It has been a week now since Ethan Stacy was first reported missing and then later found dead. This crime has hurt our community. It has broken our hearts to hear the details of Ethan’s last few days. We wonder how anyone could dig so deep to call forth every ounce of evil in themselves to do the horrible things that were done to that little cute boy.
Now the FBI has gotten involved with the case. They are analyzing and examining electronic evidence. This was spurred, in part, by Stephanie Sloop’s posting of a photo on facebook of her son, Ethan Stacy playing video games with Nathan Sloop. In this photo Ethan’s face is swollen and bruised. The caption for the photo reads, “My two favorite boys playing video games together.”
I have to wonder how a mother could post this photo… how does a mother not see the swollen, red face? How does she pretend everything is okay? How does she let a man who has beat her son sit beside him?
I look at my own kids and pray for the protection of angels for them. I pray for that protection for all the little children in our community. I pray that as mothers, we can stand up for righteousness in all situations, especially in regard to our children. May we always have the strength to protect them. May we never put out children in situations that could hurt them. If we should ever find ourselves and our children in the presence of evil, may we be able to call forth every ounce of love and strength to cast it out of our lives.
Sunday Song: The Touch of the Masters Hand.
This is in memory of my dad. This was one of his favorite stories. On the 20th this week, it will be eight years since his passing. Miss you, Dad!
Maybe it is only because John and I just went to see the movie, How to Train your Dragon, but doesn’t this cloud look like a dragon? Does anyone else see it? I enjoy looking at clouds, to see what I can find there.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the women visit each other. This is called Visiting Teaching. I love Visiting Teaching. My Visiting Teaching partner and I have a set appointment every month (the second Wednesday) when we go. It is wonderful to sit and visit, to chat and to learn from each other.
We just had our Visiting Teaching Conference, which is a meeting where we are encouraged to get out and visit our sisters and friends. It was an uplifting meeting. Wendy Onricek spoke about an experience she had, when she felt the love of a visiting teacher. Bishop Hyer spoke about the Parable of the Good Samaritan. He compared the idea that the road to Jericho is downhill and sometimes we feel our lives are going in that direction, too. It seems whenever we are down, Satan beats on us, just as the thieves beat the man until he was “half dead”. Then “by chance” there came “a certain priest” Bishop Hyer said this could be clueless men. “but a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came…” This Samaritan was on a journey, did not come “by chance.” He was prepared with (healing) oil, bandages and wine (refreshment, food). It was his responsibility and he “took care” of the injured and the beaten down. The Samaritan then asked the host to “Take care of him” and promised to “come again”.
Visiting Teaching is just like this parable. Bishop Hyer asked us to be mindful of our stewardship. With our specific assignment to Visit Teach, comes accountability. We need to look beyond the greeting, “Hi. How are you?” “Fine… fine… fine” We need to pray for guidance to see the need and to be able to help. Then we need to return and report. I wondered how often I do something for someone but then forget to follow-up.
If you don’t like your partner or those you visit: “Do the best you can until the love grows.”
Are we doing the meaningful? Sometimes it is the small things that matter the most. They are the things that say, “I was just thinking about you.” Little acts of service mean you care. A text, an email, a phone call, a note, a hug, a cookie; none are big things, yet they reach out to those who need uplifting. Stay close to the spirit so you know when and what to do. Prayer and daily scripture study is important. It is our communication with Heavenly Father. “The Scriptures guide us, teach us the things we need to do—that day.”
I hope each of you understand the importance of doing your Visiting Teaching!
Have you registered for the new Family Search website yet? If not, here is the link. It is an amazing website with lots of tools for researching your family lines.
If you have kids 14 years or older, they are also encouraged to register and get started on genealogy. It is a positive, life-long hobby. We took some time at our last family home evening, registered our teenagers and discussed why family history is important.
My husband went out of his way to make Mother’s Day nice for me. I got breakfast (fruit smoothies and Reece peanut butter cups) in bed. We went to church, then I relaxed while he made dinner, not only for us, but for his dad, my mom and my brother. I was excited to receive an almond tree as a gift. Jo is so sweet, she always makes a cute card whenever there is a holiday or birthday.
I’m grateful to have my children. Each one has taught me so much. In church we discussed reasons why some women don’t like Mother’s Day. For some, it is a painful reminder that they do not have children (yet). Others have lost precious babies. My heart goes out to those women.
For some of us, though, Mother’s Day is difficult because we compare our imperfect selves to others—who often seem perfect. We worry we aren’t enough. We internalize guilt because we don’t do this or that like Sister Molly Mormon Mom does. We also have Satan whispering in our ear that we aren’t good enough (that liar!).
Some ways we can combat the myth of the perfect mom:
Say something nice to yourself in the mirror in the morning
Stop negative talk- children need a positive example of positive self-talk
Recognize gifts and abilities
Write down talents
“Perfection is a journey and we only need to do our best. When you are doing your best you are acceptable before the Lord.” Trudi Brown
I challenge each of you to write a list of the things you do well… I believe your list is longer than you think it is.
We went to the reenactment of the Driving of the Last Spike. Everyone in the family was able to come, except Jayson, who had his last end-of-the-year exam in Salt Lake City. It was a bit windy, but happily there was no rain or snow. We arrived in plenty of time to get close to the action. We set up our camp chairs right up to the rope. Some people were in period dress costumes, which was fun to see. John and Jo were able to talk with a ‘railroad representative’ and hold one of the spikes they later used.
They welcomed everyone and we said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the National Anthem. I always love doing that. Kyle Wyatt, Historian, spoke about the “binding together of our nation with ribbons of steel.” They laid a memorial wreath and had a moment of silence. The taps were played. Then it was time for the reenactment.
The Locomotives Jupiter and #119 showed off their engines, speeches were given and spikes pounded into place.
The kids had fun. It was interesting to see the engines up close. When we got on #119, I took a picture of John with my cell phone. It took me a few seconds to get it to camera mode. The engineer onboard asked me if I was texting. I laughed and thought, yeah, I’m going to climb up an engine, following my kids, and be so disconnected as to be texting while I’m doing it!?
It was fun and something everyone should do—at least once.
