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Showing posts from August, 2011

Today's Lesson on Eternal Marriage

A few weeks ago I received a call asking me to substitute teach in Relief Society today. I don't think I've ever taught Relief Society before, even though I've always wanted to. The lesson was from the Gospel Principles manual and was about Eternal Marriage. As I told the sisters today, when I teach I usually just like to prepare an outline with a lot of questions, and get them to run the discussion. That's how today's lesson went and I think it went well. Afterwards several people mentioned that they liked the lesson quite a lot, and I thought it was interesting that one person specifically mentioned liking the fact that I explicitly encouraged comments because she didn't feel like she was 'interrupting me'. Some people asked me to post my lesson, and the truth is I didn't have much beyond an outline, but I will put it here. “All of us women have an image of the ideal family—a marriage in the temple to an active priesthood holder, and children wh

Reading Roundup: July 2011

The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith I picked up this book because I wanted to see what a nationally-published YA book by a Mormon author, about Mormon teens, was like. It was pretty good and I thought the religious and cultural elements were worked into the narrative quite well. I was left feeling a little unsatisfied by the fact that the plot was not very strong and there wasn't much of a resolution in the end. I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells This book left me feeling very satisfied and I thought it was a great end to the series. The author thought up some great new twists and I was hooked until the end. Part of me wishes there were more books about John Wayne Cleaver, but part of me is glad there aren't so I don't have to read about any more horrible ways for people to die. Rescue by Anita Shreve I tried this book because the plot sounded interesting. It was, but I thought all the characters were flat and stereotypical, and their motivations were not very cl

The Dentist and Me (A Parable of Sorts)

In May I went to the dentist for the first time in about five years. Yes, I know I should have gone more regularly in the past. I have a lot of excuses, including some good ones like the moving around we have done and the occasional lack of dental insurance. I didn't think that skipping the dentist would be a big deal because I've had good teeth for most of my life. I also floss and brush every day and I don't drink soda, coffee, or tea. Well, after spending a very long time in the dentist's chair that day I learned a few things. I had several small cavities between my teeth. I also had to endure a deep cleaning of my teeth and gums to get off the stuff that had built up during my years without regular cleanings. Apparently I have been experiencing both periodontitis and gum recession . The dentist sent me away with special medicinal mouthwash and an appointment in a few weeks to fill my cavities. The appointment for my fillings was definitely the worst experience I

50 States: The Next Four

We actually did all these states a while ago but for some reason I didn't actually publish the post. Oops. Delaware: We learned some interesting facts about this state and read about Native Americans and food webs . For dinner we had some really tasty chicken and dumplings . Florida: There are a lot of fun and interesting books about Florida, especially the wildlife there. We read about manatees , the Keys , and the Everglades (I didn't know it was technically a river). For dinner we had orange-glazed shrimp with black beans and rice. We also watched the movie Flipper and ate some key-lime cake for dessert. Georgia: We learned that P is for Peach (and many other facts) and colored the flag. The kids really liked this book about the Okeefenokee Swamp and we read it a number of times. For dinner I decided to have a somewhat eclectic Southern-style meal, so we had hoppin' john , roasted sweet potatoes, biscuits, coleslaw, and peaches (of course). Hawaii: We talked a