1 Our new president

Last Tuesday afternoon, following the inauguration ceremony for our new President, I wrote in my journal: "I am grateful today to be an American.

"On the little TV in my office most of my staff and I watched the historic inauguration of our 44th President. Aside from the miracle of such a peaceful, seamless transition of power from President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama, and aside from the historical significance of the first African American now occupying the White House, I was impressed with the sense of hope and courage and optimism and willingness to tackle the hard issues facing our nation that President Obama verbalized in his inaugural address.

"Claudia and I prayed for our new President and his family and associates in our family prayer this morning. He will need all our prayers on a continuing basis as we seek to work through the problems facing our country."

I also liked Elizabeth Alexander's poem that she recited at the conclusion of the inaugural ceremony:

Praise Song for the Day
A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration

Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other's
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.

All about us is noise. All about us is
noise and bramble, thorn and din, each
one of our ancestors on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere,
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky.
A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.

We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark
the will of some one and then others, who said
I need to see what's on the other side.

I know there's something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,
the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.

Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,

praise song for walking forward in that light.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, represented the Church at the inauguration on Tuesday, January 20, and at the National Prayer Service the following day.

2 Quote of the week

"In troubled times the Lord has always prepared a safe way ahead. We live in those 'perilous times' which the Apostle Paul prophesied would come in the last days (see 2 Timothy 3:1-7). If we are to be safe individually, as families, and secure as a church, it will be through 'obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel' (Articles of Faith 1:3). . . .

"That same Lucifer who was cast out of our Father's presence is still at work. He, with the angels who followed him, will trouble the work of the Lord and destroy it if he can.

"But we will stay the course. We will anchor ourselves as families and as a church to these principles and ordinances. Whatever tests lie ahead, and they will be many, we must remain true and faithful" (Boyd K. Packer, in "The Test," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 88, 91).

3 This week in our family

Mon, Jan 26: David's birthday [Lyle]
Mon, Jan 26: Chris Taylor's birthday [Dean]
Tues, Jan 27: Sariah Elaine Burdett's birthday [Lyle]
Wed, Jan 28: Gene's birthday [Gene]
Thurs, Jan 29: Chris & Shauna Reher married 1988 [Ray]
Thurs, Jan 29: Ryan's birthday [Kay]
Sat, Jan 31: Shannon Tully's birthday [Gene]
Sun, Feb 1: Fast Sunday
Mon, Feb 2: Charly McAllister's birthday [Kay]
Mon, Feb 2: Groundhog Day
Mon, Feb 2: Next issue of newsletter

4 Bits and tidbits

Kay and Karen's mission
An excerpt from a recent e-mail from Karen: "We wound up with a little over $100 left after our branch Christmas party. Several of us had seen a special on TV here in Peru about a man whose young son had died in a hospital eight years ago. As he left the hospital he noticed three young street boys who had been refused treatment at the hospital because they had no means of paying. He started taking in street kids. Today he has over 600. He receives no government assistance at all. He has computers, sewing machines, carpenter tools, gardening tools, etc. to teach the kids a vocation. They have a decent roof over their heads, clean clothes, healthy food, and they attend school and get an education. He does all of this with donations. We sent the remaining $100 to him.

"I forgot to mention another small miracle in our mission. With Elder Dickson having to go home early, that left us one missionary short. That meant that President would have to come up with a mini-missionary until our next change on February 11. That is not an easy task for such a long period of time. Last week I received word that a missionary from the US, who was supposed to have come into our mission earlier, but had visa problems, will be coming in this Wednesday. We need a mini-missionary for only two days. Wow! We have had numerous 'small' miracles like that, which just tells us that God is looking out for His missions and does His part to keep them running smoothly. I could tell a dozen such stories just since we have been here.

