The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

As Bruce made reference to in his last post, while we were visiting his brother in Virginia we went to a play. The play tickets were part of our Christmas present. If we arrived early enough, we had a chance to be a part of the cast.
Of course.... I was in! I have only been in one play in my entire life, but I really wanted to make this one my second. I didn't even know what the play was called or what it was about, but that didn't sway me from signing up when we walked in the doors. 5 minutes before the play was supposed to start, the director asked if someone from our group would volunteer to be a part of the cast as well. I eagerly volunteered Bruce and he agreed. By this time, I figured that we would be asked to participate in a spelling bee. Although I am an English teacher, I sometimes struggle with spelling so I must admit that I was a little nervous; I didn't want to misspell a simple word. We were ushered into a separate room to receive "instruction." We were told 9 simple rules:
1) We were to sit in our normal seats in the stand, and they would actually call us down to the stage by name. Someone would point to where we were supposed to sit.
2) When it was time for our line, we needed to raise the microphone up to our mouths and do our best at spelling the word. We were not to miss a word on purpose to try and be funny.
3) We had two lines to memorize: "Can I have the definition please?" and "Will you use that in a sentence."
4) We were not to start up a conversation with any of the other actors or actresses on stage. They might miss their cue or something.
5) Even if we knew the songs, we were not to sing them. (It was a good thing they told us this because I kind of felt silly sitting on stage while everyone around me was singing. I may have tried to "pretend" I was singing the song too just to "fit in.")
6) We were to be escorted off by the grievance counselor when we spelled a word wrong.
7) We were still part of the audience even though we were on stage, so it is okay to clap.
8) You may have to sit still on the bleachers for up to 45 minutes. (This last rule almost made me want to say that I couldn't do it. Anyone who knows me knows I can't sit still for 45 minutes at a time, especially not on wooden benches.)
9) We may be asked to dance on stage so gear up for that.

The play began and I was super excited - here was my big debut. One of the actresses mentioned that 4 spellers had not yet registered for the spelling bee, and if they were somewhere in the audience to please come forward. She proceeded to call both my and Bruce's name.
The spelling contest began. The actors and actresses were getting some difficult words - this made me a little nervous because I figured I would be the first one out of the contest.

Bruce's first word was hoarfrost. When he asked for the definition and sentence, they were trying to trick him into spelling the word incorrectly. They wanted him to spell it whorefrost. Bruce was smarter than that.
Soon it was my turn.

Announcer: Mrs. Brittney Richards. Ms. Richards is currently writing an opera in braille. (Yes, they randomly made up facts about me) Your word is Cow!

The real cast was outraged that I would get such a simple word. I was laughing at what was going on around me and I almost forgot my lines. When I finally did remember them, I felt silly asking:
Brittney: Can you give me the definition please?
Announcer: A cow is a cow!
Brittney: Can you use it in a sentence please?
Announcer: Please spell the word cow.
Brittney: C-O-W Cow!
Announcer: That is correct.

One of the real cast members got out and they sang a song called "Life is pandemonium." For this song, we were instructed to get up and dance with them. We turned around in a circle in the middle of the stage and various other dance moves. It was real pandemonium.

Bruce's next word was Xanthippe which means an angry women. Bruce spelled it Z-A-N-T-H-I-P-P-Y. When he got out, the cast members sang him a song, gave him a juice box and a spelling bee participant ribbon, and he found his seat.

By this time, it was near the end of Act I and I was the last audience member still on stage.

Announcer: Ms. Brittney Richards. Ms. Richards got kicked out of the girl scouts for giving cookies away to the boys. Your word is Knochie.
Brittney: Can you give me the definition please?
Announcer: A Japanese decoration.
Brittney: Can you use it in a sentence please?
Announcer: My grandmother always used a knochie for her lamp.
Brittney: K-N-O-C-H-I-E
Announcer: That is correct!
When I returned to my seat, all of the actors and actresses told me great job! Then immediately...
Announcer: Brittney Richards. Please spell the word rhino________.
(This word was so bizarre that I don't even remember what it was).
Brittney: Can you give me the definition please?
Announcer: A word that has 6 silent letters.
Brittney: Can you use it in a sentence please?
Announcer: rhino_______ is nearly impossible to spell.
Brittney: I spelled rhino, then I started adding random letters (making sure some of them were silent)
Announcer: What is the last letter you used?
Brittney: e
Announcer: I'm sorry that is incorrect.

Drat! I was out. I was the last audience member to get out and was therefore given the opportunity to be serenaded on stage with the song "Prayer of the comfort counselor" It was kind of awkward to have a strange male serenade me on stage, call me a spelling babe, and tell me that I was the best speller. He then gave me a hug, a juice box, and a ribbon. I excited the stage and the auditorium because that was intermission.
When I was trying to look up the word Knochie in the dictionary before I wrote this post to make sure I remembered what he said for the definition; I couldn't find it anywhere. I am pretty sure that is how I spelled it, but it might be made up. Does anyone know for sure?

I found out later that the rhino____ word was made up. They needed to get me off stage. I wasn't even supposed to get the word before that correctly, but I did. I completely guessed at the spelling, but it must have matched what was in the script; otherwise I would have been escorted off after that word.

With this play, audience participation is a common thing. You can check it out at Wikipedia. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures - so you can't see me in action.
During intermission, other audience members asked me if I really was from the audience. They thought I was part of the cast and did a good job. It was really fun! I have thought about possibly seeing what community plays they are putting on here and trying out for them. Maybe my next calling is on stage.

Virginia and Washington DC

The day after Christmas we loaded up and headed east to see my brother, Blake in Richmond, VA, and his wife Suzanne. We had debated whether to fly or to drive, weather and cost being the primary concerns. We ended up driving, which was the right choice for the direction we headed, we avoided all the snow storms of the mid-west/west, enjoyed books on tape, saw some country we hadn't seen, and made it in pretty good time. We stayed at Blake and Suzanne's house, which as you can see from the picture is pretty nice (Guess which one).














We spent time seeing the sites of Richmond, including a fancy house and a friendly goat. We played "Settlers of Catan", "Cluzzle" (pronounced like puzzle), "Scrabble, Slam" and played basketball.

We also spent a couple days in Washington DC. Our first stop was the Washington DC temple. It really just pops right out of the forest as you are driving along the freeway. It was neat to worship there with Blake and Suzanne. I thought it was neat how everything (White House, Capitol building, Washington monument, Lincoln monument, Jefferson monument, and all the museums) is so close to each other. We tried driving around the first day and that was a mistake. The second day we took the subway from our hotel and that worked out great. Of course we didn't get to see everything we would have liked in so short a time, however, we're glad we got to see all the buildings, visit the American History Smithsonian, see the Hope Diamond, admire the art gallery, and walk into the Space museum and see all the planes. I was hoping to see a space shuttle, but there wasn't one. Have any of you ever seen a space shuttle in person?Brittney was in a play on New Year's Eve, but she'll have to tell you about that. We left Blake and Suzanne's house New Year's Day at 3pm and got home at 2:30am the next morning. We drove straight through listening to "Digital Fortress" a Dan Brown book on tape. It kept me awake and alert so I could drive the whole time. We stopped twice for gas and got a pizza one of the times we stopped. It actually didn't seem like that long of a drive listening to a book the whole way. We had a great time and are glad we went.

