At the Pulpit, Edited by Jennifer Reeder and Kate Holbrook

 Non-fiction history. This book highlights talks and discourses given by women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in a 185 year period, from 1831 to 2016. It starts with a short discourse by Lucy Mack Smith, mother of Joseph Smith, the prophet, and ends with a talk given by Gladys N. Sitati at a Brigham Young University Women's Conference in 2016. The women chosen to be included in this book vary from early pioneers in the United States to those of other countries, like Sister Sitati from Kenya. 

I enjoyed all these women and their viewpoints and found common ground no matter if they lived a hundred years ago or are still alive today. I found myself marking things they said and sharing them with my friends and family members. All were uplifting and edifying for me personally. Here are just a few of my favorites: 

"Faith comes through obedience" Kate M. Barker, 1937. 

"Women should be women and not babies that need petting and correction all the time. I know we like to be appreciated, but if we do not get all the appreciation which we think is our due, what matters?" Julie B. Beck quoting a talk given by Eliza R. Snow in 1869. 

"The truth of doctrine can be known only by revelation gained as a result of obedience." Ardeth G. Kapp, 1980. 

"...no matter what our office may be, we should do our part and do it cheerfully, and as we do one part, our responsibilities and talents will be added to, and we will go onward and upward as it is destined that we shall go." Amelia Flygare, 1916. 

"Earning happiness and contributing to the happiness of others should be the most important goal in our lives." Lucrecia Suarez de Juarez, 1972

Recommend: Yes

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

 Junior Fiction-Mystery. 1979 Newbery Medal Award. This has been a favorite book of mine since I was a child and I wanted to share that love with my kids, so I read it to them. An eccentric millionaire arranges for 16 people to move into an apartment complex he owns and then accuses one of them of killing him. If the others can solve the mystery then they inherit his huge fortune. The clues are convoluted and confusing at times and my kids could not see how some things fit together, but that's what makes a great mystery!  The ending was a delightful surprise for them. 

Recommend: YES!

Elder Edholm -- week 68

This last week was kind of rough. For some reason this week a ton of people had to cancel the lessons we had with them so we weren't able to teach a lot this week. Also Satan is attacking hard. Someone that we are teaching got involved in a custody problem with their child, so they got really worried and still are worried. We weren't able to find any new people basically this week. We did have one person come to church though, so that was good. God was just trying my companion and I this week a lot, we've both grown from it. God gives us trials to make us stronger. TRANSFERS. My companion is getting transferred and I'm staying here and training a new missionary. Looks like I might be in this area for 7 months!

Various pictures of his area he works in that Andrew sent me today. Many of them are at a park near where he lives. 

He had sushi for the first time and loved it! (No surprise!)

Elder Edholm -- week 67

This week went really well. The baptism of Daniel happened yesterday and it was really awesome. The bishop was able to baptize him and I was able to do the confirmation. There were a lot of members there to support him too. We have a limit of only 20 people can be at a baptism because of Covid rules, and we had about 18-19 people there. He was able to get a white button up shirt a couple of ties, and a bike too from some members. We also had Emma come to church today. She was able to watch general conference and we did a tour of the church through a video call, but this was her first time inside of the chapel. She has really liked hearing from us and she said that she wants to get baptized this Sunday. So we are probably going to have the baptismal service in the early afternoon like we did with Daniel. Emma's mom also really likes learning from us, but she wants more time to feel like she's doing the right thing before moving forward, which is completely acceptable. We are also teaching a guy named Arnaldo, and his baptism should be either this weekend or the next. So we have been really busy lately, which is super good.

Something that I learned this week in my personal study. 1 John 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us". I just really liked this scripture. I hope we can all be a little more caring for each other, myself included. That's all for this week!

Elder Edholm -- week 66

 This week was good, we did had some troubles getting in contact with some people that we were teaching, so that made it a little hard to stay busy without opportunities to teach. Some one that we have been able to teach pretty frequently is Daniel, and he is definitely going to be baptized either this Sunday or the next! He watched general conference last week and he went got church yesterday! He's been really liking everything.

Here's some thing that I really liked from my studies this week. I was reading in 3 Nephi and this scripture stood out, 3 Nephi 27:27, "Therefore, what manner of man ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." Christ wants us to be like he is. Then I read another scripture in 1 John 2:3, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." I want to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I want to be able to say that I know him. Which made me think of how many times he has invited us to come and follow him. So that's something that I'll be focusing in this week. I hope you all are doing well! See you next week.

Here are some pics from our hike last week: Moss Ledge Waterfall in Cottonwood Canyon

VIDEO:

Multi District Council

Andrew's Area

Andrew's Area

The Princess Companion by Melanie Cellier

Teen Fantasy Fiction. The Princess Companion is a retelling of the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. I'm a great fan of fairy tale retellings, but have never read one of this particular fairy tale. I listened to the audio version over a period of a few days. This story kept taking my by surprise, I would think I knew where it was going and even stopped listening at one point for a short while because I thought I recognized the predictability of Alyssa, the main character. I was pleasantly surprised at each turn in the plot and whole heartedly enjoyed the unwinding of the tale. 

