Something for the Future?

I mentioned on Facebook the other day that all of my family will be in school for at least some part of every weekday this school year. A friend commented and said that I could take a college class or two now. Wow! I hadn't even thought of that. I guess I'm a bit skeptical after last year's tough schedule if I really am going to have some time to myself.

I had totally planned it last year. It was, I thought, a foolproof plan, but budget cuts messed me up when the morning kindergarten schedule I had planned for was changed to afternoon. I ended up with no time to myself. I had at least one child with me at all times.

I traded some time with a friend, but that time became volunteering in the school time. My fault? Yes, but that's such a high priority to me. I couldn't see not spending time in my younger kids' classrooms.

I had mentioned earlier on that we were contemplating homeschooling one of our children this year. That plan, too, changed. Once we knew who his teacher would be, we knew he would thrive and public school would be great. The Warden and I met with the teacher and laid out a plan together. I have no doubt this will be a good year for that child.

So, although we will have all of our children but one in school full-time, I'm still not trusting that I'm going to have time to myself. I have made no plans.

When my friend made that comment about taking a class, I have to admit, I was intrigued by the idea. I
figure now that I have my bachelor's degree, a masters is somewhat alluring. I took a little peek at what was available in my area. The thought of being a grown up with the education to really do something with is SO intriguing. I decided that there are two things I'd like to do in the future....I'd either like to major in linguistics and maybe use it to teach English as a second language or have some kind of certificate in genealogy research.

I know that this kind of thought is out of the question for now. Even the thought of being alone for a few minutes a few hours for a few days a week is past my comprehension at this point, but next year....who knows. Maybe I'll go for it.

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#1's Weekly Email: Week #5

It's so funny to see #1 in jeans, as you'll see in her first picture. It is only on their Preparation Day (P-day) that they can move away from the usual dresses and skirts and Elders from suits.

Needless to say, these girls are EXCITED. They are now the oldest missionaries heading to their mission in the MTC. It's funny to think that somewhere in the Olongapo Mission some sister will be called to be #1's first companion. I really wonder what she'll be like. It used to be, from what I understand, that the North American missionaries had to have native companions. I'm curious to see if that's still the case.

I now get photos from Sister T. and Sister P., so that's super great! I love that they so willingly share. #1 did, however, take her own photos this week. She was lacking a card reader. There you go, parents who are preparing to send missionaries off in the future, don't forget a card reader that they can hook into the computers there at the MTC and upload their photos. I ordered her one and had it shipped to her, and now life is hunky dory.

Okay, so I put the most important things in bold lettering so you can cruise through this email if you don't have time to peruse its intricacies. The foreign words are in italics and are translated at the very bottom of the post.

 Here you go....

Enjoy!

Kumusta mga Pamilya ko!

How are you guys? Life here is just plain awesome. Wanna know why?! I got my travel plans!

We're flying from Salt Lake to San Fran to TOKYO! :D We get to spend TWO hours in TOKYO! I'M SO EXCITED! I'm going back to Japan :) Seriously I'm overjoyed. I'm gonna go eat a bunch of jumbos and a bunch of their chocolate bars and yup. That's how it's gonna be.

So on Tuesday, all the girls in my district played the funniest prank on my kasama. It was PERPEKTO. Sister W. pulled her shirt halfway over her own head and had her super long hair hanging out of the bottom and it looked like she had a beard. She makes the funniest faces ever. So while my kasama was in the shower, she went and sat on her bed and got under the covers. She was sitting on Sister T's pillow and was hiding behind the closet door. We turned off all the lights and sat by the door at the desk with the desk light on. Sister T finally showed up and put her clothes away and then turned to her bed. She kind of looked at the head of her bed for a second and then Sister W. chuckled and Sister T. jumped back a foot and then screamed. It was the Funniest Thing I have seen in such a long time.  Oh man I'm still laughing about it and it was days ago.

The other night we wanted to talk so Sister P., Sister S., Sister T., and I went out behind the MTC and talked and stargazed. It was awesome. We almost felt normal again for a second.

We're learning so much. We've kind of started reviewing things since we only have 9 days left here. It's crazy to think that we've already been here for a month. It totally flew by.

Every day we either have gym time where we go work our butt off or we go play piano.

Oh, I'll be buying a calling card and I'm gonna call you guys in when we're at the Salt Lake airport so be sure to be home on the 29th in the morning. At like 9-ish. Our flight leaves around 11:15.

