Right Now

favorite t.v. shows: Sports Center, Property Brothers & their new one, Amazing Race (DVR), Food Nanny (DVR), the Weather Channel. (I am really not a big TV watcher.)

other shows I watch: The 13 Days of Halloween has shown some cute movies.

anticipating: the state cross-country meet, working on my personal history for my newest class, waiting on grades from my first two assignments and the final I completed this week.

reading: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People  by Stephen R. Covey - I am taking a class at Big Picture Classes & the teacher mentioned the book. I am quickly skimming for a refresher. Also, rotating between several healthy eating/diet books before bed to brainwash myself into eating healthier.

 
things that make me happy: babies, looking through photographs, good friends, listening to The Mormon Channel, driving the new car, when my kids get along, spending time with Scott

eating: lots of sugar! I quiet Diet Coke on October 9th. I suffered nausea and headaches for several days; Excedrin Migraine (Tension Headache Relief at Target) took off the edge. I still think about a Route 44 Sonic Diet Coke a few times a day. Pathetic, but true. I have tried replacing it with other liquids but nothing is the same. Hopefully the feeling will go away as my body cleanses itself of the remnants.

house/seasonal stuff: I love having the Halloween decorations out, but I feel like we don't have very much, but we really do have a lot! I need to print out diagrams or something like I do for Christmas so I know where to put stuff. I bought two new little pictures (5x7) with Eye of Newt & Bat Wing Potion last night for $2 to hang by the front door. Scott hung up a new curtain rod in the dining room & I laboriously ironed new linen curtains to hang. Just hanging curtains makes the room feel so much homier. Weird. Now, I just need to re-hem them so they don't have high waters.

working on: Project Real Life class at Big Picture Classes, plans for our Christmas cruise, Composing your Personal History for my BYU degree, (I am finishing up my degree - 9 classes to go!!) cleaning & sorting my office, a bunch of resolutions related to everything else.

songs I love: "Moving on" by Timbaland; "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel K...;

stressing about: mission papers and preparation, filling Chris' days with productivity rather than chatter, the election (already decided just praying like crazy that I am happy with the results), my broken toe. (I stubbed in on a dumbbell before we went to Utah. It is still painful - no definitive answer on the Xray but I think it's cracked down the side. The sheets on the bed can bend it wrong & I whimper in my sleep!!)

A Code of Honor

I am taking an Independent Study class through Brigham Young University. (Yes, I am a Mormon.) In order to attend BYU, I have to have a yearly interview with my ecclesiastical leader (the bishop). I swear upon my word of honor that I will be honest in all of my dealings with others, dress modestly, be true to my marital vows with my husband, and obey the Word of Wisdom (no tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol). Yearly I set up the appointment & take the time to meet with the bishop so that he knows & I know that I am keeping this honor code. 

Karl G. Maeser (founder of Brigham Young University) said, "I have been asked what I mean by 'word of honor.' I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls--walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground--there is a possibility that in some way or another I may escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of the circle? No. Never! I'd die first!"

Serious stuff, eh? I cannot lie.

I have struggled & fought as I have strived to complete my current class - the Doctrine & Covenants & Church History. Lessons have included lots of readings on the Missouri persecutions. I have been horrified beyond expression at the abuses that the people suffered beginning in July 1833 (test question) and continuing until the extermination order by Governor Boggs. Members of both of our families suffered greatly at the hands of the mobs in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Others left comfortable lives in England, Wales, and Switzerland to gather together with the Saints in Zion. I am going to share four short stories and then explain what happened to me today.

At Haun's Mill in Missouri, Amanda Barnes Smith (Scott's 3rd great grandmother) received miraculous help in answer to a fervent prayer to know how to heal her son after the muzzle of a gun had been slipped between the logs to blow off his hip joint. Her husband and other son had been killed.

In Adams County, Missouri, Peter Wimmer's son-in-law James Powell was hit in the back with a large rock & then shot at. He said, "Did not hit me one of them then Struck me with his gun and Broke my Skull a bout Six inches a part of my Brain Run out I have had fourteen pieces of Bone taken out of my Skull". James Powell was not a member of the Mormon church but his father-in-law was. He was injured as he went to his father's home to check on his child after the mobs had already visited his home.

In Nauvoo, Illinois the Church again established a home, built a temple, and were driven out by February 1846. John Pulsipher said, "Our enemies were not satisfied with what they had done [in killing the Prophet Joseph Smith & his brother Hyrum], so they continued their depredations. In the small settlements in the country the mobs collected, drove our brethren from their homes, burned their houses and grain and killed some who could not get out of the way. In the fall, the mob collected in the south part of the county and in about two weeks they burned 200 houses to ashes. The inhabitants had to flee to Nauvoo to save their lives. A great amount of grain and property was destroyed, cattle and hogs were stolen and killed almost without number. Old father Durfee was shot and killed by the mob while he was trying to save his property from the flames. Many others died from exposure after being robbed and driven into the wood. Their sufferings were so great that they could not endure it."

After leaving Nauvoo and the United States, the pioneers crossed the plains towards the Great Basin in wagons, pulling handcarts, and on foot. My 3rd great grandmother Sarah Jarrold Hyder had to walk beside the wagon for the journey from Nebraska to Utah because her mother and her sister were both ill. Once they reached the Salt Lake Valley, life was not guaranteed to be easy. Many arrived to late in the season to plant crops & had to rely on the food that they had carried with them. I admire the courage it took to go forward with faith and to not give up.


Okay, back to today. I went to the local community college to take my midterm exam. The class expires next week & they (IS) needs to have the midterm in their office before they will let me order the final. I had to hurry & take the exam today because I'm going to be out of town for the St. George Marathon with Scott.

When I arrived at the testing center, the woman behind the plexiglass wall said, "You're here for Brigham Young University? You don't have an appointment!!" 

I explained that I had never made an appointment before when I had taken an exam. (I have taken at least 3-4 exams here in the last 2-3 years.) 

She then accused me of lying - on & on in several different variations & accusations. "I've been here for five years & you've never taken an exam with me." 

I explained that I was an honest person & if I would have ever made an appointment, I would be willing to admit my mistake.

She then started going off on me & explained that the Bible says that we aren't supposed to be perfect & that there's no one who hasn't told lies. Really? I believe in the Bible as well.

I begged & pleaded for mercy & the opportunity to take the exam. Policies have changed & I have to have an appointment 24-hours in advance. I also have to go to a building off campus to pay $10.00 in advance for the privilege of taking an exam in a room very similar to the BYU testing center (but this center lacks backpacks, phones, or modest clothing). In the end, she allowed me to take the exam, but I was so shaken by the way that I had been accused & treated that I had a difficult time answering the questions. 

I do not believe that my forefathers suffered the way they did for me to be dishonest. I strive to be honest in all of my dealings with others. Why would I betray the legacy that has been given to me?

I walked away from the experience knowing that there was a lesson to be learned about prejudice and persecution. I have not had to endure the severe hardships that others endured. I have felt chastened by a difficult class that I procrastinated starting for far too long. (Does double pneumonia and pleurisy last October count as a reasonable excuse?) I have felt humbled as I endured prejudice because of my religion, but I was able to drive home in my own car sheltered from the elements & to arrive at my lovely home where my lovely children & friends were waiting to console me.

May I daily strive to be kind and to be everything that I should be.