"Miracle Mornings"

Dear Family,

Clairice and I have been reading and discussing a book titled “The Miracle Morning” about the benefits of rising early and starting out the day with certain practices - pondering, visualizing, reading, journaling and repeating affirmations.  The premise of the book is that if you will get up early and start your day in this positive way it will lead to success in all areas of your life. Getting up early is the real key to this. This morning as I was reading on the church website I came across this amazing article about the blessings of arising early so I have copied it into my journal and want to share it with you on our blog.  When I was a very young mother I read a book by Daryl Hoole entitled “The Art of Homemaking”.  It seems kind of funny now because our society has changed so much and the idea of “homemaking” seems very dated, but I sure learned a lot from that book.  I did not know how to keep a home and make it a pleasant place.  One very important thing I did learn from that book was that if I wanted to stay ahead of my children I needed to get up and get ready for the day before they got up. That was probably one of the best and most useful things I learned from reading that book. I don’t remember when exactly I started doing that and I don’t remember it being easy but I do know I did start doing it and it made a difference in my attitude about my children, our family and my ability to manage everything. I don’t know if I started out life as a “morning person” or not, but I think I am one now probably because I’ve been getting up “early” (which is a relative term) for so many years, it’s just a habit. I sure do get a lot of things done though.  The problem now is that even when I got to bed earlier (before 11:00 lets say) I don’t fall asleep and have trouble staying asleep so I feel a lot tireder in the morning.  That’s a function of age I think, and will most likely not be changing anytime soon.

Here’s the article:

Filled with Life and Energy
By Randal A. Wright
The author lives in Texas, USA.

What one practice, if followed consistently and with discipline, would help you have better health, energy, and inspiration?

Imagine for a moment that a friend comes to you seeking advice on ways to receive personal revelation. If you could offer only one idea, what would it be?

As a new General Authority, Elder Marion G. Romney (1897–1988) felt inadequate in fulfilling his important calling, so he sought advice from his friend Elder Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The counsel offered that day both surprised and motivated Elder Romney. Elder Lee said: “If you are to be successful as a General Authority, you will need to be inspired. You will need to receive revelation. I will give you one piece of advice: Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested and then in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day.”

Years later, reflecting back on that experience, then-President Romney said: “From that day on, I put that counsel into practice, and I know it works. Whenever I have a serious problem, or some assignment of a creative nature with which I hope to receive the influence of the Spirit, I always receive more assistance in the early morning hours than at any other time of the day.”1

When I first read this account, I too was surprised by the advice Elder Lee gave. I would never have connected an early daily schedule with revelation. However, I now know that there is a direct correlation. I have also learned that actions traditionally associated with receiving revelation like prayer, scripture study, fasting, temple attendance, and service are greatly enhanced when I go to bed early and get up early.

Scriptural Examples
Inspired men and women of all ages have followed this divine counsel concerning sleep. “Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord” (Genesis 19:27; emphasis added). “Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone” (Exodus 34:4; emphasis added). “And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord” (Joshua 6:12; emphasis added).

How did the Lord begin His day during His mortal ministry? Mark records, “In the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35). Mary, a devoted disciple, followed His example and in doing so taught us a powerful lesson: “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre” (John 20:1). In the early morning she became the first mortal to see the resurrected Lord.

Blessings of Arising Early
Great leaders in our day also use the early-morning hours to receive revelation. Some time ago I heard a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy mention in a stake conference talk that he was an early riser. After the meeting, I spoke to him briefly about his early-morning ritual, then asked how many of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve kept a similar schedule. He replied, “They all do!” It was a powerful moment, and the Spirit testified to me that going to bed early and getting up early can be indeed connected to receiving revelation.

Additional blessings are pledged to those who follow the Lord’s counsel on sleep. Consider these incredible promises: “Cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated” (D&C 88:124; emphasis added). Invigorate means “to fill with life and energy.”

The ancient philosopher Aristotle suggested other benefits to those who keep an early schedule: “It is well to be up before day-break, for such a habit contributes to health, wealth and wisdom.”2 Early U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin later put that thought into his well-known maxim: “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”3 Most people put health, wealth, and wisdom toward the top of things most desired in life.

Health
The average age of a chief executive officer in America is 55 years old.4 Would it surprise you to discover that the CEO of an international organization was a 97-year-old man? What if you also learned that he still traveled the world giving speeches, training leaders, meeting with government officials, and being interviewed by major media organizations at this advanced age? What if his two top VPs were very active 79- and 87-year-olds? And yet that was exactly the situation toward the end of the administration of President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) as President of the Church. It seems likely that an early schedule, while not the only contributor, is among the factors leading to the longevity of our Church leaders.

