Vandalized And Billed For It

I found this on the desk at the shop today. Clearly, it's an invoice. Quite professional looking, yes? But, who is the proprietor of the bill?

M. D. G. B. Co

Who is this company?

Make Dad Go Broke

It's always good to keep things relaxed and fun in the workplace.

Memo of My Missionary- Homeless Foul

well this week i got yelled at by a homeless guy cuz i gave him a dollar then the next day he asked for another and i said no he said the F word like 100 times and claimed i didnt know jesus and kicked a gargabe can over and wanted to throw down with me. i laughed and was gonna quote "give a man a fish..." he didnt give me the chance he just yelled more. we are also teaching a man named michael jordan. played for the chicago bulls...jkjkjk but his name really is michael jordan. we are volunteering at an assisted living home now. and we have been biking a ton cuz we let sister use the car most of the week. we got a ton of stuff for our apartment. dishes, lamps, and shelves, etc. then we have a member who does construction who is gonna get us a whole living room set. my new companion is really testing my charity and patience...we attended an 8 year old's baptism this sunday and that was way cool. i filled up the font and the water heater was only a 5 gallon one. i didnt turn it off periodicly to let it heat up so it was pretty cold haha. the sister have a ton of solid investigators...we are doing a ton of finding. we got our new phone this week! it is so nice to be able to communicate again. i have met some VERY nasty people living in VERY nasty homes!! i cant understand how people can live like that! my missionary workouts are getting a LOT more intense! to the point i burnout. im gonna be very fit when i get home. the ward children and youth love me! the lil kids hug my legs and give me high fives and crowd me at church haha. we are starting a dodge ball night as a finding activity. pray that it is sucessful.

Indiglo

I gave Harris a watch today. At the grocery store he said, "Mom, how does this watch work?" Silly me. I'm thinking I don't even know how the mechanics of a watch enable us to keep time.

I start with, "There are gears..."

He clarifies, "How does it tell you what time it is?"

All day long he's been learning to read a face clock.

He is also strengthening (and giving a purpose to) counting by fives. And dividing an hour into quarters. (That's frACtiONs, folks!)

Living is learning. *happiness*

Sometimes You Have To Excuse the Mess While Memories Are Made- Scar's Birthday

 One day, Harris informed us that Scar's birthday was in four days. Which means party time!

 Scar turned 16. That's a significant year even for a tiger. His whole entire family showed up. Even great uncles and cousins.

 It just so happened that President Haderlie showed up for dinner. Instead of cake we had homemade apple pie. It was a good one, too!

Here is our good friend, Pres. Haderlie. Almost 90 years old! The new temple will be right across the road from his house.

Le Cotage Conversion- Three Pines

 You are the luckiest kid in the world if you have a dad who will build you a tree house!

 Our neighbor, Mr. Sessions came right over and gave us a metal ladder that looks like it came from a military tank. It's awesome.

 It will have walls. And be insulated. And I think they said something about a porch?

The children want to plumb it in. We don't love them THAT much.

He 'Spoke', She Answered

My first-born child left home as soon as she graduated from high school. She was the oldest of seven. She was ready. We were ready.

She's been the author of her own story now for 5 years. Four relentless years of college. Two humid summers at a summer camp in PA. One summer working door to door in KS with a heavy backpack and a crappy bike. Bonding with roommates. Paying bills. Buying food. Slowly changing. Maturing. Her independence and struggles helping her to better understand things from Mom and Dad's perspective.

Now she's in France as an au pair to three young children. She paid me a compliment by telling me she'd rather take my wild pack of five out in public -by-herself- than the children she au pairs. Aw... thanks, Shay.

So, on one of the jaunts with her au pair family to the Swiss Alps, where she didn't have internet, my daughter's boyfriend requests to Skype with us. Secretively. Yeah. You guessed it. He told us he planned to bicycle from Paris to Lyon and then ask Shanelle to marry him. We gave our blessing and some unsolicited advice; offered to help them out as much as we could... and waited.

We had many phone calls, Skype sessions, and emails with Shanelle and never once let on that Lawrence had even contacted us. Then one day she called. The call dropped when I answered and I figured she'd be home so I jumped on Skype and there she was having dinner with Lawrence.

Her first words were, "So, you and Dad have been keeping secrets from me. A rather big one."

I laughed and laughed. Thanks Lawrence, that was so fun!

Of course we wanted to hear the story of him popping the question. So, here it is. Picture this:

They were out on a walk up above Grenoble, France and looking out over some beautiful scenery. She walked off and he kept trying to get her to come back to look at it. She had seen it a million times and was ready to leave. So, he gets down on one knee. There was something about her literally gasping and grabbing the ring, and I think she said yes somewhere along the line. 

