Friday, January 11th, 2018

Anchorage, Alaska

54th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Jan 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 9:1-10:10

*Have you ever felt lie you were doing something the Lord asked you to do "for a wise purpose in Him, which purpose you knew not"?

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Luke 1:5-25, 57-80 God's blessings come in His own time.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland promised, "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."

General Conference

All Must Take Upon Them the Name Give of the Father

Elder Paul B. Pieper

"Another meaning of the word take is to accept a person in a particular role or embrace the truthfulness of an idea or principle. When we take upon us the name of Christ, we accept Him as our Savior and continually embrace His teachings as the guide for our lives. In every meaningful decision we make, we can take His gospel to be true and obediently live it with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength."

Today would have been my grandpa Strickland's 130th birthday. Happy Birthday grandpa Al.

I read two articles from the Ensign, "Symbols in the New Testament," and "Phan Phon-Phnom Penk, Cambodia.

For lunch I had some of the leftover macaroni and cheese that Sheri made when she was here. It's actually Kim's recipe and uses several different kinds of cheeses, bread crumbs and bacon. He boys love it and so do I.

James fell asleep by the fire. His back and hip are hurting. He has no Lyrica unless he wants to spend $406.00. 

Cathi's daughter Wendy posted on Facebook today that she does not have to have chemo therapy. That is such great news!

I am finding out that the Amazon fulfillment fees are higher that I thought. I had to go through all of our books and re-price them. I accidentally deleted two books and because they have already shipped I don't know how to get them back into inventory with the right SKU's. Our last shipment of books is still inactive and I am concerned about that too. Running a business is stressful!

James met Anthony at the post office today and took him some of the elk roast and vegetables that he cooked all night in the crockpot. Brian brought the roast up when he came. I made some biscuits to go with it and Anthony said it was one of the most delicious meals he has had in a long time. 

James bought more textbooks today because this is "textbook" season. 

We finished watching "Becoming Jane" this evening. It was a little sad that someone who writes about relationships never got married. It made me want to go back and read all of Jane Austen's books again.

I will never be great or successful if I can't focus and if I lack self-control. I'm 70 years old and I'm running out of time.

She's practicing her pucker.

 Someone's got to change the lightbulbs.

It's either a crippled man or an arthritic old

lady.

Do you think zoodles are zucchini?

Saturday, August 4th, 2018

Anchorage, Alaska
54th operating temple
Dedicated: 9 Jan 1999
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Creator

Mosiah 3:8

And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

Book of Mormon

Alma 44:16-45:14

*What happens to those who sin against "so great light and knowledge"?

- They dwindle in unbelief. When people turn against God their lives lose their meaning and purpose as to God's plan for them. They become a light unto themselves and lose those blessings God has in store for them.

Old Testament

Job 17-19

17 Job speaks of the sorrow of death and of the grave in that day when the body returns to the dust.

18 Bildad tells of the damned state of the wicked who know not God.

19 Job tells of the ills that have befallen him and then testifies, I know that my Redeemer lives - Job prophesies that he will be resurrected and that in his flesh he will see God.

General Conference

The Heart of a Prophet

Elder Gary E. Stevenson

"In this sacred memorable meeting, following a well-established precedent in unity and unanimity, the Brethren were seated by seniority in a semicircle of 13 chairs and raised their hands first to sustain the organization of a First Presidency and then to sustain President Russell Marion Nelson as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This sustaining was followed by the Quorum of the Twelve gathering in a circle and placing hands upon the head of President Nelson to ordain and set him apart, with the next most-senior Apostle acting as voice."

I made cookies today to help the Vernon park fundraiser. James returned Howard's truck and then he was supposed to come back and deliver my cookies to the park. He never made it back so I had to get dressed and deliver them myself. I was not happy.

After delivering the cookies to Paula I started looking for my friend Linda. I bought two squares for the cow pie bingo game from her and I needed to pay her for them. We sat down and talked for a few minutes. I asked her if she was on the park committee and she said yes. She said since they aren't serving a mission right now she felt like she needed to give more service. She also goes to the Vernon Book Club, the card making club, and the quilting club in an effort to get to know more people in Vernon. I was impressed. I think I am going to join the book club and maybe the card-making club.

After our lunch today James and I started our fast. We are fasting for grandchildren who had lost their testimonies of the gospel. We are praying that they will find their way back.

James worked at the Howard's this afternoon and Jean wanted me to come over. I was just too tired. I told her we would go to lunch sometime next week. 

I watched one of my favorite Christmas movies, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" starring Brook Burns and Henry Winkler. I always enjoy this movie no matter how many times I've seen it. 

