Friday, January 18th, 2019

Bismarck, North Dakota
61st operating temple
Dedicated: 19 Sept 1999
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Luke 9:35

And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 13:40-14:8

*Why is it so important to hold fast to the plain and precious truths of the gospel?

General Conference

The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead

President M. Russell Ballard

"Joseph F. was called to serve a mission in the Hawaiian Islands in 1854 when he was 15 years old. This mission, which lasted more than three years, was the beginning of a life of service in the Church."

We had 80-100 elk migrate across our property this morning. James was so excited to tell someone, he went upstairs and woke Adam up. 

I cut James's hair this morning. He wants to look good for when Jared and Kacey and Charlie come to visit. 

I had a nice visit on the phone with Anne Miller today about her ministering assignments and about how she is doing with her health. After talking to Anne I worked on getting a book order ready. There are 20 books in the shipment. After fees and shipping fees, etc., we will make less than $30 on this shipment. We need to figure out what we are doing wrong. I think if we buy a book that will sell for less than $30 we need to ship merchant fulfilled instead of fulfilled by Amazon.

James picked up five books at the post office today, all of them textbooks. He was excited for me to ship them off until we found out all of them except one we are not approved to sell. So, we don't make any money on the cheaper books and the more expensive ones where we have a chance of making money, we can't sell. This is not good. When we talked to Paul at Book Arbitrage, he said Amazon sometimes does that to new buyers until they establish themselves as legitimate buyers. We are frustrated to say the least but we are not giving up. 

This evening while Adam and his friends were playing games and making cookies in the kitchen and dining room we stayed in our bedroom and watched the new Hallmark movie, "Winter Princess." James got to sit and watch it while I walked around the room because I had less than 6,000 steps when we started the movie. I ended up getting over 10,000.

Carmen's Noah's Ark cake

Such a sweet baby!

The books in orange are profitable to buy but
we probably are not approved to sell them
according to Amazon.

James prepping books to ship to Amazon

Thursday, January 17th, 2019

Columbus, Ohio

60th operating temple

Dedicated: 4 Sept 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Mark 9:7

And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 13:28-39

* What is the number one reason I am thankful for the scriptures? 

- They testify of Christ and teach the Plan of Salvation.

* Why do the Gentiles in Nephi's dream stumble? When were the plain and precious things recovered?

- In the Book of Mormon.

New Testament "Come Follow Me" 

Worshipping and Witnessing: Shepherds, Simeon, and Anna

General Conference

Sisters' Participation in the Gathering of Israel

President Russell M. Nelson

" As you read the Book of Mormon I would encourage you to mark each verse that speaks of or refers to the Savior. Then be intentional about talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, and preaching of Christ with your families and friends. You and they will be drawn closer to the Savior through this process. And changes, even miracles, will begin to happen."

I got up late and missed reading my article from the Ensign. When I don't do the important things first somehow they fall by the wayside. I did read the Book of Mormon with James and we had prayer together.

At 9 this morning we tuned in to the Book webinar. Two successful members were featured, Kris and Kathy. This is one of the best help session we've had. They even answered a question I had posted.

Kathy talked about setting goals. She reminded us that having your goals set and looking at them everyday is important for success. She gave an example: If you want to make $75,000 a year and you can make $25 a book, you would have to sell 3,000 books a year. That's 250 books a month or 12 or so a day if you work five days a week.  This helped me to realize we really need to step our game up. 

Kathy told about a scanner she has connected to her phone that she uses when she goes to books sales and libraries. She scans the ISBN number and it tells the ranking and other information about the book. Luke and John recommend only selling books that are under 500,000 ranking. There was lots of good information but those are a couple of the highlights. Both Kathy and Kris said there favorite place to source books is in Book Arbitrage using the software. Kris said for buying set your limits at $5.00 maximum.

Kathy says "Under promise, over deliver."

The best way to source books. All of

the orange lines indicate books that fit

the filters.

I finished working on the current book shipment of 20 books and we dropped it off at the UPS store. James needed to price some items at Home Depot for his bid at the school so he dropped me off at Walmart. I really didn't have any shopping to do but I figured it was a good place to do some walking. While there I got a call from Stacy. She does have to have surgery for her cyst. She is in quite a bit of pain. She is upset at Michael because he ignored the court date he had for a traffic ticket and now they served him papers and suspended his license. He finally went in to the court and worked out a payment plan and they un-suspended his license. He has been driving for Lyft and needs his license.

On the way home we stopped at the new Goodwill store to look at books. We took picture of several books to come home and check their rankings. If we had the scanner they talked about this morning we could have scanned them in the store and found the information we needed. Most of the books were $3 which is a good price but not as good as the ones we get at the library. The only problem with the ones at the library is the library markings.

I was not going to go to town with James because I needed to stay home and clean for our guests who are coming tonight. James made a deal with me that if I came to town with him he would clean upstairs while I cleaned the kitchen, family, dining, and living area. He also wanted me to read from "The Captain's Daughter." I said it was a deal. We ended up finishing the book.

James did clean upstairs while I cleaned the ground level. I even had time to watch an old Hallmark movie I hadn't seen for awhile.

We went to bed after 10. Adam and friend won't be here for another couple of hours.

Happy 17th Birthday Anna!

