I watched this talk this morning and wanted to share with everyone. It is such a fabulous talk. I loved it.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Signs of the Second Coming
Hi Everyone,
I was visiting in Dana's ward and heard a great lesson on the second coming. It was based on a talk by Dallin H. Oaks. Don't know the reference. You are all so technologically savvy, you could find it before I could get it linked on here.
I have two questions for all of you. I was at another lesson, I think this same lesson (#43) and a lady said that the 'moon will turn to blood' prophesy had already been fulfilled. She said it was in the October conference following 9-11. Could you guys look for that? I will look, too.
Second question. This scripture is about the New Jerusalem (D & C 45: 67-69)
"And the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion.
And it shall come to pass among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for safety.
And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another."
Do you think this means that we will all be gathered to the New Jerusalem? It seems that way to me, at least if we won't be willing to fight our neighbors, but does it maybe just mean be gathered into our own stakes? I don't know if that would provide enough safety. Will we just be one big huge metropolis of Zionites? Sounds pretty exciting to me, however it ends up.
I really am interested in your opinions. Oh, I also read a really great article by Neal Maxwell, his last. It wasn't even finished when he died, but it must have been pretty close to complete. It is in the New Era. I went to Topical Guide at lds.org, under 'Second Coming' and there are several articles listed there at the bottom of the virtual page. I think the article by Elder Oaks is there too. Happy reading. I love you all.
Mom/Debby
I was visiting in Dana's ward and heard a great lesson on the second coming. It was based on a talk by Dallin H. Oaks. Don't know the reference. You are all so technologically savvy, you could find it before I could get it linked on here.
I have two questions for all of you. I was at another lesson, I think this same lesson (#43) and a lady said that the 'moon will turn to blood' prophesy had already been fulfilled. She said it was in the October conference following 9-11. Could you guys look for that? I will look, too.
Second question. This scripture is about the New Jerusalem (D & C 45: 67-69)
"And the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion.
And it shall come to pass among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for safety.
And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another."
Do you think this means that we will all be gathered to the New Jerusalem? It seems that way to me, at least if we won't be willing to fight our neighbors, but does it maybe just mean be gathered into our own stakes? I don't know if that would provide enough safety. Will we just be one big huge metropolis of Zionites? Sounds pretty exciting to me, however it ends up.
I really am interested in your opinions. Oh, I also read a really great article by Neal Maxwell, his last. It wasn't even finished when he died, but it must have been pretty close to complete. It is in the New Era. I went to Topical Guide at lds.org, under 'Second Coming' and there are several articles listed there at the bottom of the virtual page. I think the article by Elder Oaks is there too. Happy reading. I love you all.
Mom/Debby
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Superfan
This young lady's not about to let a little foot surgery stop her from rooting for the BSU. Yet another great use for duct tape. Go Broncos!!
I give up - I can't seem to figure out how to post these photos upright. Turn your head sideways.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4
Saturday, October 8, 2011
The Chipman at work (play?)
Lately I’ve been feeling very self-absorbed with all the time I’ve been spending with moving, finding a house, and then moving into said house. And David has been in Korea almost two weeks now so that is starting to get to me. Sooo, the timing of this birthday wish was so perfect. No better way to stop thinking about yourself than a little good ol’ fashioned service, right?! Thank you, mom, for using your special occasion to make all of us better people.
I spent a lot of time searching for what exactly I wanted to do – LA has plenty of opportunities, but I wanted it to be meaningful. This is what I finally found:
JA Finance Park
Finance Park teaches junior high/high school kids to be financially literate. This is a cause I feel very strongly about, so this was a perfect find for me. They have “adult for a day” events, where these kids each get a different real-life scenario (marital status, career, number of children, salary, etc) and they are to spend the day choosing housing and transportation, figuring out which insurance plans to get, paying bills, donating to charities, and figuring out how to budget their money all the while. The program director actually said, “It’s like the Disneyland of financial literacy!” Are you geeking out about this place? I was.
Today I mentored three ladies from the local YWCA at Finance Park as they learned the ins and outs of personal finance. Sadly, I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of any of them because they were all minors. There was a photographer wandering around documenting the whole time and I begged him to send me some pics. We’ll see if it happens.