I walked, blogged, and read from a couple of my new books, "Dragon Watch", which is a sequel to Fablehaven and one of Addy's favorites, and "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson who is Adam's favorite author. Sheri says this is Ben's favorite book and one of Ian's favorites. I also ordered the book for book club, "The Secret Keeper," by Kate Morton. I have alot of reading to do. I am also reading several church books. I love to read.

We went to bed rather early because we are leaving for the valley around 5:15 in the morning to attend Sheri's ward,  and so James can ordain Ben an elder after their block meetings.

Members of our ward headed to Vernon Days at the park

in Vernon.

A busy Saturday

 Mom's day for the Show Low football team.

Quentin and Zach playing for Show Low

Their dad, my nephew, Monte is their coach.

A little history

Wednesday, September 20th, 2017

Anchorage, Alaska

54th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Jan 1999 by Gordon B. Hinckley

Atonement

Matthew 26:28

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal

Exodus 33:20

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

Helaman 6:32-41

*What did the Lamanites gain by following the commandments of God?

-lisabear17:"The Lord poured out His Spirit upon them (36). Lamanites to Gadianton robbers: 'We are going to hunt you down and preach to you!'  Gadianton robbers who weren't converted: 'No! Anything but that! We're going to live with the wicked Nephites!'"

*What do these verses teach about what we can do to have the Spirit with us?

-As we believe in and obey the Lord's words, He will pour out His Spirit upon us.

DC 136:16-42

*What did I learn from these verses today?

vs. 18-27 Zion will be redeemed.

vs. 22 "The pioneer exodus has no parallel in the history of the world." President Anthony W. Ivins (DCSM 351-52

vs. 33 For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly.

vs. 39 Many have marveled because of his death; but it was needful that he should seal his testimony with his blood(Joseph and Hyrum Smith), that he might be honored and the wicked might be condemned.

vs. 34-36 Has the U.S. Been vexed because of its' persecution of the Latter-day Saints?

*War with Mexico - Regiment from western Illinois was wiped out of existence.

*War of 1861-65, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars 1 and 2, the Korean and Vietnam wars. Depressions, natural disasters, and other calamities have plagued the nations. The prophetic promise is that if the people of this nation do not serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, they will be swept off. (See Ether 2:10)

General Conference

The Power of the Book of Mormon

President Thomas S. Monson

"If you do not have a firm testimony of these things, do that which is necessary to obtain one. It is essential for you to have your own testimony in these difficult times, for the testimony of others will carry you only so far. Once obtained a testimony needs to be kept vital and alive through continued obedience to the commandments of God and through daily prayer and scripture study. Prayerfully ponder and study the Book of Mormon each day. As you do so you will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heavens help in your life."

A Sin-Resistant Generation

Sister Joy D. Jones

"Helping children understand, make, and keep sacred covenants is another key in creating a sin-resistant generation."

  

Happy Birthday Kacey!

We are so happy to have you as

part of our family!

We finished our book "Borrowed Light." It had a great ending!

We started our new book by our friend Sister Black. It is called "Mind Games" and is a murder mystery.

Afterwards James went outside to finish cleaning up the pieces of the greenhouse. 

James called the Peeler's and the Scott's today to check on both Sister Peeler and Sister Scott. 

After lunch he leaves to go to Concho to pick up the horse corral panels we bought. He is sad I am not going with him but I promised I would make him chicken enchiladas while he was gone, which I did. I tried a new recipe I got off Facebook. Instead of using Cream of Chicken soup it uses heavy cream. I bought a roasted chicken yesterday and shredded it for the meat. I can honestly say these were the best chicken enchiladas I have ever tasted!  James agreed.

I was happy to learn that Sheri and Kim went to the temple today. I wish I would have asked them to send me a picture.

James talked to Armando today. He is getting ready to go to Florida to do cleanup after the hurricane. He is going to be making $50-60,000 a month. Wow!

Before going to be we watched Heartland, "Corporate Cowgirls."

This in from LDS Newsroom: Church assesses damage in Mexico earthquakes. For the second time in two weeks, a serious earthquake has struck Mexico. Rescuers combed through rubble Tuesday after a powerful earthquake killed scores and collapsed building in Mexico City. 200 are dead.

Missionaries in Mexico City kneel in prayer

when they hear about the earthquake.

I couldn't resist. This is better than the Vernon field.

I guess I am advertising for Dallen Lambson

by posting his artwork on my blog.

Patrick and Heather finalized their adoption

of baby Bailey today.

Afterwards they went out to celebrate

with family.

Favorite couple on DWTS,

Lindsay and Mark.

Oh yes.

Mummy Cave Ruin which has nearly 70

rooms, is the largest Ancestral Puebloan structure at 

Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

Closeup of a friendly looking dolphin.

This castle looks like it could be a motel.

I just had to post more pictures of Braylin and Arnold.

This boy is a sweetheart. I'm not sure about the pig.

James fixing one of his wildlife cameras.