Friday, March 18th, 2016

Monument Valley in Arizona

 

James left around 5:30 this morning for the valley.  He is picking up Alex, and Adam to come up and help him work on the shed.  He also did a little work at Fountain Hills, and then stopped in Payson for some lumber.  I was surprised when he returned home this evening that he had Seth with him too.

 

Of course, as is our tradition when one of us leaves, James and I shared a prayer and a kiss.

 

Today I listened to President Monson's Sunday morning address, "Be an Example and a Light", and Elder Rasband's address, "I Stand All Amazed." 

This is the second and last talk President Monson gave in this conference.  He seemed a little shaky at the pulpit and President Uchtdorf sat on the edge of his chair in case President Monson needed him.  He was escorted back to his chair by two of the brethren, one of them being President Uchtdorf.

 

President Monson

"As we make Christ the center of our lives,

our fears will be replaced by

the courage of our convictions."

 

Elder Rasband

"As we follow our prophet, I pray that we may have charity in our hearts toward others and that we will become

a living witness and indeed

'stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers us.'"

 

 I also studied an Ezra Taft Benson lesson in last year's Relief Society manual entitled, "The Elderly in the Church."  I am trying to "catch up" my 2015 Sunday journal.  I love President Benson.  This lesson was taken from a talk he gave in General Conference immediately following his 90th birthday.  President Benson's talks are classics.  Who can forget his talk "Beward of Pride" and "Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon."  He also gave talks in general conference to the men of the Church, the women of the Church, the youth of the Church, and the Primary children of the Church.  One of my favorite quotes from this lesson: 

"I hold special feelings for the elderly--

for this marvelous group of men and women.

I feel that in some measure I understand them,

for I am one of them."

 

In another effort to "catch up" my 2015 Sunday journal I studied a conference talk by Elder Kevin W. Pearson of The Seventy, entitled, "Stand by the Tree." Elder Pearson says that Lehi's vision of the tree of life is a powerful parable on enduring to the end.  There are six segments to this talk: 1) Don't Forget to Pray   2) Come unto Christ and Be Perfected in Him   3) Press Forward with Faith   4) The Book of Mormon is Key to Spiritual Survival  5) Don't Be Distracted and Deceived   6) Stay By the Tree.

 

Since James was here this morning I studied Jacob 2: 17-35.  I was especially touched by these versus: 17, 18, 19, 28, 29, 31, 34, 35.  Jacob is chastising the men of his community.  He warns them to beward of pride, and the importance of being chaste.  God delights in the chastity of women.  He tells them they need to keep the commandments or the land will be cursed for their sakes.  He says he has heard the mournings of the women because of the sins of their husbands for doing what they ought not to have done.  In verse 35 he talks about them breaking the hearts of their tender wives and losing the confidence of their children because of their bad example before them.  "The sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you.  Many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds."

 

From "The Blueprint of Christ's Church" I read "God's Law of the Sabbath".  I love these promises from D&C 59:9-10, 15-16:

"And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High; . . . And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, . . . verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours."

 

If we keep the Sabbath holy, as commanded, then the promised blessings are as follows: one, God will help us keep unspotted from the world; and two, the fulness of the earth will be ours, meaning we will be entitled to temporal blessings as well as spiritual ones.

 

It is interesting that one of the articles I read from the Ensign today was on the Sabbath.  This scripture was shared in the article. 

"Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life.  Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."

3 Nephi 9:14

 One of the most important ways we come unto Him is by partaking worthily of the sacrament each Sabbath day.

 

I also read "Gaining Gospel Insights Through Motherhood."

"As I walk by faith, ask in prayer, and obediently study the Lord uses my experiences as a mother to teach me His doctrine through the Spirit."

 

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Vernon.  The high was around 62 and there was very little wind.  When Kim and Brian got here somewhere between four and five this afternoon Kim made the comment that it was nice to be outside in the sun and not be hot.  

As soon as Kim and Brian got settled in, we sat down for a game of Five Crowns.

Brian is trying to hide.

It was a close game 85, 77, 72 with Kim coming out as the winner.

During our game James, Alex, Adam, and Seth arrived with a load of lumber.  They are all working on building our storage shed tomorrow.  I guess Adam was "let go" at his work so he really needs to work tomorrow.  

 

This evening the boys "hung out" while Kim and Brian watched "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  James and I watched a Hallmark movies and mysteries movie called "After All These Years."  A murder mystery with a bit of humor.  Not really my favorite kind of movie.

 

Today while I was organizing boxes in the garage I opened one labeled 'Karen's Books.'  There may have been books on the bottom but on the top were a couple of rolls of toiled paper that the mice had gnawed on.  I am just grateful they weren't still in the box.  

 

Stacy called to talk to me about the new test that is replacing the AIMS test in the Chandler schools.  It may be all over Arizona, I am not sure.  It's called the Arizona Merit Test, a test which was rejected in Utah.  The test was made by social behaviorists and support Common Core.  Even thought the legislature has mandated that every child must take the test, Stacy has told the school that Joshua will not be taking it.  He did take the practice test and when she ask him about it, he gave her this example. 

'One of the questions was, which is better, clutter or clean and then it gave examples of why clutter was better so I picked clutter.'  Stacy was surprised by this so she ask several other kids, including Bryce and Evan and all of the five kids ask said they put clutter as better than clean. Evan said:' At first I thought clean was better but then they convinced me that clutter was better.'

Stacy says they do this to profile the kids and they do keep all of the results.  They are looking for kids who don't agree with their answers as possible 'troublemakers.'

I told Stacy she should ask to see the test but she said that is not possible.  It is online and is not available to the parents or teachers.  The test is supported by the federal government.  

This is just a small example how the government is trying to take away our rights.

 

   Addy's cousin and one of her best friends.