Today is "Constitution Day"

On September 17, 1787, thirty-nine of the some of the bravest men the world has seen signed the U.S. Constitution and forever changed the course of history. I will be eternally grateful for their courage, foresight and their spiritual wisdom.

After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Alexander Hamilton said, "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests."

There is no doubt the Lord had a hand in the establishment of the Constitution in order to create a country and a government that would be the rich soil for the restoration of His gospel.

These great men, and their wives and their children, paid a tremendous price to give us the liberties that we have enjoyed for so many years. It behooves us each to study the Constitution and live accordingly. May we be worthy of our blessings.

God Bless America!!!

Why Do I Do What I Do When I Know What I Know??

Yesterday our class went on a marvelous field trip to the Halle Heart Center Children's Museum in Tempe, AZ. It was truly excellent. For two hours we went from station to station and learned all kinds of things (most I already knew, of course... but I learned a few new things myself). The students learned all kinds of new things. For instance, did you know that a Blue Whale's heart is the size of a VW Bug and that it weighs up to 2,000 pounds?!?

Then there was the visit to the "supermarket" where shopping carts held pretend food boxes, etc. and the kids had to read the labels to choose a good meal... and then the "fast food" stop where we sat at tables (WITHOUT anything to eat) and the guide showed us these disgusting little vials of fat for each of the fast food items. Yummy... ick!

And so went the day. I couldn't help but think I need to do better. Calling myself "fluffy" may get a chuckle or two, but it doesn't add to my lifespan or my energy.

Even so, I was thinking the whole time how good a Hershey's bar would taste about then... go figure.

Shannon's little one has arrived!!

It seems like it's been forever since I posted anything on my blog ~ school has kept me so busy, but little babies wait for no one... This is Sophia Emily Shifflet, (our oldest daughter's 5th child) born just three days (+ a few hours) ago. She is our 15th grandchild and she is PERFECT!!! The doctor's worried she would come early or that there might be complications, etc. But she made it to 38 1/2 weeks (at a healthy 8 lbs. 10 oz; 20 in. long) and she is beautiful and alert.

This picture was taken when she was less than 48 hours old.There is something about newborns that is utterly fascinating. They seem to peer right into your heart. And then they look right past you as if they SEE someone beyond you and my guess is that they do!! I'm sure it is because they are so fresh from their Heavenly Father. If they could speak to us in words, can you even imagine what they might have to say?

One of my favorite songs is a sweet little ballad by Barbra Streisand called, "Jenny Rebecca." I don't know if anyone else is familiar with it (she sang it over 40 years ago) but the lyrics are so tender. I can just picture a pretty little girl doing all the things the song speaks of... just for fun, I thought I would share it with you here. I'm sorry that I don't know who wrote it (I looked online but couldn't find it ~ feel free to enlighten me):

Jenny Rebecca, four days old
How do you like the world so far?
Jenny Rebecca, four days old
What a lucky, lucky, lucky
Lucky girl you are
For you have swings to be swung on
Trees to be climbed up
Days to be young on
Toys you can wind up
Grass to be lying on
Sun up above
Pillows for crying on
When you're in love
Ponies for riding
Wind in your hair
Slides to be sliding on
Leaves in the air
Dogs to be caring for
Love to be giving
Dreams to be daring for
Long as you're living
Yes, you have
Dreams to be daring for
Long as you're living
Jenny Rebecca, four days old
What a lucky, lucky, lucky
Lucky girl you are...

My precious little Sophia Emily, how do you like the world so far?

Let's Help Alex Boye' buy a house for a family in need!!!

Here's a chance to really help someone in need for just pocket change. Spread the word!!!

You'll need to go to my friend's blog to read all the details (or to Alex Boye's FaceBook Fan Page), but Alex Boye', a fabulous singer and a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, has a fun and easy plan to raise funds for a widowed mother and her children. You simply download his Single (Crazy For You) for 99 cents from iTunes between July 21st and September 21st. 100% of the money raised from the sale of the song will be used to buy this family, originally from the Congo, a home.

If you are on FaceBook, you can become a fan of Alex Boye' and if you scroll down you can find the video clip he made of this family and scroll down a little farther and download a FREE song, "Good for You, Baby." It's high energy!! Fun stuff.