The ring is the coolest ever. When they first met, Lawrence was running the mountain biking activity at the summer camp. Then, he biked from Paris to go propose to her. He personally fashioned a ring using parts from a bicycle. Isn't that awesome!

Congratulations, Shanelle and Lawrence. May the force be with you.

Two-boys

This week the two-boys have been:

spacemen using giant winter clothing

dog trainers using apple jacks

playing titanic complete with icebergs and tragedies using a huge clipboard which floated around on the wood floor

Memo of My Missionary- Empire Oregon

well this week the sisters got here! we gave up our apartment to them so that they can be in the safer part of town with a nicer apartment. we will be less of a target in Empire than the sisters. it is sister stirling (brand new) and sister lasueur (4.5 months). they are good teachers and the ward is spoiling them. i will send a pic of them. so we have basicaly nothing in our apartment. it smells like weed, and we are surrounded by college partiers. the sister have all our investigators now. including chelsee and tabatha so we have been doing a ton of finding and LA work. been biking more. our district meetings are in reedsport each friday now which means more driving. and we are going to eugene this wednesday for some training. it is warm and notwindy which the natives say is unusual

Memo of My Missionary- One Lego at a Time

Dear Elder Galloway,

I am excited for your report of this past week of working in the vineyard. 

Today was a good Sabbath. Dad left very early for meetings. Holland gave a final talk in Sacrament Meeting before she leaves on the 28th to serve her mission in the Philippines. Brother Wilford led a great discussion from Doctrine and Covenants.  And we have a new sister teaching in Relief Society who gave a very fun lesson on unity. 

Today, I'd like to share with you some things from Sacrament Meeting that captured my heart:

•Every time you let negativity take over you are welcoming  Satan right through the front door. 

•The invitation is to come unto Christ. We do not say go unto Christ. We say come, therefore, we must already be with Christ. 

•He may not change circumstances but he will change us.

So, we must remember that this life is a test. Every challenge or hardship we face is an opportunity for us to show Heavenly Father what we're made of. When negativity shows up we can conscientiously decide to slam the door in its face and build up positivity one Lego at a time, if need be. 

Sometimes it is very easy to become discouraged. Sometimes we may feel like we are just banging our heads against a wall; that our efforts are probably not making any difference at all. So we must remember that everything we experience will make a difference for at least one person: ourselves. We can decide to allow the circumstances make us better people. 

I love Holland's visual on coming into Christ. Jesus has never asked us to do anything that he himself has not done. He never expects us to live standards that he himself did not adhere to.  People we interact with can recognize even inconspicuous hypocrisies. We must already have the Savior with us if we can ever hope to invite someone else to come unto him. 

This week I shall pray for you to be a vehicle in which the Spirit can travel. May you be ever stalworth in your day to day dealings so as to earn this blessing. 

Love, Mom

Di Queso!

Memo of My Missionary~August 12th

on the train to the airport with elder brough

 I finally got Anthony to write more than just two sentences! And send pictures!

 (I'm just going to copy and paste what he wrote)



 well today is transfer day. i just met my new companion. elder Brewer. he has been out as long as me so we will be training each other haha!! he is a good looking guy. coos bay ward is also getting a set of sisters!! im excited cuz this will really lift the less active work off our backs. tooo mannnyyy lessss accctiiivees haha. will be a good transfer. we should see some baptisms.

my first time on an airplane

 chelsee still hasnt come to church so she isnt even on date anymore. we are teaching two boys. 8 and 10 one we tracted into and his mom is looking for a church for him. and the other is from a part member family. he is autistic so it is hard to gauge his progress, but i feel confident his mom will alllw him to be baptized.

 so we are going to the temple in september. they prefer if we bring family names so can you send my one family name  :) love you all!!! im a different person than i was 2 months ago. miss you all tons. wish they could do family missions.

starfish

elder mcbride is getting transferred just up the road from me to north bend. he will be one of my zone leaders. i would never live here, but it is good to see crazy people and share the gospel in this part of the vineyard. im really looking forward to taking over the area and having more responsability. (however you spell it haha)

with Larry De-La-Crose (member) after service

snake

elder gosar and i on exchanges (ZL)

snail lol

my favorite mtc teachr. Colten Farnsworth!

 

 

 

well i will tell you about the culture of Coos BAy. Steven Prefontaine grew up here (world famous runner) i walk past his old house all the time. running gurus from all over travel here just to take a lap around the track and to do his famous run. the people in general are very lazy and very liberal. lots on welfare and it is trying my patience. but my christlike attributes are growing. people move in and out A LOT and it makes the work harder. the ward is quite unorganized and i have literally only been to
 ONE ward counsel so far.....point taken. we are really trying to get this ward organized. ....there are yellow taxi cabs here. lots of logging and seafood. lots of hills and wind. lots of drugs too...they grow weed like corn in oregon.

