Tree of Life Mothering

I just ordered some fermented cod liver oil on amazon this morning. It’s expensive stuff and looks and tastes disgusting to most people. The different flavors of cinnamon, mint, and chocolate make it taste good to me, so I’ve taken it and promoted it. Many real foodies claim it is a miracle superfood that cures tooth decay and makes smarter and healthier babies, children and people. So after months of being without it, I decided that I needed to get my husband to take it faithfully to help with various symptoms he has. I also want to start taking it faithfully and eventually get my kids to take it every day. In short, having my whole family on FCLO has been on my bucket list!

After lunch, I turned to one of my favorite real food blogs and found a new report online questioning the nutritive value of this sacred cow of the WAPF/ancestral food movement. This is a brand new report by Dr. Kaayla Daniel, who submitted FCLO to various laboratories to find out if it really lives up to its claims of having Vitamin A, D, and K.  Here is the report. I am curious to hear if any of you have used it to cure tooth decay or help with health problems and what you think about the report. I just cancelled my order and will continue to research the issue. Here is Dave Wetzel’s response to Dr. Daniel’s report. Mr. Wetzel is the owner of the company that makes FCLO. Here is the WAPF’s response.

Where is the truth in this matter? 

Oh my, with two kids home from college and my regular brood of 5 still at home, August birthdays for two of my boys, and reliving my Nauvoo trip, life is very full and hectic. I did not get to the computer as much as I had hoped last Friday and Saturday. Here’s the intended post from last week to complete Chapter 3 of Dates with God. It’s Chapter 3, Part 4: Lauren’s Letter #3, in which Lauren comes face to face with her Dude Moments and Stupid Conversations. She confesses to herself that being online affects her negatively and finds scriptures to support the satanic spin.

Lauren’s Letter #3

 

Dear God,

 

So, I’ve been thinking about the Chemical Scale levels, especially my dude moments and forget-it moments [see Chapter 5 of Like Dragons Did They Fight by Maurice Harker and Lucas Reynolds]. I’m still having a little bit of a hard time accepting that satan can get into our heads and cause the chemical spill

 

It just seems like it’s taking away our agency. It doesn’t seem right or fair. It is like saying that we are standing in a battle blindfolded, being a wide-open target to the enemy, all the time, never having a clue when he’s going to strike. Then when he does strike we are too dazed to know what hit us.

 

Is this really how life works? I don’t want to believe it. It’s too out of my control. But then again maybe it would explain why I feel so grouchy and out of control so often! In that way it’s good news, kind of. It means I’m not totally at fault for feeling crappy. Does this really square with the teachings of the prophets? Hmmm…I don’t really know. Will have to research that.

 

All my law school training is coming out, the desire to logically analyze all of this. I’m willing to look at all angles before I judge. So I have been doing further reading. What has helped me is a book the mentor recommended call Mindsight by Daniel Siegel, MD. What Maurice calls Level 0, Dr. Siegel calls “mindfulness.” What Maurice calls Level 5, he calls “mindlessness.” I can certainly relate with those terms. I hate to admit it but being on the computer all day can get me to that state. But don’t tell my family. That last thing I want is for them to call me on it. I finished reading Mindsight yesterday. Some of the ideas are similar to what Maurice wrote, just dressed up in sophisticated scientific garb.

 

The mindlessness can start innocently enough with me checking my blog, not being mindless, seeing what comments have appeared since I last checked. Then I want to reply back to the comments my blog readers made. Then I want to see if they have a blog and go comment on their blog. Often I want to check facts and sources so I can quote them when I make comments. So then I start doing research and read articles. I get sucked in and want to read as much as I can on that topic. Then I want to make comments on all of the comments in the blogging world that pertain to that subject. I want to set the record straight.

 

Then I get a whole new idea for a blog post. Then I have to go looking for a graphic to go with the blog post. Or I have to create my own graphic. By this point I have strayed far from original intent of just checking comments on my blog. So I guess in that sense you could say I have reached some kind of state of mindlessness. I got in trouble a few months ago with some negative comments on one of my blogs. If people want to be wrong and stupid, that is their choice. I always have this irresistible urge to go write a rebuttal to them and tell them off.

 

Then there is my Pinterest baby-name spoof page where I have pins of things I like for my imaginary kids with their outrageous Utah names. As a midwife I have heard some real doozies. For example, Drakkar. That was one I heard when I first started midwifery training. Seriously? Parents would really name their kid after cologne? Then there was Vanity, and Skid. When you have parents who would give you names like that, who needs enemies? After hearing so many, I had to vent about it, hence the Pinterest spoof page. I update it daily because I get so many laughs out of doing it.

 

Well, on with the business of homework. Here are some dude and forget-it-moments of my life lately:

 

Dude Moment: “Just do the kids’ jobs yourselves. Don’t follow through with the kids. It’s so hard to get them to come.” We do have a housekeeper but I do have a few jobs assigned to each kid. That one doesn’t have to do with any of my goals. I’m realizing that battles can be for our Girl Goals or other, non-official l goals.

 

Dude Moment: I heard Riley coughing and hacking her throat out during the night a while ago. I was going to get up and get my essential oils and my diffuser out to help but I didn’t want to get out of bed. Here’s what I heard in my head: “Just lie here for a few minutes, then get up. You can get up in a few minutes.” The next thing I knew, my alarm was going off in the morning to get up. Ugh, more mom guilt. She was coughing all day and I kept her home.

 

Stupid Conversation: I found a ridiculous comment on my girlfriend’s blog attacking moms who breastfeed in public. I kept thinking about it all day. I kept telling myself not to respond, but it was bugging me. I told myself, “Just go on there and see if Jennifer has replied.” “No, stay away, you’ve met your limit for screen time today.” Then, “But I just want to see what she said,” The next thing I knew it I was publishing a sarcastic reply.

