November Kaleidescope Message

Every month a member of my RS presidency writes a message for our little newsletter that goes to every sister in the ward. This month was my turn. I thought I would post what I wrote...



As the harvest season winds down and I look at the rows of bottled tomatoes waiting to be made into delicious stew this winter and the peaches and black berries in the freezer waiting for the cobbler, I am truly grateful to all those who contributed some of their precious harvest to me. It brings to mind the powerful and inspiring words of my favorite hymn...

"Come, thou Fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing Thy grace".

There is a canyon in the back country of Zion National Park that my family and I love to hike through. Just over the halfway mark there is a spring of fresh, cold water where we always stop and refill our water bottles. I have always counted on having the water from this spring so that I don't have to be weighed down by trying to carry a full day's supply. However, this spring is easy to miss if one does not know it's there. Many times I have stopped my hiking group and led them to the spring. Surprisingly, some have refused to drink or refill their containers, I assume because they question the source or they have carried enough water for the entire day. Since this canyon has many obstacles that drain me physically, knowing this source of water is there in abundance is of great comfort to me, just like having the knowledge of my Savior's tender mercy is a sweet and everlasting comfort to my sometimes parched soul that is too often "prone to wander".

The Lord truly is the Fount, the source of the Living Water, not only of every single temporal blessing we enjoy, like water for our gardens, but also of every spiritual blessing that we enjoy; even the blessing of eternal life.

As a new season of Thanksgiving approaches, I hope we all remember the "streams of mercy never ceasing" that come from the spring of Living Water, and all we have to do is go and drink!

Well, there you have it.
I stopped my car on the side of the road near the Mountain Road Nature Center on my way home from work a week or so ago. I had my camera with me, the light was pretty good and the leaves were turning. The above photo was taken of the little spring that seeps out of the ground near the trail. I finally got the right angle to capture the reflection of the gold leaves in the water. Here are some more of my favorite fall photos...