Are You Overlooking a Buried Treasure?

Hoxne Hoard displayed in the British Museum, London

Where your Treasure is,
there will your heart be also.
Luke 12:34

Professional farmer, Peter Whatling found his life changed on 16 November 1992 when he discovered a treasure he didn’t know he possessed.

On his farm near Suffolk, England, Whatling somehow lost his trusty hammer in the field.  Not wanting to suffer the loss, he asked good friend, Eric Lawes, to bring over his metal detector and help him look for it.  Lawes was more than happy to help.

As the two friends set about the task of slowly scouring the field, it wasn’t long before the metal detector began pinging and buzzing like crazy.  Must be the hammer, they thought. After a little digging, the men discovered, not a hammer, but remains of an oak chest. Inside the chest were smaller wooden boxes with locks and several fabric sacks.  With a little further inspection of the contents, they realized they had just uncovered a legitimate ancient treasure!

This was the real McCoy, folks.  They were stunned.

Mission Shopping Tips

Probably one of the best parts about preparing for a mission (aside from the scripture and Preach My Gospel study, of course) is clothes shopping. Since the change in missionary dress and grooming standards (girls can wear color and patterns now!), shopping for mission clothes has become an absolute joy. What girl doesn’t like shopping right?

Well… the joy of shopping is slightly lessened when you can’t find anything even remotely long enough or modest enough. Sigh… Mormon girl problems.

As if the missionary/Mormon standards weren’t enough, I have my height adding to the problem (Lauren Nef – turning dresses into shirts since 1995).

But never to fear – for I have some missionary shopping pro-tips (put to the test by actual missionaries) that are guaranteed to give you the best, fashion-forward missionary wardrobe you could ever asked for.

Space: Closer to Home Than You Think

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon – 1969

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”
John F. Kennedy

I saw Interstellar this last weekend – twice – and I think I have a new favorite movie. It got me thinking about one of my favorite topics…

SPACE EXPLORATION

Harrow My Soul

Lately in my scripture reading, I have come across the word harrow.

Alma in the Book of Mormon uses this term the most, particularly when he tells his son the story of his conversion.

Background:
We don’t know a whole lot about Alma’s younger years, but we do know that he was a jerk – the “vilest of sinners” (Mosiah 28:4). He did some pretty bad stuff, but before he completely destroys his life and those around him, he gets a spiritual smackdown.  The wake-up call must have worked because he quickly returns to his faith, becoming one of the best missionaries of all time and converting thousands of people.

As Alma shares his conversion story and life experience, in a kind of final blessing he gives specialized advice to each of his sons.  This is where we start to see the use of the word harrow.

Back in the midst of Alma’s divine smackdown, the amount and enormity of his sins finally dawned on him.

But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.
Alma 36:12

What did Alma mean by using the word harrow?

Eclipse

While we look not at the things
which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen:
for the things which are seen
are temporal;
but the things which are not seen
are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18

“I believe in God like I believe in the sun,
not because I see it, but because of it –
all things are seen.”
C.S. Lewis

A few weeks ago we experienced one of nature’s spectacles that was best seen here on the west coast of the United States: a solar eclipse.

What causes an eclipse?  Good question.  A solar eclipse happens when the moon moves directly in front of the sun, blocking its light and casting a shadow on earth’s surface.

It’s really quite a phenomenon when you consider the fact that the sun is 400 times larger than the moon, and 400 times further away from the earth than the moon.  Yet, when the moon sneaks its way in front of the sun with such perfect symmetry, both solar bodies appear to be the same size.  Amazing.

And, just a few Thursdays ago, the moon made a partial sweep across the planet, turning the sun into a crescent (a partial eclipse) and leaving strange shadows in what normally would have been the brightest hours of the day.  In rarer cases of a total eclipse, the sun vanishes into a mere halo of light, casting darkness below.

It’s no wonder that the word eclipse comes from ancient Greek and translates as “I vanish.”

Has some light in your world recently vanished?