classylady

I have certain emotional stressors that can almost overwhelm me. That's when I need to talk. My husband is my go-to person for that. But, I know he can get tired of it. My stress is almost always the same thing. And, he tends to want to solve it, but it can't be solved. I just need to talk it out. I also get down on my knees and pour out my thoughts to my Heavenly Father. It doesn't necessarily change the situation or the stress, but I feel better after. And, then sometimes, I just go into my room and cry. None of this actually takes away the stress, but it helps me to get on with my life. If it's deadlines I have, I admit I tend to procrastinate, and that makes the stress worse. Sometimes, I just have to buckle down and get it done.

For my daughter's funeral, it was the prayer at the dedication of her grave that also brought me the most peace. My brother-in-law was the one who offered the prayer and it was heartfelt and I truly believe inspired. That prayer is also what I remember the most of the whole funeral.

David, you wouldn't dedicate your own grave. Here are the instructions according to the manual. Dedicating GravesA person who dedicates a grave must hold the Melchizedek Priesthood and must be authorized by the priesthood officer who conducts the service. To dedicate a grave, he:1. Addresses Heavenly Father. 2. States that he is dedicating the grave by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood. 3. Dedicates and consecrates the burial plot as the resting place for the body of the deceased. 4. Where appropriate, prays that the place will be hallowed and protected until the Resurrection. 5. Asks the Lord to comfort the family and expresses other thoughts as the Spirit directs. 6. Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

We had this lesson today in Relief Society. The teacher did a wonderful job. One of the first questions she asked was how would you explain to a non-member what a stake is? We had good participation during the whole lesson. You'll do great Dahlia.

My father-in-law passed away a few days ago and my husband has been asked by the family to dedicate his father's grave. During the prayer portion of the dedication is it appropriate for my husband to have mentally prepared some words prior to the prayer, or should it be strictly off-the-cuff, so to speak? If any of the men on this site have dedicated a grave before, what was your experience, and how did you prepare for it?

What a sweet girl.

This grates on me: Kindiegarten instead of Kindergarten. And the word fir instead of for. This is fir you. Drives me nuts!

I went to the Post Office and bought stamps. Does that count?

I'm so glad I didn't let the Travel Alert deter us from going. We had a wonderful time! I brought home lots of chocolate! My son got the cuckoo clock he wanted. We managed to visit 5 countries in one week--Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and France. We pretty much just drove through Switzerland. Only stopped along the way once and took some pictures. Beautiful. Since Liechtenstein was just a short distance from the freeway we stopped there for a few hours. Not much to see in Liechtenstein, but I was able to cross it off my bucket list. It was so foggy/misty we couldn't really see the castle where the prince lives. We managed to finally visit the castle ruins of Ehrenberg, which is near Reutte, Austria, just across the border from Fuessen, Germany where the fairy tale castle is. It's quite a hike to the ruins. Glad we went. We were dressed in our coats, scarves, gloves and hats. The climb was rather strenuous so we warmed up and were shedding the winter gear by the time we got to the top. We've been to Neuschwanstein (fairy tale castle) many times, so didn't want to tour the castle, but I did want to get a photograph of Neuschwanstein from the Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge). The bridge was closed for repairs. Drat. Travel all that ways just to get the picture I want, and the bridge is closed. But, we did manage to find the trail with a good view of the castle in the back ground along with the bridge. I haven't had a chance to really look at my pictures yet. I'm hoping we got some good ones. We went to church in Ansbach, Germany. It's a military based ward, but there are German members there. It was Fast and Testimony meeting, and all but one spoke in English. We've attended this ward before, when our oldest son was stationed in Germany for four years. Some of the German members remembered him and us. It was nice to visit and renew acquaintances. I wasn't too impressed with the Christmas Market in Nuremberg. It was too crowded and I felt overwhelmed. So, we left (and got lost trying to find where we parked our car) and drove over to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The Christmas Market was crowded there too, but I know Rothenburg, nearly in-and-out, so we were more comfortable there. We visited with a shop owner who is nearly 90 and she showed us her photos of her driving a Harley and visiting Sturgis, ND. She was amazing. So many life experiences to share with us. She treated us like family, and only because we were looking for her son (who just retired from the business), who had helped us in the past. Then we drove over to Furtwangen in the Black Forest and visited a clock factory. It wasn't what I expected. But, okay. Then we drove through mountainous roads (gorgeous) to Rheinfelden, Germany. Rheinfelden is just across the border from Basel Switzerland. We had Family Home Evening and dinner with a good friend of mine from my mission days in Germany. It was wonderful to meet her husband and one of her sons. She had the missionaries over too. Then the next day she and her husband drove us up to Freiburg. This is where my son got his cuckoo clock. The town is charming! I had never been there before. There was a Christmas Market there too. Then we took another drive from Freiburg over the border into France and visited Colmar. Again, another Christmas Market. But, the old town is wonderful. It's very German. And, this part of France has gone back and forth between Germany and France several times. Those were just a few highlights from the trip. But, the best was seeing my friend after more than 35 years. We had such a wonderful visit and reminisced about people we love and talked about the Church in Germany. I would love to see the Church grow over there, but the German people for the most part don't feel like they need religion in their lives. The Elders seemed a little disheartened. Very little success. But, they struggle and carry on and hope for the best. It was much like that when I was a missionary. I just want to say how much I love the German people. I wish so much to see the church grow over there. I'm grateful for the good members in Germany who are so dedicated to the Lord. They are wonderful examples to those around them. Edit: We are also to visit Linderhof Castle and Wieskirche. We stayed in Oberamergau which is fairly close to those two places. Our room was in a bed and breakfast owned by a husband and wife. They rent out their upstairs bedroom along with a bathroom. The husband does some beautiful wood carving which he/she showed us. He does the carving and she does the painting of them. There was a beautiful Nativity Scene he had carved and she had painted. I was drooling.

