Meriden 3/24/13

March 24, 2013

My frustrating news is that I’ve been fighting a cold all week.  It started last Sunday; I thought it was pretty much gone by Wednesday, then Thursday it came back with a vengeance.  I’m still fighting it today.  So, I really didn’t do a whole lot this week except for school and homework.  Yesterday, I made it to Wal-Mart, but was ready to come home after a short time of being there.  After school on Thursday, I went to the base Firestone because a tire needed to be fixed.  I then went to the commissary.  As I was driving toward the gate, I was stopped at a stoplight, I noticed 2 airmen go in the middle of the lanes going out of the gate.  The light turned green so I went, but noticed one car wasn’t moving.  When I got to the exit, the 2 airmen stopped me and asked why I didn’t stop for the National Anthem.  Everyday at 5:00, the National Anthem is played.  Well, I didn’t hear it (I was in our Passat and it’s pretty insulated); I did see other cars moving.  Oh well.  I’ve only been on the base 2-3 times at 5:00 in the last 13 years, and I wasn’t feeling well; the playing of the National Anthem definitely wasn’t on my mind. 

Today was my day to teach Gospel Doctrine, but since I haven’t been feeling well, I haven’t felt like preparing a lesson, so I had this “brilliant” idea yesterday.  I called 3 people and had them choose 1 part of the lesson to give, each taking about 5 minutes (which I knew they would take more time than that).  Then, when I got to church, I told another person that I wasn’t feeling great and really wanted to go back home.  I told him of my lesson plan and he agreed to finish the lesson for me.  During Sacrament meeting, I was looking at the lesson and read the story about Samuel Smith, who went on a mission to the eastern states, but didn’t feel very successful.  He did place at least 2 Books of Mormon, one with Phinehas Young and the other with John Greene.  Well, John Greene’s wife was Rhoda Young, Phinehas’ sister.  Phinehas and Rhoda were Brigham Young’s siblings.  Because of those Books of Mormon, Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were baptized.  Then I wondered how Joseph Bates Noble found out about the church and it was on a mission of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball.  So, at the beginning of Sunday School, I told those stories to introduce the lesson, then left.  Later, I texted my friend, who was one of the three who gave part of the lesson, to see how it went.  She thought it went really well and would like to see lessons like that more often.  So, I may need to incorporate having others teach the lesson more often and I would just start and end the lesson. 

Nathan left at 5:30 am yesterday to go to a track meet in Chandler (about 2 hours from here).  He was to run in only 1 event, the 800 meter run.  Unfortunately, about 300 m into the run, his hamstring pulled.  That was disappointing; he had a real good first 300 m.  He won’t run in Wednesday’s meet, but hopefully the meet after that.  He didn’t get home until 1:30 this morning.  That was a long day for a short race. 

Nathan is on his 2-week spring break, so he’s been doing some schoolwork and spending time with friends. 

Jim is still doing great!

Have a great week!

Meriden