Earth-Quake Suckers...Shhh!

I'm not sure exactly what to be when I grow up. Well for sure I want to be a mom the most...but then I might be a growing person too. I like to grow things...because at Family Home Evening we finished planting all kinds of seeds in their little planters in the house. They are all on the kitchen counter now where the sun comes in the window.

I got to plant the rest of the peas by myself. Plus, Oh My!...I can't even hardly believe that those teensy bitty slivers of seeds that aren't even the least bit orange, will turn into carrots...but they will! Then we planted flowers and corn. The corn seeds really look like corn. Next week, we will shovel and rake and get our garden ground all ready to go, dad said. The peas are ready to plant outside. They kinda like cold okay cuz' they are all cozy in their pod which looks like a tiny boat.

I like that our family grows stuff. It's fun to watch. First just the green plants come up and every morning they grow taller and then one day we will plant them outside and then one day they will get some blossoms and then one day that is what turns into real food. It is the funnest thing to see...but it takes l-o-t-s of time. LOTS! Just give them some time. I can't wait to see the pea pods because when I open them, tiny little green balls are inside! They taste so good right out of their boat-pod!

Momma said that Prophets have told us to store some food for when we need it...and so that's why we are growers. Right now we can go to the store and get our food whenever we want. But if the stores were all closed for 94 and 1/2 days or (maybe more or maybe less), then we would just go downstairs and get our food from our own storage...which, when I think about it, is sorta like our own little store. It all works out good.

And there is something else in our storage room...but it it TOP SECRET. I can write it down here because no one is allowed to read my journal...but I won't say the secret out loud to ANYBODY. Except mom said I could tell grandma everything and it could still be a secret and so I did. Oh, and Luci gets to know, but that's ALL. (For sure, I will never ever tell Jayden!) Well, once we talked about reasons we might use our storage and what if an earthquake comes sometime and we couldn't go to a store? Because what if the ground just had a giant crack in it after everything shakes around for a while? Jayden said,"You CAN NOT drive right over a giant crack" and he said: "Sometimes all the stores will fall down and sometimes even houses fall down!" Anyway, that made me way scared about earthquakes. Because things fall out of your cupboards and some of your best stuff gets lost in the big crack when the earth quakes. And you have to clean up a big fat mess...and sometimes things fall on you and so I got real worried. My dad said that if the earth quakes then the first thing to do is to get under our big table or to get in the doorway or hall closet and we'd be fine. But sometimes I worried anyway, and a few times after that. Well, lots of times I worried...A-L-O-T!
Mom said that I shouldn't ever worry because Heavenly Father hears our prayers...and then two days later, after I had asked lots more questions about how big the crack could be, and after I sorta didn't want to get in the car just in case that crack came, mom got a great idea. "Hadley K," she said, "I don't know how deep it would be or if it would go across the street by Luci's house or not. I just don't know...and maybe we won't even have an earthquake!" I could tell that she was ready to move on to something else to talk about. The very next day, mom told me to follow her (and that's when I saw her idea)! She took me to our storage room and showed me a surprise!

"Hadley K, if we EVER, but probably NEVER have an earthquake...then I have an important job for you to do." I already knew to put my shoes right where I know where they are and stuff. At school they told us to keep our shoes right by our closet door so we could find them quick if we have an emergency. Ms. Clay said that if things sway and sway around and fall down and break, or if there is a fire, or gas leak, or hundreds of emergency things, then you should first get your shoes on to protect your feet. So I know all about that. But my mom looked right at me. "Honey, this is a secret surprise just for you to know about. Can you keep a top secret?"

Mom pulled out a bucket of wheat and behind it was a sorta brown and sorta reddish box. Well, probably more rust colored with designs I think. She opened the lid and pulled out a giant sack of suckers and then some coloring books and crayons! "Hadley, if we EVER do, (but probably won't have) an earthquake...you will be just fine...because you are big. But some of the little kids next door might be afraid...because they are little. So, listen carefully to what you will need to do. FIRST: You will stay in the hall closet or under our big table, but after things are safe and still again, then SECOND:I want you to come get some of these surprizes and take them to our little friends next door." I counted the coloring books and there was enough for me to have one too! I would choose the one with the butterflies on the cover I think...or maybe the one with the Zoo animals because I love animals. Well, I have to think about which one on Saturday because I needed to pay attention right then. Mom let me look at the books for a minute and then we put the suckers and crayons and coloring books back in the box. Momma put the wheat bucket in front of the secret box and then she held my hands and looked at me very serious.

