Janis Kapp Perry

The power of her simple songs cannot be understated.  She doesn't pretend to be anything other than what she is...a humble writer of simple songs with a message that people remember. 

At our last women's gathering (Cleofon), Janis Kapp Perry was the speaker.  She came and shared the stories behind her songs and how she got her start.  She is a prolific composer and has written over 50 albums.  She has written some (most) of the most beloved of all LDS children's music.  Check out her web site to see ALL the music she has written in her life.

She told us the stories behind two of her songs.  One is called "The Sisters of Zion." She has taken the music to "As Sisters in Zion" and has made it into a song just for sister missionaries.  It is wonderful! 

She also told us about the experience she had writing the music to the a hymn written by President Gordon B. Hinckley called "What is This Thing Called Death?" that was sung my the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at his funeral.  What a sweet experience to write such a simple melody to such powerful words.  Here is a link to Janis' own words of how she came to write the music for the song and an actual copy of the song written by President Hinckley.

What Is This Thing That Men Call Death?

What is this thing that men call death?
This quiet passing in the night?
‘Tis not the end but genesis
Of better worlds and greater light

O God, touch Thou my aching heart
And calm my troubled, haunting fears
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change
With recompense for vict’ry won
The gift of Him who loved all men
The Son of God, the Holy One

Since I have served with the Young Women of the church for so many years, "I Walk By Faith" has been one of my favorite songs that Janis wrote.  I hope that it will be sung at my funeral!  It summarizes what I believe.

Fall gatherings

We've had a number of fun fall gatherings with family and friends.  We started out having a big gathering of Rick's family the end of September to celebrate his mother's birthday. We can seat 22 people at the two tables and we used every spot with our nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters.  I followed that hosting an etiquette dinner for the Young Women the next week and we learned about proper manners while eating in a restaurant and at home.  Then we had some of our friends over for a fall feast and great conversation as couples. It was such a lovely evening and I loved hearing their perspective on life. A few weeks ago, we had my cousin Janis and her family of nine over for Sunday dinner. It was great to visit with them and get caught up on their lives.  Last Sunday we had two young couples over who are childhood friends of Andy.  They both have new babies and it was so fun to see them as parents and to catch up on what they are doing.  Andy and Chelsea enjoyed seeing their friends again and holding their darling babies.
We love our dining room and use it as much as we can.   There's nothing better than good food, good conversation and just being together.
I love the flavor of pumpkin and nothing beats a good pumpkin bread in the fall.


Pumpkin Bread
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 3/4 c. pumpkin
3 1/2 c. flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 t. ginger
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. allspice
1 t. soda
1 t. baking powder

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Beat well with electric mixer.  Grease two load pans.  Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

October ~ Breast Cancer Awareness month

Sometimes it seems surreal to me that I had breast cancer.  I know I'm in remission and that it could come back, but I don't dwell on that. Sometimes I look back on my posts from last year and read what I was going through this time last year.  It was tough. It brings tears to my eyes to remember it.  It was a dark, heavy place going through treatment.
I recently came across the stories of two young mothers (one made the video below) who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.  They are aggressively fighting it with the best known medicine and procedures on the planet.  They are opting for the most aggressive methods of treatment in the hope that they will win the battle and be around to raise their small children.  The young woman below had gone through a double mastectomy and had had her first treatment of chemo.  Her hair had started to fall out.  
The victory isn't in the achieving the hoped for final outcome.  Some fight hard and still lose. The victory is in getting through what needs to be done with hope and faith that the outcome will be positive and successful.  The battle is in the journey, in the submission, in the knowledge that to live, you almost have to die.  My hat is off to these brave young women and thousands of others who have been diagnosed this year.  I love that pink ribbon and all that is represents...membership in a club of fighters.

Young Women in Excellence #3

 

Mia and Paige had completed their Young Womanhood
 Recognition award and were honored that night
for this great accomplishment.  They received
 their Laurel wreaths and bandalos
 and got to sit in the chairs of distinction.

I've been involved in our ward Young Women's organization for almost three years now. If my calculations are correct, I've served with YW for about 24 years of my 34 married years in every possible position, some more than once. I love it! Last week we had our annual YWIE program.  The girls chose 10 hour projects they were going to work on from the middle of August until the end of October and present what they did at our program on October 30.  The theme was "Rise to Your Potential" and most of them did a great job challenging themselves to work a little harder and achieve a goal they set for themselves.  Since I had just attended the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, I couldn't help but draw some parallels between the girls and ballooning.  Here is talk as I presented on the theme:

Rise to your Potential.

Try a little harder to be a little better. – President Gordon B. Hinckley

Every year in October over 200,000 people travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the annual International Balloon Fiesta.  Balloonists from 18 different countries and from most of the states in our country participate in the fiesta each year.  It is the largest hot air festival in the world.  This year 600 different balloons took flight at different times over the nine days of the fiesta. In the fall each year, the Albuquerque “box effect” combines the perfect air and temperature conditions for the balloons to take off, circle the valley in the air and return near their original launch site in the valley with the Rio Grande flowing through the middle of it all. 

