No Cell Phones ... PLEASE!

Yesterday was a special day for our ward. We had three very distinguished visitors at our sacrament meeting: Elder L. Tom Perry (an apostle of the LDS Church), Elder Ringwood (Quorum of the Seventy) and Sister Beck (General Relief Society President). The chapel was just packed!

Normally, whoever is conducting sacrament meeting, would remind the congregation to turn off our cell phones during the meeting, but it wasn't announced yesterday. Go figure!

As the sacrament bread was being passed around, a voice (at normal volume, but sounding so much louder because he's the only one speaking) suddenly arose from the overflow area, "Hello? ... Yeah, I'm in a meeting ... just a second ... let me take this call ..." Annoyed and aghast, I turned around (along with just about the whole congregation) to see a man in jeans climbing over people in his row towards an exit. "Okay, Inge," I thought to myself, "let's not be hasty in judging him. Maybe he's a visitor and doesn't understand that we are to be quiet during sacrament." 

Then a few minutes later AS the water was being blessed ... "Yeah, I'm here ... what's going on?" REALLY??? He came back in AND did not figure out that it was NOT the appropriate place or time to be answering a call? I kept thinking that it must be a gag ... maybe one of the distinguished guests will be addressing the topic of reverence or kindness or judging others ... no such thing ...

I vented on facebook when I got home, "I hope the man who just HAD to answer his phone during sacrament TWICE (on the week we had Elders Perry, Ringwood and Sister Beck visit our ward) is someone who is really important and that he took the calls because someone is bleeding to death if he doesn't answer ..."  I found a comment later on that evening from a male friend who was in church that day, "He's mentally challenged. The ironic thing was in Priesthood, he started to cry and asked if we would say a special blessing for his phone because it was broken. I guess it worked."

OI! Like being 40 and single doesn't have enough negative connotation, do we have to add mental illness to the mix?

In Memoriam: Mary Elen Belnap

One of my mission moms passed away over the weekend. Mary Elen Bennett Belnap was truly a saint! The first time I met her was in Jakarta, Indonesia on the night I arrived from Malaysia sick as a dog. She had me stay at the mission home for a night until my stomach settled a bit. Throughout my mission, she was there to let me vent frustrations in dealing with bossy companions, family issues back home, distracting letters from boyfriends, etc. I am forever grateful for the little treats she would set aside just for me that would alleviate my homesickness for home and all things American.

According to the obituary, she "fought cancer courageously for 25 years. She lived as an amazing example of optimistic resilience. To the very end, she embraced life and loved her association with family and friends who returned that pure love in kind. ... Mary Elen and Dean served three missions, in London, England from 1969-72; Jakarta, Indonesia from 1992-93; and Frankfurt, Germany from 2003-04. ... Kind and childlike - a person without guile, Mary Elen never felt anyone was beneath her. Like Father in Heaven, she was no respecter of persons and treated a beggar on the street with the same dignity she showed Prince Phillip when she met him in London at Buckingham Palace."

Truly, my life is blessed from my association with her. She will be missed and will occupy a place in the many hearts she had touched in her life.

Ward Dinner Group

Don't freak out ... yes, I went to a church activity -- a ward dinner group ... or rather, Julie signed me up while I was absent one Sunday and I didn't resist. For tonight's activity, we brought food to the church building and groups were assigned different rooms. So, here are some of the highlights from the conversations in my dinner group tonight:

A: My favorite place is Prague Czech Republic.
B: Is that near Czechcoslovakia?

A: I studied composites in college?
B: Cool, deposits ...

A: I would love to go to Ireland someday ...
B: What do they speak there ... Irish?
A: I think it's English ... with an Irish accent.

A: Guess who else is a carpenter?
B: Ummm, Jesus?

Yeah, I've forgiven Julie, but only because I got a good laugh out of the whole thing and a good excuse to blog about it.

Turquoise Sky

I took this picture with my cell phone on the evening of July 3rd at about 8:30 p.m. ... Yes, I can be that specific because with this steel trap of a mind, I clearly remember taking this picture after the army band concert on Temple Square. It was such a beautiful night and we were all in awe at the beautiful sky when we got out.  The sunset was amazing, but alas, my camera phone was ill equipped to take a decent picture of it.  I do like the contrast of the turquoise sky against the temple.

Recently spotted at the World Cup

Here is a picture of some of the fans with their vuvuzelas.  This plastic horn has been a somewhat controversial addition to soccer matches that creates a buzz on TV and in person.  Imagine being in a stadium with 40.000 of these in the hands of excited fans.  You may be interested in knowing who the fellow in the middle is cheering for. 