I got to walk Iana, Tai, and Esther through the process, and I talked to them about the importance of saving, paying down credit card debt, understanding what bills you have control over and what you don't...you know, adult-type stuff.
Iana, a senior, was very competitive about the event. She flew through everything and was the first one done out of the entire group with each task. I think I had to help her twice. She says she wants to go to Stanford, and you know what? I think she’ll get in with a scholarship.
Since Iana was so self-sufficient, I spent most of my time with the other two. Esther is in 8th grade. She has a quiet determination about her. She was the only one in the group who definitely does not like math, but she held her own beautifully and didn’t let Iana’s speediness get her down. Slow and steady, that’s her way.
Tai is in 7th grade and she already knows exactly where she’s going to college and what she’s going to do to get a scholarship. Of the three, she was the most in touch with financial reality. She fully embraced the activity and took each section seriously, as if she were making real decisions about what would work for her, her pretend-spouse, and their two pretend-kids. She’s a saver, and she’s selfless about what she does spend: when she did the section on buying clothes for her family and realized that she’d be spending more on clothes for herself than anyone else, she changed her selection.
Sometimes it was frustrating for them. It was hard to understand why you have to subtract so much at the very start for taxes. When things didn’t balance out and they realized they’d have to make cuts, it was hard for them to cut out some entertainment, or get a car that wasn’t as nice, or make adjustments to the groceries or insurance so they could afford it. They had spent a lot of time thinking about each decision, and going back to change things was difficult. You could see the clarity coming to them as they realized that this is what life in the real world is like, and yet you have to make it work anyway. That was the point of the event - we were giving them tools to make it work, regardless of their situation.
This was quite a fulfilling day for me. I think I’ll probably go back again for more.
(Here's my one sneaky shot of some of the girls who attended.)
Happy birthday, Mom! I love you!
I spent a lot of time searching for what exactly I wanted to do – LA has plenty of opportunities, but I wanted it to be meaningful. This is what I finally found:
JA Finance Park
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 |
 |
 |
Iana, a senior, was very competitive about the event. She flew through everything and was the first one done out of the entire group with each task. I think I had to help her twice. She says she wants to go to Stanford, and you know what? I think she’ll get in with a scholarship.
Since Iana was so self-sufficient, I spent most of my time with the other two. Esther is in 8th grade. She has a quiet determination about her. She was the only one in the group who definitely does not like math, but she held her own beautifully and didn’t let Iana’s speediness get her down. Slow and steady, that’s her way.
Tai is in 7th grade and she already knows exactly where she’s going to college and what she’s going to do to get a scholarship. Of the three, she was the most in touch with financial reality. She fully embraced the activity and took each section seriously, as if she were making real decisions about what would work for her, her pretend-spouse, and their two pretend-kids. She’s a saver, and she’s selfless about what she does spend: when she did the section on buying clothes for her family and realized that she’d be spending more on clothes for herself than anyone else, she changed her selection.
Sometimes it was frustrating for them. It was hard to understand why you have to subtract so much at the very start for taxes. When things didn’t balance out and they realized they’d have to make cuts, it was hard for them to cut out some entertainment, or get a car that wasn’t as nice, or make adjustments to the groceries or insurance so they could afford it. They had spent a lot of time thinking about each decision, and going back to change things was difficult. You could see the clarity coming to them as they realized that this is what life in the real world is like, and yet you have to make it work anyway. That was the point of the event - we were giving them tools to make it work, regardless of their situation.
This was quite a fulfilling day for me. I think I’ll probably go back again for more.
(Here's my one sneaky shot of some of the girls who attended.)
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Happy birthday, Mom! I love you!
The Delgadillos at Work
First, mom - thank you for this challenge! I (along with 5 other individuals) am blessed beyond explanation to have you as a mother. Really, blessed. One day I'll be like you, it is my ultimate goal.
Also, thanks to Crystal for reminding us all of the approaching date!
And thanks to Jason for finding something for us to do.