I've only seen a kitten. Even trying to look at it to see if I might see a pig, nope. I see a kitten.

I know this is early to think about, but what if you should remarry and have several more children with your next wife? Will the asset division be sufficient to provide for a second family? The reason I say this is I am a wife of a divorced man where the divorce wiped him out financially. He never truly recovered financially. This has been a tremendous burden on our marriage. We have been married nearly 35 years now with five children of our own and I raised his two children from his previous marriage. He was only married 6 years to his first wife, and the repercussions still follow us to this day. Please think twice before giving more of your share to your wife. Your next wife and children may suffer.

I'm sorry Anatess to hear this. The scriptures tell us that the very elect can be led astray. And we are seeing it happen. It makes me resolve to strengthen my own testimony and to be a "light" to my family and friends. And, it makes me realize that my testimony cannot be based on persons, but rather the Gospel itself. I love my Savior. This is His church. Satan is "raging in the hearts of man". If Satan can find a way to worm into our hearts, he will.

We're only flying in and out of Switzerland and renting our car there. The car rental was similar to Germany's prices. When making our hotel reservations I made sure we were over the border into Germany for the first night. Prices are high everywhere in Switzerland, not only in Zurich.

Dahlia, I'm so glad you're back!!! I missed you.

I've never heard of any of these free sites. I'm going to have to look them up.

I've been married over 34 years. I'm very insecure about my looks and weight around my husband. I'm very secure in other areas, but this particular insecurity, I don't know if I'll ever get over it. It has a lot to do with my husband's continual relationship with his ex-wife. I used to feel very confident in my looks. I had dated a lot of men before I had ever met my husband, so I knew men were interested in me. But, over the years of our marriage, my confidence in my looks and appeal has eroded. I wish I felt like Eowyn where "what size either of us happens to be any given month is pretty insignificant." That would be a good place to be!

Bini, how are you feeling this time around? I know with your little girl you had postpartum depression. I'm hoping it will pass you by this time.