Christmas 2009

I feel like this post is long overdue - which it is!! Christmas this year (I guess last year) was great as usual. I made a gingerbread house for the first time using real gingerbread with the young women for mutual.



Christmas eve found us playing with trains, eating Ableskiever, singing Christmas carols, and reading The Grinch who stole Christmas with our friends the Hills and Dale Kirby.
Here is a picture of Spencer "leading" the music


I wanted to attempt making pajama tops to match our pants for our Christmas pajamas this year. I was very proud of myself for buying the material the day after Christmas last year when it was on sale for 50% off. I was proud because I was "planning ahead" and had almost an entire year to get them made. Unfortunately, my good planning didn't turn out so well. On December 23, 2009 I realized that not only did I need to have the pajamas finished for that night to continue on our tradition - I also needed to start making the pajamas. Having the material for an entire year, didn't help me get the pajamas finished early in the year. I spent the entire day cutting, measuring, sewing, and panicking when I ran out of material and only had a front side cut out for Bruce's pajama top. One of my biggest sewing problems is figuring out how much material I will need for any particular project. An evening trip to Joanne's fabric turned out to be somewhat successful. I was able to find a green that very closely resembled the green I already had. You have to look very carefully at Bruce's pajamas (on the back) to notice the mistakes. But don't be too judgmental :) Pajama tops were a first, and it took me a while to figure out how to attach the sleeves. Bruce had to help me, and it finally worked out. After sewing the rest of his top together that night, putting in an elastic waist band and hemming sleeves and legs - VOILA!!! Christmas jammies 2009!!




Note to self: Avoid satin fabrics for pajama pants in the future - they snag too easily!

Christmas day was wonderful! We stayed in our pajamas all day, played games, and watched classic Christmas movies. For meals, we warmed up leftovers. (We left the day after Christmas for Virgina, and didn't want things to spoil while we were gone.) Eating leftovers isn't the ideal on Christmas, but it was perfect for this year. I finally got the 17 quart roaster oven I've been wanting for 3 years. I guess "Santa" was tired of our carbon monoxide detector going off every time my oven was on for more than an hour and a half. I also got a handful of Broadway music songbooks - which I have been enjoying singing out of.
Bruce got his under armor and running tights to help him train for that marathon.


Christmas is one of those things that you look forward to all year with great anticipation. Then it comes very quickly, and is over even more quickly. If we spent our entire Christmas holiday anticipating all of the "things" we were going to get - we can be really disappointed. That is why we are taught that the important part about Christmas is recognizing and understanding the Savior and the reason why we have the season. It is a time to spend serving others and spending time with family. This isn't something that we should just do during Christmas time, but something that we need to develop all year long so that it becomes a part of who we are. That's the lesson I learned from Christmas this year.

Shepherding the Saints to the House of the Lord

I was asked to speak in the Champaign Stake Conference on "How me might shepherd the saints for whom we have stewardship to the House of the Lord?" The Champaign Stake is made up of all the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that live in Effingham, Mattoon, Tuscola, Paris, Champaign, Urbana, Mahommet, St. Joseph, Rantoul, Danville and everywhere in between. I have decided to post my talk for any of my family who want to read it or anyone in the stake who missed it and wants to read it. Anyone else is welcome to read it, but remember it is directed to members of the Champaign Stake. If you have questions, you are welcome to ask.

I would like to begin with my testimony of Jesus Christ. I know He lives. I know it is because of Him that the ordinances of the Temple have effect in our lives now and in eternity. It is because of Him that our families can be together forever. A few months ago an Elder in my quorum asked why we focus on the Temple so much when Jesus Christ is the center of the church. At the time I wasn’t sure how to respond. After pondering and studying, I have found at least part of the answer. We do not worship the Temple; we worship Jesus Christ in the Temple. The temple is so important because it is there we learn about Jesus Christ, his atonement, and our relationship with Him and our Heavenly Father. As Elder Scott said in the April general conference, “Understand the doctrine related to temple ordinances, especially the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. While participating in temple ordinances, consider your relationship to Jesus Christ and His relationship to our Heavenly Father. This simple act will lead to greater understanding of the supernal nature of the temple ordinances.”

Moses 1:39 teaches that God’s work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. As we assist in baptisms and temple ordinances, we are assisting in this work. Those for whom we have stewardship cannot get to the temple unless they are baptized, and they cannot get to the highest degree of the celestial kingdom unless they get to the temple.
As we bring joy to the Savior by finding, retaining, and reactivating, I feel it is important to keep our focus on the temple. As Elder Bednar said, “The baptismal covenant clearly contemplates a future event or events and looks forward to the temple.” That is where those we have found, retained, and helped reactivate will be gathered into the garners that they are not lost.
I am grateful my brother, currently serving in the Mexico, Leon mission has caught this vision. In a recent e-mail he wrote, “We need to push going to the temple more. If people are going to the temple they don´t have problems with word of wisdom, chastity, tithing, and they go to church on sunday. We are trying to get our converts to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead so that they can feel the spirit there and have a desire to go back.”

