Sat, Mar 26th, 2022: Monticello Utah Temple, Max here, RS Luncheon and RS Bingo, Nap, Max's 2 hour Razr ride, Ty eating frog legs, Aunt Gene & her 94th cake, Charlie

 

Monticello, Utah

53rd operating temple

Dedicated: 26 July 1998

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Savior

2 Samuel 22:2

And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

Book of Mormon

Jacob 6:1-13

"Come Follow Me"

Exodus 6 & Book of Mormon Central

OctGenCon

"Trust Again"

Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Brothers and sisters, would you please consider Jesus is asking us to open our hearts, our understanding, compassion, and humility, and to see ourselves in both roles? (Prodigal son & brother)

Like the first son or daughter, we may wander and later seek to return home. God waits to welcome us.

And like the other son or daughter, we are gently entreated by God to rejoice together as we each come home to Him. He invites us to make our congregations, quorums, classes, and activities open, authentic, safe - home for each other. With kindness, understanding, and mutual respect, we each humbly seek the Lord and pray and welcome His restored gospel blessings for all.

Sheri texted me at 5:30 this morning and said that Max had already left to come up here. She is worried about his car making it up the hills and so she asked if I would let her know when he gets there. About thirty minutes later Max texted me and said he was on his way.

Sheri has a lot on her plate right now. She is allowing one of her co-workers, Kylee, who is 25, move in with them. Ben is giving up his bedroom and is sleeping on the couch downstairs. Kylee comes from a troubled background and has been living with her boyfriend but they recently had a falling out and Kylee needed a place to live. Nancy offered but Kylee turned her down. Kylee is very attached to Sheri right now, although Sheri's house is full they are making room for her.

Max arrived her after James dropped me off at the church around 10 a.m. I had James drop me off so I could carry the cake while he drove. Kerri, Janna, and Sally and Cheryl Sedig, and I all set up for the luncheon. I'm wondering if Kerri and Janna set up the tables. I am not sure. 

This activity was a smashing success! Here is a list of sisters who attended: Kerri Halcomb, Tamara Applegate, Maxine Thompson, Cheryl Sedig, Janna Grombach, Ellen Kostusiak, Catherine Halcomb, Mikki (Mary) Gilbert, Paula Johnson, Barbara Bartels, Cress Miller, me, Linda Finnell, Amy Reynolds, Ruth Wallace and a friend, Pat Tedder, Rosie Lauritzen, Donna Peeler, Kathy Crane, Rebecca McCamy, Sue Young, Marci Westbrook, Anne Johnson, Cyndi Pronger, Donna Beckham, Alicia Hunsaker, Stefani Hunsaker, Heather Bowen, Sally Sedig, Millie Scott, Judy Hunter, Lorraine Vaught, and Hailey Hunsaker. The food was good and one of the most popular dishes was the spinach dip that Cress Miller brought.

Besides my cake, the other desserts were an applesauce, raisin, walnut cake, banana nut bread, and a sampler cheesecake with different flavors. We also had soup and rolls. Judy Hunter brought some of her delicious homemade rolls. 

After lunch we played Relief Society Bingo. We played several rounds and every time someone won they had to come up and give answers to each question, such as: Your first job - Kathy Crane said a singing waitress at Disneyland. Your favorite restaurant - Donna Peeler said Olive Garden. Rosie Lauritzen's first job was a miner in San Manuel. She had the miner's hat and everything. I just can't picture it, but how fun to learn this about Rosie. Ruth Wallace's dream vacation was going to Russia with her daughter, but since the war started they have forgotten those plans.

The centerpieces were jars filled with buttons with paper flower bouquets. Each flower in the bouquet had something written on it. Whoever has the flower answers the question. Mine was favorite summer activity? Sitting on the deck and watching it rain or taking pictures of the sunflowers and spending time with my grandkids. 

These were the people at my table: Dave & Ellen Kostusiak, Catherine Halcomb, Mary Gilbert, Paula Johnson, Barbara Bartels, and Cress Miller. Paula loves the color teal and the strangest thing she has ever eaten was caviar and she hated it, Catherine loves pink, Ellen loves ketchup and puts it on everything, including Thanksgiving turkey. Mary loves to experiment with her cooking and belongs to the Silver Sneakers group here in Vernon.

Cress loves to cook and she has a new grandbaby. Barbara has three children and 10 grandchildren. It was fun to get to know these sisters a little better. Paula also said that Mother Nature is bi-polar. One day it's 70 degrees and the next day it's snowing.

I talked to Rebecca McCamy and asked if she would be willing to teach RS on the 10th of April. She said she would love to if her schedule would allow it. She is a nurse in the maternity ward at the Show Low hospital. 