I'll be sending home stuff I don't want to take to the Philippines with me this next week, ok? So if you get a package from me, that's what it is.

Our whole district gets to host the newbies this next Wednesday and Sister P. and Sister S. and Sister T. and I were chosen to be part of this teaching experience that they do ever Wednesday night for the newbies. They put all the newbies in different rooms but in huge groups and they have an "investigator" in there (they're really just converts that have interesting stories) and then a companionship comes in and starts the discussion with the "investigators" and then the newbies take over. It's gonna be awesome. And all the companionships that are chosen are recommended by their teachers. So that means that our teachers like us a lot and think that we'd be good examples for the new missionaries. No pressure or anything. Oh and another thing. We get to do it in English... pero we've only ever taught in Tagalog so we don't know how to do it in English! hahaha we'll see what happens. It's gonna be so fun.

Earlier this week some of the sisters and I got priesthood blessings from our elders. i'm so grateful that we're surrounded by the priesthood here. it's awesome. And that all these elders are worthy to hold it is pretty incredible too.

Ummm I think that's it. I'm definitely gonna write #5 this week and I might send him a t-shirt too (don't tell him that). When the email home to you said that "[T.] pointed [#4] out" or whatever it said, I was about to go all crazy white girl on T. hahaha good thing I didn't. Um you don't need to send cookies. I've got enough food over here... But if you could send me a jar of nutella and a box of cheezits I would love that. I think that's everything.

I love you guys and I miss you and I hope everything's going good at home.

Mahal kita!

-Sister Hess

p.s. I'll send you pictures of everything. Including our classroom, the drinking fountain in our building, and the bathroom.

Top left to bottom right (in #1's own words):

TOP ROW:

• Classroom: This is the room that I've been stuck in everyday for the last MONTH.
• Mga dink: One of our zone leaders favorite words is Dink. he calls us dinks all the time...
• Desks: These are mine and Sister T.'s desks.
• Birthday!: It was Sister P.'s birthday this last week. and behind the banner is the first vision and our purpose in Tagalog.

MIDDLE ROW:

• Air con: This is the air conditioning unit in our classroom. Every single day, I stand on my chair and close the vent cuz it's so freaking cold and my chair's right next to it....
• View: This is the view from our window. the sunsets are absolutely amazing here every single night.
• Hallway: This is the hallway right outside of our bathroom.
• Stairwell: This is the stairwell right outside of our hallway. We study here all the time, and it was out this window that Sister P and I saw President Monson :)

BOTTOM ROW:

• Drinking fountain!: This is our drinking fountain :)
• Bathroom: This is the bathroom in our building :) You said you wanted pictures of everything...
• Computer: This is the computer and tv that we use everyday in class.
• Computer lab: This is the computer lab where we do TALL (our language computer program. I absolutely hate it)

Tagalog-English Translation

Kumusta mga Pamilya ko: Hello, my family

Kasama: companion

Perpekto: perfect (probably didn't need to translate this one, huh?)

Mahal kita: I love you

Okay, I HAVE to share one more thing with you.....Today, among the photos #1 sent was this:

The caption read something like this:

"Our building is named after this cutie. His name is Heber C. Kimball, and this is his picture. Hehe"

Oh, my dear girl! This is the one leader of the early Church that you are, from what I understand, related to. "Hehe" is right.

Thoughts from Today - Three Days in a Row, People!

Look at me!...Three days in a row.

Proctored the A.P. European history test today. Four hours on my feet. I'm beat (and a poet). So dragging, so I'm off to bed.

#1 caught the Warden and me up in searching for a waterproof satchel for her. Up until now, we thought she could just wait until she got to the Philippines, so she could get one there, but it seems that she's feeling that she'll need one for the MTC. No luck yet, but we're still looking.

That's the only thing keeping me up at this point. Well...that, and my desire to be on a three-day blogging streak.

Finished Ether this morning. That means I should be done with the Book of Mormon within the next couple days. Moroni goes by so fast.

Just a couple thoughts....

image: tampagov.net

So, so sad to watch a civilization die. Clearly revenge is not a good motive. We often hear "revenge is sweet." This is such a farce! It's a HUGE lie! Doesn't anyone really believe in Romans 12:19? Is it because we don't trust? Well, I think I've decided that I'm going to trust that. Holding grudges does nothing but hurt the individual who holds it. Here we are back to drinking poison and hoping another person will die. Grudges only hurt the holder of them. Forgiveness, on the other hand, is freeing.
sweet." What a farce that is! What a lie! Revenge is STUPID! Doesn't anyone believe

As I read I got to thinking about the Castro brothers. Just watched an interview about them yesterday. It's left some pretty strong impressions. That was an AWFUL situation, no question. It sickens me, but reading Ether has brought some even stronger impressions.