Read all the details at Anne Bradshaw's blogpost:
http://annebradshaw.blogspot.com/2009/07/alex-boye-undertakes-huge-humanitarian.html

Put the date on your calendar. It isn't being released until July 21st so you can download it between that date until September 21st. Enjoy!!!

He's a great singer and is using his talent to help somone. Let's all help him do it before this sweet family winds up homeless.

“Home” is knowing your way around

I am away from “home” as I write this. I am at my sister’s house in Southern Utah surrounded by red rock and looking over a magnificient view of the valley. I’m very comfortable in my sister’s home. I know where everything is and how she likes things done. I came to help her out for about a week because she just had surgery. I spent 14 hours at the hospital yesterday; first in the waiting area and later in Camille’s hospital room.

Being in the hospital brought back many memories of all the days and even weeks I spent at Phoenix Children’s Hospital with BJ during the years of his illness. We never left him alone there for more than the 30 minutes it might take me to shower or go get something to eat. If I needed a longer break, someone would come and spell me. I even slept in his room in a chair that was supposed to turn into a comfortable bed (it wasn’t). I became very familiar with the hospital during those times. I knew the best floor to find a shower room available, the back stairs down to the cafeteria, where the treats were that I was free to go and get for my son, which floor had what kinds of patients and I was well known among the nurses and staff. I often had people bring me veggies that I would steam in the microwave and managed to create delicious and aromatic meals. We had a stack of movies and games and spent hours together, when BJ was up to it. Other times I would read. BJ’s engaging personality had a stream of visitors and staff members in his room most of the time. Being there for extended periods strangely evolved into a feeling of “family.” It even became our “home away from home.” I knew my way around the hospital only too well.

Other places over the years have been our “home away from home.” When our children were young we used to go camping at a family reunion for nearly a week each summer. The tents were set up, cooking and eating places created and sleeping bags were unrolled. I even went so far as to create an enclosed stall out of PVC pipes and shower curtains for our porta-potty. We had it down to a routine. We knew how it worked and nestled into our temporary “home.”

A delightful “home” was created in a small cabin on a cruise ship when Jim and I discovered the Mexican Rivera for eight days. Our belongings were unpacked, meal schedules memorized and it wasn’t long before we had a routine going. For eight glorious days we knew our way around that ship; it was ‘home.”

Visiting family, traveling, even being diplaced for unexpected emergencies, it is human nature to nest, to figure out how things work wherever we are and to settle in. This is why I titled my blog, “Home is knowing your way around.” Once we are close enough to a situation or a location to know our way around, we become more at ease and start to “feel at home.” There is much truth in the familiar sayings, “Home is where the heart is,” or “Home is where you hang your hat.” I think any place where we feel welcomed, comfortable and can learn our way around begins to feel like “home.”

This brings me to my final thought: I hope and pray that when the time comes that I really go home, to that Father who created me, that somehow I will have done enough. My motives are pure, but there is so much that I never seem to get to … I only hope that whatever I have managed to accomplish, it will be sufficient to have the Savior, in His mercy, take me in His open arms and say, “Welcome Home.” And I pray also, that I will know my way around well enough to know that I have finally come home.

The Gift of Time

Today is my only sister’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAMILLE!! It is also my grandson’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELIAS!! They are decades apart but it has made me think about how birthdays come and birthdays go. What have we done with all the days in between our own birthdays?

Sunday is the birthday of one of my dear friends (Margaret) but they are going out of town this weekend. So today, one of Margaret’s daughters has set up a schedule of birthday visits unbeknownst to her. Brittany privately emailed all of her mom’s friends who live in the area and asked them to sign up for 30 minute blocks throughout the entire day to stop by and visit Margaret to celebrate her birthday. I’m curious to find out how Brittany made plans to keep her mom home as Margaret works outside of the home. (I’m guessing she made some sort of prearrangement with her mom’s boss) and the friends start coming first thing in the morning so Margaret will be up and ready for the day but she’s never going to make it to work. :)



Margaret and I are both busy moms and grandmas. We seldom find time to just visit anymore. Usually, a quick exchange at church and an occasional phone call have to suffice. However, when one or the other of us is really needed, we are there. When BJ had leukemia, Margaret made sure to stop by as often as she could and when he passed away, she was there helping non-stop, giving comfort, cleaning, even taking cherished pictures the day of the funeral. When her 2-year-old grandson died unexpectedly, we went right over to her house to be with them and offer comfort. We have also been to temple weddings of each others’ children, been over to hear mission calls read and attended Eagle Courts of Honor. We are the kind of friends who know we love each other even when we never seem to be able to get together during a normal week or even month (or two or three).

