At the Conclusion of General Conference

And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them.

III Nephi 17:5

Sunday Thoughts

We’ve been reading in the Book of Alma for the last while. We’re getting into the part where Mormon wrote in detail of the wars and conflict that went on between the Lamanites and Nephites some 80 – 60 years before Christ was born. From time to time I’ve wondered about why Mormon included all the details about this time of war. From several years after arriving in the Americas until the Nephite nation was finally destroyed some 1000 years later there were wars and conflicts between the two groups. For most of the history Mormon gave us these wars just get mentioned, without going into much detail. So why choose this particular period to give detail? The more I’ve thought about it the more reasons I find, benefits that we gain because Mormon did that.

At the end of one particularly intense period of war Mormon makes a statement. “Behold, now it came to pass that the people of Nephi were exceedingly rejoiced, because the Lord had again delivered them out of the hands of their enemies; therefore they gave thanks unto the Lord their God; yea, and they did fast much and pray much, and they did worship God with exceedingly great joy.” (Alma 45:1) The people combined their prayers of thanksgiving with fasting as a way to show the extent of their gratitude. You don’t often think of fasting as a way to show thanksgiving. At least, I hadn’t. But that is an aspect of fasting, a way to approach the Lord and let Him know the depth of the feelings of our heart.

That’s one facet of fasting. Isaiah gives us another in the 58th chapter of Isaiah in the Old Testament. He tells us “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” (Isaiah 58:8, 9). One of the main purposes of fasting is to provide for those in need. That’s pretty well known and understood. But when we’re doing that the blessings go further. When we are using our fast to care for those in need the Lord blesses us with knowledge. Fasting is a key to revelation. Knowledge of the things of the Lord, which is what we sometimes call the mysteries of God, will flow to us like a spring of water.

While I started out talking about the record of wars, what I really wanted to say was about fasting. That’s what has been on my mind the last little while. Because I am diabetic I can’t really fast like we think of as the proper way to fast. Because of the medicine I take to help my body use sugar the way a healthy body does, I have to eat on a regular basis to keep my blood sugar from going too low. If I don’t it can have serious consequences. So I don’t have the option of skipping meals for anywhere near a normal fast of 24 hours. But the more I learn about fasting the greater the power I discover there is in it. So I look for ways that I can still tap into that source of power the Lord has given us. I won’t go into detail, suffice it to say that I have come to learn that when we sincerely try to avail ourselves of the blessings of the Lord, He looks past our inabilities to our heart and the blessings are still available. Anyone can do this with any blessing the Lord has promised us in connection with any commandment He has given us.

A New Experience

Blaubeere came over tonight with her two boys. That's always fun.  Brombeere had gone to the store and found that one of the local stores was having a promotional, showing little kids how to fish.  So she called Blaubeere and they went.  Turned out to be a pretty good deal.  And because they were one of the last ones to leave the folks at the store gave them a  whole bunch of stuff, including a beginner's fishing pole, two life kids sized jackets and a few other, smaller fishing stuff; lures, and a grab-bag of stuff.  So they were all set.

The plan originally had been for them to come over and get the kayak out. But the weather was looking a little stormy so we cancelled that idea early one. Now with the fishing stuff and a little boy eager to go fishing we decided to do that instead. So we went up to one of the parks o the river and got started.

First Himbeere, the resident expert, got the line all set, bobber, bait and everything.  This is highly technical stuff, an exact science.  After all, fish are wily little critters and it takes science and all to trick them into taking the hook.  So it took several minutes of close consultation and careful work to get ready.

Then they headed over to the pond, which is so loaded with fish you can see them swimming around all over the place.  Lots of other stuff, too.  But plenty of fish.

There is a small foot bridge about halfway up the pond. They fished off the bridge for a while.  Then they went down below the bridge.  Then the little guy went up above the bridge for a while.  Then his Mom came over and he ended up on her lap.  Its nice to have a grown up near by to help with the tangles.  And there were plenty of those.

But in the end, after staying with it for an hour or so and not catching anything, as we decided it was enough for the first trip out, I asked him if he'd had any fun.  "It was awesome!" was the response.  I'll take that as a "yes."

Three at Once

So my three oldest girls, each of who, have married wonderful guys, have done an amazing thing.  All three are expecting at the same time.  Who would have ever thought this would happen!  Heidlebeere first, then Erdbeere and then Blauberre.  Heidlebeere is keeping no secrets; she's expecting a little boy.  Erdbeere is not telling what she'd getting, even though she knows.  She's keeping everyone guessing as to whether its a boy or a girl.  My official guess is a boy but that's just a  guess.  And Blaubeere isn't telling when she's due.  What's up with that?  Course, with her last one she fooled us by having it a couple of weeks earlier than everyone was expecting.  Maybe there's a pattern here.  I dunno.  I just think its amazing that they all three are expecting at once.  This is going to almost double the grandbaby count.  That is also amazing!  I'm officially excited.

