THE YOLK'S ON ME.....

 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME....

I've always had this kind of interesting relationship with Daylight Savings Time.  It wasn't part of our summer landscape while I was growing up in south-central Wyoming.  So, it seemed kind of mysterious and the provenance of big cities on the East Coast. 

Colorado jumped on the band wagon sometime before I went to college because that first summer between school years I worked as a hostess at a local well-known restaurant along Highway 30.  There were a lot of tourists who had started out in Denver in the morning and were wanting lunch at 10:30 am at Adams Restaurant.  The cooks didn't begin preparing lunch items until 11:30, so we often had disgruntled patrons who had to wait for lunch--or  make do with a second breakfast if they were in a hurry on their cross-country journey.  I worked at that restaurant during the summer of 1965 BEFORE Daylight Savings Time.

Even though the idea of DST has been around since Benjamin Franklin, it was also proposed by someone pre-1900 who wanted more "bug-finding time on summer evenings".  It wasn't formally adopted until the First World War when Germany put it in place in 1916. Most of Europe followed with the United States joining in for a short period.

DST was reintroduced in the USA during he Second World War, but from 1945 to 1966 there were no uniform rules in this country. That caused wide-spread confusion, especially for trains, buses, and the broadcasting industry.  Shocker! The Uniform Time Act of 1966 was finally established granting US states the ability to opt out of DST if they wanted.  (Arizona, and Hawaii still do.)  At the time of the standardization of DST, the change took place on the last Sunday in April and changed back to regular time on the last Sunday in October.

Perhaps my next encounter with DST was the day my oldest son Harold was born. His birth day was the day of the time change back to standard time that year. His birth certificate says he was born at 5:36, October 26, 1969.  But at the minute he was born, the recording nurse wasn't sure if the clocks in the hospital had already been set back one hour, or if those clocks in the delivery room were still on daylight saving time.  I'm guessing Harold could be one hour older or one hour younger than that official time.  Doesn't matter now....

The next big event in my life with DST was in 1973 during the oil embargo.  That was when Congress enacted a trial period of year-round DST beginning January 1974 and ending April 1975.  I LOVED IT!  I never minded getting up early  anyway, and that extra hour before the kids--toddlers Harold and Brice--got up meant I could clean the whole house (including vacuuming under their beds) while they were still asleep.  That lengthened out my day so I could march down into the basement to sew drapes even earlier.  Too bad that trial period didn't seem to bring about any cost savings.  It was scrapped.  I was sorry to see it end.

Fast forward a few years to our time living in Sweden.  No one told us--and we didn't think to ask--about daylight savings time.  Whoops!  We just assumed the whole world did it the same way we did it in the United States.  One Sunday morning when we arrived at church after we had moved there, one of the missionaries remarked that it was the first time the Nichols Family had been to Church on time.  

Turns out that most of Europe's DST at that time happened from September 15th to March 15th

Sadly that Elder's comment was probably more truth than a joke.  Getting ready for Church with a lot of kids in a foreign country with the chapel quite a distance from our house was like mating elephants...done on a grand scale with a lot of effort.  To be fair to the Nichols Family though, we often picked up ward members along the way which added an even more challenging dimension to arriving at Church on time.

We managed DST pretty well after that.  However, when I began flying for United Airlines, I came to really HATE that clock changeover if I were out on a trip.  I was always glad if I happened to be at home during the time switch.  That alleviated the possibility of getting myself to the airport too early or too late.  

There was one memorable experience in Chicago.  It was during the short period we also flew into Midway Airport.  It was there that my layover was very brief and my pick-up was early, early morning.  "O'dark hundred", as we used to say.  Before I set my alarm clock to go to bed, I called the front desk.  "Does the hotel change all the clocks over automatically, or should I set my clock ahead an hour myself?"  The desk clerk assured me it would be wise to set the clock myself.  I did.  And I was ready and waiting for the hotel van to take us back to the airport TWO hours early.  It seems that inspite of the reassurance given by the desk clerk, the hotel clocks were indeed automatically set according to the plan at 2 am.  Hence my hour ahead and the hotel's hour ahead!  Double Whammy!

After that--and if I were on a trip--I would make myself wake up in the wee hours to check my phone which I KNEW had an automatic update.  THEN I would set my alarm!

In the years since then, I have scrupulously changed ALL the clocks in the house BEFORE going to bed on the eve of the time change--winter or summer.  Never got in trouble with that.  And I didn't have to scramble to make up for that lost 60 minutes after I got up in the Spring when we jumped an hour ahead .

Until now...  

I went to bed last night forgetting to turn the clocks an hour ahead.  I woke with a start about 1:30 am and realized that it was really about 2:30 am.  I looked at my phone to make sure all was well with the time.  The screen's glow showed 1:37 am. But because it was before 2 am, I figured I was too early for that auto update.

At that point I set only my alarm clock ahead and went back to sleep.  The next time I opened my eyes, it was 6:23 am.  I had wanted to go on my walk before 6 am, so I was itrritated that I had been so forgetful and would have to stare at yesterday's time when I go home from my walk, then scramble to get ready for Church.

Only, when I went out into the kitchen, my phone said 5:23.  WHAT!?!?!  And then it dawned on me.  Not THIS week....NEXT week!  I felt foolish for my mistake.  