James came to pick me up. He said he had on his slippers because the neuropathy in his feet is really hurting. Before leaving Cress had to get a piece of my cake that was left. 

When I got home Max was cooking a ham and cheese sandwich and James had put some shrimp in the oven before he left and it was ready for him to eat. I went immediately into the bedroom, after saying hello to Max, and took a nap. James and I also read a chapter from "Bargaining for the Barrister." My nap was quite long. 

Max left around 5 p.m. on the Razr. He told James he was going to ride up to Green's Peak. It was overcast and a little cool and all he had on was his short sleeves. He was gone over two hours and said he got a little cold, but he got some good sunset pictures. I got some pictures of the sunset too.

This evening I finished my book, "The Valet's Secret."

James and Max had dinner together. They had tilapia and veggies. Max brought a bag of cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. He is eating much healthier!

I watched the newest Hallmark movie, "A Second Chance at Love."

 

Mary Gilbert and Paula Johnson

Sheri and Kim visited their grandmother today.

She is making a quilt and wants them to learn

how to quilt so she did a demonstration:

Lois is 94 years old.

Charlie, 'doin' her thing'

I wish I could squat and bend like she does!

The missionary on the left is Ty Applegate from our ward.

He is serving in Florida and this picture shows him and his

companion eating frog legs. Ty liked them, hence the thumbs up,

but the companion did not. 

And wonder if he would be interested in

meeting Addy when he gets off his mission.

Aunt Gene's birthday is on the 28th when she will

be 94. I am going to see her on the 29th.

 

Fri, Mar 25th, 2022: Preston England Temple, Women in Moses's life, Strawberry, Nutella, Chocolate Cake, Temple Prep with Willie & Janna

 

Preston, England

52nd operating temple

Dedicated: 2 June 1998

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Savior

Exodus 15:2

The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Book of Mormon

Jacob 5:70-77

"Come Follow Me"

Exodus 6:3 Who is Jehovah? Exodus 5

OctGenCon

"The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation"

President Russell M. Nelson

President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Ponder these three truths:

1. The Restoration is a process, not an event, and will continue until the Lord comes again.

2. The ultimate objective of the gathering of Israel is to bring the blessings of the temple to God's faithful children.

3. As we seek how to accomplish that objective more effectively, the Lord reveals more insights. The ongoing Restoration needs ongoing revelation.

Liahona

"Adoption and Family History 

Everlasting Ties, Eternal Connections"

I indexed this morning and got counseling from the indexing pro from upstairs.  James knows all of the short cuts. 

I listened and watched "Teaching with Power" today. Brother Wilcox says that the journey of the Israelites from Egypt is like our journey through life. He begins his lesson by talking about the women who helped save Moses's life. 

Here are some other slides from Brother Wilcox's powerpoint presentation:

This afternoon I made the cake I am taking to the Relief Society activity tomorrow.  It is a chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream frosting and fresh strawberries. I used Courtney's recipe for the cake but I failed to put in extra flour for high altitude and all three layers sunk. I made a chocolate cake mix and used them instead. The Nutella buttercream was really good. I was still frosting the cake this evening when the Grombach's showed up for their temple prep class.

I finished frosting while James started the class. Here is the finished product.

I should have taken one picture with just 

the strawberries on top.

I can't get the cake in the frig so I leave it on the counter until James can help me put it in the frig in the garage. 

Tonight's lesson is on being worthy to go to the temple and what commandments we need to keep. We specifically discussed the law of chastity, the word of wisdom, and keeping the Sabbath day holy.   Janna doesn't want Willie to feel rushed or pressured. He says he doesn't. In the course of the conversation they said they were on a low-carb diet so I did not offer them the blueberry muffins I made. 

We schedule our next lesson for April 10th. After Janna and Willie left James did the dishes and then we walked together. James's weekly average steps is over 100,000. Mine fluctuate between 60-70,000 steps. It was after 10 when we went to bed.

Courtney's strawberry, Nutella

Chocolate cake

Thur, Mar 24th, 2022: Vernal Utah Temple, Ty's reason for going on a mission, Bro. Matthew's talk,Sis Naduld quote,Spiderman, James has CUC, Sue Hubble visit, Max's text

 

Vernal, Utah

51st operating temple

Dedicated: 2 Nov 1997

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Rock

Matthew 16:18

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Book of Mormon

Jacob 5:49-69

"Come Follow Me"

Exodus 4-6; The Lord's purposes will be fulfilled in His own time.

