Angels of Light

Last summer I purchased this art print from Howard Lyon, a former boy of the neighborhood and now husband, father, and artist.  He was at BYU Education Week in Provo sharing his work with the public.  I loved this piece and even recognized a few of the faces which were modeled on Howard's wife, family, friends, and others including a sister missionary from Pakistan who served our ward congregation in Arizona.  I loved this sister (in the middle on the right) and this painting.  It now hangs on a wall of the townhouse in Provo.

As I cleaned and dusted before leaving this week, I glanced at the painting and instead of Herald Angels I saw them instead as sister missionaries going out into the world to share their message of hope and truth.  Since the announcement at LDS General Conference in October that the minimum age for sister missionaries would be lowered to 19 years of age, there has been a flood of young women submitting their papers to serve missions across the world.  Read about the response here.

These young women are now beginning to leave home and go out into the world where they will bless the lives of so many who will listen and learn from them and their message.  They will be as angels.

Alma 29:1  "Oh, that I were an angel. . ."

A million pillowcases

I recently turned in these pillowcases to our church women's group as part of the million pillowcase challenge.

 

Earlier this spring, the women met at the church to cut, sew, and press together.  I went through my fabric stash and had a dozen precut kits so that we could immediately start sewing and ironing.

Ever noticed how a group of women have fun no matter what they are doing.

There were those who ironed. . .

and those who cut and then pinned the rolled up tubes before passing them on to the sewers and pressers.  For a youtube tutorial on making a tube pillowcase go here.

I cut and coordinated fabric because I had it down after all that prep at home.

There was also a quilt on the frames to be tied.  The lady in the stripped shirt is always working on tops made from donated fabric that can be quilted and then sent on to be distributed to those in need.

Our pillowcases were made from three coordinating fabrics.  I think they are so much cuter with that accent stripe.  A couple of dozen pillowcases are now a part of the challenge as well as available at "New Leaf," a center for those trying to move on to a new life.

To find out more about this year's million pillowcase challenge go here.

Singing Mothers (and aunts and grandmas)

Last evening's program, "The Spirit of Relief Society," which included a tribute to the "Singing Mothers" reminded me of this picture from the past. These are the "Singing Mothers" of Sugar City, Idaho. It's not dated, but the hair styles appear to be from the late 1930's or early 1940's. My childhood memory recognizes many of the faces, all sisters or sister-in-laws of my grandma Georgianna Ricks Ostler. For your information:

Back row: Mary Ricks Thomas, first on the left; Georgianna Ricks Ostler, fourth from left; Fontella Ricks Davis, second from the right.

Front row: Marjorie Ricks Romrell, fourth from the left; Rachel Jenkins Ricks, third from the left.

Last night, the generations of Relief Society were honored. I thank my great-aunts and my grandmother for their service and good example. They all influenced and enriched my young life.

The Spirit of Relief Society

Reminder: You do not want to miss the one time production of "The Spirit of Relief Society" tomorrow night, Tuesday, January 31 at 7:00 PM. It will be entertaining and you will be soooo happy that you turned off the TV, got up from the couch, and joined with the Relief Society sisters of the Mesa East Stake for a delightful evening.

AND there will be dessert! You may choose from fresh apple crisp or cherry cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (I have been taste testing :) See you soon!

Serving others

I baked 24 dozen rolls yesterday evening. It was for a very good cause.

I serve with these lovely ladies in the Mesa East Stake Relief Society presidency. It was our turn, along with the presidency of the Lehi Stake, to prepare a lunch for one half of the missionaries serving in the Mesa Arizona Mission. That meant that 130 hungry missionaries would soon be joining us.

The tables were set and the food was ready (chicken noodle and broccoli cheese soups were staying warm in the kitchen.)

The cookie buffet looked beautiful. Lisa approved.

There was a kind for every palate.

The room soon filled with all kinds of missionaries, elders, sisters, and older couples.

I was thrilled to see Sister Stephens, 2nd cousin to Glen.


The elders let the sisters go first,


but that didn't keep them from munching on cookies as they waited!

Sister Gina Stephens and friends.

