I wanted to share part of today’s lessons, some from church and some from here at the house. When we got home from our meetings Lucy was smiling as we pulled into our driveway; she’d noticed the Fall colors had made their way into the Houston area. She asked me to snap a few photographs while some left over turkey from Thanksgiving was prepared for lunch.
Here in these two pictures moments in time were captured; a very light breeze, only enough to gently push the paddle which activates the wind chimes; but not enough breeze to generate its music, a healthy Philodendron plant next to the garage and further back the brightly colored leaves of our Crepe Murtle near the back fence. I heard the squirrels protesting loudly on the other side of the yard and it didn’t take long to figure out why; one of the Hobo Cousins, Head Buttr’, was hiding in between the pickets of the wooden fence just below where the squirrels like to play.
At church I was a last minute substitute in Primary, the other substitute was sick. I was asked to give a lesson on the Handcart pioneers who’d made their way to the Salt Lake Valley . That’ a tough lesson to teach, not because I didn’t have enough information; being able to control my emotions from dripping down my cheeks while explaining the many hardships those folks went through.
The Handcarts folks could barely afford the westward trek, taking the clothes they wore on their backs, perhaps a few small personal items, their scriptures and not much else; the size of the cart reduced their options considerably. These folks depended on the wagons to carry food and other provisions; but for the most part, what went on the cart was what they took across the great distance.
Many of them wore out their shoes and had to improvise, taking pieces of cloth to wrap their feet as protection from the sharp rocky ground and cold temperatures as winter fell upon them more quickly than anticipated. When they were ever so close to their destination, the Salt Lake Valley, a terrible storm trapped many of them and threatened their very lives as provisions ran out.
I had the children remove their shoes and imagine how it must have been to walk on and on each day, only to do the same the next day and the day after that. They wouldn’t have had electronic toys to pass the time, no television, no iPods or much to eat. They wouldn’t have a nice house to keep them warm at night; only a fire to keep them warm.
I asked them to consider what item they would have wanted to take with them on such a long trip, something that would fit in the handcart? It would have to be small and not weigh very much; even then their parents would have had to approve even the smallest item.
Sharing Time with these same children added a chance to reinforce my question, “What would you have taken on your handcart?”, as the next instructor brought out a make believe time capsule. She had assembled an assortment of items to be placed within the box which would be found fifty or a hundred years in the future. She then had one of the children begin to place items into the box and explain why it was important. What items would you put in a time capsule that would indicate things that are important to you today?
One of the items picked was the game Trivial Pursuit , a way to express how games are a good way to have fun as a family; but a different thought came to my mind. I thought it represented the less important “things of the world”, efforts spent obtaining stuff we really didn’t need that could have been more productive; maybe I’m looking at things as an adult instead of as a child.
I’d put my scriptures in the time capsule, all marked with favorite passages and notes I’d jotted along the edges of different pages. I’d carefully pack a laptop computer with instructions on its use, battery stored separately, with a high capacity external hard drive so as to be able to have all my writings, favorite music, books, photographs available and even a selection of my favorite movies.
I’d include a smaller sampling of the photographs and printable items in book form, carefully wrapped and protected from the elements, just in case the data or device was damaged by sun spot activity or some other electronic disaster. These printable items would include photographs, blog articles, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights and some front page sections of the local newspaper. I’d also include a nice dictionary and thesaurus in the event the finder of these articles needed a Rosetta Stone ,of sorts, to figure out the written samplings.
I might include some coins and paper money as an example of our monetary system and culture , or lack thereof. I might include my old high school class ring or some other piece of jewelry made of gold. Archeologists of the future might not figure out anything else; but they always understand the value of gold.
In the movie, The Time Machine , Mr. Philby asked a long reaching question once he realized the circumstances and the significance of limited space in such a contraption, pondering his friend traveling in time, a friend who’d come back to retrieve a few personal items and some books. Philby turned to the house woman, a woman who knew more about what might be missing, “So, what would you have taken with you, to start your brave new world?”
Here in these two pictures moments in time were captured; a very light breeze, only enough to gently push the paddle which activates the wind chimes; but not enough breeze to generate its music, a healthy Philodendron plant next to the garage and further back the brightly colored leaves of our Crepe Murtle near the back fence. I heard the squirrels protesting loudly on the other side of the yard and it didn’t take long to figure out why; one of the Hobo Cousins, Head Buttr’, was hiding in between the pickets of the wooden fence just below where the squirrels like to play.
At church I was a last minute substitute in Primary, the other substitute was sick. I was asked to give a lesson on the Handcart pioneers who’d made their way to the Salt Lake Valley . That’ a tough lesson to teach, not because I didn’t have enough information; being able to control my emotions from dripping down my cheeks while explaining the many hardships those folks went through.
The Handcarts folks could barely afford the westward trek, taking the clothes they wore on their backs, perhaps a few small personal items, their scriptures and not much else; the size of the cart reduced their options considerably. These folks depended on the wagons to carry food and other provisions; but for the most part, what went on the cart was what they took across the great distance.
Many of them wore out their shoes and had to improvise, taking pieces of cloth to wrap their feet as protection from the sharp rocky ground and cold temperatures as winter fell upon them more quickly than anticipated. When they were ever so close to their destination, the Salt Lake Valley, a terrible storm trapped many of them and threatened their very lives as provisions ran out.
I had the children remove their shoes and imagine how it must have been to walk on and on each day, only to do the same the next day and the day after that. They wouldn’t have had electronic toys to pass the time, no television, no iPods or much to eat. They wouldn’t have a nice house to keep them warm at night; only a fire to keep them warm.
I asked them to consider what item they would have wanted to take with them on such a long trip, something that would fit in the handcart? It would have to be small and not weigh very much; even then their parents would have had to approve even the smallest item.
Sharing Time with these same children added a chance to reinforce my question, “What would you have taken on your handcart?”, as the next instructor brought out a make believe time capsule. She had assembled an assortment of items to be placed within the box which would be found fifty or a hundred years in the future. She then had one of the children begin to place items into the box and explain why it was important. What items would you put in a time capsule that would indicate things that are important to you today?
One of the items picked was the game Trivial Pursuit , a way to express how games are a good way to have fun as a family; but a different thought came to my mind. I thought it represented the less important “things of the world”, efforts spent obtaining stuff we really didn’t need that could have been more productive; maybe I’m looking at things as an adult instead of as a child.
I’d put my scriptures in the time capsule, all marked with favorite passages and notes I’d jotted along the edges of different pages. I’d carefully pack a laptop computer with instructions on its use, battery stored separately, with a high capacity external hard drive so as to be able to have all my writings, favorite music, books, photographs available and even a selection of my favorite movies.
I’d include a smaller sampling of the photographs and printable items in book form, carefully wrapped and protected from the elements, just in case the data or device was damaged by sun spot activity or some other electronic disaster. These printable items would include photographs, blog articles, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights and some front page sections of the local newspaper. I’d also include a nice dictionary and thesaurus in the event the finder of these articles needed a Rosetta Stone ,of sorts, to figure out the written samplings.
I might include some coins and paper money as an example of our monetary system and culture , or lack thereof. I might include my old high school class ring or some other piece of jewelry made of gold. Archeologists of the future might not figure out anything else; but they always understand the value of gold.
In the movie, The Time Machine , Mr. Philby asked a long reaching question once he realized the circumstances and the significance of limited space in such a contraption, pondering his friend traveling in time, a friend who’d come back to retrieve a few personal items and some books. Philby turned to the house woman, a woman who knew more about what might be missing, “So, what would you have taken with you, to start your brave new world?”
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