Today, I am going to have 30 minutes of my friend’s undivided attention. We can catch up on each other’s lives, share memories, tell funny grandchildren stories, laugh, hug, cry… whatever. I have decided that what Brittany has given her mother is the gift of time. Could there possibly be a better gift? And one that can be shared with so many?

I recall reading a book by Linda Eyre when I was a young mom and one year her husband gave her “Wednesdays for a year” for her birthday. He was able to arrange his schedule to be home on Wednesdays and he took full charge of the children and the house all day Wednesday. She was free to write, soak in the tub, leave the house and go visiting, to the movies, to the library, to the temple, whatever her heart desired. It was a remarkable, restorative gift.

I’m thinking Heavenly Father has also given us the gift of time. When we left his presence in the pre-existence, we were given an allotted amount of time to fulfill our earthly mission. We don’t always know exactly what that mission is (as I am sure we have many “missions” and they grow and change as our life and our service does the same) and we certainly don’t know how much time He has given us, but it is a splendid gift. Sadly, I have too many regrets on how I have squandered my time on unimportant things, usually justifying it as needed “downtime.” And we do all need some downtime, but after having recently taken Stephen R. Covey’s course on “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” I’ve been reflecting on how I use my time more than usual. I see the need for some course corrections, to be sure. I also try not to be too hard on myself as that can be counterproductive. However, the simplest change here and there, over time, can achieve the grandest results. We are taught “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope!”

My hope for myself and all those reading this is that we can make even a few productive changes that will allow us to make better use of and thus have far better results with that most precious gift, the gift of time.

I Want to Dance with a Boy!!

I've been meaning to write this up for some time... I finally did and I think you will enjoy it:

Our precious and precocious granddaughter, Taylor (Kaci’s daughter), is a constant source of many funny and delightful experiences and comments. At the tender age of 3 (she turned 4 in April) she attended her first “Ball”… it was the “Colonial Ball” held at my school in February of this year. She even wore her “princess dress.”



On the way to the dance, Taylor made it very clear to us that it was her wish to “dance with a boy.” We told her she could dance with grandpa but no, she wanted to “dance with a boy.” Her mind was made up.

Taylor’s eyes lit up with excitement as we entered the school’s multipurpose room that had been transformed for the night. She was impatient about getting her dance so I found a very fine young man, about 14 years old (we are a K-12 campus) and asked him if he would dance with my granddaughter. He was so sweet. He smiled, squatted down to her level, spoke to her for a moment, took her hand and escorted her to the dance floor. Holding both of her hands, they swayed back and forth in some fashion of a two step and then he turned her around a couple of times. Before the song was over, she walked away and came over to where Jim and I were sitting, “Grandma, I need a smaller boy.”

I found one of my students, a very handsome 7-year-old named William. I introduced him to Taylor, informing him that this was my granddaughter and she wanted to dance. He said, “Ok,” and they were off to the dance floor. Taylor smiled from ear to ear as she danced with her “prince.”



She made many friends that night and had a marvelous time. When the Hokey Pokey began, she watched from the sidelines with us. It looked like too much fun to just stand there so she simply joined the others, squeezed into an available spot and began to copy the actions of the other dancers.

Taylor may be young, but she is fearless, determined, bright and she intends to get what she’s after. She knew exactly what she wanted before she ever entered the dance. When what I offered her was not what she wanted, she clearly made it known what she needed, “a smaller boy.” She’s no wall-flower and I pray her attitude never changes.

There is much we can all learn from Taylor: Know what you want and have a clear mission statement about it: “I want to dance with a boy.” Don’t quit until you get what you want, even if it means making adjustments (“a smaller boy”). Don’t stand on the sidelines of life, walk right over to where the action is … and dance!

