Family Almanac - April 5th

Sitting on our kitchen table, we have a little basket which we call our family almanac. In the basket is a card for each day of the year where we write things we want to remember.

While listening to conference earlier today, I was thinking it would be good to occasionally post some of my "conference memories." One of the first that came to mind was the day I was cleaning the playroom (bleaching the mildew off the walls) one Saturday while listening to general conference. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself because no one else was helping me. Then I heard Elder Holland tell me how important motherhood was, that he understood the sacrifices we were making, and that it would really make a difference in the lives of our children. All of a sudden, I was okay.

So, right now the boys are at the priesthood session and Michelle is at a friend's house. I was in the kitchen going through our camping supplies and making sure everything was in order for early Monday morning when I noticed that the kids had flipped the cards to today's entry, and there it was! 1997: Clean playroom during Elder Holland's "mothers" talk. For eleven years I've been able to draw on his words for comfort and encouragement. I decided to take a quick break and post that memory now! (If you're interested, you can read that talk here.)

For the benefit of the kids who are away from home, the additional entries are -

1982: Visit Salt Lake with Wayne's parents and meet President N. Eldon Tanner. (This was when we were engaged and they came to Utah for conference weekend to meet me. My mother-in-law was Pres. Tanner's secretary before her marriage, and they liked to visit whenever they could. - I hope I remembered the details correctly!)

1985: Santiago North Chile mission reunion (A chance for Wayne to catch up with his old mission president and companions)

2006: Mutual - Senior Send Off (This would have been for Brad. Our ward has a tradition of taking a mutual night to spotlight each senior - someone makes a slideshow of pictures showing them growing up set to a song of their choosing, the parents read a letter to them, and they bring their favorite dessert. It's a lot of fun and we're looking forward to Jeff's next month!)

Comments

Harlene said…
Thanks for sharing. I remember that talk as well, I was very sick and on bed rest at the time. Certainly not feeling like I was accomplishing anything. It really helped.

Your almanac idea is great. What a treasure.
Beckstrand7 said…
I likewise appreciated your words! I was also touched by all the comments made for mothers at this general conference, starting with the prayer from the Saturday morning session...I was needing these references. God is SO good to each of us.

I also love your almanac idea, and want more details on it...