Mormon Funnies

Our ward was recently split and I was released from the primary presidency and put in as the primary chorister every other week.  My 8 yob Came home from church one Sunday when I did not lead the music and asked me if I had lost my job-- mom did you get fired from your job?

In sharing time yesterday, the stake presidency gave a message, the sister asked the kids what this pretty flower she brought made them think of-- puke said one small boy.

I had the pianist play Count Your Blessings and I asked if anyone knew the name of the song-- I do, I do. Count Your Many Slebbings--  it made much more sense when he learned the that Slebbings are actually blessings!

Mother Teresa quote

This quote was on Wikipedia from Mother Teresa.  I think she is right on.  Being pushed out, unwanted and unloved is worse than being hungry.  

Mother Teresa stated that earthly rewards were important only if they helped her help the world's needy. When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered "Go home and love your family." In her Nobel Lecture, she said: "Around the world, not only in the poor countries, but I found the poverty of the West so much more difficult to remove. When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person that is shut out, that feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person that has been thrown out from society—that poverty is so hurtable [sic] and so much, and I find that very difficult." She also singled out abortion as 'the greatest destroyer of peace in the world'.

Recipe for Natural or Pioneer yeast Bread

Well, I have been baking a ton of bread- like I said last post-  I think I finally have it figured out.

The natural yeast start that I got from my neighbor is really really good.  Mail me a self-addressed stamped envelope and I'll send you some-- I still haven't gotten my Christmas cards out- although I did give some to my family that live nearby-- so that is an improvement from the last three years so maybe next year-- anyway it's the finding an envelope, finding and writing the address and finding a stamp that are my problem, but if that's all done I think I can handle having one of my kids put the envelope in our mailbox with the flag up-- thus...

I have been baking bread just about everyday since my older kids started going to school so they could have something fairly easy to eat and transport and healthy for lunch.  So I have been feeding my start about everyday-- it has liked that and raises more quickly than it did when I first started.  I have found it can be used in any recipe calling for yeast-- just substitute about 1 cup of natural yeast for every Tablespoon of dry yeast.  The rising times will be much longer-- but that is more time for the yeast to break down the gluten.

So here is my current favorite recipe and process:

First I warm up some filtered water in the tea kettle, then I grind some wheat and get out the bread mixer.  I pour in 5 cups of warm water, 1 Tablespoon of Real salt, about 1/4-1/2 cup of extra virgin coconut oil, and about 1/2-1 cup of raw honey-- the warm water starts melting the honey and oil.  then I add about 5-6 cups of whole wheat flour- usually an equal ratio of hard white wheat and soft white wheat and 2 - 2 1/2 cups of unbleached white flour and finally about 2-3 cups of natural yeast starter.  I turn on the mixer and let it all combine, then I let it sit for a little bit- 15 min. is ideal.  I grind more wheat or wash dishes or change a diaper for a minute or whatever-- but I think this step could be skip and sometimes I just skip it.  Then finally I add cups of whole wheat flour as the mixer is mixing until the dough no longer clings to the bowl, right as it just begins to cling to itself-- this is usually another 4-7 cups depending on how much water I actually use since I am not an exact measurer.  I then push the timer button on my mixer and I think it kneads for 6-7 minutes.

I then cover the bowl with saran wrap since my lid is broken and let it rise til at least double or it is ready to flow out of the bowl and onto the counter.  Today it only took about 3 hours-- I let it go another hour.  Then it is ready to be shaped into loaves. I punch the dough down to let it rest while I grease my loaf pans.  Then I shape them simply by pulling them into a nice round dough ball and dumping them pretty side up in the loaf pan. They should rise 1 1/2- 2 hours-- a little longer won't hurt, but too long they will start to sink.

You can then bake them at 350 for about 30- 45 minutes or until they reach 180 degrees on the inside.  Yummy!!

