MaeLyn's Musings

Yesterday felt a little crazy. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it was my first day serving in my newest calling as official ward chorister. Maybe because I was teaching in Relief Society, and I didn't feel like the lesson really came together for me until that morning, even though I had been reading and thinking about it for weeks. For whatever reason, I was grateful when church was over yesterday, and even then, I still felt kind of tense and wound up. A shower thought yesterday: First, where I'm coming from: I recently acquired a copy of Added Upon by Nephi Smithson at a stake church book exchange. I read it this past week, and enjoyed the renewed perspective that this life is only one stage of our eternal progression, that we existed before we were born, and we will continue to exist after we die.  Also, while I was preparing for my lesson yesterday morning (before I even got out of bed), Steven mentioned the manifesto, which is the official statement that the Chu...

I've mentioned before that I do my best thinking in the shower. The boys don't have school today, so other thinking time may be limited, so here's what you get today. Today's thought: A testimony (what you believe is true) can be shared with words. Your conversion (what you do with what you believe is true) can only be shared through your actions.

I just got home from parent teacher conferences with my boys' teachers. One thing that came up while I was talking with Josh's teacher was that when he works with a group, sometimes he has a wonderful idea that is so advanced that the other kids in the group can't understand it. Josh's teacher told me how Josh is getting good at trying his best to explain his idea, but then working with the other kids in the group to come up with something they can all understand and do. A random thought (probably resulting from my earlier blog today) was that this is a skill that some in our government might benefit from learning. It is a good thing we have freedom of speech in this country. Are there countries where I could be arrested for such a suggestion? Anyway, my kids are all incredibly smart and doing well in their classes. But if you know my kids, you probably could have guessed that.

I'm not usually very interested in politics. I usually identify with the Republican party. I believe in self reliance and personal responsibility. I value freedom and independence. Even after the last few years of struggling financially as Steven hasn't had a regular job, I still do not promote free government handouts. I'd rather pay less in taxes and spend my money where I want to spend it, and where I can see what use it is going to. I resent being forced to spend money on things because the government mandates it, even if I probably would spend money on those things anyway. I believe that the checks and balances in place in our form of government are there for a reason, and I don't approve of the way the government seems to be going right now. The government has shut down. Why? Well, it is complex. To me, it appears to be a power struggle. The President has an ambition: affordable health care for everyone. A law was passed to provide it. This law is huge and compl...

Lately, there has been some discussion in certain forums about how women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are oppressed because they can't hold the priesthood. There have been protests staged: wear pants to sacrament meeting; try to attend the Priesthood session of General Conference. These protests have always seemed silly to me. Why would we need the priesthood? We have everything else. Do we really need one more way to serve, when we already do so much? No, we don't have the priesthood, but we do much of the same things a priest in another church might do: we speak and teach publicly in church. We pray. We organize church functions and activities. We help clean the church buildings. We pay visits to check on the well being of fellow church members. We offer shoulders to cry on. We serve where we are needed. We hold leadership positions in organizations to teach the children and young women, and in the biggest society of women in the world. What can'...

Last week in institute, we talked about why the Lord chastens us, and how we react when we are chastened. This week we started off on a similar topic. We read 1 Nephi 21:4 , (here Nephi is quoting Isaiah 49:4) which says, "Then I [Isaiah] said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain; surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." Isaiah had been laboring to teach the gospel to the Israelites, and not finding much success. Maybe he was feeling disheartened because it didn't seem like the people were listening to him. In verse 5, he goes on to say, "And now, saith the Lord—that formed me from the womb that I should be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him—though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my  strength." Isaiah realized that the Lord had created him - he knew, better than Isaiah himself - what Isaiah was capable of doing. The Lord chose Isaiah...

I enjoy walking my boys to school each morning. For those ten minutes, they have a captive audience, and they often compete with each other to tell me what is on their minds. This morning, Peter was telling me some soda jokes he came up with: How old do you need to be to drink soda?      -7 and up. Where was the first soda made?    - In the Mountain Dew (My guess was in Minnesota.) What soda can you plant in your garden?      -Root beer. Josh, on the other hand, was telling me, in great detail, how to get an artifact that is hidden in his vault. The key could be found in the graveyard, if you could get it from the zombies. Then, to get into the vault, you had to drink a certain potion, but it was hidden among five other potions, one of which was poison, and two of which were root beer, and the other two were not root beer, although I'm not sure what they actually were. There was also a tiger with eleven lives that had to be fought...