Dad and I have been having a blast working outside! We cleaned up the grape arbor, unburied the blackberry bushes, made some changes in the "shade garden" and did basic upkeep. Dad's been trying Elise's suggestion of using vinegar on weeds. He got a little spray happy, so we now have brown, dead spots in our grass where the weeds used to be. Give it a try - it works! We had a lovely rainstorm for a couple of hours last night and our flower beds are very happy now! Our list of things to do in the yard grows ever longer and will likely never get finished, but we are loving the process!
We enjoyed going with Thomas and Victoria to the traditional scout breakfast that we've attended for a couple of decades, and to the Lewiston Parade. Emma looked quite official walking beside the band as they marched and played. And, oh, the fireworks!! Spectacular!! They have continued in our neighborhood every night this week - beginning just as we are trying to go to sleep!
Emma is the busiest person in our house, by far. She's working, doing marching band, and has endless invitations to go with friends. This week she went swimming in a reservoir in Ogden Canyon, watched movies, got kidnapped to go get shaved ice, and had a dance practice - all within a couple of days! She's on the go from morning until night. She really enjoyed spending a couple of days this week in Idaho visiting her sisters, getting her haircut and watching the amazing IF fireworks.
That's about it, besides the basic stuff - dentist appointments, visiting teaching, temple attendance, quilting, etc. Well, and I finished the Book of Mormon again. What a great book! The commentary I used had some important reminders at the end. From Ezra Taft Benson: "Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life." (A Witness and a Warning, pp. 7-8.) Each time I read it I get a stronger impression of the importance of the Book of Mormon for us right now. This is a partial list by Robert Millet and Joseph McConkie of what it can help us with. They ask, "Do we desire to know how to...
- handle wayward children
- deal justly yet mercifully with transgressors
- bear pure testimony
- detect the enemies of Christ
- withstand those who seek to destroy our faith
- discern and expose secret combinations
- deal properly with persecution and anti-Mormonism
- establish Zion
- avoid priestcraft and acquire and embody charity
- have our sins remitted
- come unto Christ and be sanctified by his Spirit... [and a long, long list of things we might desire to know how to do]
If so, we must search and study the Book of Mormon. It is the most relevant and pertinent book available to mankind today."
Obviously, it's really important to study and apply what we read in the Book of Mormon. It has had a remarkable impact on my life, has literally changed the course of my life. I love it! "Too much effort has been expended over too many centuries, too much blood has been shed, too many tears have watered pillows, too many prayers have ascended to the Lord..., too great a price has been paid for the Book of Mormon record to be destroyed. Or discarded. Or ignored. No, it must not be ignored..."
Read it and live what you read!
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