Back in Wyoming

Here in WY. What is it about going home. No matter where it is, it will always be home. Cheyenne is barely in WY and I am not familiar with it other than to drive through. Yet, the air smells familiar, the feeling is familiar, the open sky, the wide open spaces, all speak to my soul that I have returned. Last night there was a HUGE, deep orange, harvest moon on the horizon. It was beautiful! I stepped out on the deck to get a better look and was reminded how many stars there are to see in the heavens when you are away from the big cities. It was great!

I am here visiting with Bianca and family. Caleb will be baptized on Saturday! I am glad I have the opportunity to be here! I would post pictures, if I knew how! I am going to learn this!

Long Dry Spell Quenched

Wow! Has it really been a year since I thought I would start blogging? I hope better late than never, Try, try again, and never give up applies here.

Last month, the Relief Society Visiting Teaching message was about lifelong learning, spiritual and temporal. I took it to heart and have signed myself up for a few classes.

Last night was my first class of Institute. The subject is Old Testament Studies; specifically Isaiah. The class will be once a week through May. I am very excited to increase my opportunity to know the God of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ, in an intimate, personal, and powerful way. This is the purpose stated in the intro of the manual.

Our instructor is currently working on his PhD in Old Testament Studies. He is very knowledgeable. He began the class by quoting D&C 50:17-22, emphasizing that the Holy Ghost is the great teacher and he is just presenting material and doing his best to be an instrument.

Some things I learned that I did not know before were:

1. The Jewish Torah is the law given by Moses. It contains only the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Of course, they use the rest of the old testament too. I just didn't know what the Torah contained.
2. In 300 B.C., more Jews lived outside Palistine than in. The were dispersed throughout the known world. In 333 B.C., Alexander the Great conquered the world and Greek became the world language. At one point he wanted the Hebrew bible translated into Greek. This was good for the Jews as well because the rising generation spoke Greek not Hebrew. The "myth" goes that he asked for 72 of their priests to come to (I think)Alexandria for this purpose. When they arrived they were put in chains and taken to separate rooms. They were given writing material and their bibles and told to translate alone. They had no contact with each other. When they all were finished, the texts were identical! The result is called the SEPTUAGINT (LXX), representing seventy. Evidently, somewhere along the line 2 priests disappeared. King James version work depended heavily on the Septuagint.
3. The Dead Sea is 1200 feet BELOW sea level. The suns ultra violet rays do not reach there so no sunscreen is ever needed to prevent sunburn, no matter how long you stay out on a sunny day.
4. The Dead Sea scrolls were discovered in 1948 and dated from 200B.C. to 100A.D. Before this find, the earliest text in existence dated between 900A.D. and 1200A.D.
5. Another recent find that was a complete New Testament record was found in a monestary in Sinai. Scrolls were being used as kindling when someone asked to see what they were about to throw into the fire. When he was aghast and asked them not to burn it, they realized it had value. I finally became available 10 years later. Who knows what was burned before then.New Revised Standard Version of the bible is a scholarly version that takes into account all the old records and the more recently discovered records like the dead sea scrolls, the new testament scroll, the Book of Mormon, and the restored gospel knowledge. Sounds interesting.

I start my computer classes on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I am looking forward to learning more about Excel and getting updated on Access.

I had a bicycle accident this past Tuesday. I will be a little slow walking but I won't let it stop me from going. I am very sad that I wrecked my brand new bike. It is currently at the bicycle shop. I will hear how much it is going to cost to replace the back tire rim on an 18-gear bicycle. I hope it won't be ridiculous.

Hopefully, the next blog won't be a year from now.

Current Events

Visiting Caleb's family after a birthday lunch with Caleb

Caleb & Mubeen at Moiz and Sumaira's wedding.