It is so important for us to worship in the temple regularly and to help those we have stewardship over worship in the temple regularly. As we shepherd the saints to the temple, let us remember in the flock there are young lambs, mother ewes, strong bucks, and even the occasional black sheep. In the April general conference Elder Bednar extended invitations regarding the temple to different groups of people. As I read his invitations, ponder over who you have stewardship over that falls into each of these categories.
“Within the sound of my voice are many young women, young men, and children. I plead with you to be worthy, to be steadfast, and to look forward with great anticipation to the day you will receive the ordinances and blessings of the temple.
Within the sound of my voice are individuals who should have but have not yet received the ordinances of the house of the Lord. Whatever the reason, however long the delay, I invite you to begin making the spiritual preparations so you can receive the blessings available only in the holy temple.
Within the sound of my voice are individuals who have received the ordinances of the temple and for various reasons have not returned to the house of the Lord in quite some time. Please repent, prepare, and do whatever needs to be done so you can again worship in the temple and more fully remember and honor your sacred covenants.
Within the sound of my voice are many individuals who hold current temple recommends and strive worthily to use them. I commend you for your faithfulness and devotion.”
Now hopefully each of you has one or more people in mind for whom you have stewardship. Now as I give the rest of my talk, pay attention to thoughts that may come into your mind or your heart of ways to shepherd them to the house of the Lord.
In Alma we read “Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted”. Elder Bednar taught “the sheaves in this analogy represent newly baptized members of the Church. The garners are the holy temples.” These newly baptized members of the church gathered to the temple were those whom Ammon had taught. What did Ammon do to get them safely gathered into the temple? As I have studied Ammon’s ministry and Elder Bednar’s talk last April, I have found four steps which I feel that as shepherds we need to lead with in order for the sheep to follow. I call them belief, attitude, desire and do.
Belief
Elder Bednar asked several temple presidents what they had learned that they wished they understood better when serving as general authorities. He summarized their responses “I have come to understand better the protection available through our temple covenants and what it means to make an acceptable offering of temple worship. There is a difference between church-attending, tithe-paying members who occasionally rush into the temple to go through a session and those members who faithfully and consistently worship in the temple.” When Ammon was preparing to go on his mission among the Lamanites, his father, Mosiah was hesitant to let them go until the Lord made this promise, “Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites.” We read of this promise being fulfilled in a very direct and dramatic way later on when the angry Lamanite raises his sword to smite Ammon and falls dead in the attempt. This same promise is to all who honorably hold a name and standing in the house of the Lord as found in D&C 109:26 “no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house;” With the scary place this world is becoming, that is a blessing I want for my family. Do we and those we have stewardship over believe in the protective power of the temple covenants?
Attitude
Elder Bednar quotes Brigham Young saying while the Salt Lake temple was being built “If you wish this Temple built, go to work and do all you can…Some say, ‘I do not like to do it, for we never began to build a Temple without the bells of hell beginning to ring.’ I want to hear them ring again. All the tribes of hell will be on the move,…but what do you think it will amount to? You have all the time seen what it has amounted to”. When Ammon left to go on his mission among the Lamanites there were skeptics who said “Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are?” Ammon did not listen to them. Ammon had an “I can” attitude. He believed he could teach the Lamanites.
In our day some may ask “Do ye suppose that you can drive 3.5 hours to the temple? Do ye suppose that you can take 3 kids all the way to St. Louis and ask someone else to watch them so that you can do work for your kindred dead? Do ye suppose that we could find someone who would watch our kids who are full of energy and like to run around and climb on things?” I am grateful for the example of a family in our ward who had a can do attitude. They invited my wife and I to ride with their family on the last of their monthly St. Louis temple trips two weeks before the father finished his PhD and they moved across the country. On a cold winter morning they loaded their 3 children, including their newborn son, in the van, with us so that we could take a turn watching the children while the mom and dad went through a session together. The wife drove so that her husband could type the last chapter of his dissertation on a laptop on the way down and back. (I offered to take a turn driving, but they must have seen me driving before because they refused). It would have been easy for this family to say, “I can’t go to the temple,” but instead they said “I can” and they did. We need to help those for whom we have stewardship develop an “I can” attitude towards worshipping in the house of the Lord.
Desire
Elder Bednar said that as a stake president he testified and taught relentlessly about the eternal importance of temple ordinances, temple covenants, and temple worship. He said, “The deepest desire of our presidency was for every member of the stake to receive the blessings of the temple, to be worthy of and to use frequently a temple recommend.” Ammon had a burning desire in his labor as well, “Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish.”
In October I had the great joy and blessing of taking a brother in my quorum who had been baptized the year before to the temple to receive his endowments. I asked this brother what it was that got him from baptism to the temple. He responded, “My desire to return to God and get to the Celestial Kingdom.”
My mother helped me develop the desire to go to the temple. The Bountiful temple was dedicated while I was in 9th grade. My brothers and sisters over the age of 8 and I were able to attend the dedication with my parents. As we left the temple, my mom paused because she felt that she did not want to leave the temple and take her family back out into the world. Her example helped me prepare and look forward to the day when I could return to receive the ordinances of the temple. I look forward to and pray for the day when my mom and dad will be able to have all of their children in the temple. I am the oldest of 13 children, my youngest brother is 4. It will be a few years before this desire is realized.
Do
Again quoting Brigham Young, Elder Bednar said, “Now is the time for labor. Let the fire of the covenant which you made in the House of the Lord, burn in your hearts, like flame unquenchable”. Ammon taught King Lamoni that the spirit gave him power according to his faith and desires.
In my service as Elders’ quorum president, we have tried using google calendars and quorum temple trips to encourage the members of our quorum to get to the temple. Neither has been highly successful. However, I always see members of my quorum worshipping in the St. Louis temple. Why? I feel it is their beliefs, attitudes, and desires that lead them to do it.
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to serve in the temple on a first Tuesday. I was working in initiatory, when I heard an unseen temple worker say, “Wow, we’ve got two tall patrons today.” A familiar voice responded, “Yes, and that other tall brother is my Elders’ quorum president.” Shortly after another brother joined us who was also a brother from our Elders’ quorum. I love to see members of my quorum at the temple. I didn’t know either of these brothers would be in the temple that day. I think it says something of the members of our stake that I can drive so far to the temple and see so many of you there.
Now, as shepherds it is important that we nurture beliefs, attitudes, and desires in those we have stewardship over. Yet the reality remains that the temple is 3.5 hours away. It would be challenging for those whom we have stewardship over to just ride their bikes to the temple, maybe they can to church, but not to the temple. Also many of those we have stewardship over have small children that need to be cared for. I feel that the best assistance with these realities is at the home-teaching level. As Elders’ quorum president, as much as I would like to, I cannot drive all the members of my quorum down to the temple. Just ask the three members of my quorum who crammed into the back seat of our Toyota Corrolla on a recent temple trip. There is not room for the whole quorum in my car!
When I first moved to this area, President Kevin Nelson gave me the assignment to help the families I was assigned to home-teach get to the temple. I realized that what the families I was assigned to most needed was someone to watch their children while they went to the temple. A couple months later one of the families I home-taught invited us to ride to the temple with them. Brittney and I agreed to watch their daughter while they did a temple session together. Everything was fine until the daughter’s diaper leaked all over Brittney’s dress while she was holding her. Thanks to hand dryers in the restroom, Brittney was able to dry her dress and enter the temple. It proved to be a memorable experience that we find great joy in. My mission president used to say that he would move heaven and earth to help a family get to the temple. I figure that if President Mask is willing to move heaven and earth, I ought to be willing to move my schedule and plans to help a family get to the temple.
While sitting in the Celestial room of the temple, I like to imagine various members of my quorum walking through the door into the Celestial room. Brethren whom I care about and know what joy would come into their lives from serving in the temple. Then I follow up on those desires in personal priesthood interviews and visits in the home where we as an Elders’ quorum presidency encourage and invite members of our quorum to receive their endowments if they have not yet, or if they have already been, to prayerfully set a family temple commitment based on their circumstances and capabilities as Elder Scott taught in conference last April.
In our shepherding the saints to the House of the Lord, let us remember the Savior’s teaching in John 10 “The shepherd of the sheep leadeth them out, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.” I am grateful that our stake presidency not only ask us to attend the temple on the first Tuesday of the month, they lead us to the temple by their example.
“Dear to the heart of the Shepherd, Dear are the lambs of his fold; Some from the pastures are straying, Hungry and helpless and cold. See, the Good Shepherd is seeking, Seeking the lambs that are lost, Bringing them in with rejoicing, Saved at such infinite cost.” (Hymns, 221)
“And one of the Elders answered saying unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they?
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Rev. 7:13-17)
Ponder the connections between this Hymn #221 in our Hymn book and these verses found in Revelation 7. May we and those for whom we have stewardship overcome any tribulation preventing us from getting to the temple assisted by our belief, attitude and desires. That we may be dressed in white robes serving day and night in the temple, that we may qualify for these precious promises.
I am grateful for my wife Brittney and her example. When I knelt, trembling on my knee and asked her to marry me, she responded, “Only if it is for eternity.” I am grateful for the covenants we made in the temple and that we can be together forever. Last night when I came home from priesthood leadership meeting, I was feeling slightly overwhelmed and frustrated and wondered if it is all worth it. Then I went into the kitchen where Brittney was making dinner and put my arms around her and I knew in that moment that being with Brittney forever was worth everything and anything which the Lord may ask of me, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Quite Frightening