 

In my research I found some scriptures to support the concept in this class that satan works on us.

 

3 Nephi 6:13-15

“Some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceedingly humble; some did return railing for railing, while others would receive railing and persecution and all manner of afflictions, and would not turn and revile again, but were humble and penitent before God. And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up; yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord. Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world.”

 

I noticed that when it said that some people started turning away from the church, a pocket of Lamanites did not do that because they were “converted to the true faith.” So is it possible to be converted to the “untrue faith”? It also says that the cause of the iniquity of the people was satan “stirring up the hearts of the people.” Is that the satanic spin? Even though it uses the word “hearts” not “minds”? Could what we think of as the heart, the center of emotion and desire, actually be in the mind? Is the “heart” really in the frontal lobe of the brain? When satan stirs people into iniquity is he spinning them out of their frontal lobe? I think so. It fascinates me that the frontal lobe is both the place of values and logical thoughts. Could the untrue faith be the belief in the lies that satan is telling us?

 

I’m thinking of  all the times I’ve gotten in arguments online and in person. I am definitely not at a Level 0 when that happens. Hmmm…I really want to catch myself at a Level 2 so I don’t get sucked into making negative comments again. The more I think about it, I can’t remember being at a Level 0 for a long time. I feel like I’m critical and defensive, at the same time, all the time. Like I marinate in those two states all the time.  I bounce between feeling stressed and critical, ready to pounce on others, and… hey, wait,  I do remember a Level 0! It was a few nights ago when I was cuddling with my girls and reading Little Women to them. I would like to create more times like that with them.

 

Love,

Lauren

If you ever go to Nauvoo, be sure to take the wagon ride. Despite some of my children’s expressions above, it was a very pleasant experience. I loved hearing all of the stories from the missionary tour guide.

We traveled along the roads that are named after Joseph Smith’s brothers. I thought that was what the tour guide said but now as I look at the map I can’t find the names. Anyway, the first story we heard was about Joseph’s brother, Samuel Smith. He was the first traveling missionary for the church, as far as I know. The first Book of Mormon he attempted to give away was not accepted. On the second attempt he was able to leave it with a Methodist preacher, who said he would sell it on an upcoming preaching tour. Samuel Smith said he would come back in 2 weeks to collect the money from the sale. He left thinking the mission was a failure. But the preacher, John P. Greene, and his wife, Rhoda Young Greene, read the book. They felt impressed with truth when reading it. Samuel also left a copy of the Book of Mormon with Phineas Young, Rhoda’s brother. Samuel declared the Book of Mormon to be:

a revelation from God, translated by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, and that my brother Joseph Smith, Jun., is a Prophet, Seer and Revelator.

Phineas read the book more out of curiosity then from believing what Samuel told him. After he read it, this is what he said about the Book of Mormon:

I commenced and read every word in the book in the same week.The week following I did the same, but to my surprise, I could not find the errors that I anticipated, but felt a conviction that the book was true.

… My father then took the book home with him, and read it through. I asked him his opinion of it. He said it was the greatest work and the clearest of error he had ever seen, the Bible not excepted.

I then lent the book to my sister, Fanny Murray. She read it and declared it a revelation. Many others did the same.

Phineas, Rhoda, and John all joined the Church. Such was the beginning of the Young family in the LDS Church. You can read more of the story here. As the missionary said, you never know when or how the missionary seeds you plant will bear fruit. Just keep looking and planting those seeds.

He showed us the site where King Follett had died in an accident while digging for a well. The Church has built a well at the site and calls it the Follett Memorial Well.

All my life I have heard about the King Follett discourse by Joseph Smith. Now I was finally hearing the story and seeing the place behind it! I remember being confused because for a long time when I was young I didn’t realize that “King” was the first name of this man and not a title. King Follett, a Latter-day Saint, was digging a well at this site when a tub of crushing rocks fell on him and killed him. His wife asked Joseph to speak at his funeral. That gave Joseph the opportunity to say important revelation to the Saints. Here is the sermon he gave.

We stopped in the Dan Jones Hollow, a hollow that the Church has named in honor of Dan Jones. I feel sad that I didn’t get a picture, but here’s the story. Dan was a small, but courageous, man who came from Wales to Nauvoo. He was a devoted follower of Joseph Smith, such that he was in Carthage Jail giving Joseph support the night before Joseph was martyred. As they were falling asleep that night, Joseph asked Dan Jones if he was afraid to die for the cause of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Brother Jones replied,

“Has that time come think you? Engaged in such a cause I do not think that death would have many terrors.” 

Joseph then prophesied, 

You will yet see Wales and fulfill the mission appointed you ere you die.

Tragically, Joseph died the next day. But Dan Jones did go on a mission to Wales after that, teaching the gospel and bringing in thousands of people. In 1846 he averaged 35 converts a month, and then later it was over a hundred a month! By the time he left Wales, there were almost 4000 members of the Church due to his efforts. Here is an article about that. 

I actually saw a cardinal (the red thing in the middle of the photo) in the bushes during our wagon ride. I don’t see cardinals in Utah so this was a lovely surprise. 

We then heard a story about Porter Rockwell and his brother, Merritt, then a story about the Abbott Family who lived where this barn is.

He also spoke of Joseph Smith inviting a Catholic priest to Nauvoo to speak. I will add those stories in here later.

I loved what the missionary tour guide said at the end of the ride, quoting Joseph Smith. He said something to the effect of:

We welcome you to Nauvoo. We invite you to accept our faith. If you don’t accept it, at least please accept our hospitality. Please accept our hospitality and live by the Golden Rule, treating others as you want to be treated.

