MaeLyn's Musings

The phone rang yesterday, about an hour before church was to start. I answered it. It was the executive secretary of the ward, asking if I could meet with the bishop briefly, fifteen minutes before church. I said, "yes" and hung up the phone. Immediately the thoughts came pouring through my mind. Is it a new calling? Are they going to release me from one (or all) of the three I already have? The Young Women presidency changed last week... does it have something to do with that? I am really enjoying my calling as a Relief Society teacher right now, and I didn't really want to be released from that yet, especially since I've only been doing it for a few months. I could deduce that it wasn't' something really big, because they only asked to see me, and not Steven too. But whatever it was, I knew I would do whatever I was called to do. We arrived at the church fifteen minutes or so before it was to start. The bishop was still in a meeting, so I put down my boo...

I came across this cool infographic about Mormons. I thought I'd share.

Last night was our pack's raingutter regatta. When we arrived, there was a bit of a panic because they couldn't find the rain gutters that they've always used in the past, and what is a raingutter regatta without any rain gutters? Anyway, they found something that would work instead (the light covers to the outdoor pavilion we were meeting in) and the meeting began. By tradition in this pack, the boys make the boats at the pack meeting out of simple materials - a Styrofoam base with a wooden dowel mast and a cardstock sail. They were simple, but they worked. The boys lined up at one end of the gutters, blew their boats to the end, then ran around to get back in line to race again. Steven served as assistant cubmaster, telling them when to start. ("Ready, Set, Blow!") Each of the boys made a boat and raced it, while Hannah staked out the dessert table, and helped take pictures. I watched and took a few pictures myself.  Here are some of the pictures we took: T...

I'm really enjoying my institute class! Each week I learn new things that I hadn't thought about in quite the same way before. This morning we discussed Lehi sending his sons back to Jerusalem to get Ishmael's family ( 1 Nephi 7:1-5 ). Someone asked, "Why did they have to make a second trip back to Jerusalem? Why couldn't they have gotten Ishmael and his family at the same time as they were there getting the brass plates from Laban?" We discussed this for a few minutes, and a few possibilities occurred to us: To test their faith and obedience. (Of course it was pointed out that Laman and Lemuel didn't complain about going back to get wives.)  Getting the brass plates was a dangerous assignment. A couple times they fled for their lives, and they probably had to be ready to leave the city quickly. It would have been more difficult to leave the city quickly with an entire family in tow.  They had to gain favor in Ishmael's eyes to convince him to...

I was reminded this morning that there was a milestone this last weekend that I need to make note of. Hannah gave her very first talk in Sacrament Meeting this last Sunday. Her topic was the third article of faith and she did an awesome job!

On Saturday, our ward had a country fair activity. There were games and displays, a pie eating contest and a silly fashion show, food to eat, and even a raffle. It was fun. People in the ward were invited to bring things to display, so we had handmade rugs, crocheted blankets, homemade costumes, wooden pens, pies and other baked goods, bug displays, as well as a lap top showing photos. I brought some of my homemade jewelry, and Hannah brought some unicorns she had crafted out of duct tape. Those who wanted to could donate something for the raffle. There was also a display of family history stuff and another for emergency preparedness. Hannah's duct tape unicorns The games included donuts hanging from strings, rubber band guns, and a ring toss. There was also face painting and a photo booth. Peter spent the evening looking like a pirate, and Hannah had a rainbow painted over one eyebrow. Steven and Josh both participated in the pie eating contest, Josh managing to get his fac...

Last night was Hannah's Young Women in Excellence celebration, where the young women got to show off the goals and projects that they have been working on for Personal Progress during the year. Hannah had decided she wanted to perform a viola-piano duet that I arranged over the summer. (see the next-to-last bullet here ). We were almost to the church before she realized that she had forgotten her viola at home! So, I dropped her off, along with the Steven and the boys, who had scouts, and I rushed home for the viola. I returned just in time for us to perform. The performance went well. After all the performances and presentations (we were next to last, so not long after I got there), we watched a slide show of pictures taken during the various activities and camp outs the girls have participated in through the year, and then some awards were handed out. Hannah received a certificate for graduating from Beehives (i.e. turning 14). She also received a large photo of the Denver tem...

Yesterday I got to go to an Adult Education Institute class. A sweet sister who loves nearby has offered to give me rides so I can go. I went last year and really enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to this year, even though we have a new teacher. We're studying the Book of Mormon this year. Here are a few things that I came away with from yesterday's class: The Book of Mormon was written for our day, to convince us that the Jesus spoken of in the Bible really is the Christ, the son of God. (See my previous blog about Faith to see why it is so important that we know that God exists.) A major theme of the Book of Mormon is deliverance through God's mercy. 1 Nephi 1:20 says, "...But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." Elder Bednar describes the Lord's tender mercies as "the very personal and ...

Yesterday was Hannah's birthday. We celebrated last night for FHE. (Incidentally, why do we get so many phone calls on Monday nights? The phone rang eight times between 7 and 8:15pm!) We had homemade pizza for dinner. Hannah made and decorated her birthday cake. Steven ran the boys to the store to buy gifts, since we hadn't had opportunity previously, and then they hurried home to wrap them.   Here is the cake that she made and decorated.  She was thrilled to receive twelve rolls of duct tape. Her mind is already working on figuring out what to do with them all.  She also received art supplies, shirts and candy from her brothers and a friend. Gifts from her mom and dad will arrive tomorrow due to a delay in ordering and a longer shipping time than expected.  Happy 14th birthday, Hannah!