 

Let God and Heaven be your GOOOAAAAL!

Kirby: Why does no one miss me when I miss church?

Like Kirby, I don't think I'm missed much when I'm not in church. I've not ever seen a zucchini or brownies on my doorstep upon returning home on a Sunday night.

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Kirby: Why does no one miss me when I miss church?

By Robert Kirby

The Salt Lake Tribune

July 8, 2010 02:49PM

Until last Sunday, I hadn’t been to church in more than a month. Work or family obligations kept me away, although there was that one Sunday when I just couldn’t be bothered to get dressed.

A month isn’t even close to a personal record. I once ditched church for several years. Later, even when I went regularly, there were times I couldn’t go. Sometimes, I simply didn’t want to.

For example, when I worked the graveyard shift as a cop I opted to stay home and sleep instead. The last thing anyone needed in Sunday school was a badly sleep deprived and armed me.

For Mormons, church attendance falls into two separate categories: active and less active. Either you go all the time (active) or you go anywhere between occasionally and never.

While active attendance is technically anything over 96 percent, there are Mormons who wouldn’t miss church for the amputation of a limb never mind the Super Bowl.

Less active Mormons — and there are way more of these than the other — tend to be more flexible about nailing down a pew on Sunday. Reasons for not attending church range from “It was my dog’s birthday” to “None of your #@%! business.”

Ward response to a suddenly less active member varies. Sometimes the home teachers will come by and check to see if you’re still alive. The bishop may see you and stop to say that you’ve been missed.

A zucchini or some brownies might show up on your porch. On rare occasions it’s the ward busybody stopping by to casually mention that you’re going to hell.

In any case, the response generally depends on how big of a hole you left by not showing up. Everyone notices (and worries) when the bishop or the Relief Society president misses more than two Sundays in a row.

Conversely, a guy like me could get hit by a truck filled with goats and it would be months before it occurred to anyone to wonder why the meetings were more reverent.

It probably works the same in other faiths, although some are considerably more tolerant about attendance. One of my friends considers himself an “active” Catholic even though he only goes to Mass a couple times a year.

On the other hand, I know people who attended a fundamentalist church/compound just once and haven’t come back out since.

The reasons for attending church (or not) are probably as numerous as are people. My own are entirely selfish. I go because it reminds me to be nicer than I’m otherwise inclined to be.

When I showed up last Sunday, no one asked where I’d been or said they had missed me. That’s OK. I figured they just needed the break.

How Great Thou Art ...

I can't believe that I shared this picture with facebook a week ago and had not made the time to blog about it. I had actually been thinking about the Koolau mountain range for a while and last week I surfed the internet and found a picture that depicted the mountains as I will always remember them. When Julie taught her lesson on The Creation a couple of months and asked me to help out, I brought a bunch of pictures of nature I had taken throughout my travels and also shared a story about these mountains. I love the water falls that form and cascade down the crevacis of the mountains after a good rain storm. I remember riding the bus into town one day and as I came out of Wilson Tunnel, this vista appeared.  The words of a hymn I love came to mind:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

While the Rocky Mountains that sorround me here in Utah are beautiful, it's a different type of beauty and majesty. I love the Koolau mountain range ... these are the mountains I grew up watching ... I miss those water falls! God is GREAT!

The Creation

My friend, Julie, is teaching the Relief Society lesson this Sunday on the creation.  She asked me if I had any stories I can share about the topic. What? Does she think I've been around that long? Okay, okay, she didn't mean it that way ... but it did bring back a memory from my days in Primary ...

So, I was about 11-years-old and therefore one of the older kids in Primary.  During a particular Sharing Time the teacher did an exercise where each child would go up to the microphone and name something God had created in question form and the rest of the Primary would answer by practically screaming, "God made the [whatever]!"  Example:

Q: "Who made the birds?"

A: "God made the birds!"

Q: "Who made the trees?"

A: "God made the trees!"

So it went on ... After a while it started getting pretty hard naming some of God's creations without it being a repetition.  So then a younger child excitedly went up to the mic and he yelled out, "Who made the babies?" ... Ummm, some of us just had the talk about the birds and the bees and we had to pause ... good thing some of the younger kids were not armed with the knowledge yet and proceeded to answer, "God made the babies ..."  Well, yeah, I guess ... with the help of mom and dad ...

The wonder that is me ...