I've been to Nuremberg once before. We visited the Old Town which is charming. The modern city itself didn't impress me, but the Old Town is fun. Nuremberg is known for it's Christmas Market. And the Christmas Market is in the Old Town. So, it will be lovely. I decided today, that we are still going. But, I changed our itinerary somewhat. We are actually going to fly into Zurich, Switzerland. Rent a car there, and then drive over to Basel. Then right across the border from Basel, into Germany, I have a good friend who has invited us for a real German dinner. I haven't seen her for over 35 years, and we finally connected a couple of years ago on Facebook. We will probably attend church with them in Basel. We then will hit the Black Forest where we want to buy a couple of cuckoo clocks. And then we'll drive over to Bavaria and along the way visit Wieskirche, and Linderhof Palace. These are two places I haven't seen yet. And then we'll drive up to Nuremberg for the Christmas Market. We'll also stop at Rothenburg ob der Tauber (an old medieval town). We've been to Rothenburg many times, since my son was stationed in the military about 15 miles away, but it will be interesting nevertheless. Then back into Switzerland for our flight home. Taxes for our flight is much cheaper into Switzerland rather than Germany. Germany has a Visitors Tax of about $45 to 50 per person. We save that by flying in/out of Switzerland. Our round trip tickets into Switzerland is approx. $24 pp. Into Germany it is closer to $90 pp. Like I said, I can fly almost anywhere in the world for less or about the same price it would take to fill the gas tank of my pickup.

This is why I became nervous about flying over: "Extremists have targeted large sporting events, theatres, open markets, and aviation services. In the past year, there have been multiple attacks in France, Nigeria, Denmark, Turkey, and Mali. ISIL/Da’esh has claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt. U.S. citizens should exercise vigilance when in public places or using transportation. Be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid large crowds or crowed places. Exercise particular caution during the holiday season and at holiday festivals or events." We are definitely visiting a holiday festival that is very popular.

My step-daughter's half-sister unfriended me after I posted that her grandmother (whom I had just seen) would probably out last us all. And, then the grandmother died the following week. She unfriended me right after her grandmother's death. I must have said something she didn't like?

I've unfriended one person. My husband's ex-wife. I don't know why I accepted her friend request in the first place. Now days I simply "unfollow" people. It still shows that we are friends, but their posts don't show up on my feed any longer. I can still see what they post if I go to their page directly. That suits me just fine with some people. I've "unfollowed" several people for too many political posts, even if I agree with them, but I just get tired of it. I've "unfollowed" a school mate after she started posting about 10 posts a day about her favorite rock band. No, thank you. I'll go to her page directly if I want to see how she's doing. With "unfollowing", they can still see your posts, you just don't see theirs.

The thing is, I have the option to fly anywhere my airline flies. It is a major US airline so it flies most places, and I even have flight benefits with other airlines at highly discounted rates. My problem, even though I can get places for almost nothing, it still costs once I get there!!! Motels, car rentals, trains, food, are not free. My vacations changed drastically after I started working for the airlines. My vacations used to be camping, visiting relatives, Disneyland, etc. Now it's usually international travel unless I'm going to visit my son in the Seattle area. A number of years ago, after I started working for the airlines, I asked my 9 year-old son where he wanted to go, and he said "Paris". I asked him why Paris? And it was because he had just watched the cartoon movie "Rugrats in Paris" and that's where he wanted to go. So, our next trip, that's where we went! I can fly to almost anywhere in the world for the same amount, or less, than what it would cost me to fill up my pick-up with a tank of gas. And, if first class is open we get first class seats. International first class is wonderful. My husband is spoiled. If we don't get first when traveling internationally, he doesn't want to go. lol Edit: There are some drawbacks. We fly standby, so if the flight is full, we don't get on. We have been stranded overnight a number of times at the airport. You learn to not let it stress you. There are some who can't handle that stress. But, it's the reason I try to fly off-season.

Fortunately for me, I have flight benefits since I'm a retired airline employee. All my domestic travel is 100 percent free. But, with international flights there are some taxes I pay. My spouse and children up through age 26 are on my flight benefits.

My husband, son, and I have been planning on traveling over to Germany the first week of December. We are just traveling for fun, wanting to visit the Christmas Market in Nuremberg, and a few other popular tourist attractions over there. I haven't been too overly concerned about traveling and our safety, until the US State Department issued a travel warning. If we cancel our trip we are not out any money since we fly standby, and we haven't yet reserved our hotels and rental car. I was going to do that this week. Now, I'm having second thoughts. So, what say ye? Would you go? BTW, I love Germany. I try to get over there every other year. Germany is where I served my mission. And, I really, really, want to visit a Christmas Market in Bavaria. We chose Nuremberg because it is the most well known. We could always choose a different Christmas Market that isn't as touristy.

I don't want to steal Backroads thunder, but she has had her baby. I don't know about Bini.