Thursday, January 24th, 2019

Edmonton, Alberta

67th operating temple

Dedicated: 11 Dec 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Matthew 4:3

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 17:1-16

*Why did Nephi feel so blessed in spite of their suffering?

*How has the Lord been your light in the wilderness?

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

John 1:19-28; JST John 1:20-28; BD Elias

General Conference

Try, Try, Try

President Henry B. Eyring

"Each time we say the word amen when that prayer is offered on our behalf, we pledge that by partaking of the bread, we are willing to take upon us the holy name of Jesus Christ, always remember Him, and keep His commandments. In turn, we are promised that we may always have His Spirit to be with us. Because of these promises, the Savior is the rock upon which we can stand safely and without fear in every storm we face."

I got up early, before six, but not back on schedule. Still a bit sluggish in the morning. 

I had a pure carb breakfast: cereal, pie, lemon cake bites, and on yes, a shake with a little protein. Maybe this is why I am feeling sluggish.

I made sub sandwiches for lunch. This afternoon I played Five Crowns with Jared and Kacey. We also watched the Beach Boy movie about Brian Wilson, "Love and Mercy." Kind of a sad story with sort of a happy ending but definitely not Hallmark worthy.

Today is Tanna Conrad's birthday. James is her ministering brother so he wanted to take her a treat. Jared offered to do the baking when we decided on peanut butter cookies. We had to throw out some of our peanut butter because it was so old it was rancid. Anyway, the cookies turned out delicious and we had our fair share while giving a dozen or so to Tanna. 

This afternoon we watched Taylor Cole starring as "Ruby Herring" on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. It was pretty good. I guessed who the killer was before the ending.

James made us venison and gravy for dinner. I put the biscuits in the oven. Everything was delicious and Kacey and I both had seconds.

We watched "Maverick" this evening. 

Summer had a photo session today for her senior pictures. Her photographer is from Show Low. Of course Vickie knows the family. 

Trina sent me a couple of texts today. One was of their kitchen cabinets and railing being installed in their new house and another one was of Lola's gratitude journal.

Trina is so excited about this house!

Trina has her kids write 3 things they are thankful for each night.

Tonight Lola was thankful for us coming to visit and for Charlie and her family and she wishes we would come back.

 The Trezise's love their dog!

This definitely interrupts my joy!

I guess Roe vs. Wade was on the 22nd, not

on James's birthday.

 I'm doing it now!

 She loves to look at colors.

Kacey is reading Llama, llama, red pajama to Charlie

with her llama pajamas on.

Such a pretty girl with a great smile!

Saturday,November 24th, 2018

Cardston, Alberta

6th operating temple

Dedicated: 26-29 Aug 1923

By: Heber J. Grant

Jesus Christ, Death of

Isaiah 53:12

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Book of Mormon #1

Mormon 5:13-6:5

*What does it mean to you to be "in the hands of God?"

- Elder W. Craig Zwick of the Seventy explained some blessings suggested by being in God's hands: "To be in the hands of God would suggest that we are not only under His watchful care but also that we are guarded and protected by His wondrous power. Throughout the scriptures, reference is made to the hand of the Lord. His divine assistance is evidenced over and over again. His powerful hands created worlds, and yet they were gentle enough to bless the little children... Every one of us needs to know that we can go on in the strength of the Lord. We can put our hand in His, and we will feel His sustaining presence lift us to heights unattainable alone. How do we learn to extend our hand and connect to the comfort provided by the Lord? Here are four keys: Learn, listen, seek the Spirit, pray always.

The Lord will supply sustenance and support if we are willing to open the door and receive His hand of divine assistance. Imagine the wounds in His hands. His weathered hands, His hands of torn flesh and physical sacrifice giving our own hands greater power and direction. It is the wounded Christ who leads us through our moments of difficulty. It is He who bears us up when we need direction, or even more courage to continue. If we will keep the commandments of God and walk hand in hand with Him, we will go forward with faith, and never feel alone."

