Monterrey, Mexico
110th operating temple
Dedicated: 28 Apr 2002
By: Gordon B. Hinckley
Book of Mormon
Mosiah 7
Come Follow Me
Review Mosiah 4-6
April General Conference
"Integrity: A Christlike Attribute" by Elder Jack N. Gerard
Here are some notes I took on Elder Gerard's talk:
* Living a life of integrity requires us to be true to God, to each other, and to our divine identity.
* Because you love God, you are true to Him at all times.
* We do not lower our standards or behavior to impress or to be accepted by others.
* Integrity, being true to God, will increasingly set us apart from the world.
* Christian kindness is not a substitute for integrity.
* Be true to our divine identity.
* Lying is contrary to the nature of our spirits, our divine identity.
I was up by 6:30 this morning. James and I read Mosiah chapter 7 and I listened to Elder Gerard's talk. About 9:20 we left for Dennis' surprise 70th birthday party at the Olive Mill restaurant in Queen Creek. We took Darrel's directions instead of the ones on MapQuest and we drove right there. It's very close to where Darrel works.
South on Signal Butte, left on Queen Creek , right on Meridian and then it is on the right.
There are olive orchards all around the restaurant. We met Tasha, Monte, and Madison. Madison said she was here on a field trip once where they showed them how they make the olive oil.
No one else was there when we got there and we weren't sure where we were supposed to go. Vickie and Harold showed up and Vickie asked to speak with the even planner who came over to talk to us. She said there was only one birthday party scheduled for today and she didn't know anything about Dennis's. She told us we were free to set up a place for our group. We went outside in the seating area under some olive trees and James and Madison scooted a couple of picnic tables together. Zack helped too.
Everyone can go in the store/restaurant and order whatever they want to eat. James and I did not order anything. The food looked delicious, homemade pizza crust and sandwich bread. These are the people who settled in before Dennis and Denise, Jenifer, Sammy, and Jenifer's friend Susie arrived: Harold, Vickie, Monte, Tasha, Kaitlyn, Madison, Zack and his girlfriend, Brian, Cher, Jeffrey, Kyle, Stacy, Marlee and Kyle's youngest daughter, I can't remember her name.
Dennis's friend Jeff Caruthers and his wife Barbara were also there. Most people had been at Colby's wedding & reception last night at the vineyard in Florence. Here is a picture I took when Dennis arrived:
I think he was surprised.
Denise's daughter Rachel was here too. She looked like she had lost a lot of weight and I told her how good she looked. She teaches school and lives in the Prescott valley.
We spoke with Kyle for awhile. He told us how much he girls love horses. The two younger ones are barrel racers. One of them just won $400. She is 14 and her sister is 12. Bridelle, Kyle's oldest daughter wasn't here. He said she has a condition where her eyes don't focus together so she wants to be an optometrist. Kyle told an interesting story about when one of his daughters, I'm not sure which one, wanted a horse. They weren't keen on just going out and buying a horse. They had her do research on what it takes to take care of a horse. She was willing to do whatever it took to get a horse so they finally agreed.
Tasha and Monte now live in Mesa off of Crismon and Southern. Tasha teaches at the ALA in Mesa. ALA stands for Arizona Leadership Academy. She said one of her friends who teaches there knows Michael Gonzales. Her name is Natalie Bartlett. I texted Michael and asked him if he knew her. He said yes, she is my cousin. Come to find out, she is Devin Johnson's daughter, Natalie. Bartlett is her married name. It's a small world.
Before leaving I spoke with Dennis for a few minutes about Kim's condition. He said that is what happened to him those many years ago. He had optic nervitis. Dennis sees spots and has very limited vision. He cannot drive and he is legally blind but he manages so well you would not know he has a problem first meeting him. He has such a great attitude. I am wondering if this is going to happen to Kim. I am anxious to talk to Dennis more in order to be able to help Kim. I will call him next week.
We left around 11:15 to go back to Darrel & Trina's so James could get ready for church. I was already ready. Darrel, Trina, Addy, Ruby, and Lola walked to church. Rowan drove his car because he has to leave early to go to work.
We sat in the first row of the overflow right in front of Trina's parents. Our row looked like this: James, Karen, Rowan, Lola, Darrel, Trina, Addy, Ruby.
Rowan told me he told his boss he needed Sundays off so he could go to church. He told him his church was at noon. His boss schedules him in the afternoon but a little too close to church time. He wants to go to church and he wants to bless the sacrament again. My talk with him was so encouraging and I didn't ask anything, he just told me!
He is a great kid.
Matt Bingham, who grew up in our ward, I was his Sunday School teacher, is in their bishopric. He has gray hair now. He is around Darrel or Jared's age. He loved my brownies that I brought to church every week. One time his mother asked me for my recipe. I told her it was actually Duncan Hines recipe.
We wanted to talk to Matt but didn't really get a chance to.
Today was fast and testimony meeting. I felt the Spirit in their meeting although I knew no one who bore their testimony.
We attended Sunday School with Darrel & Trina. Addy doesn't normally attend this ward, she goes to a YSA ward. She decided she was going to go home and make cookies for everyone. Oh my, her cookies were delicious!
The Sunday School class was good. The teacher was a younger guy. He had a tatoo sleeve on one arm, a short-sleeve white shirt and tie, dress pants, and white tennis shoes. He was very humble and a good teacher, a returned missionary. We got in to quite a discussion about helping the poor. Trina says her dad hands out $20 bills to people on the street. James tells me to get $5 bills to handout but you can't buy much with $5 anymore.
Back at home we ate Trina's cookies. James and I shared a tuna sandwich and I had some fruit. Ruby was sad because her favorite food is chips & salsa and they are all out. Lola says she just wants a burrito. Rowan was gone. Trina asked if they wanted her to fix dinner right now. She is going to make tacos. Addy said, "but it's only 2:30." I told her that's when old people start thinking about dinner.
We called Brian to see if we could go see Kim on our way out of town but he said she was sleeping and he didn't want to wake her up. I am very concerned about her and so is Brian. He says she won't be comforted.
We went home the Globe way. I slept for awhile but was awake when we got to Salt River Canyon. James was driving rather erratic and I complained so he pulled over to the side of the road and ask me to drive. He was extremely tired. I got us home safely.
When I got home I sent a text to Sheri:
Brian says Kim has old traumas she has never addressed. Do you know what he means?
She did know and proceeded to tell me. I was pretty shocked at what Sheri told me. She said it happened to her too but she has dealt with it through counseling and the gospel but Kim never has. Now that I have this information I am not sure what I should do about it. It happened 30 or 40 years ago. It is going to take time for me to process this. I did tell James. I'm sorry, but I can't share it on here.
It was very windy today and tonight. Tom came in, was happy to see us and have us feed him and pet him. He slept on James's electric blanket at the end of our bed. It's good to be home.
These are a few of my favorite people and pets:
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