The People In Front Of You

I've been thinking about the news and the kinda bad mood it puts me in. I think it caused me to feel quite unsettled this past weekend. I want to be informed about current events, but I'm starting to think the worry it stirs up isn't worth the knowledge it imparts. Then a friend posted a quote similar to this yesterday and I loved it.

Her post was private, so I googled to find it and found that image above. I shared that one on mine right before I logged off, saying: "Turn of the news and love the people in front of you! Serve your neighbor, play with your kids, read a book, have family dinner, get outside and smell the roses" and posted corresponding pictures of our family and our roses.

As I was reading my scriptures this week, I had the same thought. Like, what good is all this information I get distracted by and am taking in? Alma 12:13 had the answer for me: "if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned." What is it that needs to be found in us when we are standing before the bar of God? The word! That is what I need in me! Not the news, I need the scriptures in my heart and soul. So I'm going to focus more on getting the gospel, (which literally means "Good news"!) IN to my heart. Alma 12:9 - I can receive more of the mysteries of God if I give heed and diligence to him and the words he has already spoken. Alma 12:10 - if I will not harden my heart, I will be given a greater portion of his word until I can know the mysteries of God until I know them in full! But Alma 12:11 - If I harden my heart (through worry, fear, doubt - all things that the news causes in my heart) then I will be given the lesser portion of the word (if I'm not making room for it on my plate) until I know nothing concerning his mysteries and will be taken captive by the devil - "Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell" - Like hell, to me, can just be all the negative thoughts in my own mind. I don't want the devil in my mind or having control over my thoughts or my heart. I can and want to see the good in people. We started watching the Imagineering Story on Disney Plus, and I loved a quote about Walt Disney in the first episode, that he felt everyone was good and had good in them. That is how I want to feel about life and about people, and I don't feel that way when I tune into the news, so we're going to say goodbye for a while. I might still take in a little bit of news, but only after I've feasted and had a generous fill of the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL. A few quotes from my study yesterday and today:

"Greater happiness comes from greater personal holiness." - President Henry B. Eyring, Oct 2019. If I want to be happy, I need look no further than becoming more holy myself. Happiness is a personal matter. Become more holy, that's the answer to greater happiness! It's about ME getting God's word inside of ME!

 "So be kind. And be grateful that God is kind. It's a happy way to live." - Elder Holland Apr 2012 Gen Conf

And a talk by President Gordon B. Hicknley called Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled -

(Here's a little snippet of the talk in this video here - "Don't be a pickle sucker.")

So, how did I apply this self talk today? Well, I went on a walk this morning, and I walked past a cat that looked super skinny. I watched him for a bit, turned back, tried to get him to come to me, I picked him up, then my walk was cut short as I took him home. I thought he might be a neighbors lost cat (Zeb's (neighbor who came to Brazil with us)), so I went straight there and knocked on their door. Zeb answered, and the cat wasn't his. Then I asked if they had any cat food. They did, he got some for me in a bag and walked the cat and I home. We got some water for the cat.

Zeb suggested there was another cat poster on the post by the church, and it might be their cat? So I put the kids in charge of the cat, I walked back to the church...

It looked very similar... I texted them and sent them the picture. They came, they didn't think it was their cat Milo, but they couldn't tell for sure cause he was sooo skinny, so they took him anyway cause their heart broke for him. I texted later to see if it was Milo, she said no, and that their vet was worried he was dying so they gave it to Sandy City, hoping it has a chip. So I tried to help. Not sure if Sandy City will give that cat a similar treatment that animal control gave our baby skunk, so, yeah. Hopefully he's being fed and taken care of, or worst case he's atleast probably out of his misery. So that was me trying to help the world/animals in front of me.

Back at home, Peter was being gruuuuumpy, and didn't want to eat, didn't want to read, didn't want nothing except to make his little meh sound at everything. So we sat in the playhouse in the backyard. I took selfies of him, and he tried to bat the phone with his hand and kick it away with his foot.

He was kinda high maintenance most of the day so I didn't get a lot done, but I did have dinner ready when Corey got home from work (Burgers and chips) and then we went to watch the kids play hockey (Thursday night is street hockey night! This was their third Thursday in a row).

Peter and I hung out by the gutter to save the balls from being lost down the gutter. They have a big gutter hole over there. One ball got lost, but I save one that was about to go in, go me. Peter started being fussy, so we went home to get a snack. I took a picture of our neighbors flowers - pretty lilies! Stop and smell the flowers! (Or alteast photograph them!)

Peter and I didn't make it inside for his snack, cause we got distracted working in the front yard.

Hey! He's smiling! Look at that, Peter likes yard work!

I'm very proud of the dirt I reclaimed last week.

We made more progress tonight. It's not looking as amazing at it did when it got all spruced up before Joseph's farewell, but it's much better than it was. And I get a dopamine hit of "hey, I did that" each time I see it, so yay for happy hormones. I'll keep working at it a little bit each week. Everyday - Love the people in front of you, do the work you can do to make your world a little better and brighter!