A True Royal Wedding

Yes, I watched the Royal Wedding. I admit, I loved every second of it. In fact, I’ve watched parts of the wedding over and over again the last two days. It truly was a modern day fairy tale. I loved the dress, the music, the carriage rides, the palace, and the genuine smiles on the Duke and Duchess’ faces. Yes, it was a magical day that I’m glad I was able to be a part of – even across the pond.

But as I’ve watched the Royal Wedding and oohed and awed over the day’s events, one thought kept coming to mind. The Royal Wedding in England was beautiful and wonderful, but the most special “royal” weddings I’ve ever been part of are those that take place within the sacred walls of the Holy Temple. Truly, it is in the temple where we are sealed together as families for eternity. Forget “til death do us part”… a marriage is eternal. There is a sweet peace that is only found within the temple. A bride and a groom dressed in white in the Holy Temple are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. A royal wedding indeed is one that takes place inside the temple.

The Thing about the Royal Wedding

I know there are really important things going on in the world today. I’m well aware that the world is going to a very hot place, and very quickly. I’m up on my current events and quite frankly, the fact that I realize that the Middle East is killing itself, the United States in going bankrupt, and gas prices went up 20 cents by my house in a week is honestly what makes me so excited to watch the Royal Wedding. Yes, I said it…I’m excited to watch the Royal Wedding.

Here’s the deal. Being a King, Queen, Princess, Duchess, or having any other royal title really doesn’t mean anything to me. I know that Queen Elizabeth has no real power and I get that William is more personable than Charles, but there’s just something magical and whimsical about a Royal Wedding. It’s the escape from everything that is going nuts in the world today. For a few hours, we can pretend that we are all “commoners” who have caught the eye of the future King of England. We can pretend that we are a part of a fairytale where choirs magically sing, people stop to wave at us for no apparent reason, and we are wearing the most beautiful dress in the world. And then, we are back to our reality.

I know that only like 2% of people in the US care about the Royal Wedding, but I’m not going to hide that I’m one of the 2% who does care…not because I think the Royal family is all that royal or that I live in a make-believe world. It’s just, that for a few hours, I can pretend that all is right in the world and Cinderella has finally found her prince charming.

Come on, who doesn’t want to live in a fairy-tale world, just for a moment or two? I’ll get back to saving the planet tomorrow after 7:00 am MDT.

This Easter Weekend

Joseph B. Wirthlin speaking on the events of that first Easter weekend:

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces... But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come... No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, in this life or the next, Sunday will come."

The Object Lesson Gone Wrong

On Sunday, I decided to teach the dreaded modesty lesson. There’s only one lesson I think is worse to teach to teenage girls and that’s chastity. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to this particular lesson, even though I knew it was something that needed to be addressed.

I had been thinking about this lesson for weeks, trying to decide the best way to get my point across and help the young women see how important it was to be modest in a world that ever increasingly immodest. I decided on an object lesson.

I’d heard about a time when Pres. Packer taught the missionaries about delivering the right message by using a cake. He had a beautiful cake and asked if anyone wanted a piece of cake. Of course, everyone wanted a piece. So Pres. Packer dug his hand into the cake, threw a piece at one of the missionaries, and then asked if anyone else wanted a piece. After that demonstration, nobody else wanted a piece of cake. The point being, the way you “serve” your message is as important as the message itself.

I thought this would be perfect for our young women. I got a cake and displayed it in front of the room. When the girls walked in, they all accused me of being cruel since it was 3:00 on a fast Sunday and they were all starving. I started the lesson by saying, “Who wants a piece of cake?” Of course, several hands shot up. So I picked up a plate, dug my hand deep into the cake, and threw this piece of cake on a plate. I gave it to one of the girls who wanted the cake. And she started to eat it! OK, just one girl ate the cake, no big deal right? So I said, “Anyone else want a piece?” And wouldn’t you know it, more hands went up. So I did the same thing. And that girl also ate the cake. Once again I said, “Anyone else want a piece of cake?” And more hands went up! This time I really smooshed the cake into the plate and played with it in my hands before putting it on the plate. I said things like, “I’ve been shaking a lot of hands today, I wiped boogers off of a kid’s face, I went to the bathroom and didn’t wash my hands.” And wouldn’t you know it, the girls still ate that dang cake!

Pretty soon I ran out of plates so I stopped offering the cake. I really didn’t think anyone would actually eat the cake! I even had a girl ask if she could lick the frosting off my fingers! I drew the line at that one and said, “no.”

The point of this object lesson was supposed to be that no matter how beautiful the cake (aka, the girls) nobody will want to eat it if it’s not presented in the right way (aka, the way they dress). Since everyone ate the cake, I hope this doesn’t mean the girls will all want to wear short skirts now!

It doesn’t end there. I had one of the girls send me a message on Facebook yesterday. She said, “That cake was so good!”

And that, my friends, is how not to share an object lesson.