A lesson

This past Sunday I taught the Relief Society lesson. My lesson was on "Becoming Self-Reliant". I have only taught two lessons but everytime I have told stories from my youth, stories that are not recorded anywhere. I feel I should write them down before I forget them. Since this is my journal, I will post them here and hopefuly my children and grandchildren will enjoy reading them.


We have been counseled by our Prophets to become self-reliant in six different categories: Education, Health, Employment, Home storage, Finances and Spiritual Strength. When I was thinking about what to teach I remembered some things that both my grandma and my mom had told me about when they were young. When talking about the importance of education I told my grandma's story. My grandma's parents were poor. My grandma used to wash her clothes in the river with a washboard when she was 7 or 8 years old. A relative of hers asked her mother if she could take one of her daughters to live with her in Ponce so that she would have someone to help her with the chores of the house. My greatgrandma said she could take my grandmother, Eugenia. My grandma was about 9 and she was very sad to leave her family, she felt her mother did not love her because of that. My grandma never finished school, she only had a third grade education. I remember her handwriting and reading skills were very poor. My grandma married and had 6 children, my mom was her fourth child and only daughter. I was told that my grandma would often go hungry so that her children would have something to eat. When my mom was in High School she learned skills that would help her become a secretary, like shorthand and how to use a typewriter among other things. She always told me she wanted to graduate from college but she could not, she tried but working full time and going to school was too difficult. She did get a very good job, she was the executive secretary for the Damas Hospital Director and the Board of Director's secretary, she did this for over 30 years. When my mom started working after High School the first thing she did was buy her parents their first home. They lived in Public Housing until my mom bought them their very first house. My mom took care of them until they died, my grandpa in 1973, he was 86, and my grandma in 1996, she was 92. My mom eventually had to take my grandma to live with her because she would forget things and once forgot she had something on the stove and caused a small fire in the kitchen. My mom took care of her until she died in my mom's home. My point was that with the skills that she learned and the education that she had gained in High School, my mom was able to take her parents out of poverty and have a better live. Then in talking about finances I mentioned how my parents wrote everything down on a ledger, every penny they spent they accounted for. My parents did not earn a lot. I remember when I was in High School we were asked for some reason I did not know, how much your parents earned. We had to fill out a form where we told our parents income. When I wrote what my parents earned, $36,000 a year my friends would tell me that we were rich, I guess that was a ton at that time in Puerto Rico. I think $2,000 a month was my dad's pension from the military. The remaining $1,000 was my mom's income. With that $1,000 she was able to care for her parents and have savings, then my dad paid for our home and our expenses. I was always happy and I felt that my house was huge (it really isn't) but to me it was a castle. We always had everything we needed, we never lacked anything. When my mom passed away this April, you could tell she was self-reliant. She did not depend on anyone, she had a little bit of money in the bank, her house and car were paid for, she was very independent. Before my mom had cancer she had purchased cancer insurance, so instead of leaving us with medical bills to pay, the insurance owed my brother and I some money. We did not even have to pay for the funeral, the insurance paid for it, my mom, a long time ago, had purchased a cemetary plot, I mean years ago when I was little, that is where my mom and dad are burried. She was prepared and it was evident in everything I saw. She had a will that she had done before my dad passed away. So when my brother and I went to sign papers at the attorney's office it was very simple, everything was divided in half. We were told by others of how amazed they were that everything had gone smoothly. I heard some people say that some families have squabbles over the inheritance but with us it was simple. My parents did not earn a ton but it was sufficient for their needs. That has always been a great lesson for me. When I mentioned Home Storage I spoke about how in Puerto Rico people just don't store food. We don't have the closets and it is too humid and hot. Also fruits are very expensive, especially strawberries, so you don't eat them very often. When I was 15 my mom was called as the Stake Relief Society President and she wanted to teach the sisters how to have a food supply, but she did not know how to do it. We went to visit a sister in San Juan (an hour drive from my home) that was the only sister in the island at the time that was knowledgeable in food storage. I always went with my mom everywhere so I went with her. I was impressed, she had a small linen closet that she used for her food storage. It was well organized and all the cans had dates on the top and I remember her telling my mom how she would use them and kept rotating them. That is how I learned food storage and that is what I do in my home. These examples I used in my lesson, but I felt I should write them because I don't want to forget them.


Also something interesting happened while I was teaching my lesson. I had printed and cut some quotes that I handed out to some sisters to read during the lesson. I had also printed an extra sheet of the quotes. I was going to leave it at home but felt I should take it with me. A new sister who is deaf and just moved in came to church for the first time. When I started teaching I realized that she could not hear what the sisters were reading so at that moment in my mind I heard "give it to her now". I gave her my extra print out of the reading assignments and she was so thankful. I realized that is why I had that extra copy. I am so thankful for my calling and for the wonderful experience that it has been. I was so scared at first. I am really enjoying it now. I love being there for the sisters and helping them.

A visit

Brother and Sister Knell, came to visit their daughter and new granddaughter over the weekend. They blessed the baby on Sunday. The Knells stayed with us. He is Abe Knell's brother, Abe is married to Gretchen, Brent's cousin.

Cassey and Baby Jane.

What we like to do.

What do my kids like to do?

I found Conner in my room in the corner curled up with a blanket and pillow, playing with his DS.

Parker likes to build Bionicles, take pictures of them and display his creations on a shelf in his bedroom.

What I like to do is knit. I knitted this blanket about a year ago, it has been sitting on a chair in my bedroom waiting for me to sew the left over strand of yarn into the stitch. I can't believe I had put it off this long when it only takes 5 minutes. Well here it is all finished. I keep it in my room, I don't want anyone to use it!!

Alison

Summer went by so fast. Alison left for Utah on Wednesday. We wish her a great year at BYU. We miss you Alison!!!

First day of school

Monday August 22 was the first day of school.

Parker started 10th grade.

Conner started 2nd grade.

Cocoa Beach

We had a great time at the beach. On the way there it was raining a lot so we thought we were giong to have to turn around and go home. But it turned out that it was the perfect weather when we got there.

Meet your teacher day

Conner's new teacher is Mr. Simms. He was born in Jamaica but raised in the US. He is very nice and friendly. I think it is going to be a good year for Conner.

This is Thomas, Conner's friend. They were together in pre-school and now they have the same teacher in 2nd grade. They are excited to be in the same class this year.

At the playground.