Fun Friday: Conversations with a two year old.

Today is Friday.  I am in bed, ready to welcome the weekend with a long sleep.


"If you take the words of a two-year-old and put them in the mouth of a grown man,
suddenly the malevolence and intimidation really shine through."

Second episode here:

Enjoy your weekend.

(I found this via A Cup of Jo)

My brother and the beach.

This is my brother.
He came to visit us for a few days earlier this year, and on this particular day we walked the beaches and practised our photography.

He and I are really good friends.  We just get each other, and are always quoting movies and laughing together.

I won't embarrass him.  But he is a genius.  He will go places, and will hopefully remember me when he's a well-travelled famous man.

Photo: a mother's embrace.

A family is forever.

I have a family, here on earth.  They are so good to me.

I want to share my life with them through all eternity.

Families can be together forever, through Heavenly Father's plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

and the Lord has shown me how I can.

The Lord has shown us how we can.

While I am in my early years, I'll prepare most carefully,
So I can marry in God's temple for eternity.

Families can be together forever, through Heavenly Father's plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

and the Lord has shown me how I can.

The Lord has shown us how we can.

(source)

Way back in June.

The sun was setting.  It was a windy day.  And our tummies were full of great tucker from a little town down the coast.

Can you believe I'm only just now getting around to uploading these photos?

Back in June, my parents flew down to Adelaide for the long weekend.  They say they were visiting me, but I know what they were really up to.  They were inspecting my living conditions.  Our newly bought house, the work we had done and planned to do, and how I was faring so far away without them.  And ensuring I was looking after Matthew.

Hopefully the weather has made up its mind where you are.

Rebekah: the real fairy tale story?

So, what is the value of a covenant?

I've been thinking a lot about this lately.  The past six months, practically, because the Old Testament is all about remembering Christ.  That's the Old Testament in a teeny tiny nutshell.
How do I feel about being born with the Abrahamic covenant as my inheritance?
How much do I value that covenant?


Great effort was made to ensure that Issac married within the covenant.
The people of Israel were taught to not marry outside the covenant.  It was a commandment from the Lord, For they will turn away thy son [or daughter] from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

(Deuteronomy 7:3-4)

You see, your decision to marry someone affects generations.
Who you marry and where you marry has a huge impact on your marriage, on your children, and on your children's children.  Almost two years ago, Matthew and I were married and we decided to be married for time and eternity.  We made covenants to each other and to the Lord - see here - that now bind us and our posterity together for eternity ... if we are faithful to each other and the Lord.  Sure, we got all dressed up and had a blast on the day - hello, it was our wedding day!
But when all is said and done, the important things were who I married, where I married, and what I promised.

 (source: Old Testament Visual Resources DVD)
Clearly based on the assumption we all have five kiddies.

Choosing a marriage partner is important for everyone, but especially for those who desire the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, mainly because of the promise of an eternal family.  If a husband and wife both accept and keep the Abrahamic covenant - which is fully received in the temple - they can have the blessing of an eternal family.

This is why great effort was made to ensure the marriage of Isaac was within the Covenant.


Hello Rebekah.

This is how is went down (according to Genesis 24:1-33, 49-60).
Abraham was getting on in years, and must have been worrying about the future of his children, as fathers tend to do.  Both he and Sarah desperately wanted their children to continue in righteousness, and marry someone righteous.  Of course this was especially important for Isaac, because he was the covenant son.  Who he married who affect history.

So Abraham sent his eldest servant, the one who ran the household and property, and together they made a promise that the servant would choose a bride for Isaac, a bride that was not from the land of Canaan, but from Abraham's homeland.  A girl from back home.  They even shook hands (not thighs) on it.

The servant left on his quest, taking ten camels with him.  They were carrying all of Abraham's material possessions, to help in claiming Isaac's bride.  He travelled to the city of Nahor, stopping outside for the camels to drink out of the well.  It just happened to be the same time of day that the women drew their water from the well.  Hello.  So this faithful servant prayed to the God of Abraham that He would show kindness on Abraham, and that the young woman to whom he asks for a drink - if she be the one - she should answer "Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also".  That is how he would know.

