Sunday, May 19, 2024: James is pretty banged up but goes to Church, High Council Sunday, Wes Smith teaches SS, Isaiah 53, Pueblo, Mexico temple dedicated by GWG,

 

Helsinki, Finland

124th operating temple

Dedicated: 22 Oct 2006

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 18

Come Follow Me

Review Mosiah 11-17

April General Conference

"Words Matter" by Elder Ronald L. Rasband

'And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just - yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them - therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.'

"Pray, He Is There" by Sister Susan H. Porter

'What gifts can you pray for? There are many, but today I want to share three:

1. Pray to know.

2. Pray to grow.

3. Pray to show.

Let's talk about each one.

D&C 109:17-20

17 That all the incomings of thy people, into this house, may be in the name of the Lord;

18 That all their outgoings from this house may be in the name of the Lord;

19 And that all their salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with holy hands, uplifted to the Most High;

20 And that no unclean thing shall be permitted to come into thy house to pollute it;

The last month or so has been very costly as far as upkeep of our material belongings. We put new tile in the basement, replaced the pump on our well, we need a new printer, we had to buy $1,900 worth of propane which hopefully will last until January. Now the Razr has something wrong and we probably need new tires on our car. It seems like it is never ending.

James is still having problems raising his left arm, plus he now has a big scab on the left side of his forehead. Somehow he managed to get ready and go to church.

Today is high council Sunday. Brother Paul Watson from the high council and Sister Cherilyn Halls, the Stake Young Women's president, were the speakers in our ward. Again, the theme was the temple.

Sister Halls said her assignment was to speak on intentional teaching of making and keeping sacred temple covenants. How do we prepare? Temple prep classes, read from Gospel Library app. Encourage others to come to the temple with you. Fortify yourselves in your covenants. 

D&C 88:63 - Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

She talked about blessings and power that come with making and keeping covenants. She shared an experience she had in the temple where an answer to a prayer came to her. Elder Soares says we must prepare spiritually. Home centered, Church supported, Temple bound. President Beeler made this statement about attending the temple: "Go until it hurts. Make sacrifices."

Brother Watson read the words to "I Love to See the Temple." He talked about taking a group of youth from the Fort Apache branch to the temple. He said to do all you can to take your own family names. He bore his testimony that the temple is the house of the Lord.

I noticed during sacrament meeting that the Applegate's were not sitting in their normal spot on the second row. I mentioned it to James and wondered who would be teaching Jimmy's lesson. We didn't have to wait long to find out. As we walked into our classroom Brother Wes Smith was standing in the front behind the pulpit.

No visual aids, or power point. He did have Judy Hunter come up and write the following on the chalkboard:

A testimony is a statement of our experiences with the principles of the gospel.

Brother Smith asked the question why do you stay in the Church when so many are leaving? Here are some notes that I took:

* Why do I come to church? To partake of the sacrament. It is a reminder of what I covenanted to do. * Where would we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. *I feel the Holy Ghost and closer to the Lord when I come to church. * Learn to be reverent in spite of distractions. * Going to church supports my belief system. * Unity * Because of my blessings, it's one way that I show my gratitude. * Eternal perspective, Think Celestial. * Stand boldly and testify * Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are two separate beings * We are here to be taught * I made a covenant, it's as simple as that * Priesthood keys * Obedience, sacrifice, I am here because of Him * Ordinances and covenants * The Sacrament * Strengthening my connection to the Lord * Mosiah 14:2-11 (Isaiah 53) * Repentance * Isaiah saw the Savior long before He lived on earth & testified of Him * He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows

I made burgers and beans for lunch and the three of us ate together while watching a video of a guy fishing in a kayak on Carnero Lake.

Tom joined us for nap time. When James got up from his nap he did what he normally does on Sunday, he went outside to water his fruit trees. I worked at my desk. I did two blog posts, wrote out my weekly plans, and worked on my RS lesson for next week. The only problem is I can't print anything.  James also did some indexing and reviews. 

Elder Gong dedicated the Pueblo, Mexico temple today. I believe this is the 191st temple.

Happy Sabbath from Charlie, Lovie,

and Scarlett!

I ask James to make a cherry cobbler,

so he did.