Christmas 2011 Newsletter

Every year I write a newsletter to my family and friends. This year it was a last minute effort, but I did sum up what happened in a somewhat uneventful year. Maybe it seems uneventful because I couldn't remember everything I did, so this what I came up with.

Dear Family,

It is a week before Christmas and I am finally getting around to writing the annual newsletter or form letter as I sometimes I want to call it. It has been a rather boring year as far as traveling goes. I didn’t leave the state of Utah all year. Mary did not visit, but Laura and her family did, which prompted me to leave Salt Lake County to watch “17 Miracles” in Davis County.
John did help get me around this year even though his car is ageing faster than most UTA buses. He took me to Riverton to see the dentist and a few trips to Costco. He also drove Jay and me to Park City in August, which is in Summit County. Okay I left the county twice. Jay and Tina, a friend from high school ran the Park City Half Marathon. While we were waiting for the race to begin, we visited with an old neighbor from the ward we all moved from. Of course, I had hot chocolate at McDonalds while we waited for Jay and Tina to cross the finish line. There is just something about a cold August morning in Park City.
All of us are still working at the same place and attending the same wards. I doubt that will change in the coming year, but you never know. But there were a few changes. The annual rivalry game was held in September instead of November. It just wasn’t the same and it wasn’t just different dates for both teams. BYU was independent and Utah was in the PAC-12. But I did enjoy a rivalry of sorts with Dana, when his Dawgs (Huskies) played my Utes. I am officially his auntie now.
Even though I was in Utah when the earthquake on East Coast occurred; I did experience it. I was talking to one of the borrowers when suddenly I heard some rattling in the background. Over the phone, it sounded like tea cups shaking in a china cabinet. She did confirm that it was earthquake and Washington DC doesn’t get earthquakes.
I did take up drawing, but not in the usual artistic way. But more in the therapeutic way: definitely in a way to express myself. I am not ready to call my self artist, probably because I use a pencil and scratch paper to draw my subject. I started my art therapy at work on the last day that student could pay their tuition before their classes were dropped. The events of the day gave me my inspiration for bad.artIst@woRk label. I have since drawn quite a few, some not so nice and others, just for laughs. Some I have included in my blog (http://idahoinutah.blogspot.com) that I started at the end of January. Right now the heading reads “Life on a Single Road”. I may be single, but I do have some stories to share. Some are current like OJ story (February) and Morning in Park City (August); others are memories like His Greatest Race (October) and the Walking Around the Block (also February).
I understand that the world will end in 2012. Well, I have news for you; I plan to be around for 2013, so I hope the upcoming year goes better than predicted. Take care and enjoy the Holidays. That includes Christmas and New Years. Ciao!

Something about Crystal

I was looking thru some files on my flash drive and I came across this. Crystal and her mom, Jewel recently came back from a two week stay in Ecuador. They had been doing volunteer work in the orphanages there. This reminds me of one of the ways Crystal got her start in founding one of her life's callings. Service often starts with thinking of others.

January 10, 2004 - I woke up in philosophy-kind of mood this morning. Maybe this is a good thing, because it caused me to think and if I share my thoughts, it might cause someone to think or have “oh” or even “a-ha” moment.
Last night, I was out at Crystal’s house again. The young woman (nine and half) had just come back from Hawaii after being there for almost two weeks. She had another time of her life. Crystal brought goodies back for almost everyone (and some for herself.) Postcards and bracelet for friends, t-shirts for the brothers and Dad, candles for Mom and Mom’s friend down the street. (Mom’s friend also spoils Crystal.) Crystal even bought me the chocolate macadamia nuts, I wanted from Hawaii. (Tell me who the spoiled one is here). And she knew her brothers would go nuts over the chocolates. (They were gone before I got there last night.)
On the way home, I thought of the compliment that I got on Christmas and five years ago.* And I realized that is what Crystal did in Hawaii. Crystal may be spoiled, but she does think of others quite regularly. I wonder if her brothers think of others like she does. Maybe Crystal thinks of others, because others think of her. It is that ripple affect.
Everyone knows of a selfish person who thinks of her/him and seldom think of others. I have noticed that selfish people can be bitter and what is sad, those around him/her are miserable. The selfish person blames others for her/his misery. So to rid yourself of misery, think of others. I am not the only one who is having problems. My co-workers have their difficulties, members of my family too. When I think of them, I know that I am not alone. When I do something for someone else, it lifts my spirits as well as theirs. And there comes the ripple effect. Maybe my thoughtfulness will cause them to think of others. And because others think of me, I am more likely to think of others. But when I surround by selfish people or associate with a selfish person, I tend to be more self-centered myself.
And so, Crystal made me think. She may be spoiled, but she does think of others. And in this selfish world, that is a good quality to have. Thanks to others who have shown her an example of thinking of others, she can have a rich life.

February 2, 2011 *can’t think of what the compliment was, but it probably something along the lines of thinking of others. Crystal cupided my door 2 years ago and one of the hearts read “u always think of others."

