Super Saturday Sneak Peek

I spent today working on these crafts for our upcoming Super Saturday activity!

Sunday Cans- we originally got the idea from this article, although this article that came out recently was good incentive to keep it!

New Sew Baby Bows- we got the idea for bow ties from this tutorial, and the baby girl bows from this tutorial. Both are way easy, and I was able to make all 6 fairly quickly.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Family Proclamation Roundup

There's an empty space on my front room wall that is waiting for a framed family proclamation. Unfortunately, I haven't decided how I want to frame it yet. Here's a roundup of some of my favorite formats:

Family Photo behind the Proclamation

Temple behind Proclamation

Family photos on matte around the Proclamation-
Another option is a family history family proclamation,
where the photos are of ancestors.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Baby Blessing

Since Matt's family was in town for his sister's graduation, we figured we would bless Dash while they were still here. We were so grateful for all our family members* who were able to make it!

Baby Blessing Brunch

Lund Grandparents

Lund Great-Grandparents!

Hiatt Grandparents

Hiatt Aunts and Uncles

*Not pictured is my lovely cousin, Ally, as Dash was worn out and I didn't want to post of picture of him crying with her. 

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

The Higher Law

The month of March has been swamped by my directed research writing project. I have to complete 100 hours of research and writing and have a completed draft to show my work. I decided to explore the application of "higher laws" in society. While I was originally more familiar with the higher laws that Christ explained in the Sermon on the Mount:

I chose to explore the higher laws followed by the Navajo Nation. Since I've really worked hard on my paper, I thought I'd post a portion of the introduction:

Living the Higher Law: The Navajo Nation and Civil rights

In 1945, German military leaders were tried for the atrocities they committed against the Jews during World War II. They argued that they should not be punished for obeying the laws of their country and that their “crimes against humanity” had been defined after the fact, thus making their prosecution ex post facto. Although the United States and other nations recognize the importance of obeying the laws of the land and prohibit prosecution ex post facto, they proceeded with the trial. As the lead prosecutor, Robert Jackson explained that even rulers are under God and the law.[1] He stated that international law recognizes certain principles (“the law”) that have been held to be universal, such as the Crime of Plotting and Waging Wars of Aggression, the Crime of Violating a Treaty, Crimes Against Humanity, and the Law of Individual Responsibility. “Does it take these men by surprise that murder is treated as a crime?” he asked.[2]

The laws Robert Jackson cited are what are known as “natural laws” or “higher laws.” These laws are rules of conduct “arising out of the natural relations of human beings, established by the Creator.”[3] They include principles such as honesty, temperance, humility, and cooperation. Rarely to governments hold their citizens to such high standards in all aspects of their lives--rather, they are enforced through more limited laws and ordinances. For example, most nations have enacted laws against murder. Even in ancient times, communities followed the mandate: “thou shalt not kill.”[4] However, when Christ came, he established a higher law, which encompassed the old law: “But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”[5] While most nations will not enact laws against anger, they will enact laws restricting the expression of anger, since anger leads to willful infliction of bodily harm, i.e. assault, battery, etc.

There are few examples of nation-states enforcing higher laws outright, and the Navajo Nation is one of them. Unfortunately, the Navajo Nation has been overlooked in the discussion of higher law, as most scholars have focused on the international and Anglo-European applications of higher law. This paper will provide an introduction to higher law in Navajo culture and encourage legal scholars and legislatures to turn to the Navajo example in discussing the theory of higher law.

Since the creation of the Navajo Nation Supreme Court in 1985, Navajo justices have sought to apply Navajo higher law in the enforcement of civil rights. Over the years, the court has become increasingly confident in the application of higher laws to legal principles.[6]  In 2002, the application of such higher laws was solidified when the Navajo Nation Council (their equivalent of the Legislative branch) passed a statute recognizing the existence of Navajo higher laws and mandating that they be considered first when interpreting statutes.[7] This has led to a broadening of rights guaranteed to both Indians and non-Indians under the Navajo Nation’s jurisdiction.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

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[1] Robert H. Jackson, Opening Statement Before the International Military Tribunal, available at http://www.roberthjackson.org/the-man/speeches-articles/speeches/speeches-by-robert-h-jackson/opening-statement-before-the-international-military-tribunal/.

[2] Id.