As he said, please accept the hospitality of the Church. The activities in Nauvoo are all free, courtesy of the Church. It is a great family vacation spot, because you learn real stories and feel such peace in this place, because it was founded by a prophet of God.

Next up for the sights we saw: the Jonathan Browning Gun Shop, Lucy Mack Smith Home, and Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo!

This is a model of the real Nauvoo Temple. We saw it in the Winter Quarters’ Visitors Center. It was what the Saints left when they came to Winter Quarters, but it was a lovely reminder to us of what we would get to see when we got to Nauvoo!

And here it is in its full glory!

We arrived at the Nauvoo Family Inn and Suites while it was barely daylight on Tuesday night. We enjoyed the indoor swimming pool and hot tub and went to bed. The next morning, first we went to the Nauvoo Visitors’ Center. I found a plaque of a copy of an ad of my ancestor, Zerah Pulsipher, advertising his property for sale for when the Exodus was beginning. The next day we found the exact spot on the map where this property was, but sadly did not have the time to go find it in person because it is not in the Old Nauvoo part, but on the bluff, on the east part aways into the “country.”

Then we went on the wagon ride. I loved hearing all of the stories from Elder Angell, the missionary tour guide. Later I wished I had taken notes. So after that I started taking some paper with me on each of the tours to take notes. These are such precious stories that brought the Spirit into my heart. I will blog about them in the next post.

For Day 3, we woke up in Omaha, Nebraska. First we went the Mormon Trails Visitors’ Center, where Winter Quarters used to be. 

We had many ancestors who lived in Winter Quarters. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to go across the street to the cemetery to look at the gravestones and pay our respects. I snapped this picture of the temple that is next to the Visitors’ Center.

Photo Courtesy Alexander L. Baugh, featured at http://mormonhistoricsites.org/kanesville-tabernacle/

After the Winter Quarters Visitors’ Center, we went across the Missouri River to the Kanesville Tabernacle. I didn’t know anything about this place so I felt full of the spirit of discovery as I walked and read all of the signs and listened to the stories.This tabernacle is not the original one, it is a replica of the orginal one that was built by 200 saints in 3 weeks. The replica was dedicated by Pres. Hinckley in 1996. This was the place where the “apostolic presidency” ended and Brigham Young was ordained and sustained to be the 2nd president of the Church in December 1847. For 3 and a half years after Joseph Smith died, the Church was run by the Quorum of the 12 apostles, until the time when Brigham Young was ordained. I definitely felt the Spirit here. It was very strong, just like it was in Winter Quarters and Nauvoo. The missionary couple there were so sweet. I loved hearing the stories they told. 

One story was about one of their ancestors who lived in Winter Quarters. Here is a quote from her, which inspires me to keep on keeping my journal:

“I have a desire to leave a record of those scenes and events, through which I have passed, that my children, down to my latest posterity, may read what their ancestors were willing to suffer, and did suffer, patiently for the gospel’s sake. And I wish them to understand too, that what I now [write] is the history of hundreds of others, … who have passed through many like scenes for the same cause. I also desire them to know that it was obedience to the commands of the true and living God [to gather to the Salt Lake Valley], and with the assurance of an eternal reward—an exaltation to eternal life in His kingdom—that we suffered these things. I hope, too, that it will inspire my posterity with fortitude to stand firm and faithful to the truth, and be willing to suffer, and sacrifice all things they may be required to pass thru for the kingdom of God’s sake” (“Leaves from the Life of Elizabeth Horrocks Jackson Kingsford,” Utah State Historical Society, Manuscript A 719).  

The husband told the story about Oliver Cowdery coming to a meeting there in October 1848, after Brigham Young had gone to the Salt Lake Valley and then come back to get more saints to go to the Utah Territory. I did not know that Oliver Cowdery came back into the Church “fold” here in the Kanesville Tabernacle. I am copying here the story, from lds.org’s archive of Ensign magazine articles:

On Saturday afternoon, 21 October 1848, they [Oliver Cowdery, his wife, Elizabeth, daughter Maria, and Phineas Young, his brother-in-law] arrived during a local conference. One report says Elder Orson Hyde, who was conducting the meeting, spotted Oliver, came down from the stand and embraced him, took him by the arm, and escorted him to the platform. Elder Hyde invited him to speak to the congregation of nearly 2,000 Saints. He said:

“Friends and Brethren, my name is Cowdery, Oliver Cowdery. In the early history of this church I stood identified with her, and one in her councils.” Then he bore testimony as one of the Three Witnesses: “I wrote with my own pen the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph, as he translated it by the gift and power of God.” He stated, “I beheld with my eyes and handled with my hands the gold plates from which it was transcribed,” and testified, “That book is true.” He added, “I was present with Joseph, when an holy angel from God came down from heaven and conferred or restored, the Aaronic Priesthood,” and “I was present with Joseph when the Melchizedek Priesthood was conferred by the holy angels from God on high.”

On 30 October, he spent the evening talking with Elders Hyde and George A. Smith, and on 5 November he met with the high priests and the Pottawattamie High Council in the log tabernacle. “I wish to come humbly and be one in your midst,” he said. “I only wish to be identified with you; I am out of the church, I am not a member of the church. I wish to become a member of the church again. I wish to come in at the door. I know the door.” On 12 November Elder Hyde baptized Oliver Cowdery in Mosquito Creek. Brother Cowdery planned to go west the next year but did not, due to family and lack of means. He decided to wait another year, but then his health deteriorated and he died on 3 March 1850 in Missouri.

