Anders, our Champion Drum Major

My nephew Anders is a pretty cool kid.  I thought it was really great of his band director to place him on a pedestal so we could honor him properly!

My handsome nephew Anders surveys the field

Just kidding.

(Though it sure looks like the band is bowing down to him in this picture!  Ha!)

Bingham High School marching band won third place in the Mount Timpanogos band competition this past weekend in Utah.  It was a huge competition, and even placing third was a real honor.

Anders is one of three drum majors seen here (second from the left).  The marching band is so large, it takes three guys to keep everyone together.



Congratulations!

If Anders looks a bit nervous, I think it was because his sister was taking lots of photos, and he had a ton of relatives in the stands.  Wish I could have been there.  Except, of course, for the sitting ouside on bleachers seats in the cold part.  Okay, I'm a wuss.


A Very Cool Trophy!

What a fun way to celebrate your junior year in high school!

You go, Anders!  I love a man in uniform!

Winning Smiles!

Anders' little brother and mom enjoyed the show

It looks cold outside!  Brrrrrr.  Fall came seemingly overnight to the Salt Lake area, but when it came, it came big time.


As did his Dad and Bestemor Merlene, who was visiting from Arizona

 We are all very proud of you and your marching band, Anders!  Congratulations!

Photos courtesy L. Farnsworth

Jack, Always My Hero

Here sits the intrepid Jack O'Neill, fighter for truth, justice and the American Way, a sworn enemy to bugs of all kinds, friend to squirrels and humming birds.  My hero.

Hmmmm, wonder if there's anything good to read here

Always vigilant, Jack leaves no corner of the apartment unscrutinized.

Wow.  Agatha Christie is good... mom!  It's in Norwegian.  I can't read it in Norwegian!

 He is always the hunter, senses alert.

 Aha!  He sees a possible threat and leaps a tall bookcase in a single bound to investigate!

He even searches carefully under the rug... you never know what might be lurking there.

Okay, in all seriousness, Jack thinks it's pretty fun to dive under the rug...  and there could be something lurking under there.  You never know.


With our home once again safe from attack, my super hero decides it's time for a tummy rub.
Thanks Jack, for once again keeping our home safe from, well, just about anything that moves.

Rain!



ELAC students in the rain

 Remember things we said as children when it started raining?

"It's raining it's pouring the old man is snoring" or "Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!"

I don't feel that way.  I mean, about the "rain go away" part.  I personally don't care whether an old man snores or not.  Whatever.

My point is, it hasn't rained around here - really rained - since maybe March.  I like the rain, so yesterday's rainstorm was welcome.

And it truly was a wonderful rainy day yesterday.  I ended up going out for a fast food lunch and just sitting in a parking lot across from East Los Angeles Community College watching the rain.  It poured steadily the entire time I sat there.

I was a happy camper.


Even the flowers looked happy



Traffic slowed to a crawl



I didn't care



Nils' Missionary Adventures Continue!

The very handsome Scandinavian contingent of the Cuernavaca mission: Elders Danielsen, Evensen, and Dahl

"No, we don't have 7 wives."
"No, we do not baptize people until they see the face of Christ."
"No, we do not worship the devil."
"Yes, we do read the Bible."

According to our Elder Nils, these are some of the questions these young men answer on a daily basis.  Then he adds, "...honestly you'd think they would already know the answers for that stuff..."

Yes, it's a whacky world we live in and rumors are always rampant about those 'weird' Mormons!

It's been a while since I posted anything about our Elder in Mexico, but he's doing well and is happy  - and still serving in Altamirano.  On Monday he writes:

Last week was a really fun week.. Some weeks I'm really surprised at how God smiles down upon us.  We've really been having a ton of success lately.



Elders Evensen and Danielsen taking a break

 Nils recently got a new companion, an Elder Danielsen, when Elder Dahl was transferred.  The little branch of the church in Altamirano continues to grow.

Last week, a man came to Nils asking for marital advice.  Nils writes:

All I told him was that the family is central to the plan of God.  That before he makes any decision he should pray to God, and then go calmly talk to his wife.

The last time I saw him, he was really happy.  He said he prayed, and talked to his wife. He's living back at home now and things are getting a lot better.