Not my debut as a mad scientist, although my students were extremely frightened when I showed up at school wearing this costume.




Not the mad scientist, the glad scientist, and "borrowed" son Eli as a dinosaur at the ward trunk or treat

Not Halloween, or ghosts, or goblins.

(Sorry neighbor trick or treaters - we weren't home for Halloween night. We decided to spend Halloween working closely with the spirits and the dead. We went to the temple in St. Louis)

None of these above things qualify as quite frightening. What is the most frightening is that we filled up Bernard with gas for the first time. He had a little less than a half a tank left. I put 28 gallons of gas in him which totaled out to be $70.80.

YIKES!!! That is frightening! Not something I was ready for. What would it cost to put a full tank of gas in him????

I sang...

my first solo in Sacrament meeting today. Bruce accompanied me in "How Great Thou Art." For a young women value project, I decided to take voice lessons from a sister in our ward. As a culminating task for that project, I set up a time for me to sing in Sacrament meeting. It has been fun learning new odd voice techniques, and I have actually really enjoyed taking singing lessons.

Not only do I feel like I can actually sing better, I also feel much more confident in my singing ability and a lot more willing to share it with others. I have always felt terrified to sing by myself in front of others. Small groups and ward choirs are not nearly as intimidating. Don't get me wrong, not that I wasn't a nervous wreck in front of the microphone. It took me the entire first verse to calm down and relax enough to let the things I learned about singing start to take over.
But, I guess how well I sang didn't really matter as much as the spirit that I hopefully brought to the meeting. That is the most important part.
My voice teacher told me afterwards that this is the first solo of many more to come. I told her that I wouldn't go as far to say that. But I did face my fear, and hope to continue improving my voice.

The woes of teaching

I came home from school yesterday with one thing to say to Bruce.
"Only three more quarters to go - that's only 75 cents; I can do this!"

Depending on the day, this is not that uncommon of a statement in the life of a middle school teacher. A typical day for me however, is generally not that bad. Occasionally I run into some small mishaps and unexpected encounters with students that kind of throws off my grove. However, I can usually deal with the orneriness of a student. They're 12, 13, and 14 and a little bit of verbal immaturity is expected. However, the audacity and complete rudeness of a parent who honestly has no idea what it is like to be a classroom teacher, and doesn't know or appreciate how hard I work and how much I actually do for my students, is appalling.

I sincerely believe that the parents in my school district have a love/hate relationship with me. They either love me and the things that I do, or they hate me. There isn't much in between.
Last year I had a parent who wrote me sincere notes every month on how much she admired what I was doing for her two boys. She made it a point to mention how many good things she thought I was doing for her boys. She mentioned in 6th grade her boys hated reading and dreaded anything to do with language arts. They complained every day on how much they hated English and reading. They used to struggle to get C's in both classes. When they came into my class for both 7th and 8th grade, a transformation took place. My approach to teaching was vastly different than what they were used to. By the end of 1st quarter, both boys had an enthusiasm for language and reading. Both boys began to love reading and became my most creative students. The complaints about language class were never heard at their house. They both earned high A's in my classes. Of course, their mother loved me. This is a rare and miraculous story. But, her notes of encouragement and appreciation offset the bad moments I had that first year. This is the kind of support and position parents should take when their children have good teachers.

Unfortunately this is not always what happens. Yesterday's experience will prove that. This particular parent has already threatened to sue our school district if her son's IEP (individualized education plan) accommodations were not met. Her lawyer sent our principal an official letter at the beginning of the year. We were specially instructed by our superintendent to clearly and accurately document any way that we were meeting his accommodations and document any contact we had with the parent in regards to his IEP. His IEP is specific for language and reading. Go figure! Quite frankly, every teacher in our school knows that this parent does her son's homework. In class, he can't answer a simple question, respond in writing to a prompt relating a personal experience in his life, or tell us how to double space or indent a paragraph on Microsoft Word; yet he can turn in perfectly polished college level written papers. This really strikes a cord with me. If I am going to go out of my way to meet the demands of his IEP, then I expect her to do the same, and let him complete his own work.

Last month I was trying to help this student come up with ideas to add to his groups adventure story. This was a creative writing assignment. Even when I gave him ideas - he still didn't write anything down. Everything I started for him, he ended up deleting. I had been writing down this particular assignment in his planner for an entire week. The night before the assignment was due (approx. 10:00 at night), his mother sent me an email stating how confused this student was about what he was supposed to do, and how irritated she was that I wasn't willing to help him.

I responded that I had tried multiple times to help him, and he wouldn't take my suggestions into consideration. I also told her that I wasn't willing to sit next to him and tell him word for word what to write because that would defeat the purpose of seeing what he is actually capable of. She called me and proceeded to tell me over the phone how offended she was because of my rudeness in my email, and so forth. I apologized to her stating that I wasn't meaning to be rude, I just wanted to let her know of my concerns - that he wasn't doing his part, and I didn't want him to start using his IEP as a crutch. 25 minutes later I thought we had come to some kind of agreement and solved the problem.

