The Lehi and Sariah Family: The Story of Us All

The kids and I are coming to the end of the Book of Mormon once again. Together we've crossed the ocean, fought battles, buried weapons of war, witnessed the coming of the Savior, and watched as an entire civilization destroyed itself. Truly an epic story, and one I'm so grateful to know about.

However, this means we will be starting, from the beginning, again. We will once again immerse ourselves in the troubles, triumphs, and tribulations of Brother and Sister Lehi and Family. They could be the "family next door." He's a successful businessman and she's an upstanding mother trying her best to raise her children in difficult times. When Lehi receives the inspiration that it is time to "leave the world," he faces incredible opposition, even from within his own family. His sons are at times righteous, judgmental, divisive, loyal, faithful, full of hate, worldly, etc... as they try and follow their parents on their quest to follow the Lord's instructions. Even Lehi and Sariah have their moments of triumph and failure which is written down for millions of us to read about. I don't know about you, but I'm glad my failings aren't etched in gold for the world to read.

One of the most famous stories in church history is how Joseph Smith lent his good friend, Martin Harris, the first 110 pages of the translated Book of Mormon so Mr. Harris's wife could see them. Although the Lord had warned Joseph against this course of action, Joseph chose to go ahead. The pages were lost and the Lord forbade the re-translation of the work. Thus, the overall order of the book was changed moving 1 Nephi to it's place of prominence as the first book in the Book of Mormon.

Looking ahead to those who would be reading this book, it was clearly an act of wisdom to put the story of this family first. We all have the struggles they do, though maybe without some of the more dramatic elements. The part I find the most fascinating is how many times people read 1 Nephi, over and over, because they "resolve" to read their scriptures again, and of course, start at the beginning. There are all sorts of reasons why 1 Nephi is read and re-read, but I think there is great purpose in the placement of this story. Heavenly Father knew we wouldn't be perfect scriptorians, spending all our time in study, and therefore, placed this story first so it, at least, would be read.

In fact, I think we can find ourselves in every single one of the characters at different times of our lives. The faith of Lehi, the hope of Sariah and their sadness as they watch people they love make terrible choices. The courage and leadership of Nephi who spends some time later in life crying for those he, perhaps, pushed away by the zealousness of his youth. The loyalty of Sam who doesn't earn great amounts of glory, but just quietly goes about trying to obey, but perhaps didn't do his part to help mend the rift among his brothers. And then there's Ishmael and his family, but that's another post for another time.

The Lehi Family saga is classic in its story and timeless in its truth. Although I'm glad we made it all the way through, I'm looking forward to heading out into the dessert again as they make their way to their "promised land" helping me make my way toward mine.

Another Weekly Round-Up

Avery asked me if I thought she should find a sneaky way to get a boy's email she thinks is cute. In my shock I told her, "No way!" and then calmed myself down enough to have a rational conversation with her about it. I think I was able to make her see that she should wait longer before doing stuff like that. She also wore a little bit of eyeliner to church today! Am I ready for this?

Addison has a real talent for playing musical instruments by ear. Her Grandpa Elvin gave her his harmonica and she has been figuring out all sorts of songs on it! I can't even come close to that! She started figuring out how to play the soundtrack to Pride and Prejudice on the piano the other day. However, as a result, she thinks she doesn't need piano lessons anymore. I'm trying to tell her she still needs to learn how to read music so she doesn't always have to wait to hear a piece before being able to play it. Any suggestions?

Sydney learned how to braid he own hair and put her own pigtails in for church today. She is my most independent kid by far.

Jack had the "binky fairy" drop by, which he wasn't too thrilled about. The binky fairy gave him a cool fake aquarium which lights up and the fish swim across. It serendipitously showed up in a D.I. pile and was just what the "fairy" had been looking for. We're on day 4 and it's going better than I thought it would.

Jack and I were talking about the movie "Chicken Little" and he asked me if he could watch "Chicken Big" instead. :)

Paige's latest new phrase is, "two minutes" which sounds more like "ooo inits" and is her answer for things like having to clean up or having to go somewhere. She wants two more minutes.

Super Cooper started eating mashed bananas this week. He seems to like them. I can't believe he is old enough!

The Law of Attraction as it applies to Mothers

Recently I have been studying laws of Physics, one of which has to do with attraction, and have observed a subset of laws. These laws seem to primarily relate to mothers, which makes me wonder if becoming a mother introduces an entirely new set of laws? Anyway, the law is this:

A mother with a phone to her ear attracts all the children in the house who must begin fighting within a two foot radius. This law also seems to apply to the mother using the bathroom as well.

Anyone who has called me recently has been the unlucky observer of this law in action. Sorry everybody!

So Many Questions, So Little Time...

Recently I have begun writing on a large piece of paper in my kitchen the random questions my kids ask, such as how old George Washington was when he died, so I won't forget to research them when I have the time.

My oldest daughter asked this question: If the three main colors are red, yellow and blue and all colors are made from those colors, how do you make "white," And, more specifically, how do you make white paint?

Well, today we began our research and here is where it led us:

White pigment can only be made from plants or chemicals.

Which led to:

What are chemicals?

We ended up reading about titanium dioxide which is the main component in white pigment because it naturally blocks sunlight -- a most useful ingredient for sunscreens which is why sunscreen tends to be WHITE!

Which led to:

What is titanium dioxide?

A mineral

What is a mineral?

Which led to an entire discussion on the periodic table, atoms, and eventually electrons and neutrons. I then realized I don't know very much on the subject and I got really excited about the periodic table and I want to go to the store tomorrow and buy a bunch of styrofoam balls and construct giant atoms. My daughter decided she wants to know more about the atomic bomb and how it works.

We then looked outside and noticed the snow -- it's white. However, since snow is not made from a plant or chemical it has an entirely different reason for being white! Snowflakes are transparent. But because they have an irregular shape, the light reflects, causing snow to look white! I love this stuff!

When we were through, I asked my daughter if she realized we had been learning "science" because, recently, she has been complaining about how she doesn't like science. She looked at me with all this new wonder in her eyes and said, "Oh yeah, I forgot that I don't like science. Hmmm.... Maybe I do like science!"

All that from one little question. No textbooks, just fun exploration. I can't WAIT for the next question and for the new discoveries waiting for me to find them.