Having Our Say at an EARLY AGE

Too adorable... enjoy!

The Power of Showing Up

My husband, Jim, and I are a couple of “show-uppers.” We show up to just about everything and anything we are invited to, are expected to be to and even lots of places where no one thought we would be there. Life happens, of course. Sometimes we are double-booked, out of town, ill or a few times, just plain forget. Nevertheless, generally speaking, we show up. So do a lot of other people. I can’t help but notice a pattern, however. It seems in any given circle, it is pretty much the same people that show up.

The same teachers show up at afterschool events or meetings, the same people show up at ward temple day, welfare assignments, service projects, Eagle projects and Courts of Honor, convert baptisms and wedding receptions, particularly those that are really too far away (but the “show-uppers” will come anyway). They show up at kids’ performances (often when they are not even related), graduation parties, baby and bridal showers and more.

We are also “stay late and help clean-uppers.” Oh yeah, I married into a large bunch of stay late and help out folks. If we are at a wedding reception of someone we don’t even know that well and we happen to get there as it is ending, I can guarantee that the Abneys are not going home until the last table has been stripped of its cloth and decorations, the last chair has been stacked and the floor swept, if not mopped.

Am I bragging? No… just making an observation. It takes a big chunk out of your life to be a “show-upper.” Yet, I know from experience, that when we have an event, a talk to give or any other number of things that may involve others and we look out to see “so-and-so” and we KNEW they would be there… because they always “show up” and we knew we could count on them, there is something so sweet that washes over us. Everyone has fun, gets the work done, cheers the drama student or band member, finishes the Eagle project, does the temple work, supports the new church member, the new grad, the new bride or the new mom or whatever the event may be. Everyone is also enriched, either for having given or received. Everyone becomes closer, bonds of family and friends are strengthened. In this there is real, tangible power… something that adds to your own framework and rounds out the empty spots, fills in the gaps, brings out the smiles and creates value, love and blessings. Yep, I have a lot of gratitude for those who “show-up” and I’m proud to be counted among them because the blessings are a two-way street. It’s impossible to bless the lives of someone else without blessing your own life. You just have to “show-up.”

I laid down on a bed of nails

I guess you really can do anything... given the right reasons and/or the right circumstances. (I'll explain this more as we go along). I'm so tired that I think I'll be asleep for the night by 7:30 tonight. Slowly, we are making our way to the end of the school year and at my school we still have 10 actual days of school left (we come back after Memorial Day). What a journey this first year of teaching full-time has been, particularly at my age (58).

I've loved all the years of substitute teaching and now I have really enjoyed this year as well. I think I was truly supposed to be the teacher for some of these kids. I hope I have been able to give to them what they were in need of, as they certainly have given to me. Case in point: every morning I read to the children about someone remarkable and we talk about them and the traits that made that person so amazing so they can learn to model them. The last two days we have been reading about Albert Schweitzer. Anyway, when I finish reading, we discuss it a bit and write some traits and ideas on the board and the kids settle down to write a journal entry about it and then illustrate it. It's amazing what young children can come up with. So, this morning I was at my desk when all of a sudden one of my little 7 year old boys quietly gets out of his seat, walks up to my desk, stands right next to me, leans his head on my shoulder until our heads are touching and gives me a little squeeze and then slips back into his seat without saying a word. Yep, that's why I teach.

I've tried to make every day memorable for them. Tuesday was National Limerick Day so we learned about them and tried our hand at writing a couple of them. Yesterday we went to the Science Center and the Planetarium. Today is (in case you were wondering, and why wouldn't you be????) National Dance Like a Chicken Day, so we had a reading comprehension on dancing like a chicken and then I put on a CD with the music and the whole class did the Chicken Dance. Sat. is the anniversary of the day that Root Beer was invented so tomorrow we are having root beer floats. And so it goes, there is always something to celebrate ~ I see to it. I live my own life trying to celebrate each day. Some days I'm more successful than others.

