...let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly...D&C 121:45

I attended a Relief Society conference this weekend and the Stake President's wife spoke to us. She shared this experience...

When she was attending BYU one of her professors gave the class an assignment on positive thinking. He asked who in the class would like to become a more 'creative' person. Many hands went up. He told them to tell a stranger that "I am a very creative person!" Do that twice a day for one week. When they returned and reported, all of them now felt that they were creative people. Than he suggested for the next assignment that they help a struggling student by telling them that they were excellent students in whatever subject they had difficulty. Such as "You are very good math student." Do that for a week and see what happens. In each case reported the students they praised in this specific way improved in the subject they were previously failing. The next assignment was much more personal. How many of you would like to date more? Remember, this is BYU. Many hands went up. He suggested that each person decide who they wanted to date, greet that person and simply think in their mind, "You want to date me!" Sister Campbell was too timid to try this for herself, however she shared the information with her roommates. One was willing to give it a try. She approached the young man, thought to herself, "You want to date me!" and low and behold and invitation was made. She was estatic. One of the other girls gave it a try. Only she used different words. She thought to herself, "Jeff, you will not rest until you ask me out." Nothing happened than two days later Jeff asked her out. He didn't seem to be himself. When she asked why he was acting so odd his reply was, "Oh it's nothing, I just haven't been able to sleep the last two nights.
Two roommates got what they wanted. So Sister Campbell had to give it a try, when she saw who is now her husband at work the next day she used the thought process and he asked her out. Later when she admitted what she did, he told her she had cheated, but was glad she did.

I wonder how many times we have used this process ourselves and didn't even know what we were doing. Her point was how powerful our thoughts are and how much more powerful they would be if they were virtuous, at all times, in all things, in all places. Think how we can lift and minister to others by simply having virtuous thoughts.

Changing negative behavior/THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT

The "Hawthorne Effect" is a term used to describe the tendency of subjects in experiments to increase sought-after behavior or decrease negative behavior, simply beacause they are being studied. It was first observed among the meploes at the Hawthorned Plant who were being studied by researchers from Harvard Business School. The researchers were studying worker productivitiy. But they encountered a problem. When the researchers gave attention to the employees, the workers' productivity didn't remain static, it increased. This change in productivity was produced simply by an awareness that they were being studeied, and it skewed the study.

Obviously, the Hawthorne Effect drives researchers crazy, but for those who wish to change behavior it is quite encouraging. It means that all I have to do to increase the frequency of a desired behavior or decrease the frequency of a negative behavior is to notice it! Just my awareness of it will change the results...

For instance, if a mother is concerned about how often she speacks in habitualy negative language to her children, she can decide to count all the negative statements she makes. Without any apparent self-discipline, as she becomes aware of how many times a day she responds to child negatively, she will instinctively improve. Being aware enough to count and report our experiences is a dynamic and positive process.

[One method of doing this is to] fill one pocket with pennies at the beginning of the day. Each time [a mother] responds with positive language to her children rather than negative language, she takes one penny and transfers it to the other pocket. At the end of the day, she writes down the number of pennies in the second pocket. I have done this to self-monitor all sorts of behaviors, and the Hawthorne Effect always holds true. As I continue to count and record, the positive behaviors increase and the negative behaviors decrease.

(Virginia Pearce, A Heart Like His, pg. 88-91)

The Hokey Pokey

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at the age of 93.

The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in.

And then the trouble started.

"Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused."

The giraffe test/ an oldie but goodie

How do you put a girafffe into a refrigerator?

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down.

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Did you say, open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigertaor door?

WRONG ANSWER

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of the previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend...except for one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the questions correctly, you still have one more chance.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you mange it?

Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been paying attention? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Conference. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the Professionals they tested got all questions wrong. But many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

Why we love kids (nudity)

A mother was drving with her three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of them stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As she was reeling from the shock, she heard her 5-year-old shout from the back seat,"Mom, That lady isn't wearing her seat belt!"

