Sunday, March 15, 2015
Re: Letter 15 of 3
Dear Riley:
We’ve had a warm spell of beautiful weather and it feels truly like Spring. The crocus are a couple weeks into their run, tulips, daffodils, and iris are well on their way, the apricot blossoms are in early bloom, insects are out, birds are singing… It’s a wonderful time of year. Yesterday was actually hot for a good portion of the day and I came in from my labors in the yard dehydrated and noticeably sunburned. Even though I didn’t get everything accomplished, I felt satisfied with my progress. I found a great place on State Street in Lindon with well composted horse manure. Free if you want to load it or $15 for as much as you can haul if they load. J, G, and I went and picked up a trailer and a truck load full of rich manure looking and smelling much more like compost. As the tractor bit into the pile, clouds of steam were clearly visible, and you could feel the heat coming off of each scoop dumped into the trailer. Hopefully this is a good indicator that any seeds will no longer be viable. My pickup holds a surprising amount even with a short bed and a tool box: twelve wheel barrows full to the brim. I was able to get a portion tilled into the plot where I’ll be planting peas and lettuce. This has been pressing me for awhile and it felt good to get it off my plate. I’ll be filling four garden boxes with soil within the next couple weeks, and am so excited about the prospect of raised bed gardening, though I shudder when I consider how many wheel barrow runs to the garden it will take to fill them. I took a little time to help get ready for Elise’s party, so ended up spraying my apricot tree with copper at 10:00 PM. Thank goodness for the street light over in the corner.
Elise’s “friend” party was yesterday and I think we’re officially weary of birthdays. Parker is fighting what looks like infection in his right lymph node. Antibiotic seems ineffective and it’s taking it out of him. Leadelle was concerned that it was getting worse so spent a few hours at the afterhour’s clinic. This added to the stress of getting ready for the party, so I offered to help for a couple hours. I undertook to wash the back windows and sliding glass door. I guess I made it look pretty fun because Josie was fully engaged in helping. Surprisingly she was fully involved in the entire process until it was completed. She LOVED using the spray bottle of window cleaner and I needed to assure her numerous times that she had sprayed enough. From her vantage point, she could see things I couldn’t so took the opportunity to justify her efforts by pointing out the areas of concern. SO CUTE! The cutest was when she realized that what she was trying to remove was actually on the “OTHER side of the glass.” With this revelation she went to the other side with renewed determination to conquer the stubborn smudge. Watching those wheels turn in that head of hers was just priceless. Throughout the whole project, she was never lacking for conversation. What a sweet time spent together. It caused me to consider just how quickly kids grow up and how moments like this enrich our lives but could easily be missed under different circumstances.
Well, I’ve got Honey Bee fever again, but this time it’s different. I’m getting a hive. One of the things that deterred me in the past was the labor and equipment investment to harvest the honey. Well, someone in Australia or New Zealand came up with an extraordinary invention which allows you to gather honey without breaking into the hive and disturbing the balance. This is literally honey on tap. Turn a valve, and honey comes out of a tube directly into a bottle. Turn it back and the cells reset for the bees to fill again. The coolest thing is that the bees don’t even know what has happened for awhile. When they discover the honey is gone, they chew back the wax caps and prepare the cells to fill with honey again. Without upsetting the rhythm in the hive, and without the need to build out so much comb destroyed by traditional honey gathering methods, the bees are happier and more productive. So, come April, I’ll have bees and next Spring I’ll be set up for a revolutionary way of collecting honey. Of course, there’s more to the bee keeping than the honey and I still need to check the hive periodically for health and available space, but I’m finally ready to take it on.
It was a wonderful day at Church. I’ve been convinced for years that our Sacrament meetings were above average. Today was no exception. DK spoke and shared portions of testimonies from the book of testimonies published years ago under the direction of Richard Cracroft. Many of the testimonies shared were from members who have since passed away. This brought such a sweet spirit and sweet memories of the people we love. It was like voices crying from the dust speaking pure truth under the influence of the spirit. I was worried I was going to ruin my tie with so many tears. She was followed by our High Council representative, KW, who spoke of the importance of teaching in the home. It was a wonderful outpouring of the spirit and I was filled with love for the members and blessed with revelation regarding some of them. This was definitely a spiritual high and a great start for the weekend.
I don’t know how this couldn’t be true. I taste the fruits of the gospel and they’re delicious. When I consider what I would be giving up to forsake it all, what the world has to offer seems hollow a devoid of life. No God, no communion with the divine, no answers to prayers, no revelation, no Spirit, no priesthood, no tender mercies, no miracles, no purpose, no meaning… I’ll take my life with God, thank you! I don’t dare deny God’s hand in my life because I know I would offend Him by doing so. I fully expect he would be unable to bless me so abundantly if I stopped believing and giving credit to Him.
Something happened just yesterday which may seem small and insignificant to the world, but it meant something significant to me. Others may explain it away, but things of this nature happen far too frequently in my life to be relegated to the realm of happenstance. I got my small 2 stroke tiller out from the shed only to find that the fuel stored in the tank over winter had turned to sludge. I had known I couldn’t store it without cleaning it out for storage and that so doing would almost certainly cost me $75 for a cleaning service. I really had intended to do it but had neglected to do so until it was too late. My bad!! I worked for nearly 20 minutes trying to get it going to no avail. I had no indication that it was even close to starting and had a large blister between the fingers of my right hand. I sat back in my patio chair ready to throw in the towel and surrender to the consequences of my choices. I had the thought I should say a prayer and ask for assistance. I knew I had been foolish and wasn’t entitled to assistance because I had failed to do what I should have done. I prayed anyway, acknowledged my fault in my predicament, committed to properly care for my tiller in the future, and asked for the tender mercy of my tiller starting in spite of my neglect. I ended my prayer confident in the outcome and pulled the starter cord three more times. The third time it sputtered and died. Three more pulls and it was running as smoothly as the day it was last serviced. I finished my work filled with wonder and gratitude, fully convinced that God had blessed me once again in a very personal and undeniable way. The skeptic may scorn, but I’ll always believe that God heard and answered my simple prayer offered in weakness and even fault. Let the world say what it may, I’ll take faith over unbelief any day.
Well, I love you and love following your progress and growth. Thank you for your service and testimony of the work. Remember, believing is seeing. I so look forward to your letter later today.
Love,
Dad
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