I've been thinking about not going to church. I'm burnt out in this singles ward. The few rotten apples have really spoiled the bunch for me. I've no plans on attending my home ward either, though ... I'm just tired. So much is asked of me and I'm not feeling like I'm getting anything out of it. I don't want to feel guilty for not going to church, eating out or shopping on Sundays, not praying or reading my scriptures. I just want to live my life as a good person without the pressure of being "perfect".

I'm certainly not meeting any men to date in this ward and at this point I'd rather find a good non-LDS man, who doesn't drink or smoke, who is true to himself than an LDS man who is a hypocrite.

Gossip

Out of breath and with a serious look on her face, a friend came running up to me before church and said, "I need to talk to you!" Worried that something bad had happened I asked what was the matter. Turns out she had just overheard that someone I might have liked (had he not gone after a girl I can't stand and would only now get my attention if he hits me over the head with a skillet) had gotten engaged over the weekend. Oh, PUH-LEEZ!

The whole thing wouldn't have bugged me so much if the next three hours were not filled with talks about marriage. I was really bugged by the conversation and after I got home I decided to call her to ask why she did what she did. Had I given her the impression that I was "in love" with this newly-engaged man? Did she really think that I was going to get so upset or burst into tears? Did I look/act like I care? No, she admitted, but she "knew" that he had "hurt" me (I was more ticked than hurt by his choice of woman he decided to pursue) and that it was "hot" gossip and she wanted to make sure that I would hear the news from a "friend" ... just in case ... So, I asked her if she also went running to his ex-girlfriend and delivered the news to her to get the reaction she didn't get from me. No, of course not.

I SO hate my singles ward sometimes ...

Uh oh ...

Yikes! I think I might have gotten a couple of people in trouble. After sending out the latest email attaching job listings and other opportunities to the ward, I received a few emails from people outside of my ward requesting that I find them jobs. Hello! I don't even do that for the people in my ward, so why would I do this for them?

So, I wrote back to these people and told them that, as Employment Specialists, Travis and I have been instructed by the bishopric to focus on the employment needs of the members of Monument Park 19th Ward. We are not head hunters and do not have the HR background or resources the employment centers have and that we do our best to share the resources that we are made aware of with the ward members who are un- or under-employed. I suggested that they contact their own ward's Employment Specialist for assistance or seek assistance from their local LDS employment center. Well, just to cover the bases, I cc'd my co-chair, Brother Knowlton and the persons who referred these individuals to me in the first place. I got a phone call from Brother Knowlton about an hour later. Yikes! In his own words, Brother Knowlton was "incensed" and wanted to let me know that the referrers were out of line and that he will put a stop to this immediately.

I didn't know I'd get these people into trouble. I just wanted them to know that I replied to their friends' requests and have sadly had to refer them elsewhere for help ...

Conversation with the inept ...

A guy who aged out of my singles' ward work in my building. He gets off work about 6:00 also and the other night he happened to just be steps in front of me and my co-worker as we walked over to the parking garage. So he heard my voice, turned around, saw me and stopped to allow us to catch up to him. The conversation went something like this:

X: So, what's going on that's exciting?
Me: Not a whole lot with me.
X: There must be something ...
Me: Nope.
X: I wonder if I should bring this up. No, I shouldn't. Well, maybe I should ...
Me: What?
X: No, I shouldn't.
Me: Okay, whatever. [I ignore him and start talking to my co-worker]
X: Well, okay, I'll ask you ... So, according to Mormon doctrine, there are different places for a person to go after this life. Is spirit prison hell?
Me: Uh, no! People there are being preached to and it's a temporary state until they accept the Gospel.
X: Correct. So what is hell? [This is the part where I should have answered, "This conversation with you is hell", but I didn't]
Me: I would imagine that outer darkness would fit the definition of hell better than spirit prison ...
X: Correct! So who goes there?
Me: Murderers, adulterers, unrepentant ...
X: Right again ... well, I just thought I'd provide the topic of conversation ... g'night!
Me: What the hell?

Create

Brenda sent me this video last week ... my friends know that I'm a wee bit partial when it comes to Elder Uchtdorf ... must be the tan and accent. Beautiful message.

Tactics to finding employment ...

I got this video a couple of times this week from different friends. As an Employment Specialist in the ward, do you think I should suggest this type of tactic to get a job?

A good day ...

I had lunch with my friend, Marcy, today and this is my fortune cookie. I'd like to use this as an excuse the next time I don't want to go to church.