Thoughts on Easter

April 8, 2007
Dear Elder Pugh,
I taught the lesson in Primary class and I was glad it was the basic Easter message. It made me think of the resurrection. In sharing time, the video “Easter Dream” was shown. That is one of my favorite LDS church videos. It gives me hope that I will see my dad again and my grandparents that I never knew. (My Dad's parents died before I was born.) I read yesterday in the Trib’s (Salt Lake Tribune) religion section, an article by Connie Clark, who has a ministry in Evanston, Wyoming. She wrote about the resurrection and the mentally ill. When Christ was resurrected, not only was there hope for the dead, but also for the living. The Atonement brings a hope of being able to repent, to make our lives new again. We all (just like those who are mentally ill) struggle daily, constantly repenting, renewing our goals again and again. Rev. Clark’s message touched a note with me, because I live with mental illness most days. My oldest brother suffers from either bipolar 1 or paranoid schizophrenia, which is undiagnosed. It is one reason, why I haven’t been home in almost five years. I miss home, but there is still the hope that I will return again.
(This statute of Christ is found in the Nauvoo LDS Visitors Center. I chose this one because Christ has his hands outstretched to us. Christ is also looking down and I am thinking He is looking at us below on earth. The statute in the Salt Lake Temple Square Visitors Center is the same, but with the heavens as a background. This statute has the background of the visitor center's garden. Although I took the picture in September, the trees and such were still green. For me green is represents a newness; a fresh start. April 24, 2011)

March 27, 2011 – When I re-read the last line of Mark’s letter, I realized that my siblings and I did return home to the Magic Valley. The first time was in August 2008, when John, Jay and I made a quick trip to attend the Twin Fall Temple Openhouse. We spent the night at a motel, went to the openhouse with my mom. Afterwords, we had lunch at JB’s in Burley. We never saw Mike, but it planted a deeper seed of hope. When we got back to Salt Lake, Mike mentioned that it would have been good to see us at the house. The first weekend in August 2010, we headed home for a lunch at Mom’s. My sister, Laura and her family were headed to Lake Powell for a family reunion and Mary and Doug were returning from Wendover, Nevada. Steven flew in from California and drove up with John, Jay and me. We helped clean up the yard and after dinner, had a short family meeting. Mike did not hide in his room as he usually does when visitors arrive. He even helped out in the yard. My brothers and I had planned to spend the night at the neighbors, but after my sisters and their families left, Mike had a change of heart and suggested we spend the night.
It is difficult dealing with someone has a mental illness. But I have learned to hope and keep the faith. When resurrection happens, the old will be cast off and a newness will come. I will have full use of ears and Mike will be better. And yes, I will get to see my Dad again.

Six years ago

My niece, Isabella, had her 6th birthday last week. It was then that I realized, I've been working full-time at the University of Utah for six years. Isabella was born a week before I started work. When I experienced writer's block yesterday, I was reading some old letters. When I saw what I wrote Darren six years ago, I decided to include his letter for this post. It pretty much captures how I felt. The picture below is one of the two pictures I included in his letter. March 25, 2005 Dear Elder Pugh, You thought I was seeing RED before, now I really am seeing RED. Starting Wednesday, March 30th, I will be working at the University of Utah. It will be hard that first day. Instead of taking a nap after walking the mall, I will head off to work. My two months off are coming to an end. But I have to admit going to work is better than looking for a job. Your favorite pest, Susan March 28, 2005 Dear Elder Pugh I thought I had better finish this letter. I am working on Race For The Cure fund raising efforts and I thought while I was printing off letters, I may as well finish this letter. My niece, Tracina had another daughter a week ago. Her other daughter, Vanessa is eleven, so she has baby sitter already. And like Crystal, Vanessa likes babies. (and shoes, too.) Vanessa has wanted another baby for a very long time. When she was three or four, Vanessa was telling people that she was getting another baby. Tracina had quite a bit of explaining to do. Well, this is it. Time to put this letter in the mail. Once again, Susan

Note: My neice, Vanessa is about 6 months older than Darren's sister, Crystal.

A Timely Dream That Saved the Morning

I was having writer's block, so I went thru a few letters that I written my missionaries. Since what I wrote about happen 3 years this month, I thought I would share this letter.

March 11, 2008

Congratulations, Elder Mark Pugh,

(I enclosed this letter with some fudge that I had made and I decided to congratulate Elder Pugh on his recent soon-be- gone possession of chocolate.)

I will end my letter with a thought from President Eyring’s conference talk. I saw the hand of God reaching out to touch me and my brother when the power went out in the middle of night. I was having this dream and I could not make out what the clock was telling me. It was skipping from 5:30 to 6:30 am and I knew I had to get up. My mom told me it was two am. What was my mom doing up at 2am? So I woke up for real and turned my head to look at the radio clock. I didn’t see any display on the clock radio. I realized the power was out. So I fished the cell phone (that has alarm) from my purse. I quickly turn it on and set the alarm for an unearthly hour. And I told Jay the power was out. I was so glad I had that dream because it prompted me to wake and look at my clock. I was still able to get up on time and get to work on time. The power did come on at five am, half hour after I noticed the power outage. But still, I would have woke up to a flashing display of the wrong time had I not had the dream. I probably would had missed the bus and been late to work.

Your interesting family friend, Susan