OUR FAMILY: 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!