A week and a half later, I get a call from my superintendent stating that I needed to call this mother to talk out some issues she brought up in her email to him, and never to email her again because emails can be misinterpreted. If I had an issue with her from now on, I needed to call rather than email. She sent an email to my superintendent saying how rude I am, that I am insensitive, incompetent, ir-respectful and that I don't understand students with IEP's; that I am not willing to help students, and that if I need to repeat myself hundreds of times - so be it! This time, my principal listened through speaker phone to our conversation and kind of kept her under control. I had to apologize again, but tell her that I stood behind my concerns. Once again I thought we had it under control.

This week, this student turned in a paper that was extremely sophisticated and much better written than any 8th grader (even the smartest ones) are capable of putting together. It was especially better than any student with an IEP in language could come up with. Besides that, he used sources of information that I found on the Internet and didn't cite them - that is plagiarism. I pulled the student aside during class time to talk with him about his paper and what my concerns were. I had him circle the words he didn't understand, bracket the words his mom told him. I asked him how long he spent on the paper, where he found his sources, who helped him and how much that person helped him. I wrote down all of his answers to my questions. My concerns were: 1) that he used sources without citing them and that was plagiarism, and 2) that he is getting too much help from home.
I was meaning to call his mother that same day after school, but I was in charge of D-hall, and practice started immediately afterwards. So, I called her Thursday morning. (By the way, my superintendent read the paper too, and agreed with me - that the student didn't write it)

The conversation did not go well. She demanded to know why I would pull a student aside, talk to them about something, doubt their abilities, and make them feel like an idiot. When I told her what the student told me about the paper, she told me that it wasn't true! (In my mind that means that either the son or the mother is lying to me). (The rest of the conversation will be paraphrased and shortened for the sake of confidentiality). She was yelling in the phone so loud, I couldn't put it to my ear and my principal sitting 5 ft away from me could hear everything she was saying. She was irate and yelled that her son was not a liar, the paper wasn't plagiarized, she didn't help him at all. She was infuriated that a teacher would doubt his abilities, and how sick and tired she was of her son having to write these idiotic papers and do these idiotic assignments for language when he already has enough other things to do. She wanted to know how unfair and impartial I was going to be after her son brought in the URL he used for research. She didn't want me calling her for anything about anything with the next assignment because he worked his butt off on it. She accused me of a bunch of nasty things, wouldn't give me a chance to talk or defend myself, and hung up on me when she was finished raving.
I had to call my superintendent and let him know how our conversation went. He tried talking to her about the situation, but she was just as mad at him as she was at me.

Experiences like this leave a sour taste in my mouth about teaching. Sometimes I wonder why I put forth all the effort I do, when I get responses like this. That is why I have to remember the good experiences and try to forget about the bad. (Being screamed at on the phone over being unfair and unjust to a student for 20 minutes (in which she called me by my first name nonetheless) is really hard to forget.)

Who was more rude in this situation?

I guess as another one of my students likes to say "Chin up kid!"

A man of my word!

16 years ago, we had a scout camp behind Francis Peak above Farmington, Utah. The camp was at a glacier made lake. I made the mistake of saying, "if anyone else would swim across the lake, I would swim with them." To my surprise and horror, my friend Mike Gamble said he would do it. All the sudden, the water seemed awfully cold, and the air was just as cold. Keep in mind that this was a glacier made lake in October in the top of the mountain. I decided I didn't want to do it. My dad pulled me aside however, and told me that when I say I will do something, I need to do it. So, I found myself swimming across a glacier made lake in October. I learned two important lessons that day: 1) Swimming in freezing cold water is a fun and exhilarating experience. 2) When I say I will do something, I need to do it.
We didn't take any pictures that day, so here is a picture of Mike (standing in the middle) and me (seated at the table) at a summer campout at Willard Bay.
And me and my friend Todd another time when I said, "I'll do it if you do it."

That means that I have to be careful what I say I will do. For example, a couple months ago, Brittney came home form a Mary Kay party and told me that our good friend Anne Anderson wanted me to host a Mary Kay party for men. I was terrified of the idea of inviting other men to come to a Mary Kay party that I was hosting. Later, Anne talked to me about it and told me that she was willing to invite the men for me. I then thought that wouldn't be too bad. So I agreed to host the party. It was only later that I realized that this was even worse. I had no control over who she would tell that Bruce Richards is hosting a Mary Kay party at his house. Nevertheless I had said I would do it, so I needed to do it. When she later spoke to me about it and didn't mention calling the guest list for me, I was relieved.

Last Wednesday night, we had a MK Mens' night or as I like to call it a Manly Kman (the K is silent) night. We put lotion and cream and fancy soap on our hands that made them feel less dry, itchy, and irritated. We shaved, put on after shave, and washed and moisturized our faces. We also talked about construction and chemistry. We ended the night with Brats and Root beer. It actually wasn't that bad, though I would have preferred going to a lake for a nICE cold swim!

Truck for service

To make myself feel better about buying a new truck and a new car in the same year, I reminded myself of how many times Bobby was employed in the service of others and figured that if at least part of our motivation for buying a new truck was to help others, then God would help us make a wise financial decision.
After driving a Dodge Dakota that was cheap, but not very exciting (not to mention Brittney's dad told us not to buy a Dodge), a Ford Ranger that was a good price and made a funny noise, a Chevy Silverado that was too big, and a GMC with an extended cab and more miles than Bobby had, when I drove the GMC Sierra for the first time and it drove smoothly, had a CD player, and I liked the color, I decided I really liked the Sierra. I told Brittney we should go to lunch and talk about it. The Brilliant car salesman at Worden Martin told us to drive the truck to lunch, so of course the whole time we were eating I was imagining taking that truck to lunch every day and by the end of lunch we had named him Bernard. The other trucks were OK to drive, but for some reason I just got excited (and still do) to drive Bernard.
So Tuesday night I got the opportunity to break Bernard in. A single lady well past the prime of her life showed up to church Sunday and told the missionaries she needed help moving. Of course they told her to talk to the Elders' quorum president, which she did. So Tuesday night me and 4 other Elders in our quorum went over to help her move. She didn't have everything packed and ready to go when we got there and it was very obvious that she was a pack rat and not a very good housekeeper. Normal quorum policy would be to say call us when you're packed and we'll come back. However she claimed that if she didn't get moved out that night, then she would go to jail. So I ran to the store and got some garbage bags and we filled them all. She insisted that everything be moved to her new place (except the loaves of moldy bread). It was a nightmare move. I tried not to complain too much, after all the Lord had already blessed me with a very nice truck, but the brethren that were with me not only didn't complain, they were smiling and seemed to be enjoying themselves the whole night long! What great examples to me! I would write their names, but I don't want to risk their reward in heaven by giving them recognition on earth, because I am sure their reward in heaven will be great. "In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto me". The lady told us a couple of times that she was scared and alone with no one to help. I am grateful to have been able to help and that I had a truck to help with.