"Honey, this is a very important job and I know that you can do it. You can help little children to be calm when there is any kind of emergency. Will you do it?" "YES! I will do it!" I was glad to be in charge of the secret box.

"Only in case of EMERGENCY she warned me...(maybe she saw how excited I was to open that box again)? After that, I was never afraid of earthquakes any more. I knew exactly what to do.

So that's why we grow things and stuff. We get all ready and then we don't get all scared about if the stores close or if there is a fire or a quake or if dad doesn't get his job anymore or if whatever happens or something else. So when Jayden threw the ball too far and it crashed right through our window, I got so excited and I told my mom that I would run down and get the surprises to calm us all down! But, she just shook her head and sighed a little mad sigh: "No, this is not an emergency...this is a teaching moment." I kinda knew (by the sound of her voice) to escape the area right then. There goes the rest of my brother's life...but it did not need to include mine!

I sat on my bed and I thought about how many chores Jayden would have to do to get enough money for a new window. Maybe someday he will grow up! Hey... wait...just think about that. Yeah... He is growing up! Just give him some time. Like the seeds grow green, then get the blossoms, then they get food. I get it! My mom is a mom, PLUS she is a grower! She has to wait and wait for Jayden to grow up just like she has to wait and wait for those peas and corn and flowers and carrots and stuff. Our family is a garden! That's funny. But it's sorta also true.

Pulling weeds is not the fun part. I don't like weeds at all. I just pretend that they are the bad guys (because they are and they take all the food from the dirt and will not share with the good plants at all)...anyway, I just get my garden gloves on and pull them all out. I pretend that I am a super-hero and I save the day. Then it's not so boring. Plus, when I get through with my part...then I get to ride my bike. So it all works.

Luci doesn't like bees...but I do! I like them alot because they make our plants happy. My plants love bees and I think they grow just to show off for them. I don't know why Luci is so scared of tiny bees. She should be afraid of the weeds...they are the things that ruin everything. Bee stings only hurt for a second until I put some mud on it. Its kinda important to think about what really hurts and what really helps. I used to think work hurt me because: "I don't want to weed EVER again, it isn't any fun." That's when dad said: "Work doesn't have to be fun in order to work!" And that's when I started to pretend I'm a super-hero and yank those weeds out by their very roots! The weeds will always keep coming and I will always keep yanking. That's how everything grows up. I think when Luci tastes my very own peas, she will like bees...and when she has their honey on my mom's warm bread....mmmmmm! She will love those bees! Just give her some time.

Covid-19 and a Prayer for Everybody

Ok, So the thing about yesterday is that I saw my Momma just kinda staring out the window  and she didn't move and that means she didn't hear me come in because she was really thinking about stuff.  So I backed out of the room real quiet cuz' you just feel when someone needs some space plus, ideas don't always come back if you break into them!  I just wandered around the house for a while because I knew she was really thinking about something humongous. But, 23 or 47 minutes later, I could hear her in the kitchen and then I could breathe all the way to the bottom again because things were A-OK!

At the dinner table, Daddy said, "We have something we'd like to talk about and yup I knew that it was important right then.  He looked at us and smiled.  He said, "You know about the virus that is making lots of people sick right now, right?"  We all nodded yes, even Jayden did.  Then he said, "Well, there is something we can do to help!  I was gonna ask how can we help when we can't even go past our very own driveway and stuff, but then he said, " Our Prophet has asked us to Fast and Pray this Sunday because lots of people are home like us and some people are afraid and some are sick and some are not sure what is going to happen next and we can pray for those people even if we don't know all of them so they will have comfort. 
Jayden and Hadley K, would you do that with your Mother and I?  

"Of course we will, huh Jayden?!" I sorta shouted out.  (I really really want to help people like that.  I want to pray for people that are cold, or all by themselves, or alone, (well, those are kinda the same), but I want to pray for people who are scared and sick and stuff...so why wouldn't I do it!  ...and what about the kids who are lost and all the little animals too if they run away and don't know how to run back to the same place or something.)  "How long will we fast?" Jayden said kinda more softly than my big blurt out. "Our regular fast time" dad said.  We will begin tonight and then have dinner tomorrow evening. We will ask Heavenly Father to bless our world and the people that are sad right now and the leaders who are making important decisions. It will be like we do every fast Sunday and instead of eating we will give that food money to the Bishop and he can help people who need food or help.  Momma had an idea too:  "We might want to pray for all of the Truck drivers and Store people and the Doctors and Nurses and Policemen and all the Grandmas and Grandpas and well I guess everyone right now.  So then I could tell what she had been thinking about and yup, it was humongous!    