Sunday Scripture

2 Kings 6:16

And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

National Pig Day

Today is National Pig Day.  Started in 1972 by two school teachers, it is a day to accord the pig its rightful, though generally unrecognized, place as one of man's most intellectual and domesticated animals.  Mr Hobbs celebrated by remaining domesticated and continuing his service as our weather pig.  As you can see, it snowed yesterday. The rest of us would have celebrated with pork ribs but we forgot to get any in advance of the day.  Maybe next year.  This year?  Probably pizza.  Pepperoni is a pork product, right?

Mr Hobbs, the Meteorologist

Mr Hobbs, it turns out, is a talented pig.  A weather pig, to be exact.  See, he can tell weather.

When he's dry, its clear and sunny.  When its hard to see him, its night.  When he's wet its raining.  When he's got snow on him, like today, its snowing.  When its light but hard to see him, it foggy.  Yep, a talented pig, that Mr Hobbs.

How It Was

Brombeere (as she and Schwarzebeere were cleaning up after dinner): I'm full.
Schwarzebeere: I'm not.
B: You're not?
S: Nope.
B: Why not?
S: I always breath out and then I'm empty.

Oink

We have a new decoration at our house.  A pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) has come to stay with us. An Essex Saddleback pig, to be exact.  Niiiiiiiice.  I like him.  Yes, we're going to call it a "him" pig.  Because I want to.  Now I've got to figure out a name for him.  I had the perfect name but he turns out to be the wrong breed so we'll keep looking.  Maybe we'll call him Mr. Hobbs.  Yeah, I like that.  Mr. Hobbs, it is.  Full name is Mr. Fisher Hobbs.

This pig's journey to our house is fun.  After years of going about life and seeing the various things people decorate their yards with I came to the conclusion that the only thing I'd really feel comfortable with in my yard was a cement pig.  Over the last several years I've made this comment a few times and I guess people were listening.  Last summer Brombeere happened to see one for sale at an antique shop.  So she got it.  It was pretty sad looking so she enlisted Erdbeere's help and snuck it to her while everybody but me was looking.  Erdbeere took it home, cleaned it up and painted it.  Then, when she came back up here for Christmas she brought it with and they put it under the tree.  Well, not actually under the tree, but behind my chair, which was right next to the tree.  And enough out of sight that I didn't even realize it was there until Christmas morning when a couple of the boys carried it out from behind the chair and gave it to me.  Pretty cool, uh?  So he sat in our living room for a few days so he could be admired.  Then the boys moved him outside.  Cool.   I like him.

A Lot of Stuff in Not Much Time

The holiday season this year stretched from just before Thanksgiving clear through to New Years. And a lot happened during that time.  Just before Thanksgiving our son, Stachelbeere came home from the Marshall Islands.  He'd been there serving a mission there and had finished.  Its so good to have him home.  He's changed so much, grown so much.  The beads he's wearing here are actually seashells, given to him by people he knew as he was leaving. 

When he came we had almost all the rest of the kids together as well.  All but one family was able to make it to the airport to see him in.  So once we had our missionary we went into town and had some lunch.  We make a big, noisy crowd.

They were probably glad to see us go from the restaurant, not that we were messy or a hassle, just a noisy crowd.  It was a good time.  Our daughter and her family, who live out west, were able to stay for a week so we had lots of good time with them.  One of the other kids lives near by with her family and brought her boys over to the house to make cookies.  That was fun.

Making cookies and watching little kids help in the kitchen is so entertaining.  They love it. They can be so messy.  During these holidays we actually had all four grandkids together for a day.  That was fun. 

Unfortunately, the week ended and Heidlebeere and her family had to go back home.  But it was okay because they were all coming back for Christmas!  The day before everyone else got here, Erdbeere and her husband came up.  This year she took a stab at making the traditional "candy cane" bread, a yummy treat we make every Christmas.  Turned out pretty good, I thought.

The next day Heidlebeere and her family, along with Moosebeere and his family arrived.  They actually ended up coming in on the same flight.  That was fun.

We're a great group to get together and play card games.  We have a pretty good selection at the house so we usually have a couple of them out.  Killer Bunnies is a favorite.  The Great Dalmudi is another. 

 Christmas was on Sunday this year so we didn't open presents until after we'd gone to church.  What a fun time it was to see everybody open their stuff.  Most of the grandkids are old enough to know what presents are about.  They're fun to watch.  It wasn't always the new presents that were the biggest hit, tho. 

In and around all the festivities Brombeere and I both managed to get sick, which was no fun.  But no one else seemed to have caught it so that turned out okay.  But in the end, because we were both getting over being sick, there were times when we were exhausted by everything going on.  Still we wouldn't trade a minute of it all.  Its so wonderful to have everyone here.  Its been a number of years since we have all been able to get together.  We were already talking about when and where the next time will be.  We'll have to follow up on that one.  It was such a wonderful time.

It was almost like heaven.