I also think it must have been a HUGE tender mercy for Moroni to have abridged that record and particularly that portion of the record as he watched his own people die out. BRUTAL! I feel for Moroni, but surely, seeing things through Ether's eyes and knowing that he isn't the only record keeper to have watched to the very end must have made him feel not so alone. Would that have held some amount of comfort for him? I like to think so.

It was a good day today. A busy, crazy day, but a good day, nonetheless. Tomorrow will be a day at home to get laundry done and get the menu set for next week and the grocery list ready. I've had a few friends tell me that they like the menus, so I'm going to attempt to get things up and running in that way. The Disneyland trip kind of threw me off. I'm trying to get a year's worth of crockpot dinners set up. I'm about halfway there. I'll post next week once I get that done.

Oh yah, #1 and I spent some time at the Family History Center today too. We found some pretty cool things about the Warden's third great grandfather--Lot Smith.

Yup. It was a good day.

Update on Mission Prep

It's been awhile since I've given an update on #1 and her mission preparation. I'm sure, if you spoke
with her, she'd give you the exact number of days until her departure. Then she'd assure you that it's not because she's thrilled to leave her home and family (heh heh, yah right) that she knows the exact number, but it's because whenever she signs into the website that lists what she needs to do to be prepared, the first thing listed, under her name and mission she's been assigned to, is a countdown of days until she leaves in big numbers, and believe it or not, like it or not, that number gets smaller everyday.

image: halfempty4now.com

We're, at this point, waiting for immunizations. The doctor's office gave her a hard time about needing an additional dtap booster, but she will get one when she goes in to get her typhoid pills. These have to be taken one pill every other day for two weeks. I've read of missionaries who've timed it wrong and have been sick as they've entered the MTC. That would be miserable, but the clinic is saying she can pick them up on June 1st. I'm figuring this should give her four days to feel any effects before she leaves. I hope this is the case.

Her friends that have had to take the typhoid pills have had no ill effects. I'm hoping that for her as well. We shall see.

image: sweenyfiles.com

In the meantime, the only other thing she has been assigned to do before she leaves is obtain a four-generation pedigree chart and stories of her ancestors.

I thought this was a very interesting assignment. This was not something I was assigned way back in my day, and it makes me wonder if this is something all missionaries are asked to do. Then you wonder why.

There is no doubt that the LDS faith believes strongly in family. We believe that unlike the typical "until death do you part," marriage should last throughout eternity. As someone coined in General Conference, marriage shouldn't start out with an "expiration date." We believe that families should be joined together throughout eternity through ordinances performed in our temples.

image:ldschurchtemples.com

Side note: For anyone in the Portland area, we now have a visitor's center at our temple. It teaches what a temple is for. Anyone can go. It's open every day of the year. For any of my friends, if you want to go but don't want to go alone, let me know. I'll take you.

So, maybe #1, through sharing her own genealogy, can inspire others to do the same thus encouraging them to bind their family together past this life.

This morning, though, I came upon another reality....

I LOVE chapter 12 in the book of Ether. It is my favorite in the whole Book of Mormon. Seriously, to the point that I honestly get excited as I get closer to it. I can't tell  you why I love it so much. It just makes me happy.

In chapter 12, Moroni (the abridger of these metal plates), interjects some of his own feelings about what is going on and what can be perceived because of what has been read so far in the Book of Mormon. He shares the importance of faith and makes things VERY clear as to what the force was in each situation that we've read about thus far.

image: ellenwhite.info

As I read this morning, something became very obvious to me. Throughout the book, we are told to remember the things God has done for our ancestors--the things that have brought us to the point where we are today. Time after time, we are drawn back to Moses freeing the children of Israel through God's power, as just one example. In the book of Ether, reminders of the brother of Jared, and his experiences come into play. Could it be that an example is being set for us to remember?

Could this be another reason why #1 has been asked to gather stories about her ancestors? Could it be for her? To give her strength? Could it be to empower her?

In this chapter, Moroni is doing just what the Book of Mormon encourages us to do--remember. It doesn't just stop at the brother of Jared or Moses. It goes on and on and on with great examples.