Back to the bed of nails... if you didn't read the title, bet I caught you by surprise!! At the Science Center yesterday, there was a "bed of nails" ~ 1,000 of them to be exact, all sharp, but all PERFECTLY lined up. The theory is that if you have all these nails to support and distribute your weight, it doesn't hurt. This is true. I have PLENTY of weight to support and I laid down on it twice and it didn't hurt. Every nail was exactly where it was supposed to be; none of them were trying to be in the limelight and stick up higher or be all insecure and be lower than they should be. Each nail did its part. I found it interesting. Lots of analogies there... every member of a family, a ward, a class, etc. etc. fulfilling their part and being there to support each other. Pretty cool. So, if you've read this far, I guess you deserve proof. So, here it is:
(you gotta' love that stupid sign that says "300 pound weight limit" right under me ~ but I didn't need to worry ~ I'm not there yet!!!!!!!!!

Kind of makes me want to head off to bed now. Nighty night!! Enjoy!

Woo … woo … woo … woo … (to the tune of "The Twilight Zone"

You are OUT THERE... more than you think!!!!!

My writer friends and I frequently talk about the need to create an "online presense." I'm guessing that IF YOU ARE READING THIS, you are already present… more than you know.

Have you ever “Googled” your own name? You should. You might be surprised. You are "out there" more than you realize. Perhaps, even, more than you want to be. I have a charming friend, Mary, who is fond of posting photos online… so when I googled my name and THEN CLICKED ON "IMAGES" rather than just search, you can imagine I wasn’t overly thrilled to find a picture of myself at a recent baby shower we attended (for Deirdra Coppel) "sniffing" poopy baby diapers ~ it wasn’t real poop, of course; just blended chocolate in a baby diaper and we were supposed to identify which candy bar it came from. (Just kidding, Mary ~ it's totally fine that you posted it).

I found myself listed in lots of places, even my own blog, and also blogs I have commented on. I also tried "Googling" various writer friends: Marsha Ward, Kerry Blair and Janette Rallison, among others, using the "IMAGES" button each time. It’s pretty fun. You have to wade through people who are not even closely related as well. But you are in there… I mean, OUT there. You should try it. Be sure to try clicking on "IMAGES" as well as just doing a search. You can also try putting in the names of your ancestors and clicking in "IMAGES" ~ you might link up to something useful.

Now, if you happen to share a famous name, like my friend, Cindy Williams, you can pretty much guess that every image will be of Cindy Williams, the TV star. So, I added Arizona to the end of Cindy’s name and that’s when I got a picture of her. However, I couldn't help but wonder when it was that she got into body building? You should SEE the body builder who shares her name!!! YIKES!!

I put in my kids’ names, etc. and lots of images came up, especially with all the blogging everyone does these days. So, it’s great to be visible, but it bears a warning of some caution. Be careful what (and who) you post about and how many personal details you include; because once you hit the SEND button… it’s pretty much a done deal. And well… cyberspace has no secrets.

Kids Wall Art ~ TOO FUN!!! A MUST SEE!!

Art can capture a moment, a feeling, a delight or a help you hold onto a memory.

Our daughter-in-law is such a remarkable artist!!

I just wanted to give all of my very savvy friends a head’s up. Matt’s wife, Amy Abney, is a fabulous artist. If you have never seen the lifelike rendition she painted for us of BJ you need to come over and see it if you are in town. You would swear he is looking right into your eyes.

Amy can basically paint anything, but her first love is children’s art and she now has a website up and running. If you are looking for whimsical, visually stimulating artwork for your kids’ rooms, I have the solution!! Even if you aren’t in the market for anything right now you should take a look because you will ENJOY looking and you never know when someone might say they are looking for something like that and then you can come to their rescue and tell them where to go (in a nice way, of course)… send them to the site:

http://www.kids-wall-art.com/

Be sure to click on the different links and scroll down to see samples of what she paints. I’m rather partial to her alien line. Cute, cute, cute. Enjoy!! Love to all!!

Communication at the Speed of Light

We are busy people… probably TOO busy. Yet, I haven’t a clue what I could possibly leave out since there are so many things that I feel like I should do, that I seldom find time to do. So, whenever we have lessons at chruch on gratitude and people raise their hands with all of the obvious answers of being grateful for love, family, gospel, prophets, temples, freedom, and so on, I say a hardy, “Amen.” And then I raise my hand and tell everyone that I am grateful modern electronic technology. That’s the absolute truth. I do it every time. I LOVE email, blogs, cell phones, voicemail, online photo albums, FACEBOOK, Classmates.com and the like. I’ve even learned how to text.

