Sunday, July 28th, 2019

Adelaide, Australia

89th operating temple

Dedicated: 15 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Firstborn

Revelations 3:14

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Book of Mormon

Alma 41:1-15

New Testament: Review: "The Lord Has Called for Us to Preach the Gospel"

General Conference

Prepared To Obtain Every Needful Thing

Elder David A. Bednar

"If all you or I know about Jesus Christ and His restored gospel is what other people teach or tell us, then the foundation of our testimony of Him and His glorious latter-day work is built upon sand. We cannot rely exclusively upon or borrow gospel light and knowledge from other people - even those whom we love and trust."

Sister Shealyn Smith reported on her mission to the Indianapolis, Indiana mission. She said there were 8 things she learned while serving her mission:

1. Sacrifice - Love God and be willing to sacrifice with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

2. Count blessings - Be grateful for the blessings you enjoy in your life and thank Heavenly Father for those blessings. Look at your blessings instead of your burdens. Your burdens may become your blessings.

3. Always rely on faith - Alma 32, faith is like a growing seed planted in gospel soil. Matthew 17 - We must have faith as a grain of mustard seed.

4. Knowledge - Seek and continue to learn. Ether 12:27 - weak things may become strengths. Rely on the Spirit to learn.

5. Patience and God's timing - Trust in the Lord and have an eternal perspective. Sister Smith learned to get along with difficult companions through patience and God's timing

6. Loving and serving God's children - Being exactly obedient requires us to listen to the Spirit. The Lord puts missionaries exactly where they need to be.

7. Listening to the Spirit - Sister Smith learned to recognize when God was talking to her. See Galations 5 for a list of spiritual gifts.

8. Rely on the Savior - "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13). This is the scripture I relied on when I came down with rheumatoid arthritis. I call it "My scripture." 

God loves us and wants to bless us.

Brother/Dr. Reagan of the high council was the next speaker. He said he brings a message of love from the stake presidency and then recognized that they are all with us today sitting on the stand.

He spoke on making our homes a place of spirituality and how we should not be lulled into carnal security. 

He talked about no contention in our homes and he quoted the Savior from 3 Nephi 17:3 when he told the people to go home and ponder the things that they had learned.

The Star Spangled Banner was the closing hymn and then Rosa Westbrook gave the closing prayer. She is a sister from Mexico and she speaks with a spanish accent. I thought it was appropriate for her to give the closing prayer after singing the Star Spangled Banner.

Sister Becky Skousen gave the lesson in Relief Society from Elder Bednar's latest conference address, "Prepared to Obtain Every Needful Thing." Elder Bednar emphasizes a home-centered, Church supported curriculum and the importance of making our homes missionary training centers, family history centers, and training centers for preparing our children for the temple. It was a great lesson and we had lots of participation and lots of visitors.

Thanks to Anthony for setting up the microphone.

I had a nice phone conversation with Sheri today. I love talking to my children and I am so grateful when they call. We are worried about Max who is refusing to go to Church. I gave her some counsel on what she might do to avoid a confrontation with him. 

Kacey posted this about Charlie:

We have thought a couple of times that Charlie was saying amen after prayer. Tonight Jared got halfway through his prayer and she started saying over and over again, very clearly, "Mamen." I think she was telling him to wrap it up. It was the cutest!!"

Charlie is growing up so fast and we would be missing these moments if Kacey wasn't sharing with us. I am grateful for all that she shares so that we feel like we are a part of Charlie's life.

 Love Scarlett's Sunday photos!

Finally fits in to the 6 month dress

I gave her.

Paul's post

 A Brazilian cloudburst

Tonight's sunset in Vernon

Monday, June 11th, 2018

Cedar City, Utah

159th operating temple

Dedicated: 10 Dec 2017

By: Henry B. Eyring

Jesus Christ, Condescension of

John 6:38

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Book of Mormon

Alma 14:6-22

* Through the power of the priesthood he held and his faith, Alma had the ability to deliver the faithful women and children of Ammonihah from their terrible deaths The rd did not permit him to do os, however (see Alma 14:11). Alma explained to Amulek that the Lord would receive the righteous martyrs unto Himself as a testimony against the evil acts of their persecutors (see Alma 14:11; 60:13). 

*When the righteous and innocent suffer, some become critical or lose faith. President Spencer W. Kimball offered the following counsel for when we witness suffering:

"If we look at mortality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure, and a short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal ast and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective. Is there not wisdom in His giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength , sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified? If all the sick for whom we prayed were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil - all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no agency, only satanic controls. Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood (Faith Precedes the Miracle, 97).

Old Testament

2 Kings 9-10

9 A prophet anoints Jehu king over Israel and prophesies the destruction of the house of Ahab and the death of Jezebel - Jehu kills Joram in the field of Naboth - Jezebel is killed by Jehu and is eaten by dogs.

10 Ahab's seventy sons are slain - Jehu destroys the house of Ahab and all the worshippers of Baal, but he continues to worship the golden calves in Bethel and Dan.

