Sisters, sister in laws and friends!!!!

My sisters wedding in February 2002. In this group their are 4 returned missionaries, and 6 mothers. How cool!

Hasten the day...

My family got this beautiful CD entitled a Wasatch Christmas with selections by Peter Breinholt, Jon Schmidt, Ryan Shupe, and many other local artists. From listening to it there has been a particular phrase that has been going over and over in my head the last few days.
It is, Hasten the day when from every climb Men shall unite in the strains sublime, from the Christmas hymn, Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains.Glory to God, Glory to God in the highest Peace on earth good will to men. I love how this Sometimes I sing with more heart than voice (one day I might be an aspiring vocalist) like the words refer to but I sing nonetheless; finding great joy in it in "he who's birth the angels sing."

Thanks to lds.org here are a few quotations that I felt went along with it beautifully.

President Ezra Taft Benson

May God hasten the day when people everywhere will accept His teaching, His example, and His divinity—yes, when they will accept as a reality His glorious resurrection, which broke the bonds of death for all of us.

I also think of The Standard of Truth by the Prophet, Joseph Smith whose birth we also celebrate in a few days.
“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

A literary genius...in Christmas music

So because of a new blog I've been following I've learned a little bit about the carol, Good King Wenceslas. Well recently I have been wondering about a host of other hymns that go along with Christmas. I love so many of the Christmas hymns and carols that we sing, and find it amazing that most of the Christian world has been taught what they know about the Christ child through simple Christmas music. Like for instance one of my all time favorite Christmas carols is I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. These words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow encompass all that is beautiful and holy about writing to me. In fact when researching a little about this hymn, as my mentor in the above stated blog did, I found the love that this man had for words.
"I will not disguise it in the least... the fact is, I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature, my whole soul burns most ardently after it, and every earthly thought centres in it... I am almost confident in believing, that if I can ever rise in the world it must be by the exercise of my talents in the wide field of literature".

Wow. Beautiful!
I love the way that it starts out gradual at the beginning and then builds. (I believe it's not just the music that does this but the words seem to build to a crescendo) Because of the bells that were ringing the sound of Christmas rang out. I kind of picture a bit of the man swinging in the bell tower like in a scene from The Sound of Music, wanting all the world to know of the First fruits of him that slept. But then the author comes to a realization that the world brings like discouragement and allows doubt to enter in (this maybe likened to the six 'o clock news hour) and the author digresses from his original hope, hanging down his head. Can you not just see this dear man hold down his head; maybe it's just the poet's lament in me? But then those beautiful bells ringing brought remembrance of the Son, and brought his head up again by peeling more loud and sweet, God is not Dead nor doth He sleep. After a night of sleep for man God was there through the night like a good parent waiting at the side of a sick or nightmare stricken child. While the earth was making it's rotation around the Sun the author states that the night turned into light (one could also reference the Nephites in the Americas day and a night and a day of no darkness). The world revolved from night to day the morning came and just as so many wonder about, so did the light!!

1. I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

2. I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

3. And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

4. Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

5. Till, ringing, singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!


Wikipedia states,
"A bell tower (also belfry) is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. Most commonly, it is part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in continental Europe, it is often named "belfry". Elsewhere, the term "belfry" refers strictly to the part of the tower which contains the bells. Thus some bell towers have no belfry. The occasional free standing bell tower may also be referred to by its Italian name, campanile. Old bell towers may be kept for their historic or iconic value, though in countries with a strong campanological tradition they often continue to serve their original purposes as well."

Last night was another experience with Santa. Every year he comes and adorns our family with a visit and we enjoy it rather immensely. In fact, I even get my own turn to sit on Santa's lap. This was from a couple of years ago. Can anyone guess what I was asking for?

International Ice Skating & Mary Lou Retton

Tonight I went ice skating. I will not ever become a professional ice skater. (I did however think that one day I would be a professional gymnast. Mary Lou Retton is a personal hero of mine. The poster from her olympic days hung in my room from 1983 until just last year...) Anyway so I went ice skating with my friend Larisa, and a group from the LDS Business College. Well it was a nice experience after the twice around I was close to being done. Anyway so I did my laps and then stopped to talk to some of the other people in our group. To my pleasant surprise many of them were from different countries. It was kind of fun to be in a setting that was similar to my mission where in a few hour's time you would meet people from all around the globe. International Ice Skating. It was so fun. There was not only people from Spain, Ukraine, and Mexico, but Hong Kong and Japan as well. It was a fun little group and made ice skating much more bearable!!!

My first blog post.

Okay here it is!!! My first blog post. I know I have started one before but I do not know where it went. Lost in cyberspace....So it is kindof a long and painful story about how this came to be, so I will spare you the details. Anyway I might try it and if it isn't too time consuming and might be of worth to at least someone besides me then I guess it's worth it. So the coolest thing happened to me yesterday. I was on Trax (my current mode of transportation (it's less costly and provides a little character)) and wow what to my surprise arose such a clatter...just kidding it wasn't Santa Claus but it was this man that worked at the exact place that I am trying to get a little part-time job at for the holidays. Anyway he told me about the company and how they will be interviewing this Saturday and he gave me the directions. I joke about that but that is the very thing that President Eyering talked about in his October 2007 Conference talk when he said "Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” He recalls how he saw his father-in-law serving their family while Elder Eyering was on a Church assignment and that he didn't have to do what he was doing. He said, "But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it. More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened." The fact is that these are not rare occurances, the Lord constantly gives to him that asketh and I believe, as President Eyering stated, that He hears and answers our prayers. Mostly it is just in our asking. They are special tender mercies that the Lord gives that have built my testimony so that I can truly say that I had see hand of the Lord in my life today.