Sunday, July 28, 2024: Cows & a coyote, Mel, Ruth, Zemira speak in church, around 35 sisters in RS, lesson goes well, Talk to Tamara, Barbara T., Kathy Crane, Armando's dad welding accident, DGR-BYU speech on covenants, plan temple trip on Tuesday w/ J & Virgil

 

Salta, Argentina

194th operating temple

Dedicated: 16 June 2024

By: D. Todd Christofferson

Book of Mormon

Alma 36:1-10

Come Follow Me

Review

April General Conference

"Temples, Houses of the Lord Dotting the Earth" Elder Neil L. Andersen

D&C 109:57-60

57 That all the ends of the earth may know that we, thy servants, have heard thy voice, and that thou hast sent us;

58 That from among all these, thy servants, the sons of Jacob, may gather out the righteous to build a holy city to thy name, as thou hast commanded them.

59 We ask thee to appoint unto Zion other stakes besides this one which thou hast appointed, that the gathering of thy people may roll on in great power and majesty, that thy work may be cut short in righteousness.

60 Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles.

We had cows come for water this morning and a coyote heading straight for our house. We yelled at the coyote but instead of turning around and leaving he made a slight right and headed for the Crane's home. He was probably headed for their chicken coop.  Thank goodness their dogs scared him away.

Mel, Ruth, Johnny, and Zemira Wilhelm spoke in sacrament meeting today. Johnny's talk was less than a minute long but Zemira made up for it by taking about 12-15 minutes to tell the conversion story of King Lamoni. I thought he did a great job. It was good practice for his mission. He leaves in September for the Newport Beach, California mission.

We had right around 35 sisters in Relief Society today. Kerri said everyone who wanted one, got a handout. I explained the handout and how it contains scriptural accounts of God's promises to Israel. I think most of the sisters were excited to get it.

There is one other statement I read that I want to share here. I think I got this from my book, "Your Endowments" by Mark Shields.

I may have shared this before but it won't hurt to share it again:

The Abrahamic Covenant, the Temple, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ

The Lord commanded Abraham specifically to take Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice. (Genesis 22:2). This is the same place where the temple of Solomon was later built (2 Chronicles 3:1). This is no coincidence. This is a clear and marvelous lesson on the Abrahamic covenant and the sanctuary of the covenant, the temple. Mr. Moriah was not just where the blessings of the covenant were promised; it was where the blessings were unconditionally sealed.

The altar on Mt. Moriah was the most sacred of all sanctuaries of the covenant. Here, Abraham not only offered the greatest and most moving sacrifice he could offer, but he received the greatest and most moving promise he could receive; the promise of eternal life, eternal families, eternal priesthood, and eternal inheritance.

And the connection does not stop there. Mount Moriah was also the site of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God. Golgotha is actually a part of this same holy mountain. The Atonement is the foundation of every temple ordinance. It is only fitting that the temple would be built not just on the spot where the sacrifice of the Savior was so perfectly prefigured but where the great and last sacrifice was wrought.

On Mount Moriah, the Abrahamic covenant, the temple, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ all reach their zenith. The three are inseparably and beautifully connected. The temple exists to bestow the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, and those blessings represent the full power, majesty, and beauty of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. They are the Atonement of Jesus Christ made alive in the lives of those who receive and honor every covenant and ordinance of the temple. 

There were several people who came up after the lesson and said how much she enjoyed it. Tamara was especially anxious to get home to show Jimmie the document I handed out. 

Cheryl's daughter-in-law, India, was in Relief Society and participated in the lesson. Cheryl's son, Justin, India's husband, also participated in Elders Quorum.

This afternoon we kept waiting for rain, but none came. The sunset was a fiery orange tonight, I think because of the fire.

Armando's dad had a horrible welding accident tonight, catching his pants on fire. He is in the hospital and will probably have to have surgery. Armando doesn't understand how it happened.

We had a relaxing afternoon and evening. We even planned a temple trip with Virgil on Wednesday.

Yummy recipe

 

Beauty of Scotland

Sweet Charlotte on the Sabbath

The sunflowers are starting to bloom