New Family Addition

I am so forlorn. It is with the deepest sorrow and greatest despair that I write this post. Alas, I will wipe away my tears and although the memory will still be with me, I will hopefully get over it. Somehow!
After hearing a horrendous noise from Beautiful Bobby when we turned, we decided to take him to our old friends Car X.
The prognosis: Bobby's frame is rusted out.
Approximate cost to fix: $1200.00 (only for partial fix)
Approximate value of Bobby: $500 (assuming he is in excellent condition - rust seems to indicate that he is not in excellent condition)
Overall decision: Trade Bobby in (if someone takes him) for something newer that will last longer and be worth the investment.

Now the fact that we had to buy 2 new or "new" cars within 4 months of each other is not what makes me feel sorrow - that's just called bad luck. We knew that our '92 Bobby was old, but we were hoping he would at least last a little longer.
No the reason for my melancholy feelings is that Beautiful Bobby is my baby, my wheels, MY truck! He has been with me through thick and thin. He was the first vehicle I owned - the one in which I learned how to drive. The truck I've been driving for 10 years.

Before I go on to tell you what we replaced Bobby with, I must first make a tribute to Beautiful Bobby. First off, I must always remember his special song:

(To the tune of Beautiful Dreamer)

Beautiful Bobby, Bobby Beigey.
Beautiful Bobby is so good to me.
Unless I run him into a tree
Then Beautiful Bobby will be history

Do not fear now Bobby Beigey
I will not run you into a tree
We will be happy as happy can be
Oh Beautiful Bobby, oh Bobby Beigey

Beautiful Bobby, oh can't you see
That you are the only man for me
You and me are so complimentary
Oh Beautiful Bobby, oh Bobby Beigey

Beautiful Bobby, you are the best
You excel far more than the rest
Sorry I ran you into the lake
Oh Beautiful Bobby that was a mistake

Beautiful Bobby, please understand
We must make room for another man
friends with Bruce (and Frank) you must be
Oh Beautiful Bobby, oh Bobby Beigey

Beautiful Bobby, together we'll fly
You and me, and my other favorite guy
Across the country, we will roam
Oh Beautiful Bobby make Illinois your home.

Side note: (vs. 4 was written after I slid off the road around Thanksgiving time. vs. 5 was written after I met and married Bruce. vs. 6 was written on the long drive to Illinois when we moved.)

Dear Bobby:
I will miss you entirely too much. I will never forget you or the memories we shared so blissfully together. Let me take a moment to reflect on our many adventures together.
Do you remember when: Dad and I named you Bobby. Travis thought you were ugly. I thought you were beautiful, so you have been named that ever since - Beautiful Bobby!
Do you remember when: I drove you for the first time by myself to volleyball practice and you stalled at the busiest stop light. Do you remember how scared I was and how blissful it was when I finally got the hang of driving you.
Do you remember when: I drove all 3 of my siblings and my mom home from a game because my mom's car broke down.
Do you remember when: you helped me move to Logan for college, and your spare tire fell from its carrier underneath and dragged across the freeway? You gave my mom, sister, and I quite the scare.
Do you remember when: we hit that stupid pheasant on the way to work and it took out a section of your grill guard?
Do you remember when: we slid off the road the day after Thanksgiving because we were trying to get back for a USU basketball game. Remember how you had to spend a week in the shop getting your undercarriage fixed, and I had to spend the night at some strangers house in Lakeview, Ut. She had cats everywhere, and I'm allergic!
Do you remember when: we went camping with my roommates in the middle of winter - you sure were brave through all that snow.




Do you remember when: you went snow shoeing with Katie and I and Katie's snow shoes somehow got connected together and she blamed me for tripping her.
Do you remember when: I first took Bruce in you to meet my parents. When we arrived, Travis came out and started kicking you and dad gave you a great big hug before he even hugged me. Then dad proceeded to say to Bruce, "so you're the cradle robbing dragon."
Do you remember when: I finally decided to let Bruce drive you (10 months after we were married)? Do you remember how patient we had to be and how much stress we dealt with while we both taught Bruce how to drive stick shift?
Do you remember when: I let a brother from our ward borrow you, and it took him 15 minutes (and multiple times killing the engine) to get out of the parking lot. Do you remember how nervous I was when I left in a different car to go to the bank, and he still hadn't been able to actually leave the parking space before I got back? I had to give him a quick reminder of how to drive you.
Do you remember when: you took Bruce to the farm every day at 5:00 am and carried all of his samples for him. You were brave to not only rough the snow, but be content enough to stay parked at the farm with all those smelly cows for hours upon hours a day?
Do you remember all those other unfortunate birds that too soon had to meet their maker.
Do you remember all those other people you helped and how much I hoped you wouldn't miss me too much when I started to drive Frank to work (now Buzz)
Do you remember when I sang to you all those times I drove you.

Finally, do you remember when Travis incorrectly decorated you across from the stadium at USU. Or when dad left you that University of Utah crazy fan doll stuck to your mirror for my birthday.




Or... the time when Travis, Otto, dad, Katie, and grandma (yes even grandma of all people) sabotaged you completely. (See pictures below)



Finally, I will always remember your funny quirks:
1) The torn up driver's seat that we tried to duct tape together once. That worked until the temperature got too hot and duct tape melted all over my pants. The towel only worked for a little while.
2) The 2 gigantic cracks in your windshield - it really added personality and was the reasons for getting you Wyoming license plates.
3) How we had to pound the speakers on the door to get them to work
4) How the radio would automatically turn off every time you went over a bump.
5) How the side view mirrors flopped in the wind and never stayed put - even when the wind wasn't blowing.
6) The Bobby "squeak." You used to say goodbye every time I turned off the ignition and exited the vehicle.
7) The cream of the crop - the tail gate that only I had the special powers to open with the magic kick from the inside of the bed.

Those were the good times. Times I will look back on with fondness, happiness, and laughter. Even though we have replaced you, I will never forget the memories we shared. I may enjoy driving the replacement, but he still won't mean as much to me as you.

I must admit that I did have a few tears trickle down my cheek when I pulled up to the dealer to trade him in. I will miss my truck, but remember the memories we shared.


With that said and all condolences in order......



Welcome to the family Bernard!

Side note: I may be sad, but probably not as sad as Bruce's younger sisters who won't be able to hear me sing the Bobby song anymore.

A Miracle has happened!

Today I prayed that Bruce would get out of his Elder's Quorum presidency meeting early and come straight home. And... he did! The meeting ended 10 minutes early, and he was home by 5. Bruce was surpised himself. Not to mention how relieved I was since I was locked outside of our house in the cold. BRR!

Key Note Speaker

With the recent completion of my Master's degree, I may have accidently happened upon a new career. What career? That of a public speaker. Here's how it happened.