We've received a phone call or two from family who was concerned about us in light of the flooding here in our area. We are fine. As I mentioned a few days ago, the lawn in front of the house gets covered with water occasionally when it is raining hard, but it usually doesn't take long to drain again once the rain eases up. So far, the water hasn't risen any where near high enough to reach our front door, or even to flood the play room, which is a couple steps down from the rest of the house. We haven't chanced to be driving on any of the roads that have been washed out. Steven got stuck in traffic one morning on his way to work when a freeway off ramp was flooded and cars were turning around to get back on the freeway via the off ramp. That's about as exciting as it gets for us, for which I am grateful. Yesterday, we received a couple phone calls about 1/2 hour before church was to start to let us know that a major intersection on the way to church was flooded. W...

This week has been the rainiest I've seen in a long time. Sure, we frequently get the late summer evening thunderstorms, but it has been raining most of the day, every day, for the last three days. Since we only have one car, I get to walk to take the kids to school and to pick them up afterwards. Luckily for us, only on Monday afternoon was it really pouring down on us while we were walking. Other days the rain has stopped for a little while, or it has just been a light sprinkle. I like rain, when I don't have to be out in it. It is the perfect weather to curl up in a comfy chair with a good book, and since I am still wading through the Wheel of Time series, I have plenty to read. (I'm on book eleven now.) At night, the sound of rain pounding on the roof is strangely relaxing, and it lulls me to sleep. The grass looks greener now than it has all summer, and I haven't had to water my garden. I kind of wonder if the plants will drown from all the water they are ...

September 11th, 2001. I was at home in a two bedroom apartment in Rancho Santa Marguerita, California, with an almost two year old daughter and an almost two month old son. Steven was at work. The phone on the desk in the dining room rang, and it was my mother-in-law. "You have to turn on the TV!" she said in a near panic. She told me that terrorists had flown an airplane into a building in New York, and she was terrified that the United States was going to declare war, and that two of Steven's siblings, who were in the army reserves at the time, were going to be called to active duty. When I got off the phone, I did turn on the TV, just in time to watch a second airplane crash into the second World Trade Center tower, and for the entire building to collapse. I spent a lot of time that day watching TV, something that I almost never did at the time. (I still don't.) I held my babies close, and tried to explain to my daughter why I was crying. As a child, I reme...

What scripture stories are depicted in the picture below? (Peter and I took turns drawing them and quietly guessing during a church meeting a while ago... it kept him entertained and quiet for a little while.)

"Is there a leader or teacher who has had a positive influence on you, or who you really admire? What qualities or attributes do/did they exhibit? Be prepared to share!" This is what I wrote on the chalkboard in the Relief Society Room during the break between Sunday School and Relief Society yesterday. I wanted to make sure that the sisters in the room had plenty of time to think about the question, and what their answer might be before I started my lesson. This weeks lesson was Chapter 18 of Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, entitled, " Church Leadership and Selfless Service . " I took a little different approach to teaching this lesson than I have to the last few lessons I've taught, and for some reason, that made me nervous. Maybe it was because I didn't want to be the only person talking. I was depending on others to share their thoughts and experiences, and f they didn't participate, the lesson I had planned would not be very...

Since Hannah started seminary, we've all been getting up earlier so we can have family prayer and read the scriptures before she leaves for school and Steven leaves for work. That means the boys and I wake up around 5:30am. After Hannah and Steven leave, Josh and Peter frequently go back to sleep, and I wake them up again around 7:00 so they can get ready in time for school. This was yesterday morning:  This was this morning:  

Last night we went to a Court of Honor for the scouts in our ward. We started with a dinner of tacos and nachos, and then the awards were given out. A slide show of photos from scout camp was projected on a screen. John received five merit badges that he earned at scout camp and at a merit badge college a couple weeks ago. Two boys in the troop received their Eagle awards. This was special to Steven, because these are boys that he worked with when he was the scoutmaster, and even since he was released, he has continued to encourage them to complete their projects and achieve this goal. He was really happy to see them receive the Eagle award. One of the boys selected Steven as the recipient of a mentor pin. (Click here for some more information about the mentor pin.) There were cupcakes for dessert.

What can the Book of Mormon teach us about dealing with other people? This has been my topic of study for the last week or so. Here is some of what I learned: Nephi had abusive brothers. They beat him with rods ( 1 Nephi 3:28-29 ). They were rebellious ( 1 Ne 7:7 ). They were disrespectful ( 1 Ne 18:9 ) and even threatened to kill Nephi ( 1 Ne 7:16 ; 2 Ne 5:2 ). How did Nephi deal with this?  He spoke to them, and tried to tell them what was right. (See 1 Ne 4:1-3 ; 7:8-15 ; and 18:10 ) He prayed for God's help. ( 1 Ne 7:17 ; 2 Ne 5:1 ) He did what he knew was right, in spite of his brothers. ( 1 Ne 4:4 ) He forgave his brothers. ( 1 Ne 7:21 ) He got help from other family members. ( 1 Ne 7:19 ; 18:17-19 ) Finally, Nephi distanced himself from his brothers. ( 2 Ne 5:6-7 ) What happened? After Nephi left his brothers, he and those who went with them were able to build a civilization and live happy lives. ( 2 Ne 5:27 ) ---------------------------------//-----------...

This was me one month ago. My hair was past my arm pits when it was braided. Unbraided, it was almost to my elbows. It was hot, and it that was a lot of weight attached to my head! This was yesterday. My hair reaches my shoulders now. It feels amazingly light! I should have done this months ago!!! The photo doesn't do it justice. I love my new haircut.