The thing that I love best about all of the above is that I can use them completely on my own terms and my own timetable. I read my email (and reply) when it suits me. The same applies for voicemail or checking out my FACEBOOK pages. And while I was sleeping, or teaching or traveling or whatever… someone left me a message or a link or some information that I need or want and when I get to where and/or when I want to look at it or listen to it, I am free to do so, even if it is in the middle of the night!

When our son, BJ, was so ill with leukemia, there were well over a hundred people who wanted to know how he was doing. Blogs did not yet exist as that would have been the best, I think. But I used email to stay in touch with everyone, even people in my own family, neighborhood and ward. It made it so that I did not have to repeat all the details over and over (which I could have never endured) and everyone knew what was happening, how they could help, what prayers were needed, etc. The support that poured in and enveloped us like a comfortable quilt carried us through the most difficult days of our lives. I wrote everything out once (which became my only journal of those times) and I clicked on all of the addresses and “poof” people all over the country (and even a couple out of the country) were thinking of us and our sweet BJ. I cannot tell you how much their reply emails helped us on several different levels.

From Classmates.com I reconnected with a few of my dearest friends in high school… and thirty years after our glory days, we met up in Hawaii for eight days of heaven on earth. We all remain in touch today and wish for matching schedules that would allow us to go to Hawaii again!

I’ve hooked up with former classmates, ward members and friends from the past through FACEBOOK and find it useful in keeping up with all of them (including family members). I also think part of the spirit of Elijah is being fulfilled as connection after connection occurs all over the world. ~ "Malachi 4: 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD; 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers..." It’s a wonderful thing.

So, yes, I’m grateful for electronic technology. However, it can’t take the place of the personal touch. Just yesterday I went visiting teaching and gave my sister a card that read on the cover, “In this fast-paced, busy world, when you need friend, just pick up the phone and call me…”

Inside it said: “And leave a message after the beep.”

BOOK REVIEW: A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl

I finished A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life And Death Of My Husband, Danny Pearl
by Mariane Pearl the other day. In some ways it reminds me of Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Both take place mostly in Pakistan and both are so powerful that you reflect on them for days and even weeks to come. Both have some rough language but it was nearly transparent to me as the heart-wrenching frustrations in each story resulting in such words were so overwhelming that I hardly noticed the harsh and sometimes foul words, normally foreign to me. (And in both cases, I listened to the book on CD driving to and from work over the course of a couple of weeks. I still consider them books that I "read").

I remember when this occurred as the world held it's breath for five long weeks, sending up prayers in many languages for Danny's safe return. He was a reporter and the South Asia Bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. Danny put himself in harm's way to shed some light to the side of the news that might bring about world understanding. Instead, in this instance, it brought a type of horror that proved to be both universal and yet painfully personal for his wife, Mariane, who was pregnant with their first child, a son.

On January 23, 2002, on his way to what he thought was an interview at a village restaurant in Karachi, Pearl was kidnapped by the militant group, "The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty." This group claimed Danny (of Jewish heritage and an American) was a CIA agent. Before he left for the interview, he told Mariane that he might be late for dinner. He never returned.

Mariane's riveting account of realizing her husband was missing and working to help the authorities piece it all together, leading up to Danny's eventual and brutal murder will leave you forever changed. Mariane is also an award-winning journalist and shares a very detailed step-by-step account of what took place. Surprisingly, interwoven throughout every page of the book, is a love story so intimate, intense and tender that you'll find often yourself smiling and feeling very privileged to "know" these remarkable people, including those surrounding Mariane during this difficult time ... each with their own "mighty heart."

The book on CD is read by Mariane. You really need to concentrate to understand her as she was born of an Afro-Chinese-Cuban mother and Dutch-Jewish father in France. She is a practicing Buddist. Mariane was raised in Paris and has a very unique accent. It's a good thing that you have to listen so carefully as you want to catch every detail and no one else would ever be able to tell the story as she does. It's a story I shall not soon forget. It makes you grateful and also sad but leaves you in awe of the courage of so many of our brothers and sisters half-way around the world, especially Mariane, whose heart is every bit as mighty as her husband's.