On Day 2 of our trip to Nauvoo, we enjoyed visiting with our Colorado cousins in the morning. My sweet sister-in-law took the trouble to round up air mattresses for all of the kids to sleep on in her downstairs family room turned into fitness studio. My sweet niece gave up her bedroom for my husband and me, and then my sweet nephew gave up his room for Grammi. After getting up at 4:45 AM the day before, I was planning on sleeping in before we hit the road for another day of travel. Around 5:30 I woke up to a voice saying, “I’m going to throw up!” This is not the sound you want to hear from your child when he is sleeping as a guest on a borrowed air mattress. “Here…let me help you get to the bathroom!”

“Bless you my child!” I thought as I attempted to go back to sleep. The first voice was my almost-6-year-old, the second voice was my 19 year old daughter. It was payback time! As all moms, I’m sure, I have been roused from sleep countless times to help a sick child. This time I could relax and let someone else do the duty. It’s just so nice to have responsible, kind adult children who watch out for little siblings!

So no air mattresses were harmed during this vacation! We had fun checking out all of Aunt Mary’s fitness equpiment. She is a fitness trainer over here. She gave us some pointers on how to use the equipment. I learned how to build up to doing pull-ups, something I’ve never been able to do, by using giant rubber bands to support my weight on a pull-up bar.

I loved seeing all of her motivational posters. The sayings reminded me of the Eternal Warriors/Mothers Who Know class that I teach. Her studio is beautifully decorated!

We left before noon and in a few hours we were in Nebraska. My mother-in-law told some family history stories of my children’s pioneer ancestors. We stopped in North Platte Nebraska for a pit stop at the rest stop where a bunch of teenage girls in white Wranglers and white shirts swarmed the place, as well as a tour bus of senior citizens. Apparently the girls in white with red “Ws” on their backs were “Wranglairs” who are a horse-riding drill team. I didn’t know such a thing existed. My husband had fun teasing our teenage boys, asking if they had wanted to talk to any of the cute girls. Just last week my husband was bemoaning the “fact” that our older children aren’t falling in love with our fellow homeschoolers but are looking “beyond our own backyard” for potential marriage partners. So my son reminded him that looking at strange Nebraskan cowgirls was about looking as far beyond our own backyard as you can get. Touche! That shut my husband up. It was fun to have conversations like that throughout the whole trip. We traveled for many hours, driving all the way across Nebraska, to get to the eastern edge where we stayed at a motel in Omaha. Next site to see: Winter Quarters! 

We started Day 3 of our trip to Nauvoo by going to the LDS Church Winter Quarters Visitors’ Center. It’s next to the Winter Quarters temple, pictured above. 

Grammi, who was traveling with us, was a missionary here over 14 years ago. She pointed out to us that the beautiful statues in front of the Visitors’ Center were sculpted by her Provo neighbor/fellow ward member Franz Johansen.

She had fun resuming her position behind the desk, if but just for a moment.

We enjoyed the guided tour of the Visitors’ Center. The kids had fun pulling the handcart on display and I enjoyed reading all of the plaques. I wish I could have stayed longer to read everything thoroughly and take notes. Here is a great quote from Pres. Monson that I just love about the pioneers:

 We honor those who endured incredible hardships. We praise their names and reflect on their sacrifices. But what about our times? Are their pioneering experiences for us? Will future generations reflect with gratitude on our efforts, our examples? You can indeed be pioneers in courage, in faith, in charity, in determination. You can strengthen one another, you have the capacity to notice the unnoticed. When you have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to feel, you can reach out and rescue others.

I hope the lives of the pioneers will help each of us to find their same kind of faith and courage as we live our lives today. What we do matters! Our pioneering efforts to do new things, start new traditions with our families and ourselves matter! 

Next stop: the Kanesville Tabernacle.

I am blogging about our trip to Nauvoo, Illinois before I forget all about it. I wrote in my journal every day during the trip but I was too tired every night to write down all the details. Last night I took my two college kids to see Cinderella, the live action movie. This was my fourth time, and their first. (Can you tell that I love that movie?) The movie has a line in there about Cinderella going home after the ball and writing everything down, as if she were telling her mother and father all about it, so that she doesn’t forget anything, especially about the prince. That’s how I feel about our trip to Nauvoo. I felt the Spirit and felt the hand of God getting us there and back. I want myself, my children and my posterity to remember this trip forever, so I am documenting it. I will always love thinking about this trip!

Our trip started as a gleam in my eye many years ago. When I was a kid my family took lots of road trips, especially because we lived in New York state for 18 months. I remember with fondness going to see church and national historic sites, like Hill Cumorah, the Sacred Grove, Lexington and Concord greens, Joseph Smith’s birthplace, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Plantation. I have wanted to give the same experience to my kids. So a few years ago I dreamed up a huge road trip in an RV to go to all these places, plus more. Every summer I hoped that it would happen, and summers came and went. Then my firstborn went on a mission, and I hoped we could go the summer after he came back, which was this current summer. I figured with two kids in college, if we didn’t go this summer, we might have two big kids married or gone away to some internship, a mission for my daughter, or other pursuits next year. Plus my third-born might be on his mission next year as well, as he turns 18 in the coming school year.

This is a picture from my friend/3rd cousin’s daughter’s blog about the mega-amazing summer road trip they took last year to celebrate a family road trip her dad took 50 years ago in the blue van in the corner.

