LDS Ponderings

I am the literacy leader at church, and as part of that, teach ESL. Until a week ago, I had both beginners and intermediate students, but I now only have beginners.

It happens that all my students are from Brazil, and I’ve started teaching myself Brazilian Portuguese. Here are some tips I’ve learned along the way for teaching yourself a new language:

1. Get a book or a program–preferably something that includes audio so you say the words correctly. I am using the free version of Before You Know it

The light version is available in a lot of languages and is quite extensive. It’s a full version unlimited trial of a healthy portion of the full program. It’s flashcard based. First you review the words without testing. Then there are different ways to learn–see the Portuguese and translate to English orally, and the reverse, and write the words in both directions (so you learn to spell also).

After I can pronounce the words, I put them on index cards–Portuguese on one side, English on the other– and carry them in my purse to study at odd moments when I’m waiting in the car or at the church.

2. Read the Book of Mormon in that language.
It took me a while to figure out how to do this. Here’s what I do. I open the Book in both languages. Some words are similar to English, so I look for those in the sentence. I also look for the few words I’ve already learned. Then I try to guess the other words from context. Next, I look at the English and then go back to figure out what all the words are. It’s not word for word, of course. If I’m at my desk, I open a free online translation program and look up a few words, mostly if I can’t figure enough words out. I write a few of them in the margins. I don’t try to memorize every word or even translate every word. Words repeat enough that I’m picking some up.

The Holy Ghost helps you understand the scriptures, which is one reason to learn by reading them. I learned this tip from our ESL students.

3. Meet some people who speak the language as natives. This helps you get the rhythm right, practice, and it motivates you.

4. Listen to free online podcasts or language lessons. I’ve found a number of them online and they provide variety.

This ten minute video from the Mormons answers some of the more common confusions many people have about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, I think, the only church that believes family life continues after death. And yet, of course, most people who’ve lost their second parent say, “At least Mom and Dad are together again.” Planted deep in our hearts is a knowledge, even if we say we don’t believe it, that families are forever. If you don’t believe this is true, please go through this list of thoughts and record your answers. There is no right or wrong answer on your part–it’s just a thought process.

1. Do you believe in a God who is kind, loving, and fair?

2. Do you believe that in Heaven you will have everything you need to be happy?

3. Do you love your family beyond measure?

4. Could you be happy here on earth without them?

5. Could you be happy in heaven without them?

6. Can you look your children in the eye (don’t do this, just imagine it) and say, “Well, I like having you in my life now, but I don’t want you forever, and when I die, I will be perfectly happy without you?”

6. What do you think God thinks about families?

7. Does God believe in divorce?

10. If the end of the marriage is scheduled on the marriage day, does that constitute a God-ordered divorce? How do you feel about the fact that your “divorce” has been scheduled?

11. Why do you think he gave us families on earth and made our emotions about them so powerful?

11. Do you believe a kind, loving, and fair God would give you such an overpowering love for your family, and then gleefully rip them away from you when you reach the place where He’s promised you eternal happiness?

12. What do you think a kind, loving, and fair God would do about families in Heaven?

I’ve been reading Chieko Okasaki’s book Aloha again. One of the things she discusses is that we race through our days feeling fragmented because we have too many different types of things in our day and we’re constantly switching identities–from mom, to cook, to church worker, to friend, and so on. She suggests we could eliminate the feeling of fragmentation by choosing one identity that encompassed all we did. That identity would be Christian.

I was thinking of this in terms of making cookies. When we make cookies, there are many steps to go through, but we don’t feel fragmented. We don’t become the Person Who Puts in Flour, and then change identities to the Person Who Puts in Sugar, and so on. All the things we do are part of one thing–making cookies. It doesn’t feel fragmented or frustrating.

It’s harder to do that with all of our life, but it’s an interesting thought. How much easier would it be to attain eternity if we were always the same person every moment of our lives?

When I started out becoming a writer, several hundred years ago (my children still took naps!) I would try anything. I happily plugged away at any sort of writing that caught my fancy. If I wasn’t any good at it, I didn’t care, because I was just having fun. Then I started getting published, and the fun turned into work. I sat at my computer for a manditory two hours and wrote what would get published. When the spirit said take a break from professional writing (a break that turned out to be eight years) I rediscovered writing for fun.

But now, I have a book out, one on the way and one being looked over by a friend before sending it out into the world. And now, I’m contemplating writing things I haven’t written before, or haven’t written successfully before, and I’m feeling terribly insecure. Why is this bothering me?

Oh, yeah…I never liked trying new things. My dream in life is to have boring, predictable, all alike days, which is probably why I never get them.

Courage…I need courage…where is the wizard when the Cowardly Lion needs a booster shot?

I’ve indexed 1400 names on FamilySearch indexing. Of course, my own ancestors aren’t so happy, since I’ve neglected them for this, but at the moment, I’m in a county where some of my people lived. I don’t think they were in this town, although there are some familiar surnames.

My interesting finds today: Two children (both alive) with the same name and the number 1 or 2 after the first name. Rich relative who promised to put in her will any child named after her? I also found a woman whose married name was Little who then married a Short. (I gleaned this from the name of the current husband and the stepchildren.)

“Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; belive that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.” Mosiah 4:5-13.

Extraordinary summary of what a testimony should be.

Remember the extraction program? It’s now gone high tech. You can sign up and do it at home on your own computer. I took the online training class and got a pretty certificate to hang alongside one from an extractathon from years ago. Now I download a set of 50 names and go to work, entering the data from the census record onto the form. They’ve made it as easy as possible, with autofills in many of the areas. You have a week to finish. If you don’t, they simply take it back and pass it along. I was slow at first, but I’m picking up speed and I’ve done 650 names. I intended to do one every Sunday, but some weeks I get more in.

One reason I take longer than the 30-60 minutes they estimate is that I get caught up in the stories hidden in seemingly dull census records. I always start by looking at the occupations to see if I’m in town or country, and at the birthplaces to see if I’m working with natives or immigrants. (This is the 1900 census.) Then I’m off and running. As I start a new family, I try to find the story in the family. Perhaps I find a man as head of household, with his wife, two children, his sister, his brother, his niece and his aunt. What brought so many people into his home?

One day I found a woman listed as head of household, and her husband listed as husband. This was the 1900s remember. The man was always listed as head of household if there was a husband. So what was the story? Anyone can give that census taker the information. Sometimes it even came from a neighbor if the family was away. I pictured a smart-alecky neighbor saying, “Oh, trust me, mister. That lady sure does wear the pants in that family.”

How does a young woman feel when she announces herself as the wife, and the years married as less than even a month? Or when a baby is listed who is so new she doesn’t even have a name yet? How does a woman feel when asked how many children she’s had and how many are living, and the first answer is 12, but the second answer is one?

There is so little information on that form, and yet so much is learned from the tiny details. There is a wealth of stories in there for a writer or an imaginer.

http://www.familysearchindexing.org/en/index.jsp

How to Write an Interesting Personal History Without Lying

“They have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious.; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.”

When I was searching for a church to join, there were things I believed that no one else seemed to believe. To me, they were so logical I couldn’t understand why the other churches I visited didn’t see their essentialness. The type of God I believed in would want those things to be part of his church, and I wondered if their God was the same one I was searching for.

Eternal families–I wrote a story as a child in which a child asked her father what the point in having a family was if it couldn’t last forever. To me, that’s the most baffling part of the gospel that got lost. If Heaven is where we’re all knocking ourselves out to get to, if it’s a reward, why would we want it without our families? I never want to do anything special without my family. It made me wonder how important families were to the people who told me I wouldn’t want them there.

Prophets: I was told we needed prophets at first because the first days were so complicated and hard. The end days are complicated and hard also, and I wondered why God wouldn’t send someone to help us along during them.

Works: I think most groups simply misunderstand our teachings, since we do believe resurrection comes to all regardless. But, if I say I believe something and then don’t do it, I don’t really, deep down believe it. I don’t touch hot stoves (on purpose) because I know it will hurt if I do. In the same way, I live the teachings I have the strongest testimony of. So my works are proof of the level of my faith in that teaching. Now, if I did them just for show, that would be another story, but God knows the difference. We can’t earn our way into Heaven, but we aren’t much of a Christian if we run around saying “I believe” and then do nothing about that belief. Besides…words are an action, so if we must say we believe and take Jesus as our Savior…well, that’s an act and if we can’t be saved by our acts…I think there are some serious gaps in that theory.

One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions

“I beheld and saw that the seed of my brethern did contend against my seed.”

By this time, Nephi understood that his brothers were not going to become righteous. He knew their wickedness would influence the many generations to come, even harming his own descendants. And yet he kept right on, for as long as possible, working with them, trying to bring them to the gospel. That must have been hard…it says a great deal for his determination to do the Lord’s work even against hopeless odds.

Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service

“And I, Nephi, also saw many of the fourth generation who passed away in righteousness.”

This is Nephi’s vision of the coming of the Savior to his people. The generation that saw Christ remained faithful. The children did too, some of whom were there. Even the third generation did, believing the testimonies of their grandparents, whom they loved and trusted. By the fourth generation, many were righteous, but not all. By then, fewer people had a first-hand testimony from someone they trusted, and I think that made a difference.

But it’s hard to imagine how the first rebelliousness returned. Today, we always assume it’s peer pressure, but someone had to be first.

Be Thou an Example

Nephi is asked if he knows the meaning of the tree in his father’s vision. He answers, “Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the chidlren of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things.”

God’s love is the most desireable of all things, and we all get to have it. He made sure we all had the best thing, regardless of our wealth, our cirumstances or anything else. We all get the best.

A Heart Like His: Making Space for God’s Love in Your Life

“I know that he loveth this children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all all things.”

That’s a lot. If it were all Nephi knew about God, it would be a lot.

For God So Loved the World

“But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore,he prpeparetha wayto accompish all this works among the children on men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling ofall his words. And thus itis. Amen.”