Before the missionaries arrived, packages were brought in. They were stacked around the perimeter of the room. This caused lots of excitement! Hopefully there was a package for every missionary. It was fun to walk around and read the return addresses on the packages. Families from everywhere had sent a box filled with things, but more important with love and support.

It brought tears to my eyes as I thought of my four missionary sons over the years. Now I was experiencing how the missionary felt as a piece of home followed him across the world at Christmas time to Chile, Peru, and north and south Brazil. So sweet and tender!

These young men and women serve with the love of Christ in their hearts. When you see them, take a moment to talk with them. They are living to serve at this time in their lives.


A week ago, Glen was in charge of a Ward Christmas dinner and program for the adult members of our church congregation. This was how it looked just moments before the guests arrived. It was a lovely meal with harp music in the background. Mesa Mt. View High School's choral group, Encore, provided the musical program. It was truly beautiful. They are a talented group.

Now that we are done with the "big" parties, it is time to focus on family activities. There will be a week's worth of them beginning tomorrow night. Christmas time is wonderful, and food preparation and providing service make it even more so.

Bread, butter, and more

Women are so generous. We asked for donations of homemade bread.

Loaf after loaf of beautiful bread flowed into the stake center kitchen yesterday.

We provided the butter and honey, but the music and speakers of the General Relief Society Meeting Broadcast provided the true sweetness.

Our generous Relief Society sisters also provided homemade butters and jams which provided more flavor. Watching the women enjoying one an other's company added that extra something to this long planned for event. Thank you for donating these things made with your very hands and for joining with us for an evening of genuine sisterhood.

This week's fabrics

I've been using these fabrics to make table toppers for a special yearly event to be held on Saturday.

The women who are members of my church from around the world will gather in their respective church buildings to listen by satellite to messages prepared just for them by church leaders. After they are spiritually fed, we will feed our local sisters (about 325) a simple bread and butter dinner partly in honor of the emphasis currently being placed on the History of Relief Society, thus the picture on the invitation of Emma Smith who was the first Relief Society president in 1842.

A book detailing the history of Relief Society was announced at the annual Relief Society Broadcast a year ago and was recently made available to all members. I am honored to be a part of this women's organization to which my great-great grandmothers, great-grandmothers, grandmothers, and mother all participated. I feel it has enriched the lives of generations.

The UPS man just dropped off this box and I am so excited. Once this busy week is over I can start my "Aunt Grace's Garden Party" quilt. It is a block of the month quilt (really row of the month so it looks like a garden) which I will receive a month at a time through next February. All those primary colors are making me feel a bit giddy!

Sister time in SLC

Our monthly visit to Utah was extra sweet for me this month. My sister, Lynette, had flown in from Kansas to visit the same week. She was there to see her daughter, Brittany, and son-in-law but she was also very happy to hang out with me. So while Glen worked with his clients, Lynette and I added a few miles to Brittany's car.

We visited quilt stores (for as long as we wanted :), had a personalized tour courtesy of Brittany's MIL at the Bloch exhibit at the MOA (I so enjoyed it again), spent a delightful couple of hours in the BYU bookstore, and remained in-house on Thursday working on projects together that we had found in those quilt stores.

By Friday we were out and about once more as we made our way to downtown Salt Lake City and Temple Square. First stop, the distribution center so the Leavenworth Primary president could stock up. Second stop, the Relief Society Building where we were given a tour by Lynette's college and lifelong friend, Annette. After our tour, Annette turned us loose in the basement where quilter Lynette posed in front of the Primary themed quilt. We also traveled to the other side for Relief Society inspiration.

We then met up with Annette once more for lunch at the Lion's House. Always so good! Lynette and Annette were roommates (along with Jeanette :) in Washington, D. C. when doing internships back in the late 1970's. They have kept in regular contact ever since!

During lunch we were seated in a lovely little nook under a window. I loved the old paned glass windows. If you look at the upper left pane, you will see a reflection of the Lion House where we are dinning.

This trip, the weather was a bit cold but the sun was shining! We had traveled through blowing snow (like 40 mph blowing snow) from about Scipio to Santaquin on the way to Provo. That was NOT fun!

After lunch, we walked across Temple Square to the Church Art and History Museum. I took this picture through a window in the museum. I just loved the view through the leafless trees.