Former Brigham Young University president Ernest L. Wilkinson suggested that keeping an early schedule is associated with health benefits. Referring to President David O. McKay (1873–1970), President of the Church at the time, he said: “One of the great reasons, I am sure, why President McKay has lived to such a good, ripe, and vigorous old age has been the fact that as a young man he developed habits of retiring to bed early, arising early, generally before sun up, when his mind was clear and his body vigorous, to do the day’s work.”5

Connections have also been made between keeping an early schedule and mental and emotional health. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said, “To those who feel defeated and downtrodden, look to the early hours of the day for your rescue.”6

Wisdom
The connection between sleep patterns and wisdom is not just a theory. A study conducted by researchers at Brigham Young University states: “Students who habitually go to bed late and sleep late the next day have lower grade point averages (GPAs) than students with early-to-bed and early-to-rise sleeping habits. The later students slept in the morning, the lower their grades tended to be. Out of all the factors studied, weekday and weekend wakeup times had the strongest association with students’ GPAs. Each hour over the average that students slept in on weekdays was associated with a 0.13-point drop on the GPA (0.0–4.0 scale).”7

Not long ago I surveyed 203 Latter-day Saint college students about their sleep patterns. On average these students awoke at 7:30 a.m. on school days and 9:15 a.m. on weekends. Their average bedtime was midnight on school nights and 1:00 a.m. on weekends. These students are going directly against the research connecting an early schedule with knowledge acquisition. Perhaps the finding that a higher GPA is the result of an early schedule is too simple to believe. Have we become like the children of Israel, who refused to follow the Lord’s antidote for snakebites “because of the simpleness of the way”? (1 Nephi 17:41; see also Helaman 8:14–15).

Consider the counsel President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, gave related to gaining wisdom: “I counsel our children to do their critical studying in the early hours of the morning when they’re fresh and alert, rather than to fight physical weariness and mental exhaustion at night. I’ve learned the power of the dictum, ‘Early to bed, early to rise.’”8 Perhaps this is one reason full-time missionaries follow an early-to-bed and early-to-rise schedule.

Other Blessings
Writing with his wife, Barbara, Elder Joe J. Christensen, emeritus member of the Seventy, suggested even more blessings to those who follow the Lord’s counsel on sleep: “There must be an excellent reason for the injunction to retire and arise early [see D&C 88:124]. … The world is a more beautiful place early in the morning. Life is so much more calm. Much more can be accomplished in a shorter amount of time.”9 During a fireside address at Brigham Young University, Elder Christensen further stated: “Some of you are not getting the rest that you need. Some are habituated to going to bed late and sleeping much longer than your system really needs, thus missing out on some of the personal inspiration you could be receiving.”10

President Hinckley added another promise to the obedient: “If you go to bed at 10:00 and get up by 6:00 a.m., things will work out for you.”11

Following the Lord’s counsel on sleep may seem like a small thing, yet “by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29). I have a testimony that following an early schedule brings many blessings into our lives, including revelation. It’s amazing how much more I get accomplished in a day when I retire early and arise early. The benefits of this self-discipline far exceed the effort required. When we win the first battle of the day against the mattress, we are far more likely to win more battles during the day. We are also more likely to be filled with life and energy.

Hide References

Notes

  1. See Joe J. Christensen, To Grow in Spirit: A Ten-Point Plan for Becoming More Spiritual (1989), 27–28.
  2. Aristotle, in Wit and Wisdom of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, ed. N. B. Sen (1967), 100.
  3. Selections from the Writings of Benjamin Franklin, ed. U. Waldo Cutler (1905), 16.
  4. See Forbes magazine, “Emerging Culture, Worldwide Success,” Oct. 25, 2012.
  5. Ernest L. Wilkinson, Lifting One’s Sights, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year (Oct. 1, 1963), 4.
  6. Russell M. Nelson, “Joy Cometh in the Morning,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 70.
  7. Journal of American College Health 49 (2000): 125–30.
  8. Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently (1975), 205.
  9. Joe J. and Barbara K. Christensen, Making Your Home a Missionary Training Center (1985), 33.
  10. Joe J. Christensen, “Resolutions” (Brigham Young University fireside, Jan. 9, 1994), 5, speeches.byu.edu.
  11. Gordon B. Hinckley, in Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (1996), 166–67.

Ricks Devotional 1976 - Stephen R Covey

Hi Family,
I wanted to share something with you that I've  been thinking about. I often think of ideas, concerns, ponderings that I'd like to talk to you all about, but you all aren't here so I decided to write you all an email. I may do this from time to time along with posting it on our family blog (you all do remember the family blog, right? (http://giffords08.blogspot.com)

For some reason about a week ago something made me think about a talk I heard when I was at Ricks. It was by Stephen Covey. It had a big influence on my life and I've remembered it ever since. Thanks to the Internet I was able to find it in the archives for BYUI devotionals! 

https://byui-media.ldscdn.org/byui_ft/devo_audio/1976_09_28_ADV_Covey.mp3

28 Sep 1976 - Devotionals

Spiritual Rewards Come From Prayer and Reading Scriptures 

Brother Stephen R. Covey

Mission Rep. of the Council of the Seventy

I was predisposed to be interested and excited about this devotional because when I was in high school Ross Wight, the branch president in Sidney when I joined the church, used Covey's book "Spiritual Roots of Human Relations" as the text for many of his Bishops Youth Discussions.  I bought and read that book several times. The premise of his devotional is that if we will each spend 20-30 minutes a day in the presence of the Lord in prayer and  scripture study we will be changed from the inside out and will spend eternity with the Lord. Being a fairly recent convert to the church (baptized in May of 1974, went to Ricks in the fall of 1975 and heard this talk in September of 1976) I didn't have a regular program of scripture study. It wasn't emphasized then the way it has been since you guys were little. We didn't have the new scriptures where all the texts are tied together through footnotes, etc. It made a big impact on me and I can say that while I have not read every single day since that time, I've been pretty consistent over the years and haven't gone weeks or months without picking up my scriptures. 