So, for this morning, here's something for my family to know. Something I had no clue of until about five years ago thanks to a cousin who isn't a member of the church.

image: mesenko.com

My dad's family is from Montana, the bitterroot. A cousin searched the archives of the Missoula newspaper as she and I were working scanning pictures for my mom's side of the family (she is related through my mom; yet another reason why this is so significant to me). Do you kind of see how all of the stars align so nicely here?

Here is the story she found. One I would never have known if it weren't for her:


"Most people who were not Mormons were uninterested in the missionaries' message, but occasional contacts with those who were receptive, like George and Aquilla Dye, ranchers in Corvallis, restored their enthusiasm. Having recently dreamed of two men who visited her ranch with an important message, Aquilla welcomed the two missionaries who approached her home seeking lodging and food one evening. Within a short time the Dyes had embraced Mormonism, providing the nucleus for a Sunday School in Corvallis that would eventually grow into a branch congregation. In their sermons and in reports they sent to the mission headquarters, the missionaries also related accounts of faith-promoting healings following priesthood blessings. For instance, one missionary who visited the Dyes' home in 1898 shortly after their conversion "found a house full of sickness." Aquilla requested a priesthood blessing for each member of the family, following which each claimed that they "were instantly releaved [sic] of pain." The telling and retelling of such stories nurtured a sense of identity among local Mormons as a divinely favored people caring for each other."


This is part of how my family became acquainted with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. George and Aquilla were my great, great grandparents.

Maybe a funny thing to have in a town newspaper, but back then, you probably knew that Mrs. Jones had walked her dog five times in one day or Mr. McGillicuddy got a paper cut from reading that very newspaper the day before. You know "all the news that is news."

Regardless, I am grateful that this was recorded. I am grateful for Aquilla's dream. This story helps me to know that God was aware of George and Aquilla the same as He is of me, and because He was aware of them, my life has benefitted greatly by their actions.

There are stories like this on each of the branches of my family tree (my mom, my grandfather in my dad's side, my great, great grandparents on my dad's mom's side, and my great, great, great grandparents on my dad's mom's mom's side), and that's not even bringing the Warden's family into the equation. I look forward to helping #1 find these stories and more. Maybe we'll end up with our own personalized version of Ether 12 and how our ancestors had faith enough to move on impressions they had. And, maybe those acts of faith with help us as well and give us strength to try to do as they did.

So, maybe this is why #1 needs to gather these stories. Maybe it's to encourage the friends she has yet to make in the Philippines. Maybe it's to give her courage and strength to know that she can help people draw closer to God as He reaches out to them. I get the feeling that it's all of these reasons combined.

So a couple shots and a whole lotta stories, and she'll be on a plane and outta here. Daunting.

Oh, and just to let you know....45 days.

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The Future

Family pictures tomorrow! I've been planning and plotting just what color combinations we're going to wear. It's funny. I used to dread this, but I think I have it kind of figured out now to the point that it's fun. We'll see how it turns out once we're all dressed in the morning.

#1 spoke along with 13 other waiting missionaries at our stake conference today. She was asked to share her testimony and what helped her prepare for her mission. She did a good job. They all did. It was so fun to see them all up there. I think there were an equal number of women and men. Some were staying in the states and others were leaving the country. I think that was an equal division as well.

I've got a fun post sitting on the back burner just waiting to be finished and posted, so look forward to that one--hopefully tomorrow.

image: continuumseniors.com

Summer's getting closer, and my time at the preschool is coming to a close. It's been SO fun! I've loved being around the preschoolers, but the high schoolers have been fabulous! You know, people give "the youth of today" such a bad time. Now that I think about it, they did for my generation too, but these young adults give me hope in the future. They're just caring, responsible, great people. It's been a true pleasure to work with them. So, that will go on through May, and then when graduation hits--first week of June (I think), we'll be done.

Next school year looks like it's going to hold some changes for our family--more on that in a future post. There have been some challenges that have brought about a need to think outside my usually comfortable box.

As far as #1's mission goes, she's ready. She has immunizations to get still, but we're kind of in a
holding pattern.

See the resemblance?

