Connecting

I went to a barn dance this weekend in Hooper. It was a blast!


EVERYONE got involved-old, young, VERY young, moms, dads, grandpas, grandmas, youth, dancers, non-dancers-stomping around out in the dirt-packed arena, twirling together and LOVIN' IT!

People gathering together to spend a Saturday evening of good, clean, country-style fun. Lots of good food, dancing, and sitting around shootin' the breeze with friends and neighbors.

Yes, it was a real barn with real horses.

And don't forget the "horse races" for the little buckaroos on their stick ponies.
As my friend and I drove back to the big city, we were thinking about how this kind of old-fashioned get-together makes people feel so much more connected than the way we tend to connect with each other today...electronically. It's kind of like the old-fashioned way that city folk used to get together on their porches in the evenings. I'll take a barn dance or porch sittin' any day over Facebook, emails, Twitter, or even blogs (like THIS one!)

We Stand on the Shoulders of our Ancestors

President Hinckley said that we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. No, Daniel, he didn't mean that you should LITERALLY stand on top of Grandma and Grandpa MacKay.


We visited the Salt Lake City Cemetary and Wasatch Lawns this weekend to decorate the graves of those whose shoulders we stand on. And if we stand tall, it is because of them.


President Hinckley also said that each generation is a link in a long chain of our family. He encouraged us to be a strong link in that chain. I once had the thought that if we take the best attributes of our parents' marriages and parenting skills, and then add on something new and better to hand down to our children, just think what wonderful marriages and parents we would have after only a few generations. I'm grateful that a long, strong chain of faith has been handed down to me.

Here are some cool polished rocks that MacKay and Daniel brought for dad's grave.

Oops! This one looks like we were there to put flowers on mom's grave. Sorry mom!

3 (sort of) Related Thoughts

Here are some random thoughts I had at church today. Stay with me to the end. They ARE related to each other in some way.



First, in the latest General Conference, Elder Richard G. Scott said, "I have seen that many times individuals have made great sacrifices to go to a distant temple. But when a temple is built close by, within a short time, many do not visit it regularly." I find this to be true. Because I can go to several temples at no great sacrifice to me, I tend to not make the effort to go very often. My thinking is, "I can go anytime". And often a month goes by without me going ANYTIME. It's too easy. It's too convienent.


Secondly, we were talking in Primary about how the early saints were commanded to gather to Kirtland, Ohio. As we discussed why it's important for the saints to gather, I told the girls about my experience of being completely separated from the church while I was in Mali. That experience made me realize what a blessing it is to meet with others of common faith each Sunday. We teach each other. We are strengthened by each other. The first Sunday after I came back home, I cried as I sang with my Relief Society sisters. I was honored at the chance to take the sacrament. I was amazed at how the testimonies of other people filled me up. Now I've been back for 5 years from Mali and I'm afraid I've fallen into the same old pattern of taking those precious things for granted again...or as the children say "taking them for granite".

These two thoughts reminded me of a time in my scripture study when I began to notice how the Lord commands the people of the Book of Mormon over and over to REMEMBER. So how do we make sure that we are remembering things that are important to us?