave your wife, You have made promises and commitments that you need to keep!”
     The counselor then expressed to his audience his immediate feelings of disconcertment at having violated the tenets of his professional training, yet still had the vision in his mind of this little family sitting together in the front row of the chapel.  So, he and the man pursued in their subsequent discussion what needed to happen next and the counselor was bold enough to give him a homework assignment.  He directed the man, for each day in the following week, to say one thing to his wife that complimented her or expressed appreciation to her for what she was doing for him or their children, and then to report on this when they would meet again.
     At the next meeting the man reported that it was hard but he had fulfilled the assignment.  He seemed to have softened a little in his determination to leave his family.  The counselor left him with the same assigned homework for the next week.  The following counseling session followed the same pattern.  When the man returned for the third time he informed the counselor that he had decided that he still cared for his wife and would being staying with his family and didn’t think he needed more counseling sessions.
     A few months later the man came up to him after a stake conference, hugged him, and gave him profuse thanks for stopping him from making the worst decision in his life, to leave his wife and family.  Developing the practice and habit of expressing gratitude daily to his spouse had restored his feelings of love for his wife and revolutionized his marriage relationship.
     I think that our family heritage was not as rich as it could have been in expressions and physical manifestations of approval, appreciation, and love.  In retrospect, I am confident that love and good wishes predominated in both the Lewis and Evans families, but neither family had the habit and practice of expressing or showing that love with regularity.  Over the period of my adulthood, I have gradually been able to see and begin to try to practice these principles.  Wendy has been a fine influence in this regard.  One day shortly after our marriage, she said, “You know, your daughters need you to tell them regularly that you love them.”  That statement struck me strongly as being correct and needed, and I have tried to implement it.  I have found it less strange to verbalize as I continue to remember to do it, especially in phone calls.  (I have also been led to think if the girls need it maybe the boys do also.)
     Everybody needs to feel appreciated and hear words of affirmation.  Here are some ways I have discovered to provide positive feedback:
     DEVELOP THE HABIT TO SAY “THANK YOU” OFTEN.  As I have learned more about expressing approval and appreciation, I am finding one of the most natural ways to do this is verbalizing “Thank you’s” immediately whenever someone does something for you.  To me this happens many times a day, and offers rich opportunities to communicate gratitude and promote a warm, positive family environment.
     I compliment those moms in our family who are helping their children to write “thank you” notes.
     BE A CHEER-LEADER FOR ANY GOOD ACTION BY THOSE AROUND YOU.  Be enthusiastic and spontaneous.  The 80% rule for maintaining relationships is: 4 positive interactions for every negative interaction.
     USE THE GOLDEN SENTENCE.  There is a more sophisticated way to word a statement of praise, which strengthens your ability to build up the person.  Some have called it “The Golden Sentence.”  Here is the format for this kind of statement:
           I feel [state the positive feeling]
           about [name the action/behavior]
           because [describe how the action/behavior benefits you or others]
     Here are a couple of examples:
     “I feel wonderful whenever you compliment me about something I do around the house, because then I know that you love me.”  
     “I admire how you interact with your little kids–you seem so gentle and positive.  I am sure that this will evolve into a strong relationships as they grow older.”
     DO SOMETHING THAT EXPRESSES APPRECIATION OR AFFIRMATION TO FAMILY MEMBERS EVERY DAY (OR OFTENER)
     I wish I could have expressed praise and appreciation better in my earlier years.  I think this would have benefited JoAnn and helped her cope with the huge challenges she had to deal with.  I especially wish that I had been more appreciative to my mother, who did so much for me, including helping me to gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel.
     I can only look forward to meeting these two in the hereafter, intending to make sure that they now know of my profound gratitude for their multitudinous contributions to my life on earth.

Wilford Woodruff's Response to the Announcement of Baptism for the Dead

Prominent men appear to Elder Woodruff at St. George temple 1877

     At the time of the Church’s October Conference in 1940, eight members of the Quorum of the Twelve were serving missions in England, including Wilford Woodruff.  At the conference, on October 5, 1840, Joseph Smith gave an address in which he made a huge announcement, one that established an entirely new direction for the Church.  There may have never been a conference announcement, before or since, with that significant a change being made, even including those that abolished polygamy or extending the priesthood to all worthy males.  The discourse was about baptism for the dead.
     On the next day, Elder Woodruff’s wife Phebe, who had attended the conference, wrote a long letter to her husband in England to share the news.  Shortly after this, Joseph smith also wrote a letter to the Twelve explaining the doctrine.
     When Elder Woodruff heard the news, his response was interesting and inspiring.  He recorded in his journal that the moment that he heard of the possibility of baptisms for the dead, his “soul leaped with joy.”  The doctrine of vicarious baptism proved to Wilford that God “was reasonable, wise, just, and true, and possessed both the best of attributes, and good sense and knowledge.... consistent with love, mercy, justice and judgment.”  As a result Wilford loved God more than ever.  He later testified that the revelation was like a “shaft of light from the throne of God,” and “opened a field wide as eternity to our minds.”  (reported in Jennifer Ann Mackley, “Wilford Woodruff’s Witness: The Development of Temple Doctrine,” Seattle: High Desert Publishing, 2014, 47-50)
     Might we share some of Elder Woodruff’s feelings about work for the dead?