Brother Covey taught at the Marriott School of Management at the Y and established the Masters program for Organizational Behavior, which having been a psych major I also found compelling.  I found another tie to him when we lived in Logan. He was a mission president in the British Isles and our Bishop in Logan, Kent Wallis was his assistant. Kent met his wife. Loreen while he was on his mission as she also worked in the Mission office. He often talked about what he learned from President Covey in discussions with the youth, in Sacrament and in ward council meetings. I'm sure you've heard of "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" which I've read a couple times and loaned out and lost.  He also wrote a similar more gospel oriented book titled "The Divine Center" which focuses on putting the Savior at the center of our lives and thereby putting everything else in it's proper place. If you've heard of "FranklinCovey" planners and organizers, seminars, etc. that's a combination of a company he started and merged with Franklin Quest.  I've always loved planners and when I knew he created a company that used his 7 habits idea in a planner I bought one! He died a couple years ago and would have been a little younger than Bumpa. 

Anyway, I wanted to share this with you. I've been thinking about it for awhile. I hope you'll take 40 minutes or so in the car or around the house to listen to this talk and think about me being a 19 year old new convert and the impression it made on me.  I hope it makes one of you also.

Love you all

Mom

Important Stuff

Dearest Children,
Last night and today was our Stake Conference. Our Stake President, Jack Hamblin, gave the most wonderful talk last night and I wanted to share it with you as best I can from the notes that I took.
It was about being good parents and even all of you aren’t parents yet, you all will be one day. The first part of his talk he gave 3 quotes from 3 prophets that said in a nutshell, that not 1 in a 100 children will go astray if we have Family Home Evening. Teaching the gospel in our home through the scriptures, prayer and FHE will practically assure us as parents that our children will stay true to the gospel. Then he gave counsel to fathers and mothers.

Fathers:
1.Provide homes where love and the Spirit can reside. Do our children feel our love and acceptance. Never speak in anger. Use no lash and no violence. Compliment, use courtesy and listen. Fatherhood is the supreme opportunity of life.
2.Teach principles of truth and help your children to understand those principles. Take time to find out what your children are learning and correct it if necessary.
3.Set in order your own households by keeping the commandments, have family prayer, both husband and wife holding Temple Recommends. Be free from debt, pay all your tithes and offerings.  Be determined to see your family exalted.  No other success can compensate for failure in the home.  Remember President Hinckley’s story of “No Vacant Chairs” when we all sit down together in heaven.

Mothers:
1. Be at the crossroads - when children leave and return from school, dates, activities, with friends. Daycare cannot substitute for a mother.
2.Be a real friend - listen, laugh, joke, sing, cry with your children
3. Take time to read to your children, from the time they are tiny on up. Plan a love for great literature and the scriptures.
4. Take time to pray with your children under the husbands direction
5. Have FHE every week.
6. Be together at mealtimes
7. Read the scriptures daily together - VITAL. Reading the Book of Mormon will change their lives. He read several quotes by prophets about FHE and scripture study
8. Do things together - attend events, church, games, vacation, etc. Spend time having fun together
9. Take time to teach your children the gospel in the home. Sunday school, Primary, YM/YW can’t do this for you.  Children will remember your teaching.
 10.Love your children

If we could see into the future and see the results and consequences of our decisions to do these things or not, in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations we would double our efforts to raise a righteous family.

I just really loved this talk. I can see that Dad and I did some things right, but we could have done better. You all have turned out pretty darn good in spite of our shortcomings! Much of this is commonsense and just obeying basic gospel principles, but when President Hamblin said it last night he said that if we felt rebuked as he talked to us the perhaps we need to repent and consider it an invitation to do better. It's a little too late for Dad and I to go back and redo the things we did wrong, but it's not too late for all of you to commit to living these principles of the gospel in your home and improve on the last generation. You all are living in a world that is much less righteous than it was 30 years ago when Dad and I started our family. I think these things are even more critical now to save your children in the Celestial Kingdom than they were for Dad and I. FHE should be a part of all of our lives, every week, regardless of whether we have children or not. Dad and I certainly need to do better at this. Just because Jessie has left doesn't mean we shouldn't still be doing this. Daily prayer, scripture study, etc., are all principles that all of us need to have in our personal lives and in our families.

I love you all so much. I feel so grateful for all of you. Dad and I often talk about how wonderful you all are and how blessed we are to have children (by blood and marriage) like you. The older I get the more I know that President McKay's statement about no success can compensate for failure in the home is true. That's what really matters - saving ourselves and our children so we can all sit down in heaven together.

jessie's letter 4/14/2012

Hey mom!
thanks so much for sending the package! Im sorry it was so heavy! I shouldnt have asked you to send so much. I hope it wasnt super expensive.

All I know about leaving is that I leave on Tuesday, and there is a huge group going to my mission of both nortes and latinos, so i dont know how we get there or what we do or anything really. sorry I cant give you more info! Oh and I have only had one companion so far. Hermana Bates, and she is from wyoming. she isnt going to my mission though.

