Learning the Hard Way--Teaching by the Spirit

Look who is sitting up! Isn't he just the cutest. This is Gavin, my son Lane's son.

I want to say Hi to all of you. I don't usually have a lot to say on my blog that I think would interest many people. And I still don't have anything too interesting. But I thought I'd share a thing or two.

About a month or so ago I got a new calling at church. I am the Education Counselor for Relief Society in our ward. So far I think I will really like this calling because I can learn so much from it. A few days ago I had a "Teacher's Breakfast" for the relief society teachers and music leaders. They are all pretty new to their calling too, and it was going to be a while till we had a teacher training class. So I wanted us to have our own little mini class on Teaching by the Spirit during this breakfast. It was very good for me to study on this topic. I am not a very strong teacher by nature. But I am starting to learn that I am not really the teacher anyway. The Spirit needs to be the teacher. And I was trying to learn how to invite the spirit into my teaching.

In preparing for the lesson, I was using the scriptures as much as I could. The scriptures, being the word of God, is one of the best ways to invite the Spirit of God into our learning and teaching. I was also using a book "Teaching by the Spirit" by Gene R. Cook. In the book, Elder Cook helps us to understand how we can invite the spirit into our learning and teaching. He also tells us we should be flexible enough in our lesson to allow the spirit to talk to us. When I do my lessons, I usually have all the things planned out that I want to say, and I write them all down. I feel like I am not a very good communicator. I get tongue tied and can't express what I am feeling. So I try to rely on the Spirit when I am in the planning stage of my lesson. So when Elder Cook said that we shouldn't write down our talks, but rely on the guidance and promptings of the Spirit, I thought, Now Way! I just can't do that.

So the night before the lesson, I was just going to put together all the thoughts and things I wanted to cover into a final copy for me to print off. I had my rough draft on a jump drive. When I went to open the file, it wouldn't open. I tried multiple computers in my home and had the same problem. I called the IT guy at my work and asked him if he could open it if I emailed it to him. He tried to also, but it wouldn't open. The file was corrupt. So about a month and a half of studying and preparing was not accessible. I thought I'd be frantic. I am not a teacher by nature, like I said before. But I guess it was time for me to really practice what I had been studying on. So I looked up the scriptures again, and wrote the scriptures references on a paper. I taught the lesson the next morning with scriptures, and a very basic outline, and tried to rely on the Spirit as best as I could.

I don't believe my lesson was elegant. There were times I stumbled for words. But I do believe the Spirit was there. There was more involvement from the ladies then I usually get. I used my outline a bit, but I was very flexible with it. I didn't cover some of the things I had planned. And I relied heavily on the scriptures. I do believe what was covered, was what my Heavenly Father wanted covered. I, by myself, am not a good teacher. But when I rely on the Spirit to guide me, I can do anything the Lord wants me to do.

Yummiest Yogurt

Do you like plain yogurt? A year ago I would have said no. I didn't like it because it was so sharp and tart and not sweet. I only liked yogurt that was sweetened and had fruit. But then I noticed how much sugars some of the yogurts had, so I decided to try making my own to see if I liked the homemade kind any better. I think I now have the perfect recipe. It turns out so thick, creamy and smooth, with just a touch of tartness. It's so good I can eat it plain without sweetening. I enjoy every bite. Here is the recipe that I like the best.

4 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. powdered milk
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. Plain Yogurt

Heat the milk to 185 degrees (just about to boil). Then let the milk cool to 110 degrees. Stir in the powdered milk, and the yogurt. Then put into containers and warm in the yogurt maker for 8 hours. That's it! It's super easy.

I'm sure there are ways to do it without the yogurt makers, but I didn't trust a hot pad or a warm oven to get the temperature right. So I just use a yogurt maker. My friend gave me it for Christmas. And I love it! I make yogurt on my weekend, and have enough to last me all week long.

Here a few things I learned by trial and error:

I use 2% milk, because I don't think I should have as much fat as the whole milk has. But I'm sure whole milk would be even more delicious. I don't like to use the fat free or 1% for yogurt.

The first few times I made yogurt I didn't heat the milk to 185 degrees, because I figured the milk I used was the store bought kind that was already homogenized and pasteurized. So I didn't think I needed to do this step. I just heated the milk to 110, and then added the rest of the stuff. But my yogurts kept coming out kind of runny. So I tried it with heating the milk. For some reason, the yogurt comes out really thick when I heat the milk like the recipe says to.

All yogurts use different bacterias for the cultures. I tried a few different kinds. I tried Dannon, and it was pretty good, but a little too tart for my tastes. I also tried Stoneyfield Farms, and it was my second favorite kind. But my most favorite kind to use is the Oikos Plain yogurt. (In fact, I like this kind just to eat too,)

If you have a yogurt maker that is gathering dust, I recommend you give my recipe a try. It's so good, store bought yogurt will never be good enough again.