OctGenCon

"Personal Peace In Challenging Times"

Elder Quentin L. Cook

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

"As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." - Preach My Gospel

Inklings

Live with Emily

Liahona

"Lean On Me"

I love this quote by Sister Margaret D. Naduld given in General Conference, October 2000:

"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith; we have enough greed; we need more goodness; we have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

I got up at 6:30 this morning. I guess because I went to bed late last night. I wonder if I will ever see 5 a.m. again. Last night while talking to Tamara she shared with us why Ty decided to go on a mission. He admitted himself he was basically an atheist in high school. He started "hanging out" with the missionaries assigned to our ward and became good friends with them. As Ty's testimony grew and he was debating on whether to go on a mission, one of the elder's said to him: "There is a person out there that only you can reach." That sealed the deal for Ty and he decided he wanted to go. I love this story. 

I listened to a talk today be Brother Robert J. Matthews entitled, "Why a Savior is Necessary, and Why Only Jesus Christ Could Qualify."   This is the talk I have been looking for and I loved it. I want to share parts of it with my family as part of my Easter message to them. One of the things Brother Matthews said was that Jacob is the great doctrinal teacher in the Book of Mormon. He quoted 2 Nephi 9:6-9 which are my favorite scriptures to explain why we need a Savior and what would happen to us if we didn't have a Savior.

I asked James what he was doing to treat his internal bleeding and he said nothing right now. I encouraged him to call the doctor and to see what happened to his prescriptions, which he did.  When he called he found out that they had sent his prescriptions three times to Walmart instead of CVS. One of the prescriptions is for an antibiotic and the girl in the doctor's office said he needed to start taking them today!

I had an appointment with Sue Hubble who lives off Stanford Rd. I told him if he came with me I would go to town with him afterwards. He didn't want me to be rushed in my visit with Sue. He took the truck and went to town on his own. James had chronic ulcerative colitis, which sounds pretty serious to me.

My visit with Sue was awesome. She has had many trials in her life but she is a positive, upbeat person. She lived with an alcoholic husband who also had PTSD and was quite mean when he was drunk. She stayed with him for 42 years. Her son Scott joined the Church and Sue wanted to too but her husband wouldn't allow it. He passed away a couple of years ago and Sue was baptized by her son. 

Recently Sue's only daughter, Tabitha, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. My cousin Randy passed away from this very thing a couple of years ago. Sue and I visited for about an hour. She lives alone and I think she is a little lonely. I so enjoyed talking with her. I think we will become good friends. It was such a beautiful day today with the high around 70. Sue loves to garden and she is anxious to be outside working. She is taking Tabitha to go visit family in New Mexico this weekend so she won't be at our RS activity on Saturday.

On my way home from Sue's I saw Spiderman riding his bike around the Vernon park. This is the second time I've seen him. He always waves at me. 

We got money from Rico and from Rademeyer today so we can pay bills! James has been working upstairs the past few weeks. It is nice that the dining room table stays clean, but I miss him being down here with me. 

I texted Tanna to see if she was okay and to invite her to the activity on Saturday. She said she was fine and that she would love to come on Saturday but she has to work. 

I got a text from Max today saying he wanted to come up this weekend to take some pictures for his photography class. 

Swim lessons for Scarlett!

Fresh mint, chocolate chip cake

Marijuan dispensary in Vernon...I hope not.

The town lake that I love!

Sunset

Sweet Charlie!

 

Wed, Mar 23rd, 2022: St. Louis Missouri Temple, Paul's surgery fiasco, Catherine Halcomb Sonic & doctor, Tanna stuck, EQ/RS stk mtg Tamara, Stefani, James

St. Louis, Missouri

50th operating temple

Dedicated: 1 June 1997

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Rock

Moses 7:53

And the Lord said: Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith - I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy.

Book of Mormon

Jacob 5:35-48

"Come Follow Me"

Exodus 3; Exodus 3-4 God gives power to those He calls to do His work.

OctGenCon

"A House of Sequential Order"

Elder Vai Sikahema

Of the Seventy

 The Lord teaches us individually according to our capacity to lear and how we learn. Our growth is dependent on our willingness, natural curiosity, level of faith, and understanding.

This morning I did my gospel study by myself and then with James. I also had personal and family prayer. At 11:00 I left to pick up Catherine Halcomb for lunch and her doctor's appointment. I told James I was leaving and he came running downstairs to give me a hug and a kiss. 

When I got to Catherine's she was outside waiting for me. Kerri's car was at home. She normally substitutes at school but today she is sick.

Catherine was in a good mood as she normally is. We had a nice visit as we drove into town. When I asked her where she wanted to go for lunch, I promised I would take her to lunch for her birthday, she said, "How about Sonic." I said, are you sure? Yes. I want an All-American hotdog. We parked outside of Sonic and I ordered via the intercom. Two All-American dogs which are hotdogs with catsup, mustard, relish, and onions, and a medium diet cherry limeade for Catherine. We were finished eating around 12:15 and Catherine's doctor's appointment isn't until 1:15. I guess if we weren't going to go to a restaurant to eat we didn't need to come so early. Oh well. We sat and visited and then I drove over to the hospital annex building where Catherine's appointment is. We visited in the car there for awhile and then we went into the building up to the third floor. There is a big reception room for several doctors. After Catherine checked in they called her and said she was to go to room Lake 6. The hallways all have a different geographical name, Woods, Pond, etc.