And yes, for exercise we are with elders and latinos. about half of the people in the CCM work out at the same time as me and my district.

Im so glad things are going good with Reesy and Dave! Im sad though cuz I wish I could know more about him. I will admit its a lot harder then i thought to be away, i just feel like im missing everything! But I am happy for her.

Thats crazy about all the stuff happening at the store! Im sorry its been so hard mom! that is really terrible. I hope that you will be able to find some good employees soon. And im sorry you had to fire that lady, that would be hard. what is going on with the hardware store! have you found someone to manage it or do you know what you are going to do?

oh and I did get one letter from dad, i dont know what happened to the other one. i missed one from reesy once too. sometimes i think some get lost when they print them off when i have so many, just because when you guys send a talk or something it will take up 5 or 6 letters sometimes. im not sure if thats the reason or not, it might just be the unorganized latinos around here. anyways, i did get  one so let him know. and thanks dad :)

I have no idea how the money thing works either. i was wondering about that, but i guess i will just have to wait until tuesday for my mission president to tell us. so im pretty sure all my bites turned out to be mosquito bites. apparently i just have a really bad reaction to them here, cuz ive gotten some more since then. i am just going to have to be really careful while i am here, cuz they get really itchy and kinda swell, but dont worry if i wear bug spray and stuff i will be fine.

So Cody is there now? How is he? I hope he will be ok in Sidney for the summer! Tell him hi for me! Whats it like having him the house?

So, this week. Lets see, well I got a dearelder from Matt, so that was great. It wasnt very long though cuz he said he is sending me a real letter in the mail, so i just have to be patient haha. but im nervous cuz i dont know if it will get here before i leave, but they said they will forward our mail to our missions so i might just have to wait an extra long time but i guess thats ok. But it was really great to hear from him.  We went proselyting again this week, but without latinos. it was definitely better then last time, but i still cant understand what people are saying when they start to talk a lot. it also made me nervous cuz we only did it for 2 hours, but it felt like a long time, so im nervous about having to do it all the time in the field and that it will go by slow. im all done with classes now, we had infield orientation all day yesterday, and im not sure what we are doing on monday. But i am definitely starting to get really nervous about leaving. I know i am not ready and im just scared about my companion and not being able to talk to anybody or even know what the heck is going on. so im trying to prepare myself for it so i wont freak out when i get there. i almost got to meet my mission president this week cuz they were all coming for a conference thing and they were going to talk to us while they were here. everyone got so excited, but then at the last minute they told us the presidents wouldnt have time, so we were all so sad! but is ok, i get to meet him in a couple days. Anyways, everything is pretty good. i just need to try to pack and get ready to go in the next couple days. I am just getting really nervous about everything. I hope i can learn to love it for real, cuz right now i dont really understand why everyone loves their mission so much, but i just hope that once i am actually in the field i will love it as much as everyone else.

Anyways, I love you mom. I miss you guys so much! Im excited that I get to leave the CCM but I am just so nervous, but I am trying not to be and to just have faith that it will be ok. Thanks for all your prayers! I am praying for all of you guys too. I love you all so much! And dont worry I promise I am doing good. Love You!

Jessie

 

