Dance week

Our stake was in charge of the youth stake dance. Since it was already going to be decorated, the stake presidency decided they should hold a stake adult dance the day before the youth dance. Bryan and I decided to check it out. There weren't a lot of people there but we stayed, chatted, danced a bit, and then left early. It was fun but not really our scene.

They were having a hard time, or so we were told, finding chaperones for the youth dance on Saturday so Bryan and I volunteered to help out. We got there early and were ready to check rooms and make sure youth weren't dancing too close. Haha! Not really, we were hoping they had too many volunteers so we could go home. We sat in the hallway to make sure things were going well and then, when we noticed that there were A TON of chaperones, we decided they had enough help and we left early. 

Tax return

Courtney wanted to get her taxes done quickly so she called me and we did them over Facetime. She logged in and asked me questions while she filled everything out. She didn't make a ton but she was hoping she would get most of her taxes back. When she finished and saw how much her reimbursement would be, we had a good laugh.

Cleated

Courtney was playing in a fun soccer game and she got cleated. It looks like it hurts!

Daily Universe

Utah enjoys higher-than-average snowpack after weeks of winter storms

universe.byu.edu/2024/02/20/after-weeks-of-winter-storms-utah-enjoys-higher-than-average-snowpack/

By Ethan Pack                                                                                                                                                  February 20, 2024

A fire hydrant dug out of the snow sits along a Park City road. This photo was taken in 2023, during Utah’s period of highest recorded snowpack since 1981. (Joe Wirthlin)

After a lackluster December, Utah’s snowpack level is higher than 100% average because of several storms in January and February, according to the Utah Division of Water Resources.

Utah is only experiencing drought conditions in 5% of the state because of the snowpack and water received both last year and this year. For comparison, 96% of the state was experiencing moderate drought or worse during this time last year, Michael Sanchez, public information officer at the Utah Division of Water Resources, said.

“The current water received will positively impact Utah’s water situation throughout the year, but ongoing conservation efforts are crucial,” Sanchez said. “Most of our reservoirs are close to full and we anticipate many reservoirs will need to release water ahead of the spring runoff that occurs around May.”

According to the Utah Division of Water Resources website, snowpack is measured using the snow water equivalent, which estimates the amount of water that would cover the ground if melted. 

Jordan Clayton, a hydrologist and supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey Team, said Utah will likely receive more snow before reaching it’s usual peak near the beginning of April. After April 1, the snowpack typically begins to melt, he said.

“From the first of February until the eighth of February, we jumped 20 percentage points, from 95% (of average snowpack) to 115%, which is a big jump,” he said.

This kind of weather is normal for January and February, Troy Brosten, a hydrologist with the Utah Snow Survey Team, said. He said snowfall typically peaks around March and April. The team is managed by the USDA and maintains snow telemetry stations to collect data. 

“I was feeling pretty pessimistic in December, but the January and February storms have restoked my optimism for a good snowpack year — not as good as last year but still pretty darn good,” Brosten said. Utah is currently on track to maintain an average snowpack through April.

Utah received very little snowfall in December, Boston said, but a two-week storm pattern in January rose snowpack levels across the state. Additional storms in early February brought snowpack up past 100% average.

“It’s mid-February so we still have the rest of this month and March to, hopefully, see a continued increase in our snowpack,” Brosten said. 

Utah has until roughly April 1, before the snowpack begins to melt, to gain more water via winter storms, Clayton said.

Towel holder

The towel bar in our master bathroom was falling off the wall. I decided to build one. I was given a woodworking book for Christmas so I found a towel rack that was easy and looked good. So I went and bought the boards and built it. I think it turned out really well and only took about an hour to build.

Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation

For my advanced editing course, I have been working with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation to edit the endnotes for a book they are updating for a second edition publication. While I have been volunteering and doing that, I was asked if I would be willing to write articles for them that would be published on their website. I told them I would, it's great experience and a resume builder, and they have given me some to write. I will put them in the blog so I have them for the future.

“O How Great the Plan of Our God”

by Michelle Pack

Feb 18, 2024

Jesus Praying in Gethsemane by Harry Anderson

In 2 Nephi 9, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob explained the plan of salvation, central to which is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In verse 7 he called it the “infinite atonement.” The word “infinite” brings up the idea of something that has no limits, that is too great to count, like the sands of the sea—something that can never end.

The opportunity to gain experience from our mistakes, grow closer to God through repentance, and move forward on the covenant path is given to us through the sacrifice, or Atonement, of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter to Christ the number of times we make mistakes or if we make the same mistake repeatedly. What matters is that we continue to repent, to learn, and to walk the covenant path back to our Father in Heaven.

Elder David A. Bednar said, “Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better.”1

I came to understand the truth of Elder Bednar’s words during a challenging time in my life. The trial was not a consequence of my actions but, as I turned to Heavenly Father, I realized that Christ understood how I was feeling because of His infinite Atonement. Christ didn’t live an easy life. He knew disappointment, hardship, rejection, betrayal, and pain. He learned those lessons the way we do—by living life.

Because He lived in the fallen world, as we do, He knows exactly how we feel in our times of trial. He performed the Atonement so that “he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:12). 

I have felt His love frequently as I have not only repented of my sins but passed through challenging times. I feel the love of my Savior when I think of His infinite Atonement and the plan of the Father to help us return to Him again. President Wilford Woodruff once said, “I believe that the Almighty knew what He was going to do with this world before He made it.”2 As we come to know more about Christ’s Atonement and apply it in our lives, we can echo the words of Jacob: “O how great the plan of our God!” (2 Nephi 9:13). 

Endnotes

1 David A. Bednar, “The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality,” Ensign, April 2012, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

2 Discourse by Wilford Woodruff, July 29, 1889, p. 1, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/discourse/1889-07-29.

Tree removal

We have been in our house long enough that we are starting to undo our work from when we moved in. Case in point, we are getting rid of the tree in our backyard. It is just too big and we are afraid the roots are going to start a problem with our foundation. It is a tree that sends out suckers too, so they are all over the backyard and in our lawn. So it was time for the tree to go.

This is what it looked like before it was taken out:

Here is the process:

They cut the tree into firewood for us and then chipped the smaller pieces.

This is what it looked like when they were finished:

I am so sad that we had to take out the tree but it was necessary.