T h e C h u rc h o f J e s u s C h ri s t o f L a t t e r D a y S a i n t s
C o l o ra d o Fo u n t a i n S t a k e • Co l o ra d o Sp ri n g s 1 6 t h W a rd
16th Ward Home Teaching Newsletter
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13
FEBRUARY 2014
If You Chance to Meet a Frown
Upcoming Events
X M T W R F S
FEB 02 X
Fast Sunday
FEB 04 T
Temple is Opened
FEB 08 S
Boy Scout Dinner / Dessert Auction Fundraiser
FEB 07 F
Happy Birthday Boy Scouts
of America (1910)
FEB 12 W Happy Birthday Abraham
Lincoln (1809)
FEB 14 F
Valentine’s Day
FEB 16 X
Happy Birthday 911 (1968)
FEB 17 M
President’s Day
FEB 22 S
Happy Birthday George
Washington (1732)
Sunday Lessons
FEB 02
Quorum Instruction
FEB 09
Joseph Fielding Smith 03
Lifelong Conversion:
Continuing to Advance in
the Principles of Truth
FEB 16
FEB 23
Joseph Fielding Smith 04
Strengthened by the
Power of the Holy Ghost
General Conference Talk
Have you ever seen the subliminal messaging in the Book of Mormon? Okay, I
don’t know if it was intentionally a
subliminal message, but it is rather
neat. In 2Nephi 9:39, the prophet
Nephi shares, “Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually minded is life eternal.”
many people "who constantly complain 1. Smiling makes us attractive
about the burden of their responsibili- 2. Smiling is contagious
ties."
3. Smiling relieves stress
4. Smiling boosts your immune system
"Of course," he said, "the pressures are 5. Smiling helps relieve pain
great. There is much, too much, to do.
6. Smiling improves self-esteem
There are financial burdens to add to all 7. Smiling is an unselfish gift to brighten
of these pressures, and with all of this
peoples’ day
we are prone to complain, frequently at
Did you catch it? “...to be spiritually
home, often in public. Turn your thinkSmiling is also as contagious as a fire.
minded is life eternal.” Look closely to
ing around. The gospel is good news.
Like a fire, when you don’t feel like
the first letters of each word.
Man is that he might have joy."
smiling, you can fake it, and it won’t
Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal
take long before the feelings become
S.M.I.L.E.
In Liberty Jail, while counseling with the real enough, and spreads to everyone
heart broken and suffering Joseph
you meet. Some people are stubborn
At a General Young Women Conference, Smith, the Lord concludes with ,
and require a little more effort, but as
Sister Elaine Dalton, Gen. Y.W. presi“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let long as the fire remains, it will catch on
dent, said, “The Lord loves you, and I
us cheerfully do all things that lie in our soon enough. Don’t and it won’t.
know you love Him. It shows in your
power; and then may we stand still with
countenance, in your modesty, in your
the utmost assurance, to see the salva- Even when you’re on the phone, You’ll
desire to choose the right, and in your
tion of God, and for his arm to ne rebe amazed at how people will be able to
commitment to remain virtuous and
vealed” (D&C 123:17).
tell you’re smiling! Just as important,
pure.” (Elaine S. Dalton, “Remember
smiling improves your mood – that’s
Who You Are!”, Ensign, May 2010, 120– There are tons of scientific research
what comes across over the phone or
23) . This same woman counseled the
about just how powerful the simplest
even while composing e-mail!
young women to , “Smile every day.”
gesture of a smile can do. It’s powerful
enough to be very deceptive in the
“A cheerful look brings joy to the
"Be happy," said President Gordon B.
wrong hands.
heart…” (Proverbs 15:30); and “...men
Hinckley in a 1978 Church Educational
are that they might have joy” (2Nephi
System fireside address. "Let that happi- Marriage and Family Therapists Gary
2:27).
ness shine through your face and speak and Joy Lundberg listed that: “Besides
through your testimonies."
exhibiting the light of Christ, a smile
As Charlie Chaplin sang, “You’ll find that
offer other rewards:
life is still worth while, if you just smile.”
President Hinckley noted that he met
Others will too. Use it.
The Grapefruit Syndrome
My husband and I had been married about
two years—just long enough for me to realize
that he was a normal man rather than a
knight on a white charger—when I read a
magazine article recommending that married
couples schedule regular talks to discuss,
truthfully and candidly, the habits or mannerisms they find annoying in each other. The
theory was that if the partners knew of such
annoyances, they could correct them before
resentful feelings developed.
It made sense to me. I talked with my husband about the idea. After some hesitation,
he agreed to give it a try.
As I recall, we were to name five things we
found annoying, and I started off. After more
than 50 years, I remember only my first
complaint: grapefruit. I told him that I didn’t
by: Lola B. Walters
Ensign, April 1993
like the way he ate grapefruit. He peeled it
and ate it like an orange! Nobody else I knew
ate grapefruit like that. Could a girl be expected to spend a lifetime, and even eternity,
watching her husband eat grapefruit like an
orange? Although I have forgotten them, I’m
sure the rest of my complaints were similar.
I quickly turned my back, because I didn’t
know how to explain the tears that had filled
my eyes and were running down my face. I
had found fault with him over such trivial
things as the way he ate grapefruit, while he
hadn’t even noticed any of my peculiar, and
no doubt annoying, ways.
After I finished, it was his turn to tell the
things he disliked about me. Though it has
been more than half a century, I still carry a
mental image of my husband’s handsome
young face as he gathered his brows together
in a thoughtful, puzzled frown and then
looked at me with his large blue-gray eyes
and said, “Well, to tell the truth, I can’t think
of anything I don’t like about you, Honey.”
I wish I could say that this experience completely cured me of fault finding. It didn’t. But
it did make me aware early in my marriage
that husbands and wives need to keep in
perspective, and usually ignore, the small
differences in their habits and personalities.
Gasp.
Whenever I hear of married couples being
incompatible, I always wonder if they are
suffering from what I now call the Grapefruit
Syndrome.