And that is how Rebekah entered the story.  In fact, the servant hadn't even finished praying yet, and she walked out of the city with a pitcher on her shoulder, ready to draw water from the well.  Of course, as it turned out, Rebekah just happened to be Isaac's first cousin once removed.  She was extremely beautiful, good and pure.

The servant practically ran over to her, and asked "Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher."  Rebekah answered "Drink, my lord", and quickly put down her pitcher and gave him drink.  She then said "I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking."  Remember, there were ten thirsty camels.  That is a lot of drawing water!
And so, the servant offered her a gold earring and two gold bracelets - all quite heavy in weight - and asked who she was and if he could find lodging in her father's house.  This was how he met her family - Abraham's relatives, including her brother Laban - and how Rebekah became betrothed to Isaac.

Rebekah at the Well - Michael Deas
(source)

And so Isaac and Rebekah were married under the covenant, similar to Matthew and me.

What did you think of Rebekah's character?  According to Bruce R. McConkie, she is the "patter for what her daughters in the church today can do."  [1]  She is meant to be our example today. 

• When she said "I will go" (in Genesis 24:58), she was being an example of great faith, having a clear understanding of the importance of marriage in the covenant.
• Later in her life, when she was having a difficult pregnancy, she went directly to the Lord and inquired about it (in Genesis 25:21-24).  Two nations are in they womb, he answered.  We see when Rebekah was troubled and needed divine guidance, she herself took the matter up with the Lord, and he spoke to her in reply.  The Lord truly gives revelation to women who pray to him in faith.
• When Esau married Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, both Rebekah and Isaac grieved (in Genesis 26:34, 35).  It meant Esau had married out of the church, not in the Lord's system of celestial marriage.  This would have brought great sorrow to these parents.  So, when it became time to marry Jacob off, it was Rebekah that ensured everything was done right.  Genesis 27:46 tells us she had great anxiety about this; she must have felt those natural feelings of fear that he too might depart from the teachings of his parents and marry someone who was not eligible to receive the blessings of eternal marriage.  That's why this awesome woman got Isaac's attention (in Genesis 28:1).  We see a mother greatly concerned about the marriage and future of her son, and she prevailed upon the father to do something about it.

We aren't told much about Rebekah's side of this story in the text, simply that she unflinchingly agreed to the proposal.  What does this tell us about her faith?  She would have known who Isaac was, and no doubt the importance of covenant marriage.  Regardless of there not being much detail from her perspective, her astounding character shines out.

You see, your decision to marry someone does affect generations.



[1] Bruce R. McConkie, In Conference Report, Sydney Australia Area Conference 1976, pp.34-35

Prayers are answered in the best way.

In Primary last Sunday, we talked about all prayers ... and being parents - I'll get to that in a tick.

But to kick the lesson off, I sang a song.  I've discovered that out of all the possible ways to get the kids to listen attentively and act as reverent as possible, I sing primary songs.  Every week without fail, I sing as they colour in.  They usually join in.  It works a treat.

So I sang the words to "Quickly I'll Obey", and repeated it with them joining in, watching my mouth and trying to copying the words.

When my mother calls me, Quickly I'll obey.
I want to do just what is best, each and every day.

When my father calls me, Quickly I'll obey.
I want to do just what is best, each and every day.

Heav'nly Father loves me, blesses me each day.
I want to do just what is best, each and every day.

This led right into our discussion about our earthly parents and our heavenly parents, and why we should obey them.  I asked the kids what they thought, and got so many great responses.  It's fun, never knowing what mood they'll be in and if they'll answer with the 'right' kind of answer, or if they'll bounce off the walls and start the trend of being unrighteously cool.

They were spiritually cool this time, and answered that parents and Heavenly Father know what's best for us.

I then told a story about a child that had a bad dream.  I tried to act it out a bit, capturing the feeling of being lost and frightened.  I think it always helps to widen the eyes.