Old Testament

Hosea 10-12

General Conference

Try, Try, Try

President Henry B. Eyring

"Our mortal life is designed by a loving God to be a test and source of growth for each of us. You remember God's words regarding His children at the Creation of the world: 'And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.'"

We left this morning for the temple around 5:45. Our preparation meeting started at 7:00 and President and Sister Palmer were our teachers. We watched films about the veil, presenting and receiving.

Sister Cochran, our co-ordinator was at home today enjoying thanksgiving with her family. Sister Humphrey from St. John's was in charge. She is one of my favorites. 

My first assignment was 1st follower in the 8 a.m. endowment session. Sister Badger, a friend of James's sister Connie from high school, was my partner. There were 14 sisters in the session and 12 brothers. 

After the session I had my break. That chocolate pie I brought was pretty darn good! 

Next was initiatory with Sister McCleery. We only had one patron and there was the two of us so we did what's called two on one.

Soon Sister Jones joined us. At the end we had no one so we just sat and waited for the shift change. 

Next I was the first greeter downstairs and then the assistant sealer under the stairs. While I was sitting under the stairs Sister Humphrey went by to empty trash and I asked to speak to her. 

I told her about James's surgery and how he was going to be out for awhile and I needed to be out too. She was very kind and understanding. She said I should speak with Sister Palmer who was standing nearby. Sister Palmer sent me up to the records office. In the records office I spoke with Brother Hatch and Brother McKay. Brother McKay set both James and I up on the computer to be on a leave of absence for three months. That relieves some of the stress and if we want to, and James feels like it, we can come back earlier. 

My last assignment was to be a presenter at the veil. James was a receiver but we were at different veils. 
We said our goodbyes when we left. I think the person who will miss me the most if my old friend from Chandler, Debbie. 

James told me some stressful news. He said that someone told him our friend from high school who works on the afternoon temple shift, Brother Ballard, had a heart attack while visiting his kids in Wisconsin. The best way I know how to find out about Kerry is to ask our friend Willard Barney who is his brother-in-law.

When we got home we were greeted with a pleasant surprise. Kim and Brian had decorated our tree. Kim said they would wait for us to get home before they left because they wanted to take pictures of family to send to Ben to keep him from getting homesick.

   Just need the tree skirt and star!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Goodbye Kim and Brian.
Thanks for decorating our tree!

After Kim and Brian left James went over to the Howard's for a couple of hours.

I blogged and worked on Amazon Seller Central this afternoon, and of course did some walking. Of course I had my Christmas movies on while I was working and walking:

"A Poinsettiea Christmas"

"Christmas at Graceland"

Both of these movies are new. I especially liked "Christmas at Graceland" with Kelly Pickler and Wes Brown.

Paul eating his favorite kind of food.

You have to do this once in a while 

when you are dieting.

Charlie loves bath time!

These two girls are the best!

     

Monday, October 29th, 2018

Calgary, Alberta

140th operating temple

Dedicated: 28 Oct 2010

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Davidic Descent of

Psalm 132:11

The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

Book of Mormon #1

3 Nephi 15:1-24

*Why is it so important to keep the commandments? How does keeping the commandments allow us to be a light to others?

- Keeping the commandments can help us avoid a lot of sadness, misery and really hard things. "If ye love me keep my commandments." (John 14:15).

Every commandment has a promised blessing. Obedience brings growth, protection spiritual and temporal blessings, and ultimately Eternal Life. The most important reason is we show our love, gratitude and devotion when we keep His commandments.

Book of Mormon #2

Mosiah 8-10

Old Testament

Ezekiel 3-4

General Conference

Now Is The Time

Elder Jack N. Gerard

"If there is anything in your life you need to consider, now is the time."

I have a notebook where I keep favorite scriptures. Right now I am working on the Old Testament. The scripture for today was Isaiah 53:3 - He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

I felt the Spirit as I read this scripture and was filled with gratitude for all the Savior has done for me.

