Pioneer Day

Yesterday in church our kids enacted a 30-minute pioneer trek, complete with covered wagon, bonnets, neckerchiefs,taffy, horehound, berries, buffalo chips, homemade butter and rolls, and a snake. My mind did wander back to my great grandmother, Sara Jane Richards Perkins, who left wales as a young woman, leaving family and friends, and ending up here in Magna, or Pleasant Green, as it was called then. Our lives are built upon the hard work of those ambitious faithful people. And so, as we celebrate pioneer day (July 24, 1847 being the day they entered the Salt Lake Valley), I will be grateful for, running water, shelter, food, shade, health care, comfortable shoes, beds and toilets.

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2016-12-01-pioneer-journeys-more-than-a-trek?lang=eng

It Will All Work Out

I am a very controlling person. I have to plan. I have to see a way. I have to know how it will all go. I suppose that’s ok for a holiday party, or something that is controllable, but, I know we all live in a world where very little is under our direction. We do not know what lies ahead, and we cannot force or control people or events. Trying to do so produces a lot of stress. I think that perhaps it is a lack of faith and trust….an inability to take some steps into the dark, not knowing where they lead. I can live quite well like this when things are going well, as planned, BUT, when the future seems uncertain or scary or threatening, that’s when the stress kicks in. This short video is very applicable to me; one that I hope I can internalize for a more peaceful and happy life.

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-01-0004-live-by-faith-not-by-fear?category=topics/courage-and-fear&lang=eng