Donna's Journey

OK, the first seed catalog arrived today for 2008! It is the big Gurney one. I have a feeling that I may be planting in two places this year, here and possibly Monticello.

Wow, high altitude gardening and cooking. A new adventure. We are at 4800 ft with a large lake and mountains that temper the weather. Monticello is at 7066 feet. I may end up with a green house after all! That is a romantic idea of mine. There are short seasoned varieties. I can also grow various kinds of berries. However, until we buy and sell, I will think of this garden, which a may or may not get to harvest from.

Many of our recipes we use the old fashion method of testing in ice water, only a few recipes that will be needed to be adjusted for high altitude, mainly cakes and cookies.

The snow keeps coming. The winds are blowing. This is a time of being cozy inside, a time to reflect, and a time to enjoy the company of good friends. As I sat down to muse on my day the impression came to call and invite two specific friends to join us for dinner. I called. They accepted. I popped a whole chicken and chicken breasts in the oven for a simple supper.

Meanwhile, I sit in front of my Christmas tree watching the snow swirl outside and the branches vibrate in the wind. I think I will blog about today.

When I returned home last evening I was informed a friend had called. I sensed she was going to ask me to help with her class today. She asked that I speak to the 14-15 year old young women about Participating in the Cultural Arts. Ah, a subject near and dear to my heart.

My friend Nancy led into my presentation by having the young ladies brainstorm what cultural arts are. Then she gave the theme of today’s lesson. There are two ways we participate, being the creator and being the one who experiences the cultural arts. I believe we need to do both. I started with a scripture Exodus 31:1-5 I learned this from an Art Professor at BYU, Wulf Barsch, he called it the Bezaleel Principle. I also reflected on how God refers to the creations of his hands– workmanship.

What is an important purpose of the Cultural Arts in our lives? I shared a quote that has meant a lot to me from –Filling the World with Goodness and Truth By Elder M. Russell Ballard Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Ensign magazine, July 1996. “God’s purpose for the artist is to inspire, to give us visions of ourselves that we might not otherwise see, to make us better than we would have been. The world is better for the arts and righteous artists in it. In the quest to achieve greatness in artistic pursuits—whether in painting, dance, music, drama, film, sculpture, or the written word—we should always seek first to achieve God’s purposes.”

I shared that though some may seem to be ahead in some talents, one can still learn and do the work to develop. I shared with them a Christmas Booklet from President Heber J. Grant from 1939. Heber had struggled with writing and applied himself to much practice. This booklet has samples of his hand writing, a beautiful hand by anyone’s standard, very balanced, deliberate, and flowing. I shared how people thought he wrote chicken scratch and how he worked hard to learn to write and did the hard work of mastering it, and overcoming his weakness of chicken scratch. He also sang quite irritatingly and worked on that too and developed a good singing voice. He wanted to play baseball but was uncoordinated. He worked to learn the game, he practiced pitching and batting. He trained his muscles to be coordinated and eventually played in the minor league.

I quoted fro President Kimball’s land mark talk The Gospel Vision of the Arts. This talk I feel was a landmark address that was reprinted in 1977, while I was still studying art at BYU. So much has happened in the church, in the arts over the last 30 years, and I feel more is yet to come. “If we strive for perfection—the best and greatest—and are never satisfied with mediocrity, we can excel.” “How could one ever portray in words and music the glories of the coming of the Father and the Son and the restoration of the doctrines and the priesthood and the keys unless he were an inspired Latter-day Saint, schooled in the history and doctrines and revelations and with rich musical ability and background and training?”

When I created my award winning Tree of Life, I increased my temple attendance to be close to the spirit and sensitive to His promptings, as I struggled to work through the creative process.

Then I shared from the article, “Oh, how our world needs statesmen! And we ask again with George Bernard Shaw, “Why not?” We have the raw material, we have the facilities, we can excel in training. We have the spiritual climate. We must train statesmen, not demagogues; men of integrity, not weaklings who for a mess of pottage will sell their birthright. We must develop these precious youth to know the art of statesmanship, to know people and conditions, to know situations and problems, but men who will be trained so thoroughly in the arts of their future work and in the basic honesties and integrities and spiritual concepts that there will be no compromise of principle.” So, what does statesmanship have to do with the cultural arts, anyway? They all do with communication, impact, and having the integrity to develop our gifts, add to them, and use them for His purposes in our lives. I encouraged the young women to seek God’s will in their lives, to develop their gifts, to seek for others, and pay the price.

Happy Anniversary to us! Yes, it has been 30 years, 7 children and 5 grandchildren of joy. Would I do it all again? You bet.

We had a quiet day. I read aloud and discussed from Edward Tuttle’s book this morning. This afternoon we spent visiting close friends, the Leruds, then the Woodfields, and just chatting. A friend, Gail Woodfield, a member of the MOTAB, sang Happy anniversary to us.

This evening Roger and I went to Los Hermanos, in Lindon, for dinner with our dear friends the Leruds. We went to get tickets for National Treasure II but they were sold out, so we went home and chatted. We enjoyed deep gospel discussion. Jennifer pointed out how Brigham Young said God expected us to come into the Gospel and use the brains that we were given. That we could not be exalted if we were spiritually lazy and were just blindly obedient.In the church we are encouraged to read the scriptures and study them ourselves, to write down spiritual impressions and do them. I have had experience with members of other faiths that have been taught false things about my faith and encouraged not to associate with us, calling us a cult. Yet, to me cult behavior is relying on the arm of flesh, and being blindly obedient. I am grateful to be able to pray and study the scriptures, not for any private interpretation, of mine, or another man’s, such as a minister’s, but the influence of the Holy Spirit.

All in all a very satisfying anniversary.