My fun former LLL co-leader/girlfriend who turned into my long lost third cousin went on my dream road trip last summer, seeing all those sites I just mentioned, plus more. I think she covered everything I would want to see, including Sally Fallon’s farm, except the Duggar estate in Arkansas! I have drooled about her trip, especially since her daughter blogged about it, but I had to come to reality. We did not have six weeks like she did to see all those sites. We did not have the money to pay for lodging or an RV to see all those sites. My husband’s mother offered to pay for the gas for the trip, if she could come with us, but I don’t think she was expecting a gas bill in the thousands! I knew we needed to be more modest for the time being. We’ve had financial difficulties “threatening our peace to destroy.” So that made me trim the road trip down. I had saved some money so I just declared that that certain amount of money could certainly take us just to Nauvoo and back. With Grammi paying for the gas, me paying for the lodging, and not eating out, just buying the food from a grocery store that we would buy if we were home, and eating it in the car or motel room. we would swing it!

My husband caught my excitement and made a Google spreadsheet with an itinerary. He planned all of the pit stops, being exactly 2 hours apart, where we could switch drivers. Since we have three kids who can drive now, plus my husband and me, that made 5 drivers. (We excused Grammi from driving so she could relax, eat, sleep, and tell family history stories along the way.) He also made the reservations at the motels and contacted his two siblings in Colorado asking if we could stay at each of their places one night (one for the trip to Nauvoo, one for the way home). He found the Nauvoo Family Inn, which two of my friends recommended. (I recommend it as well, it was nice to have three bedrooms for our family of 10 plus a kitchen for a low price.) True to his old school, map-loving form, he ordered a grundle of maps from AAA for us to peruse and pack. My R.M. son ended up being a digital navigator, true to his new school form, but I was still hugely grateful that my husband packed the paper maps. He also checked out a boatload of books on CD for the trip. Needless to say, we didn’t listen to all of them, just The Goose Girl and Johnny Tremain.

I noticed that he had planned for us to take 2 days to drive to Nauvoo, leaving on a Monday, and arriving late Tuesday night. I asked that we spread it out into 3 days and leave on a Sunday, so that we weren’t arriving at midnight in Nauvoo on Tuesday, after stopping to get food at a Walmart in Iowa late that night. There are no big grocery stores in Nauvoo and we would be packing just enough food to get there, so it was important we go shopping either right before we arrived or the next morning. So we had a family council and put it to a vote to all the kids. I used all of my persuasive powers and convinced a majority to vote for my side. Hooray! One of my older sons was concerned that we wouldn’t be keeping the Sabbath Day holy on Sunday by traveling. I explained that we would actually be much more likely to keep the Sabbath holy by being all together, listening to church music and church talks on CD as we traveled, and that we would still go to church in another ward before we left. When we are at home the little kids want to play outside and ride bikes.

So I was very pleased that I got my wish. We packed somewhat the night before, then got up at 5 AM so we could pack the car, and leave at 8:45 for the 9 AM sacrament meeting in our church building. Then I would let the kids change into traveling clothes at the church, and we would leave the church to go up to Morgan and into Wyoming on I-84. We’ve had lots of road trips where we leave hours after we plan to, with some family members being grumpy, but this time we actually left only about 5 to 10 minutes late and got to the church before it started. Success! Yes! We were off to a great start!

It’s always fun to visit other wards and hear the speakers. The couple who spoke in our neighboring ward’s sacrament meeting talked about marriage. The husband shared the story of how they got engaged. He said that he had been home only 1 week from his mission. He saw his future wife and knew she was the one. She was visiting from New Zealand and would go home soon. I think he said that they had dated once or twice when he proposed marriage to her, before she went home. He didn’t have money to buy her a ring so he went to the ZCMI department store and asked if they had anything he could use for a ring. They gave him a rubber band, so he made that into a ring and proposed to her. Later he fashioned a ring for her out of copper tubing, but when that turned her finger green, his father took pity and paid for a proper engagement ring. Anyway, they have been married for 27 years, I think he said, and are such a cute couple. They both spoke of how hard marriage can be, but that it is so rewarding. The husband referred to two of President Boyd K. Packer’s talks. One was Marriage, the other was the Plan of Happiness. He combined the two titles into a new title, which is a perfect summary of Pres. Packer’s life theme: “Marriage: the Plan of Happiness.” I thought that was beautiful and very true.

That sacrament meeting was an awesome way for us to kick off our trip! We left after sacrament meeting and by the afternoon we were zooming through Wyoming. We listened to the following CDs in the van to keep the Sabbath Day holy.

I highly recommend Hank Smith’s CDs. Hank is a speaker for LDS youth. He is funny and definitely brings the Spirit in with his stories and testimony. The story about helping a girl to find her thrown-away retainer in the garbage dumps of the Wilkinson Center during EFY was priceless. (You can buy his CDs here.) He also talked about the importance of being kind, especially reaching out to those who don’t seem to have any friends.

We also had some music courtesy of Roger and Melanie Hoffmann, Steven Kappy Perry, and Marvin Payne:

These songs about the Proclamation on the Family are just delightful. There’s one song in there about “On the Road” which is about a family being “on the road to happiness.” As we drove through the beautiful Wyoming plains with the bright sunshine, with this bouncy song playing, on our way to Nauvoo, my heart was bursting with joy! 

We also started reading aloud the following book. I read this to my four older kids when they were little at bedtime, sitting in the hallway, while they were in bed. It’s about a family who goes to Nauvoo for a summer and discovers a mystery. It’s great for getting kids interested in LDS Church history. I had my 17 year old son read the book aloud in the car because he enjoys dramatizing voices. We didn’t finish it on the trip so now I am reading it at home.

We drove through Wyoming, and dipped down into Colorado to see our cousins who live in Denver (and benefit from a free night of lodging). They had some yummy tortilla soup and corn chips waiting (at least it smelled yummy to me, mmmm, with cilantro in the air; sadly I couldn’t eat any because I am on a special grain-free diet). Our 13 year old cousin also baked cookies for the kids. So I caught a picture of my kids with their Colorado cousins and cookies. Fun!