Early every morning of the fiesta, a handful of balloons (known as the dawn patrol) take off to test the wind, air pressure and temperature while it is still dark and determine if it is safe to fly.  Other balloonists are watching their flight to gauge their own upcoming flights and to see what the weather and wind conditions are going to be that morning.  Then, just before sunrise around 7:00 am, 600 balloons get ready to participate in the Mass Ascension as they rise in the air together. 
What struck me as I watched the mass ascension this year is the cooperation that I observed taking place on the ground before the launch.  We spectators were allowed to walk among the balloons on the ground and watch the balloonists as they readied their craft for flight.  It takes about six to eight people to launch a balloon and usually just one or two people actually get to hop in the basket and take the ride.  It’s a tight fit on the ground as the huge balloons bump into each other as they jockey for position and get ready to ascend into the morning sky.  The crews of the different balloons were friendly and cordial to one another as they all reached for the same goal which was to have a safe flight. It wasn’t a race to see who got off the ground first.  The goal wasn’t to be the best or the first or the most beautiful or number one.  The goal was to take flight and to return safely to the ground. 
There was another launch just for special shapes which was so fun to see and at night a wonderful special event called the Balloon Glow.  The balloons stay tethered to the ground as their owners light up the burners inside the balloons to create a magical effect for the audience to enjoy.  Topping it all off are fireworks that light up the night sky and celebrate a safe day of ballooning and the joy of just participating in a fun event.

I couldn’t help but be struck with the similarities between the lives of our young women and this balloon fiesta.  Each balloon was unique; each balloon had something special about it since no two were alike.  Each balloon had a crew of individuals who were interested in helping it get off the ground, just like each young woman has a crew of people in her life who are interested in seeing her succeed and get off the ground.  It took a lot of cooperation and patience to get the huge balloons into the air.  People who were experienced and who knew what they were doing helped those who were less experienced.   The dawn patrol in the lives of our young women are those who have gone ahead and who are making sure that conditions are safe for the young women to follow.  This patrol could include parents and church leaders and our programs like For the Strengthof Youth and Personal Progress that gives us a guide for safe navigation.  The crew on the ground helping launch the balloon could be compared to the parents of our young women who are helping them, coaching them and holding the ropes on the ground until at the last moment, when they let go and allow the balloon to take flight.  The special shapes of the balloon fiesta are all of our girls with their different personalities, shapes and sizes, interests and talents who bring such fun and variety to our lives.  The Balloon Glow represented to me the inward fire of self-determination, a growing testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a will to succeed in life.

The hot air in the balloons is in contrast to the cooler air outside the balloon and this reaction is what makes the balloons rise and float.  The larger burners at the base of the balloon provide the fire that heats the air and fills the balloon with warm air. Just as the burners for the balloon provide the fuel and the lift for the balloon, we need fuel to get our balloons or our lives off the ground.  We need to fill our tanks.  We can’t just fill them half way and take off in flight.  We might run out of fuel and crash if we’re not sufficiently prepared.   We need to prepare to rise to our potential, just like the balloonists need to prepare to have a safe and fun flight.

Last week, the Young Women General president Sister Oscarson gave a talk here in Orem to priesthood and young women leaders in our area.  In order to help our young women know what is truly important to help them right now in their lives, she used an object lesson.  She held up her hand and counted her five fingers. The five fingers on her hand represent the five things she is challenging our young women to do to fill their fuel tanks with sufficient fuel that they will be able to safely take flight and accomplish their goals.  The five things (one for each finger) are Prayer, Scriptures, Attend church meetings, Service, Temple attendance/family history work.  She then gave her counselor Sister Marriott a “high five” and they encouraged each other to do those five things to prepared to rise to their potential.  I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing more about these ways to add fuel to our tanks from her in the future.  

If you Young Women fill your fuel tanks with the right kind of fuel at sufficient levels, there is nothing you can’t achieve!  You can truly Rise to your Potential as daughters of God.  You know who you are!  You know whose you are! You know what you need to do!  You have great parents, siblings, grandparents, leaders, programs and helpers to hold the ropes and get you safely off the ground.  Once you have taken flight though, you are in control of your destiny.  How high you go, how far you go, how unsafe or safe you are all up to you.  Where you land, when you land, who you let into your balloon to travel with you are all your decisions.  Be careful of those daily decisions that lead to future consequences for good or for ill. 
You can do it!  Each day, pray for help to make good decisions.   Rise to your Potential!  Work a little harder in school.  Get better grades. Prepare for your future as mothers, wives, and women who contribute to society through meaningful employment or service.   Be nicer to your siblings at home.  Help your mom and dad more.  Tell the truth.  Be kind.  Help others.  As President Hinckely said – try a  little harder to be a little better. 

