Freshmen Day

    We invited our incoming Freshmen to seminary this week. This gives them a way to acclimatize to the culture of early morning scripture study. We taught them how to FEAST (Find, Explain, Apply, Share, and Testify) in the Standard Works.

                                                      These are the incoming brethren.

   After a day reading the visions of Zechariah we reviewed what we learned the next day using one of our favorite games called Scripture Man.

                        The winner was Michael who was thrilled to win another chocolate croissant.

   Next year should be much more animated and energetic. I love taking before and after pictures so here is what they look like when they first arrive.

And here they are all perky and filled with the light of the gospel.

Lose It! App

My very favorite tool to losing weight is an app for my phone called Lose It! It records my goals and monitors my progress,

It lets me log my exercise and gives me the info on how many calories I have burned. 

   With this app I record the food I eat and the snacks I have during the day. It adds up my calories and let's me know how many I have left in my day.

It gives me a visual to see how many calories I have worked off and how many I have taken in.

    In the week view I can see how many days I have stayed within my budget and when I have exceeded my budgeted calories.

This app is for the I-Phone or the android and I recommend it highly.; best news of all, it is free. 

Scarcity or Abundance

   When changing eating behaviors I find I must make a decision to see my choices stemming from a place of scarcity to abundance. It is all in my head and my head must see the abundance around me and learn to see all the choices of food which I can eat without reservation. Gone are the days of hanging out in bakeries, now I find eye-candy in places like this.

   Our Farmer's Market is brimming with huge radishes, bok-choi, chard, turnips and so many varieties of salad greens. Trying to decide which farmer to buy my produce from gives me some anxiety. Too much stimulation makes me hurry to make a decision. I find I need to prepare to go to the market. Get some cash, look at everyone's stuff first, decide what I want on my table this week, choose one new thing, and enjoy the abundance of food and people.

   Next time I am going to get brave and take some pictures of the produce, up close. I feel shy about snapping pictures right in front of someone's face but I don't think the turnips will mind. I suppose they could turn-up their noses at me.

Book of Mormon Sunday II- 3 Nephi 1-5

    Ninety two years after King Benjamin the sign of the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth as a infant finally appeared. Those who had been faithful rejoiced and those who scoffed and even desired to kill the believers, felt afraid. All the people in the New World had time to discuss and marvel at the signs given them and for a while their collective experience brought them peace.

    3 Nephi 1:26 "And thus the ninety and second year did pass away, bringing glad tidings unto the people because of the signs which did come to pass, according to the words of the prophecy of all the holy prophets."

   But as time passes, memories fade and the rising generation, not having had the spiritual experience, is tested as to whether they will believe in their parents words.

    3 Nephi 1:30 "And thus were the Lamanites afflicted also, and began to decrease as to their faith and righteousness, because of the wickedness of the rising generation."

    The Gadianton's had a strong hold on the economy and many were led astray by their provocative claims to power and influence.

    3 Nephi 2:2 "Imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing."

   The only way the Nephites could come out from the bondage placed on them by the Gadianton's was to unite and form a central body of saints. They had to repent and with faithful hearts call upon God the deliver them. 

    3 Nephi 3:25 "And they did fortify themselves against their enemies; and they did dwell in one land, and in one body, and they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch that they did repent of all their sins; and they did put up their prayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle."

   The words "in the strength of the Lord" are pivotal in the success of these people. The Gadianton's had much mortal strength and could only be defeated by the power of God.

   3 Nephi 4:10 "But in this thing they were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them."

   Surely these tested saints would be some that would bath the Lord Jesus Christ with their tears when he appeared to them in a few short years.

   3 Nephi 4:33 "And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction."

   Mormon, who is editing this story, writes his own testimony in Chapter Five. The records he has been guarding must be like a panoramic view right back to Lehi. His gratitude for Lehi and his sons spills over into the pages of history, the history of his own people.

  3 Nephi 5:20 "I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi. I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ, that he brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, (and no one knew it save it were himself and those whom he brought out of that land) and that he hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the salvation of our souls."

  And we are not left out of this panoramic view, since Mormon sees into the future, as well. As the Old Testament prophets, Mormon, sees in vision the great gathering starting with the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This view must be a beacon as he struggles in a war-torn world where destruction is coming in the short term.

  3 Nephi 5:26 "And then shall they know their Redeemer, who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and then shall they be gathered in from the four quarters of the earth unto their own lands, from whence they have been dispersed; yea, as the Lord liveth so shall it be. Amen."

Back to Walking

    In the last two years my love of walking has been diminished due to my painful knees. It just stopped being worth the throbbing after every walk. Today was my first pain free walk. I was out for 30 minutes, nothing too stressful but here I am without the consequential pain. Lifting the weight off my knees has reduced the inflammation enough to ease the pain. I am so surprised and overjoyed to have back one of my favorite ways to be active.

                                                   A gorgeous flood of color on my walk.

                  A rhapsody of roddies with the water behind it brought just peace to my happy heart.

Learning to Count

  My two year-old granddaughters are learning to count and I am counting along with them. They count stairs, toys, and I count calories. Calories, what a horrible word, laden with frustration and guilt. Really it is a measure of energy which makes our bodies either purr like a cat or sputter like an engine, out of tune. As we are taught, first by our mothers, then by the medical media, fruits and vegetables are the best calories because they are packed with nutrition and are few.

   I can eat these gems anytime and they are my good friends; jicama strips and celery sticks. Dip them into a little hummus and the flavor expands.

     A breakfast meal I love uses greens in the morning. I once thought all greens tasted the same but, alas, they are quite different. Collard greens taste the best to me. I put a little olive oil in a pan and add ribbons of collards. A sush of beef broth kicks up the flavor.

   Along side the greens I fry two eggs and that breakfast carries me through the morning. Eggs, every morning is not my thing but certainly, several times a week.

  So let's count them;
     2 fried Eggs=180
     11/2 cups of greens=16
     10 celery sticks=6
     10 jicama sticks=23
A lot of food and energy and so little to count. Compare that to a bowl of cheerios 188 and milk 118, which leaves me light-headed and starving by noon.

Ten Pounds of Flour and Five Pounds of Sugar

   I reached another milestone today. It was so strange in Yoga class as I sat in a different body from six weeks ago.

   This is really big for me because I am entering a body weight I have not seen since 1998. Here are some things that are amazingly wonderful and those that are scary.

Amazingly Wonderful:
  1. I have a new wardrobe of clothes from the back of the closet.
  2. My knees are getting smaller as the inflammation goes down.
  3. I weigh less than my husband
  4. My green jacket, which I love, zips shut and moves across my hips.
  5. I can go to a Pilates class and jump on my mini-tramp for 30 minutes in one day and not be dead.
  6. I sleep much better.

A Little Scary:
  1. I feel cold more often
  2. I miss salty snacks.
  3. My pants are getting too big and I need to save for a clothes budget.
  4. People look at me and I feel a little self conscious.

  My truly best friends are my calorie counting app on my phone and my mini tramp. I am ordering a new one with more spring. Soon I will jumping so high that I will hit my ceiling. I should put that on my "A Little Scary" list.

   The cheaper one, of course.