Sunday, June 28th, 2020

Suva, Fiji

91st operating temple

Dedicated: 18 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 17:14

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Met with our "Come Follow Me" Sunday group and reviewed the lesson: Alma 17-22 "I Will Make an Instrument of Thee"

April General Conference

"Sharing the Message of the Restoration and the Resurrection"

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

"This story (see talk) is but one of thousands, hundreds of thousands, that speak of the time, treasure, and lives sacrificed over the last 200 years to share the message of the Restoration. Our aspiration to reach every nation, kindred, tongue, and people is undiminished today, as witnessed by the tens of thousands of young men, women, and couples currently serving under full-time mission calls; by Church members generally, who echo Philip's invitation to come and see; and by the millions of dollars spent annually to sustain this effort across the world."

Except for the howling wind, this was a beautiful Sabbath day. We had our friends over at 10:30 for the Sacrament and "Come Follow Me." The Goodman's are not here today because they have family visiting. Owen and Donna Peeler, and Chuck and Kathy Crane were our guests. This is how our program went:

Opening Song: "How Firm a Foundation"

Prayer: Kathy Crane

Sacrament Hymn: 

"As Now We Take the Sacrament"

Chuck Crane blessed the bread

Owen Peeler bless the water

James prepared and passed

"Come Follow Me"

We watched the video:

"Ammon serves and blesses King Lamoni"

James led our scripture study

We read from the scriptures not following the outline in the

"Come Follow Me" manual

Closing Prayer:

James

The Crane's loved the strawberry pretzel dessert, especially Kathy. She said it is a dessert that their family makes for Christmas. I apologized for the pretzels not being crushed enough and she said they were fine. Kathy was very pleasant today and she really is a good friend. I bought 18 eggs from her. She said something about the membrane around the egg that keeps the egg fresh. She said for this reason, not wanting to break the membrance, she had not washed the eggs. Later when I told James he was upset. He said that was unsanitary. I told him he could wash the eggs if he wanted to.

After lunch James and his partner Dave Westbrook went to the Woods' to give them the sacrament. James was so happy to do this. He has wanted to for a long time but Sean Hunsaker has been doing it. Sean told them they should have their ministering brothers bring them the sacrament and they agreed. Although Chuck is not a member he is such a nice guy. Pam is wonderful. She watches "The Chosen" and James told her that I watch it too.

We FaceTimed with Jared, Kacey, Charlie and Tanner this afternoon. Jared is not feeling well. He has  pustular soriatic  arthritis. He has a boil like sore on the back of his neck and is pretty miserable. I remember my dad having boils on his neck and I am wondering if he had this type of arthritis. I am so sad that this condition has been passed to both Jared and Darrel. Also, Stacy has lupus which is closely related. 

Charlie's favorite treat is wintergreen Ice Breakers. I wonder if she inherited this love for them from me. They are my favorite mint too. 

Tanner is bored and got on one of Charlie's ride on toys and galloped around the house. Anyway, we so much enjoy our daily visits with our Whitehouse, Texas family. 

At six o'clock we met with Kim, Brian, Sheri, Jared, and Kacey for our weekly Lambson Study Group. Stacy joined us for a short time but wasn't feeling well so she didn't stay. She did watch two of the talks though. Our discussion was on prayer and personal revelation. Kim led the discussion. Jared asked the question how to we picture Heavenly Father when we pray. We all liked that Kacey pictures the Savior beside her when she prays. Jared told a story about going to "EFY" and attending a class where prayer was discussed and a song by Hilary Weeks called "He Hears Me." He said he prayed to know if Heavenly Father was real and received an answer. He also said that expressing gratitude helps us see how the Lord is in the details of our lives. Brian shared that his favorite quote from all of the talks we read was in Sister Cordon's talk. The quote was by President Nelson: 

"Understand that in the absence of experiences with God, one can doubt the existence of God. So, put yourself in a position to being having experiences with Him. Humble yourself. Pray to have eyes to see God's hand in your life and in the world around you. Ask Him to tell you if He is really there - if He knows you, Ask Him how He feels about you. And then listen." I think this is my favorite quote too.

