Monument Valley week 29

Apple Pie, Banana Cream Pie, and Key Lime Pie are selling Girl Scout cookies. When we moved here in August, the group was just being formed. I don’t know much about Girl Scouts, but it’s pretty much the only program happening after school around here, so I made the girls join. We had one gardening activity in the fall, and then nothing happened. But the leader (I don’t know the title for the Girl Scout equivalent to a Cub Scout Den Mother is) is making another effort to get things going, and February is cookie month. Apple Pie is dedicated and excited, even when the weather is windy and 30 degrees. At least the sun is shining!

Key Lime Pie and Banana Cream Pie chose to stay home where it’s warm. No sales for them. I found out that one of the teachers here was a Girl Scout, so I need to ask her lots of questions.

This morning we helped clean the church building. One benefit to living here is that the church building is so small, we can get it really clean in under an hour.  The brother in charge of scheduling has a box of cards with jobs on them.  I took pictures of the cards, and I am determined to do 2 things:

1. Make our own job cards for Saturday morning chores at home.

2. Clear all my books and papers off of the flat surfaces around the house so that the cleaning and dusting will be easy. 

In Missouri, when I read house cleaning books, I was always surprised at the emphasis put on weekly dusting. Dusting once a month felt like overkill to me- there just wasn’t that much dust. But here in the desert, there really is enough dust to justify weekly dusting of the piano and bookshelves.  

Back in December, Zeke was sick with a minor cold, but ran a fever enough that he missed nearly a whole week of school. That experience has made him eternally hopeful, and he insists that I check his temperature every morning before school. He likes school fine, but he would rather stay home and watch movies all day.

This week we have been playing lots of BananaGrams. Skeeter made a pretty impressive crossword puzzle. I was going to get a better picture of it, but it got destroyed before I could get around. Some of his words were: admire, riper, prix, and defeat. He reads a little slower than Zeke, but he is faster at spelling.

Two thoughts from my scripture study this week:

From Rosalynde Welch: The ancient Israelites had their tabernacle- their “tent of meeting” where God’s presence was. There they could go to feel His presence and learn more about Him. The greatest revelation of all is the revelation of God to the world in the personage of Jesus Christ. We have temples today, but on a smaller scale we also have the scriptures. The scriptures are a “text of meeting,” they are full of the presence of God, and as we study, if we come to our study desiring to be changed (not just to get out of it what we already know) we can enter into God’s presence, and He can be revealed to us.

This morning I was rereading Susan H Porter’s talk from October 2021 conference.

She said, 

“Sisters and brothers, how can we receive the transforming power of God’s love? The prophet Mormon invites us to “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.” Mormon is inviting us not only to pray that we may be filled with His love for others but to pray that we may know of God’s pure love for ourselves.”

I felt happiness from that reminder that God doesn’t just love everyone. He loves me. 

He loves you.

Love,

GlowWorm