Brenden Go Bye-Bye

For the past six weeks we have had an extra kid living with us. It was nice to have a strong young man around again (ours is serving a mission). He did so much for us- spread gravel, sand floors, remove wall paper, work at the shop, annoy the children, irritate the husband, date girls (that wasn't for us so much), expect me to do stuff without even asking, drive the car to get his required hours...you know, typical teenaged boy stuff.

It was weird getting up this morning and Brenden not being part of the mix.

This was his first time flying. Good luck!

I'MPOSSIBLE~ rAINING gHOSTS

Raining Ghosts/Photo by Alex Hutchinson


"If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


What does this mean to you? Write it in the comments!

Sometimes You Have To Excuse The Mess While Memories Are Made~ "I cut that grass for free."

Harrison wanted to learn how to drive the mower.

Kiki's Temple Debut

In the LDS Church, we believe that Heavenly Father wants ALL of His sons and daughters to gain exaltation and to live in His kingdom with continued progression in eternal life. You've probably heard the saying that the house of God is a house of order.

There are certain ordinances that are required to qualify for the saving powers of His priesthood. That priesthood must be His, deriving power directly from Him. Thus, the priesthood holders committing these saving ordinances upon the souls who desire so, must have received their power through the proper channels of the priesthood which has been restored since it was taken from the earth not a very long time after Christ was on the earth. If an ordinance is not performed with the ACTUAL power of God, can a man truly overcome the fall of Adam?

So, then, if these ordinances are required for eternal progression, what about those who didn't get a chance to learn about them before they passed on? What about those who weren't spiritually ready to accept them while they lived here in mortality? Father is a just God.

He provided a way for those who've passed on to have their ordinances put into place. That doesn't mean they are forced to accept membership in the church. That doesn't mean they lose their agency to choose for themselves whether or not to accept Christ and his teachings. It means simply that the ordinances have been performed for them so that they can continue to progress as they continue to learn.

And that is part of what we do in the temples. It's called temple work. We who are living, stand in proxy for those who've passed away. It is a work that must be done. It is a work that not only blesses the dead but also the living. It is a work that requires sacrifice. People worldwide make sacrifices of not only time, but also of resources to help in this great work.

When our youth reach the age of twelve they are able to attend the temple to perform baptisms for the dead. Today we took our youngest daughter, Nicole, for her first trip to do baptisms (as well as her next oldest sibling and our nephew from Nevada).

I brought 50 name cards of my own ancestors which were researched by an 82 year old (very distant) relative of mine who lives in Germany.

I love being in the temple. I love being "about my Father's business" ~ Luke 2:49

Youthfulness

Childhood is such a TINY part of our existence. Life will inevitably take away a child's innocence and bring about serious matters. I am in no hurry for my
children leave behind their care-free days. They will hopefully have decades and decades to be an adult. For now, I revel in their joyous youth.

Memo of My Missionary-Ministering

As most of you know already, I am no longer on Facebook. This means that our LDS Home Decor page is no longer active either. I was sharing inspiring little messages on there and decided that I would share those little messages to my missionary son, instead. But of course, I want the whole world to get these messages, too!

So, here is what I shared with Elder Galloway  this week:

"""I hope you are adhering to the principles of obedience so that you are worthy of the guidance of the Holy Ghost in your work.

I'd like to share something interesting I read from Hugh Nibley about ministering. In my BoM reading, I am in 3rd Nephi when the Savior visits the Nephites, I wanted to understand some things better and did a little research. Nibley says some things I've never heard before. He was a professor and this is from one of his lectures on the Book of Mormon. I'll quote verbatim, but leave out bits that aren't pertinent.

"We are in 3 Nephi 17:23 now: "And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones."  And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards the heaven, and they saw the heavens open [now the angels come down],...  and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire [this is a form of energy, as you know]; and the angels did minister unto them." What do you mean by minister? Well, if you check the various places in the Book of Mormon [you see] it means they talked to them. In the first chapter of Luke, the Christmas chapter, the angel comes. When Gabriel appears to Zacharias in the temple, he says I have come to chat with you, to have a conversation with you. He says the same thing with Mary. When angels come and minister, what they do is bring the word. That's what their ministry is, to bring the word, so they come and talk with us. But minister is a two-way road. You talk back and forth. It's not just a vision or revelation-they come to chat and discuss. That's what ministry is-to take care of you, to explain things to you, to satisfy you. This is what happens in the New Testament. The multitude saw it, and they talked with them."~~~This whole thing is Hugh NIbley

Then Nibley jumps to the Savior's appearance to his apostles in the Holy Land to show that he himself ministered as the angels do:

"He has many appearances after the resurrection, but he always eats with them. Why does he do that? That marvelous passage in Luke 24:36 explains [this]. It's after the resurrection and the apostles are talking among themselves. Again, it uses the same words, autōn lalountōn, chatting, conversing, exchanging ideas. That's the very one that's used when the angels come in the beginning of Luke. The angel comes and speaks to Mary and others. That's what they do-they minister."

