How Do I Look?

Husbands have a dilemma if the wife asks him how she looks.  I think the wife usually wants an honest assessment, but it would probably be more meaningful if she hears genuine compliments along the way, on other days, when she looks nice.  Then, if a particular outfit isn't quite as good as it could be, the husband can say so and it should be easier to take because she know that he finds her attractive on other occasions.

Two Missionary Sons

I have two missionary sons at the moment.  The oldest son is in Peru.  He's been there since August 2010.  He will complete his mission in September of 2012 (He extended his mission for 6 weeks).  The next son is currently in the MTC in Provo, UT, learning spanish so that he can serve his mission in Arizona, Tempe.  I hear from Mark on Mondays.  I hear from Paul on Thursdays.  They are both very excited about the work and seem to be throwing themselves into it.  It makes me very happy and proud to see them being missionaries.  Whenever I see young men in white shirts with their missionary name tags, my mind automatically jumps to my sons.  From the moment they were born, I hoped that they would do a few certain things in their lives:  be Eagle Scouts, serve as missionaries, marry in the temple, be righteous husbands and fathers.  So far, they are doing very well.  We pray for them every day that they will be safe, healthy, happy, do their best, work hard, and find people who want to hear their message, a message that has brought me and my family much happiness in our lives.

Sending off an LDS missionary son

Tomorrow, I send off my second son to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I have looked toward this day since he was born.  I am proud of him for wanting to fulfill this commitment.  It is hard to say goodbye.  We only talk on the phone at Christmas and Mother's Day for two years.  Thankfully, we can communicate once a week with emails whose arrival I eagerly await each week (I have another son serving a mission in Peru.  He has been there since 2010 and returns home in September of this year).

Missions change boys into men as they put all of their hearts, minds, and souls into the work of the Lord for two years.  They set aside their own needs for entertainment, romance, education, rest to spend their days working hard.  There is something that refines a person when there is time for introspection, reflection, pondering, service, prayer, and spiritual focus.

I am grateful for this opportunity for him and for our family.  I pray that he will find people who will listen to his message.  The gospel of Jesus Christ has so much to make us happy in this life and the eternal focus and purpose to this life and the life beyond is such a wonderful message.  It puts this life into perspective and directs the choices we make on earth.

If you see missionaries on the street.  Talk to them.  Listen to their message.  Pray about what they say.  Think about who they are and what they are doing, what drives them to spend two years of their young lives sharing this message.  Think about their families who support them.  Think about those missionaries whose families do not support them, yet they are still being valiant young men.

I am so grateful for how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has blessed my life.  I know that the message is true.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior.  I love the words of the prophets and am grateful that God speaks to ALL people.  I love the scriptures: the Bible and the Book of Mormon and believe that there is much comfort, guidance, and refinement in our lives as we live by the principles taught by the Lord.

Tree Farmer

This poem was written by my younger sister about my dad and his tree farm.  He started it in 1976 when I was in junior high school. I share all of these memories with Andra.  When we visit now, the saplings are a big, strong forest of beautiful Douglas Fir trees.

Tree Farmer

By Andra Willis

1

Dry, clean, and clear,                                                                 

The air wisps and waves over rolling hills and jagged peaks.

It dives and dozes in the summer morning coolness,

And traces the lines

Separating the earthy shapes below.

Soft as the whisper of a dragonfly’s wings,

It touches the tops of the grand Douglas firs

Drinking in the deep green,

And twisting down and round the scratchy trunks.

Until it breaks through the evergreen wall,

To the clear cut canyon.

The air weaves through drying brush piles,

But stops short, seeing

A sapling, peeking

From the sea of brown.

And then another.

And another,

The beginning of a new forest.

2

The man grows trees.

He grows children too.

The air gathers round the father and his children,

Who once carried dusty shovels

And burlap bags of saplings.

Later, staplers and papers to foil the deer,

Tin foil to protect from mice.

The air races round the children, their mother and father,

Faces lit by campfire,

Singing with an accordion,

Roasting marshmallows in the glowing coals,

Slumbering.

The air cools to older youth.

With their father,

They wield long pole saws in the drizzling rain,

And then chainsaws,

Pruning and training to grow

Straight and tall, lumber.