I read the first couple of paragraphs of my Patriarchal blessing. I was impressed with this promise in paragraph 2: In accordance with my righteousness I will surely be blessed.

I emailed Ben today and this is the email I received in return:

Dear Grandma, Thank you so much for your love and support! I can feel the influence and of family and friends in my life. I am glad you got everything figured out with your car. That sounds like a hassle. THE TEMPE IS THE BEST. I had the opportunity to go this week, and it was amazing. I wish I could go more often. You are so lucky to be able to work in the temple. I definitely want to work in the temple after my mission. I see pictures of Charlie on Facebook sometimes, and think it's awesome. There was a song back home that I listened to, and every time I see her I think of it. It's called "Charlie" and it's by a band called "The Milk Carton Kids." You should look it up and if you like it, show it to Jared. 

I love being a missionary. Of course it's hard to deal with the negativity of getting doors slammed in my face, and curse words thrown at me, and so on. But, it doesn't bother me too much, because I know, for myself that this Church is true. Nothing will take away my testimony. I have seen miracles in my life and in the lives of those around me. I have felt the Spirit in an undeniable way, and will not fall away from what I know to be true. Elder Gay came to the MTC and talked to us while we were there, and in part of his talk he said, "It's funny how the Lord knew that many people would struggle reading the scriptures. Often times we read from the beginning up until the Isaiah chapters in 2nd Nephi, and then lose interest. Shortly after, they restart at 1st Nephi again. The Lord knew many people would do this. Have you read and really paed attention to the pages leading up to that 'restart point?' Most of the pages before it describe the Gathering of Scattered Israel. Over and over again. The Gathering of Israel is the most important work in these latter days. He gave us the Book of Mormon in the latter days, and put that at the beginning, knowing that we would read it time and time again." That is so true. The work of gathering God's children in the world today is second to no other work. It is called "The Work of Salvation" for a reason. One of my stake president's, President Hall is a very spiritual man. He was in the mission presidency when I got here, but shortly after, got released and became a stake president. He gave a training to his stake about this. He recited Mosiah 28:1-3 (because he basically has the entire Book of Mormon memorized) which talks about how the sons of Mosiah HAD to go and preach the Gospel, not only because they were called to, but because they "could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." We need to have the desire to get out there and bring souls to Christ. Bruce R. McConkie once said, "if we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah, we must believe what they believed, know what the knew, and live as they lived." It goes beyond belief and knowledge. "Faith without works is dead." We must have action. We must stand up for what we know to be true. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary. Thank you for your support. 

-Elder Trezise  

I am so grateful for our missionary!

I watched Christmas movies today while working on the computer. Here is the list: 1. I'm Not Ready for Christmas, 2. A Christmas Wish (filmed in Mapleton, Utah and the guy from The Best Two Years is in it), 3. Most Wonderful Time of the Year, (love Henry Winkler in this one!), 4. Charming Christmas, 5. Farewell Mr. Kringle. All of these movies are about people overcoming trials and others serving and loving them. All are "feel good" movies with good endings. They bring the Christmas Spirit into my heart and home.

I made cookies for Talon today. I heard he was leaving for his mission on Tuesday, but I was mistaken. They left for the valley this afternoon and he leaves on a plane at 10 am tomorrow morning. He will be serving in the Uganda mission.

James went hunting today between Eagar and Big Lake. He saw a small buck that was quite close but when he went to shoot he heard a noise and turned around to see a bigger buck. He shot at the bigger buck and missed. He's kicking himself for not shooting the smaller buck which was a sure thing. (Almost anyway).

All is not lost. He brought home tacos from Aliberto's again.

For FHE we worked on our book business together.

 Before pooping face

After pooping face

 Happy Monday Gma & Gpa!

Charlie loves her bath!

Look who has pink boots!

 Blessing day for Madison and James

Geiger's baby boy

 Talon and Alice 

Fun on the River