Kids and Bread

I just have to say that I have The Cutest Kids.  They are all so different and so interesting.  We call our baby - so cute-- because whenever anybody looks at him he smiles and he sucks his thumb.  He is my first thumb sucker.  I wasn't too happy about it at first, but it is cute and he will stop eventually.  #6 says things the cutest way- typing it won't do it justice-- I will keep trying to get it on video.  They all have their cute things.  It's a lot of fun.  The younger ones all did yoga with me today-- so cute!!  Now if we can just get completely over our illnesses and not catch a new one!!

Anyway, I also wanted to record here that I have finally mastered healthy bread making.  My loaves are super good tasting, made with natural yeast, not sour, and whole wheat with a long rise to break down the gluten.  There is just 2 cups of white flour for every 8-10 cups of whole wheat.  I have even made some very tasty burger buns. I am very proud of myself.  Heaven knows I baked a LOT of bricks!!  email me at jaraagape@gmail.com if you want a start-- I mailed some to my bro in VA and it turned out fine. 

Tot ziens-- (til next time in Dutch)

What a Day

What a Day, what a week what a cold cold month!  My cute twin boys turned 3 today!  I can hardly believe it!  They have changed our lives forever, these past 4 years (including the twin pregnancy) have been about the hardest ever.  So the twins got sick right before Christmas, achy, fever, cough,  they we finally getting over it especially the one who was the sickest with a cough/ puke thing.  I was  so glad it looked like we were finally coming out of the sick stage and back into normalcy with the prospect of a party today, but alas #6 started throwing up last night and the washing machine died!!  Then later in the day, #7 also started puking.

Later in the day my husband wanted to get an elliptical machine at Costco. I had to go with him cause we've had trouble with the truck not starting so he wanted to leave it running so I had to go to stay with it, anyway, we took the 3 littlest ones cause  I thought they'd go to sleep on the way-- no such luck-- # 7 puked, so I cleaned that up and gathered a grocery bag full trash in the van and a grocery bag full of puke clothes, and I cleaned out my purse.  Then, I was going to feed the baby and fund that he had had a MAJOR blowout, so I had to change him, but the wipes were frozen because we've been parking in the driveway so the kids can run around in the garage -- anyway-- that was fun and Costco was sold out!!  We had gone a couple weeks ago, but Costco had closed early "due to unforeseen circumstances"-- anyway my husband is pretty sure he has uncanny bad luck.  I think maybe his expectations are too high-- you know expecting that someone will be open during business hours and wanting to sell things they have listed for sale.

So we went over to Lowes for a washing machine.  I found some baked cheese puffs which made the twins happy and the baby w happy, the van was nice and toasty.  Our new washer will hopefully be delivered this week.  When we got home, my husband washed to pukey clothes in the sink, and we found that the 5 yr.old had been so enthralled with his wii game that he hadn't quite made it to the toilet.  Wow!  Oh then #7 had some diarrhea.

We postponed the b-day party to a day they will be able to enjoy it.  Now we are watching Diego, Dora and Thomas the Train.  I will miss my sweet babies when they grow, but I will enjoy not cleaning up gross bodily fluids and I will enjoy getting enough sleep!

Happy Birthday Boys!  I love you!

More on pants from other writers

This is what my husband posted on FB and I totally agree here:

I for one am not clamoring for women to get the priesthood. I think there is an epidemic in the church of meanness, and it comes out in different ways. It comes out in how a lot of women are treated in the church because they are women. Obviously there is an imbalance of power in the church, but that's not necessarily a problem, but it gets abused like everything else.

I think some people think that if women had the priesthood the imbalance would be less, and the meanness would be reduced. But the real problem is that people are mean. 

So the real conversation is really: is there really a problem in the church with how people are treated? I've seen some arguments that boil down to: if it hasn't happened to me then it's not a problem, or you are blowing it out of proportion. Similarly: if you do have a problem, you are the problem and you need to repent. Or: I don't think it's a problem so you shouldn't think it's a problem.

Women wanting to wear pants one sunday to show they thought there was a problem I think revealed there is a problem, considering how people reacted to all this. It really struck a nerve. Maybe some self-check is in order before we argue about women getting the priesthood. But maybe we ought to be empathetic and help them feel more included and loved.

