Tuesday, December 31st, 2019

Medford, Oregon

79th operating temple

Dedicated 16 Apr 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

Isaiah 49:26

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the might One of Jacob.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 10:8-34

"Come Follow Me"

Introduction and Title of the Book of Mormon

Oct General Conference

Closing Remarks

President Russell M. Nelson

"Now, for just a moment, I would like to speak to our youth. We encourage you to qualify for limited use temple recommends. You will be asked only those questions applicable to you in your preparation for the ordinances of proxy baptism and confirmation. We are very grateful for your worthiness and willingness to participate in that sacred temple work. We thank you!"

Today is Kim's 46th birthday. Usually she is up here celebrating, but because the 31st is in the middle of the week, Brian has to work on the day after New Year which would cut their time short. We know she had a great birthday because Brian got tickets for them to go see Brian Regan.

Ben was made an A.P. this transfer. It is a little bittersweet for him because he will not be able to proselyte nearly as much as he is now. While Sheri was talking on the telephone to him, Ziggie had a "serious accident" on the rug by the door going outside. When I told Sheri she immediately cleaned it up even though she was still on the phone with Ben. Elder Brown, one of Ben's companions recently, and a thorn in his side because of his lack of desire to do the work, is going home because his time is up. Elder Clark who spent hours in the bathroom, and refused to go out unless he was forced to,  was sent home. How sad that missionaries come out and are not really interested in sharing the gospel with others.

Shayna and Alex went home this morning. They also have tickets to go see Brian Regan. 

Sheri took the picture for me. I was in the

kitchen making lasagna soup.

It's a little blurry I noticed. Shayna is such a tiny thing.

She weighs less than 90 lbs.

James and I had chicken tacos for lunch. I made lasagna soup and Sheri made rolls and a ham and chocolate chip cookies. Michael made another cobbler. This one was cherry and we had Bluebell Homemade vanilla ice cream to go with it. What is it about the holidays that makes everyone want to eat?

James and I made a trip to Dollar General. I gave Rowan a Hershey bar and a Mug rootbeer. Sheri brought plenty of snacks for her boys and Michael was taking care of Joshua. I thought Rowan might need a little TLC.

I did a little work today. I made our first mortgage payment and did all of my ministering interviews except for one.  I also got all of my steps and spent some of the Relief Society money we had left in our account. It won't roll over to the new year. I bought items from Walmart online and paid with my credit card. Hopefully I will get a receipt dated December 31st.

Today the kids got in to "The Twilight Zone." They taped episodes and watched it most of the day while Sheri and I were in the bedroom watching Hallmark movies. We should have invited Alexis in to watch with us. She said it would have been much better than "The Twilight Zone."

Michael and Alexis went to eat at Licano's again and to look for fireworks. They didn't find any fireworks to speak of. Michael brought tacos back for Joshua. Michael loves Licano's carne asada burros.

Christmas movies we watched: 

"The Christmas Jars" 

Kim asks me every time we talk if I watched it yet. It was really good and of course was about doing service.

"Two Turtle Doves"

"A Merry Liddle Christmas"

Happy New Year!

 Last year's visit

Monday, October 28th, 2019

Provo, Utah

15th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Feb 1972

By: Joseph Fielding Smith

Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd

Mormon 5:17

They were once a delightsome people, and they had Christ for their shepherd; yea, they were led even by God the Father.

Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 14:1-27

What fundamental truths do we learn from Christ's teachings in these verses? How will you incorporate these important teachings into you life?

New Testament: 1,2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon "Be Thou an Example of the Believers"

1, 2 Timothy; Titus "Who were Timothy and Titus?" SS - "Understanding true doctrine will help us avoid being deceived"

General Conference

Giving Our Spirits Control Over Our Bodies

President M. Russell Ballard

"One of the most important things we can learn in this life is how to emphasize our eternal spiritual nature and control our evil desires."