It kind of makes you quiet to think of all those people who need help.  But, it makes you really happy to be able to do something to help them.  I want my kids to remember this if they ever have the Corona when they get down here to earth.  You just have to be Nice.  Stay Home.  Wash Your Hands. And think of things to do!  My Grandma told me that I will have the same amount of time and be the exact same age when all of this stuff is over whether I learn something or whether I do nothing but pout around!  She's funny and I love her, but she thinks why not just sew myself a dress! "Grandma, I'm just a kid" I said. Or learn to make Cinnamon rolls, or memorize a whole poem, or read 9,700 books, or something! "Grandma, I'm just a kid!" And she said, "Hadley K, you could even learn to play the Trumpet if you had one and if you ever wanted to!" I sorta laughed. But she kept on going! "Hadley K! in a few months you could be an artist or get a start at being a piano tuner or lion tamer or whatever you want!  She is so Funny!  But, when I gave the phone back to Momma, I started to think about her words and they might be a little bit true.  Who wants to just waste their time all the time?

I tried so much not to get hungry today because some people don't even have banana bread all wrapped up and ready to eat right on that counter!  I tried not to even go near the fridge at all-not even for a peek!  I just kept remembering to sing the ABC's when I washed my hands and I stayed far away from people when I took a boring little walk in our yard. But then I got an idea that I was wasting time being boring so I started to think about everything around me that Jesus loves to create just to make me smile, and I want everyone to smile and not be sick or scared.  I looked at the sky and tried to find things in the clouds for awhile.  Then a thought came right to the top of my mind all by itself!  

We didn't even have to be afraid because the Prophet told us to have scriptures in our homes a long time ago and so we already know all about having Church at home even when we can't go to the building with everybody else.   Plus, today I got to give part of the lesson!     The Prophet asked everybody to have some food storage planned so we already did that.  But I think we made one little Giant Mistake... cuz' I just think we should have thought more about some Zagnut Candy Bars thats all!   So, I will write that down so you won't forget to put some good stuff in your planning too.   But, we do have popcorn-so it's all good.  

By dinner time, I told my Mother that I was happy to help people and everything but it was hard to fast all day.  She gave me a hug and told me that she felt like Heavenly Father had heard my prayers. "You know honey," she said.  It was all up to you if you wanted to fast today and I know that you did it to help others! That takes alot of Faith to do our part."  I liked that she told me that. ( I was mostly thinking how slow our fast day went and how much I wanted it to be over. Did I really do my part?)  She stirred in the pan and asked me to set the table. I was extra happy to do it this time...because I was starving!

After Dad said the blessing to end our fasting, I looked at that spaghetti and banana bread which smelled like the best meal ever in the whole entire galaxy and beyond!  I looked at my family and thought about some of the words that my Father had said about please bless all of those who are hurting that they may be comforted and that we would know our part to help.  All at once I could feel something inside of me...and I put my fork down. "Excuse me please."  (We always say that if we leave the table early for a minute).  I went into my bedroom and closed the door and knelt down.  I needed to tell Heavenly Father thanks so much that we have spaghetti and that yummy banana bread..and thanks that we have a Prophet that loves everybody!  I really really wanted Heavenly Father to know that I hope everyone in the whole world can feel safe and not worry too much.  And that if He needs me, I do have Faith, and I will share with anybody who needs something... and I really will.   

Like a Butterfly

Our class was coloring trees..and I thought mine was incredible! I used all of my favorite colors, and everybody else's favorite colors too, and I put little flowers all along the tree trunk and stuff. And butterflies on the flowers! But my picture didn't make it up in the hallway. Heidi's did and Laura's did and Hailey's did and Caitlyn's did and Aubrey's did and Mallory's did and McKenzie's did. They color sooooo good. And, their pictures are in the hall.

Cassandra came to school with a beautiful, brand spanking new, dress on today and we all told her it was beautiful...and it is...and she is...beautiful...(again).

Nathaniel got chosen to be in the all-school play. That would be a really fun thing to do and he is great at it! Teresa told me that she is taking piano lessons on Tuesdays...and Jonathan just got a violin and he can already play 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' and he just barely started! Luci said that her uncle might buy a horse and she can ride it anytime.