And this was posted by a blogger in England-- I wish I could join them and wear nice
 slacks to church tom orrow, but being in the heart of Utah and mormondom, I don't think 
it's wise to do so yet-- People would probably see it as me attacking them not as me 
showing support for those feeling minimized as women. 

http://bycommonconsent.com/2012/12/14/less-than-1200-words-on-pants/ http://bycommonconsent.com/2012/12/14/less-than-1200-words-on-pants/

Women wearing pants to church

I never understood Mormon feminists.  The term seemed like an oxymoron to me.  I grew up as a Mormon and I just never questioned the order of things.  It just seemed to me that the way things are run at church was just the way things are and should be.  I loved the scriptures, I had a personal relationship with my Savior and I felt good when I went to church and enjoyed good comraderie there.  Fast forward a few years to the past couple years especially as I have recorded somewhat on this blog the terrible experience of being shunned at church, and then finally understanding the nuances of Utah culture and realizing that I am very much on the outside of the dominant culture here even though I strive to live the gospel to best of my ability and I have a testimony of it.

Not feeling a part of your own religion, not feeling loved and acceptance at church is awful. People being mean, putting you down and ignoring you and your children is awful, and it is especially awful when they are the very people who should be supporting, loving and helping you.  It is not just the absence of comraderie, but the feeling of having to defend yourself and your position constantly.  So although, I have not had the same feminist concerns in the church that many feminists have had, I can relate to their feeling of being a "second class citizen" in the church, and not feeling a sense of belonging there.  This is really hurtful because you know that that is not what Jesus would do, you want to have friends in the gospel and do the right things, but there is no way to voice concerns without putting yourself at jeopardy of losing good standing in the church which would lead to being even more on the outside and shunned or ignored even more.  It all depends on the leaders of your ward.  If you have good leaders who sincerely care about you and the other members of the ward, then you'll be alright, but if you have a bad leader-- and that doesn't mean they are all bad people- although there definitely are those-- just check the news-- then you are stuck.  The only way out is to move away and hope to find a place with decent people in leadership positions.  If you are not in a leadership position-- forget about having any influence as to the way things go at all.  Even if the leaders make dumb decisions about things-- there is absolutely nothing you can do until they are released.  And then you just have to wait and hope that the next leader will be better and will maybe care about you and the other members of the ward, and at least try to address any concerns you may have.

I really wish we could just pick which ward to go to.  A healthy dose of competition and free market enterprise would be so good in this regard I think.  Then maybe people would be nicer.  I think people in the church are mean because they know there is nothing you can do about it.  If you stop coming then you miss out on the sacrament and the good things at church and you are labeled an apostate, not valiant in the cause of truth. If you stay, you have to support them and not be offended.  Anyway.  the sense of a loss of power is huge-- and I think that is what the feminists are trying to change-- their focus is on giving women in general more of a say.  However, even if women had more of a presence we would still be at the mercy of the individual leaders.  If they are rotten-- bad news.  Lay members would still have little say about any of the goings on at church. 

The feminists thought that wearing pants to church one Sunday would be a way that they could show their wards that not everyone thinks about things the same way and that maybe people would start being a little more respectful of that and eventually be more willing and able to accept differences.  What they didn't expect was the huge backlash and all the mean comments.  The comments got so bad on the Facebook events page that Facebook themselves pulled the page!!  I am embarrassed to be associated with such mean people-- it even got to the level of saying that the feminists should be shot in the face.  Unbelievable!!  I hope they bring the page back so we can all see the true colors of these commenters.  These are not the actions and words of loving Christ like people.  I am very disappointed.

My hope is that we Mormons-- leaders included-- will do some introspection and be more loving and tolerant of those who are different.  There is nothing in the scriptures about what to wear to church.  There is nothing in there that says we should go for 3 hours every Sunday and have all these programs.  Maybe we need to go back to the bare bones basics of love, kindness and respect for each other for we are all children of God.  I know that this is in God's hands.  I hope that lots of good will come of this.