RWC:"Each person had a salvation time line, their personal plan of salvation within the plan of salvation When properly stimulated, premortal testimonies like premortal talents will emerge and flourish.

Sheri called me around 7 this morning. She had already talked to Ben. 

Elder Littlefield, a Seventy over the missions in Central and South America visited Ben's mission today. He asked to speak with Ben. He said to him: "Elder Trezise, I understand you had 13 people come to church on Sunday. We don't even get that in third world countries where the gospel is flourishing. I want to know what your secret is?" 

Elder Trezise was mentioned in another zone conference and then during Ben's zone conference a missionary shared something he had learned. When Elder Littlefield asked him where he learned that principle the missionary said, "Elder Trezise taught it to me during training." 

Here is Elder Trezise's letter for this week:

Elder Trezise makes me want to be better!

It was cold and windy today and James did not feel well. He had planned on working outside but it was just too cold. He took a nap instead. 

This afternoon he went to get the mail. There were five books that I had ordered to sell and a letter addressed to me. The letter addressed to me was a check for $6,000. A guy that goes by the name of French Bruce texted me last week and said he was going to send a check for one of the cemetery plots. After what happened last time I can't get too excited about it until I know for sure that it is real. I had told him to send a money order for the exact amount. Well even though it is for the exact amount he did not send a money order which is a little frustrating. Here is what the check looks like:

Just like the last check, this one is a business located in one state and the bank located in another. James told me to deposit the check using my phone, which I did. He sent a text saying we were depositing the check. He received a text back saying, let me make sure the funds are available and a text a few minutes later saying the funds were available. I am writing this on Tuesday evening at 9:23 Arizona time. I deposited the check around 3:30 p.m. Monday, Arizona time and it still has not cleared. What's going on. 

The guy told James they needed the deed to the plot by Saturday because they are planning on burying someone that day. James told him he was going to check with the mortuary to see if they had a burial scheduled for Saturday. We haven't heard back.

I watched "Dancing with the Stars" this evening. It was the Halloween episode. Karamo is going home. I wish it was Sean.

 Look Mama, I'm a Lama!

Harrison Fjiord in Bulgaria. Where's Dallin?

Sunday, July 7th, 2019

Raleigh, North Carolina

68th operating temple

Dedicated: 18 Dec 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Family of

John 2:12

After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

Book of Mormon

Alma 29:8-30:11

New Testament "Ye Shall Be Witnesses Unto Me"

Review: Acts 1-5

General Conference

The True, Pure, and Simple Gospel of Jesus Christ

President Russell M. Ballard

"The first principles of the gospel are faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. His brother Hyrum taught: 'Preach them over and over again: you will find that day after day new ideas and additional light concerning them will be revealed to you. You can enlarge upon them...to comprehend them clearly. You will then be able to make them more plainly understood by those you teach.'"

We missed church today. James was too sick to even get out of bed until the afternoon. My face is worse than yesterday and now I am beginning to think I should have gone to the ER. 

I did all of my studying today for "Come Follow Me" and my reading of the conference talks and Book of Mormon. I learned alot by using the New Testament Student Manual about the first five books of Acts. 

Kacey and Jared wanted to FaceTime this afternoon. I told them about my face and how bad it was and that I didn't want to scare Charlie. Jared called me and said he could call me in a prescription, which he did. It was after 5:30 before we thought about picking it up tonight and the pharmacy closes at 6. James will pick it up when he goes to his doctor's appointment tomorrow. 

We read our scriptures together and then watched "The Good Witch" before going to bed. 

I did make some ministering decisions with the rest of the Relief Society Presidency today. I don't like to miss my meetings and now I have missed two weeks in a row. I can't remember ever doing that before. 

James has a horrible cough and I have a scary face. It's so sad.

It did rain today and that made us happy.

 I love this sweet face!

The adventures of Alex and Shayna continue

 Beautiful Scarlett!