Jessie's first week in the field 4/25/12

Hey mom,

so first of all, i will try to find out how mothers day works, im not really sure but i will let you know. i want to find out as well so we dont have to have problems either. im excited to talk to you too! oh and i actually know about pres brough and president hamblin, he told me about it yesterday at a training meeting, so that is kinda crazy. so we talked about it for a minute. anyways, i am in a place called san lucas. it is in the mountains, so it actually gets cold here at night. my companion is named hermana cevallos and is from ecuador. this is her last month of the mission so i will be here last companion. she doesnt know a lot of english so sometimes communicating is difficult, but it hasnt been too bad. the area we are in is new, it hasnt had missionaries for like three years i think, so my companion doesnt know anything about the area either cuz she is new here as well. we didnt even know where the bishop lived and stuff, but we know a little more now. the ward here is huge! there were like 270 some people on sunday. we are the first sister missionaries here ever. There are also some new elders in our area too, so that has been good to have them there cuz one of them is from provo so i can actually to him in english which is really nice. so far we have just been going around and tracting or meeting members and meeting with the bishop and trying to figure things out here, so we havent done a lot of teaching or anything yet. its just kinda frustrating because when we are just talking or visiting with people, i cant say anything cuz i dont really know whats going on. I need to learn normal words! i only know gospel stuff. Its just hard to understand people cuz they talk so fast. anyways, my companion is really nice. she is very kind and patient so that is good. so our house. our house is so weird! its basically just a big concrete cinderblock. there is a bedroom, a kitchen, but we only have a fridge and a little plug in stove thing, and a study room. the shower is like this weird thing in the wall with a door that opens into it. luckily we do have warm water to shower. not hot, but warm. um but yeah the rooms have flooring in them, but all the walls and the floor in the hall and the stairs is just concrete, and theres not even a complete roof on the top, only the rooms are all fully covered. its so weird and hard to explain, i will send you pictures if i can. oh ps, so im not going to get mail very often here, like every few weeks when we have a meeting. i dont really have an address, you just have to send it to the mission office, so keep doing that. even dearelders i wont get everyweek. also i still havent gotten your package or matts letter, maybe a week from friday when we have another trainging meeting, i dont know. its so weird here, like some people are really rich and have super nice cars and nice houses and cell phones, and other ppl are literally dirt poor and have nothing. they live in like little shacks of metal with dirt floors. im definitely gonna go through a lot of shoes, cuz sometimes its like im hiking through a forest of something. dont worry, most of the city isnt lilke that and most of our area is more normal with streets. i just cant believe people live like that and its normal. i will admit i get scared a lot when people give me food cuz i know it doesnt follow the rules of what we are supposed to eat. we can only drink clean water and disinfected fruits and vegetable and stuff, and i know these poor people arent always giving us clean food, but i dont know what we are supposed to do. i got super scared about it, but when we met the bishop he gave the four of us, with the elders, a blessing, and mine said i would be healthy and be able to eat the food. at least i think thats what it said, i mean it was in spanish so i cant exaclty be sure. also i get really nervous about all the dogs everywhere cuz they are so dirty and scary and run around everywhere. but i guess if i was blessed with health i probably wont get rabies, so hopefully i will be ok. luckily in the mountains there are less bugs and stuff, so we dont have cockroaches in our house or anything like the people in the city do, so thats good. um so lets see, eat breakfast at our house, at lunch we have a cook, and she is a lady in the ward, and we dont even get to eat dinner, we just eat when we get home at night if we want. we also have a lady who does our laundry, its they same lady who cooks for us. i dont think my clothes are going to survive for very long, i mean when i saw how they get washed, they got through a beating! anyways, i will admit that things have been really rough. i have been struggling and scared and upset a lot this week. but yesterday we had a training meeting in the capital, so i got to see all my friends from the ccm so that was super great, and the other girls were struggling as well so i wasnt the only one. then president brough talked to the four of us north american girls cuz he could tell that we were all really upset and frustrated and having a hard time, so i feel a little better now and i am just trying really hard to be ok. but dont worry im ok a lot of the time, its just so hard to never know whats going on. i just feel like i never know what we are doing, but it will get better. also pres. brough told us that he wasnt going to let any of us go home, so i guess i am stuck here! haha anyways right now i am in antigua, which is a city like 10 to 15 miles from my city, we had a district meeting. so tuesday is when i get to email, mondays are our p days, but we didnt really get one yesterday because of the meeting. so i thought my area was like a kinda smaller town, but really it is huge! it is so so big. i cant believe how far we have walked somedays. its really hard for me to figure out where we are and stuff, but i will have to learn eventually, cuz since my trainer is leaving next transfer, i will get a new one and i will have to show her where everything is. anyways, so yeah you guys dont need to send dearelders every week cuz i wont get them, you can email, but i wont always have time to email you back, sorry. i can write letters though.

 um what else, food. mostly so far chicken, rice, and tortillas. the tortillas are really good. also they have really good bread here. and everyone drinks this weird coffee stuff, except they say its not coffee cuz they are all members, so i hope it really is safe cuz they always give it to us. i cant figure out what its called though.

all the people are really nice, even if they dont want to listen to you they will be really polite and friendly so that is good. i havent really met many rude people. even when we are knocking on doors they are nice. anyways, i think its about time to go. i dont know if i answered all you questions or not. but things are good, just super crazy and overwhelming. im trying really hard not to think about being gone for 18 months cuz that makes me discouraged. but i pray everyday to learn to love this and learn to love the people, so hopefully eventually i will. but  yeah, this beginning part is really hard and i hope it gets better. anyways, i love you all and hope you are doing great! keep telling me everything  thats going on at home, i love it. also thanks for the pictures! you could mail me some too if you wanted. i will let you know when i get your package. love you! miss you! hope everything is good!

Jessie

 

New experience at Work

Well, yesterday was certainly an interesting experience at work. Saturday afternoon the girls at the hardware store (Jennifer & Patti) sent home another employee - a new woman who had been there for a few weeks - because she was drunk. She had been drinking from a bottle of supposed energy drink but that obviously wasn't what was in it. She couldn't function and so about 4:00pm when they realized what was going on they sent her home. Dad came home from work and told me about it that evening. The day before on Friday, another male employee who has been with us for more than a year now, got mad and walked out. He had been having "behavior" problems - swearing, yelling, anger management issues(I think he may be bipolar) etc. Jennifer and Patti had caught him taking candy bars out of the last freight order from DIB and stuffing them in his pocket, also. On Friday he figured out that we knew about this and got mad and left, which was a blessing as it prevented us from having to fire him. Phil and Dad were planning on letting him go Saturday night after work.