We as a family of 10 (7 kids, 2 parents, 1 grandma) got back late last Saturday night from our trip to Nauvoo. I can’t describe the happiness I feel from taking this road trip. It was a dream and vision fulfilled. I have been planning and hoping to take this trip for years and it finally happened. Yes, we went, despite financial challenges, car issues with our old green beast of a van, and trying to squeeze out one week of sacred family time with all of my offspring’s activities. With 2 kids in college for the spring semester (which ended the middle of July), who also have jobs, 2 other kids working on a farm, 1 kid starting football, and 2 kids training to be youth leaders for the Mastering Knighthood Summit, this was a feat almost akin to the pioneers crossing the plains! But we pulled it off! I had to sacrifice attending the Moms’ Retreat, but it was worth it.

We logged 2000 miles in 7 days, saw lots of cornfields, had a sick kid in the car throw up, ran out of gas, and waded in the Mississippi River. We walked in the footsteps of our ancestors and found the exact lots where they lived, as well as one of their homes that is still standing! (see picture below) We watched a play, saw the Nauvoo temple quarry where my 3rd great grandfather worked to help cut stone for the temple, watched a variety show, did temple work, played pioneer games, and heard lots of stories, oh so many stories! I wish I could have heard every story told by every tour guide in Nauvoo. They are chock full of faith and vision and kindness. I took notes from the ones I did hear and hope to share some here on the blog.

A sample of a Nauvoo temple stone, next to the quarry where 3rd-great-grandfather Luman Andros Shurtliff worked.

This is the home of Jeremiah Hatch, my children’s 6th or 7th great-grandfather. He fought in the Revolutionary War and settled in Nauvoo in this brick home. It was just around the corner and up the street from our inn! My daughter found it by Googling it. The home is currently being remodeled to become a vacation rental property. It’s on the corner of Iowa and Knight streets, east of the temple, just in case you are a descendant too and want to visit it.

We also listened to two complete novels on CD in the car while traveling, Johnny Tremain and The Goose Girl. All in all, we had so much fun, bonded as a family, and felt the Spirit as well. What more could you ask for?

Here’s another installment from my new novel, Dates with God. Sorry it’s a day late. I’ve got a lot on my plate! In today’s excerpt, Kate consciously chooses to avoid shaming her daughter and discovers how she masks feelings of irritation with electronic escape. She also gets inspired by Ammon and Abraham’s examples. So here’s Chapter 3, Part 3: Kate’s Letter #3.

Kate’s Letter #3

 

Dear God,

 

Yesterday was rather crazy. I had one disaster after another happen at home. Sophie read about this idea of making big multi-colored crayons out of melted crayon stubs, when I was out of the room helping Maddie with her math. So she melted crayons in a pot, then she poured the melted crayons into an ice cube tray and then put it in the freezer to harden. In the process, she spilled it everywhere. There was blue wax on the floor in front of the fridge, down the fridge door, and in the gasket creases of the door. What a mess! I wanted her to clean it all up herself but since she is 7 years old, I realized that she was simply not physically capable of doing that. That would be like asking a 1 year old to mow the lawn. So I helped her. It reminded me of the Parable of the Spilt Milk lesson from the Mothers Who Know Class. I didn’t shame her, just asked her to help clean up the mess and acknowledged that we all make mistakes, and it’s important to clean up after our mistakes. I realized how often I make spiritual messes and that Thou always helps me clean up through the atonement of Thy Son, Jesus Christ.

 

That was just one of many messes that day. Then I went to class in the evening, and I got in this silly argument with Lauren. Somehow we got on a tangent, when the mentor was out of the room. We started talking about what is proper footwear for attending Church meetings on Sundays. She said she loves to wear her dressy flip flops to Church. I immediately told her that was wrong, because Elder Holland said once in General Conference that we shouldn’t look like we are going to the beach when we go to Church. She insisted that her flip flops are OK to wear to church because she would never actually wear them to the beach, because  according to her, it’s not functional to walk on sand in flip flops. She asked me if I had ever actually tried it. We really went the rounds on that one until the mentor came back in and got us back on track with the actual planned content of the class. So I left class feeling at a Level 2. It was this total exasperation at how aggravating Lauren can be. She can just be so boldly annoying, the way she thinks she is always right. She gets away with it, but one of these days her boldness is going to come back and bite her.

I got home and everyone else was already asleep. Oh happy day! I started playing on my phone to cover up the irritation at Lauren that I felt. Then I forgot to write in my journal and lost my battle with that. So now I have to write a lost battle analysis. I am starting to see that I can’t ever really let my guard down spiritually. I can’t just zone with my phone, without first making sure my duties, meaning my nighttime power actions, are done.

 

I was reading in Alma 52 and I noticed a cool lesson for when I am not feeling attacked. At the end of Alma 51, Teancum killed Amalackiah. So this evil, sneaky guy, Amalackiah has been killed, but do you think the Nephites take a break, thinking their troubles are over? No way. They keep preparing for war. In Alma 52:7 it says that they “kept preparing for war.” Moroni sent all sorts of work project orders to Teancum to fulfill. This teaches me that when I have brief lulls when I’m not feeling direct hits from satan I can be working on my passion projects. I don’t have to be “taking a break” by looking at fluff on the Internet. I can be creating beautiful things for my family and friends that make a lasting difference. I have seen so many ideas from Jill’s blog that I can’t wait to work on! It feels so good to get back to sewing and crafting, two things I shelved once I had so many little fingers around here. Now that the kids are older, I feel I can get these crafts-y things back out without freaking out that someone is going to swallow a pin. I feel like I am coming home! It feels good to get out the crafts!

