Beautiful Sabbath

 Our Sacrament Meeting this morning seemed so sparse, and yet we were following guidelines.  No more than 50 in attendance.  The meeting room isn't gigantic by any stretch of the imagination, but everyone sitting primly alone, it seemed cavernous.

Grace came today!  She was baptized nearly a year ago, but because of pressures from her family quit coming in January.  The missionaries reached out and she has been now two weeks in a row, and I believe she is happy to be back.  I spoke with her at length.  She is painfully shy and awkwardly quiet, so that when having a conversation with her, I have to carry on with most of the conversation.  It's not hard, but sometimes I just feel like I am running off at the mouth!

I also met Anne, a woman a few years young than I.  We had a lovely conversation through our masks and standing 6 feet apart.  She has been a member for years and years but hasn't been active for most of that time.  The young missionaries contacted her, and she was happy to come back.  Sitting there alone, with no one near, she could have felt more alone than ever, but I think she felt really good to be in Church again, and I hope she returns.

We had at least 13 or 14 YSAs in attendance.  They are so good...so cute!  Erika was there (she was here last night for dinner and "Princess Bride."  She hasn't been active for several years.  I'm so glad she came.  It was pouring rain when she left, so I gave her our umbrella.  She had to take a bus and walk a fair ways this sunny morning, but she showed up in the chapel with a big smile and our umbrella!...which is unwieldy to negotiate on a bus.

After church, I put together a small dessert which we can use any time within the next few weeks.  We had a fair amount of "Death by Chocolate" left over last night.  It is basically a chocolate bundt cake with chocolate chips.  I cut it up in cubes and mixed it in with half a container of vanilla ice cream and put in the freezer.  I'll let you know how it turns out, but how can it miss?


Our YSA Reps have been busy planning FHE tomorrow night.  We have four places where we can gather six people and each have our own meal and FHE.  We just got the list of assignments and we will have 3 or 4 here.  Since they haven't been here for BBQ Chicken pizza...I'm thinking of doing that again.  Hey...it is a sure thing!

SK pulled out a paper he has had forever.  How did he manage to get it here....and where has it been?  At any rate, it will be the basis for a lesson and an activity tomorrow night.  Isn't that fun?


BOOKS OF THE BIBLE WORD FIND

 

There are 30 books of the Bible in this paragraph.  Can you find them?  This is a most remarkable puzzle.  It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours.  He enjoyed it so much he passed it on to some friends.  One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat.  Another friend studied it while playing his banjo.  Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column.  Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves.  There will be some names that are really easy to spot.  That’s a fact.  Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized.  Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst.  Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph.  During a recent fund raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new sales record.  The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen.  As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, the books are all right there in plain view hidden from sight.  Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown.  One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers.  Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal.  A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers.  Remember there is no need for a mad exodus, there really are 30 book of the Bible lurking somewhere in the paragraph waiting to be found.


Until tomorrow.....

Comments

melissa said…
So proud of your ice cream experiment. 😁
October 28, 2020 at 6:41 AM
Elder and Sister Madsen said…
Thank you Melissa. You've pushed me to greater heights!
October 29, 2020 at 6:08 AM
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