I did an internet search for Edward Mowbray Tuttle today. He was my husband’s maternal grandfather and he died the year before I met my husband. Last year I went through a biography on this statesman compiled by his daughter, my mother-in-law, Edward Mowbray Tuttle 1889-1976. . I am thankful that my mother-in-law preserved her father’s memory in a Documentary biography. She preserved the hand written lists of all the classics he read in the pre World War I years when he was assistant editor of the Rural School Leaflet at Cornell University. I saw many of the books on that list that I have read. Oh, how I desire to sit across from this man and exchange insights and learn!

Today, I discovered an article Education by Will Versus Education by Order written by him. My attempts to procure a copy on the internet, were fruitless. Then I discovered that it was included in a book he wrote, School Board Leadership in America . I have the book. So, I searched my stacks and found it. He was responding to ideas published in an article about Soviet Education written by William Benton. I read the grandpa Tuttle’s article aloud to my husband. In fact, I read two chapters. I will type more about this later.

He was both Liber and a statesman. Why would I say this? First, he was broadly educated in the classics, much more due to his own drive and interests, and less by educational assignments. He was mentored by Alice Gertrude McCloskey, and he mentored many young scholars at Cornell University. He had broad field experience in education and publishing. Edward was deeply grounded in his faith in God. He used this background and experience to step forward, often at his own expense, to make a difference in the Publishing and Educational arenas. I will share more details later.

I have been inspired by husband’s maternal grandfather, Edward Mowbray Tuttle, and my husband’s fraternal great grandfather Emmett Stull Goff. Both men were Liber and Statesman. Discovering these things are a result of compiling information on ancestors who were Pilgrims, Pioneers, Patriots, and Statesmen. Julia wants to compile these stories in a book for our posterity. She will also have enough to write of Terrible Tyrants and Benevolent Monarchs.

In future posts I will share why I think Edward Mowbray Tuttle and Emmet Goff are statesmen and more.

I know, I know. This is a boring blog. Boring is in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? Boredom is a choice, and a sad one at that.

No pictures found here, because, quite frankly, I have not taken the time to figure out how to add a picture in my blog, and this is not as idiot proof as blogger. So, you get travel log, with an occasional outburst of inspiration or information.

Just a pensive mood I guess. A time of reflection. A tipping point. Will I fall in the boiling oil or will I be stretched on the rack. So much to process. So little time. Too many variables. This is the time to evaluate and redirect energies.

Tomorrow is our 30th wedding anniversary.

Last night I had such chest pain it brought me to tears. Heartburn. Inflamed connective tissue right side of sternum. I knew it was not a heart attack, this was vaguely familiar. I took Cayenne and it did not help. I took aspirin and it did not subdue the pain. I had a blessing and a back rub and went to bed. I did not know what was going on. I thought it was possibly an anxiety attack, brought on by stress.

I woke before dawn and realized that I had dislocated my shoulder again. Then I remembered when I went to Liber League this summer, suffering the same. That time I went to Dr. Neal Logan in Cedar City, a Chiropractor and friend. Three ribs and my shoulder were out. He adjusted me and I took some aspirin. By the time I was back at Liber League, the pain was gone. So, tomorrow I go to a local chiropractor and get it taken care of. I cannot for the life of me figure how I tweaked my shoulder. I must have slept on it wrong. When I realized what was going on, this morning, I tried to rotate things back. Well, it helped, a little.

Roger and I drove to Monticello and back today. Yet another unfruitful trip. The house we went to see was over priced and would take far too much money to fix up, at the current asking price. The last home we checked out had been taken care of very well, but was way too small. So, it does not look like we will be moving during this semester, but who knows. We may just buy land an build. We will see. For now, my children are elated. They do not look forward to the move. I finally got my home fixed the way I like and am enjoying it. I was not looking forward to moving in the middle of my thesis. Now I may still move, but I will have more time to work on my thesis.

On the stained glass front, the couple that had wanted to commission me to do an over sized religious piece (30 square feet) for their new home, were not prepared to pay my bid and had not realized the complexity of such a huge endeavor. This reduced my stress further. I still have another bid pending, but it is an architectural piece of simple geometric design. This frees me to focus on my thesis and this summer whether we are in Orem or Monticello, I can work on a creation to submit to the church exhibit. I may or may not do the Ten Virgins as my next piece. There is a chance that I will do one of two other pieces that have been pressing on me to be created, namely Seeking the Source and Phoenix Rising. Really, the Phoenix would need about 18 feet of height to make it dramatic and do it justice and that is beyond specs for the church competition, so Seeking the Source is a great possibility. And I dream on…

Merry Christmas my friends. Remember the great gifts that have been given to you by our Lord and Savior. They are priceless. Gifts that no other could bestow. Greater love hath no man than to lay down His life for His friends. He marked the path and led the way. he stands at the door and knocks. It is my hope that we will invite Him in. May your New Year be filled with abundance and joy.

Scripture Mosiah 3:5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.
6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.
7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.
8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning;

Christmas Carol: Silent Night

Christmas Story: One Solitary Life by James Allen Francis

Scripture: Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Christmas Carol: We Three Kings of Orient Are

Christmas Story: The Other Wise Man from a story by Henry Van Dyke

No we do not worship or pray to Joseph Smith. There is only one way to Heaven and that is through the merits of Jesus Christ. No man comes to the Father but through Jesus Christ. When the persecutions came, I am grateful that Joseph continued as an instrument in God’s hands in assisting restoring the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that all may receive the blessings thereby. I am thankful for the restoration of the true nature of God, as voiced by Stephen the martyr in the Book of Acts. I am grateful for the blessings of living in the Fullness of Time brings into my life.