This evening James and I both wrote letters to Ben. He is such a bright spot in our family right now.

I watched an episode of "The Chosen" while waiting for James to finish his letter. This was the episode where Peter meets the Savior and the Savior fills his nets with fish. When Peter asks what he can do for Him, the Savior says, "Follow Me."

I also listened to a discussion on Book of Mormon Central about next week's "Come Follow Me" lesson.

Scarlett makes my day happier!

 On their way to Zion's National Park

Tanner and Charlie

Charlie: The best part of our Sabbath

Saturday, June 27th, 2020

Melbourne, Australia

90th operating temple

Dedicated: 16 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

D&C 133:18

When the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father's name written on their foreheads.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 22 Aaron Teaching King Lamoni's Father; Study Guide: Sunday Journal

April General Conference

"The Finest Homes"

"The attributes of Christ are acquired in the "Process of time" by intentional progress along the covenant path. Christlike attributes adorn the lives of those who strive to live with goodness. They fill homes with gospel light, whether the floor is mud or marble. Even if you are the only one in your household who follows the injunction to "seek after these things," you can contribute to the spiritual furnishings of your family's home."

Every  morning, except Sunday when I watch "The Chosen", I watch an episode of "Lark Rise to Candleford" on my phone. Yes, I love the series that much. I also love "The Chosen."

James went down to work on the road after we had scriptures and family prayer. Perkins poured five loads of gravel on Friday and 8 loads today. James decided to do our driveway and road. We have about 16 more loads to go. I am excited!

James sold little Cat to Pierce Goodman for $10,000. He took it over to him last night. When Barbara went to pay him she said: "Do you want cash or check?" James looked at her for a minute and then said how about half and half. He came home with a $5,000 check and an envelope with 50 - 100 dollar bills. Now the Goodman's have a new toy to play with.

I finished my audio book, "Sanctuary" and started another one, "The House of Stone and Ivy" by Anita Stansfield. James came in when I was listening to it and said, "We read that book together and then he proceeded to tell me just about the entire story. 

I made two desserts this afternoon for tomorrow. It is our turn to host the "Come Follow Me" discussion. I made a strawberry pretzel dessert from a recipe I got off Pinterest and an Eagle Brand pie for James. Before going to bed I tried the strawberry pretzel dessert. It was good but I wish I had crushed the pretzels a little better because they were sort of chunky.  

Luna is doing so much better in her face mask. Her eye is almost all cleared up. James was too busy to take her for a ride this evening. She doesn't mind too much as long as he feeds her some oats.

Truths taught by Ammon and Aaron to the Lamanites

 I still remember how upset Addy was because

Grandpa and Rowan beat us

Gravel for our road

Christina's girls

  

Friday, June 26th, 2020

Adelaide, Australia
89th operating temple
Dedicated: 15 June 2000
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 14:1

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 21 with James; study guide, Sunday journal, "Teaching with Power"

April General Conference

"Come and Belong"

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Actively participating in the Church of Jesus Christ and its great variety of opportunities will help us to be better prepared for life's changing circumstances, whatever and however serious they may be. As members of the Church, we are encouraged to immerse ourselves in the words of God through His prophets, ancient and modern. Through sincere and humble prayer to our Heavenly Father, we learn to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit. We accept calls to serve, teach, plan, minister, and administer. These opportunities allow us to grow in spirit, mind, and character."

Inklings

Line from Proclamation

Joseph was given the gift and power of God to translate

Conference Talk

"The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon"

Scriptures

Gospel Topics Essays

Book of Mormon Translation

I took an early morning nap, or as the British call it, a lay down, until my Tramadol kicked in. 

They are starting putting the gravel on our road today. James went down on Big Cat and Chuck was there with his tractor to help spread the gravel. This is an exciting day for us! They won't finish today but will need to come back tomorrow and probably Monday.

