Special Tribute

I want to take a minute and express my thanks and appreciation for my Grandma Carpenter. I was never one that people looked at and said, "wow you have quite the talents." When I entered the Young Women program in my church I began to develop certain talents. I tried my hand at several different things but always felt like I didn't quite measure up. Or probably more that I was just too big a perfectionist to have any errors. Sewing was one of these disasters. I decided I would sew and it became STRESSFUL in every sense of the word. So when I got married I talked my Grandma Carpenter into holding a painting class. You see, she is a tole painter extraordinaire. She has the skills and the know how to create anything that has to do with paint and a paintbrush. I would meet weekly with her and learned such things as, keep the paint brush straight, only load a brush at the tip (what, the whole brush isn't supposed to be covered in paint???), clean brushes thoroughly after painting, always paint the back - NO MATTER WHAT, and don't forget to sign your name on your work. It was a joy to be with my Grandma and an even greater joy to learn a talent, something I felt that I was half good at. It was a fun time each week with snacks, Cousins, Aunts, and Grandma. Thank you Grandma for sharing your talents with me. I am most grateful. Now I can decorate my home for much less, I can relieve stress, and most importantly I feel good about myself when I'm successful.
D&C Section 82:18; And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast unto the Lord's storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church.
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me."
Here is what I have been busy doing with the "talents" I learned from Grandma!