Jason googled (also, thanks Abby for mentioning google :) service projects in Boise and found several things the city always needs help with. He found that the Boise Water Shed (that's the name) needs people to periodically go around and check on these plaques they have by all sewer drains on streets.
The kids did really well, and we got to replace 3 plaques, or as the kids called them, stickers and clues, as in "I found a clue!"(2 were missing and one was broken in half. We probably checked 40-50.)
We meant to do this Wednesday night so I could post it on Friday as well, but it rained all day Wednesday and Thursday, so here it is now. We walked a couple of miles and picked up trash along the way. Part of the job was cleaning up any trash around the drains.
Lots of pictures......
BEST part of the whole thing, while taking a little break the kids had Ila laughing harder than she has ever laughed before, for a LONG time!! Pure joy.
We met an older couple and talked to them for awhile, and after we explained what we were doing the man said to his wife, "Isn't that a great idea? We should do that!" Look at your influence, mom! I'm so proud to be your daughter.
This is something we are going to do at least quarterly, if not more often. Not this exact thing, but service projects of some kind with our kids.
And last, on a spur of the minute idea, we have decided to give our garage sale earnings to the General Temple Patron Assistance Fund. When I heard President Monson mention it in conference I texted mom, wondering if this was brand new, and told her it made me cry when he was talking about it. Mom told me it made her cry too, and Grandma called her soon after asking where on her tithing slip to put their donations. I know how much Mom loves the temple, and I so desperately want to be able to help those unable to go to the temple, so it seemed perfect. We are going to have a garage sale every summer, where what we earn will go toward this fund. I love the church. And I love you, mom. Thanks or helping us become better people by urging us to serve.
Also, thanks to Crystal for reminding us all of the approaching date!
And thanks to Jason for finding something for us to do.
Jason googled (also, thanks Abby for mentioning google :) service projects in Boise and found several things the city always needs help with. He found that the Boise Water Shed (that's the name) needs people to periodically go around and check on these plaques they have by all sewer drains on streets.
The kids did really well, and we got to replace 3 plaques, or as the kids called them, stickers and clues, as in "I found a clue!"(2 were missing and one was broken in half. We probably checked 40-50.)
We meant to do this Wednesday night so I could post it on Friday as well, but it rained all day Wednesday and Thursday, so here it is now. We walked a couple of miles and picked up trash along the way. Part of the job was cleaning up any trash around the drains.
Lots of pictures......
BEST part of the whole thing, while taking a little break the kids had Ila laughing harder than she has ever laughed before, for a LONG time!! Pure joy.
We met an older couple and talked to them for awhile, and after we explained what we were doing the man said to his wife, "Isn't that a great idea? We should do that!" Look at your influence, mom! I'm so proud to be your daughter.
This is something we are going to do at least quarterly, if not more often. Not this exact thing, but service projects of some kind with our kids.
And last, on a spur of the minute idea, we have decided to give our garage sale earnings to the General Temple Patron Assistance Fund. When I heard President Monson mention it in conference I texted mom, wondering if this was brand new, and told her it made me cry when he was talking about it. Mom told me it made her cry too, and Grandma called her soon after asking where on her tithing slip to put their donations. I know how much Mom loves the temple, and I so desperately want to be able to help those unable to go to the temple, so it seemed perfect. We are going to have a garage sale every summer, where what we earn will go toward this fund. I love the church. And I love you, mom. Thanks or helping us become better people by urging us to serve.
Friday, October 7, 2011
58 years - Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant
This beautiful mature woman...
has become a loving, faithful companion,
a loving, profoundly effective mother,
a devoted, doting grandmother,
and a glowing example to us all.
Happy Birthday Debby/Mom!
We love you very much.
We owe you everything, and we are so glad
we have the balance of eternity with you to repay.
Happy Birthday!
Dear Debby~
The request you sent on Sept 1 to do something for someone else on your birthday, today, was just beautiful. What a beautiful heart you have. What a willing soul, you are. I guess it was my good luck that our family had just decided to adopt Bria (I blogged about her here), my sweet friend from Charlottesville, as she studies at BYU.