It's in situations like that, that I always realize how much I need the Lord as a missionary.  Because heck, I don't know the answer to half of these questions!  I study in the scriptures 3 hours a day, and it helps.  But it's always situations like that where you're just completely stumped that the Lord comes in and helps you.  That [the advice which he gave the man] was definitely something from the Lord, not me.

I love the testimony Nils shares about the benefits of reading the scriptures.  There's nothing that will bring the Lord's Spirit into your home faster than reading the scriptures.  They are a tremendous tool to help us in our daily lives.


Elders Danielsen and Evensen with two new convert families

 I love Nils' missionary adventures, although the latest one has to have his mother worried!  He writes:

..and just to make you guys scared, last week I traveled down to some city.  Supposedly the road is really dangerous.  It's like on one of those U.S. "don't travel on this road" lists.  Guess who gets to go down that road again today!  .. actually it's a really fun drive.  There's a part of the road that gets really bad with potholes, so the cars always just drive on the opposite side of the road.  I like being in cars down here, it's kind of like playing one of those crazy video games.

So, I'll leave you with that image of Elder Nils playing real life Mario Brothers on the back roads of Southern Mexico.

Adios, amigos!  Behold, Zion prospers, even in the far flung corners of the world.

The Bicycle Metaphor

Bicycles move

With the flow

Of the earth

Like a cloud

So quiet

In the October sky

Like licking ice cream

From a cone

Like knowing you

Will always

Be there

From Bicycles Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni

Do you remember your first two-wheel bicycle?

I remember mine.  We were living in Murfreesboro, Tennessee at the time.  I was in third grade; my little brother just a baby.  For my October birthday that year I got a shiny blue bicycle.  Learning to ride it was problematic, and I remember my father running behind me, holding me up, as I tried over and over to get my balance.

When I finally learned to ride it, a few skinned knees later - that wind in my hair freedom the bicycle provided was such a joy. 

There is a modern poet, Nikki Giovanni, who uses bicycles as a metaphor for life.  The wheels represent tragedy and trauma, because they're always spinning.  The inescapable falling and pain come as you learn to ride.

In an interview with Bill Moyer, Ms. Giovanni said bicycles are about "trust and balance".  She went on to say "..we do that in our relationships.  It's the same bike.  We are continuing relationships through trust and balance."

I think about my Daddy running breathlessly after me on my bike to insure my safety.  Knowing he was there, I was able to find my balance.

Photos from New Orleans, courtesy J. Evensen

The Magic Castle

 A few months ago, a business associate sent me an invitation to the private club in Hollywood called the Magic Castle.  This, of course, is the famed home of the Academy of Magical Arts, and you have to be a member, or have an invitation from a member, to attend.

The castle itself is the Rollin B. Lane mansion which was built in 1908.  It became the "Magic Castle" in 1963.  It's a really cool old Victorian house, complete with its own ghost, the imcomparable Miss Irma, who passed away in 1932, and now obligingly plays the grand piano and takes requests from guests of the castle.

A few good friends took me to the Castle on Saturday night as a birthday gift.  What a wonderful gift!  It was a very fun, magical night.  I'm still amazed by some of the things I saw there - like my friends all dressed up!  (They clean up rather nicely, by the way.)


Bernie, Mark, Peggy, Me, David and Rique.

 From the moment we entered through the hidden door, it was a lot of fun.  We saw all kinds of illusions, and fabulous sleight-of-hand tricks that had me puzzled.  Believe me, card tricks like that, when you've handled and cut the deck yourself, are most amazing!

Somehow, seeing someone making live birds appear and disappear, or pulling a big, fat (Really big! Really fat!) white rabbit out of nothing is much more impressive from about 2 feet away. 

We laughed a lot, and enjoyed a delicious dinner together.

Thanks alot, my dear friends!  What a magical night to remember.

My Faith

This one-hour movie is really wonderful.  I encourage you to watch and enjoy it.  The things it depicts are true.

The Story of Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration

I think they should have made this a 2-hour, full length film.  It certainly has everything: romance, action and a good story.  Joseph Smith led a remarkable life.  I believe he really was a prophet of God.

[On a side note, a friend of mine, Bruce Newbold, who used to live in Downey, plays the preacher in this film.  You may recognize him as Parley P. Pratt from another church film.  He also had a recurring role in the TV series, Everwood.]