Did you ever have bad or scary dreams when you were young?  What did you do?  Other than cry, of course, we all agreed we'd want our mummies.  One kid jumped right ahead and said they would pray.  We weren't up to that kind of spiritual discussion, but they were dead on.  Prayer is comforting, just like mummy's hugs.

After talking about why we would call for our parents, we swung the discussion towards calling out to Heavenly Father for help.  Of course, that is through prayer.  I mentioned that my Mum lives in a different city to me, and that we have to speak to each other via the telephone or Skype.  My explanation of Skype didn't work so well.  But they totally understood when I said that is what prayer is like.

The point, however, that I repeatedly repeated was that we should be talking to Heavenly Father LOTS.  'How often to you talk to you parents?  Once a week?'  Nooooooooooo.  'Once a day?'  Nooooooooooo.  It is so easy to forget that Heavenly Father is a parental figure for us.  He needs to hear from us, just as much as we chat to our parents.

Here is a great story about Brother John A. Widtsoe, or "Brother John" as I called him in class.  I had one of the boys pretend to be Brother John.  I shook his hand, 'Why hello Brother John!'  He had a whale of a time being Brother John:

John’s father died when he was young, and John’s mother worked hard to support her children.  John wanted to get a job to help her.  It was not easy to find a job he could do after school, but he finally found one.  One day the man he worked for told him he had done a good job for several weeks and paid him with a five-dollar gold piece.

We all imagined a huge gold piece - I indicated a giant coin with my hands almost the size of a gold ball.  This was fun. 

John said: “Five dollars!  That was money!  I was jubilant!  I would give half of it to my mother; I would buy a new book, and save the remainder.  Into the pocket of my trousers went the bright new gold piece, and off I ran to tell my mother of my good luck.

Brother John then pretended to run to his mum.

But, I said,“On the way home, I put my hand in the pocket to feel … the money.  It was not there!  
Go on, pretend to look for it in your pockets.

I felt all through the pocket again.  The gold piece was not there!  Instead, I found a hole in the pocket through which the coin had slipped.  It was terrible!  I was so sorry that I sat down by the ditch bank and cried.”

I don't have to tell you that my little actor proceeded to crumble up on the floor, pretending to be all sad-like.


John walked back along his path, looking for the gold piece.  The sidewalk he had been walking on was made of planks (boards), and he searched the cracks between every plank.  But he could not find the money.  He finally decided the money was lost for good.

Then all of us, including me, got up and pretended to look for the lost coin.  It was a thorough search.  We found some plastic on the floor, a shred of gold glitter paper, and lots of rubbish in the rubbish bin.

So now what do we do?  They totally knew where I was going with this ...

John said: “Then I remembered that the Lord knew where that gold piece was, and that if he would help me, and wanted me to find it, it could not be lost for long.

“So I got down on my knees [in] back of a big tree, and told the Lord all about my trouble, and asked him, if he thought it was the best thing for me, to help me find [the gold piece].  When I got up I felt so much better.  I felt sure the Lord had heard my prayer.

“[It was getting dark].  One could not see anything on the ground very clearly, especially a small piece of gold.  But I walked right on, not so slowly this time, for I knew the Lord was helping.  About half way up the second block, there in the grass lay my lost five dollar gold piece. … I almost shouted with joy.  How glad my mother would be, and how I would enjoy that book I had planned to buy.  I leaned up against the fence and said, ‘Thank you, O Lord, for finding my money for me. 

“Since that time I have known that the Lord hears prayers.”  [1]

I like how John offered a second prayer - a prayer of thanks.

Have you had any experiences like this one?
When you ask for help, Heavenly Father will hear you.


The real lesson to be learnt is this one : prayers are answered in different ways.

Looking at a black and white picture of Zacharias and Elizabeth holding their baby boy John, I told the story found in Luke 1:5–17 - that they were both righteous people, and that they had prayed lots and lots for a baby.

