Infinite Hope

Christy and I went to Time Out for Women, put on by Desert Book, last weekend. It was fantastic--lots of great presenters and fun times with Christy. We began each day with a question. Friday's question was "what do I hope for?" and Saturday's question was "what do I hope in?". There are a lot of things I hope for--wisdom, better relationships, nice legs, discipline--and I discovered some things that hope to hope in. I mean, I think that I have hope in these things (service the scriptures, being better), but I think that my hope could be stronger.

Some of the things I learned:

• Don't compare yourself to others. My/your success doesn't have to take away from your/mine.
• We are influenced easily. Who influences you? What kind of influence are you giving?
• Everyone needs saving and that's what the atonement is for.
• The root word of mediocrity is Latin for "halfway up the mountain." How do you get to the top of the mountain if you don't go through the halfway point?
• Suffering is not the punishment or payment, it's purpose is change.
• You always have a choice--choose to have a good attitude, choose to have hope in God and faith in Christ, choose to be grateful.
• Search the scriptures--there lies your HOPE
• I am extremely blessed and need to give more.

I wasn't sure that I wanted to go this year, buy I'm glad Christy talked me into it.

The Good Samaritan

You know the story of the Good Samaritan? A Jew gets beat up and left to die. First a priest passes him by, then a Levite passes him by. Both made promises to help those in need. Finally a Samaritan, someone who didn't have a good relationship with the Jews, stopped to help. Today I felt like one of the first two who passed up an opportunity to help.

On the way home we were behind a car that had stalled and was having a difficult time getting re-started. While waiting for a chance to get around him I was thinking about what I could do to help him. I don't know anything about cars and I couldn't help him push his car. What else could I do? As we left him behind I felt like I missed the chance to be a good Samaritan. I felt like I was being a bad example to my kids. What should I do if a situation like that happens again?

Fun Times at the Zoo

My sister's kids had fall break this week and we were finally able to squeeze some time into our schedule to hang out. We (I) decided that the zoo would be fun. It was hotter than we hoped and more crowded than usual, but we had fun. We saw the new koala exhibit, some monkeys swinging, and lots of other animals. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and, as always, I enjoyed visiting with my sister.

Apple Pie

Saturday we read How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World and made some mini-apple pies. The book is about a girl who wants to make a pie, but the market is closed so she decides to get the ingredients other places. She goes to Italy to get wheat for the flour, France for eggs, Sri Lanka for the world's best cinnamon, England for cream, Jamaica for sugar, and Vermont for apples.

We followed the recipe in the back of the book for the crust, but it wasn't very good. The kids need more practice rolling out pie dough so we'll try a different recipe next time. I canned some apple pie filling last summer. We used that for the inside. The kids loved that part--they ate the apples and left the crust.

I Can Tie a Tie

Corbin tied his tie for the first time today.
Usually I will defer tie problems to Jonathan (even though I know how to tie a tie), but Jonathan wasn't there this morning. I taught Corbin how to tie it and he tried and tried and tried until he got it right.

I Heart Visiting Teaching

A couple of months ago I was called to be the visiting teaching coordinator. I like the calling--it's given me a chance to get to know more people in the ward. The Relief Society presidency asked me to write something for the monthly newsletter about visiting teaching. I wanted to say something that would get the sisters out and be better visiting teachers, but I realised that I couldn't be telling them what to do when I wasn't doing my best as a visiting teacher. I needed to work on my own visiting teaching. I shared some things that lds.org says a good visiting teacher should do and encouraged them to pick one to work on. I think that I will work on the fourth--looking for specific ways that I can help.

Dear Sisters,

I have been thinking a lot about what I could say to you of visiting teaching. I would love to say something inspiring, something that you haven’t already heard, but that probably isn’t going to happen. I hope, though, that you will feel the spirit behind my words and try to do what you think the spirit is telling you.

I am not a perfect visiting teacher, but, like all of you, I am trying to be a better one. I have sometimes missed a month or two, or have not been there for a sister, and I have a hard time visiting less-active sisters. My goal is to improve.

I have a testimony of the visiting teaching program. I have seen it work. I have had many visiting teachers come into my home over the years. My favorites are the ones who try--the ones who smile at me when they see me, the ones who remember things about me, the ones who attempt to visit me every month even if it doesn’t always happen, the ones who are willing to help me and my family. I have also had the opportunity to visit a lot of fascinating people and be companions with many wonderful sisters. I have found some of my best friends through the visiting teaching program.

At lds.org, on the Relief Society page, a question is asked: What are a Visiting Teacher’s Responsibilities? Five answers were given: come to know and love your sisters, minister through regular contacts, learn of needs and offer appropriate assistance, look for specific ways to help, and share and testify of gospel doctrines. In our desire to improve and become better visiting teachers, I challenge us to choose one area that we can make better. Ponder these areas and pray and act.

In the words of Sister Beck, “Visiting teachers minister in behalf of the Savior. Our hands are His hands, our love is His love, and our service is His service.” I hope that that thought remains in our hearts as we strive to be the best visiting teacher.

Love,
Ashlee Mecham