A head for numbers.

So this semester I'm taking two institute courses. Because of a class that he has from 6-9 on Tuesday nights, Paul can't make it to the regularly scheduled Book of Mormon class so I am going to that by myself. The class that he has that night is the one that seems like it's going to be filled with the most lies generated by Satan so it's nice to be able to balance that out and come home and tell Paul what I learned that was true as opposed to what he was taught (they have to study a book that his professor just raves about on the ways the family unit is destroying society- that is just insane to me, how can anyone believe that?!)Thank goodness there's a Doctrines of the Gospel class at 7 am on Tuesday mornings. There are only four of us in it and I really like having such a small class because it forces us to talk. Anywho.... Back to Book of Mormon. During our first class Brother Cornelsen had us think about the tender mercies of the Lord. They're mentioned in the first and last chapter of the BoM. It really hit me that Moroni talks about the tender mercies of the Lord being ever present and he's seen his whole entire people killed, his family, his friends, he's been living by himself for years and years and he still talks about how life will always be full of them. Lehi speaks of them right after he sees the destruction of Jerusalem. So I've been thinking a lot about tender mercies this week and this morning I found another one that is just so impressive to me and it's wholly personalized- Heavenly Father is wonderful like that!
So I have an amazing memory. I have always had one. I can tell you down to the tiniest detail about things that happened when I was four. I've never had to take notes in classes (but I do like having something for my hands to do so I doodle). It's a great blessing! Since I've been pregnant though.... it's awful! Paul said I probably have a normal human brain capacity for memory now but the rest of you can't live this way... I can hardly remember anything. It's something that frustrates me and embarrasses me constantly. On Friday we had to go to Wal-Mart and I had my list (something I never used to need and now I have to consult it at least 100 times before we can leave). Our friend Daniel was with us and he made the remark that some of the prices at Wal-Mart did indeed seem to be cheaper than at Kroger's (our local grocery chain) and I realized that I did know that but not only did I know that I could tell you the prices of the things we have purchased in the past from Kroger and how much different they were from Wal-Mart prices. Now that may not seem like a big deal but Paul's been really really stressed about our budget lately. It's looking more and more likely that I will not be able to work past the middle of October let alone up until I have Pearl and then next semester while Paul's not in class and can watch her. That makes our budget take a supreme hit. We can do it, we're really not in a horrible situation but Paul's still really worried. The fact that I could with confidence tell him how much different our grocery bill would be if we shopped at Kroger (a place that we did 98% of our grocery shopping last year made him feel so much better. That's a huge tender mercy and not only does it make Paul feel better, it makes me feel like less of an invalid.
I'm so grateful for institute! It's such a blessing and I'm really excited to put this recognizing daily tender mercy thing into my schedule this year!