 

Pres. Uchtdorf said in one of his General Conference talks awhile back that the surest way to beat bad feelings is to create something. I know it’s true! These passion projects are how I create beautiful creations of lasting value and service. They keep me genuinely happy, definitely at a Level 0. I’ve noticed that genuine happiness puts me at a Level 0 on the Chemical Scale (see page 21 of Like Dragons Did They Fight), whereas I turn to pleasure, like eating sugar, Level 5 for me, only after being at Levels 2 – 4. So these passion projects, and my power actions, and my prophesying, are the ways that I keep preparing for war. When I am at a Level 0 and feel genuine happiness for long chunks of time, then I am more be able to recognize when I start to feel Level 1 and slip into Levels 2 and 3.

 

For Family Home Evening this past week we acted out the story of Ammon and King Lamoni’s sheep. This story fascinates my kids. We’ve acted it out a ton of times, and they never get tired of it. I narrated from the scriptures as they acted it out. This has never been a story I like because of how Ammon cuts off the robbers’ arms. I always thought it was so gruesomely violent. The kids love to act out the cutting off of the arms with their toy swords. For the first time I noticed that we are dealing with people of two extremely different worldviews. Ammon believes in Thee. He believes in Thy promises and Thy word. Thou told him through a blessing given by his father Mosiah that he would be delivered out of the hands of these “wild and hardened and ferocious people.” (Alma 17:14) By contrast, the robbers did not know of this promise or believe in the same god. They were a godless people who were out to scatter the flocks and kill Ammon for sport and fun with no respect for property rights, the sacredness of life, natural law and consequences. They “delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering them.” (Alma 17:9) I had never noticed the word “slay” in the story until now. “Slay” means they did attempt to kill him. (Alma 17:36) That’s rather a significant word that I glossed over in all of my previous readings. Ammon was completely acting in self-defense.

 

So I found it highly instructive that Ammon, even though he knew that Thou would deliver him, because of the blessing pronounced on him by his father, and even though he absolutely trusted in Thee, he did not sit back and say, “OK, God, I am just going to sit back and chill-lax and Thou wilt deliver me from these thugs who are hurtling stones at me and beating me with clubs to kill me.” No, he still actively did what I’m assuming is everything in his power to deliver himself. Thou added to his strength, I assume, by allowing him to survive, amidst these violent attackers who outnumbered him. It says that they “were not a few.” Maybe it was 8, two dozen, 30, who knows.

 

This scripture story really speaks to me. I t reminds me to trust in the specific promises that Thou gives to me, including ones given to Dave, like his latest priesthood blessing which said he would be healed.  If I want to follow Ammon’s example, that means I can’t just sit back and  wait for the blessing to happen. It reminds me to do everything in my power to bring about the desired blessing. I can’t just sit back and relax and think he is going to get healed without us changing anything. I will continue on the quest to see if we can heal his cancer by changing his diet!

 

So while I work and wait for that, I can see how passion projects can make the watching and waiting more enjoyable. One of my passion projects involves a study of the classics. I decided it’s time to stop spending so much time consuming dross and brain candy, which is basically what I am doing on Facebook and Pinterest every day, and start consuming nourishing food for the soul. What brought that decision on was my reading of the scriptures this past week. I was preparing for the Gospel Doctrine class, reading Abraham 1-2. I have decided that I am going to do more than just read the Book of Mormon for five minutes a day, I am going to listen to the Gospel Doctrine lesson on my iPhone every day for at least 5 minutes, plus listen to 1 General Conference talk a day, plus listen to the upcoming lesson from the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church manual.

 

So as I listened to the Abraham scriptures for my Sunday School lesson I heard some key phrases that I really liked. It said that Abraham “sought for the blessings of the fathers.” (Abraham 1:2) In the same verse, he also said that he was a follower of “righteousness”  and he desired to be one who “possessed great knowledge.” Then he emphasized just how much he was those things by stating that he desired to be a “greater follower of righteousness, “and a “greater possessor of knowledge.” He also said that he desired to be a “father of many nations” and to “receive instructions” and to “keep the commandments of God.” Basically, Abraham desired to be a spiritual man, a man of great learning, and a family man.

 

So how can I be a “greater follower of righteousness” and a “possessor of great knowledge”? How can I be a “mother of many nations” and “receive instructions” and “keep the commandments of God”? I have thought of myself as a spiritual woman and a family woman, but how can I be more so? How can I be a more spiritual woman, a woman of greater learning, and a woman who is more family-oriented?

 

I’ve homeschooled for a long time because I felt it was the best way to impart spirituality to my children but I can see unspiritual things creeping into my home and family life. My big kids still want to do the easy and pleasurable things instead of digging into eternally meaningful things like the classics and the scriptures or practicing their instruments. For a long time I have felt like I should eliminate certain things from my life, like our Netflix account, our Roku and TiVO and the cell phones I gave the older kids when they turned 8. The use of all things electronic in my home is totally out of control. They are such distractions. I remember being 12 and hearing my orchestra teacher telling us that we could all become great musicians if we just practiced consistently long enough, like an hour a day, instead of watching TV. I felt guilty about it but I wasn’t ready to give up my TV shows and I didn’t. One of my friends did practice for big chunks of time every day.  As a result she did go on to be a great musician who plays with the top symphony in her state. Not that I want to play in a symphony orchestra at my age, but I want to create the environment for that high-level of success of whatever my kids’ righteous interests are.

