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My Biggest Sin.....

11/24/2019

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“My biggest sin….,” I confessed to Hyrum Alatriste in the hallway at church, “....is ingratitude.”

My comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek but, actually, it is also probably pretty accurate.   It is so easy to get caught up in the minutiae of life and forget to be grateful for its magnificent blessings.   Small, annoying things blind me to sizable, awesome ones.

Take, for example, a pebble that shows up in my Chaco.  Small, annoying. And capable of drawing my focus down.  And, when I look down, focusing on the small, annoying pebble, I miss the sizable, awesome mountain that I would see if I looked up.   To take the analogy one step further, if I take that same pebble and hold it close to my eye, I cannot see anything else and it truly does blind me to the mountain’s majesty.   

And so it is with many little things in my truly blessed life.   The seal in the back window of my truck is compromised; every time it rains a waterfall cascades down the inside window of the cab.  Annoying. The scale says I have gained 5.2 lbs. Super annoying. A student in my class threw seeds across the room. I saw him and expressed disapproval. He agreed to stop and, less than 10 second later, was throwing things again.  Really?!?!? My running tights have a hole in them, we are out of milk, and the chest freezer needs defrosting. The front flower bed is a disaster, I need to call the health insurance company for the sixth time about the same issue, and the Cream of Wheat that someone left in the cereal bowl has turned to cement.

Oh my lands Teresa!   What a manifestation of blessings your “pebbles” are!!
  • I have a truck!!!  Leaky window and all, the truck is a huge blessing in my life.
  • Weight gain is a sign that I have plenty to eat.  Plenty!! What a blessing!
  • I have a job, a great job working with fabulous people.  And I have some really great students too. Another significant blessing.
  • Running tights represent a double blessing:  1) I have enough clothes that I can have clothing specifically dedicated to exercise and 2) my health is such that I can exercise.  I don’t run much anymore but my bike is one of my best friends.
  • Being out of milk implies that we had milk at one time and that we can afford to get more.   Actually we have milk a lot...and cheese and cream and butter and ice cream and...…. More blessings!
  • Likewise with the freezer, the flowerbed, and the insurance…. Hassles with these things exist because we have them.  What a blessing it is to have a freeze, a flowerbed and insurance.
  • The crusty Cream of Wheat bowl represents my greatest blessing of all: my family.   Dirty dishes, strewn socks, and muddy tracks on the unswept floor would not happen (at least not as much) if I lived alone.   I am so grateful, SO GRATEFUL, for their presence in my life.
Yep, it is very easy to get caught up in life’s little hassles.

Talyn Debus-Villasenor, a wise friend who frequently enriches my life with tidbits of wisdom, said “That is why they say PRACTICE gratitude.”  Gratitude takes practice and effort. One does not randomly happen to practice making a field goal or baking a loaf of bread. Practice requires thought and work.

Focused practice also yields results…...points scored in a football game or at a dinner table ...or appreciation for one’s blessings.   And appreciation for one’s blessings opens the world to joy, light, and some really amazing views.
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May you practice gratitude this week.  And may your practice bring you to God, who is truly the the font from which all blessings flow.

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Odd....

11/17/2019

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In a world gone increasingly odd, I recently had what was probably the oddest bathroom experience of my life.   

We stopped at a Chevron to buy gas and to use the restroom.   Near the bathroom door was a sign that said “See the attendant for the key”.  Not wanting to walk back to the lobby--my need was real--I tried the door. Finding it unlocked, I pushed my way in.   

Once inside I discovered there were no functioning lights.   There were two light switches but neither seemed to work because no matter how I manipulated them, the lights did not turn on.   “Fine,” thought I. “I have gone to the bathroom several times before in my life. I don’t need light to do my business.”

As one would expect, there were no windows in the bathroom.  It was dark, dark. Not a problem. Bathroom stalls are pretty standard as are toilets.  I found my way to the throne without incident and everything came out fine. The faucet at the sink was sensor operated.   It could not sense my hand in the dark but I had hand sanitizer in the truck so I did not consider that a problem..
However, when I went to push on the door to exit the room, I found that it was locked.   Now that was a problem. There was no knob--it was a push door--and it was very definitely NOT opening.