Several new exhibits have opened for children. Upstairs has many hands on activities that the little ones will love including dance instruction with costumes, ship building with Nephi, and feeding dinner to the missionaries. I hope to take my grandchildren soon.

But it was the children's artwork downstairs that touched my heart. When the call went out for entries, they received almost 2000 from around the world of which 250 are on display.

This baby blessing watercolor by a five year old just took my breath away.

After a visit to the Deseret Book flagship store where Lynette found beehive inspiration for decorating her new home (you know, "Bunker Bees" and all that and I can't wait to see it) we were done for the day. Even with parking validations we still had to fork over $4 each to exit the parking garage. It was a great day and an almost perfect week. There is nothing like hanging out with a sister!

Images of Christ at the MOA

While at BYU Education Week, one of my favorite afternoons was spent in the Museum of Art. Currently on exhibit in the museum's basement is "The Life of Christ" by James Tissot. In the late 1800's Tissot journeyed to the Holy Land where he sketched and then painted in water color over 365 paintings from the life of Christ. These were printed in a bible called the "Tissot Bible." BYU was donated a copy of this bible by Joseph Fielding Smith. It belonged to his father, Joseph F. Smith. 124 of the original paintings, now owned by the Brooklyn Museum, are on display. They are small in size but amazing in detail. This one took my breath away. It is Christ's view from the cross. These paintings are on display until January 2011.

Learn more here and here and here.

Interestingly, I found on another blog the Tissot paintings which were included each month in the 1908 issues of the Children’s Friend:

Saint Joseph Seeks a Lodging at Bethlehem.

St. Luke ii. 4. “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea,
unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem.”

The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

St. Luke ii. 28. “Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God.”

Jesus Sitting in the Midst of the Doctors.

St. Luke ii. 46. “They found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors.”

Jesus Found in the Temple.

St. Luke ii. 49. “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?
wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”

First Miraculous Draught of Fishes.

St. Luke v. 6. “And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their net brake.”

Christ Sendeth Out Seventy Two-by-Two

St. Luke x. 1. “After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two.”

The Blind Man Washes in the Pool of Siloam.

St. John ix. 7. “He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”

The Rich Young Man Went Away Sorrowful.

St. Matthew xix, 22. “But when the young man heard that saying,
he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.

Christ Driving Out Those that Sold in the Temple.

St. Matthew xxi, 12. “And Jesus went into the temple of God,
and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple.”

The Palsied Man Let Down through the Roof.

St. Mark ii. 4. “They uncovered the roof where he was; and when they had broken it up they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.”

Jesus Healing the Blind and Lame.

St. Matthew xv, 30. “And great multitudes came unto him,
having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed.”

Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.

St. John vi, II. “And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks,
He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were sat down.”

I purchased "James Tissot The Life of Christ" published by the Brooklyn Museum in conjunction with its 2009 exhibit. It includes the complete set of the 350 watercolors owned by The Brooklyn Museum. Because of the small size of the originals, the images in the book are close to full size. I hope to share them with my grandchildren.

The Carl Heinrich Bloch exhibit is to open mid-November at MOA. Altar piece art works are being borrowed from churches in Denmark. These pictures of Christ's life and work are familiar to church members but this will provide an opportunity to see the very large originals in person. They were first brought out of obscurity by the Church when prints of Bloch's work were used in the "Improvement Era" in the 1950's. Timed tickets for this exhibit will be available online beginning the end of September. The exhibit runs until May 2011. See more here.


"A Miracle at the Pool of Bethesda" by Bloch (1884) is one of the MOA's signature pieces. It takes an entire wall. It arrived on September 10, 2001 from a port in New York City. This was a bit of a miracle of timing. Any later and it would have been delayed with the events of 9/11. The Bloch exhibit is a special opportunity which has been several years in the making. It has taken much time and effort to secure the agreements which will allow these paintings to make their way to Utah from Denmark.

I also bought "Jesus The Son of Man: The Life of Jesus in the Words of the Gospels and the Paintings of Carl Bloch" for the perusal of my grandchildren.

For two months it will be possible to experience both exhibits at the same time; the small water colors of Tissot and the very large oils of Bloch come together as "Images of Christ."