OUR FAMILY: 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.