Sunday Reflections

:: Relief Society ::
5th Sunday: The Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost is a guide and a comforter.
We all want and need some gentle guidance from the Holy Ghost.
One of the characteristics of the Holy Ghost is that He is a gentleman. He will be there if we ask Him in, but He will leave if we don't want him.
It takes moral character and hard work to gain spirituality.
We must be in-tune to receive messages form the Holy Ghost and to receive the power to do something about the message.
Always write down spiritual impression you receive, and review them. If we don't write it down, we may remember the feeling, but not the thought.

:: Sunday School ::
Because of My Transgression My Eyes Are Opened

Adam and Eve were told by God that they should not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but also that they should not even touch it. We also have been told not to touch or partake of "fruits" in our own lives.

When God asked Adam, "Where art thou?" he knew where Adam was, He was checking to see if Adam knew where he was headed.

Being removed from the Garden of Eden was not a punishment for Adam and Eve, it was a natural consequence for exercising their agency; a transgression of the law, not a sin. We inherit the consequences of the fall, not the responsibility for it. The atonement saves us from the consequences of the fall.


:: Sacrament Meeting ::
Thoughts from Talks
Sometimes we need to change our attitude in order to have the Spirit in our families.

In order to teach by the Spirit, we need to keep the commandments, prepare, and be led by the Spirit. Anger and rebellion drives the Spirit away.

Learning by the Spirit: The best way to learn something is to teach it. The Spirit whispers gently. We must open our ears, hearts, and minds in order to hear it.

Zion: the pure in heart; the Church; City of Enoch, Ancient Jerusalem; The New Jerusalem; place for all who are exalted. The characteristics of Zion are faith, hope, and charity. The law of consecration governs Zion. Those who love the Lord keep the law of consecration. We should be seeking grace and gratefulness instead of riches.

Choir Notes

Time is Short
From Music and the Spoken Word Delivered
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4193

Sooner or later, most of us begin to realize that time is short and so we better enjoy life a little more and spend time where it really counts. How often have we heard ambitious, hard-working people say, as they look back on their lives, that if they could do it all over again, they would have spent more time with family, more time building people and relationships, more time relishing the sweet joys that each day offers?

David L. Weatherford’s poem “Slow Dance” reminds us to slow down a bit and savor life’s simple moments.

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
Or listened to rain slapping the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight,
Or gazed at the sun fading into the night?
You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask “How are you?” do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
With the next hundred chores running through your head?
You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won’t last.

Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow,
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
’Cause you never had time to call and say hi?
You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It’s like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life isn’t a race, so take it slower,
Hear the music before your song is over.

You Could Hear a Pin Drop

At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our country:

JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk responded, "Does that include those who are buried here?"

DeGuale did not respond.

You could have heard a pin drop.

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example o "empire building" by George Bush.

He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

You could have heard a pin drop.

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"

You could have heard a pin drop.

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S.., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."

You could have heard a pin drop.

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !"

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to."

You could have heard a pin drop.

Oh My Darling Clementine

My two-year-old grandson loves Clementines. He calls them "orange," and can peel and eat them by the bagful. I think he gets it from Grandpa...

Clementines are a seedless cross between a Chinese Mandarin Tangerine and a Seville Orange. You can buy Clementines between October and April, but the sweetest eating is in December and January.

Just look at the nutritional value of two fresh clementines:

What they have: Vitamin C (300%), folate, potassium, fiber (14%)

What they don't have: fat, trans-fat, cholesterol, sodium

Besides, right out of the skin, my favorite way to eat clementines is in a fresh spinach salad with Craisins, slivered almonds, and little poppy seed dressing.

Snowflakes

Even though no two snowflakes are alike, snowflake shapes can be placed into 36 different categories. The temperature and moisture present in the air at the time the snowflake is formed determines it shape. The five most common types of snowflakes are:

thin plates
(25-32° F—these are thin and flat)

needles
(21-25° F—slender, pencil-like structures)

hollow columns
(14-21° F—hexagonal columns)

sector plates
(10-14° F—plates with ridges pointing to prism facets)

dendrites
(3-10° F—plates with branches of the main body)

Real Road Signs

Pheromone

My friends' husband bought this piece of artwork for her.

I was stunned when I saw it hanging in her home.

The artist is Christopher Marley.

He carefully arranges colorful and strange insects in almost
every color of the rainbow into framed works of art.

To see more of his work with insects,
flowers, shells, fossils, mineral, etc., go here.

Maxine Monday