SO, Elder, this is what you are doing. You are an earthly angel charged with the mission to minister. Here are some more awesome things I read last week. As you know, the Savior sat one by one with his disciples in America (3 Ne 28:1), and asked what each desired of him. Nine of them said they want stay on the earth til the age of a man then to go straight to the Kingdom where Jesus dwells, so he tells them- okay, when you're seventy-two you shall come to my kingdom and find rest. (3 Ne 28:4)

Then, as you know, three of the apostles were apprehensive to tell him what they desired. ( I wonder why?) The Savior knows their thoughts. He tells them they shall be kept here on the earth until all has been fulfilled and he returns again in his Glory.

The prophet Mormon then makes his own interjection about whether or not the three Nephites were mortal or not. He knew not. (not YET anyway! See verse 26! Ask and ye shall receive!) Then he bears record to us, that these three men did go "upon the face of the land, and did minister unto all the people, uniting as many to the church as would believe..."

Here's the clencher: (in verse 27) Mormon tells us that these three men will be among the Gentiles and the Gentiles shall know them not. And they'll be among the Jews and the Jews will not know them either. Mormon says they will minister to the all the scattered tribes/nations/kindreds/tongues/people.

 And in verse 30, Mormon says that these three Nephite men are as the angels of God...  That through prayer in the name of Jesus (same way you pray!) they can show themselves unto whatsoever man it seemeth good.

And in verse 32, Mormon says that even among the Gentiles there will be great and marvelous works wrought by them- the three Nephites. (Guess where you're working- among the Gentiles!)

SO, Elder, I hope you can see that you have been called to be a ministering angel. There are many other angels working right along with you. Some earthly, some heavenly, and even one of those three Nephite men could be in your very midst.

As Boyd K Packer once said:   If all you know is what you see with your natural eyes and hear with your natural ears you will not know very much.


Be better than human, my son. Rise above, and exceed the expectations.

Love, Mom""

Here is Elder Galloway with his Mission President, and President Young's wife.

His trainer, Elder McBride, from Kanab, Utah.

Elder Galloway, in the Oregon Eugene Mission.

Where's George?

Ever seen that STAMPED onto a dollar bill? I think I have a total of... four times.

But I never looked it up online. Today, at the tail end of my personal little vacation (i.e.-Hubby took the kids camping) I took the time to track this dollar bill.

I am really amazed at my obsession with traveling and seeing the world. So obsessed that I even want to travel through a dollar bill.

Anytime anyone I know is going to travel I desire to travel vicariously through them. I have a son serving a mission in Oregon. Don't hear much from him. I have a daughter living as an au pair in France who is currently with the family holidaying in Greece. She's a writer. It's a lot easier to share vicariously in a person's travel when that person is a writer!

I not only want to know about the place. You know, sights, sounds, smells, food. I am also very interested in the people. There are people all over the world doing exactly the same thing: just trying to make it. Whatever that "it" may be.

There are moms and dads trying to give their children a better chance than they had. There are young children playing pretend at whatever it is they're exposed to. There are young adults trying to figure out what they're passionate about and what they should be doing with all that vital, abundant energy. There are the elderly who have already learned the great life lessons necessary to be at peace with being out of the rat-race.

It's the stuff we humans don't have in common that makes travel so alluring to me, and it just so happens that the stuff we do have in common is what makes connecting with our foreign counterparts so easy. Okay, maybe not easy, but easier.

The seventy year olds in China will be dressed differently than the seventy year olds in Wyoming, but engage them in conversation and you'll find the two groups won't be all that different. Same conversations being shared, one over a very short table of rice and chicken feet, one over a taller table of steak and potatoes.

So, what did I learn about my dollar bill? Oh, the anticipation! It started off as a crisp new dollar bill leaving a Bank of A in Marysville, WA. (I've never been to Washington!) Then, in 2013 (8 years before anyone paid notice to its special demeanor) it was recorded as having traveled 586 miles to Idaho Falls in southeastern Idaho. Now, it's in Afton. Older, more wrinkled.

Where to next, George?


PS- Everyone, everywhere appreciates laughter.

Impromptu

Porter was drawing tonight so I joined him.

Tiana's Table- A New Addictive Substance

This morning, to counteract the inadvertent (and proverbial) slaps in the face I keep receiving, I'm trying my oldest daughter's go-to breakfast: Nutella on bread.

Big mistake. Big mistake.

And homemade bread, nonetheless!