We did it!

We reached our goal, and gave out more than 5,000 copies as a stake. Our ward gave out over 700.
Way to go!

Off topic: I'm a regular over at iVillage, and I lurk on the LDS Family Life board from time to time. A current post concerns how close we've come to fame. So have I ever met someone famous? Yes I have. Well, sorta. When I was a youth, John Bytheway came to a youth fireside, and I got his autograph on a very small scrap of paper that I keep in my scrapbook.
Also, my husband (then my fiance) tuned the piano at the Stake center for a fireside by Marvin Goldstein. My bridal shower was the day before the fireside, and I went to the SC afterwards to see Mira so we could go to his house (now our home) and unload some of the gifts I received. I saw Marvin the next day at my chapel, and I wanted to go tell him that Mira had tuned the piano he was to be using that night, but I was too nervous to get anywhere near him. He is a wonderful pianist, and a very funny guy!
As far as being in the spotlight myself, I was on TV twice. The first was my junior year of high school, and I was in the school musical. We were performing Groovy, "a musical comedy tribute to the 1960's". Anyway, the day or so before the performance, the whole cast got together and advertized on one of the local early morning news shows. We performed part of the opening number before a commercial break, then a friend of mine and the director gave a small interview later in the broadcast while the rest of us waved wildly at the camera.
Then when I was a Senior in high school, I joined the marching band, and we marched in the Mid-America Holiday Parade. At one point we stopped in front of the same news station where I "made my TV debut" and performed part of our routine. I was way in the background, but that's really where I prefer to be.

90 Day Challenge Ends Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the last day for our stake's 90 day reading of the Book of Mormon. There were times when I would go a week or more without reading, then have to catch up, but I did it, and I'm almost done. I haven't read it by myself since before I got married, and that was over two years ago. Mira and I have read a chapter a night since we've been married, and we're almost done with our third time around.
Monday night is Family Home Evening, and a special lesson will be about Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Then at 8:00, the head of each family will lead their family in prayer, and we will express our gratitude for the Restoration. In this way, as a stake, we will mark the 161st anniversary of the death of the prophet and his brother Hyrum.
I regret not having the courage to give out any copies of the Book of Mormon, since that was a part of it. But I hope that I may still have many opportunities in my life to tell others what I know to be true, even if they don't believe it.

New experience

I had an interesting experience this weekend. I went with my family to my grandmother's (dad's mom) family's annual reunion down by the Current River where my grandmother grew up. Her brother-in-law "Bob" is a minister; the last I heard, he attended a Foursquare church, and I think before that he was a Baptist. (You can tell I'm not too up-to-date on my relatives' lives.)
Anyway, while sunning after swimming with my niece in the river, a bunch of folks started towards the river with talk of a baptism. It seems that a couple (I don't know how they're related to me, but they have a daughter about my niece's age, and Lar talked to her for a bit) had decided to get baptized and Uncle Bob was going to do the honors. He took them both out together, basically gave a mini sermon and said a prayer (I didn't catch all he said; I was too far away and he spoke very softly at times), and under they both went.
This was the second non-LDS baptism that I had ever seen. The first was seeing a friend of mine being baptized into the Catholic church a few years ago. That was pretty cool, but very different than what I was used to. This was a bit more familiar, but it still had its differences. Nobody wore white (Uncle Bob was in blue jeans and a button-up shirt, and the couple wore their bathing suits) and I don't think there was a confirmation. I know the family stood around talking, but I didn't really pay attention to what was going on.
Aside from getting burned to a crisp on just about all but my face, I had a really good time. My niece wanted me to hold her, as usual, and people actually asked me if she was my daughter. Somebody even assumed that I was the one who was expecting, not my sister, since I was holding Book; and being behind my folks didn't help, since nobody could see my tummy and see that I was not four months along. ^_^ I missed my hubby, but I'm hoping he can come next year.

Note for non-members: In an LDS baptism, the baptizer and the baptizee wear white to symbolize purity, and baptism is done by immersion. Afterwards, the baptizee is confirmed by somebody holding the priesthood, and the gift of the Holy Ghost is bestowed upon the individual. Feel free to read more at the official LDS sites in my sidebar.