An Email from Sister Torkildson in California

Aloooooooha! 

Okay, so I have a LOT of catching up to do in the photo department as you can see! We've had some wonderful adventures the last couple of weeks such as: hiking in Laguna Beach at a place called Top of the World; Zone temple trip to Newport Beach! (I've included the goofy one because I don't want you to think that we're completely normal, we're definitely not!); a Relief Society (women's group at church) beach party!( were technically not ON the sand just a few inches from it, so no rules broken ;) ; fun group outings and much more! 

But as much fun as we have had, we've also been working super hard. Since I am a Sister Training Leader in the zone, I get to go to additional meetings to learn more about how to be an effective leader and how to help others in my zone. I learned a lot at this last meeting we had on Friday; we talked a lot about sacrifice ( this topic keeps coming up for some reason) and how it means to make something holy; we also talked about expecting a miracle even when it seems like you're not being rewarded for the good things you do. There was a missionary who quoted something and I really liked it and wanted to share it with you as well: "Pray like everything depends on God and then work as if everything depends on you." In having a mindset like that, there's no way that you won't see miracles! I have also been learning about the importance of sharing what I believe to be true with others sincerely, even though they may seem uninterested or rude. It's hard for someone to reject a statement of belief, especially when it's sincere and heartfelt. So I'm working on choosing to love people and give them the best opportunity to hear the message we have instead of just handing them a card with our number on it. I'll share one experience with that that we had this week: 

On Friday night we had dinner with a member at 5 Guys and as we were walking to our car afterwards we saw a woman walking toward us who worked in the business complex. We decided to stop and talk to her and we came to find that she was recently divorced and going through a rough time. She said she misses church and needs to go back, so we taught her about God's love for her and that he knows her personally and wants her and her family to be together forever. She started to cry and we embraced her and asked if we could share more messages like that with her and she excitedly said yes. We got her contact information and sent it to the Anaheim mission since that's where she lives ,but This was such a tender experience for me to have been a part of. It greatly increased my faith and testimony that God has everything under control and he will put us where he needs us. You truly never know what people are going through, but God does and He will put you in the right place at the right time so that you can help someone else feel how much He loves them and knows them. 

I love this gospel, it brings so much joy and happiness to our lives! I love being a representative of Jesus Christ, I will always hold this time in my life as a sacred experience to reflect upon for the rest of my life. I love each one of you, and I know our Father in Heaven does too! Have a wonderful week! 

How Fat are Mormons? -- The Aging Japanese Army -- Keeping Sugar out of the Office

A new report from Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that Utah has the sixth-lowest obesity rate in the country.  Deseret News

Why are the Mormons so thin?

"The fat of the land" is no sin.

Perhaps their travails

upon mountain trails

is keeping them just bone and skin.

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Like the rest of Japan, the country’s military is getting older—and a shortage of young recruits has raised concerns among defense planners about maintaining the strength of its forces. WSJ

The Japanese Army's so old

they no longer march, but are rolled

in wheelchairs to war

since their feet are sore,

with blankets to keep out the cold.

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Most employees like the free doughnuts, cake and other confections that get parked “in the usual place” at work. But exploding rates of obesity and diabetes make sugar more like cigarettes to some employers. Tempting treats are the new secondhand smoke.  WSJ

My boss says no donuts for me;

they're giving me obesity.

But coffee and tea

are offered for free --

caffeine's got good lobbyists, see?

A Tweet from Trump -- Consumer Sentiment

Consumer Sentiment hit its highest level in 17 years this year. Sentiment fell 11% in 2015, an Obama year, and rose 16% since the Election, @realDonaldTrump


Consumers all love me, you bet.
They've never had cause to regret
my tariffs or walls,
and overseas brawls --
and I am not through with them yet!

flower pushing rock

flower pushing rock --

so you think you can move it?

I'll write down your dream

happy pine needles

happy pine needles

regardless of the season

bristling with life

Religious Beliefs Punished in China

All of the five officially tolerated religions by Chinese leaders — Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam and Protestantism — are now experiencing draconian treatment from the government of President Xi Jinping . . . 
WaPo

There was a believer named Wu

who didn't know what he should do.