I am reading from "Understanding the Symbols, Covenants, and Ordinances of the Temple" about Satan. Was he a serpent or an angel of light?

The serpentine tempter of Genesis may be metaphorical or literal - or it could also be a mistranslation. The Hebrew word for serpent is nahas. It comes from the root nhs. From this same root also comes the word for copper or bronze - nehoset, indicating a shining or luminous object. In Hebrew legend, the tempter is not a snake but an angel of light who says he is authorized of God to do this thing. 2 Nephi 9 supports this idea. Jacob calls Satan "that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light." (2 Nephi 9:9). Joseph Smith records in Doctrine and Covenants 128:20, "What do we hear? . . . the voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light!" (D&C 128:20). In the next section, Joseph gives counsel on what to do if the "devil as an angel of light" appears and tries to deceive you. (D&C 129:8). "As the great imitator, Lucifer has marvelous powers of deception," but his powers are not perfect. Jacob notes that he transformed himself "night unto an angel of light" (2 Nephi 9:9). When Satan appeared to Moses, he tried to deceive him, apparently appearing as an angel of light. But Moses could discern between Satan and God because Satan's glory did not compare to God's (see Moses 1:13-14).

To me, Satan appearing as an angel of light makes more sense.

James went in to town today to deposit the check he got from Mario. The Show Low bank lobby was closed. He cannot use the ATM because he does not have a debit card for his business account. He called me in a panic. I told him I would call the Pinetop branch and see if they were open. They were. I asked him if on his way up there he would stop at Walgreen's and pickup some black masks because Tamara knows someone who needs a couple of masks. He did pick up the masks but they were not black, but cream colored.

This afternoon Owen came by and he and James had a nice visit. He was working for a company building the wall between here and Mexico but his company got outbid on the next section so he has some time off. 

James was happy with all of the things he accomplished today. Me, not so much. It was a rather slow day for me although I did pay all of the personal bills for the first week of July. James only has two checks left or I would have paid his bills also. It's a good thing I ordered some checks this week.

I guess this is a day for sharing from books I am reading. This afternoon while reading to James from "Aunt Dimity and the Summer King" I enjoyed reading this explanation of the Hargreaves family coat of arms and flag:

 "We'd reached the fireplace. A heraldic shield held pride of place above the mantel shelf The shield's design was unlike any I'd seen before. Yellow bars divided its sky-blue ground into three equal sections, and each section was emblazoned with a different creature: a bulldog, a bee, and a unicorn.

"That's our coat of arms," Harriet said, speaking for the first time since Bess had fallen asleep in her arms. "My great-great-great-great-grandfather made it up because he couldn't be bothered with inherited knighthoods and peerages. He believed that we each of us make our own way in the world, based on our talents and our hard work. The coat of arms is on our flag, too."

"The bulldog stands for tenacity, the honeybee stands for hard work, and the unicorn represents the power of the imagination," she explained, as if she'd learned the words by heart. "Ideas start up here" - she tapped the side of her head - "but they won't go anywhere if you don't work hard to make them real. And you need to stick with them until you do make them real or until you find out they won't work. That's where the tenacity come in." 

I had a hunch that Harriet was more of a bulldog than a unicorn, but since she was a Hargreaves, I expected her to surprise me.

James took Luna out for her ride. When he returned he commented that her runny eye was much better and thanked me for the idea of buying her a mask to keep the flies away.

James and I both studied this evening. I studied the gospel and he read from his book "Blitz" about President Trump. The more he reads the more he likes Trump.

C

These are the colors I would like to use
in my bedroom "redo"

Road to Saguaro Lake

From the book Jared got me

 Charlie is awesome!

Taylor Cole, one of our favorite 
Hallmark stars, got married this week.

I watched a video on how to make a mandala
I wonder if I can make one like this

Happy Birthday Emery!

Raspberries from our bush