I attended President Faust’s funeral this morning. He was a great man. I hope that I when I leave this life that half the things they said about him, which I know are true, can be said about me. I need to start living my life that way now. They spoke of his love for his family, especially his wife, his wisdom, compassion, his faith and testimony.
Até mais, Presidente Faust.
I have a tendency to get totally lost playing Minesweeper or Solitaire on my computer. If I’m not careful, I can easily lose a lot of time playing either of those games. A friend sent me a link to a “real life” version of Minesweeper and it made me laugh.
I turned on the news after waking up this morning to hear that President Faust had died during the night. It makes me sad. I’ll miss him. He was one of the first missionaries to serve in Curitiba, Brasil, where I served, and it was while I was serving that I started to appreciate more and more what he had to say, maybe because I could relate more. I know I greatly appreciated his talk at the last General Conference about forgiveness. It was a beautiful talk and one I am sure I will turn to again in the future. Here are a few quotes that stood out to me from it:
All of us suffer some injuries from experiences that seem to have no rhyme or reason. We cannot understand or explain them. We may never know why some things happen in this life. The reason for some of our suffering is known only to the Lord. But because it happens, it must be endured. President Howard W. Hunger said that “God knows what we do not know and sees what we do not see.”
When tragedy strikes, we should not respond by seeking personal revenge but rather let justice take its course and then let go. It is not easy to let go and empty our hearts of festering resentment. … The Atonement brings a measure of peace and comfort.
I also received an email this morning from my mission president with the news. My mission president and his family were close to President Faust. The temple in Curitiba should be dedicated next year and I’m sure there aren’t many who doubt that President Faust will be there in spirit. This recent picture of the temple still under construction was attached to the email.
When I heard the news, I wondered how people in Curitiba specifically, and Brasil in general, are reacting. I know he loved that land and they loved him. The news station said that he was made an honorary citizen of Brasil several years ago.
He will be missed.
Link to the official news release from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
I watched live coverage of the shuttle launch this evening. I got chills. Of course I love space, and one of these days I want to go to Florida to watch a launch live. But there was a teacher inside that shuttle. Maybe if I dream hard enough, one of these days I’ll be able to go to Florida to watch a launch live from inside the space craft.
I like numbers. So here’s all the numbers from my recent trip to Arizona.
727 – number of miles between my apartment and the hotel in Tucson.
313 – number of miles I drove around Tucson and to and from Wilcox.
1,767 – total number of miles.
59,151 – starting number on my odometer.
60,918 – ending number on my odometer
30.34mpg – average gas mileage there
20.52mpg – average gas mileage while there
30.47mpg – average gas mileage back (34.14mpg between Flagstaff and Orem)
$126 – money spent on gas.
60.11 – gallons of gas used.
$2.88 – cost of gas in Utah.
$2.64 – cost of gas in Arizona.
$6.00 – cost of parking at the U of A.
$168 – cost of staying three nights in a hotel where I could make my own waffles for breakfast, which was the whole reason I picked the hotel in the first place.
$24.65 – for trip snacks (which I didn’t finish so they’re going to go in my desk at work, if they make it that long).
$5.73 – cost of lunch at the university.
7 – number of Capri Suns I drank on the trip.
5 – number of rows of bookshelves of children books in the whole of the U of A library.
Priceless – the value of getting out of town for a few days, seeing friends, and finding what I needed to find in Tucson.
I don’t really have anything that big to say right now. But my site was down for most of the week and I just decided to check and see if it was back, and it is! I’m not really sure where it went, although I do have an idea or two. I feel connected again. I’ll think of something better to say in a day or two.
I heard this twice while driving today. It made me laugh both times, even more so the second time. I love it. I need to print out the transcript and read it often. But you can’t beat hearing it with the guy’s accent.
Summer: Time for a Snooze, Not the News by Andrei Codrescu
four heads and a sadistic squirrel and pretending every day is Sunday 
I am an educator and PhD. I quilt, belly dance, run, read, and try to grow things. I am a Mormon. I am infertile. I am a daughter, sister, aunt, grand-daughter, friend, wife, and mom.
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