It is his farm.

It is their farm.

3

But really it is his farm.

And now the air dips down,

Ruffles gray hair,

And traces wrinkles,

Lines of satisfaction.

Seventy, bent, but sinewy,

The aging man climbs through a stand of trees,

Rows standing at attention

Showing respect.

I will not spend my final years

In a rocking chair,

The thought flows,

And the air embraces

His trees,

His children,

And his memories,

And whispers strength into his ears.

Popularity

Just thinking about what makes someone popular?
What contributes to feeling part of the group?
What kind of characteristics does a person need to be invited to a social gathering?
What makes someone exclude you when you know others who were invited to an event?

I just found out that there are two separate parties going on within a wide group of friends, not super close, but definitely on chatting level and pretty much peers in a group.  We were not invited.  It's hard not to wonder what contributed?  My husband's position?  My husband is a particularly good conversationalist.  I can hold my own.  I don't know.  I'm kind of struggling on this one and feeling left out.  Maybe it's because we don't reciprocate enough.  But, I always send thank you's and I always try to contribute to a party somehow.  Maybe it's age.  We're on the upper end of the one group, but about the same age as the other one.

Reading

I just read a lovely little book, "The Heroine's Bookshelf" by Erin Blakemore. She took heroines from a variety of fiction books and talked about their qualities: courage, faith, simplicity, fight, magic etc.  Great little book.

The preface was good too and made me realize how much I appreciate reading.  I've belonged to a book club here in Arlington for about 20 years now.  We've read many, many books.  I love being exposed to books that I might not have chosen otherwise.  I also enjoy sharing the books with friends.

I keep track of my book reading on goodreads.com.  That's another little treasure.  I love looking back over the past years that I've maintained a record and seeing all the books that I've read personally or read to my children.

Google Documents

What a wonderful thing!  Here are some things I have used it for:

Christmas gifts for family members (wish list, where it can be purchased, prices, what I've paid per child etc.)
Organizing an 11 year old scout camp for about 80 kids
Organizing a music theory test day for about 500 students
Planning menus with Jeff for extended campouts
Organizing church music (Sacrament meeting, church organists, and choir music)
Volunteers for elementary school for yearly fundraising auction
Planning vacations
Coordinating cub scout lists between packs

22 January 2012

I had a very unique experience today.  I visited a children's group at a church.  For singing time, the leader donned a belly dancer's apron over her modest dress and wiggled her hips (lightly) while the children sang, louder as they sang louder and softer as they sang softer.  The children also rolled a dice to come up with a number that corresponded to an action they would do while they sang the song.  The actions included singing with their backs to the front of the room, hopping, swirling around, and singing while they stood on their chairs.

Cleaning the temple

Today, I helped clean our Washington D.C. Temple.

I wiped down the covers of scriptures and hymn books, wiped down each black and white key on the organ and dusted the entire organ, climbed up on scaffolding and gently wiped each glass piece on 1/2 of a chandelier (while talking with a retired BYU English composition professor--and organist-- who had just spent about a year teaching English in China), buffed the benches in the chapel until they shone then wiped them with pledge, replaced hymnbooks in the racks, dusted all ledges, tops of doors, picture frames on the 2nd floor hallways and foyer, used Murphy's oil to rub down the wood walls in both ends of that main hallway leading to the stairwells, chatted (in spanish) with a missionary from Mexico whose husband had been a diplomat and had lived in France, China, and Switzerland, moved all the furniture in the walkway to the center in preparation for carpet cleaning.  The building is SO clean. . . every part of it.  Even the cleaning rags weren't so dirty.  Cleanliness is next to Godliness.  The missionaries there take it seriously.

This is the second year I have been able to help.  It really is an honor and I always feel like I learn things (even if I come home feeling more than a little discouraged about the cleanliness of my own house).  The cleaning supplies were so well organized on the shelves.  There were products for everything and procedures.  The woodwork is well-cared for.   There was joy in working and serving together.

One product that fascinated me was Butcher's Bowling Alley wax.  I googled it and learned that it's good on floors but shouldn't be used if the floor has been sealed with polyurethane rather than wax.  In any case, it really made the wood shine! Pledge was also a good product for the wood, and I guess Murphy's oil as well.