I had been telling myself the time change was this weekend, though nothing had been said about it online, or in our meeting last night for stake conference.  Still I was adamant I knew what was going on.  Imagine my relief when no one was privy to my stupid mistake--not even Louis.  So, I just pretended my heart hadn't been in my throat, that I hadn't forgotten to turn the clocks one hour ahead, and that I hadn't convinced myself it was time to spring forward without checking for truth.

Well, I have six months before I will be able to prove I can safely navigate the "difficult" DST routine once again.  But in the meantime, I have...

Egg on my face for sure because the yolk's on me..... 

ST. PATRICK AND NEPHI: A COMPARISON OF TWO GREAT MEN

I was going through the Nichols Family Home Evening box the other day looking for something I wanted to use in my Seminary class.  It was a great trip down memory lane while I perused some of the fun activities we had as we learned the gospel together.  Our family celebrated EVERY holiday, major or not so major.  I always prepared a little blurb about WHY we were celebrating the holiday, so my kids had some idea about the background and reason for the “party” we always had to commemorate that special day.  After a while, those same activities became traditions, and we did them year after year without ever getting tired of the fun they generated.

For March we always had a little quiz about St. Patrick.  He wasn’t born in Ireland, but in Britain and tended sheep in his early boyhood.  Though he was captured by pirates when he was just 16, at some point he ended up in France where he studied to be a priest.

During a visit back to Britain, St. Patrick dreamed the Irish people wanted him to be their religious leader.  He converted many Celts and Druids to Christianity.  St. Patrick also taught Irish monks to copy books in a style so valuable and beautiful they became world treasures.  And he wrote an autobiography when he was old called “The Confession”.  St. Patrick led the Catholic Church in Ireland for many years and left so important a legacy that many people still celebrate his life every year on March 17^th which is the anniversary date of his death. The shamrock became the symbol for St. Patrick’s Day, not because St. Patrick liked to go hunting for them, but because of his teachings about the Trinity.

NOW BACK TO OUR FAMILY HOME EVENING CELEBRATION 

After we reviewed the answers to the little quiz, I then taught my kids about another man who had had similar experiences….Nephi, son of Lehi in the Book of Mormon.

Nephi was born in Jerusalem and relocated with his family to the Promised Land when he was just a young man.  He was often abused by his older brothers and was even tied up on occasion when they threatened to kill him.  Nephi studied the gospel with his father Lehi, then asked the Lord for a spiritual confirmation of his own after Lehi told him about a dream he’d had concerning the Iron Rod.  Nephi’s preaching and teachings helped many of Lehi’s and Ishmael’s families believe that Christ would come.  Nephi taught them to be Christians.

With all the work Nephi had to do building a ship and leading his people, there wasn’t much time to go looking for shamrocks either.  But he did find a ball of intricate workmanship outside his tent one day.  He learned that it was called a Liahona and would direct them where to go, so long as they obeyed God’s commandments.

Nephi took the Egyptian language to the Promised Land, then modified it so it was easier to engrave on metal sheets.  Using Reformed Egyptian, he wrote a record of the Nephites’ spiritual and historical events on gold plates.  The books of 1 Nephi and 2 Nephi are basically Nephi’s own history. He died over 500 years before Christ was born.

                 

 Both St. Patrick and Nephi suffered hardships and adversity, were well-loved by their people, and left a great example of devotion to God for those who came after.  But in spite of all St. Patrick’s goodness, Nephi had one role St. Patrick didn’t have.  It was that of a prophet, someone to whom God had given His priesthood so all of Heavenly Father’s children during Nephi’s time could be instructed and blessed. 

A prophet receives revelation, teaches us about God’s character, exposes the evils of sin, warns against wrongdoing, preaches of righteousness, builds and restores faith, and is a witness of Jesus Christ and testifies of Him through the Holy Ghost.

At that point we were at the serious part of the party as we discussed the duties of a prophet as outlined in scripture.  After the conclusion of the lesson, we played “Irish” games and ate Irish treats. What a celebration!

 

We also have a prophet today.  President Russel M. Nelson leads the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at this time and does those very same things I taught my kids about Nephi being a prophet.    

Starting three years ago, President Nelson has given us much instruction, including specific counsel that has allowed us to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic with much better skills to keep our families strong in spite of restrictions.  He introduced the “Come Follow Me program” which put our home as the center of our religious life, with what happens at our church buildings a support of that concept. Not the other way around.  That was a year before the pandemic.  So, when government restrictions that wouldn’t allow us to gather as a congregation were put into place across the country, we as church families had basically been having Church at home.  

President Nelson has also invited us  to find the ways we can hear the voice of the Lord in our own lives...HEAR HIM. That voice gives us direction and assurance.  And our prophet has encouraged us to let God prevail in all we do. 

I am grateful that we have a leader who gives us instruction through revelation and invites us to always emulate the Savior which is ultimately the best medicine the world could have at this time.  Love for all instead of hate.

Perhaps you have also recognized blessings in your life because we have a prophet.  Jot them down and see what warm tones and tiny miracles come to you on a daily basis. These are gold nuggets that are more priceless than earthly wealth or any pot of gold you might find at the end of the rainbow.