The Missionary Puzzle

Saturday night I spoke in the adult session of Stake Conference. If you already heard me speak this might not interest you or then again, maybe it might because I included a couple things I MEANT to say but since I didn't look at my paper that much, I forgot and wish I hadn't but I can't "go there" ~ just need to feel that how I said it was what was needed overall). I had ten minutes and used it all up. IF I wasn't so busy (ANWA writers conference all that day, etc.) AND IF I wasn't such a procrastinator and had actually practiced it a time or two before stake conference, I would have been able to actually give it the way I wanted but whatever... I'd love your feedback anyway.

So, here’s a VERY condensed version of my talk:

I teach 2nd grade and my students love to do puzzles. It’s more fun to do them with someone and as each person places their piece in the correct spot and a picture unfolds, it can be very gratifying.

When I was told the topic was “Missionary Work” because they had heard great things about me, I was quite surprised and wondered if I had ever really been very successful as a missionary. Then the Lord showed me my kids doing puzzles and that I’m a piece of the puzzle. Just like the kids, you might not see the results with those early pieces… but as each one adds their piece to the table it’s easy to see that more than one person has a piece to offer. And even more importantly, sometimes it’s almost impossible to fit a particular piece in until some of the surrounding pieces are in place.

Missionary work is a puzzle. [I then went on to tell about Sun Wei’s visit from China and taking her to church, the visitor’s center, home teaching, and how she used her pocket translator to read the Ensign, etc.]. As part of her “American Experience” I was allowed to “expose” her to our religion, and so I “exposed” her! She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay with us and enjoy “typical American life” because she "liked it very much." I think it was the spirit that she was feeling.

[I also told about experiences I had when I was a “Stake Missionary” WAY BACK WHEN. I had a sister companion in the ward. Our calling was to the less active sisters ~ there were 11 of them in our ward and they became our visiting teaching beat – YES, 11 sisters].

As we got to know these sisters I came to realize that they were the hidden treasures of the ward. They were wonderful and talented women. We began to lay down our puzzle pieces.

One sister loved old Westerns so out of the blue I suggested a slumber party. The three of us spent the night at her house, stayed up watching old Westerns, eating junk food and had a wonderful time. We kidnapped her for breakfast on her birthday, gave her a “year supply” box for a gift. (Turned out to be 12 bags of black jelly beans, her favorite, each bag labeled by month). She got a kick out of that.

We “heart-attacked” the front yard of another sister on her birthday and hid in the bushes to see her surprise until the automatic sprinklers turned on! So much fun!!

[I spoke of other experiences with other women and some neighbors - too detailed to share here].

Little by little, as we added our puzzle pieces and got to know these sisters it became easier to see where another piece might fit. And for many of these sisters we may never know if their puzzle is yet complete. But the important thing is that we put our piece on the table.

It’s sad when wards divide and you think you will have the same amount of contact with the ward members as before (especially when no one even moved) but more often than not we get busy with our new ward and new callings and except for a quick hello at stake functions, don’t see each other very much.

But today, I see one of those sisters as our ward leaves the building and hers enters. Was I the reason she chose to return to church activity? No, but I was a piece of the puzzle. Many other people added their puzzle pieces over the years.

Another sister whose teenage son we taught told us firmly this was his passion and she would not be participating, so we just became friends instead. Later her younger son also joined and both served missions, adding their puzzle pieces. She is now a baptized member with a temple recommend. She was surrounded by wonderful neighbors who also added their puzzle pieces long after the ward divided.

One day we had a knock on the door. “Hi. I’m Jesse. Do you remember me? I used to live across the street. I’m 23 now and have moved back to AZ. I always remembered your family and how it felt to be in your home and I joined the church a year ago.”

And so the puzzles go… In closing, I’d like to suggest some puzzle pieces that you don’t want to overlook: Have fun; make friends; follow the spirit and sometimes, you have to try another way to fit the piece into the puzzle. Just don’t be the piece that’s missing! Bring your piece to the table of missionary work and see a beautiful life come together… now… or sometime in the future.

I put down my puzzle pieces and forever changed and enriched my life. Got a puzzle piece? Wanna’ play?