Great.  I was locked in a pitch dark bathroom with no way to escape.   Maybe it would have been better to ask the attendant for the key after all.  (I picture her laughing smugly as she watched me walk into the trap….)

Not to panic.  I had my phone.   I would call Miles, who was waiting patiently in the truck, and ask him to come into the lobby and ask the attendant to free his mother.  I could just see him… “Uh, excuse me. My mother is locked in the bathroom ...” Awkward but better than spending the next who-knows-how-long locked in a dark, gas station bathroom.

When I unlocked my phone to make the call, the dim light reflected off a green button located just above the light switches on the wall.   “Push here to exit,” it said.

I pushed ...and exited.  

What kind of bathroom as a push button exit?    The same kind that does not have light I guess.​

Odd. 


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Twenty-four Temples

11/10/2019

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Twenty-four is a magical number.  Every since I was a young child learning long division, I have loved the number 24.  Divisible by 6, 4, 8, 3, 12 and 2, it is very user friendly. When I was doing division and came across the number 24, I knew I’d found a friend.   My love affair with the number 24 has been continuous; 24 was my number on my high school basketball team, the number 24 is in most of my passwords, and, on my 48th birthday (2 x 24) Lance organized 48 mile family relay race, done on November 24 by 6 people in 12 hours.   Simply beautiful!!!

To celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary we decided to go to 24 different temples in 12 months.  Goal achieved!! We went to our first temple (Jordan River) on November 10, 2018 and Saturday, November 9, 2019, we hit our 24th (Payson).     It has been an absolutely fabulous experience that has taken us to temples in UT, ID, NV, WY, and CO.    

Reflecting on our experience, I decided the Star Valley Wyoming and the Manti Utah temples were my favorites.   The Manti temple is elegant and exquisite; the love invested by its pioneer builders seemed to radiate from its walls and in its halls.   And the salt-of-the-earth, pioneer stock temple workers were an incarnate extension of that love. We felt so welcome there.   

We did baptisms in the Star Valley Temple.   The baptistery is on the ground floor and is graced by large, east facing windows.   The morning we did baptisms the sun’s light poured through those windows and the whole room seemed to glow.   We were warmed by the sun, the Spirit, and the friendliness of the temple workers. Similar to our experience in the Manti temple, the Star Valley Temple workers were completely, thoroughly, genuinely, and absolutely welcoming and loving.   They made going to the temple feel like coming home.

Before sharing my thoughts, I asked Lance which were his favorite temples.   He chose the Manti and Star Valley temples too.

Though we have our favorites, every temple experience was good.   We loved doing sealings with Marjorie and Jason in Las Vegas. Being in the Logan Temple with President and Sister Sorenson was a special treat (better than beating them at Wizard afterwards but only slightly...)  Watching Hamilton and Allie be sealed in the Meridian Temple was a highlight.   Knowing that our Noel relatives played a large role in the decision to turn the Vernal Tabernacle into a temple made our visit to that temple especially meaningful.  Being with Grace in the Ogden Temple when she went through the temple for the first time was scrumptious icing on the proverbial cake.

Life is the stories you can tell and, of course, we lived some temple stories.   We loved eating at an Ethiopian restaurant after doing sealings in the Denver Temple however the best part, by far, of our trip to Colorado was the weekend we spent with Jeff and Letha Mellman and Company.  Such good, GOOD people! And so fun!!! They have three vigorous young boys. The boys wanted to go swimming at the local rec center but their swimming suits were in their room where Lance was taking a nap. “Don’t worry about waking him up,” I told them.  “You could jump on him and it would not wake him up.” So they did. Jump on him.

We visited the Rexburg Temple just 2 weeks after my second knee replacement.  It was not until we started to enter the sealing room that I realized I would not be able to kneel at the altar.  I was walking fine but my new knee was several weeks away from kneeling. YIKES!!! What to do? It was there we learned a chair can be placed by the altar so that elderly people (and not as elderly people who have recently had knee surgery) can sit, rather than kneel, for the seal.

