Sunday

So my mini-vacation ends tonight. It's been fantastic. My towel rung is fixed, my laundry is done and my guest bedroom looks a lot better although I never did finish cleaning it. I have chicken in the freezer, shrimp and spam in the fridge. I need to make something to work for my meals for next week. There's a fireside tonight featuring a couple who served a stealth mission in the middle east. They had to move several times because it wasn't safe and they didn't proselyte. How fun. Jared told our relief society about it. Lauresa was the only member of our presidency at Relief Society. She had me sit with her up front. I was happy to do that with her. She told me when we did lunch that she's not comfortable teaching relief society. I am completely comfortable speaking OR teaching. Saying that makes me think it's good I don't have a more meaningful calling if it means someone else gets the chance to develop their skills. I've been blessed.

We had some nice new faces to hear from in church today. I enjoyed listening to Jenn, Katy and Sam. Sam is a high councilman. How did I miss that. He is a good man. I am very happy he is engaged to Rebecca Rawlins. They both look very happy. At linger longer Mark came over to chat which was fine and I was nice. The sisters were there. I told them I'll take them to lunch at Elements on the 5th. They told me they eat there free!!! VEEERY NICE!!! Sister Newcomer said she didn't like her lunch there when she went there. I told her it was my favorite restaurant in the valley. She still wanted to do lunch there so it'll actually be cheap because I'll just have to pay for myself.

Mosiah 13
 35 Yea, and have they not said also that he should bring to pass the ^aresurrection of the dead, and that he, himself, should be oppressed and afflicted?

My academic Poly friends typically like to talk about how oppressed they are and about white privilege. While incidents annoy me, I am over this AND I'm pretty sick about discussing it. My entire life does not revolve around this the way I feel it does to my friends.I found it interesting that Christ is described as oppressed and afflicted. So perhaps being oppressed is a blessing in disguise. 

A Sure Foundation - Dean M. Davies

In like manner, if we do not provide for an appropriate balance in ourlives of daily personal prayer and feasting from the scriptures, weeklystrengthening from partaking of the sacrament, and frequentparticipation in priesthood ordinances such as temple ordinances, we tooare at risk of being weakened in our spiritual structural strength.

Searching,pondering, and applying the words of Christ as taught in the scriptureswill bring wisdom and knowledge beyond our mortal understanding. Thiswill strengthen our commitment and provide the spiritual reserves to doour best in all situations.

If we partake with sincerity and in humility, werenew eternal covenants, are cleansed and sanctified, and receive thepromise that we will have His Spirit to be with us always. The Spirit acts asa type of mortar, a welding link that not only sanctifies but also brings allthings to our remembrance and testifies again and again of Jesus Christ.Worthily partaking of the sacrament strengthens our personal connectionto the foundation rock, even to Jesus Christ.

I humbly testify that by anchoring our lives to Jesus Christ and to HisAtonement and by carefully following His plans for our happiness,including daily prayer, daily scripture study, and weekly partaking of thesacrament, we will be strengthened, we will experience real personalgrowth and a lasting conversion, we will be better prepared tosuccessfully withstand the storms and calamities of life, we willexperience the joy and happiness promised, and we will have theconfidence that our lives have been built upon a sure foundation—afoundation that will never fall.