Rasmania 102

I have been thinking a lot about faith lately.  Each week I try to listen to the "Follow Him" podcast by Hank Smith and John Bytheway.  They always have a guest who is generally a Bible scholar.  A few weeks ago, the guest said something to this effect:  For any of you who are having a "crisis of faith" challenge, whether it be caused by church history, or cultural, political or social happenings; Let your faith inform the question--don't let your question inform your faith.  He continued, "Faith is a choice.  If you choose to believe, you can find so much that affirms your faith.  If you choose not to believe, there are lots of people who will give you reasons not to believe."  I have had lots of faith building opportunities the past two weeks, starting with the annual Cook A Rama, and carrying on through conference and service opportunities. Cook A Rama The Cook A Rama was held on the Thursday before General Conference, which is our usual night ...

Gunnar's Birthday Dinner Time and Gunnar's schedule finally permitted him to have his birthday date with his grandparents.  We asked him where he wanted to eat--but told him to exclude Chick-fil-A from the equation.  He said, "Well, actually, I haven't eaten at Chick-fil-A for a long time...We talked him into eating at Hook and Reel.  He loved the snow crab and shrimp and he even tried a mussel for the first time.  He was pretty easy to please at the store, too.  He wanted a Nerf gun because he has monthly Nerf wars with his young men group at church.   Flaming Gorge Roy and I had plans to spend the whole weekend at the Gorge, but Wednesday evening I had a call from the Stake Presidency asking me to be at the Stake Council meeting on Sunday, after which they would officially release me from my calling.  I said, "Well, I was going to be out of town...I guess we could probably come back Saturday night.  President Ford said, "That would be good....

 The introductory paragraph in this week's Come Follow Me included this quote: "Scriptures enlighten our minds, nourish our spirits, answer our questions, increase our trust in the Lord, and help us center our lives on Him." --President Bonnie H. Cordon Nan came over for lunch on Friday.  We were going to meet Christine, too, but she received word that her father-in-law didn't have long to live.  She has been his major care giver and wanted to be with him.  She hurried over and it's a good thing she did.  He passed away at 11:45 that morning.   With the change of plans I decided to make lunch for Nan.  I made pear and pecan salad and it was every bit as good as one a restaurant could make.  We also munched on our cherry tomatoes.  We had a really nice visit and she told me a story about a recent service project she was involved with: Nan's stake had planned a service project of making stuffed bears for Ukraine.  Boxed lunches were s...

Flaming Gorge: Labor Day Weekend Roy and I were able to get away on Thursday, Sept. 1 to get a head start on the holiday weekend.  Rather than taking the boat out on Friday, we just took a kayak and a paddle board down to the lake.  It was hot enough that the cold water felt wonderful.  Roy doesn't often paddle board, but I took a picture to prove he really can do it. The Rodeo Nick and Sara arrived in time for dinner on Friday evening.  I fixed homemade macaroni and cheese and it was a hit with Nick's picky eaters.  After dinner we went to the Dagget County Rodeo.  The kids were bored some of the time, but once they realized they could walk around and watch at the railing,  everyone had a great time. Nick, Avie, Ori, Camden, Catharine, Effie and Roy;  Camden, Avie, Ori.  Avie and Ori had a minute on the fan camera.  Avie saw and raised her arms up and smiled, but Effie was oblivious. At one point all kids 11 and under were invited to co...