Candy bar quiz!

How well do you know the name of candy bars? Try to decipher the name from each clue. The answers are at the bottom. No Cheating!

1. Not laughing out loud
2.A famous swashbuckling trio
3. Red Planet
4. Galaxy
5. Can't hold onto anything
6. Favorite Day for working people
7. Pleasantly plump
8. Sweet sign of affection
9.Supermain's other identitiy
10. Feline
11. Most women look for this man
12. Round flotation device
13. Dry cow
14. Famous New York street
15. Children of the cane
16.Indian burial grounds
17. Alot of money
18. Nut happiness

So how did you do?




Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Mars, Milky Way, Butterfinger, Pay Day, Chunky, Kisses, Clark, Kit Kat, Mr. Goodbar or Big Hunk, Life savers, Milk Dud, 5th Avenue, Sugar Babies, Mounds, 1000,000 dollar, Almond Joy

sights along the way

This weekend Gary and I went for a hike. The Peavine Hike along Watson Lake in Prescott. These are a few of the things we saw along the way. The firemen were doing some exercises...one of which was a game to see which team could get a keg to move along a high wire while shooting at it with a fire hose. While looking for a spot to sit and eat lunch I came across the tiniest flowers I have ever seen. These little yellow beauties were smaller than the grass growing around them. Amazing. lunch consisted of fried chicken, macaroni salad and jello. Gary was even willing to eat out of the same container as I did so as to save space in his backpack. To those of you who know Gary you know he will not eat out of a community bowl. To say I was surprised is an understatement. It was a gorgeous day for a hike.

Boys will be boys....YUCK!

Last night I had prepared a wonderful, tasty meal for my dear sweet hubbie. Well, he wasn't so sweet by the end of the meal. The BRAT! I carefully grilled two scrumptious pork chops, made a pretty tossed salad and yummy, yummy cornbread. We sat and ate and talked about his day. I was recounting what the brethren had said in conference. Consequently, he finished his meal before I did, which is usual, I eat slower than he does. He said he was full, however, he kept taking food off my plate. Generally, I don't mind, but the meal was soooo yummy, which for those of you who have experienced my cooking know that yummy is very rare... So I told him to eat more salad. It was a pretty salad. The kind with bright green spinach leaves, bright orange carrots, red ripe tomatoes, crispy celery and onions. Delightful. So he took my suggestion, went to the pantry to get some sun flower seeds for a tasty addition. As he begins to chow down he decides to say out loud how the sun flower seeds look like ticks all over his salad. I am doing my best to ignore him...but he continues...so to act as though this is not bothering me in any way, I reached over and filled my fork with some of his salad; including the sun flower seeds. As I begin to munch and looking un-affected by his comments he mentions how the seeds feel so plump in his mouth and how it's better that they are crunchy otherwise when he bit down on them they would burst with blood. You guessed it, I immediatly spit out what was in my mouth. GROSS!!! Boys are such a pain. Girls, tell me, what is it again that we see in them...why do want to spend time with them.. He ruined a perfectly good meal and with my cooking skills, who knows when I will ever get that back again...

A hood, a cape and two sisters

Here we are in the year 1964 sporting new outfits made for us for one of the holidays...Don't we look smashing? I am the only one wearing the whole outfit, cape, hood and skirt. I do not know what Marsha and Lisa were thinking. Maybe I should be wondering what I was thinking?. Fun, fun memories. This was taken in our Grandparents (Nulliner) backyard.

Look at our fashionable hair cuts. I remember wearing my cape often. I like capes. Funny, I don't even own one today. Fun, fun memories.

Picture this too...

Picure this...

This is my model in the photography class I took at church for Enrichment. Isn't she a cutie. We had so much fun learning how to use our cameras. The ladies in my ward are super great! I will be practicing so I can be ready for the kids when they come for a visit. Lots and lots of fun!