 

Now I look at these kids and I see them squandering their free time. I wish I could give them a vision of what they can have if they just do the Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hour thing (see Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell). I was thinking about it a lot and I realized that the only way they can see someone dedicating her time day after day to nurturing great knowledge and talent is for them to see me do it! I have a huge list of classics I want to read and I also want to learn how to draw and paint. All that is standing between me and those things is dedicated hours every day. Which means dedicating myself to stay in my frontal lobe so I don’t get distracted in the afternoon onto the Internet. I also read this verse, in Abraham 2, about Thee calling Abraham to be a minister of Thy name in a strange land. Then I realized that my strange land is the environment of electronic gadget worldliness that I have allowed to happen right here in my own home, and I can minister in Thy name by not choosing it.

 

So here is my plan. These are not my official Girl Goals yet, but I will be working on these and gradually work them all into my Girl Goals, over the coming years. Yes, years, maybe even decades! I don’t see it happening in months. I am scared and excited at the same time. I have known that I have wanted to work on these things for a long time, but I just felt overwhelmed by the prospect. That feeling of overwhelm kept me from translating my vague desires of my heart into articulate plans on paper. Hmmm…I guess that was really satan attempting to get me not to even attempt to work on them by spilling overwhelm into my brain. Well, take that, satan! I am fighting back and making plans that I am determined to carry out! Here goes…

 

To Be a Spiritual Woman

1. Pray first thing in the morning, right after I awaken and go to the bathroom, giving thanks to Thee for all things. Then I will present my plan that I made the night before for the day, and ask if I need to change anything. I am also going to present any questions to Thee and ask if there’s any answer that Thou has that I can find as I next read the scriptures.

 

2. Read the scriptures, doing the Bible on Monday through Friday and the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church upcoming Sunday lesson on Saturday and Sunday.

 

3. Write about any insights I receive here in my journal.

 

4. Read with my family Preach My Gospel, two pages or so a day.

 

5. Listen to a chapter in the Book of Mormon and a General Conference talk as I get dressed for exercise and fix breakfast.

 

6. Attend the temple at least once a week with my youth coming with me to do baptisms. Eventually I would like to get them to bring their own names that I teach them how to find.

 

7. Keep an “Observe then Serve Journal” inspired by Sister Linda K. Burton’s October 2012 General Conference talk. I am going to write down my impressions of how to serve other people and then what I did to serve and what the result was.

To Be a Family Woman: a Mother of Many Nations

1. Continue to have devotional every morning at the breakfast table with my kids and read a scripture story every day, having them mark at least 1 principle in their scriptures, and talking about it.

 

2. Create time and space in the morning to invite my family to do Power Actions with me individually. After we do our writing we are going to share what we learn. Then we will do Family Power Actions of family scripture reading and family prayer. I am also going to provide a family journal to them where after we do family scripture reading and family prayer they can write down some way they felt the Spirit the previous day.

 

3. Greet my children every morning with a smile, a hug or kiss, and help the littler ones say their prayers and do their morning habits of getting ready for the day.

 

4.  Not allow cell phones or devices at the mealtime table, unless, we are reading a missionary’s letter.

 

5. Somehow I am going to have to restrict Internet usage in our home. I have to discuss with Dave how we are going to do this.

 

6.  Work with my children for their morning and evening chores until they have mastered them, and then read aloud to them when they are mastered while they do them.

 

7. Have one of the kids ages 8 and up have one night a week to fix dinner. Sit down with them on Sunday and plan the meals with each one. Do my shopping on Monday afternoons.

8. Have Friday be Family Service Day where we go do a service project.

 

9. Do some family outing on Saturday afternoon or evening.

 

10. Take my youth to the temple for baptisms once a week in the early morning while the little kids are sleeping before Dave leaves for work.

 

11. Teach my kids how to find names to bring to the temple for baptisms.

 

12. Each week focus my family history research on the lines branching off from one ancestor. I have 64 fourth great-grandparents so I can focus on one a week for over a year. Then I want to share the stories I find at mealtime with the kids.

 

13. Have a Family Tree Gathering once a quarter with my extended family like Elder Cook said in April 2014 General Conference.

To Be a Woman of Learning

1. Every year, pick one author’s works to study and then listen to their work on audio for at least an hour every day as I prepare dinner with one of the kids. I am going to start with works by Louisa May Alcott, like Emma is doing, and listen to one right after another until I finish all of her works. I don’t know how long that will take me. Then I am going to move on to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Then C.S. Lewis. Then Victor Hugo.

 

2. Listen to my favorite podcast on the movement of liberty every day.

 

3. Learn one new vocabulary word a day and share it with the kids over lunch and write it down in my “new words to know” notebook.

4. Talk to the kids about one country and its capital and languages spoken there at dinner.

 

5. Start a Nature Sketchbook. Take it with me whenever I take the kids to the park or on a hike, along with my colored pencils. Sketch one thing, a flower, tree, plant or animal, from each outing.

 

I come up with grand plans all the time but now that I have a plan for tracking my goals, by working on three at a time, I hope I can work up to doing all of these great things. Satan will try to get me to feel overwhelmed, that I can’t do them, or to feel like they don’t matter. But I am on to him! They do matter and I can do them. In fact, at my last class one of the class members was talking about creating Life Visions. She said she wrote out a vision of her life, and then she recorded it to Baroque music. She listens to it every day an hour before she gets out of bed. She is already seeing some of these things manifest in her life, without having to set goals or even think much about them.  They just flow into her life. So I am looking into that. What I just wrote seems like a life vision. Maybe I could use that. I thank Thee so much for bringing so much abundance to my life.

 

Love,

Kate

If you would like to experience this class for yourself, come take the September Mothers Who Know class. It starts Wed. Sept. 9th!