OUR FAMILY: Saturday, December 28th, 2019"

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Saturday, December 28th, 2019"

Louisville, Kentucky

76th operating temple

Dedicated: 19 Mar 2000

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

Isaiah 41:14

Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 8:1-30

New Testament

Revelation 21-22

Oct General Conference

"Power to Overcome the Adversary"

Elder Peter M. Johnson

"Remember, the Lord had just told Moses he was a son of God, created in the similitude of the Only Begotten.

The adversary was relentless in his attempts to deceive Moses, but Moses resisted, saying, 'Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.' Moses remembered who he was - a son of God."

We left the house for the Snowflake temple at 5:37 a.m. It did not snow during the night but it is supposed to snow some more today. On the way over, as is our usual practice, we listened to the scriptures and a couple of conference talks.

Several people were missing today, some because of weather and others because of family difficulties. The Cureton's were snowed in. They live out on a ranch near Williams. Sister Humphreys, my friend from St. Johns lost her husband and is taking a leave of absence. The Reidheads' are gone to New Mexico to take care of her mother who is not feeling well.

Sam Tenney and his wife subbed for the Gentry's who are in northern California where three of their children live.

The Brimhall's presided today. Our training was on helping the handicapped feel welcome and comfortable at the temple.

My schedule went something like this: One hour of "as assigned." Since I didn't have a break scheduled I took the last half hour as my break. I visited with Sister Roma Lofgreen and Sister JoAnn Bradshaw during break. They both recently lost their fathers. Sister Lofgreen's father died Thanksgiving weekend and she had to fly to Italy for the funeral. Sister Bradshaw's father died Christmas Eve. Sister Bradshaw said she has been going down every Wednesday and Thursday to help care for him but Christmas Eve was on Tuesday so she didn't get to see him this week.

Sister Bradshaw's dad is a life long member of the Church so I am sure his funeral will be inspirational and uplifting, a celebration of his life.

Sister Lofgreen's dad was a member of the Catholic church. She said if you want the priest to talk about you deceased loved one during the services, you have to pay him. She said the funeral was not very hope filled as Catholics really don't believe in the resurrection. They don't even pray to Heavenly Father because they think He is just a spirit floating around. They pray to Mary, baby Jesus, and deceased Saints.

After my break I went to help in the baptistry. Things were pretty quiet. There was a grandpa there with his granddaughter doing baptisms and confirmations and that was it. I got to talk to Sister Weinhardt and Sister Caldwell about their family Christmas parties. Sister Caldwell said her teenaged daughter brought a different boyfriend to the last three family Christmas parties in a row. Sister Weinhardt did the money ball like the Case's do. You wrap money in a ball of tape and each person has an allotted period of time to try to reach some money. She said someone rolls the dice until a one is rolled and then the person has to pass the ball. The big catch is they have to wear oven mitts while they are trying to "unwrap" the ball.

During my next "as assigned" I went upstairs in the great room and read Old Testament chapter headings. I got clear to Nehemiah.

I also worked at the sealing desk, as a presenter at the veil, the locker room and one half hour in the initiatory and one half hour doing Anthony's initiatory names.

Once when I was downstairs I looked outside and it was a blizzard. I was surprised to see lots of guests come to a live sealing in spite of the weather.

My friend Sister Bowers from Heber said it took them twice as long as it normally does to get here because of the weather.

We stopped and got some lunch at Taco Bell. I got a taco salad and James got a quesadilla and a bean burro. The ride home was quite treacherous. Much of the time we just followed the car in front of us because it was too dangerous to pass.

Stacy and Paul left for home earlier in the day. They were going to stay until we got home but they were afraid of getting "snowed in."

Joshua stayed here with Michael. When we got home he was eating popcorn and looking a little bored. Since we don't have the Razr to pull the sled Michael tied to sled behind Alexis's car and pulled Joshua, Evan, and Max around.

James went outside to shovel snow as soon as we got home. He doesn't like it to turn to ice because then it's too difficult to remove.

James also cooked hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner along with some Busch beans. Michael made pasta with meatballs for himself and Alexis. He likes to cook and she likes to clean which works out well for them.

These are the Christmas movies I watched in the bedroom:

"It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas"

starring Tricia Helfer and Eric Mabius

"Double Holiday"

starring Kristopher Polaha