Imperfection in a perfect Church

Christ the Healer

     Here is an insight from the Givens (“The Ring of Pharaoh,” The Crucible of Doubt, pp. 73-82) which gives me much comfort, as it reflects upon both my efforts to lead and to follow in the Church.  In their chapter about our dealings with and expectations of our leaders in the Church, both local and general, that we are required to sustain and follow fallible human beings, they teach of how thoroughly God relies on the principle of delegation to both further his work and help persons to grow.  Delegation requires that God sanctions and honors decisions made on earth, if sincerely executed, even if they are not a perfect reflection of heavenly wisdom.
     B. H. Roberts has stated, “I think it is a reasonable conclusion to say that constant, never-varying inspiration is not a factor in the administration of the affairs even of the Church; not even good men, no, not though they be prophets or other high officials of the Church, are at all times and in all things inspired of God.”  Part of the test for each of us, is that God asks for us to receive the words of the prophet (and for that matter, the words of other leaders, both local and general), “as if from my own mouth, in all patience and faith.” (D&C 21:5).  Why patience and faith?  Because we are obligated to find out for ourselves the level of inspiration involved in a pronouncement.  And also, this will be the action of a well-intentioned but less-than-perfect leader, and may very well place our own faith on trial.
     “God said that he would have a tried people.  But he doesn’t have to do the trying.  We do most of it to each other–through the very weakness designed to bring us all, fallible leaders and struggling disciples, to Christ the Healer.” (p. 79)
     Even if leaders make errors as they try to execute their callings, God can and will transmute these into goodness.  As evidence, the Givens cite the story of Joseph being sold into Egypt, Joseph Smith’s experience in the Liberty jail (D&C 122) and Lehi’s blessing to his son Jacob (2 Nephi 2:1-2).
     The closing challenge from the Givens:
     “ “Imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with,” reminds Elder Jeffrey Holland.  “That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but he deals with it.  So should we.”  Generosity with our own inept attempts to serve and minister to each other in a lay church, charity toward those in leadership who, as President Dieter Uchtdorf noted, have “said or done [things] that were not in harmony with our values, principles, or doctrine,” and faith in Christ’s Atonement that makes up the human deficit–these could be the balm of Gilead for which both wounded disciples and striving leaders seek” (p. 82)
     There we have it:
– GENEROSITY toward our own inept efforts
– CHARITY toward those in leadership
– FAITH in Christ’s Atonement to make up any deficit

Michael's birthday celebration

Wendy and I  tried to organize something to recognize Michael's birthday.  Usually we try to go to the temple and then have pizza and cherry pie as a family. We were going to do a family temple sealing session.  We had the Soderquists and Matthew and Kim committed and maybe an Emilie, but then we learned this week that a long absent cousin of Wendy's, Julie, was going to be in Utah on Friday evening, the only time we could see her.  We ended up at the cabin Friday night with Julie and all of Wendy's sibs and their spouses and it was alright.  Alison and Kim were able to pull off the  sealing session, which then included Dorothy plus Kris and Robb and their spouses, and did it, of all places, in Brigham City.

This evening (Sunday) Wendy fixed gluten-free pizza and cherry pie,so that we two could have our celebration.  I will say this--they look quite palatable in the picture.  To give the pizza its due, it had lots of good pizza taste--sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, cheese, etc.  I would eat it again.  We're about to try the pie.

PS: The pie was quite good.  Sorry you didn't get any.  The gluten-free crust was crunchy, and I like crunchy.

Preparing for the Temple

When LDS girls turn 12, they can immediately ask for a limited use temple recommend to be able to perform baptisms for the dead, subject to a worthiness review of course.  It is actually possible for a girl to be in the temple doing these ordinances on the very day of her 12th birthday.  In fact, we have several young women in our own family who have achieved this and been in the temple on the very day they turned 12.  What a wonderful goal.