One day, an angel visited Zacharias in the temple, and said:

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. (Luke 1:13–14)

And you know what?  The angel's message did happen, and Zacharias and Elisabeth had a baby boy.
So Heavenly Father had heard all of Zacharias and Elisabeth’s prayers all along.  It just hadn't been the right time for their child to be born.  This was because, of course, baby John would grow up to be a great prophet, born at that specific time to prepare many people to believe in Jesus Christ.  And baptise him.


Can you see that sometimes we pray for something that is really really good, but it turns out it's just not the right time?  Heavenly Father hears all our prayers and answers them in the ways and times that are best for us.

This is when we talked about our parents - sometimes we ask them for something, and they say 'no' because they know it it not good for us.  Or perhaps 'not yet' or 'not now'.

To illustrate this point - and I was sure this exercise would backfire - we played a game.  I had each kid take turns at pretending to be a parent.  I would give them the scenario (I ended up being the child), and they had to decide what was best for me.

As it turns out ... these kiddies are going to make great parents.  They were all spot on, for the most part.  We did have some fun ...

Here are some examples:

Q:  Your child is hot and hungry, and wants to eat an ice cream bar.  And it’s almost dinnertime.  What do you say?  Why?

Q:  Your child wants to wear a swimming suit out to play.  It is a cold, rainy day.  What do you say?  Why?

Q:  Your children have finished all their work.  They ask if they can go play outside.  What do you say?  Why?

Q:  Your children are not very careful with their toys or books.  Rather than take care of them, they want to buy new ones.  Then, at the store, they see one of their favourite books and ask if they can have it.  What do you say?  Why?

So guess what, boy and girl bloggers.  Parents want what is best for their children, and so does Heavenly Father.  Heavenly Father always answers our prayers, and he answers them in ways that are best for us.  Just as our parents sometimes say 'yes', sometimes 'no', and sometimes 'not now', our Heavenly Father may answers our prayers with a 'yes', with a 'no', or sometimes with a 'not now'.
I honestly believe that Heavenly Father knows what is best for each of us, and that he always answers our prayers in the best way.

You should accept Heavenly Father’s answers to your prayers, even when the answer is “no” or “not now.”


Clearly adapted and quoted and practically copied from Primary CTR lesson #19.

[1]  Taken from John A. Widtsoe, “The Lost Gold Piece,” Children’s Friend, Sept. 1947, p. 369

Willing to serve.

Somebody in my family of two is speaking in sacrament meeting tomorrow.
Which reminds me ... I wonder if they read this?

Have a good weekend!  Don't freeeeeze too much, like us.

God established a covenant.

I really do think the concept of the war in heaven continuing today is interesting.

Before you and I were here on Earth as we are today, we were together.  We hung out together, you and I, as spirit children of our Heavenly Father.  If you don't believe me, I promise you it's in the scriptures. 
And it makes sense.  This life of ours has a greater purpose than you suppose.

Anyway, I find it interesting that good and evil have been at battle since then.

Our loving Heavenly Father, God, proposed this glorious plan for us to come to Earth, to gain bodies, to learn, to have families, and to find our way by choosing for ourselves. 
Our elder brother volunteered to be our Saviour, because one would be needed.  And Lucifer threw a tantrum.

And the war in heaven began.
And the battle between choosing the right and being swayed to do evil continued.  It followed us down.  We are human, after all.

Adam and Eve are great role models for how parents should be, and how families can be.
That is, we want the best for our children, and we teach them all we can so they can choose good and reach their potential.

Cain didn't do so well with that.  But nonetheless, it's good to know families have been that way since forever.  No family is perfect.  Whatever perfect is.  No one has it all together.
The scriptures can assure us of that.

Read here for an example of righteousness in Adam's posterity.
Read here for an example of wickedness in Adam's posterity.


Before moving on to the next chunk in biblical history, I think it important to note the covenant that God made after the Flood.  Remember, the wicked had just been destroyed by flood, and only a remnant of mankind was preserved.

And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Genesis 9:8-17)

(source - some good thoughts about the rainbow here)

The rainbow was the token, or symbol, of the covenant made - that God would never again flood the Earth to destroy all living things.