[3] “What is Natural Law?” Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2nd ed., available at http://thelawdictionary.org/natural-law/.

[4] Exodus 20:13.

[5] Matthew 5:22.

[6] Paul Spruhan, The Meaning of Due Process in the Navajo Nation, in The Indian Civil Rights Act at Forty 119, 123 (Kristen A. Carpenter, Matthew L.M. Fletcher, and Angela R. Riley, eds., 2012).

[7] Spruhan, supra note 6, at 123.

Family Communication

Communicating with a newborn is hard. He only has one oral form of communication (crying) and he can't understand my oral form of communication (English). While already tenuous, communication lines break down even further when I haven't gotten enough sleep and I don't have the patience to figure out what he's trying to tell me.

Today was especially hard because Dash decided he only needed 7 hours of sleep for the whole day--midnight to midnight. Which meant that I only got 3.5 hours of sleep last night. I was very frustrated and not really in the mood to go to church. But I went to Sacrament meeting anyway, and I really felt like the talks were meant for me.  

They were both based on older church articles about Communicating Love in Families:

Family Communications

This talk gave seven recommendations for helping family members feel loved when you communicate with them. In applying this to a newborn:
1. Sacrifice the Time (I think I got this covered)

2. Set the Stage (I realized I could do better at setting a better stage so that baby isn't overstimulated)

3. Willingness to Listen (I also can improve on overcoming my personal frustration so I will be more willing to listen)

4. Vocalize Feelings (I need to tell Dash I love him aloud)

5. Avoid Judgement (I think I judge the baby by blaming my lack of sleep on him- even though he can't help it)

6. Maintain Confidences (Not really sure how this one applies...)

7. Practice Patience (Self explanatory)

Expressing Love within the Family

I loved the following quotes from this talk:

- "The best time—the easiest time—to start expressing love to our children is when they are infants." 

- "To express your love, you can hold him, cuddle him, gently squeeze him, kiss him, and whisper thoughts of love in his ear."

- "How would we react if each time a child was born our Father in Heaven made this kind of introduction to the parents: Thank you for preparing this little body for the spirit I have created. Now, I present him to you for a season to care for. Please teach him of me and of my Son. I so much want him back with me some day. … Remember this: He is loving. He will respond to teaching. He wants to learn. Please treat him with respect. The road will not be easy. Some of the time it will be most difficult. I want to help you raise him. Please call on me often for advice and counsel. Together we can help him fulfill his purpose in the earth."

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Provident Living

I gave a talk today about Provident Living. One of the things Matt and I have been working on over the past year is building our food storage based on this easy list:

We modified it to fit our needs (for example, as grad students in a tiny apartment, we really don't have room for all the flour and sugar it recommends) but it's been great to get into the habit of buying something extra with every shopping trip and building our own food storage. We've also worked on our own 72 hour emergency kits, which are also almost complete.

My first real-life encounters with emergency preparedness came when I was on my mission. In the Dominican, you don't have electricity all the time, you may not have running water all of the time, and there is a higher likelihood of emergencies and natural disasters. Through experience, I learned to always have candles, water, food, and extra money on hand. You never know when the mission president would call and tell you about a hurricane warning, where you have to stay inside for several days and survive off of what you already have. I hope that even though I'm living in a 1st world country, I can still remember that sometimes disaster can leave us living in 3rd world conditions, and that it's important to store up what we can to be self-reliant.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

Over the past four months, Matt and I have memorized a few lines from the family proclamation every week for FHE. Every day, we would recite the current week and the past week's lines, and then once a week we would recite everything we had memorized up to that point. We finally completed memorizing the whole document this week!

Jan 13-          WE, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

Jan 20-         ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

Jan 27-         IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.

Feb 03-          The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

Feb 10-          THE FIRST COMMANDMENT that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.

Feb 17-          We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

Feb 24-          WE DECLARE the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Mar 03-         HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3).

Mar 10-         Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.

Mar 17-         Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations. THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.

Mar 24-         Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mar 31-         Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.

Apr 07-         By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.

Apr 14-         In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

Apr 21-         WE WARN that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.

Apr 28-         Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

May 05-        WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

I've become a lot more aware of my capacity to memorize, as well as the power of memorization. We would frequently remember lines when hearing Conference or Sunday talks and I realized how integral this proclamation is to everything we teach.

Rhetorically, 
Rebekah