MaeLyn's Musings

 Have you ever taken a picture of yourself and looking at it, realized how much you look like your parents? I had my hair cut last week and this morning I thought I'd take a selfie to show folks my new hair do. And yes, I am definitely my parents' daughter.

 Peter gave a youth talk in sacrament meeting this last Sunday. Here are the notes he used to give his talk: The Importance of Temple Work (Introduction) I have been asked to give a talk on the importance of temple work. Obviously, temples are closed right now, but that doesn't mean we can't prepare for them to open again. So why are temples important? In the April 2020 general conference, Elder David A Bednar explained. "We do not build or enter holy temples solely to have a memorable individual or family experience. Rather the covenants received and the ordinances performed in temples are essential to the sanctifying of our hearts and for the ultimate exaltation of God's sons and daughters." This means that the things we do in the temple are important for us and the people we do the ordinances for. When we do baptisms for the dead, we give these people an opportunity they didn't have when they were alive. While temples are temporarily closed, we can still pr...

Last night, my boys asked for a bedtime story. Josh held out a book for me to read to them: Harry Potter . Since it was late and a school night, I decided to tell them a slightly shorter story. This is the story I told: Once there were two sisters who shared a bedroom. They slept on a bunk bed, with the older sister on the top bunk, and the younger sister on the bottom bunk. At night, these two girls loved to talk and laugh and play games long after their parents had sent them to bed. One night, they came up with a new game: they were going to try to scare each other. They told each other scary stories. They sneaked off their beds in the dark and tried to jump out and startle each other. Finally, their parents came to their bedroom and told them they needed to go to sleep.  The younger sister left the room to go to the bathroom, and when she returned to her bedroom the pile of blankets on the top bunk was still and quiet, and she assumed her older sister had obeyed her parent...

Yesterday, I got to teach in Relief Society. The lesson was Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith, Chapter 17 entitled Sealing Power and Temple Blessings. As I was preparing, I realized that the entire lesson was based around one scripture (D&C 2:1-3), so I printed it out very large and had it on the chalkboard behind me, along with a picture of the temple and some temple name cards. I also borrowed Steven's genealogy binder and placed that on the table. (I like having visual aides, things to look at besides me.) Here are some of the questions that we discussed during the course of the lesson: What scripture is quoted in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants AND the Pearl of Great Price? (Malachi 4:5-6, 3 Ne 25:5-6, D&C 2:1-3, JSH 1:38-39) When and where did Elijah come? (April 3, 1836 in the Kirtland Temple) What did Elijah bring? (The priesthood sealing keys) Moroni informed Joseph Smith that this prediction was ab...

I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting yesterday. I spoke using just a brief outline, but here is the draft that outline was created from: In a 1993 Conference talk , Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin quoted a woman who described her feelings about a winter storm in Canada. She said, ““I love a winter storm. … When the wind starts to blow and the snow begins to fall, a feeling of excitement starts to build. … When I can’t see the trees at the neighbor’s farmyard, … I phone my husband! … He then picks up the children who are at school. … It is hard to describe the feelings I experience as our family is gathered home, and the storm rages outside. … And I love it! Everyone is safe; we are together. We have lots of food and water. The longer it lasts, the better. … We are shut off from the world. … We bask in the warmth of our home and in the warmth of our love. My heart is full, and I am at peace. Sometimes, I wish I could just stay like that forever, with my family gathered around me, pro...

My Creative Writing class this week focused on nonfiction, specifically the more creative forms, such as memoirs and personal narratives. the homework this week was to think of a point in time when I was personally affected by a newsworthy event, focus on one specific moment, and describe it. We were supposed to try to think of something besides 9/11. As I tried to come up with something, my mind reverted to a memory from my early childhood. It was only when I did a bit of research to pin point when exactly it was that I realized how very young I was! I was supposed to focus on just one moment, so I had to refrain from mentioning the bookshelf lying on its face, with books sandwiched below it. I didn't describe seeing the kitchen floor covered with shattered glass, broken eggs and puddles of milk that had been tossed from the refrigerator. These memories are from the same event, but they weren't as personal. I was a blonde and blue eyed three year old that sunny Sunday afterno...