His duty to Xi

made his deity

a felony and ballyhoo.

at a weekend stand

the summer blushes

of peaches laid in cartons

at a weekend stand

the yellow flowers

the yellow flowers

feel the sunlight shine for them --

the slow simple warmth

My Sister Sue Ellen

This is the story of an inheritance gone awry. Of an injustice, or perhaps of my just desserts -- I guess it depends on who's telling the story. I still can't think of it without becoming confused and sad. But at least I'm not angry any more. I've had to wait nearly ten years for the anger and bitterness to drain away, so that I could tell this tale. Here goes:

My last real circus job was with Culpepper & Merriweather Circus, out of Hugo, Oklahoma. I was their Publicity Director. I had the job for two seasons, and enjoyed spreading the inflated ballyhoo I was expected to deliver in each podunk town we played. Towards the end of my second season with them Trey Key, the owner, stopped sending me my salary. I visited the show down in Texas just before it closed to confront him about it. Business was slow, but would undoubtedly pick up in the last two weeks -- so he'd make it up to me then. Not really having much of a choice, I swallowed his baloney with as much grace as possible, finished up my work, and drove up to Minneapolis to visit my mother before looking for some winter work. 

I never got my six weeks back salary. Trey Key never answered any of my phone calls, emails, or letters again. And mom told me she had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure -- the doctors gave her six months to live. She didn't want to move into a nursing home at the end of her life, so she asked me to take care of her until it was over as her live-in attendant. She'd pay me enough so I could make my child support payments each month. And they were staggering payments -- when Amy and I parted we had eight children. Even after our son Irvin died at age nine the Child Support authorities continued to charge me for him as well as for the seven remaining kids. 

I took care of mom -- but not for six months. She lasted nearly two more years. I cooked and cleaned and washed for her, and towards the end I gave her showers and enemas, too. She wore a diaper, which I changed several times each day. As she grew weaker my brother Billy and my sister Sue Ellen systematically stripped her of  her jewelry, copper cookware, furniture, and anything else they took a fancy to. 

"She won't be needing it anymore" they told me on several occasions. "Don't worry; you'll be taken care of in the will."

 The only thing they didn't get was mom's silverware; she had me hide it under her bed to give to my sister, Linda, when she came to visit from Oregon. This really enraged Sue Ellen -- and maybe that's why she did what she did.

 The day of my mother's death the office informed me that I had 48 hours to clear out of her apartment, so they could get the place rented quickly. And instead of attending the reading of mom's will, I found myself in Hennepin County District Court, being told by a judge that the executor of mom's will, my sister Sue Ellen, had filed suit to have my portion of the inheritance -- forty thousand dollars -- delivered directly to my former wife Amy. I would not receive a penny of it. After Amy received the payment I wrote her to ask for a few thousand dollars of it back to get a place to live while I looked for work. She refused. Her reply was unpleasant and vindictive. I still don't like to think about it. 

My home teacher, Dick Johnson, let me stay in his basement rent free until I could get back on my feet. That's when I panhandled on Nicollet Mall for my living -- and got a phone call from Thailand from Bruce Veldhuisen offering me a job at his English School in Ban Phe if I could pay my own way there. With help from a lot of good friends and members of my Ward I got enough money together to fly to Thailand and begin a new career as a TEFL teacher. 

So . . . did Sue Ellen do me harm or do me a favor when she had the court take away my inheritance? With that money I could have started a new life in the United States -- and without it I felt forced to flee to Thailand to escape further depredations by the Child Support and Court authorities. In the long run, things turned out better for me than I could ever have imagined. I'm now at peace, living in Provo, near many of my children and grandchildren. I spend my days writing poetry. I'm about as happy as I believe I can ever be. 

As for Sue Ellen, I asked her several years ago why she felt impelled to do such a bitchy thing to her own brother. Her reply was incoherent and filled with curses and blasphemy. But the gist of it was the same as Iago's at the end of Shakespeare's Othello:

"Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word." 

summer won't let go

the smoky red haze

of a morning brush fire --

summer won't let go