On Monday morning we were wondering if the gal with the drinking problem would even show up. She did, and just like nothing was wrong. Phil was a big chicken to talk to her about this, Dad wasn't around, so guess who got this responbility? I called her up to the office and told her that we were concerned about the problem she had on Saturday.. She looked at me and said "What problem?". So I proceeded to tell her what happened and of course, she denied everything - that she was drinking, that she didn't know what was going on and couldn't function. I offered to get Patti and Jennifer to come over and tell her what happened. Then she said, well, she had had drink at lunch. Finally, after pressing her quite a big, she admitted she had a drinking problem and begged for a second chance. I told her no. Joy knew that she had been in treatment in Bismarck when Leith was there, so obviously, it didn't take. She cried, which made me feel bad, but not bad enough to relent. She has a back problem and is in pain a lot and is having surgery for this the beginning of May. She said that the alcohol was to mitigate the pain. I'm not buying that. I told her that that was an excuse for drinking and if she got help when she was recovered from her surgery and could prove she was getting sober we would take her back in a minute. It actually was theraputic for her I hope, as we hugged each other and I told her how sorry I was, but that her health and well-being was more important than anything else. I really hope she gets the help she needs. Joy was in the office at the time and made sure she knew who to call if she wants to get help.

I keep telling you all that our employee situation is just a total soap opera. I wasn't kidding.

Mom

Experience in Guatemala

Hi Family,

Jessie's mission presidents wife, Sister Brough has a blog. When I checked it there was a very inspiring story that I will put in my next letter to Jessie that I thought you would all like also. Perhaps Eric, you will have had similar experiences in Tijuana and can comment on this. I would like to read your thoughts. I was very touched by it and it gave me a lot of comfort that Jessie will be protected and will an angel (especially as a sister missionary) in the midst of the Guatemalan people. Here is her blog post:

Every day we see miracles in the mission field. Every missionary experiences these miracles during their service. What is really a great blessing for President is that when he reads the weekly letters of the missionaries he hears about these miracles. Some are very sacred that we could never fully explain adequately and some are just everyday occurances in the lives of obedient missionaries. One of the focuses we have had is "Abrir su boca", open your mouth. We have set some very high goals in our mission for contacting every single day. Some missionaries are great and attack the goal with complete obedience, faith and diligence. While others are not so believing....'it is to hard, what purpose does it serve, etc.... Of course as the missionaries obey other areas that they have goals in begin to happen and the faith begins to grow. Many miracles that happen are in the lives of members and especially in the lives of the investigators. I want to share one such story about the miracles of missionaries opening their mouths and doing what the Lord has asked. Being robbed here is a very common thing. The way of travel for all the missionaries is by 'chicken buses'. These buses are very very crowded and many times robbers come onto the bus and rob everyone including the driver. There is nothing they can do but give the men what they want because they are always armed and they travel in groups. Sometimes the miracles from being obedient are never seen by the missionary but they are always noticed by someone.

This experience was told to us by Elder Euteneier: "We have an investigator that was going on a bus to Escuintla one day. Four gang armed members entered the bus and everyone on the bus knew them and knew that they were going to assault the bus. Two of them stayed up front and sat down, two others went to the back of the bus. Everyone on the bus, including the investigators were all nervous and anxious when eight of our missionaries entered the bus. They began to contact the bus. Four Elders took the front of the bus and four Elders took the back of the bus. Unbeknowest to the missionaries they contacted all four of the gang members at the same time and gave them pamphlets. At the next stop, all four of the gang members got off the bus without a single threat. Our investigator told me that we are definitely sent by God to guide and protect the people here. So not only does contacting buses rid us of fear, help us find chosen people and spread the good word but it protects agains Satan's agents as well."

Jessie's will hopefully like this experience too. I hope it won't scare her but give her faith in the power of her call and that the Lord is with his missionaries. Love you all

Mom

Jessie's First Day as a Missionary

Dear Family,

I wanted to share with you all a little bit about yesterday as we took Jessie to get set apart by President Hamblin. I truly know the Lord knows his servants and He certainly knows Jessie. President Hamblin doesn't really know Jessie at all. Other than interviewing her for her Temple Recommend he hasn't had much contact with her, but he gave her the most beautiful blessing as he set her apart to be a missionary yesterday. The first words after he set her apart to be a missionary were the things that she has been most worried about the past few months. He told her that her that her worrys and anxiety would go away and she would be calm. I don't remember the exact wording but that was the feeling.

Then he told her that she would have a strong testimony and ability to communicate and have confidence in herself and in the Lord. I'm not giving the right wording, but this is what Jessie has been so worried about - that her testimony is not strong enough, that she can't explain things clearly, and that she knows she doesn't have the confidence necessary. All these things were addressed. He then told her very forcefully that she would have a "strong and immediate grasp of the language". I do believe those were pretty close to his exact words because it struck me pretty forcfully how he said it. Jessie's Patriarchal blessing says she has the gift of tongues and it reminded me of this. He also told her that she would be easily understood, both in word and in spirit. He also said something I thought was interesting right at the end - that she should speak loudly and clearly as she taught and testified.

He promised her that she would be a calming, peaceful influence in her district and zone and that she would be an example both to those she taught and to the other missionaries in her district and zone. He said something that I can't quite put into words about her relationship and testimony of the Savior and how it would be strengthened. She would have the ability to work without tiring, to be strong in mind and body and she will touch many people. She should be grateful for this opportunity. He also promised her that the Lord would grant her other blessings known only to her. He said the Lord was very pleased with her.

