Tuesday, February 19, 2019

I Looked out the Window and What did I See?




Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

Our popcorn trees are mostly almendra (almond.)
What is blossoming around you?

At a career night with our young men last week, Brother Starkey was invited to teach about engineering

with Brother Anderson, who works with water and soil and foundations. (More civil than creating airplanes?) 
 Grateful, we are to encourage our brothers and sisters deciding where to land, curious about which color of parachute.
The presentations were engaging-- contrary to external evidence!
Branch conference Sunday held an invitation for us to offer thanks to blooming twigs in our Spanish branch for ministering--helping families move, sharing family home evenings, baking, sewing, calling, texting, cleaning--revisiting a meme posted earlier. 

    
 We are also looking to the temple--(you can never be lost                                     Image result for you are never lost when you can see the temple
too long when your eyes are looking out and up!) 

Saturday, at our turn in cleaning our meetinghouse, my focus was on bathrooms and I lost the cleaning brush.  (Strange...I just had that thing!) After walking to a distant end of the building and back, retracing every step, I returned to find the first brush perched "right before my eyes!"

What answers, perspective (and assistance) are you finding as you look--out and--up?

Our new "out and up" has come inviting others to the Oakland temple open house which closed exactly one year ago to be renovated.  

We remember in Tegucigalpa, hearing exclamations from religious leaders, neighbors, and friends on every side who attended the open house there, who were constrained to acknowledge that they felt something holy in their walk within.


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Two young women (on the top right in right photo) are granddaughters to our temple president, my music friends! 
Months ago, with another Tegucigalpa temple friend, we peered over a construction fence at the Rome temple
Last week, the open house for the Rome temple ended.
  Related image
Now, our Oakland California temple doors open May 11 to June 1st--everyone invited!
Stand in holy places and be not moved. 
President Andersen read to us about religious leaders from all parts exclaiming about the beauty and the feeling of those passing through the temple in Rome. 
We continue studying "Come, Follow Me,"  appreciating Russell M. Nelson's commentary on the beatitudes, feeling "blessed" and distant from being complete or finished, however, striving to "Be With and Strengthen"! 

We love our neighbors here. 
Thank you for being our neighbors everywhere!
Love, your Starkey fan club

P.S.  Here is to a Valentine daughter on a big day this week! Grateful for steps forward to parts known and unknown.   
Will you peer out your window today for signs of Spring?
Love from some Patterson popcorn pickers