Foul

I am amazed by the amount of people I see not wash their hands.

I'm not a lover of public restrooms, but if I have to use one, I will.  The other day a woman flushed, came out of the stall, checked herself out in the mirror, fixed her hair, and then walked out of the bathroom, WITHOUT washing her hands. What did she touch as she left the store? What fruit did she test for ripeness? What cart was she using?

I am just amazed that grown adults can't be bothered to do such a basic hygienic practice.

On another note. A while ago I was again in a public restroom. There was a little girl standing by the paper towels waiting for her mom to finish. I went to the sink to wash my hands, and as I squirted soap on my hands (pre running them under the water) the little girl said, "Hey! You're supposed to get your hands wet FIRST and THEN put soap on them!"

It was funny.

Not so smarty pants!

I've been told I'm a smart person.

I would agree, but......sometimes I'm really really NOT smart.

Here are a few examples.

In church there is always a bell that rings loudly throughout the building sometime near the end of the second hour of church.  For 28 years I thought that bell was just some stupid kid ringing the doorbell outside the church.  Turns out it is a 5 minute warning bell so the Sunday School teachers know when to quit.

As a kid in primary we sang a song called Nephi's Courage.  In the chorus it says, "I know the Lord provides a way, he wants me to obey."  Up until a few months ago I thought it said, "I know the Lord provides away, he wants me to obey." As if providing like leaving, and the Lord "provides" away.  Like running away, he "provides" away.  Yeah.....seriously, thought that for like 25 years.

I've lived in Nauvoo my whole life.  The main street uptown is called Mulholland.  If driving west out of town on Mulholland street, the road naturally curves so you are now headed south.  OR you can go straight, but with the road, it feels natural to go around the curve.  Two days ago, I realized that when the street curves, it stops being Mulholland street and becomes Durphy street. So if someone is looking for the State Park they will find it on Durphy Street.  My mind was blown.

A few years ago I went to the DMV to get my license renewed. As we were doing the eye exam (which required me looking into a tiny machine), the lady asked me to read line 8. I read it, which went something like, "a,s,v,d,", and she said, "can you finish the line?" And I said, "that's all that is there." So she said, "...ummm can you read the line above it?" So I did, and it went something like this, "u,t,p,f,". And again she said, "can you finish the line?" And again I said, "there aren't anymore letters." So now she was quasi worried and asked me to read the very top line. I said, "ok, but it only has 4 letters too." She had me pull my face back from the machine, and as I did I realized my right eye was closed during the whole exam. I looked back in the machine, and four more letters appeared on the end of each line.

Haha! Right?!

They gave me a license anyway.

The Power IN Prayer

I was scrolling through Pinterest the other day and I came across this quote:

Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers DO make a difference. -Max Lucado

There is a lady from our community who has been coming to church every Sunday for the past couple of months. She knows a lot of us from working within the community, so I think she is comfortable being there, but not until recently did she make comments in Sunday School or Relief Society. This past Sunday I had to find a person to say the prayer in Relief Society before conducting.  I immediately thought of asking her, because I just really want her to feel included.  Being a Baptist (or former Baptist) I wasn't sure if she would accept.  I asked her and she looked at me like, "are you sure?!", and said, "I'd be honored!"

Her prayer was definitely not a "typical" LDS prayer.  She didn't say "Thee", or "Thou", or "Thy", or "Dear Heavenly Father", but there WAS a spirit brought to the room because of her prayer.

It just reaffirms the quote.

The power of our prayers isn't in the clever things we try to say. (Cause let's face it, whenever I have to say a prayer for a group, I spend lots of time trying to rehearse the prayer in my head so I don't sound like an imbecile when I stand up.)  The power rests solely on our Heavenly Father, and if we sincerely desire what we are praying for (not matter HOW we say it) He WILL answer it.