I was just going to wait for her in the waiting room but the receptionist acted as if I was committing a major sin and told me I had to go with her. I walked down the major long hallway with Catherine where there were chairs and benches along the edge. When we got to the end of the hallway I told her I was going to sit on a bench and wait for her. She thought that was a good idea. I sat and read from the book that I brought, "The Power of Everyday Missionaries." Once I went to use the same restroom I used the last time I was here. After I sat down again I began looking for my phone and couldn't find it. Last time I was here I left it in the bathroom. I didn't believe I had done it again, but I did. Thank goodness it was still there! 

Catherine was in with her doctor, Dr. Waite, for over an hour. She apologized but I guess she had a lot of things to talk to him about. He put her on Metamucil and she thinks that's what made her faint when she hurt her shoulder. She was quite satisifed when she came out. She loves her doctor.

On the way home I got a couple of texts, one from Kim and one from Tanna. I would have to wait until I got home to answer them. I was back home at 3:15. I answered Kim's text and then looked at Tanna's. "Does Brother Lambson have a wench." James texted her and found out she was stuck up near Green's Peak. I guess she got someone else to help her and she said she would let him know if she didn't get out. We never heard from her so we assumed she got out. Her grandmother did the same thing when Tanna was about 11 and they spent the night in their car.

Back at home James and I walked and listened to our book. We rested a few minutes then fixed dinner together. I made potstickers and James cooked some cabbage. Afterwards it was time to get ready for our stake meeting in Lakeside. James is riding with Chuck and I am driving our car picking up Stefani Hunsaker and Tamara. Kerri texted me and said she was still sick and wouldn't be going. 

I picked up Stefani at her house and Tamara at the church. Tamara had jury duty in St. Johns and had not had time to eat dinner so she ate her sandwich on the ride to town. Tamara is on a murder trial and is finding it quite interesting. The sun was in my eyes until we turned left on Penrod Rd. We got to the stake center around 6:40 for our 7:00 meeting.

We were the first ones in the RS room and we chose to sit on the back row. This meeting will be presided over, conducted by, and taught by the Stake Presidency, President Beeler, President Alder, and President Smithson. Lance Rhoton, the stake executive secretary handed out the agenda. I am worried about Brother Rhoton. He looked so scary. He did not have on Sunday clothes and looked a little scruffy with his five o'clock shadow and the most blood shot eyes I have ever seen. It was really quite freaky as he stared at us during the meeting.

The meeting was about temporal welfare, and self-reliance services, the classes available and other services offered to members. There are classes for addiction, finances, starting a business, and emotional self-reliance. It was a good meeting but it was long. It was after 9 o'clock when we got out. During the meeting Tamara's phone rang. She stopped the ringing and noticed it was from Pierce Goodman. She texted him and told him she was in a stake meeting. He was at the church and saw her car but couldn't find her. He wanted to know if her car was broke down. Pierce, the guy who looks after everyone and provides temporal welfare in our ward.

James drove us home which was nice for me but it meant Stefani had to ride in the back seat with Tamara which wasn't a bad thing I guess. We enjoyed each other's company on the way home and I was grateful I didn't have to drive in the dark. My depth perception is a little off at night.

I had to finish my walking when I got home and of course listened to my book. James has so many steps he doesn't need to walk but he walks with me part of the time so he can listen to our book.

Paul had his second knee replacement surgery today. When I texted Stacy to ask her how it went she said she would call me back, which she did.  The first thing she said was, "If you ever have to have surgery on your hip or knee do it at an orthopedic surgery center rather than at a hospital."  She said Paul's first surgery was at a surgery center and it went extremely well. They gave him enough pain meds so that he could recover comfortably. She said that in comparison, today was a nightmare. The anethesiologist took ten minutes to get his spinal tap going. It was painful. He didn't give him enough drugs and Paul was awake when they rolled him in to the operating room. Oh yes, the surgery was done at Chandler Regional Hospital and the nurses were not trained on how to care for a patient with knee replacement, although I'm not exactly sure what that means. The main thing is they were not giving him enough pain meds to keep him comfortable. Stacy said he was writhing in pain and she had to come on pretty strong to wake them up enough to call the doctor so he could prescribe some morphine. Finally Paul was able to rest comfortably. What an unnecessary ordeal.

My study desk

Ben and Ziggie