Even though we know God knows everything, I think sometimes that’s one of the hardest things for us to remember. When we’re wandering through life with our finite view, and God isn’t “cooperating” with what we want to have happen, it’s hard to keep in mind that He knows the big picture. We’re singing a song in Primary about how the Lord has given us a simple faith. I like that. Faith isn’t as hard as I tend to try to make it. Just a simple faith. “The Lord knoweth all things from the beginning.” If I keep that in mind, I don’t have to be able to make sense of the immediate picture, because he can see the big one and I just need to follow His lead.

If God Loves Me, Why This?: Finding Peace in God’s Plan for Us

1 Nephi 8: 34 These are the words of my father: For as many as heeded them, had fallen away.

This is the cause of so much inactivity–letting others decide for us how to live our lives. Learning to listen to the right voice is one of the hardest lessons of adulthood.

I remember once when one of my children was small and decided to have a tantrum in the middle of the store. I panicked, and bystanders all decided to chime in with criticism and advice. I tried to listen to everyone at once and the situation was not improving. Then a woman broke through and said, “You’re doing just fine. Don’t listen to anyone else.” I chose that voice to listen to, shut the others out, and did what I knew was best. It affected my whole life, and my child’s. Others might have been inconvenienced for a moment, but by the next day, they’d probably forgotten all about it. I think that was when I really understood that I could choose what voices to listen to, and the spirit’s voice should come first.

First Solo: Learning to Recognize the Spirit

1 Nephi 8:4 But behold, Laman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you…”

I often picture Lehi telling his family about the vision. He gathered his family together to share it with them. What was each person doing? Lehi was probably perched, intense, remembering the mixture of joy and fear he felt throughout the vision, trying anxiously to reach his wayward sons this time, never giving up. Nephi was probably equally intense, leaning forward, concentrating on seeing and understanding, focusing on the spirit. Sam would have listened carefully, perhaps glancing at Nephi periodically to see how he was responding to things said. Laman and Lemuel, I picture them bored and irritated, dad wasting another perfectly good day on these silly dreams of his. Perhaps they were angry that he was speaking negatively of them and that Nephi and Sam were, as always, being praised. That must get tiring for any sibling, however justified it is. Sariah, I picture her sitting back where she can see everyone, watching her husband with pride, watching her two noble sons with joy, and casting anxious glances at the two oldest, hoping that this time, the message will get through.

Picturing the scene is something I learned as a Primary teacher. If I picture the story, everyone becomes real and I read the story differently. It’s not enough to know what Lehi is thinking. You have to know the mood of his audience as well to understand how the telling of this vision affected the future.

Closing the Gap: A Strategy for Bringing Parents and Teens Together

At this point, Laman and Lemuel were still in a cycle of sin, followed by repentance. Did they have a little testimony at that point, enough to make them sorry they did something wrong, but not enough to keep from doing it in the first place? When did they stop trying? The types of sins they committed certainly would take away the spirit, so it would be harder and harder to maintain their testimonies.

The Miracle of Forgiveness

I can understand why Laman and Lemuel griped about moving. I’ve griped about it, even though I was moving to much nicer places than they were. And, if you accept that they didn’t really have testimonies, you can see why they didn’t understand this “weird” idea their father had of taking them on an extended campout.

But they did know their father was being threatened with death over his prophecies. And I would think that wouuld have affected them as well, so that they’d be glad to escape. Of course, maybe they’d have been gladder if the riches had come along so they could nab it, detour, and head in a more populated direction.

Maybe that’s why the riches had to be stolen by Laban–so the the older boys wouldn’t be tempted to grab it and run to a home more to their liking.

If God Loves Me, Why This?: Finding Peace in God’s Plan for Us

1 Nephi 7: 6 This is one of the verses that shows Nephi must have had sisters (although he mentions sisters later). Those who rebelled were, of course, Laman and Lemuel, two of Ishmael’s daughters (he had to have some rebellious ones or they wouldn’t have married Laman and Lemuel), and the two sons of Ishmael. Now, presumably, those sons married also, which suggests Nephi had two rebellious sisters, unless good sisters had to marry rebellious men. Interesting that Nephi didn’t mention their rebellions. Perhaps he wanted to protect the reputations of his sisters, because they were women?

Someday I’m going to start a chart of all the people mentioned from these families so I can guess how many people were really in Nephi’s family. Ishmael had three daughters who didn’t rebel–one for Nephi, one for Sam…one for Zoram? Nephi gained two other brothers in the wilderness, but they might have married cousins, or Ishmael might also have had children in the wilderness.

Obviously the girls didn’t do anything newsworthy. It’s just one of those weird things I catch myself wondering about.

The Life of Nephi

When Lehi sent his sons to get the plates, Laman and Lemuel whined and complained. Note that in 1 Nephi 7, Lehi tells them to once again go back, this time to get themselves some wives. And Nephi just says they did. Not a word of whining when those two boys are being sent to get some girls! No complaint that they could have done that when they got the plates. They just went.

It’s so much easier to keep the commandments that suit our own goals, isn’t it? So the trick is to make our goals line up with God’s, so they’re all easy.

Laman