7 Quick Takes about Bad Things, Good Things, and How to Find Kentucky

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

What a weekend. On Saturday, the president and prophet of our church, Russell M. Nelson, died. I always thought he seemed like an "unofficial grandpa" for everyone in the church. Just a few weeks before he died, he wrote this op-ed for Time magazine for his 101st birthday, which I thought was characteristic of the kindness and empathy that was so evident whenever I saw or heard him speak.

Soon the most senior apostle will become the next president and prophet of the church, and he'll rise to the calling just like President Nelson did.

—2—

The next day, I was about to speak at a friend's baptismal service when I got a text asking me if I'd seen the news: there'd been a mass shooting and arson at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan during Sunday church.

I usually don't talk about current events on the blog, but this felt really personal to me. It's not hard to spot a group of LDS people in their Sunday dress, and when I saw pictures of people huddled around after the shooting it looked like my ward family that I see every Sunday. I felt unsettled and started following the news about it way too closely.

Day 1 was all about unraveling the details of what even happened at the church. On Days 2 and 3, the news started uncovering the shooter's hatred for "Mormons," and that was really depressing. By Day 4, I finally saw a good story pop up in the media. A Latter-day Saint in Utah unconnected with the tragedy noticed that there were GoFundMe campaigns for the victims, but none for the family the perpetrator left behind (including a son with medically complicated needs), so he set one up and so far, it has raised over $300,000.

Donating to this fund and spending a half hour reading through the comments was healing, which confirmed to me that being exposed to injustice creates a kind of energy that needs to go somewhere. It can go into anxiety or maybe even anger, or you can channel it into something positive instead. Christ can make miracles come from tragedy.

The GiveSendGo campaign for the Sandersons is here, and a list of GoFundMes for the other victims in Michigan can be found here. 

—3—

In lighter news, if you've ever been unable to memorize exactly which state is Kentucky, the Internet has you covered.

As someone who hails from the "chef hat" part of the country (I've always thought it looked like a water pitcher, though) I can tell you that this is really helpful.

—4—

It seems like something is constantly going wrong with our van. I stopped even mentioning it on the blog after the debacle in February where Phillip had to dismantle the entire engine. It just didn't seem noteworthy anymore.

A few weeks ago I drove over a screw in the road and barely made it home. Phillip patched the tire, and a few days later the check engine light came on. Phillip fixed the issue and then this week, the parking brake started randomly engaging and refusing to turn off, which was the problem we'd fixed back in February. I'll leave it to your imagination who got to do the troubleshooting on that one.

I suppose it's almost time to replace the van. In the past when we've disposed of vehicles, we've traded them in or sold them to a junkyard. With this one, I think we'll put a brick on the gas pedal and drive it off a cliff.

—5—

When I was pregnant with my 11-year-old, I spent three weeks in the hospital on bedrest, and most of it was just watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It wasn't really a choice, it was just on TV every single time I turned it on. 

A few weeks ago the YouTube algorithm showed me one clip from the show, and because I watched it now it's showing me a ton and I have no choice but to watch them, too. 

The thing is, there are no full episodes on YouTube, only compilations like "Penny and Sheldon BFF Moments" or "27 Times Penny Said What We Were All Thinking." So it's like binge-watching the show, but jumping around through all 12 seasons in a disjointed way that makes no sense.

—6—

This week I tried to see my two oldest in a cross-country meet, but the race started late and I ended up having to leave just before they started running so I could pick up my two other kids at the library. And it was 20 minutes away so I couldn't even come back and catch the end of the race.

There will be other meets this season, but that kind of thing really bothers me. It's really irritating to miss an event that you want to be mentally present for as the unique human soul that you are... in order to do a job whose only requirements are a pulse and a driver's license. Pretty soon we'll have robot cars and then even those won't be necessary.

Actually, I can't wait to get a robot car. That will solve so many problems.

—7—

I've been re-reading one talk a week from the last general conference for my church and using it to create a weekly goal to improve in some way, and it's crazy how I can find something in basically every talk... I guess that just means I need a lot of work.

This weekend it's time for general conference again (see what that is here if you aren't familiar) and whoever you are, you're welcome to watch with us from home. I'm sure there's something in it for you, too. 

There are talks from 12-2 EST and 2-4 EST on both Saturday and Sunday, with an additional session from 8-9:30PM EST on YouTube or at the church's website. Or watch them later if you can't catch it live, which we'll do for most of the first session on Saturday when our kids are busy playing every single sport this town offers.

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