I look around sometimes, and see that everybody is special in my whole class and I wonder what about me. My art is not in the hall; I'm not all that beautiful (except to my dad, but that doesn't count...well, it really sorta does counts since its my dad...but... anyway); I'm not in the school play; I can't play the piano or the violin, plus, none of my uncles even own a horse for me to ride.

Margaret didn't invite me to her Birthday party (well, she did this year, but not the one before that), and last Wednesday at recess, everybody said that I needed to jump higher and then maybe I wouldn't have to hold the rope so much. I can't even believe that my tree picture is not hanging up in the hall.

Sometimes it feels like it is just me and then lots of air and space and then everybody else is talking and laughing and having their lives together and stuff. They know how to make the friendship string bracelet things, and how to twist their hair into a design, and how to sing all the words, and they probably all have gerbils, and I don't even want a gerbil. Its sorta like I am in a cocoon. Yeah. I got a Butterfly book at the library for our fieldtrip and it talks about cocoons. Wow, I just figured it out...and that is how it feels sometimes.

First, there is a caterpillar...and it just crawls along. If you find one and let it fuzzy walk on your arm, then it tickles! Then one day, when its just not sure about the next thing, it makes a cocoon and goes into it! And everybody thinks that it is just hanging there, doing nothing, for no good reason, but it changes in there, like it wants to be something more than just a caterpillar crawling along! Then it stays still until it is ready to be something else, some caterpillars stay a short while and some stay for a long while; they just get to make up their own decision about that. But the most important part is: COCOONS ARE MADE TO COME OUT OF! And after awhile, the cocoon opens and out comes a BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY! The slow little caterpillar turned into a Butterfly (soft like butter) and beautiful and it can fly! It isn't magic, because it is real... it is a miracle!

Okay for me then, today must be a cocoon kind of day. Maybe I WILL think of something great that I can do.

My mom must have noticed that I was kinda quiet during dinner. Its good to tell moms everything, because they were little kids too...a long long long time ago...but they still remember and so they get it. "Mom, I just think that everyone is better at things than I am." I told her about everybody else's talents, about the horse rides, being in the play, the violin, about holding the jumprope too much, about being beautiful, playing piano, twisting hair, making bracelets, AND about NOT having my picture up in the hallway at school. "She sat right next to me and put her arm around me, (that means she really really understands about my caterpillar/cocoon thing," Then she said, "Honey, is that why you feel so sad tonight?" I nodded my head and I told her how everybody else was already like a butterfly.

My mom spoke very softly, "Hadley...you will go in and out of cocoons your whole life. And each time you will discover that your wings become more beautiful. There are times for each of us to shine and to share our talents and to fly. And there are quiet times when we must decide what comes next. And I want to tell you a little secret about cocoons that they may have left out of your book." Her eyes were sparkling...and I could tell the secret was very important.

"When we are quiet, we can figure out our design and the patterns of life. That's the purpose of cocoons. But, when we finally fly...sometimes we get so busy looking around that we forget about our own wonderful wings!" (I didn't really get it all about the pattern of life and wings and things.) My mom looked at the question mark on my face and then she sorta giggled a little bit. I really like when my mother laughs, it seems like (somehow) everything is going to be okay after-all!

"But, Mom, what about how I don't have any talents and everybody else does?" Sometimes, I have to get us back on track, because I really really needed to figure this out.

"May I tell you what I see?" she asked, but she didn't wait for an answer because she was on a roll. "When you were telling me about all of your friends and about all of the wonderful things they can do...I could see your talent come shining through!!!"

"What?" Now I was really super dooper confused.

"Honey, you have the talent of appreciating everybody's talents. That has to be the one of the best talents of all! You were happy for Luci that her uncle got a horse, you liked that your friends got their pictures in the hall this time, you think it is wonderful that people can play the violin or piano, or be in plays, and you told Cassandra that she looked nice in her new dress. Your talent makes everyone happy! And even though you have many other talents, that talent is one of the most valuable in our world! The gift of lifting others' hearts. Talents like that are so special that they are called: Gifts."

Then we talked about a thousand things and then I brushed my teeth and put my pajamas on and said my prayers. Then my mom tucked me into bed and told me that I was such a sweet blessing in her life" and then she turned out the light. I almost felt like I could fly because I was so happy to have such a special and important Gift! And in the morning, I just knew I would be kinda like a butterfly, and I would share my gift with others. But that could wait til morning, because right then my smile turned into a giant yawn and I snuggled into my own blanket cocoon.

HEY HADLEY K!

