OUR FAMILY: Wednesday, December 11th, 2019

Spokane, Washington

59th operating temple

Dedicated: 21 Aug 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

Genesis 28:13

And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to they seed;

Book of Mormon

Ether 8:18-26

New Testament

Revelation 4-5; SS Lesson; "DMT" with Emily and Dave's handout

10/19 General Conference

"Come Follow Me - the Lord's Counter-Strategy and Proactive Plan"

Brother Mark L. Pace

"As Latter-day Saints, we seek a firm and sure foundation in our lives - a spiritual foundation needed for our journey through mortality and back to our heavenly home. That foundation is established on the bedrock of our conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ."

I read the following quote in this month's Ensign in the article on the Book of Revelation: "This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice, patience, and love for each of us are revealed. We are all lambs seeking our Shepherd."

James is a little upset that Anthony called the Grapp's about getting a new heater. He was going to go into town tomorrow and pick one up for him. Anthony called this morning with another problem though. He was having pains in his chest and stomach and had to go to the emergency room. He called Brother Goodman and asked if he would take him in to the hospital, which Brother Goodman did. James said we would pick him up.

This morning I blogged, and got a shipment of books ready to mail. A little before noon I left for a luncheon I was invited to at Catherine Halcomb's. She is putting this luncheon on for the sisters she ministers to. Since Lynda and I are her ministering sisters she also invited us. Lynda did not make it back from Texas in time to attend. She was busy in the valley picking up things at Sam's and Walmart for people. She picked up four pumpkin rolls for me.

Catherine calls her house "The Christmas House." She has lots of decorations. I was the second one to arrive, Ruth Wilhelm was already there. Kerri, Catherine's daughter went to pick up two of the other sisters that were invited, Ellen Kostusiak and Lucretia Barton. Lucretia is Catherine's partner. The last sister Nadine Singleton, just found out her sister, Lorraine is dying of kidney cancer. Lorraine used to be in our ward and was my visiting teaching companion for awhile. She went to live with her daughter in California a few years ago. Nadine either went to see Lorraine or just did not feel like socializing because she didn't come.

Before we ate lunch Catherine gave each of us a white stocking with a poem inside about the Savior.

After receiving our stockings we all sat down to the meal that Catherine had prepared for us. We had homemade chicken noodle soup, chili with crackers and cheese, rolls, orange slices, a veggie tray and for dessert cherry cobbler with whipped cream. It was a very nice meal and so thoughtful of Catherine for doing this. She is 85 years old.

The Halcomb stockings:

Catherine, Kerri, the dogs,

Shelly and Star and the cats,

Inkus and Dinkus.

After the meal and visiting with the sisters for awhile I excused myself. I told them that James was waiting for me and we were going to pick up our new computers at Walmart.

James met me at the church and we drove into town together in my car. We picked up our computers and I did some shopping. When we were leaving the Walmart parking lot James said Anthony called and he needed a ride home from the hospital. Perfect timing. Anthony was outside in the parking lot waiting for us when we drove up to the hospital. He asked us if we would take him to the Grapp's to pick up his new heater and some gas, which we did. While at the Grapp's I got to see Liana's new Australian shepherd pup.

His name is Bandit

Now the entire family can go to rodeos

in the same vehicle.

I took James and Anthony to the church where James's truck was parked and James took Anthony home with his new heater and the gas that Cammy bought for him.

When I got home after putting the groceries away, I began setting up my new computer. I chose Google Chrome as my browser and downloaded it and the extensions I need for my book business.

When James got home I fixed us each a cheese crisp for dinner.

I left a little before seven to go help decorate at the church for the Christmas party on Friday night. President Grapp, Brother Finnell and Brother Woodruff were setting up tables and chairs. Kathy Crane, Lynda Finnell, Tamara, Kerri, Maxine were the decorating crew. Amy Reynolds came a little later. Lynda gave me my pumpkin rolls and I paid her for them and thanked her for picking them up for me.

Most of the decorations are pretty old and the oil cloth tablecloths barely cover the round tables. We made center pieces and even decorated the bookshelves where the hymnbooks are stored. I was pretty tired and was the first to leave. Kathy Crane really takes charge of these activities. She is a hard worker.

The young women were having an activity at the church and I saw someone I have not seen for probably over a year, Jennifer Deatherage. She and her husband have both had health issues and as a result become totally inactive and really not responsive to people who have tried to reach out to them. She gave me a big hug. I asked her if she was coming to the ward party on Friday and she said, "Yes, and to church on Sunday." I told her that was wonderful!

Brother Brewer has been in the hospital and was not expected to live but his wife ended up bringing him home. Hospice will be caring for him.

We watched a Lifetime movie when I got home, "Mistletoe and Menorahs." It is one of my favorite new movies for this year.