I am researching drivers ed programs. Is that crazy? In Colorado, a teenager has to have her driver's permit for 12 months before she can get her license. That means that if Hannah wants to get her driver's license when she turns sixteen, she has to get her permit when she turns fifteen, and has to take a driver's ed course within 6 months of taking the written test - so kids can enroll in driver's ed as early as 14 1/2 years old! My mind is boggled. I remember taking driver's ed when I was a teen. It was offered at my high school. I think the semester long class was divided into two sections - half health class and half driver's ed. We'd learn about the rules of the road - how far before turning a corner we were supposed to turn on our turn signal, or how many feet behind the next car we were supposed to leave to give us space to stop. Of course, since I had no real concept of how far 200 feet are, or 50 yards, or whatever, they were just random numbers t...

Someone in the Joel Hills Johnson Descendants Group on Facebook posted a link to a page that told the story of the writing of the song High on the Mountain Top yesterday. The link is http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/Joel-J.-High-on-mout-top.html I'm not going to copy the story here... You can click on the link to read it. (Hopefully the link will stay around for a while.) Anyway, I think it is cool to be descended from a man who had such a great love for the gospel and the land where he lived. Joel Hills Johnson is my great, great grandfather.  He is my mother (Rebecca Asay)'s  father (Seth Asay)'s  mother (Susan Johnson)'s  father (Seth Johnson)'s  father.  I remember once when I was visiting with my grandparents at their home in St. George, Utah, I played the song, High on the Mountain Top on my grandparents' piano. My grandfather was in the room and heard me play, and afterwards, he told me how much he loved that song which his ...

Last week , I started a game of "two truths and a lie." Here are the answers: 1. When I was a child, I    A. had two imaginary puppies who I called "Penny" and "Copper". (True)    B. frequently pretended that my bicycle was a horse named "Silver". (False. I may have pretended it was a horse, but I don't think I ever gave it a name other than "Desert Rose" - which was printed on the side.)    C. enjoyed pretending I was a princess locked in a tower whenever I had to clean the bathroom. (True) 2. Instruments I wanted to learn to play when I was a child included    A. the harp. (true)    B. the flute. (true)    C. the banjo. (false. I think Steven may have wanted to play the banjo at one point in time.) 3. When I was child, the things I wanted to be when I grew up included    A. a fashion designer. (false. My interest in designing clothes came much more recently.)    B. an artist. (true)  ...

Remember the game "two truths and a lie", where you say two true things about yourself and one lie, and the other people try to guess which is the lie? Have you ever played this game with family members? It is difficult because they know so much about you! What can you say that they wouldn't already know? Last night as I lay awake in bed waiting to fall asleep, I tried to think of some things that my family members might not already know. Here is what I came up with. 1. When I was a child, I    A. had two imaginary puppies who I called "Penny" and "Copper".    B. frequently pretended that my bicycle was a horse named "Silver".    C. enjoyed pretending I was a princess locked in a tower whenever I had to clean the bathroom. 2. Instruments I wanted to learn to play when I was a child included    A. the harp.    B. the flute.    C. the banjo. 3. When I was child, the things I wanted to be when I grew up included ...

Did you go to college or have vocational training - where or when? The only college I ever attended was Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. It might have been the only college I applied to. I went the fall after graduating from high school, in 1993. On the drive out there for the first time, our car overheated in the Arizona desert. Dad and I stayed the night at some distant cousin's home in the Las Vegas area I think, and the next day I found myself on a bus, headed to Provo by myself. That was a long drive. I was very, very grateful to arrive at the bus depot in Provo and see my sister Lindy and her husband there. What would I have done if they hadn't been there? They took me back to their home to rest, and they were the ones who helped me find my dorm in Heritage Halls, took me shopping, and helped me to get settled in. I remember visiting with them several times during my years at BYU, and babysitting my niece, Jessica (who is now attending BYU herself!) While my ...

Describe your room as a child. Did you have your own room or have to share it with a sibling? Tell some experiences. I shared a room for all but one month of my childhood. Usually, I shared a room with my older sister, Lindy. Sometimes, this was a lot of fun. We would stay up late talking. We would play games together. On the days that we had to good clean our bedrooms, we would do puppet shows for each other, using the end of our bunk bed as a stage. (The bed was pulled away from the wall so we could change the sheets... It probably took a lot longer than it needed to.)  One night after bedtime, we were playing a game, trying to scare each other. At one point I left the room to use the bathroom or something, and when I came back, I thought that Lindy had given up the game and gone to sleep. I got in my bed and tried to go to sleep myself. Just as I was drifting off, someone reached out from the little space between the edge of my bed and the wall (I think I was sleeping on the...

