This evening the girls and I attended a fireside/BYD at the chapel. The theme was "Why I Believe." There were two speakers and the program lasted an hour. Short and sweet. For some reason I felt compelled to attend tonight.... I've also been thinking a lot about growing up in a "branch" in Arizona. For those who don't know much about the LDS Church, members are divided up into congregations which are called a "ward." There are so many wards in a "stake." A stake is part of a "region" and so forth on up to the main leadership in Salt Lake City, Utah. When there are members in an area but the numbers are too few to form a ward, this gathering of people are placed in a "branch." Such was the case when I was in 7th grade and living in the area of Dewey, Arizona.
When the leaders of the stake decided to start a new branch, we were split off from the Prescott ward and sent to Mayer. This was about 40 minutes or so east of Prescott. The church had a house which the missionaries lived in. That is where we met at first. The living room was the "chapel." The master bedroom became the Primary room. The closed in back porch was a classroom, as was half of the closed in front porch. The other bedroom was the Relief Society room. It was a very small house and we were few in numbers... perhaps 20 or so of us. It was so much fun though.
As our numbers grew, we obviously outgrew our house. The church purchased an old outdoor rodeo arena for us to use. Picture in your mind something along the lines of this.....
Our new church was similar... with the exception there was no outdoor lighting. There was one large building with a big rock fireplace on one end, a ticket office at the other end, and on the back side we had our very own bar. Woo Hoo! The arena area was complete with fences and stock chutes. Very cool. Out back there was a... say 45ft. mobile home. There was no pavement anywhere... just lots of Arizona dust and tumble weeds. It was just perfect for our branch!
As time went by we converted the building into a wonderful place of worship. The building was divided almost in half with the end where the fireplace was becoming the chapel. Yes, we did use the fireplace to heat the building in the winter. How cool was that, to have Sacrament Meeting while feeling the warmth of the fire? I loved sitting by it. The ticket office become the Branch President's office. The bar became the library. We put up portable dividers which served as classrooms, and the trailer out back served as the Primary area. With the fences and chutes removed, the arena became the parking lot. This is the view we had from our little church in Dewey...
It was positively beautiful! I loved that little branch and its members.
Out west, Pioneer Day (July 24th) is a huge event.... it's not even recognized here in the east (bummer) and our little branch always had an incredible celebration. There was pit cooking of pork & beef that Brother Pugh supervised...
Dutch Oven beans, roasted corn on the cob, cornbread or biscuits...
And of course apple pies, cherry pies, cakes, home made ice cream, and gallons of lemonade. We'd play horse shoes, have sack races, square dance, and just have a joyous time!
One year in particular, the weather on Pioneer Day had been terrible. We had heavy rains which caused flash flooding in our area. We were certain the celebration would be canceled. I was so sad when I thought of not going. As the time to leave got closer the rain continued. Brother and Sister Pugh arrived to pick me and Tony up. As we were driving to the church the rain lightened and by the time we arrived it had stopped completely. All afternoon and into the evening the sky remained dark and threatening, but the rain didn't start again. As the celebration drew to an end and we were bowing our heads for the closing prayer, I started to feel raindrops. By the time we got in the car it was pouring again.... and continued to do so all night long. I vividly remember thinking I had witnessed God's work in action. I knew the rain had been stopped long enough for us to remember and celebrate the saints arriving in the Salt Lake Valley so many years earlier. It was a wonderful feeling.
That is just one of the many reasons why I believe. I know God lives. I know my Savior atoned and died for me. I know I am here on earth at this time for a specific reason. I am comforted by the testimony I have that if I do my part God is duty bound to do his part. It's all up to me. I am ever thankful for the Gospel in my life. Am I perfect? Of course not. There will always be room for improvement. I just know if I do my best... if I continue trying to do what is right, my efforts will be accepted and I will be blessed.
I look forward to the day when I stand before my Heavenly Father and hear him say "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into my kingdom."
What a month February turned out to be. With all the snow and my health issues, I'm truly glad it's over. I'm pleased to report that I'm doing much better after 2 hospital stays totally 7 days last month. The last was Feb. 19-22 and was much worse than the first stay. I had 3 heavy duty IV antibiotics given back to back because of hospital acquired pneumonia. Due to how intense the meds were, I developed severe nausea and vomiting which required IV anti nausea meds to get it under control. My blood pressure spiked into the 180-200+range over high 90's to 140+ range. All of this also resulted in horrible headaches. I had to pack my head on ice to relieve the pain from the headaches. I also blew 3 IV vein sites and had to have new IV's started each time to get the meds. So much fun.
I had so much help from the girls, family, and friends. We are just finishing up eating food brought in. I'm way behind on laundry, but that will come together with time. I'm just glad to be able to do things again.