Last year I designed a career unit for my 8th grade students. A parent of one of the male students in my class works as an administrative assistant for a professor in the Financial and Consumer Science department at the University of Illinois. This parent talked to her boss about my unit. Her boss was so impressed that she wanted me to present this unit at financial and consumer education conference put on for high school teachers across the state of Illinois.
The phone conversation went like this.
Dr. Cline: Tell me a little about this career simulation you do.
Brittney: (I proceeded to tell him - I won't go into the gruesome details)
Dr. Cline: Are you afraid of speaking in front of people?
Brittney: I am a classroom teacher, so no...
Dr. Cline: What if it was a group of teachers?
BrittneY: Well that doesn't really bother me much either?
Dr Cline: What if it is a room full of about 60 high school teachers from across the state?
Brittney: You got me there, I can't do it! :) (Just kidding)
He proceded to ask me if I would be willing to present my unit at this conference. The teachers at this conference are looking for new ideas to use and teach in thier classes. So I agreed!

One week before the conference (conference was September 25), the schedule came out. As I glanced through it I noticed this:

10:00-10:45 - Building your career: A Life skills presentation
Key note speaker: Brittney Richards, Prairieview Ogden Jr. High School.

Although I agreed to speak at this conference, I didn't agree to be the key note speaker.
As I started to introduce myself to the audience, I had a difficult time getting their attention. I was the only jr high teacher, and the only Language Arts and Reading teacher. All other participants were high school business and economics teachers. What could I say that would be important? When I started I wanted to stop and yell at the audience to make sure that I had their attention. However, after I started I soon had them captivated. They were impressed with my presentation, and awed by how much I was able to get my 8th grade students to do. I had many recommendations and invitiations to speak at other conferences later in the year. One participant, who recently got her type 75 (administrative) certificate, even offered to hire me at her school. I wasn't expecting to be such a popular speaker. Afterwards, I was told that I was the best speaker of the entire event. That is quite the compliment. So I guess I lived up to the key note speaker status.

106 garden tomatoes

...And that was all she wrote...

Ok... so we did get a handful of beans and 2 small zucchinni's, but other than that our garden wasn't very prosperous this year. Part of that I'm sure is the amount of effort that one actually puts into it. I thought I would have more time this summer than last. In fact, the exact opposite of that happened. I planted late because I was conducting the school play, and didn't weed as much as I should have because of my other summer festivities. The bottom line is I'm disappointed with myself for not putting more time into it to get more profit. I am happy that we got a lot of tomaotes, but sad that we didn't get much else.

The other bummer...I don't really know how to can, and don't have the kitchen space to learn or store the supplies. Our tomatoes came in at different times, so I probably wouldn't have been able to can much anyway. We ate a lot, we gave a lot away, and may or may not do one next year. :)

Summer Accomplishments

Due to the weather lately, many people will wonder why I took so long to write about my summer accomplishments since summer seems like it was so long ago. Summer actually wasn't that long ago, and it took me a couple of weeks after summer ended to actually finish up my summer projects. So...what did I accomplish this summer?
1) Taught 90 hours worth of summer school - +24 additional hours of driving time.
2) Completed 4 graduate level courses at the University of Illinois.
3) Helped plan and participate in a wonderful week of stake girls camp. (Still haven't blogged about that)
4) Wrote some new curriculum for this school year.
5) Traveled to another country (already blogged about that)
6) Keeping Bruce on track with his schooling and disertation.
7) Completed a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois.
8) Completed my Master's Degree with a 4.0 GPA! Yeah!

When I think about it, I didn't have much of a summer. With the exception of our 1 1/2 week long trip to Montreal (I still did my homework and attended "class" online), I didn't have much of a summer at all. Now we are back in school, have almost completed a entire quarter (2 weeks away), and played 8 basketball games. I am ready for a break.

So far our 7th grade basketball team is 8-0 - we haven't lost yet. We have had some pretty tight games, but we have always come out on top.

Our 8th grade team isn't too far behind with a 6-2 record. I have still been able to maintain my perfect record in not getting a technical foul. I can't exactly say that for the "other" coach Richards who got a technical in the 8th grade game last week.
I have been proud of our teams so far this year. It is nice to be the coach of a group of girls who not only care about being better basketball playeres, but who listen and do what we tell them to do.
Teaching school this year so far has been better than the past 2 years. Each year brings different problems and issues, but hopefully the good trend will continue and I won't be able to find very many bad things about this year.
The new principal we got 1 week after school started has turned out to be quite nice. He still is the science teacher so he knows the school, knows the kids, and knows what has gone on at our school for the past couple of years. This has been a big help.
Now if only I can get a few more hours of sleep per night, I would be full of enough energy to fulfill my responsibilities and be happy about it! So I usually am happy, just not excited to crawl out of bed in the morning when I get home from school (work) after 10.

Muddy Buddies!

One of the dads of one of the girls on Brittney's basketball team mentioned to me a couple years ago when he was working the scoreboard and I was keeping the stats book that he was going to be playing in a mud volleyball tournament later in the day. It sounded like a whole lot of fun to me, so this year I got a team together to play in the Danville mud volleyball tournament.
Our new next door neighbors, the Freestones, and some friends from church, the Ruggieris played with Brittney and I. Our team name was "the muddy buddies". We had a lot of fun playing in the mud.
Our first game was scheduled for 8:45 in the morning. When we got there, we realized that the last game wasn't scheduled until 7:00 that night.
We won the first game we played. It was still chilly outside, so we didn't do a whole lot of diving in the mud, but the mud felt good on our feet.
The next game we played we lost. Noah and I decided after that game that our friend, Todd was still too clean, so we took care of that.
It was a double elimination tournament, so I held nothing back on the last game, and Brittney said I actually did really well up at the net, but we still lost. We didn't feel too bad though, we had spent the morning there and weren't anxious to stay all day.
I was a bit scary looking when it was all over with. I won't gross you out by telling you what happens when you dive in the mud without plugging your nose.
You won't see many faces scarier than this at Halloween!

Ten years ago today I arrived in the mission field

"We arrived in the beautiful city of Barcelona today. It clean, green, and blue. The flight (Madrid to Barcelona) was short and enjoyable." The Spain, Barcelona mission had approximately 180 missionaries. President Clate Wheeler Mask Jr. and his wife, Carol "Pollyanna" Mask oversaw our assignments and well-being while serving. When President Mask met us at the airport, I didn't recognize him. He wasn't as tall as he looked in his picture in the MTC and he spoke Spanish much more fluently than I expected, so I thought we was a senior native Spanish missionary that had come to help pick up the missionaries and I wondered why President Mask hadn't come to the airport. It wasn't until we arrived at the mission office and he gave us our official welcome that I realized who he was. In the next year I will describe some of the neat experiences I had with Presidente and Hermana Mask as we called them. I learned a great deal from them that I still remember and often reflect on. I love them and am grateful to have served in the Spain, Barcelona "Lighthouse" mission with them.
That night "we went to sing (at a plaza in the middle of the city) with all the Elders in Barcelona. The members were excited to sing with us. It started pouring (rain). There was a waterfall on the stairs to the Metro (subway). We were soaked when we got to the mission home (pictured above)."

