Muffin recepie

hey mommy!

what's up? the relief society just asked us if we could host a muffin party and teach them how to make muffins and chocolate cookies. do you have a good recepie for both? i'm sure you've sent me some cookie recepie already but well...i loose things so easily. can you send me some?

thanks.

also- quick thought. should i send my stuff home in the mail or should i just save some money and put it in the extra suitcase that you and dad will hopefully bring? what do you tihnk? if i'm goin gto send in home i should probally do it sooner or later.

any ideas for travel plans too? i'd like to write my families and tell them when i'm coming in.

thnks mom. love you so much.

shai

by small and simple things

well...small things make a big difference.

the weeks are going. i'm greatful. the faster the better. i bowled a 121 by the way today. they same score as my byu bowling team companion. so that's something. I highlighted my hair for no good reason at all. noone noticed. that's ok. I have been sneezing a glue like substance that is the color of lime. that's also pretty entertaining. i painted a livingroom. was serenaded in itallian, ran up 6 flights of stairs 10 million times for fun, was told i'm like the mission mom, and well so many other things.

it seems that when i sit down to write i cann't think of anything to say. and yet there is so much boiling around in my brain that i can't orginize it effectivly enough to make a hearty word stew enough to fill your inquiring souls as to my welfarre and well being.

listen i'm doing ok. a surprise conference is this weekend. well not so much of a surprise, it's supposed to be next week but well it's saturday. and i'm going to have to say good bye. and i'm not sure i'm ready for that. someone asked me about my dad this past week and i just started crying. i'm so excited to see him. and i'm so greatful for all he's taught me. and it was just this weird wave of emotion that lasted for about 15 minutes. it was like a sudden spring thunderstorm.

i laugh out loud when my companion talks but not becuase she's funny. i whish i was so much cooler than i actually am. i'm realizing how much i actually don't have room to laugh at people. but well, i am not very good at emotional supression. it bubbles up and errupts from my mouth before i can realize that it might not be nice. but defaults are also strengths depending on the viewer. not good for business but very good for true friendships.

here's a miracle to munch on since my news soup is lacking substance.

so there's this lady. Michelle. she wears black all the time. she looks like she has been punched in the face but it is really just al lthe eyeliner she wears. she's older. very "i sit in the corner don't talk to me" kinda lady. she says what she thinks down to the "you've really gotten fat" and " you looked a lot better before you cut your hair" uh thanks michelle. she's an ami of noone really. no one knows her last name. or her phone number. or where she lives. yet she comes to every activity possible and asks for more if there is any. she has been begging me to do a family home evening lesson. (brief side note: family home evening is a gathering of friends on monday night for a spiritual thought, game, and snacks. an invention of the prophets for mainting family strenght and unity. a good idea) so well her desire was a fhe on non verbal communication. where you ask is the gospel application? i could find none. so eventually after 3 weeks of demanding i finally told her no. there was no gospel relevance and therefor not worthy of fhe time. but i told her to pray for it and maybe there would be a revelation. she must have becuaes the next day i sat down to do my studies and an idea just hit me. i had no intention to think of her and well the thought just flew into my brain waves and seems to be the perfect response to her questions. and i was excited so i wrote her a note and told her that God must love her becuase he gave me an idea. and i'm excited to teach it. i drew a little stick figure singing and well that's aobut it.

this morning i recieved a phone call about how much that little note made her feel good and warm in the heart that she spent the night praying for me. she knows and felt that the Lord loves me so much and she sees only good things for my future. and even in her sleep she felt so happy to have met me that she prayed in her dreams for me. and when she woke up she called and asked to see us. for the first time in 5 months she asked for an appointement. all becuaes the Lord answered an unsaid prayer and a little stick figure note.

the little things make changes. i'm greatful.

thanks for all your little things. 35 days more.

love shai

ken send me your address again. oriana do you still exist? jean i'm thinking so often of you. happy birthday abi. i love you family.

weird technical difficulties

well for some reason my email program is freeking out and sending me all kinds of weird stuff. not sure why.

je m'en fiche en fait.

what a week. a baptism. a marriage. a cuscus party. caluflower and gravy. so much laughing that it feels soo good. rosalyne's baptism was amazing. the wedding was great too. she looked so great. i'm so proud of her. i wish i had time and creative juices to beautifully describe the french pigs in a blanket and the crepe paper roses that added the final touch to the 7th of october. but well i don't. so sad for me.

i do want to share something that i learned. it's actually a hidden bible story buried somewhere deep in the old testemant. i found the reference but can't bring it to my recollection at the moment. scenerio: i was explaining to a recent converet that knwos the scriptures beter that anyone i know my feelings of the next 6 weeks. i explained my struggle with emptiness, my overly used and now useless heart. my tired feet. my weakened resolve. my broken perspective of eternal design. and he busted out some old testemant goodness that needs more refelctin than i have time to donate. but it is a good idea and a brilliant analogy that needs to be passed along to all blog followers.

it's the story of, well one of the stories of moses. and his brother aaron. you see aaron was chosen to act in the official capacity of the lord for the children of isreal. it was his children that held the priesthood, the authrotiy to run the temple to do the sacrifices, the make the offereings etc. and for the jewish people, this was a pretty improtant role. and they didn't understand why it was aaron, the levites that got to call te shots. so they complained like they (we) often do and moses pleaded with the lord for a way to prevent his possible death at the anger of his people and to somehow appease the appetites of the people. in some stroke of creative genius the lord called for a staff, a baton from every tribe. these staffs were to be placed before the temple. each staff was to be marked with the tribal name so as to assure no confusion. and somehow the lord would manifest who he had chosen to officiate in his holy temple. the 12 staffs were placed. the sun decended and the people slept. lo and behold, the lord took a simple staff, a plain ordinary baton, and caused it to grow. not only to grow but to produce fruit. a dry simple to the eye staff was harvested and morphed into a fruit - almond to be exact - producing staff.

from the very depts of the molecular power a useful staff was created. and my ami turned to me and said - the lord can bring forth fruit from even the driest, deadest of staffs. if he wants to. if he chooses to. and if you are ready and willing and worthy to be called forth. but it's his choice and his power that turns staffs to almonds.

we just have to place ourselves before the temple.

offer ourself to him. wow. thanks bernard. what an amazing idea. in the end it was aaron that was choosen. but it took a miracle for the people to understand. that's not the important part. it's the fact that a staff became a live life producing element. nothing is really dead. nothing is too empty. that the lord can not bring forth life. this week is oging to be busy. i'm so greatful for that. these 42 days could be the longest or the shortest of my life. i'll let you know in 6 weeks.

save my some turnkey and some stuffing. i'm coming....love shai