I wish you could have all been there. I'm not doing this justice by any means. It was a powerful blessing and I believe it was a comfort to her and did allievate her nervousness and fear and gave her confidence that she will have the words she needs. It was a testimony to me of how much the Lord knows each of us individually and is aware of us. President Hamblin couldn't have known all the fears of Jessie's heart, but the Lord sure did. As soon as he began to speak I felt the spirit in the room and the first words out of Pres. Hamblins mouth were all the things Jessie has been worried about. It was a great experience.

Love you all lots.

Mom

Dad's Trip to Minot Flood Zone

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We Made it Through Week One! Yay

Well, we have made it through Week 1 of P90X. I think I will rename it P90Die. That's more descriptive and true to how we feel by the end of the day - like we are going to die because we are so darned tired. We have been going to bed by 9:30-10:00pm - very unlike us.

Thursday was YogaX. Yoga was "Not Dad's Thing." Dad has never done yoga. Ever. There's a reason why. He can't bend over. He can't bend down. He can't bend sideways. He just doesn't bend. There was more groaning and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth today then Day 1. Mr. Horton tells you to quickly move from Downward Dog to Plank back up to Downward Dog to Runners Pose to Warrior One, etc., etc. Dad obviously doesn't know what any of these poses are and even if did he can't really bend that way yet. He spent most of the time trying to copy the moves on the screen and mimic them before Tony and his gang went to the next yoga pose. When we started Dad was in front of the TV and I was in back "helping & giving pointers." This was not helpful according to Dad. We switched placed. I was in front of the TV and he stood behind me. I was told to NOT turn around and watch him (or smile or laugh) and NOT make any more comments or suggestions. I shut up. That was YogaX day! Fun!

Friday we did (or were supposed to do) Legs & Shoulders & Back. This proved to be mostly just legs. As we got started we found we are supposed to have some sort of equipment to do chin-ups, which we do not own. Either a bar that hooks over the door frame or some stretchy pulley things that hook on the ceiling or over a door frame, or some such thing and you kneel on the ground and grab and pull them to simulate pull-ups. So basically, we did a leg workout. Dad is checking our door frames to see 1. If any are high enough for him to do pull-ups 2. If we have some way to hook that stretchy deal up for me, because it will be a long time before I have the upper body strength to do one pull-up. We are going to look when we go to Utah.

Saturday was Cardio - an hour of Old Fat Guy Basketball for Dad and an hour KempoX with Tony. I'm glad no one is watching. I did this a couple of times with Jessie. It isn't pretty.

Week One is in the History Books!

Day Three - Technical Difficulties

Once again, we managed to get Dad out of bed. "How can you be so happy and chipper in the morning?" he asks me. Beats me. I came this way. I love early mornings. Who else in our family is like this. . . . anyone? Hummmmmm . . . . I can't think of anyone. Apparently, this gene has not been passed on to my children. Too bad. It's a good one.

We head to the family room to find out what's in store for us this morning. Arms and Chest. Oh, yeah, AND that Super Ab Killer Thing. We turn on the TV, pop in the DVD and . . . nothing. Dad tries it again, and more of nothing. He tries another remote (we only have about a dozen - well, perhaps that a SLIGHT exaggeration) and more of nothing. After about 10 minutes of investigation, Dad gets his glasses because he can't really see in back of the TV. He decides to unplug everything and reset the TV. Viola (or however you spell that word, you know what I mean) power to the TV and a pictures. But, we have lost close to 15 minutes of exercise time.

So we head into the DVD, get our weights, which our not near heavy enough for Dad, but we "Get Busy" as Mr. Horton tells us and Day 3 of P90X is HIS-TOR-Y!!! We slammed it (I like Reesy's use of that word, and may be overusing a lot now.) Unfortunately (I feel REALLY, REALLY bad) no time for the Super Bad Ab Killer thing due to our tech problem. Maybe tomorrow!

Day Two of Old People Exercising

Day Two of an excercise program has long been known to be a LOT harder than Day One. I'm pretty sure there is verifiable evidence for this theory. Dad and I drug (is this a real word? And perhaps it's a good word, because I think it's how we felt) ourselves out of bed and realized we were in a lot of pain. I think the only muscles that don't hurt is my fingers and toes - maybe. But and the operative word, is BUT, we DID get out of bed!!! Yay! We are on our way to Day 2 of CardioX with Tony Horton (Britta has informed me of this), who, I think, is really, really, wierd, by the way. Actually, only I had to spend the next 45 minutes with Tony, as Dad is playing "Old, Fat Guy Basketball" (as I term it) and will be doing a lot more cardio than me.

I made it through most of the DVD (I forgot how hard yoga can be. . . ) but I survived. I skipped the Jumping Jacks and Banana Rolls ( I know my limit)-also those "Wacky Jacks". Jessie tried to get me to do them last year, but I am too uncoordinated. I can't wait to watch Dad "Get Wacky!" Then I skipped to the cool down. I cut myself some slack, because I am 54, out of shape and want to see you all next month.

Dad played an hour of basketball and was sweating like a pig! He is better at cardio. I am impressed with him.

Two days down and we are still alive!! And moving! Only 5 days to go to prove Eric wrong! We can slam this! (I liked Reesy's use of that word and thought I would steal it.

Keep tuned for the next installment!