On our trip south the van broke down in Cedar (and St. George and Las Vegas and Payson….).  We went to the Cedar City Temple while it was being repaired there. We could not drive the van to the temple—-it was 6 feet in the air on a lift in the repair shop--so we hired a taxi. (Eight dollars to ride from downtown Cedar City to the temple, in case you are wondering.)   When we came out of the temple, I called a taxi to come get us while Lance solicited a ride from two attractive young women. I cancelled the taxi. The really fun part of the story is that the young ladies were friends of our friends, Heidi and Quin Johnson and Darin and Deletha Heaton.   Small world, right?

Visiting the temples has made our world smaller...and larger.    Smaller in that we it brought us closer. Shared spiritual experience have strengthened our connections and minimized the things that tend to separate us.  Larger in that our temple adventures have expanded our horizons and increased our cache of shared stories. More significant than making our world smaller and larger, though, is the fact that visiting temples together had made our world better.   

President Gordon B. Hinkley said “Every time you come to the temple, you will be a better man or woman when you leave than you were when you came. I believe that with all my heart. Redouble your efforts and your faithfulness in going to the temple … and the Lord will bless you, and you will be happier” (regional conference, Oahu, Hawaii, 23 Jan. 2000).

The Lord has blessed us.     And we are happier.

Happy Anniversary my sweet Lance!   I am excited for what the next 24 years bring.

​

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Temples are all about family!!
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Temple #1: Teresa at the Jordan River Temple.
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Lance at the Jordan River Temple. (We had not yet figured out how to do selfies....)
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Idaho Falls
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Lance swears I blacked out his face on purpose. Honestly I don't have the skills necessary to do that, even if I wanted too....
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Vernal
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Ogden
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Mount Timpanogos
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St. George
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Star Valley, WY
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Fort Collins with the Mellmans
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Temple #24!! Payson
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Tanah

11/3/2019

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Tanah DeAnn Hislop was born 22 years ago today.

Tanah DeAnn Hislop

Dimples deep in the cheek,

Hair wild with bouncy curl,
Eyes alight with fire or ice...
These belong to my “little” girl.

She is really gorgeous, 
So very pretty to see.
But physical beauty is not what 
Defines her for me.

Vibrant is the word I choose.
Vibrant  Vivid. Vital.  Alive.
There is passion 
And intelligence in her sparkling eyes.

The room seems to light up 
When Tanah walks in
Colors intensify, hues brighten
And the volume ascends.

She’s a tease and a lark,
So much fun to be with…
Be it cold water in showers
Or revelations of a kiss...

Her talents as an actress
Be it a witch or a queen,
Were sights to behold,
She captured each scene.

She continues with theater
Though not on the stage.
She prefers to sew costumes
For her daily wage.

Her skill as a designer
And her vision of theme
Are honestly visionary
As she follows her dream.

She has strong opinions--
She is not shy to share.
She’s a champion of the causes
About which she cares.

And she cares deeply, VERY deeply
For those she calls friends.
If she loves you, she LOVES you 
And will to the end.
Your happiness she’ll guard
And your honor defend.

Her sweet heart is huge
And has tender spots
Harsh words and harsh looks
Give her pain... quite a lot

A soft heart is not weak;
Hers is especially strong.
She battles through pain
And helps others belong.

Zorro the racist dog,
Babbs the vicious attack bird,
And Hamlet the LARGE rabbit… 
They are her dear herd.

A sewing machine dubbed Loretta
And a car she named Frank
Are a few of the inanimate objects
For which she gives thanks.

She loves us too, 
Probably more than her beasts
More than her machines,
Or a delicious home-cooked feast.

We love her more, MUCH MORE,
Than can be expressed with a word.
Sweet Tanah, dear Tanah,
You are a gift from our God.

Please remember, oh remember
That we love dearly love you!!!
And that Christ loves you too
As much as we do.

We are not perfect; 
our love will fall short
There will be times 
We cannot help with your hurt
But your Father in Heaven 
And your Mother Divine
Have a love for you 
As eternal as mine.

May you feel Their love
And the love of their Son,
May you know you’re Their daughter,
My sweet, precious one!!!


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    Author

    Teresa Hislop
    thislop@msn.com

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