The next day I met my new mission companion, Elder Woodbury. We soon figured out that we were both descended from the same great-great-great grandpa, Franklin D. Richards. Of course since I was a brand new missionary right from the MTC, and Elder Woodbury had been out serving for a year, I knew everything there was to know about being a missionary, and Elder Woodbury didn't know anything. We got along fine, but we did have a difference of opinion from time to time. It wasn't until a few months later that I realized Elder Woodbury really was a great missionary and knew what he was doing after all.
Mataro was the first area I was assigned to serve in. It was right on the Mediterranean Sea, we could see the sea from our 7th floor apartment. Elder Woodbury and I shared an apartment with Elder Barrott and Elder Brunson. By the way, Elder is a title for all male missionaries. I met faithful saints in Mataro, many of whom were the first members of the church in their family, the pioneers of Spain. While there, Elder Woodbury and I taught Joaquin, a gentleman who had heart problems. I remember he came to hear me speak in church my first week there. Remember, my talk was given in Spanish, and at this point, I still had a lot of Spanish to learn. Luis was another man we taught in Mataro. He always gave us large soda crackers to eat. Mataro sparked my love for the people of Spain, love for the faithful members of the church in Spain, and love for representing Jesus Christ as a missionary.

Clinton Lake

For the second year in a row we spent Labor Day at Clinton Lake. It has a very nice beach with warm water to play in. Our good friends, the Hills, Wheelers and Andrus' went with us and we had a lot of fun. We played with this amazing ball that skipped like a schoolgirl across the top of the water. We grilled hamburgers, played Frisbee in the water, and did a lot of swimming. Hopefully we'll get to go back again next summer.
Here is Brittney chasing after the seagulls.
Jason designed and built this amazing sandcastle. He'll be graduating in architecture next year and looking for work if any of you want a house that looks like that.
Joshua, Aaron, Bruce and Jason. Sorry girls, these beach dudes are all taken (except Joshua).

Things

I had to post something on 9-9-09 because this number sequence isn't going to happen again. I suppose next year we will get 10-10-10; the year after 11-11-11; and the year after that 12-12-12.
Perhaps I can tell you something exciting that happened today. Reflecting the events through the course of the day.... I had another awkward "walking into the classroom" moment with my superintendent today - the second time in 1 week. It wasn't awkward that he came in, just at what was happening in class at the moment he walked in. He probably thinks I do all sorts of weird/bad things in my classroom. I started compiling a list of things, and will make 1 post at the end of the year with my conglomoration. I'm sure I'll have plenty since he seems to be visiting our building a lot more often this year than in the past.

On the positive side, I have 1 week remaining in my last class before I finish my master's degree.
Cool thing - I had my 9th synchronous class session on 9-9-09. I answered the same question 9 times to 9 different students during study hall, and called 9 fouls during the scrimmage game at basketball practice - what a coincidence!

I'm going to start planning my dozens party now! Doesn't it sound cool to host a dozens party on 12-12-12! I will be happy to take ideas and suggestions for such an endeavor.

Kirtland, Ohio

We also stopped off in Kirtland on our journey home. I had never been to Kirtland before, and it's a neat place to visit. I don't think I truely realized how many revelations, doctrines, and explanations were received during the Kirtland time period. Nor did I understand the persecution and sacrifices the early saints made. Since we have the luxury of living 3 1/2 hours way from Nauvoo, Bruce and I get to visit historic Nauvoo quite often. However, knowing the events in Kirtland bring new insight on the happenings in Nauvoo.
I always wondered why the Community of Christ church owned the Kirtland temple and why our church wasn't using it like our temples today. It wasn't until I was there and noticed that it wasn't built for the same purpose temples are built today. It was built as a place of worship - like a meeting house in which doctrines of the gospel were received and studied. The Kirtland temple has been through various owners and gone through many uses - like a barn; yet what once took place there was absolutely remarkable. Walking through the building, it was hard to believe that Christ and other angels appeared there, but I do know that it actually happened.
I really liked watching the video that told the Kirtland story from the perspective of the Whitney's. It gives you that everyday member perspective and the personal sacrifices the Whitney family made in order to establish Zion on earth.
Bruce and I were the only two people on our tour, so we got special privileges. We could take as many pictures as we wanted, enter rooms they don't usually show, and stand behind the counter at the Whitney store.

This picture is taken in the upstairs room of the Whitney store also known as the school of the prophets. It was in this room that the word of wisdom revelation was received. The brethren were studying Hebrew and other gospel doctrines. According to time period customs, the men often drank, smoked, and chewed tobacco during these learning sessions. Emma got tired of cleaning up the mess and approached Joseph. Joseph approached the Lord thinking this behavior probably wasn't approved by the Lord. After receiving the revelation, Joseph had the burden of telling his good friends and trusted colleagues that they were sinning and doing wrong. I would have been a little nervous to chastise my friends. However, after Joseph told the brethren, many of them got up and threw their pipe into this fireplace, vowing that they would follow the commandments of the Lord. I wondered if I am so willing to just cast my sins into the fire upon word from the prophet, or do I try to hold onto things.
This is a picture of the kitchen Emma shared in order to take care of her family. I know how nice it is for me to have a kitchen of my own that I can cook or entertain guests. This was something that Emma never really had. She always shared with someone else and always gave willingly of the few possessions she had to call her own.

We visited the saw mill and ashery where they make lye soap. Left over ashes from their cooking fires could be used to make soap which isn't worth a lot. Ash can be refined to make pot ash. Pot Ash can be refined even more through high levels of heat and trail to make something remarkable that is worth much more than a pile of ashes. In a way, we can compare ourselves to ash. We can settle to be made into soap through a small process. Or we can undergo large amounts of heat and be pushed through the refiners fire to be made into something remarkable. I know that I would rather become something valuable.

Perhaps what struck me the most was the fact that the successful Whitney family were willing to pack up their profitable store that they had worked so hard to build up, and move to Missouri with the saints. They left family members and other friends behind to do what the Lord wanted them to do. They did it again when they were driven out of Missouri, and again when they were driven out of Nauvoo. Those early saints truely passed through the refiners fire to become something of much greater value than just ash. I wonder if I would do the same. The Prophet Joseph Smith said a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things does not produce the faith sufficient enough to bring salvation. Now we know what the Lord expects of us.