Day One of P90X for Old Flabby People!

OK, so Dad and I started P90X this morning at 6:00AM and I decided to chronicle our adventures. And what an adventure it was! Perhaps it will motivate you younger people to GET OFF YOUR BUTTS!

The hardest part was getting Dad out of bed at 6:00am. He is not the happiest person in the morning. I, on the other hand, am. Very chipper, smiley and excited! Yay for exercise early on a beautiful Monday.

Little did we know what the P90X Guy, (what is his name anyway?) had in store for us. (We watched the introduction DVD yesterday and decided we would follow the "Lean" program - that will be us when you see us soon - Lean and Mean Parents - Can you hardly wait?) Core Synergistics was the first DVD we had to do. It started out OK with the warm ups, but then we had to do something called the Banana Roll. Wow, you should have heard Dad moan and groan. Then we did some other thing (I forget what it's called) but you lay on your stomach and grab your feet with your hands and rock on your stomach. Dad cannot grab his feet in this position. I found it extremely funny. Dad did not. I don't believe that Dad engages his stomach muscles all that much playing Old Fat Guy basketball. He did engage them this morning. It was somewhat painful to watch and listen to.

After about half an hour of moaning and groaning, huffing and puffing and a lot of sweat we decided that perhaps for old, flabby out of shape 50 somethings, perhaps we had given it a pretty good shot and we started cutting short each exercise. We hit the fast forward button after we did part of each exercise and then finally skipped about 10 minutes and went right to the cool down. Whew! We did it! We made it through Day 1 of P90x! Stay tuned for Day 2 tomorrow.

Dad's Day Post

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Mothers Day Dinner

To all of you who like to COOK & EAT: This means everyone in our family I suspect.

A month or so ago in our book club we read "A Little Princess" and I brought Indian Butter Chicken and homemade Naan, which you can find the recipes for here:

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/03/indian-butter-chicken.html

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/04/naan-indian-flatbread.html

They turned out FANTASTIC! I meant to take a picture of them, but suffice it to say that if you look at these pictures from Mel's Kitchen Cafe Blog, where I got them, you will be looking at my Chicken and my Naan. Homemade Naan is so good you will not be able to stop eating it and it is way better than store bought. It is also easy to make although a little time consuming to bake as you have to bake the Naan one or two at a time.

I am making this for Nana and Bumpa for dinner tomorrow along with this Strawberry CreamPuff Cake I found on Mel's Kitchen Cafe Blog also. I love this blog. Everything on it is wonderful!!!

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/10/strawberry-cream-puff-cake.html

Strawberries are in season and on sale in the stores right now and all you need is creamcheese and cream and strawberries. You should have everything else for this easy and delicious dessert.

Love you all and have a wonderful Saturday.

PS Check out Eric's blog post and let's see some family participation on our blog!!!

Conversation Starters

My good friend Kendel has a blog where he posts weekly thoughts and inspiration and this week he posted about something he found on a blog called raptitude, which I just added to my google reader.

The post, How to always have something better to talk about than the weather, talks about overcoming conversation awkwardness and shyness, something I think some of us have had to deal with. On my mission a few companions jokingly called it "applicando la Giffordiana" or basically standing back and saying nothing when there is a need to speak up. Raptitude says this about it:

• "I suspect that most shy people are not hardwired to be that way. They don’t lack any innate social talent, they just had one or two bad social incidents early on, and in an effort to avoid further social pain they began to err on the side of silence. Where last time they said something and regretted it, the next time they said nothing, and did not regret it.

• "Unbeknownst to them, this seemingly innocent little lesson is actually the seed of a devastating habit. Every shy person knows that the safest thing to say is nothing. Once a person chooses this safe approach a few times in a row, an insidious snowball begins to pick up speed."

Now I recognize that some people are just introverts and that is fine, but this really rang true with me. The blog talked about some of the myths that the silent tell themselves to feel better about not speaking up. The author gives a couple of solutions

1. "There are two primary pieces of advice I received, and now give. The first is watch how more skillful people do it. There are always opportunities to watch people interact. How do they begin conversations? How do they end them? How do they change topics? Even watching bad conversations can give you a great idea of what to do instead. Just watching people can give you a short go-to list of ways to open and close conversations. Make conversation-watching a habit.

2. "The other piece of advice is, of course, to practice speaking up. And practice always means allowing yourself do something badly until you can do it not so badly. It means making habit of doing things that are uncomfortable at first. So when it comes to overcoming shyness, that means speaking more than you feel like speaking. If you’ve established a habit of leaving most of the speech to others, it will feel unnatural to open up. That’s good, do it anyway. Discomfort indicates growth. Always say a little bit more than you’re used to."

It goes on to talk about some of the topics we always default to like the weather. I really enjoyed it. I was very shy as a teenager and starting college and my mission but have grown a lot. I think that I really only deal with this in a few situations now, but I decided I am going to make a conscious effort to both watch others and practice speaking up. Go check out the post and share what you think.

Also, for those of you in the family that never have any problem speaking up --- ahem---- Mom, Britta, Spencer --- feel free to share any tips!

Eric

Gramma G's visit to meet Charlotte!

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Front Door Robins

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Birdie

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