By Jane Smith
The Leaf would like to welcome back students and staff to Quercus Alba after the long Christmas break.
We hope everyone had a wonderful time with family and friends, and spent some time thinking about our Savior who is our perfect example.
Now we can all return refreshed and excited for the New Year, “The Fountain of Fair Fortune!”
This reporter cannot wait to see what fresh new ideas and amazing tales come out in The Leaf.
On chilly mornings or lazy afternoons as abstract thoughts swirl through your heads, don’t forget to write them down. After all, winter is for stories!
My Christmas Presents By Robert Petersen
I got Star Wars the Complete Saga Wii game for Christmas. I got a truck. I got Lego Kingdoms. These are my favorite presents I got for Christmas.
Ravenclaw Challenge
Congratulations to Emma Palmer of Ravenclaw House and Natalie Morphis of Hufflepuff House for answering the Ravenclaw Challenge in the last issue.
Answers to last issues challenge:
Riddle one - a fish
Riddle two - because it has scales
Take the challenge!
You will find
Practice makes
A sharper mind.
Riddle One (8 years plus)
"I never was, am always to be,
No one ever saw me, nor ever will
And yet I am the confidence of all
To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball."
Riddle Two (up to 8)
What is it the more you take, the more you leave behind?
Minerva Bronte
"If Only" By Alahna Petersen
If only, if only; a common saying among us today. We are constantly saying if only; if only I had a car; if only I had a cell phone; if only I was as pretty as her; if only I were rich. Why don’t we start thinking of what we really have: jobs, family, yummy food, and so much more.
If we start thinking of the things we have instead of “if only” we will find ourselves happier. We must be thankful for what we have and not wallow in jealousy which leads to hate and contention. But if we really think of what we have and not of what we don’t we will be more grateful and pure. In order to stay on the straight and narrow path made for us to follow by Jesus we must not listen to the promptings of Satan and think “if only”.
If we share and are generous we will be able to focus more on the blessings we have and to think of others. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and it’s hard to be happy when all we are thinking about is “if only”. We are His children and He wants us to come back to Him and one of the many ways that Satan leads us astray is by making us jealous. It will make us see bad in everything because we are looking for it. Satan wants us to only see bad things in life because it makes us unhappy and he wants us to be unhappy just like him. We need to be grateful to be happy and serving others helps us to be grateful.
Elder Carl B. Cook said, “What happens when we look up to see how Heavenly Father views us instead of looking sideways to see how others view us?” We shouldn’t be comparing ourselves to others but only to what Heavenly Father wants us to be. If we’re looking up there is no need to say “if only”.
Musings
A Weekly Column By Damarco Montoya
A Statue Named Bob
I was just minding my own business walking in the park when I noticed a very odd looking statue. The statue looked incredibly life like, which is why it seemed so odd to me when all other statues in my mind have clearly looked like statues (go figure). I found a nearby park bench and decided to sit for a while to watch this statue.
So what’s more strange, a statue that resembled a person, or a person staring intently at such a statue? I couldn’t help it. The thing was oddly alluring. You know when you drive by a car crash, or two people have some kind of an accident, or when you see a clown in the middle of the business district pretending to be a mime? I guess this statue thing is closer to the clown thing, but you just can’t take your eyes off of it. I guess I wanted to see the statue move so my suspicions could be confirmed. “Ah ha! I just saw you twitch your nose! You’re not a statue at all are you?” But the thing wouldn’t move an inch. I don’t think it moved even a centimeter (for all you Europeans who measure with the metric system).
block in the middle of the grass. Try to picture this in your mind. His bright blue hat nearly screamed for attention because of its color, and he was just standing there with his arms sort of crossed and his right hand seems to be holding up his chin in the famed Thinker pose.
Everything about him suggested he was just a teenage boy pretending to be a statue, but why? He was doing an incredible job holding still, and the people walking by didn’t seem to pay any attention to him as I had. Didn’t they notice the details that uncovered the truth? He’s an imposter. He has everyone fooled (including at least one dog judging by the wet spot clearly visible on his pant leg), and he’s probably placed a video camera somewhere up in a tree to capture the people’s responses to his act. The camera would show how the birds chirp patiently from a nearby branch, hovering overhead in order to properly lay out their next statue art masterpiece (I’m talking about bird poop people). The video camera would capture joggers, walkers, bikers, kite flyers, and probably the clown pretending to be a mime.
About 15 minutes have passed since I first noticed the boy statue, and he still hasn’t budged an inch or centimeter (do I still have any metric readers?). I’m even more captivated with this silly display than before since he’s got to move sooner or later. I don’t think I could ever hold still for that long without even blinking. I couldn’t even sit still for a minute without fidgeting or tapping a
foot or hand to some phantom musical beat. I had to get a closer look. This kid intrigued me like no other.
When I approached him I could see even more life-like attributes than before. His skin had visual evidence of having makeup on it or at least some kind of a powder or foundation (help me ladies, I have no idea what I’m talking about). He remained motionless even when I stood but inches from his face to investigate further. I looked down at his
shirt and saw he was wearing some kind of a uniform shirt, and it wore the name “Bob” on it. I said, “Hi Bob,” and I believe his lip quivered. His lip quivered! I got him to move! “Ah HA!” I exclaimed right in his face. “I got you to move, Bob. You know it, and I know you know it.” I held my head high, turned and walked away ready to tell all about the statue named Bob.
What's in a Word By Professor Hunt
2011 is gone, long gone. I hope you can look back on it and remember all your successes, forget about any failures and start looking forward to a bright 2012! Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? You have? Good, now throw them out!
There’s a better way to make goals and it is all in a word. Just one word that you choose to focus your life in the direction you want. Blogger Christine Kane gives this explanation as to why many resolutions don’t work, "they address only one level of your life. The do level. It’s the DO-HAVE-BE model. It goes like this: “I will DO this thing.” (i.e., Lose weight) “So I can HAVE this other thing” (Self-Esteem) and I can BE this thing. (Confident.)” And we at Quercus Alba know all about how to BE. Instead of the DO-HAVE-BE model lets use the BE-DO-HAVE. For example, I will BE spiritual might lead you to read your scriptures and pray more frequently (DO) leading you to HAVE a more personal relationship with Heavenly Father.
So instead of a list of things to DO, find a word that will inspire you to BE. Let this word become a touchstone or guiding force in your life. Write it down, tell it to a close friend or family member that will help you remember it throughout the long months of the year. Make a poster of it and hang where you will see it everyday. As you approach situations in your life repeat the word to yourself, see where it will take you.
Take a quiet moment to yourself and ponder what changes you want to make in your life and what BE word will help lead you there. Here are some words from a list by Christine Kane that might inspire you.
Compassion Delight Generosity Wealth
Gratitude Abundance Willingness Change
Courage Peace Growth Health
Energy Presence Acceptance Courage
Confidence Love
Forgive Release
Knowing Patience
Fun Friendship
Laughter Commitment
Savor Listen
Prayerful Beauty
Joy Focus
The Wand Thief Comes to QA By Emma Palmer
The wand thief has not stolen any wands since Christmas Eve,but at charms Alahna Petersen told me that she lost her wand and that is the 2 time. The first time it got lost Alahna was so mad she looked everywhere and when it did not turn up she wrote a latter to the wand thief and then left it on the table and in the morning were the latter was her wand. The wand thief has become more dangerous over the winter brake. 3 more attacks in America. Samuel palmer lost his wand at the beginning of the year and had to get a new one. then during the Christmas brake professor Bronte found it now Samuel has two wands. the wand thief is close to us. be on alert 24-7
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