Sunday, December 29th, 2019

Palmyra, New York

77th operating temple

Dedicated: 6 April 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Isaiah 43:14

Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 9:1-19

New Testament

Review and finish the book of Revelation

Oct General Conference

"Take Up Our Cross"

Elder Ulisses Soares

"Please never give up after subsequent failures and consider yourself incapable of abandoning sins and overcoming addiction. You cannot afford to stop trying and thereafter continue in weakness and sin! Always strive to do your best, manifesting through your works the desire to cleanse the inner vessel, as taught by the Savior."

Our stake president, President Beeler, sent out an email to members of this stake this morning. This is what it said:

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the White Mountain Stake;

Due to the heavy snow and icy conditions in many parts of our stake, we have decided to cancel church meetings for December 29th. Many of our residential streets have been difficult to keep plowed, as have our Church sidewalks and parking lots.

The exception to this cancellation is the Vernon Ward. Those who wish to attend meetings in Vernon or neighboring stakes/wards are certainly invited to do so.

We invite all to keep the Sabbath Day holy by serving others, studying "Come Follow Me" together in your homes, and doing other activities which bring you closer to the Savior.

Thank you for understanding. We love you and appreciate your faithfulness. And we give the Lord thanks for the wonderful snow that has come to our mountain home!

Much love,

President Beeler

Except the Vernon ward? I wonder why we are the exception? We got snow too. Maybe it's because our bishop is a "Prepper" and a little bit of snow doesn't scare him. Oh well, I'm glad we got to go to our meetings because Michael and Joshua went with us.

Tamara gave me a Christmas gift: A container with a bag of homemade unfrosted sugar cookies. I ate all of them. A Christmas dishtowel that says, "Dashing through the Snow." (How appropriate, that's how we got to church today), Antlers Co. Double chocolate flavored hot cocoa, Bodycology small cherry blossom body cream, a "Charity Never Faileth" bookmark, and a Silent Night Mineral Bath Soak. Thank you Tamara.

Shanna Penrod was the first speaker. She spoke on "How Jesus Christ Can Bring Us Peace, Joy, and Happiness." Repentance and obedience bring us real joy as we come unto the Savior. Suffering is swallowed up in the joy of Christ, He is the source of enduring joy. Shanna bore a wonderful testimony. 

President Smithson, a new counselor in our stake presidency was the next speaker. He brought his entire family with him and said he was grateful that someone in the stake had meetings today. 

Everyone seems to be looking for constant entertainment. Look instead for peace and joy. How do we respond to tragedy? Fall to our knees and turn our focus to Christ. The Lord does hear our prayers. Increase in joy. Ether 12:27 - "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

The second hour the adults stayed in the chapel for a discussion on "Come Follow Me" What Works and What Doesn't" with Bishop Hunsaker. Michael and Joshua both stayed with us. These are some of the ideas that I liked as a result of our discussion.

Tamara Applegate - We have a set time, 8 p.m. The discussion lasts an hour. Whoever is there carries on. One night it was just Ty and me. Ty had a video to watch that applied to the lesson, so that's what we did."

Bishop Miller - "Each one of our children have their own copy of the scriptures and the lesson manual. Sometimes we find them studying on their own. (Probably his oldest, Andyn.)

Bishop Hunsaker - "There is a sister and a brother who have done a YouTube video called, "Don't Miss This." There names are David Butler and Emily Belle Freeman.

Michael came home and made pancakes for everyone. They were quite delicious. James and I laid down for a nap and when we woke up everyone was gone. I guess they took the sled out and gave rides behind Alexis's car. I worked on my blog for awhile and then we FaceTimed with Jared, Kacey, Charlie, and Molly. Tricia did end up letting Molly come to visit even though the other kids didn't come.

As I was cooking steaks for Max, and Evan and Josh, Sheri, Ian, Rowan and Ziggie arrived. 

Shana did the dishes which was very kind of her.

Sheri, Ian, and Ziggie are staying downstairs so I took the clean sheets and put them on the bed. Sheri and I went in our room and watched, "A Storybook Christmas." 

The kids used flashlights and went outside to play Jews and Germans. 

Today I didn't keep the Sabbath as well as I should and neither did anyone else. There was a football game playing on the TV in the family room most of the day. It made James sad.

 Molly and Charlie

 My friend Sherry Cosper Byars took this picture

at her home. Can you see the temple in the background?