Another thing she's been asked to do in preparation for her mission is to investigate her roots and come up with four generations of her family tree. She's also supposed to have some stories about her ancestors to share. That's what we're working on now. We've pulled all the older kids on board to find out what they can about these family members. It's kind of fun. #1's researching my maternal grandfather's line--the Stegner's, #2's doing my paternal grandfather's line--the Hamm's, #3 has my maternal grandmother's family--the Holz's, and #4 has my paternal grandmother's ancestry--the Dye's. When we're done a bit here, we'll work over to the Warden's family--the Hess, Tolman, Anderson, and Abrams families. I started with mine just because they're more familiar to me, and I'm the one running the show. Once we get to the Warden's side, it'll all be pretty new, but it will probably also be easier because the kids can talk to their grandparents about their families. That'll be fun.

So, first thing in the morning, I'm off to buy a few items for pictures, and the Warden's going to take #2 to the DMV. It's a furlough day, so it'll be nice to have the whole family together.

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A Little Step Back into Hesstory: Calvin and Me

image: 1000awesomethings.com

Forget Christmas Eve or the day before my birthday. You can even throw out the night before I got my driver's license, the night before my first date, and the night before every first day of school in my life. Last night was, without a doubt, the  most difficult sleep I've EVER had.

Here's the combination of last night's insomnia....First, the Warden was gone to the coast with a bunch of scouts. I never sleep well when he's gone. Second, #7 was up over and over and over again with a fever. I gave her some medicine and moved her into my bed, but then she would stretch out while she slept and push me to the outer limits of the king-size bed. Last and the most obvious reason, was that envelope  that currently sits by the head of #1's bed. All I had to do was think about that envelope or ponder her future, and my heart would leap. THAT was the WORST!

image: en.wikipedia.org

I finally remembered health class in high school. I remember sitting on the floor of the wrestling gym and somebody, a special guest, coming to show us some relaxation techniques. Yup. That's the kind of high school I went to. I remember being told to take deep breaths and picture myself descending (or was that ascending) a staircase. As I breathed, I was to relax parts of my body starting at my feet and working my way up. Wow! Am I grateful for that little health class! It saved me last night, and I finally got some sleep.

So, all of this waiting has taken my mind back to waiting for my own call, and although I wasn't a Hess at the time, I'm still going to use the title above because, let's face it, Hammtory just doesn't work all that well.


My mom was just cute. Every morning she would drink hot chocolate and eat toast with peanut butter and boysenberry jam. The one thing I didn't know until the day I finished the mission paper process and had my papers mailed off to Salt Lake, was that while she ate breakfast, she read the comics. Cute, huh?

That morning, she shared this:

That's right. The day I turned in my papers, Calvin turned in his proofs of purchase for a beanie.

From that day on, Calvin and I waited together.

And waited....

 And waited....

One morning, weeks later, my mom came to me excitedly. She was carrying the Oregonian with her. "Look! Calvin got his beanie today! Wouldn't it be funny if you got your call today?!"

By this point, my response was, "Yah Mom, really funny." I was SICK of waiting and felt like it would NEVER come.

my brother and me - pre-missions

My younger brother had put in his papers very close to the same time I had, and his call came within two weeks. Here it was three, and mine still hadn't come. Ugh! I was dying!

But, sure enough, that was the day.

I don't remember there being a big hoopla. We didn't have a party. We didn't have relatives to invite. Mine was the fifth and final call to be received in that house, and mine was the least expected. My parents had saved for the four boys to serve. They hadn't expected that phone call from me my freshman year at BYU. I'm sure I totally caught them off-guard, but like #1, I finished the semester my sophomore year and returned home to earn a portion of the money needed and to wait until I turned 21.

Other calls that had arrived at my childhood home were to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Anaheim, California; Cali, Colombia; and Hartford, Connecticut. Because my dad served in the military at that age in his life (at the very tail end of WWII), he didn't get the opportunity, but all four of his boys did. I think this was something he was very proud of.

Because my younger brother had received his call to Hartford, Connecticut, as I recall, the monthly cost to send a missionary there was $380, I started stressing about the financial burden on my parents. I had earned money, but I hadn't earned all of it. My parents would up the rest. I found the list of mission costs and started praying, no, more like begging, for Lima, Peru and its $59 per month. Nightly, I petitioned the Lord.

image: todayinsci.com

When I opened the envelope the day Calvin got his beanie, I already knew what line the actual location of my mission would fall on (having so recently seen my brother's call), so to be honest, my eyes slipped for just a second, and instead of seeing "Iowa," as I had expected, or Peru, as I had hoped, there was the word "Japan." NO WAY! This must have been somebody else's letter.

