One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. The father hoped his son would gain a better perspective about all that he had provided for the family. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How did you enjoy our trip?"
"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah." said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from this trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, and they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

Perspective is an amazing thing.

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(The above appeared in an article by Vickey Pahnke Taylor at Meridian Magazine this morning. I just had to share it because too often we have a somewhat skewed view of things, and need to be reminded about "things as they really are" -- including what is truly most valuable and important in our lives.)

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When God Lets Us Be Cast Into a Pit

Sometimes God lets us be cast into a pit.

While we are in the pit, it is easy to decide to "curse God and die," or to "charge God foolishly."

It is extremely difficult to decide to use the pit as an opportunity to grow in faith; to regard our pit experience as one of those "all things shall work together for thy good" experiences.


The following article (published today) was quite timely (esp. for Shy):

http://www.ldsmag.com/lineuponline/100420pit.html

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Stunning Photo

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is stunning. I hope you will click on the picture to the right to see it in larger format. If you don't look at it today (April 19) by tomorrow, you will have to go to the "archives" to see it. Simply click on the current picture, it will take you to the APOD website, toward the bottom of the page are the links, click on "archives" and then the April 19th posting. For additional photos (16 in all) of the volcano erupting, click on "Pictured above" in the Explanation.

First off, this is not a "large" volcano. Impressive though, isn't it? I thought it fascinating that the ice of the glacier above the volcano causes the lava flow to cool into glass shards. The global warming folks are now saying that global warming is the cause of the recent earthquakes and volcanic activity. If that is true, then Mother Nature is self-correcting because an ash plume across the globe can also cause global cooling! A mini ice age was caused after the volcanic eruption of Mount Krakatoa.

Earthquakes in diverse places. . . . . sounds like Last Days to me!

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SCAMMED!

I had read about it in the newspaper, I think. I certainly didn't expect it ever to happen to us. The frantic phone call came yesterday and again this morning. One of our granddaughters was in trouble in Canada and needed $5000.00! . . . . .
The Better Business Bureau warns senior citizens that the “Grandparent Scam” is back:

HOW THE SCAM PLAYS OUT:
Typically, the grandparent receives a frantic phone call from whom they are led to believe is their grandchild. A scammer, posing as their grandchild, explains that he or she has gotten into trouble—often in Canada—and needs their help. The “grandchild” might claim he or she caused a car accident or was arrested for drug possession. With the new wave of calls, victims are also contacted by someone claiming to be a police officer or lawyer representing the grandchild in court. The “grandchild” pleads to the grandparents to not tell his or her parents and asks that they wire thousands of dollars for reasons including posting bail, repairing the grandchild’s car, covering lawyer’s fees or even paying hospital bills for a person the grandchild injured in a car accident.

If you receive a call from someone claiming to be your grandchild in distress, BBB advises that you don’t disclose any information before you have confirmed it really is your grandchild. If a caller says “It’s me, grandma!” don’t respond with a name but instead let the caller explain who he or she is. One easy way to confirm their identity is to ask a simple question that your grandchild would know such as what school he or she goes to or their middle name.

If you have fallen victim to the scam, BBB recommends that you report the incident immediately to local police and your state Attorney General’s office. If there is a request to wire money to Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre has established the PhoneBusters hotline and Web site to report such fraud. Reports can be filed easily online through the PhoneBusters site at: www.phonebusters.com, or by phone, toll free at, 1-888-495-8501.

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When I asked The Knight what the first phone call was about and he said it was our granddaughter and she was in jail in Canada and wanted money, I thought he was joking. I thought he was alluding to this widespread scam and was trying to be funny. So, I just ignored him. That was yesterday. When he told me she had called back again this morning, and I asked what she wanted and he again said she was in jail in Canada, I impatiently told him to stop joking and to give me a straight answer! . . . . .
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I was astounded that someone is actually targeting us!
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Heart and Souls

Baylie gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting today, on “Preserving the Heart’s Mighty Change” (Oct Gen Conf, Dale Renlund). Amazingly, she didn’t seem nervous at all! I was so impressed! She shared the most important points of Elder Renlund’s talk, bore her testimony, and was done in about 3 minutes. In those three minutes she also communicated what a darling, sweet and gentle, beautiful soul she is.

The other two individuals who spoke on the same topic were a cute, newlywed-BYU nursing student, and a grandmother in her mid-sixties with unstyled gray hair and glasses. In order to preserve her privacy, I will call the grandmother “Nan.”

Nan has been teaching one of our classes in RS each month for at least a couple of years, now, so I have had ample time to observe her teaching style. Nan is not a “dynamic” speaker or teacher. She does not try to “entertain.” Her approach is always one of thoughtfulness. She thinks deeply and introspectively. For some people that description means that she is a “boring” teacher/speaker.

If anyone in the audience in Sacrament meeting had such thoughts and as a result stopped listening, how ironic, considering the topic of stony hearts v. hearts of flesh. As it turned out, today was also Nan’s day to teach the class in RS. I was glad. I find that when I listen thoughtfully, I am always edified when Nan teaches or speaks.

It is not just kids who quit listening when they decide someone is going to be “boring” (based on the teacher/speaker’s appearance or style). There are some adults who decide that they can’t learn from someone simply because she is female. How many men quit listening when a woman teaches or speaks? I have watched it happen for years. Additionally, there are those who quit listening because they are certain that they can’t learn anything from a person who has less experience or less education or is “beneath” them in some other way.

I am certain that He who knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts and minds is not pleased with those who harbor feelings of disdain or condescension. It is one of those things that will condemn us:


… if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.

For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. (Alma 12:13-14)
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And we will weep with shame.
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Tis Eventide . . . .

This evening I turned on the TV to see if there was anything to watch since I was too tired to do anything else. I was hoping that BYUTV (21) or Channel 11 would be playing reruns of Conference or at least something uplifting.

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No such luck.

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So, I started checking a couple of other channels to see what was on. After about 3 minutes I turned it off. Even in that very short span of time I felt slightly stained.

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In Conference, Elder Ballard and President Monson (and probably others) had plainly advised us to "turn it off" or to "get out of there" (speaking of movies, TV, etc. that do not reflect our values).

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I knew Conference would be available on the internet in all forms by next Thursday. But, I wanted it NOW. So, I went online to check. What I discovered is that the whole thing is already there in MP3 form!

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Well, in a matter of minutes, I was hooked up and listening to President Monson! I next listened to Elder Rasband since The Knight had enjoyed his talk so much at Priesthood. I also listened to many of the hymns (and several of them more than once).

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The last hymn of Conference was "Abide With Me Tis Eventide." It is one of my favorites that has special meaning and memories for me. As I was listening to it just now, I envisioned Jesus walking through our house, pausing at each room . . . .

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"O Savior stay this night with me, behold 'tis eventide . . . ."

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