Wednesday, February 28th, 2018I

Madrid, Spain

56th operating temple

Dedicated: 19-21 Mar 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ Authority of

Hebrew 5:10

Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Book of Mormon

*What could an ensign symbolize for us?

-The temple is an ensign and it symbolizes eternal life.

Old Testament

Numbers 4-5

4 When the camps of Israel move, Aaron and his sons cover the holy things in the tabernacle - The Levites of the families of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari carry the burden of the tabernacle.

5 Lepers are put out of the camp - Sinners must confess and make restitution to gain forgiveness - Women believed to be immoral undergo a trial of jealousy before the priests.

General Conference

The Voice of the Lord

Elder Neil L. Andersen

" We should not be alarmed when the words of the Lord's servants run counter to the thinking of the world and at times, our own thinking. It has always been this way. I am on my knees in the temple with my Brethren. I attest to the goodness of their souls. Their greatest desire is to please the Lord and help God's children return to His presence."

I watched the first episode of season one of "Victoria" on my phone this morning via Amazon Prime. I was going to cancel my Prime membership but now I have changed my mind. Here are some of my favorite lines from this episode:

Lady Flora: "Does the queen deem me capable of betraying all that I hold dear?" (The queen suspected her of having an affair)

The queen demands an examination of Flora to see if she is "with child." When she finds out she is not, but has a tumor and is going to die, she goes in to apologize to Lady Flora. This is what Lady Flora says to her: "To be queen you must be more than a little girl with a crown. You have a responsibility to your subjects, you cannot play with them like dolls." Queen Victoria goes to her room and takes the doll out that she brought with her. She locks her up in a chest in the bottom of her dresser. The name of this episode: "The Doll."

Victoria and Albert

Albert: "A love like ours can burn down a city."

We have over 1 inch of snow on the ground this morning. This seems to always happen on a day we are leaving for the valley. 

I got some more good quotes in my reading this morning. This one is by Michael Crichton who is at the Rootstech Conference:

"If you don't know history you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know its' part of a tree,"

President Uchtdorf from the February Ensign, p, 80: " The pursuit, discovery, and application of truth are what we are on this earth to discover."

We left around 10 this morning. It really was hard to leave the snow. We saw snow and frosted trees for over 50 minutes on our drive towards Salt River Canyon. We stopped at Burger House for refreshment. 

Only Darrel and Lola were home when we arrived in East Mesa. James unloads me and our stuff and heads for his doctor's appointment in Glendale. Dr. Moffat requested he see an infectious disease doctor because of his re-occurring sinus infections. Long story short, he couldn't find the doctor's office and the battery went dead on his phone. He came home and made another appointment on the 14th of March. 

I spent the afternoon working on my blog at Darrel and Trina's kitchen table. Addy is not feeling well. She is having her next choir concert next week on March 8th. I hope I can come. 

Rowan has a school assignment to invent and display a planet. I forgot to take a picture of his display but it is orange with a yellow rings around it. James thought it was Saturn. Rowan says it is made of cheese and potatoes and its' name is "Munster." In describing parts of it he said that the Swiss hills are filled with caves. (The boy is clever!)

Ruby is playing with her friend. She came home for a minute and grabbed her tablet and asked Addy if she could borrow her old backpack. Of course Addy says yes. Pretty soon Ruby's friends mother calls Darrel to ask if the girls are at his house. He says no and goes out looking for them. He finds them at the park on their bikes. 

Ruby recently did a report on Abraham Lincoln. While we were out walking this evening she said: "Did you know Abraham Lincoln laughed at farts?" No Ruby, I didn't know that and I'm not sure why you do.

Lola loves to play and use her imagination. She talks to herself and plays and watches TV. She is a very happy little girl.

I know this photo is blurry but it shows Lola

watching TV and using her pillow as a horsey.

Trina got home early from work so she could go to New Beginnings with Addy but Addy does not feel like going. 

She stayed home while the rest of us went for a walk around the block a few times. I got 15,000 steps today.

Oops! 15,070 steps!

Happy Birthday Trenda! 

I think you are 20. Am I right?

I want one of these

Wednesday, October 18th, 2017

Cochabamba, Bolivia

82nd operating temple

Dedicated: 30 April 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal

Moses 7:47

And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me.

Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 7:15-8:4

*What part does the Holy Ghost play in conversion?

-As we exercise faith, repent of our sins, and obey the commandments, we receive a witness born of the Spirit that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. We are visited "by the power and Spirit of God," (v. 21). As we listen to testimonies of apostles and prophets, the Spirit testifies of truth and touches hearts that are humble and teachable.

*How can we become more deeply converted? What lack I yet? How can we be a better influence for good

- Without the Holy Spirit we will not know what is truth and it will not prick our heart to change. A mighty change of heart to completely follow the Savior and His gospel is an indication of true conversion and happens through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Doctrine Covenants Scripture Mastery

DC 88:123-24

123 See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires.

124 Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.

General Conference

Has the Day of Miracles Ceased?

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom

"Often we describe a miracle as being healed without a full explanation by medical science or as avoiding catastrophic danger by heeding a clear prompting. However, defining a miracle as a 'beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand gives an expanded perspective into matters more eternal in nature.' This definition also allows us to contemplate the vital role of faith in the receipt of a miracle."

Here are some of the things I am trying to memorize right now:

Ponderize: Exodus 40:12-13

12 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.

13 And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him.

Family Proclamation: "We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God ant that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

The Living Christ: "As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennial ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice.

My Patriarchal Blessing: "By the authority I hold as a patriarch, I place my hands upon your head, and in response to your desires, give you a blessing.

My friend Pam texted me this morning. She read 117 pages from the Book of Mormon last night. That's what happens when you don't have television, you do important things instead.

Darrel and Trina are in Boston. It's a great time of year to be back East. I would love to go to Vermont!

He says they didn't know his name.

I'm glad.

I made chicken enchiladas with red sauce today for lunch. I also made a salad. Everything was quite delicious!

This salad dressing is delicious!

James is becoming politically active on a local level. He got involved with the prescribed burn and now he is taking on the Vernon School Board. Our property taxes for this year were $2,800, a significant hike from last year. When we looked at the statement we realized that $2,400 is for the Vernon school. We have one school in our district with 100 students. The president of the school board is in our ward and when Chuck  asked him why his school taxes went up 150% he said because there are alot of poor people in Vernon and they don't pay their property taxes. James is so upset and so is Chuck, and Colin DeWitt. They will be at the next school board meeting.

James called Verizon and got I bill lowered by $50. We are getting rid of my tablet, a jetpack and we will be doing autopay. I think he might cancel our appointment with Wi-Power. He also poured concrete and worked on his equipment. It was a busy day. 

I went in to town to buy gifts for Hailey and Taylor. I am Hailey's visiting teacher and Taylor's Primary teacher. I also got some rice milk for James at Safeway because Walmart no longer carries it. While in Safeway I saw Denise and her mom Peg. They had just returned from Zion's and Bryce National Park. 

This evening we read a chapter from "Miss Leslie's Secret," watched The Love Struck Cafe and Heartland, "Dark Horse."

Photos:

My steps and stats for today.

Corvin Castle

Verdie Rea Robinson Maxwell and

Arlee Thomas Maxwell.

Another beautiful Vernon sunset.

Annie Oakley doing some trick shooting.