After we all whooped and hollered for awhile and perused the accompanying documents, I found the bottom line. A mission to Sendai, Japan, would cost $485 per month. UGH! How could this be?! Not only was it the most expensive mission in Japan, it was one of the most expensive in the world. NO!!!

I guess you could say that at that point, my prayers changed. I begged and pleaded that we'd have enough money to cover the expenses, and that I'd be able to make it to the end financially.

A week after I entered the MTC, I received a letter from my dad--typewritten on the computer with his slanted left-handed signature and the face he drew for me so may times during church. Someday I will scan this for posterity's sake. On every letter he wrote me, the face he drew became his official stamp. I loved it!

his shop now - image: city-data.com  

In this letter, he shared that the day I boarded the plane to head to the MTC, he went to work and was astounded at what he found....The cars were lined up and filled his parking lot. My dad was an auto mechanic and that particular day was the busiest and most lucrative he'd ever had.

He shared with me that he knew from that experience that I was being watched out for, that the Lord was going to take care of us, and I was doing the right thing.


My dad has since shared with me another financial miracle that occurred later on as I served. There was no doubt that we were being cared for. Just when we'd start to forget, He'd remind us.

I look forward to #1's experience today and for our family's experiences for the next number of months. What I foresee are a number of joys and a number of trials--each of those trials leading to an increase in all of our faith.

The first of those trials may have been last night's lack of sleep, and I'm sure I'm not done with nights like that. As my daughter's off serving in the world somewhere, I'm sure there will be many nights of worry and concern for her well-being, and then there are others to follow in her footsteps in this house. They will lead to some sleepless night too, I'm guessing.

image: harrypotterfanzone.com

Yes, my hope is that there will be many nights of waiting for beanies. I finally got so I called #1's letter "The sorting hat" because that's exactly what it feels like. Funny similarity--a beanie, a sorting hat.

At this point in the game, I only have one thing to say.....Thank goodness for the time spent in the wrestling gym. That knowledge might just get me through these missionary years in the Madhouse.

image: songworm.com

Looking at Both Sides of the LDS Hubbub

image credit: pretamarque.com

Before I went to bed last night, I went to check my email. On Yahoo's front page, lies a perpetual list of top ten most-searched-for topics on the internet. Last night, number one, simply said, "Mormon Church." I, typically, because I choose not to be a crowd-follower (I mean, seriously, how much do I care about Lady Gaga?), don't click on any of those top ten topics, but last night, I couldn't help it. That topic is near to my heart. I had to click. I just HAD to. I wondered what made everyone so curious suddenly. I mean the LDS church has been around for a long time, and yes, we have an LDS presidential candidate, but that's old news too, so what was suddenly hot and making everyone search?

As I got to the link, I saw that it was an article about how wealthy the LDS church is because of membership donations (a.k.a. tithing). Eh, okay. No biggie. I closed the site and went to bed.

image credit: mormon.org

This morning I'm up early sitting here reading the scriptures--somedays I'm better at this than others, but as I'm reading (Alma 23 in the Book of Mormon--all about the conversion of the Lamanites), that article keeps coming back to me. I keep thinking how funny the division is. We're all human beings, but there are those who are ticked about how wealthy the LDS church is, because they don't understand, and then there are those like me, who think "Eh" and roll over and go to sleep. What's the difference? As I read about the Lamanites and their conversion, I think I'm starting to get it. I look at the change in their lives, and it all starts to make some amount of sense to me.

My brother was here this past weekend. His family attended church with us. My brother's a member of the LDS faith and everything, so his response after the meetings was interesting to me. He went on and on about the wonderfully intelligent and beautiful people who were members of our ward. He exclaimed about how many of them were converts and many of them new converts. He said, "Gosh! I'd move here just to be in this ward!" I agree. It's a wonderful place to go each week. I feel honored to rub shoulders with these people on a weekly basis. These aren't bigwigs and heads of state. These are just regular people trying to raise families and trying to live their religion....and according to the world at large, they're all brainwashed--poor souls.

Yes, the LDS church is wealthy. To me, that's no big surprise. Other churches pass the basket and hope and pray that their members will pay in. The LDS church does not. To outsiders looking in, that's odd and wrong. To those inside, paying  tithing is a privilege and brings blessings. I am a recipient of those blessings. I could share stories, and maybe someday I will, but for now, it would go on and on, and this post is already long enough. To outsiders looking in, all of those people in my ward and I are brain-washed and coerced to pay that ten percent. To me, I am fulfilling a commandment that is ages old--one that was required of Christ's followers anciently. Unless you are an insider, you will not understand. Unless you know what I know, you won't get it.