For boys, the process for qualifying for such a temple recommend is a little more complicated and time consuming.  They must first receive the Aaronic Priesthood.  That process also requires a worthiness interview as with the girls, but also being sustained to receive the Aaronic Priesthood in ward sacrament meeting and then having the priesthood conferred by the laying on of hands by another priesthood holder.  At a minimum, it might be a few days or a week or more after his 12th birthday before a boy could possibly perform his first baptisms for the dead.
                                   
This small difference in procedure between girls and boys may perhaps be a metaphor for future differences in gospel-related requirements and opportunities based on gender.

For boys, receiving the Aaronic Priesthood and being ordained to the office of Deacon is the start of a long, multi-year apprenticeship and mentoring process to prepare for spiritual manhood.  It involves a succession of ordinations, graduated leadership callings, and priesthood related service experiences, as preparation to receive the Melchizedek priesthood and participate in the higher ordinances that belong to the temple.  For girls like boys, worthiness is required, but beyond some consideration of her age and situation, nothing else is required to receive temple blessings.  This difference seems to suggest that according to the wisdom and understanding of God, males need an extra and extensive program of tutoring to prepare for the blessings and obligations of the temple and responsible adulthood in the Church beyond that needed by women.

Sunday morning bullets

• Winter has finally come.  We got up to a couple of inches of snow.  The first flurry was yesterday afternoon, and it was snowing as we got up this morning.  We have had re cord breaking warm days for a week or so–highs in the 50s and even above 60 degrees.  Then Friday we had this howling cold wind from the SF Canyon that never let up all day.  Yesterday in the morning the sky was overcast and there was a sort of ominous warn stillness.  Then eventually the snow started.

• Yesterday in the morning I got outside to do a couple of last minute winter preparation.  First, I removed the covers for the turnoff valves for our two water systems.  I turned off the Pressurized Irrigation valve which I hadn’t already done, although the water had stopped in late October.  I also stuffed some insulation in the hole around the culinary water valve.  This was a recommendation of a plumber who had helped us thaw our pipes last year when they froze during a cold spell.  I also did a little early winter pruning of our rose bushes, just taking off the dead roses and the tops of the weaker stalks to help keep them from breaking if we have heavy snow on them.  We had had some of our bushes grow quite tall and a couple of new plants where the stalks were quite spindly.  According to rose pruning instructions with which I am familiar, you are supposed to leave most of the stalks until late winter or early spring before you do serious pruning.  Leaving most of the wood is supposed to help the rose plants survive the winter.

• We were excited yesterday to get the long-awaited word of the date for dedication of the Payson Temple, June 7, 2015.  I can see that there will be a lot of scrambing now to reset calendars for our youth programs and other things now.  For example, our stake’s planned youth conference conflicts with this date.  Not that anyone is complaining, of course.

• I had a little glimpse a few days ago of what the future might be like with the new temple in Payson.  I was conversing with Kelly W, he who is an Assistant Recorder at the Provo Temple and who will be the Recorder for the Payson Temple and who is also a Counselor in the Blake’s Stake Presidency.  I said we worry a little that there will not be enough temple worker positions at Payson for all of us who live in its new district and currently work in the Provo Temple.  He said he thought there would be plenty of things to do, because Payson will be a “member maintenance” temple, like our church houses. There will be lots of responsibilities to be cared for by callings of members that are done by paid staff at Provo.  He gave an example of a line for a worker where one of the assignments, in addition to work with ordinances, might at a given hour be to take out the garbage.

• I really enjoyed our Christmas kick-off get-together at the cabin last Friday night.  I felt so relaxed and just enjoyed the association and to observe the happy interaction between other family members.  Attending were Wendy and me, Nathan and Gloria, the Sodequists, Blakes, and Lewises. Ryan, Alyssa and Megan were there representing the college-age group.  Also Rachel happily joined in the party during the White Elephant exchange on a “face-time” call with Ryan and Alyssa.  She seemed appropriately giddy.  We did most of the usual-- dinner, then a grand march for all who wanted to join in, a line weaving in and through the cabin rooms and balconies singing “We wish you a merry Christmas.”  Then Wendy and I gave all the kids the First Gift of the season, a ridiculous compacted little glob that when moistened becomes a washcloth with various hero images like Spiderman and Superman.  Then the kids beat up a pinata that started as a clown but Wendy had fashioned into a Christmas tree, and collected lots of candy.  Then Matthew led us in the White elephant gift exchange.  And we sang Christmas carols around the piano, first our yearly rendition of the Hallelujah chorus, then O Beautiful Night, and lots of Christmas songs from an old Christmas song folio that we had in our home when the kids were small.  Matthew said that these were not The Forgotten Carols, they were the Carols That No One Had Known in the First Place.  However, the older generations in our family knew them and its was fun to sing them again.