http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,179200 - original thread


I just wanted to chime in about the good ole days. My grandmother had a ringer washer and cooked on a coal and wood stove until the mid-70's. She made the best crusty bread - no recipe of course, and I loved watching the clothes go through the ringer. Most were hung on a line, but as a little girl, it was my job to hang the socks on the bushes. So much fun :-)

She had a great big lilac bush in the front yard and to this day that scent takes me right back there. Her house only had one bedroom and the bathroom only had a toilet and a tub. There was a cellar, but you had to go outside to go down the stairs and there was no heat down there. I remember how heavy the blankets were and how cold the snow was that would blow down the stairs if the door was left open.

Ah, those were the good ole days fer sure.

It gives me a much different perspective on today. We raised a family in a very small home, very small closets, one bathroom, one tub, one toilet, one phone, (LD was expensive!), no shower, no carpet, no TV for many years, and on and on.
Life was very different when not dealing with technology on a constant basis!

I do love the technology and modern conveniences I enjoy today: computer, Internet, cell phone, microwave, TV's with more than three channels, air conditioning, carpeting, two bathrooms with showers,two vehicles,and on and on. I wouldn't want to go back to those "good ole days" even if they were much slower and not fraught with so many gadgets that fall apart and need repair and technological problems solved by call centers in the India! :-)

The LDS Church was different when I joined in the early 60's also. I have lots of memories of really fun times. Lots of socializing, Events, Programs, etc. Forty years later, when I left for good, it was not the same atmosphere, all the fun was gone.

Boy, that's the truth about the church!

When I taught in Relief Society, you came up with your own topic under the broad general category of like "Homemaking" or "Cultural Refinement." One day I brought reproductions of great art that I checked out at the library. I taught how the children were so impacted by staring at the art during dinner. It gave me an idea of how to help my children learn better, by hooking memorizing up with food.

The doctor's wife, a huge woman, made the yummiest cheese biscuits. She would never give anybody the recipe. When she was called to be Homemaking Teacher, we were all THRILLED that she was going to do her class on biscuits!

I absolutely loved Relief Society and one time I picked up some old RS magazines and brought them in. You would not believe the creative and important things the RS sisters were doing like in the 20's and 30's. They were making blankets for European refugees. They were teaching each other how to make "Rag Rugs for Russia." They not only had their own money, honey, they bankrolled fabulous activities for the kids. If you had a good idea for a trip - you could get the money from the Relief Society. IF we didn't have it, we would just have a bake sale. Done!

Sad commentary on how women have become so empty now, their days filled with repetitions and exhortations to "find happiness in serving" in their bleak isolated existence. It's the comradeship we had with one another that made it fun.

Anagrammy

vehicle maintenance, literature, Out of the Best Books (I still have one in the series),countries and cultures of the world (complete with food, costumes, music),hair cutting for men and women, self defense (actually practiced moves), exercise classes, learning to quilt ,(donated the quilts), knitting (donated the scarves), rag rugs, cooking with bulk items, and on and on.

I still cut hair, have made quilts, knitted a couple hundred scarves, and know how to make almost anything from "scratch" with few ingredients. I also sewed clothing for myself and the children years ago and created a lot of my own recipes.
I learned to hone all of these skills plus many others from RS and from the RS ladies that I socialized with.

My first "Calling" in a BYU Married Student Ward in the LDS Church was Relief Society Secretary and Treasurer! I was assigned to keep the RS record books: take notes, read them in the next meeting,(we all know Roberts Rules of Order, collect dues (think it was something like $2 a year), etc.

I would not want to be an LDS woman today. No way!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2011 01:11AM by SusieQ#1.