Officially Spring?

The other morning when I woke up, I opened the blinds to see how much of the sky was going to be gray and saw---what?! Snow instead! I know it's been a week now, but I wanted to share my impressions of shock and dismay. They were not the serene,"Oh how pristine the world looks wrapped in a blanket of snow" or the scientific, "This will be excellent for the snowpack in the mountains. My first thoughts were not the ecologically minded, "This will be sure to kill the insects in the lawn" nor were they the optimistically cheerful, "This too will pass". No, I grabbed my camera, put my robe on, pulled on Danny's boots, and went out to capture the snow in MARCH. And as you take the photo tour of my back yard you can hear my saying, "No. I don't want snow, I want to see my hyacinths. I want to hang up clothes in the sunshine, I want to see buds on my raspberries." The fence is just because I had to admit the snow on those little peaks were a cool image. The 10 day forecast is that by the end of the month we are supposed to be in the mid 50's, with scattered sunshine. I'm ready!!

"A Woman of Sorrow"

A little while ago I met with my stake Relief Society president and we talked about the successes of our Relief Society, my goals for the future, and the needs of the sisters, among other things. I shared with her my vision of what I hoped to help bring about in our ward. Something like; I want to provide opportunities for the sisters to grow in love and friendship, so they'll have a desire to serve one another because love each other, not because they feel they have an obligation to fulfill. We talked about some of the hardships and heartaches that are being endured, and how well the sisters take care of each other. One of the hard things about my calling is being aware of all of it...about how much sadness is hidden behind pretty, faithful, sweet smiles. We talked about the inactives, and about those whose little, fragile, flickers of testimony blew out before they really got glowing, and I felt especially sad. At one point I teared up, and she said, "There is no way to love them and not be a woman of sorrow".
Tonight I had a really sad facebook 'conversation' with someone I once knew. Truly, as the hymn says, "The world has gone astray". The testimony once so strong and bright is being polluted with 'the philosophies of men'. For a few minutes I felt passionately, and defended the faith. I lifted up the title of liberty and proclaimed the truth. Then I saw it was of no use. I bore a short, simple testimony and asked to be left alone with my simple faith, because I've no wish to be contentious or participate in the darkness. My heart hurts; and I'm so sorry for the bad choices that are being made, and all the people who will be affected by one person's agency being used poorly. Be strong, my loved ones! Don't even go near things you ought not. Read good literature and listen to good music and watch good things on your media. Too much rides on the 100 choices we make every day to let any of them be choices that pull you away from the truth that brings happiness and light. Darn it.