"Okay, another small miracle. One of the elders called to see if we could help five couples they are teaching with transportation to a distant area so they could get married. The government here makes it very difficult to get married and it can be expensive. Because of this many couples just live together. The missionaries had checked and the cheapest they could find was S/360 (soles). They needed to find someone with a large van who would charge only S/160 round trip including gas. We checked and all we could come up with was S/360. Then a man came in the office, who is not a member, selling us hymnals cheaper than we can get them from the Church (don't ask). As he was leaving he stopped and turned and told us that by the way he has a large van and if anyone needed to be taken around the city he would be happy to take them. Elder Barry asked what he would charge to go to this area and he told us S/160. He came into the office about 15 minutes after the missionary called and asked us for help."

Zoo day

A post from Kate (Gail and Lynda's family) from a couple weeks ago: "We decided to get dressed in our warm clothes and go to the zoo today. A lot of the zoo shuts down in the winter (i.e. animals have to be moved out of the weather), but the animals that are still out are more active. We enjoyed watching the monkeys playing with each other and the cheetah try to eat us (he was a new addition to the zoo and seemed none to happy about it). Then the tiger and grey wolf and the cougar paced like they wanted to eat us if they could only figure out how to get out of that cage. We had warm cookies and hot chocolate and though it was a short zoo day, was fun nonetheless. We have an annual membership, so we don't mind having short zoo days."

Dean and Claudia family gathering
We had all of our family (except the two who live in the Seattle and Atlanta areas) together on Saturday, January 24, at Michael and Shauna's house in Layton to honor those with January and February birthdays. There were 25 of us present (there would have been 27, but Rebecca's husband Cade stayed home with their sick two-year-old).

New mission president
Dar Peterson, Claudia's younger brother (as in Kay's brother-in-law), has been called by the First Presidency to serve as a mission president. The following picture and biographical summary appeared in the Church News this past weekend:


"Darwin Franz Peterson, 57, and Nola Knutti Peterson, five children, Bountiful 24th Ward, Bountiful Utah Heights Stake. Brother Peterson is a Varsity Scout coach assistant and Aaronic priesthood adviser and a former counselor in a stake presidency, bishop, high councilor, stake young single adult adviser and missionary in the Argentina North Mission. Engineering project manager, QSI Corporation. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to James Andrew and LaVon Brauer Peterson.

"Sister Peterson is a former ward Relief Society, Young Women and Primary president, counselor in a stake Young Women presidency, ward Young Women adviser and stake young single adult adviser. Born in Pocatello, Idaho, to Edward and Calpurnia Dabel Knutti."

5 Our family 50 years ago

What our family was up to during the early months of 1959, based on entries in Dorothy's Oregon Diaries during the last week of January and the first day of February. The full text of her diary can be found online and is updated daily, exactly 50 years to the day after it was originally written. The family at the time lived on an 80-acre farm in the Big Bend area of eastern Oregon but was getting ready to move to a farm in the Deer Flat area south of Nampa, Idaho.


Mon, Jan 26. I came home from work & we went to Caldwell and sent Jerrys Xmas pkg back to him. got groc. & eggs & Genes birthday presents. Came home at noon & I went to bed & Ray woke me up at 5:, he got supper & we ate when Kay came. Gene milked & him & Kay went over to church to dance practice for Gold & Green ball. I went back to bed until time to go to work. Ward teachers came after I was in bed.

Tues, Jan 27. I came home from work & went to bed at 9:30. I got up at 12: & had a bath & went to relief society. It was my lesson today, on delinquency & we got so engrossed they had to call a halt everyone said they really enjoyed it.

Wed, Jan 28. Gene is 15 years old today. We came home from work & I took Ray over to Prune Orchard to catch bus & Ivard went to bed. Came home and made jello, carrot & pineapple salad & Gene a choclate birthday cake. I went to bed at 11: & Ivard got up & put spare ribs on & peeled potatoes to put under them. Ray cooked lima beans & we ate after Gene milked.

Thurs, Jan 29. We came home from work and I went to bed & Ivard tended Jackie, did dishes & cleaned up house. When Kay came home from practice we fixed toasted tuna sandwiches & had supper.