I do recommend noting Joseph Smith's translation of this passage in Genesis here (JST, Genesis 9:17–25).
But the following may also shed more light on this token and the covenant it signifies:

“The Lord hath set the bow in the cloud for a sign that while it shall be seen, seed time and harvest, summer and winter shall not fail; but when it shall disappear, woe to that generation, for behold the end cometh quickly.”

“I have asked of the Lord concerning His coming; and while asking the Lord, He gave a sign and said, ‘In the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign and token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest during that year: but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a token that there shall be famine, pestilence, and great distress among the nations, and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant.’”  [1]

I find it curious that this event is not believed by some.
But hey, this was not believed by the great and wise people of Noah's day either ..


And just like that, the Earth was given another chance.  A clean state.


Hmm.  And then what happened ... ?
Some clever people decided to build a tower to get to heaven.

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
(Genesis 11:1-4)

Why on earth did they do that??
What were their motives?  How could they have gotten it so wrong?

Well hang on a tick .. let's look at what happened as a result of this silliness.
Do you remember what the consequences of their actions were?  Have a look in Genesis again:

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
(Genesis 11:5-9)


And so, people were scattered throughout the Earth, all talking gibberish.

This account, other than providing an explanation for all the languages people speak nowadays (Pig Latin and such probably not included), gosh we learn a lot about how quickly man forgot the lessons of the Flood and turned again from the Lord.

It is the Book of Mormon - the book we should be reading side by side with the Bible - that offers more detail about the confounding of languages, which may not have been so instantaneous.  I think so, because we read about Jared and his brother, who prayed to the Lord and asked that their language not be confounded.  And then he asked that his friends be spared the gibberish.  You can read all about it here, in the book of Ether.

[1] Smith, Teachings, p. 305, 340–41

Our home's first estate.

Remember my exciting news?

We were pretty much over the moon with the prospect of getting the keys to our very own house.  I took the day off work, allowed myself to sleep in, and then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the city.

Matthew took me to a great place he’d been to before.  It did not disappoint.

Hello, salmon and scrambled eggs. And beautiful Adelaide juice.

We drove to Bunnings, the Costco of handymen, and gathered the essentials I had listed a few days before (okay, a few weeks before).  Hose, sprinkler, outdoor broom, mop, bucket, etc.  Just enough supplies to get us through the cleaning stage.

We then sat in our car, thinking .. do we just rock up and collect the keys?  No one called to confirm.
Turns out, you can just rock up and collect keys.
I’m sure they didn’t doubt who we were, but as our agent wasn’t there, how could they be sure we weren’t randoms off the street, collecting house keys?!


This is what we found - our home's first estate.
(If it obeys us, and is found worthy, it will inherit its second estate.)

Lots and lots of lace.  Gosh there were curtains everywhere.

The charming laundry, complete with muck and uneven floors.

Is that a kitchen I spy?

We decided to keep the sliding doors for, oh, five minutes or so.  They have now gone, far far away.

This light fitting reminds me of Belle's saloon, from Gone With The Wind.

This feature is for me, if I am suddenly attacked in the middle of the night by .. my sleepwalking husband.

Since then, so much progress has been made:

Removal of fancy light fittings and plastering over the holes from all the wall fixtures and billions of hooks and nails - check.
Lots and lots of paint - check.
New carpets, in a colour as far away from pink as possible - check.
Installation of lots of down lights, all carefully measured and personally installed - check.
Working out how to turn the hot water on - check.
Installation of unlimited internet - check.
Thorough cleaning - half check.
Moved in - almost check.

Any furniture - no check.


In other news, thanks to all those who be-friended me (or re-friended me), as part of my chocolately bribe. 
Hopefully the policy change in Google won't affect it ...

Congrats Ellen!  You (and your thighs and/or butt) are now entitled to some choc-milky goodness.
Contact me for your selection.

And not to worry, all you international readers who've yet to partake of the Australian goodness.  I'll do this again sometime soon ... just for you.