Paper Products Coordinator: The Setting Apart

As I was crossing the lobby with the paper products for the supply closet, one of the counselors in the bishopric asked if I was ever set apart for the calling. I laughed and asked what I’ll be blessed with – the wisdom to find the best bargains on bulk paper products from a price club? Brother White insisted that I be set apart anyway, so off we went to find a quiet room. We chatted while the ward clerk went to see what the official title of my calling is.

Bro. White: So, did you go to the Tri-Ward party on New Year’s Eve?
Inge: Ummm, No!
Bro. White: Why not?
Inge: Not my thing. I don’t like big crowds and men don’t look or sound the same in broad daylight and a quieter place.

The clerk came back and Brother White proceeded to set me apart and gave me a longer blessing than I had expected. He reminded me that every calling involves both the temporal and spiritual. He blessed me with peace of mind and job security in this tough economy. Then he blessed me that my social life might be enlarged, expand and that I might be led to my eternal companion. Does he think that I don't have many friends just because I don't like big groups? If my social life enlarges anymore, I won't have time to do anything at home other than shower and sleep.

My only comment was, “Wow! All that for just buying paper goods in bulk at Costco?” That and many more was Brother White’s reply.

United Colors of Benetton

If I remember correctly, they took this picture to advertise a Visiting Teaching Convention at BYU-H about 1988. I love the diversity depicted in this photo. Yes, we are the world. Just wish I had written down people's names, date, event, etc.

Sub-for-Santa Moment

“Oh, more than anything else ..." a grandma raising her three grandchildren said to me, "the children need blankets. They’ve been shivering in their beds at night.”

A Grateful Heart

I have been thinking all week about being grateful. I think a grateful person is a happy person. They see how much they are blessed and that gratitude propels them forward. I thought of the people I worked with on my mission in Indonesia. There were families who had very little as far as material wealth, yet they were the happiest people I know. Then there are those who have wealth, but were miserable and lonely. The difference, I observed, is a grateful heart. With that in mind and Thanksgiving fast approaching, I thought I'd list the things I am grateful for (not necessarily in the order of importance).

1. My health. Despite being overweight (or as an Indonesian friend called me, "prosperous") and out of shape (I like to think of it as being fit enough to sit for long periods of time without tiring), I'm in pretty good health. I'm grateful that the string of virus that have caused me to cough for almost two months have brought out kind, concerned friends who offer me tips on how to get over it, cough drops, leftover prescription meds, or just calls to check up on me.

2. My job. It really isn't fair that after 13 years at the same firm, I'm still having a lot fun with my bosses. They treat me well and kindly. I could go and work elsewhere for more money, but they've earned my loyalty.

3. My friends. Too many to name and list their acts of love and kindness towards me. Suffice to say, I am lucky that I have friends I know I can call on if I'm ever in need of the spiritual, emotional, and/or temporal. Despite their snide remarks on my blog or facebook or to my face, I love my friends for making me laugh, feel loved and constantly nourishing my soul and occasionally my body with yummy foods and my mind because most of them are such know-it-alls.

4. Daily tender mercies from God. Whether it be a sunny sky, a beautiful flower I see on the way to work, or dark chocolate left by an anonymous "friend", I'm grateful for the little things that make me happy to be alive.

5. Opportunities to serve. I'm grateful for the families I'm able to help through Sub-for-Santa, they help me realize how blessed I've been throughout the year. I'm grateful for my callings in church as an Employment Specialist and the "Paper Product Coordinator" and I hope I'm doing some good and helping people.

6. My stuff. I really have too much stuff and need to learn to throw things away. My car, Chloe, that I'm constantly scraping. My home, that's overflowing with stuff I need to organize or throw out. My electronic gadgets that keep me occupied and hopefully somewhat organized and in touch with people. My card making stuff that is taking over the dining and living room. Clothes, clothes and more clothes because I'm becoming more and more prosperous and need bigger sizes.

I have much more to be grateful for. I won't bore you with all of them. However, I hope you too will take a quiet moment this week to "Count your blessings/Name them one by one/Count your many blessings/See what God hath done."

Oh, what joy! Elder Folau's last email from the mission field.

Hard to believe it has been two years. So proud of this kid. Can't wait to see him again.

"It's my last letter to everyone from here. Some of the members decided to give me an early birthday party since I'm not going to be here with them. We baptized these three ... Thank you all for your prayers and you support. See you all on Wednesday. Time flies and the church is growing and growing and growing."