Fri, Jan 30. At 10: we went to Caldwell to bank & Ivard went up to see if deed was back from Vale & he hadn't even sent it. We went over to Nampa & saw our place & the lady said she'd sell us the drapes & carpet for $150. We ate when Kids got home from school. Kay & Gene went to Adrian to catch the bus for Fruitland. J.V's got beat. Varsity won.

Sat, Jan 31. We took Kay & Gene over to church & left them at dance practice and we went to Nyssa & got a bunch of groc. on sale & picked up Kids at 4: and came home and Ray was just finishing up floors. I hurried & made spagetti and we ate. Kay & Gene went to Adrian to play ball. Ivard & I went at 6:45. J.V's got beat & Varsity beat Marshing about 30 points.

Sun, Feb 1. We all got ready and went to priesthood, sunday school & fast meeting. Ivard, Ray, Dean & Dale bore their testimony. Came home & cooked dinner & we ate & Kay went over to Claudias all afternoon. I went to bed I had such a head ache.

6 What in the world

Refinery fire
A couple weeks ago there was a big fire at one of the refineries in Woods Cross. A number of homes in the area had to be evacuated, one of which was Rhett and Celeste's. This is what Rhett posted on Tuesday, January 13, about the experience:


"Last night was an exciting night at our house. The Silver Eagle Refinery, which is directly east of our house, had another fire. This is the third fire since May of last year at that refinery. But this was the biggest of the three and the first time they have had an evacuation. We stayed at one of the Refinery Big Wig's who is a neighbor of ours.

"As long as they stayed I felt we would be ok. Mallory at first were worried that our house would be in trouble, and she did have trouble getting to sleep at first. But all is well and we are ok."

Darwin awards
The Darwin awards are bestowed each year, honoring the least evolved among us. Taking this year's number nine spot: The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 5:00 a.m., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.

7 A final word

From a thought entitled "True Freedom" posted by Michael Cleverly on Thursday, January 22:

My friend Will wrote an insightful post on freedom yesterday. He begins:

I was at the mall this weekend, and I saw a sweat jacket with these words:

“Freedom is the ability to do what I wish.”

And it occurred to me that although many people would define freedom this way, it isn't so. Rather, freedom is the ability to do what I ought to do. This is a notion that causes most of us to recoil in horror. What I want to do and what I ought to do often seem all too firmly opposed. So let's look at that.

Will is 100 percent correct, in my view. In this life I am free to choose; however, only by doing what I ought (as opposed to what the natural-man in me might want) can I find lasting freedom.

I am reminded of Lehi's counsel to his sons (2 Nephi 2:25-30 in The Book of Mormon; pages 69-70 in Mormon's Book; emphasis added):

25. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
26. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.
27. Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
28. And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;
29. And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.
30. I have spoken these words unto you all, my sons, in the last days of my probation; and I have chosen the good part, according to the words of the prophet. And I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls. Amen.

Verse 27 holds the key: to do as we ought means to "choose liberty and eternal life"; to do as [the natural man] wishes is to "choose captivity and death."

Following God's commandments doesn't limit our freedom; doing so actually actively enhances it.

It is worth noting that the English word command & commandment have their origins in the Latin commendare ("to recommend").

Prayer, scripture study, chastity, Sabbath observance, baptism, and even abstaining from harmful substances are all, literally, divine recommendations instituted for our happiness that God invites us to follow.

Some of the best advice I ever received as a teenager: "Let His will be your will, and then you will be free". . .

Will concludes:

In Christ, however, there is true freedom. For God is the summit of all that Good, True, and Beautiful, and Christ Jesus is God's most perfect revelation of Himself to us. And in Christ, and through His sacrifice, I receive the grace to follow Him, to avoid sin, to grow in virtue, and, in short, to pursue the Good He shows me. And that is freedom.

To which I say, amen.