Playing the Organ

There is not one person who plays the organ in our ward and only a handful of us play the piano. So they called one of the pianists to play the organ and she called me to fill in so she could go out of town. After asking if I really was the last resort and if I could play the organ without the foot pedals, I agreed to do it. Wow! You haven't played a hymn til you've played it loudly on the organ in a church building. It was really cool. I learned which settings to put the organ on so I could play without the pedals. They actually picked some pretty hard hymns, so I really had to practice. I was so nervous last night, and this morning. But once I got there and was able to play the prelude, I was fine although I was extremely nervous. But I did it! And it was actually pretty fun, and I didn't make too many mistakes! I want to do it again! I would love to learn how to really play the organ. I found a free online course by BYU. I may try it. We'll see, the biggest hurdle is that I don't have an organ or a key to the church or permission to practice there. I'll have to see what I can do about that!

General Conference 2013

This weekend was General Conference for our church.  For the first time since these biannual conferences began, we had 2 women give prayers.  I think it's great.  I had never really thought about it,  but when it was brought to my attention, I did think it was a bit odd that no woman had ever prayed before in conference, now I'm thinking maybe it's a bit odd that there were only 2 women speakers out of about 25 speakers altogether, and that is just how it has always been.  I would like to hear from some of the wives of our leaders, and I think it might be nice to have a little more representation in church decisions.  One step at a time.  One thing that does give me comfort is that the church always seems to go the right direction, even if there are bumps and adjustments along the way.  There were some great talks that were inspiring and other talks that were not so inspiring, and one that I just had to take a break from, but overall I think it was a pretty good conference as far as conferences go.  I will definitely be reviewing the talks over the next couple weeks.

My kids make me smile

I really do have great kids-- these are some of the things they've done to make me smile today!

#6 went #1 and #2 in the potty twice today!! yay!!  He's really close to being completely trained- only one accident.  He answers questions other people ask each other-- it is so cute.  He often puts his index finger up when he answers-- like "it's uptairs, mommy"  He doesn't pronounce his "sss".  He can be a little stinker though, today he tried to take an orange away from his twin brother because he just didn't want him to have one. 

The twins are so cute when they play together and talk to each other,  but they won't repeat anything so I can get it on film, I'm going to have to try to be more sly.  They will call for each other when there is something interesting going to happen and they have started to refer to themselves as we-- we need shoes, mom or we need pants, mom.  Soooooooo cute!

#7 is a character.  He is so full of happiness, innocence and joy.  Before we potty trained him, if we smelled a poopy diaper we would ask who has a dirty diaper and he would respond without hardly moving his mouth-- "itwasme"-- no space between words either and lots of jumping.  He also moves his eyebrows and wants me to see him do funny things.

The three older boys have been having a ball in their room, we finally got it all clean and they have all the matresses on the floor-- it's their homemade trampoline!

The baby is as smiley as can be and he is sweet and precious too.  I can't help but smile when I look at him.

The girls have tried to get out of all kinds of chores-- they are funny-- no more getting away with it though, they'll be helping with dinner every night this week!!

Spring is finally here.  The weather has been awesome, it has been so nice to be outside.  It feels so good!

Church Drama- Young Women's

I think I need to be better at acknowledging the good things that happen at church.  This past year when we commuted from Layton to take our family to church in our new ward, there was no drama.  People were exactly how you would want your faith community to be- loving, accepting and tolerant.  We loved the ward, the leadership was generally nice and the Young Women leaders were normal and were interested in getting to know me as a person.  I liked them, and I really appreciated that.  The bishopric was really on top of it too.  They were really good at overseeing the whole ward, they knew who was in which callings and they seemed to be in tune with at least the things I noticed.  It was a much needed respite.  The only bad thing was that the ward was so big, it became unsafe for us to continue meeting in our tiny building. 

So unfortunately that respite has come to an end, our ward was split, the line went right through our backyard separating us from most of our favorite people, and now the all too familiar drama of church has returned to our lives.  Actually, the primary and scouts seem to be mostly normal-- though they do have their quirks, but Young Women's is bizarre.  So really instead of being disappointed in the dissatisfactory church experience, I am now pleasantly surprised when things go well.  Bizarre happenings, people ignoring each other, no common courtesy and manners being used-- that is really the new norm for me at church, and I should be blogging about when things go well and good at church, because that is the anomoly it seems these days.  I could have written tons of blog posts on weird things that happened at church in our Layton ward, and this new ward is following right along that same path.  The difference is that I expect it and thus I won't be taken by surprise and run over while trying to get over the shock.

I'm not going to go into details, because I don't want to hurt people's feelings, but the bottom line for me at church is that if the leaders are not following the scriptures, the Savior and the gospel, then I am not obligated to follow them.  2 Nephi 26:20-33 really spoke to me:

 20 And the Gentiles are lifted up in the ^apride of their eyes, and have ^bstumbled, because of the greatness of their ^cstumbling block, that they have built up many ^dchurches; nevertheless, they ^eput down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own ^flearning, that they may get gain and ^ggrind upon the face of the poor.

 21 And there are many churches built up which cause ^aenvyings, and ^bstrifes, and ^cmalice.

 22 And there are also secret ^acombinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the ^bdevil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and ^cworks of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.

 23 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in ^adarkness.

 24 He doeth not ^aanything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he ^bloveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw ^call men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.

 25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: ^aCome unto me all ye ^bends of the earth, ^cbuy milk and honey, without money and without price.

 26 Behold, hath he commanded any that they should ^adepart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.

 27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his ^asalvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath ^bgiven it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to ^crepentance.

 28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but ^aall men are privileged the one ^blike unto the other, and none are forbidden.

 29 He commandeth that there shall be no ^apriestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set ^bthemselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get ^cgain and ^dpraise of the world; but they seek not the ^ewelfare of Zion.

 30 Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have ^acharity, which ^bcharity is ^clove. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.

 31 But the ^alaborer in ^bZion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for ^cmoney they shall perish.

 32 And again, the Lord God hath ^acommanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not ^bsteal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in ^cvain; that they should not ^denvy; that they should not have ^emalice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit ^fwhoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish.

 33 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he ^ainviteth them ^ball to ^ccome unto him and partake of his goodness; and he ^ddenieth none that come unto him, black and white, ^ebond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the ^fheathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.

 Christ turns no one away ever.  If there is envyings, strifes, malice-- people trying to make you feel bad about yourself-- it is not of God.  He doeth that which is good among the children of men.  Oh and he doesn't love Mormons any more than any one else on the earth, even the heathen.  We aren't better than anyone else, we are all children of God.  I am tired of hearing how much more righteous we are, how more blessed we are, etc.  It's a bunch of bull.

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!!