May each of you remember who you really are, what God expects of you and that he has a mission for you to accomplish.  You have a divine potential to return to Him.  May you allow your support team to help you and to guide you.  May you fill your fuel tanks to the brim with good fuel that will see you safely on your journey.  May you enjoy the wondrous beauty of flying and of looking at God’s creations from above!  On the north east side of Albuquerque sits the LDS temple.  It is beacon of hope and goodness in the valley.  May you set your sights on the temple and guide your balloon to land near it and access the many blessings that await you there is my prayer. 

Am I an upwinder?

Could my breast cancer have been caused from exposure to atomic testing in the 1950s?  When my dad died of cancer in 1983, could it have been caused from the fallout from atomic testing in  Nevada?  Was my Mom's breast cancer caused from the same testing?  We were all living in Idaho at the time of the nuclear testing. Three cases of cancer in our family.  How unusual.  Or is it?

Nuclear testing  at the Nevada test site was conducted from January 21, 1951 until October 31, 1958 and again in 1962.  I was born in Idaho in 1955, right in the middle of that test period. The fallout from all the testing drifted across our country.  However, some areas were harder hit from the fallout that others, depending on weather patterns and air flow.  Test your exposure here on The National Cancer Institute web site.

In 1997 an article was published in the Deseret News called Fallout in the Family.  That was the first time I read about the fact that several counties in Idaho were very hard hit by atomic fall out.  While the county I grew up in (Minidoka) wasn't among the four counties mentioned, it is surrounded by Blaine county that was a hard hit area.  The idea is that wind currents carried the fallout into Idaho and it fell on the crops that were growing there.  Farmers and ranchers were exposed to that fallout as well as all the cows that ate feed that was dusted with the fallout.  The cows ate the tainted fallout particles and passed it into their milk. My siblings and I grew up drinking raw milk from our neighbors cows.  We undoubtedly were exposed to radiation.  From the article:

However, when I learned in August that four Idaho counties were among the five that received the most radiation from Nevada blasts (the fifth was in Montana), I immediately suspected that Minidoka County, where Rupert is located, would be among the four. Wrong. The list consisted of Blaine, Lemhi, Gem and Custer counties. Not being familiar with the names and locations of most Idaho counties, I consulted a map. Guess which county I discovered shares two borders with Minidoka County? Blaine - one of the five heaviest fallout areas in America. And when I took an even closer look, I could see that my uncle's farm was about five to 10 miles from a Minidoka-Blaine border. 

Currently the federal government is only recognizing and taking responsibility for people who were affected by the nuclear testing in certain counties in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.  They are providing compensation for certain types of cancer through the Radiation Expose Compensation Act or RECA.   Their website is located here.

       See If You Qualify for Downwinders TM $50,000
If you or a family member have had internal cancer or leukemia within the last fifty years (even if family member is deceased) or if you get cancer and lived in any of the following counties for a period of at least two years between January 21, 1951 and October 31, 1958 or during the entire month of July 1962.  In ARIZONA - Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, Yavapai.  In NEVADA - Eureka, Lander, Lincoln, Nye, White Pine or the northern portion of Clark.  In UTAH - Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington or Wayne you may qualify for $50,000 tax free.

The following are Primary cancers that are covered under this program:    Bile Duct Cancer    Bladder Cancer    Brain Caner    Breast Cancer (male and female)    Colon Cancer    Rectal Cancer    Esophagus Cancer    Gall Bladder Cancer    Leukemia’s (other than CLL or chronic lymphocytic leukemia)    Liver Cancer (except if there is evidence of cirrhosis or Hepatitis B)    Lung Cancer    Multiple Myeloma    Nasal Pharynx Cancer    Lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease)    Ovarian Cancer    Pancreas Cancer    Salivary Gland Cancer    Small Intestine Cancer    Stomach Cancer    and    Thyroid Cancer 


Check out these links: Here.  Here.   Here.  Here.  Here.  Here are a few excerpts:

BOISE — For much of her childhood, Sheri Garman drank poisoned milk.
Like many other children in eastern Idaho in the 1950s, Garman and her family drank locally produced raw milk. But the cows on Garman's family dairy and other regional dairies were ingesting radioactive fallout from Cold War nuclear testing in Nevada, and passing on the radiation to humans through their milk.

and this...

The consequences of 90 bomb tests that took place between 1951 and 1962 weren't made public until a National Cancer Institute study was released in 1997.
The study identified four Idaho counties — Gem, Blaine, Custer and Lemhi — among the five hardest hit counties nationally in terms of doses of radioactive iodine.
Since winds from the Nevada Test Site typically carried the radioactive nuclear fallout, specifically iodine-131, to the north and east, certain counties in Utah, Arizona and Nevada are eligible for compensation. But not Idaho.
Many were exposed to the radiation by drinking milk at a young age. Winds carried the fallout to alfalfa fields where it was ingested by cows, distributed in milk and consumed by people, especially children.
But despite the evidence presented in the 1997 study, Idahoans still are not eligible for the $50,000 compensation.

Since I grew up in Idaho, I don't quality for compensation.  Neither does my dad. Neither does my mom. I am more interested in knowing what caused our cancer.  Was it caused by  atomic testing in the 1950s?  I want to know and so do a lot of fellow Idahoans.