What was one of your favorite treats as a child? I have always loved ice cream! I remember going to a Thrifty drug store with the family and getting a double scoop of cylinder-shaped ice cream on top of a flat bottomed cone. I imagine that the ice cream there was really inexpensive - maybe a dime or a quarter per scoop for our family to be able to afford to all go there on a regular basis. I think it must have been a reward for doing chores or something. Our family would troop into the store and line up at the ice cream counter, peering through the glass at the buckets of ice cream, trying to decide which flavors we wanted most. They had the standard favorites: chocolate, mint chocolate chip, and cookies and cream, but one that I really liked, and haven't often seen since I was a child, was black cherry. They also had rainbow and orange sherbets, which I remember as being really sweet. I remember watching the attendants use the cool scoop, that was so different from any other sco...

What form of transportation did you have while growing up? In a nutshell, cars, bikes, and feet. When I was very young, I can vaguely remember some kind of blue car that was parked in the driveway - not in the garage. I don't remember driving in it at all; I just remember it being there.  The earliest family car that I can remember driving in was a brown station wagon. The back seat of that station wagon faced the rear of the car so we could see and wave at the people in the cars behind us. I remember some times when we wanted to leave to go on vacation early in the morning, my parents would put the seats down flat, and we would sleep in our sleeping bags in the car over night so we could get an early start and not have to wake up to go out to the car. (Those were the days before seat belts were required.) Eventually our family reached a size where we needed a van, and I think we had a series of blue or grey vans (Ford 12 passenger type) that all kind of blur together in my...

Back in 2010, I started posting personal history posts , pulling a slip with a question on it out of a bag, and answering it for that day's blog. I think I did ten of them before I lost interest... or the bag got lost... or whatever. I discovered the bag recently, and so I thought I would start again for those days when I can't think of anything else to write about. (I didn't want to write again about how it is snowing and I really wish that it wasn't.) Did your mother or grandmother sew, quilt, knit or crochet? Tell about things made. My mother used to sew. I remember a cabinet someone (maybe my dad?) built for her that held her white Elna sewing machine, and when the doors were opened, a shelf came down and provided a work table. Patterns could be pinned to the doors for easy reference. My mom had a few dresses that I think she made. One was white with small red flowers or berries or something on it, and red trim. I think she also made a square dance costume or...

Peter was sick today, so I stayed home from church with him. He has hardly moved from the couch, so I've been occupying myself with an attempt at family history. On our dining room wall is a family tree. The names we have posted are mostly the names from FamilySearch . In comparing those names with other family trees, however, we found some discrepancies. Today, I was going to see if I could figure out one of those. On FamilySearch, my mother's great great grandmother, the wife of a man named George Givens Johnstun, is listed as Mahaley Dudley. In a Pedigree Chart in the back of a book of poems by my grandmother, that great great grandmother is listed as Sarah Sophia Johnson. So, which was it - Sarah or Mahaley? On my dad's genealogy site , he has Sarah's name. In several FamilySearch pedigrees, Mahaley or Mahalia is listed. Considering the place and time (Hancock/Nauvoo, Illinois) it could be that George was married to Sarah Sophia in 1841 and then to Mahaley in 1...

Who can guess who this adorable little boy is?

For lack of anything else to write about today, here is a generic model of what my days are like these days. 6:30am The alarm clock goes off. I roll over and attempt to catch a few more zzzzs, but usually get up within a few minutes, collect my clothes and head for the shower. Steven gets up, wakes up the kids and gets them moving. 7:00 Ideally, everyone is up and dressed. We gather for family prayer and scripture reading. 7:15 John puts the bowls on the table, Josh gets the spoons. Hannah pulls the cereal boxes down from the top pantry shelf and hands them to Peter, who brings them to the table. We gather at the table to eat. 7:30 Time to finish getting ready for school. Shoes are found, planners are signed, backpacks are double checked for homework. I try to get the dishwasher emptied and loaded with the breakfast dishes, and get a load of laundry into the washer. I remind the kids to make sure their dirty laundry is in their hampers. 7:45 Hannah leaves for her bus sto...