For a cult, gosh, the LDS church is doing really well. How does that work?

As I'm reading this morning about the conversion of the Lamanites, I'm seeing some of the blessings that come to them as they embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm seeing some of the wonderful things I enjoy in this life. The gospel brought freedom to them. It brought them increased love and understanding for others. It made them want to do good and be good and help others. This isn't something they had desired before this time.

Hmm....Did you ever think there might be something to this? Yes, there are those who've turned away and scoff and say we're brainwashed. Did you ever consider those individual's lives and what might have made them bitter? For the most part, however, I would like to assert that LDS people try to be just like the Lamanites were becoming in Alma 23. We try to be kind. We value our freedom. We try to follow Jesus Christ, and we are grateful for the blessings that those attempts bring to our lives, which thus, make us want to do it more. Is there anything wrong with that? Does it take brainwashing to follow Jesus Christ in our society? Hmm...maybe so. Maybe you have to be changed to go against the crowd. Maybe you have to accept completely different ideals than the rest of the world embraces. Maybe you have to be just a bit different--maybe even odd.

It's so easy to listen to the scoffers and judge, but I think you'd find, if you listen to the general membership of the LDS church, that we really have no complaints. Life is good. There are ups and downs. There are hard things in every life. We endure what everyone else does, but sometimes we look at it just a bit differently from others you might know. Did you ever wonder why? Did you ever ask?

image credit: legendsofamerica.com

In my state, the extremely liberal state of Oregon--not a breeding ground for conservative faith, the LDS church is the second largest Christian faith. In the United States, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is fourth largest. Do these sound like cultish numbers to you? There's a heck of a lot of brainwashing going on.

If you believe me to be brainwashed and a member of a cult, I just wonder if maybe you've been listening to the wrong people--those who are either completely ignorant, those who have something to lose by my membership in the LDS faith (preachers, priests, etc. who are missing out on their paycheck because of me not contributing to that passed basket), or those who have been offended or somehow hurt by something that went wrong as they were members of the LDS church and have thus chosen a different way.

Do you know members of the LDS church? I know there are those who live their faith, those who live it part way, and those who don't really live it at all. I also know that it's hardly fair to judge anyone or anything by just one individual. So, I ask, do you know members of the LDS church who live their religion? If so, what kind of people are they? They may seem odd and different, but when you strip all that away, what feeling do you have about them?

You know, we often hear, "By their fruits, ye shall know them." This refers to followers of Jesus Christ. What kind of "fruits" do the members of the Church, that you know, bring forth for the most part?

I'm not sharing all of this to cram it down your throat. I'm simply urging you not to make judgments only knowing one side of the story. So often it's the outsiders point of view that judgements are made by. I'm just asking you to be careful of that.

Outsiders are offended and outraged. Insiders think it's fine. Unless you understand, you just won't get it. Unless you reap the rewards that come from being part of the LDS faith, you won't be able to conceptualize what makes us tick. Here, I'm not referring to financial rewards because we really don't get any of those. It's the intrinsic rewards that we benefit from. So, the next best thing to being an insider is seeking to understand just what's going on inside the mind of an insider. This holds true with anything you might read or hear about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

You can take the time to read up on it all you want. I mean, seriously, I guess enough people were last night to make it Yahoo's number one, but do you ever stop to ask someone who lives it and loves it? Do all of your opinions come from people who watch from the outside? I don't think you'd do that about anything else, would you? An opinion should be created by looking at all sides, shouldn't it?

So, the things you read and hear about us being intolerant, those things are either written by outsiders (who don't get it) or by those insiders who aren't catching the vision of what being a Christian is all about. There are many ignorant members of the LDS faith; actually, we're all ignorant in one way or another, but aren't all human beings? We're just all at different places in our development. I will openly admit that I am ignorant about so many things. I have areas in life that I haven't experienced yet, and thus, haven't made up my mind about those things yet. This is a big world. There are lots of things to think about and learn from. But, I will also assert, that my bottom-line is this, I want to follow Jesus Christ--religion or no religion. I don't always succeed, but I try. In my mind, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that; on the contrary, there are so many things right with that.

So, as the LDS church seems to be at the forefront of many minds these days, I want to urge those who seek to understand us brainwashed cult followers to seek out good members of the Church. Seek out someone who is truly trying to live the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the LDS faith, and ask them what they think about things. I would also urge you not to condemn us, approach us with an open mind and see if what we say doesn't make a little bit of sense.


