Holy Crap, It's *$&%^@ Hot!

It is our first HOT week of the summer.  We've had excessive heat warnings for 2 days now and tomorrow's supposed to be even hotter.  We've kept the blinds mostly closed today which is not normal for me on the weekends.  During the summer, we keep them closed all day during the week and then on Friday afternoon, I come home from work and I immediately open them all up so it's light and bright over Saturday and Sunday when it's much cheaper to run the air conditioning.  Today, it was already 97 degrees when I left for church at 8:50 a.m. (yes, I missed Sacrament Meeting today because I didn't feel well, but had to fill in for someone on the piano in Primary). 

Well, it's now 8:45 p.m. and I just checked the weather on my desktop (see the right side of my screenshot right under the clock and calendar) and it is freaking 108 degrees still! No wonder our A/C never shut off all afternoon! I guess I'll have to watch the news tonight and see what our high was. Yuck!  Just one of the sacrifices we make to live in a place where it's fairly pleasant 7 to 8 months out the year.

I was just emailing back and forth with my friend Singing Angel about the heat and this is part of our conversation:

We're excited because next weekend it's supposed to drop down to 94. Who would have ever thought I'd be happy with the temp being 94? It's so hot here that it's ALMOST cheaper to get in the truck and just drive around with the A/C on! This is the first week we've had heat like this this year - which is unusual. We usually start in May, so this is late - which I am SO grateful for! They are saying though, that our monsoon season is going to be nasty due to El Niño. GOOD! We had NO monsoon season at all last year. I don't think we ever even hit the normal qualifier for it to be called a monsoon season (dewpoint of 65 degrees or higher for 3 days in a row). Sad. So, I'll take it this year!

Yes, I AM grateful for the late start to the heat!  I'll take the lower heat temps anytime!

Today, I was very touched in Primary.  I almost started crying...which as I've described many times before is practically impossible for me with these happy pills I'm still on (but think I will soon be talking to the doctor about weening off of).  I was playing the piano and the children were learning a new song called "The Holy Ghost."  The sharing time lessons had also been about the Holy Ghost.  It was so cute seeing the children in Junior Primary and how they have such sweet little testimonies.  Of course, they are too young still to have received the Holy Ghost, but they know all about him and how he can help them.  It wasn't until Senior Primary where all of the children, except one class, are all old enough to have been and likely are baptized, when I had a wonderful experience. 

The lesson was tailored to their older age and they did really well with it.  When we started practicing the song though, Sister Utah Coppermine bore a sweet testimony to the children about the Holy Ghost.  She asked them how many of them had friends.  Of course, all the hands went up.  Then she asked them how many had really good friends.  Then, how many had friends that were only there when they had something the friend wanted like a candy bar.  Still hands stayed up.  Then, she pointed out that the Holy Ghost is their ETERNAL friend.  That he will be there with them forever as long as they live righteously.  I thought immediately about how true that is - that the Holy Ghost is the ONE "person" that will ALWAYS be our constant companion - that he will be there with us no matter if we have a candy bar or not - that we can always ask our Heavenly Father and our brother, Jesus Christ, to please help us and they will send the Holy Ghost to comfort and guide us. 

I thought about my own life and how even when I've lost friends along the way for one reason or another, the Holy Ghost has always been there.  Sometimes, things in my life haven't been the best and I haven't lived "quiet" enough to feel or hear him in times of need - but that was because of my own choices I'd make in my life - not because he left me.  I thought about these children and the perilous times we're living in nowadays and the trials they will be subjected to, especially soon as they are heading into the time of their lives where they will make choices that will lead them down different paths that will affect the rest of their lives.  I started to tear up and all of a sudden, Sister Utah Coppermine gave the nod to start playing the song and I quickly snapped back to reality. 

The words to the song are these:

When Christ was on the earth, He promised He would send

The Holy Ghost to comfort us, Our true, eternal friend.

The Holy Spirit whispers, with a still small voice.

He testifies of God and Christ and makes our hearts rejoice.

And when we are confirmed by sacred priesthood power,

The Holy Ghost is given to us to guide us every hour.

Oh, may I always listen, to that still small voice

And with his light I'll do what's righ each time I make a choice.

Even though I missed Sacrament/Fast & Testimony Meeting today, in a way, I was still able to feel the Holy Ghost comforting and prompting me.  It was such a wonderful experience!  It's amazing how my attitude toward being in Primary has really changed.  Sometimes I feel like I would be okay in there now...