Bria is 25 and has a heart for service herself. She is one of the few people who always remembers my birthday, every year and calls me. She helped pay for our Thanksgiving last year, and gave us our Christmas dinner as well. She also took Valerie and I to get a manicure and pedicure for Christmas. My first pedicure, ever, and second manicure. Then, she took us out to eat. In April, she gave us a new flat-screen TV and in August, she gave me all her amazing MAC makeup and brushes collection + a giftcard to Ulta and some amazing loofa/goat’s milk soap. She spent her last pay check on me. How… humbling doesn’t even touch it.
Bria is living in the heart of Mormon culture, with several roommates who get phone calls from home, letters from home and care packages often. She never once has complained, I am sure she felt lonely though. She is a biology major, taking hard math, chem, and bio courses. This is such a hard, rigorous major.
Anyway, we chose to show Bria she was loved and missed and adored by sending her things in the mail . Bria got her first box (sent Parcel Post), after 2 weeks, she got it last Thursday. Bria is vegetarian and vegan, and has had a really tough time finding anything to eat in Provo. Sooooo, I went to the Friendly City Food Co-Op and found lots of packaged organic fruits. Veggies and snacks for her, along with some things she left because she ran out of boxes to ship to Utah.
Thursday, Bria got home and called me and said “So THIS is what it feels like to be loved?” It was such a sweet feeling.
During conference, we also had 3 service projects we worked on through out the weekend. During the 2nd session on Saturday, I made dinner for our missionaries, and a lady from our ward who has very little family support here. She is on a pretty rough diet- so I made a chicken pot pie with homemade noodles (WOW!), fresh bread, and pumpkin cake. Nancy and her family were happy and the missionaries were too.
THEN, we put together an October package for Bria- lots of Halloween candy (even if it is not vegan, she will make friends with that candy!), magic wands, glow sticks, cozy socks, a kitty cat purse, pictures of all of us, and letters from each of us except Asher.
I mailed that Monday and it was delivered today. I am sure Bria will call tonight or tomorrow. A surprise for her, was that Eco-Emi also opened Monday, so I finally go to subscribe to that for Bria with a gift subscription, I know she will love it, I look up the E-E box contents and drool every month!
Anyway, this was a REALLY WONDERFUL group effort for us- we have been working on and thinking about projects since you asked us to a month ago. We will me making a Bri-Box every month. It really is a wonderful family activity. Thank you for the nudge forward. It really is a great gift to be do things for other people.
As for another birthday- what a blessing your birth has been to us all. We love you and hope your birthday is filled with love, appreciation, kindness and goodness. We are all so grateful for you and sooooo wish we could make you dinner and dessert for your birthday dinner! Thank you for the patience, love, kindness and goodness you have brought to the world since day one. We LOVE you.
UPDATE! Bria posted about box #2. I love that she always says thank you!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Conference Weekend = Hoot Owl
Just to keep up the tradition and provide a little nostalgia for those of you who grew up in Pocatello as members of the Croshaw family , Mom, Grandma, and I took the semiannual ride up to Hoot Owl after conference. Here are the results:
Colors are changing in spite of our late summer
In search of the perfect backdrop - some random rock wall on the side of the road. Mount
the camera on the pickup fender, push the timer button, and run. We're set to pop honey!
Remember the avalanche hill across from the old cabin? It's now a very colorful gravel pit,
beautified even more by the posing human.
And the old cabin has been replaced with a steel sided horse stable
and a large home higher up the hill. Sad. Not such a great backdrop now,
but at least we have preserved history with our old photos.
Another perfect backdrop - a random horse pasture - beautiful horses and beautiful humans.
Conference was very thought-provoking and profound this year...
as was Hoot Owl. Wish you all could have been there.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Nedra Kirkland
Remember Bob and Nedra Kirkland, our next-door neighbors on Rainier Dr.? Bob passed away about 8 years ago, and Nedra hung in until earlier this week. They were very good people, and we loved both of them. They were part of our lives for a long time, particularly Nedra, as she had diabetic foot issues that I dealt with for many years. But through all that, she was never a complainer -she was a smiler. She chose to be a happy person in spite of a difficult life. Click here to read more.
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