Lovely Sunday!

1. Mom was up before 6 this morning. I asked her why so early and she said she had to practice the organ. She also noted that she reads her scriptures every other morning of the week, and always seems to miss on Sunday. I told her not to worry....that we had it covered. I only read mine on Sunday. She may be contributing 6/7 of what is needed to get into "The Kingdom", but I do contribute my small part.

It is tough being married to a saint!


2. I was detained in the office, early last week, and wandered into one of my classes a little bit late. They were behaving well, but nothing productive was happening. We discussed the need for them to take some responsibility for their own education, and talked about all of the things they might have started to do, while waiting for me.

At the beginning of the next class that day, I simply sat there until they all quieted down and looked at me. I then asked what should be happening. It was interesting to see who took leadership roles in getting the class underway.

Over the course of the week, I discussed my new expectations with all of the classes. My modus operandi has been to wander in and out a bit during the first moments of class, and watch what they do to get things underway. The results have been exciting. Naturally, I need to present the new material, but they are very good at setting up review exercises, running some of our drills, and starting the oral book reports. Joseph Smith once said, "I teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves". That seems to work well, even with 13 year olds.

3. Betty's brother Lloyd and his wife Judy left at the end of this week. They had been living in our back yard, in their motor home, for the last 7 weeks. They stayed with us last year also, as it is a chance for Lloyd to work for our neighbor, Raymond Parks, to put away some extra money before they head down to Arizona for the winter.

It is interesting how my opinion of Lloyd has changed over the past couple of years. He was Annes' first child, born when she was very young. She lost custody of him to the parents of her irresponsible first husband, and thereafter saw very little of him. Her other children really knew nothing about him until they were in their teens, and then found his existence hard to accept.

He grew up as something of a roughneck...hard drinking and hard living...taking all of the toughest jobs. He is famous in the family as the eccentric who went out into the woods outside Kalispell, Montana, and lived without running water or other amenities for years. We all concluded that he was (is) a bit crazy, and perhaps that is (was) true.

Just the same, as I have come to know him, I have found a great deal to admire. He gave up drinking, cold turkey, about 15 years ago, and has never come back to it. He knows how to do anything mechanical in a near expert fashion. His work ethic is above reproach. Ray Parks absolutely swears by him, and feels that he is one of the best temporary workers he has ever hired over the years. Although he is very blue- collar and does not have the vocabulary of an educated man, he keeps himself well informed about the world around him.

Betty's brothers and sisters seem to want little to do with him, and, although he won't acknowledge it, this hurts him. He feels a bit like the black sheep of the clan. I once shared their point of view, and have come to realize that I was wrong. He is in many ways a true eccentric, but he is a good man.