Any Soldier

I thought I'd post a little about a really cool website. AnySoldier.com It was started by a soldier that had people he knew send care packages to him addressed to "Any Soldier". Then he would distribute them to soldiers that he knew didn't get mail. Such a cool thing. It was so popular that it has been expanded to include any soldier in harm's way. You, your family, or your church group can put together a care package and send it to a soldier who is serving. Dustin got one not too long ago from a family that didn't even know him. He was quite touched that a family would send him goodies, a letter, and pictures drawn by their children. It is such a cool way to show you care and say thanks for the sacrifice and service to our country!

Book Review

Can you believe it? I think I am a science fiction fan. A friend at work recommended the book "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. I got the audio book version from the library and Travis started to listen to it. When he was done he said he really wanted me to read it asap, so that we could talk about it. I wasn't all that excited to read it, because it was science fiction, and I'm not too into science fiction. But I had read a few of Card's other books and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I read the first few from his Seventh Son series and one from his Women of Genesis series. So on Travis' recommendation I listened to "Ender's Game". Now I plan on reading at least the next few books in the series. It was a great book. And a great book for teens too.

More Scripture Study for me

I have a goal to try to study the scriptures more often then I do. As I study then I thought I'd post a "Scripture of the Week" on the sidebar of my blog. Now, knowing me, I might not change the scripture on my blog exactly weekly, although I will try.

There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment and that, of course is through Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for his mercy and redeeming grace so that forgiveness for my sins is made possible. I'm thankful that he has overcame death and has given me the gift of the resurrection. He descended below all things, so that he could comprehend all things. He took upon him our infirmities and our sorrows, so that he would know how to succor and heal us. He is the only way to eternal life and salvation. I will praise him forever and ever for enduring what he endured for me.

Happy Easter everyone.

MS Walk 2009

Tomorrow morning me and a few friends from work will be participating in the MS Walk in Salt Lake City. We do this every year. It's a lot of fun, and I know it is for a good cause. MS is a pretty rotten disease that usually hits people in the prime of their lives while they are still trying to raise families and hold down careers. It can be very devastating.

I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to collect very much in donations this year, since the economy is a bit scary and everyone is trying to tighten their belts. But I was able to get together just over $800! Can you believe that? That is nothing to sneeze at! And that was just me. There are others in my team that did similarly. Of course a bunch of that was company match from my employer. Bonneville International (KSL TV) will match our donations for anything over $25.

I asked fellow employees to sponsor me in this walk. I felt a bit funny asking for money, like I always do. But I figure they can say no if they want. And you'd be surprised at how many people thank me for the opportunity to donate. And they thank me for doing the walk too. There are a lot of people passionate about this cause. Most I asked wanted to help. Even the ones that didn't have much to donate would give me their lunch money, or whatever they had in their pockets. That added up pretty quickly too. I work with awesome, generous people in a pretty cool company.

If any of you are feeling like donating, here is a link to where you can donate online. MS Society

Not if But When...

It's not if there is an earthquake, but when we have an earthquake. Are you as prepared as you think you are? I know I'm not. If you live in earthquake country then here is a book that you should have in your home. It's free. You can download it online with this link here.

Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country

Or if you are like me, and prefer a paper copy, you can pick one up from the Utah Division of Natural resources.

Natural Resources Map & Bookstore
1594 W. North Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Phone (801)537-3320

If you live in Utah, this book might be extra interesting. It shows our area in quite a lot of detail. It shows why we should prepare and how to prepare. You might not be as prepared as you think. So look into it and be sure. You know there will be an earthquake one day. When it happens, what is likely to happen in our area? This book can give you a pretty good idea. It shows a map of how bad liquefaction will be in what areas. (liquefaction = Scary!) There are lots of good pictures too.

This book is made for Utah, but any of you in the neighboring states should read it too. If you live in the west, you are in earthquake country.


One thing I've learned that I never thought of before. When we have a big earthquake, there will be lots of broken glass. And chances are the power will be gone too. What if we need to try to pick our way through our home at night, or worse yet, at night in winter. With the glass all over the floor, a good pair of slippers (or shoes) by your bed, with a flashlight would be very beneficial. But I can't always find mine, especially if it is dark, and the glass from the windows is all by my bed. So put your slippers and flashlight in a plastic bag and tie it to your bed frame by the head of your bed. That way, if the bed is jumping all around during the quake, you can still find your slippers and light.

Another thing, What is hanging above your bed? Is it heavy, or is it glass? I used to have some nice pictures of some flowers. They were framed and had glass over it. Can you say guillotine? Now my wall is bare above my bed. I'll find something less dangerous to put there.

Here is a list of the top 10 earthquake states. It's a bit suprising that Utah or California is not #1!

1. Alaska 1
2. California
3. Hawaii 2
4. Nevada
5. Washington
6. Idaho
7. Wyoming
8. Montana
9. Utah
10. Oregon

Now just because Utah is #9,, don't let your guard down. A big quake here could be quite devastating. So let's do what we can to prepare now while we can.

One last thing. It could be about 3 days before emergancy help gets to us in a very bad earthquake. So get that 72 hour kit put together as part of your preparation.