This is my brand new journal and so here goes!  Our world is BEAUTIFUL!  There are so MANY COLORS!  And so MANY NICE FOLKS!  and so we should all be VERY THANKFUL every single spanking new day.  But this world is also BACKWARDS sometimes and so people are running around AFRAID and STUFF.  I just read about a boy who lived a long time ago and he said his heart was SWOLLEN with SORROW because people were doing bad stuff all around the place.  Well, that got my attention because that is sorta like our world.  He was so sad and said, OH, that I could have had my days at another time when people were good and when they tried to do what is right!  IF he could have lived at ANOTHER TIME, then he would have JOY!  He's talking my language right here because we have the CORNA all over the place right now and I'm already over it!  But then he said, I am CONSIGNED (whoa...big word...pause to find my Merriam-Webster Dictionay (aka M&W)  Ok, so Consigned means: to put (someone) in a usually unpleasant place or situation. They sure got that one right! My grandparent are sequestered (in lock-down basically) and I can't live without visiting them! But he just kept on going and chose right no matter what. Don't you think that is way hard? 

Ok. Back-up! Just so you know-I am Hadley K.  I really like to know how people THINK...and so if I ask them... then I AM already a JOURNALIST (well after I write things down that is).  I like to read because some people that I want to know about have already gone to Heaven and so I read about what they said and what they did when they lived on our planet.  Lately, I have been thinking alot about our world. Some things are messed up and maybe it would have been easier to live at ANOTHER TIME, like when everyone lived in the country and had horses and stuff!  (I love HORSES!)  but we are consigned to OUR DAY. And now we have Corona!  Oh Brother!  Well, I like the stay at home part...but the no friends over part is ruining my social life pretty much right now.  Plus, Mom thinks we still need some homework and extra chores!  WHAT?  I would not have cheered quite so much when they said school was closing for awhile?  Anyway, When I read about that boy, who worried about HIS day...I felt the SAME way about MINE!  So I kept on reading  and he was just brave and tried to help everyone around him know that it would all turn out ok IF they would just trust Heavenly Father.  

So, I thought maybe I should write down about OUR DAY and about how we should just BE BRAVE and Choose The Right  and then TRUST HEAVENLY FATHER to figure out all the other stuff for us. I like that I just have my part TO DO and that I do NOT have to STRESS about the REST!

O.K. so just REMEMBER that this is my journal and it is really for my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren and so on and so forth forever!  That means YOU are welcome to read my journal ONLY IF:   #1- You are very kind because I am still just a kid ya know.  AND:  #2- IF you tell me when you are baking those one kind of cookies!!!  Oh! and #3 rule for reading: You can write your journal anyway you want, but mine is for my posterity-(M&W): (people in the future) and so it is not ok to tell me how I should think about things.  If you have great ideas or subjects that I should write 'about' then you can tell me! I will be glad, because I love new ideas more than I like new shoes!  A lot more! I am writing this so my kidlins will know that I LOVE them and to help them know they can keep on a going too!

So, some things about me, since I am the author here.  I have brown hair and green eyes.  I'll probably be an artist and a mom and a journalist and lots of stuff!   And I like the gray-blue color on the mountains right before it rains and I like all of the colors because drawing is what I am all about.

My best friend is Luci. She has orangy reddish hair and she has glasses and she is true, true, true, and is my very very best friend.  And mostly my other best friend is: Jayden because he will help me figure out about people and stuff when he is not rolling his eyes at me! (He's my brother-so that happens alot!)

I like to eat pizza...but so does everybody else and so I will add Salmon and Broccoli in there. I have a great family and so I am trying to define all about them right now too. I live in Ephraim. It is a little town...but it has a variety store and a park and a pet store and so good enough. And Plus, my school is here and all of my neighbors live here too. I like to think about things alot. I am going to be a scripture person when I grow up...so I have to be really really nice. With my brother, sometimes that is h-a-r-d. I like to roller skate and jump rope and ride my bike...well, it really is a family bike...but I pretend it is just mine sometimes. And I am a good sharer so it is all good. Zagnuts are my favorite candy and...

What? Oh wait. My TV show is on right now and I only get one show today... and it is on... and so I can't talk for a minute anymore right now...I wanted to tell you about the Cornavirus.. .but, sounds like we have lots of time for that-- so you can read what ever from the way life used to be...but gotta run... I'll be right back in a minute someday.  (I will mostly write on Tuesdays or maybe Saturday-or Thursday-but I mostly like Tuesdays or-- we'll see-   bye!)