Clearly, at some point in my history, actually in many places in my history--my mother (Ruth Hamm), my paternal grandfather (Roscoe Hamm), and my paternal great grandparents (George and Julia Dye) and even one more generation back (Isaac Riddle), had it make sense to them. Thus I am where I am today. I strongly feel that they have allowed me to reap some wonderful benefits in my life that I don't know I would have had if I'd had to find them for myself.

If you've been intimidated to approach an LDS friend and ask questions, don't be afraid. We're open. We know what the world at large thinks of us. It doesn't matter. We're happy to share. We may not know how to verbalize all that's in our hearts, but we'll do the best we can.

If you truly want to have an opinion, don't just read what the outsiders are saying. Seek out the insiders too. I mean, really, what are you afraid of?

Ever Wondered About Mormon Polygamy?

I just read this.

Polygamy worldwide (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I, too, have a polygamous background, and I bet if you checked your genealogy, you might just have one too. As you can see from the map, there are many cultures that still practice polygamy.  Mormons, however, do not. I thought it was rather interesting that both of our presidential candidates have polygamy in their backgrounds--one much more recent than the other. FASCINATING!

I have often thought that my great, great grandmother must have been a very ornery woman. Could that be where I get it? I come by it honestly? Last time I posted a photo of an ancestor on Facebook, a number of friends said there was a resemblance between her and me. WARNING: Don't even think about it!

Lucinda Wilson Riddle was married five times. Very unusual for that day and age, I would think, but according to Deila's post, Utah was a no-fault divorce state. I didn't know that. Lucinda was first married to her sister's husband but was divorced within the year. Her third and fifth marriages were to the same man--my great, great grandfather, Jeremiah Highsaw Earnest (pictured with her above).

We need to remember that those were different times than ours. Women couldn't just go out and make a living to support themselves or their families. The Saints were being persecuted wherever they went, and their final exodus was inevitable. What were they going to do? Leave the women behind? What would that say about these God-fearing people? Of course they had to take everyone with them. It just makes sense that these women and children should have someone to cling to. Once they had arrived at their destination, they needed families to get things started. Polygamy was a necessary evil. Once they were safely settled in the Salt Lake valley, polygamy was no longer a need and was abolished by the Church.

The LDS Church no longer exercises polygamy and hasn't for generations. There are groups in the United States and Canada that profess to be "Mormon" that practice polygamy, but they are not of our religion. They are know as Fundamentalist Mormons--a totally different bird.

A Timely, Sweet Reminder

Had an interesting experience today. I gained an even greater appreciation for my mom and her generosity toward others. I also gained a greater understanding of how I need to be about the things she left to me.

My mom is descended from the Dunlavey family. She always struggled with the research she did on her own family lines and spent the majority of her time searching my dad's genealogy because it was so much easier.  Her lines had brick walls that she would hit only a couple generations in.  It was frustrating.

Years ago, I was searching online and found that the only two people who had submitted information to a website on one of my mom's Dunlavey ancestors were my mom and a woman in our stake.  Wow! Small world!  I was so surprised!!!

I immediately looked this woman's number up, called her house and left a message.  I never received a call back.

Today, I saw her at stake conference, so I approached her. I told her who I was (although I've met her a few times) and asked her if she had ties to the Dunlavey family.  Her response caught me a bit off guard.

She said that she had something like 80,000 family members that she'd researched. She was sure that this ancestor that I was referring to was an "off-shoot" line.  In other words, inconsequential....to her.  It was pretty clear that the conversation, at this point, was over.  **sigh**

I thanked her and walked away.

As I walked away, though, I thought of my mom and how she would have responded to such a query.  First of all, she would have welcomed my approach with warmth and a smile.  She would have said, "Oh, I'm not sure of that line, but give me your phone number. I'll go right home and look it up. I'd be happy to share whatever I have with you."

That would have been my mom!  I know because I saw her respond this way over and over and over again to others during my life with her. It wasn't just genealogy inquiries that she handled this way, it was EVERYTHING!

Me and my mom

To be honest, I was a bit sad I had even approached this woman today, but as I exited, I looked at the opposite side of that coin. I became grateful....Grateful to have been raised by a generous woman who loved people.  Funny that this experience, though potentially negative turned out to be such a sweet reminder. Funny that it would be today--two days before her birthday.

My mom with her mom

I'm SO GLAD she was my mom!