General Conference

What Every Aaronic Priesthood Holder Needs to Know

Douglas D. Holmes

"So, what is the role of the Aaronic Priesthood? How does it help us gain access to Christ's atoning power? I believe the answer lies in the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood - the keys of the ministering of angels and of the preparatory gospel."

Introductory Remarks

President Russell M. Nelson

"Some of you serve where the Church has been established for generations. Others serve where the Church is relatively new. For some, your wards are large. For others, your branches are small and distances are great. Regardless of your individual circumstances, each of you is a member of a priesthood quorum with a divine mandate to learn and to teach, to love and to serve others."

Russel M Nelson 10/14 #64. Sustaining the Prophets.

"Our sustaining of prophets is a personal commitment that we will do our utmost to uphold their prophetic priorities."

Dale G. Renlund The Melchizedek Priesthood, Chapter 23, Prinicple 15: A Priesthood Holder Judges Righteously

A Reason for Faith: Read about how similar the genomes and DNA of humans and chimpanzees are. 

Ensign: "Being Honest with Myself."

600 homes have been destroyed on the big island of Hawaii because of volcano eruptions and no end is in sight. Please continue praying for these people!

Today was our Relief Society sisters luncheon at Licano's. My friend Pam had asked me if I would pick up Nita, our summer visitor from Yuma. I know Nita and love her and was happy to pick her up. We had a nice visit into town. 

We were among the first to arrive at Licano's. We have to leave at one because Nita has an appointment with the eye doctor about scheduling cataract surgery, so we ordered first. My food came before Nita's and I looked around the tables of sisters and I was the only one with food. I did not want my green chili chicken enchilada to get cold, so I ate it. It was delicious. 

These are the sisters who attended: Nita, Kerri, Catherine, Linda D., Teresa S., Pam, Jenny, Ellen K. and her husband, Bonnie H., Holly, Linda P., Judy, Millie, Nadine, Mary, Alicia, Stefani, Ruth, Debbie, Lorraine, Tina, myself,  and 4 women I did not know.

We had an enjoyable time but some sisters had to leave before their food came, such as, Pam and Bonnie. Next month we are meeting back at Debbie's house.

I ordered food for Becky S., my friend who just had knee surgery, and her mother-in-law who is staying with her. After I dropped Nita off at home I went to Becky's and delivered her and her mother-in-law, Marlene, each a meal consisting of two cheese enchiladas, refried beans, and rice. They seemed very appreciative. Becky is such a great example to me and a dear friend. Her knee looks very bruised and swollen. She says she is going back to work in two weeks, which seems a little early to me.

When I came home James had already taken the garbage to the dump which I very much appreciate!

I sat on the recliner to rest. When I got up I caught up on my blog, ran off President Nelson's and Sister Nelson's talks to the youth, paid some Lambson Construction bills and our Disnetwork bill, and made myself a green smoothie. James was outside working on the small Cat, which he was not able to fix. I fixed him a smoothie when he came in from working. 

For FHE this evening we worked on FamilySearch. I ran off some names to do ordinances for. I still have not been able to get Mary Strickland retrieved from Bettylealareerogers line. I will try again tomorrow. 

For the first time since last Wednesday I was able to do my 10,000 steps today.

I getcha Kerri!

Gotcha!

Looks beautiful!

I don't think he is 97 here, because

look at Queen Elizabeth.

I told Sheri they needed to visit

this castle because Betty, Ian's mom's

last name is Fraser and it's Max's 

middle name.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Alex's senior picture. Such a handsome guy!

James said I sat up in bed around 1 a.m. and said:

"There's a big dog in here."  Another one of my hallucinations.  

James left for Demming this morning to meet with a family from Connecticut that his dad sold some property too.  The father's name is Louis Chandler.  The entire family was there waiting for James when he got there.  The wife is from Mexico and there were two children, a boy and a girl.  He said they were some of the nicest people he has ever met and he was wishing he had brought a Book of Mormon to give them.  Eventually they want him to build them a house on the property they bought.

A Chandler friend, Sherry Scatena posted a candy cake she made on Facebook today.  Now I want to make one for Addy.

Speaking of cakes, this is my friend Dianne Heyman.  She is famous for her chocolate, raspberry, almond cake.  I guess she

made one for herself.  Happy Birthday Dianne.

I listened to President Monson's talk on the temple again today.  We have a couple in our ward who attend the temple every week.  They are Jimmy and Tamara Applegate.  Jimmy works for the city of Show Low and Tamara is the Vernon librarian at the public library.

 Tamara and Jimmy

They also have four of the nicest kids you will ever meet!

It is storming all around me today.  I love the thunder, but not the lightening. Finally we get some rain and the electricity goes off for about an hour.  I was polishing the wood floor but had to quit when there was no power.  I took a short nap instead until the electricity came back on.  I finished polishing the wood floor when James got home.  I always feel a sense of relief when he arrives home safely!

This evening Becky Skousen came visiting teaching.  After she left James and I read from "Lady of Milkborn Manor" and watched a Hallmark movie starring Kellie Martin, "So You Said Yes."  

It was still raining when we went to bed.