Recommend: Yes!

A Plethora of Regency Romances

 I find that when I'm feeling a bit stressed I turn to comfort food and comfort books. Since I'm trying to change my eating habits and be healthier I dove into four regency romance novels this past week. They are quick reads for me, especially the ones I've read before, but even with their predictability, they never fail to bring me some enjoyment and allow me to escape for a moment into another world.

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson. When I was working at the Orem Public Library in Utah I was able to read this as an advanced readers copy, one that had not had the final edits in place. This is Donaldson's debut novel and she is adept at this genre. I have to put my favorite seal of approval on this one as I feel it excels above all other regency romances I've read and I have to admit I've read this one more than a few times. 

Marianne Davenport is 7 minutes younger than her twin sister, Cecilia. She has always let her sister get what she wants because of that 7 minutes. But this time there is something or someone they both want and Marianne is not about to come in second place again. Philip Wyndham is tired of young women and their mothers doing all they can to nab him and his inheritance, so he decides to run away from it all. He didn't count on meeting Marianne and is surprised that he wants to return home because of her. 

Donaldson wrote a short prequel to Edenbrooke, called Heir to Edenbrooke, which is the first few chapters of Edenbrooke from Philip's point of view. It doesn't need to be read first and is just as enjoyable. 

Recommend: Yes

Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah M. Eden. This is a bit of a far fetched story about a wealthy man who kisses a stranger to squelch the advances of another woman he abhors. The results of this kiss impact his life dramatically and also the poor woman he kissed. Eden has written scores of titles, many of which I've read. I feel she does a good job of character development, even though the plot is a bit fantastic at times. 

Recommend: Yes

An Unlikely Match by Sarah M. Eden. This is the only book of the four I read that was new to me and it was the one that I enjoyed the least. This has a bit of a fantasy edge to it, which is different than Eden's other books. Nickolas Pritchard inherits a large estate in Wales. He gladly moves in and finds that his home was actually a historic castle and it is haunted by a very persistent and beautiful ghost. Her history is a bit of a mystery, but with the help of the local vicar he finds a way to save his beautiful damsel in distress. The plot was a good one, but I didn't feel a connection between Nickolas and the ghost. 

Recommend: Maybe

Elder Edholm -- week 65

 This week went really well. We had a 3 day service project, which was really awesome to have. An older couple needed help with some landscaping things, so we moved a huge pile of dirt to two different parts in their yard one day last week, they put the black landscape tarp on top, then two days this week we moved a ton a rock to put over the tarp and also around some of their shrubs that they had. It was super fun and it helped fill our morning hours with something different. Also this week I crashed on my bike! I'll explain what happened but I have to give a little background. So during the week my companion and I decided to eat out a little more because we had only been out to eat like 2 in the last 3 months. Anyways we were eating out and we saw this guy moving some cabinets and shelves from this cookie ice cream sandwich store so we went and helped him and then went back to finish eating. After we finish he comes up to us and says he's trying to get rid of some ice cream from the store, so he gives us a 5 gallon tub of ice cream that was a little more than half full. Fast forward to Saturday, it is the birthday of one of a member of the family that we helped get baptized, he's turning 9, so I try to carry the ice cream on my bike. It was working for a little but then I tried to shift gears and the handlebars turned too much and the bike went off the curb and I went over the handlebars. Lucky I did not rip my shirt or my pants, the only thing that happened was that the tub of ice cream got a little dent and that my shoulder and back of my shirt got really black.

Ruby, the person who is getting baptized this Saturday, is doing really well. She and her husband were able to watch General Conference on Sunday and they really enjoyed it.

Talking about general conference, it was very uplifting! What I took out of it was probably the same thing that most people learned, it's that trials are going to come, hard time are crucial for our growth. Everyone is going to through their own difficult times, I have too. I have been stressing out a little because I feel like I'm not doing well as a missionary, like every other missionary has the "mission" down and I'm here still trying to figure it out after 14 months. I've not been super confident in myself. After conference I leaned a couple of things that I'd like to talk about. The first is what I already said, that tests in this life are essential. The second is what Sister Lisa L. Harkness said, that we need to believe in Christ. That statement with these two scriptures that I read really helped me, Helaman 5:18, "And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach... with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them" and also 3 Nephi 5:13, "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." As a missionary I have been called and have been given power and authority. If I don't have confidence in myself, then in turn I don't have confidence in the power that has been given to me. Also if I don't trust that I can change, that then means that I don't trust in the atonement of Christ and his power to help me change. I had never thought of it in that way before, I feel as I start thinking and behaving with this in mind, it will build my faith and change me. I hope you like my insight, it really helped me so I hope that it will help you too!