A few nights ago, my sweetheart and I were getting some pillow talk in at the end of a week day. He told me about a talk he had listened to by a previous president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (President Kimball) who had quoted Caleb in the Old Testament saying “Give me this mountain.” Caleb was 84 years old and was going into battle to claim the promised land with God’s help. President Kimball talked about his own challenges and said that he feels the same way about them. Give me this mountain- this hard thing- so I can grow and become who I am meant to become. Our discussion that night centered around what we would say to God. Perhaps “Give me a molehill- one I can easily jump over and make sure I retain control during it. Not something too hard.” Or maybe even “I’d rather have a back massage- could you give me one of those?” That one made us chuckle, but really, that’s often times what I’d prefer! A nice temperature, a relaxing back massage, no strain, no struggle…

And yet ultimately, sitting on the couch and eating potato chips has never gotten anyone in shape. Our bodies, minds and spirits need work to continue progressing in the right direction! I don’t feel like I need to ask for more hard things in my life, but I do want to have the humility to accept challenges with that attitude. I can do hard things because God will help me and in the process I will become a better me. It would reduce the friction and resistance, and increase my courage and confidence to try again when it’s difficult.

Something to think about.

Happy Monday!

Love,

Laura

Before school started, we shared with the boys a story that really made them stop and think. Have you heard about the rice experiment? These guys explain it really well in the middle of the video. Basically the idea is that the way you talk to anything- even a jar of rice- has a big impact!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VyHAtedVF4

1 Corinthians 16:18 is a bible verse that relates to that: “For they have refreshed my spirit and yours.” I want to be that kind of a person- one that has a “refreshing” influence on someone else.

This is just a silly video we used to teach this principle further: pretend your influence is what comes out of the each canteen.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Love,

Laura

I am preparing music for an upcoming multi-congregation conference (Stake Conference). A youth choir will be singing this number, which I sang as a teenager and was touched by the message. Enjoy!

Come Unto Him

Arranged and Accompanied by Marshall McDonald

Vocals by Laura Harper

For Stake Conference (a multi-congregation meeting in October for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) I have been asked to put together a youth choir and prepare two musical numbers. This is one of them!

Hear and Hearken:

Words by Gerald Lund

Music by Lynn Lund

Vocals by Laura Harper

Hello friends! This week in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, my youngest son and I read about a dragon hatching (shhh- Hagrid has been hiding an illegal dragon egg in his hut!). Harry was there with Hagrid for the last few seconds as the dragon emerged and we delightedly read about the adventures that followed.

It got me thinking about things in our lives that take a really long time to hatch (unlike the story!). When you have a good idea and you pursue it, sometimes it feels unreasonable when it takes SO MUCH LONGER than you had planned on! When we moved to our current little town 14 years ago, we talked about building a house, but the time wasn’t right and we decided to move into a cute little duplex for a year. After about a year, we talked again about building a house, but for various reason we decided to buy a house that would be another step in the direction of our dream house. My husband spent hours creating floor plans and preparing for the day we would build. A few years later we found a piece of land that was perfect and we purchased it. About 7 years ago, we got really serious about building, but a new responsibility for my husband required us to wait, which we did. I could tell you about a lot of other steps, but it would probably be boring for you so I’ll spare you…but I don’t have the end of the story yet to tie this up. However, we have lined up excavators and concrete guys for this fall, and we’re moving towards framing in the spring! And just like that- the dragon is hatching. Perhaps someone getting to know me for the first time this summer could feel like Harry, arriving at the scene and witnessing the action right as it begins to move. For us, the egg just needed a looooooooong time to incubate!

I do have to add that even though I have had my frustrations, I can see that our delays have been a blessing. Even so, we are ready for this dragon to hatch- and we’re excited to watch as the process unfolds!

Love,

Laura