Hunter Hayes concert

 Sleeping Beauty

I wonder if Addy would like these

Another sleeping beauty

 Sounds like something I would do.

 We need this.

Carmen's latest cake. This would be cute for

Charlie's first birthday, or maybe her second

because the animals came in twos.

 Love this outdoor patio

 Getting ready for the Rome temple

open house.

Monday, February 5th, 2018

Frieberg, Germany

33rd operating temple

Dedicated: 29-30 June 1985

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ Authority of

Luke 10:22

All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 1:13-29

*When have I been benefited by a priesthood blessing?

-When Stacy was 7 and had pneumonia and James gave her a blessing and she was healed. As her mother, that was a great benefit to me.

Old Testament

Exodus 28-29

28 Aaron and his sons are to be consecrated and anointed to minister in the priest's office - Aaron's garments are to include a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a coat, a miter, and a girdle - The breastplate of judgment is to contain twelve precious stones with the names of the tribes of Israel thereon - The rim and Thummim are to be carried in the breastplate.

29 Aaron and his sons are to be washed, anointed, and consecrated - Various sacrificial rites are to be performed - Atonement is to be made for the sins of the people - The Lord promises to dwell among them.

Old Testament Favorite Scriptures

Genesis 12:1-2

1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

General Conference

The Need Before Us

Bonnie L. Oscarson

" Elder D. Todd Christofferson has taught, 'A major reason the Lord has a church is to create a community of Saints that will sustain one another in the strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life.' He goes on to say, 'This religion is not concerned only with self; rather, we are all called to serve. We are the eyes, hands, head, feet, and other members of the body of Christ."

I came across these two quotes this morning while reading from "Rescuing Wayward Children:" "Holiness is the strength of the soul. It comes by faith and through obedience to God's laws and ordinances. God then purifies the heart by faith, and the heart becomes purged from that which is profane and unworthy." - President James E. Faust

"Sanctification is the process of becoming pure and spotless before God through the power of the sanctifier, who is the Holy Ghost, through true and constant repentance and a love of that which is good." - Blaine M. Yorgason

James and I went to lunch at Persnikkity's today. We were disappointed that they did not have our Philly cheesesteak sandwich. I ordered my second favorite thing, the chicken, green chili and bacon sandwich with sweet potato fries. James ordered the same thing except instead of sweet potato fries, he just had plain fries.  My friend Claire was there with a gentleman friend. She came over to me and gave me a big hug which made my day.

FH

After lunch we went to CVS to pickup James's prescriptions, and then on to Safeway for DP10, and then Walmart. We read from "The Marshall Takes a Wife." 

Lee texted James and said that his daughter, Debbie fell and broke her neck so they have been going back and forth from Ramah to the valley to help take care of her. We put her name on our prayer list.

For F.H.E. we listened to this conference talk: "The Plan and the Proclamation" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. I also did 3 blog posts today. Hopefully I will catch up before the end of the year.

We watched "Secret Valentine," starring Lacey Chabert and Andrew Walker and an episode of "Heartland" where Lou buys Maggie's Restaurant.

Chandler Stake Officers 

1984-85

Making orange juice

Carmen's dinosaur cake

The last time I went to Target I was disappointed.

They didn't have anything I was looking for and

Target didn't tell me what I needed.

Wednesday, December 13th, 2017

Manaus, Brazil

138th operating temple

Dedicated: 10 June 2012

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Jesus Christ Atonement through

Hebrews 9:28

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Book of Mormon

Ether 9:23-35

Why must we first be humble before the Lord hears our cries?

Doctrine Covenants Favorite Scriptures

DC 29:1-2

1 Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I Am, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins;

2 Who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer.

General Conference

The Heart of the Widow

Elder O. Vincent Haleck

"A man can live in the dark for a period, but there will come a time when he will long to come into the light."

This morning's sunrise

I had lunch with my friend Pam at the hospital today. She works at the hospital and today was the holiday feast. The food is free and everyone who works at the hospital can bring a guest. We were at the beginning of the line and I am glad we were. When we left it looked like all of Show Low was lined up for freed food. 

There were three main dishes, stuffed chicken, prime rib, and butternut ravioli. I had the ravioli and Pam had the prime rib. The food was delicious and the company was great. 

After lunch Pam walked out to the car with me and I gave her her Christmas gift. A pair of mittens with a quote from President Monson about being "His hands," and a blanket. 

As I was thinking about some of my favorite things about Christmas here is what I came up with. My favorite song is "O Holy Night."  Favorite holiday movie, "Elf."  One of my favorite Christmas memories is having the Tinsel Tour at our house and James nailing up the last piece of crown molding just at our first guest arrived. 

Another favorite memory is Darrel reading "The Little Fir Tree" at one of our adult parties and tears coming to his eyes. He really does have a tender heart. 

Christmas movies for today: "Wrapped Up in Christmas," starring Kim Fields, and Tatiyana Ali.

Light the World:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

This is called the Golden Rule, and if everyone followed it, the world would be a better place.

Ways You Can Show Kindness toward Others

Have you seen someone get bullied on social media?

Reach out to the person today and send some positive vibes his or her direction.

What's something that could really brighten your day?

Do that for someone else.

Today is Carmen's birthday. 

Someone made her this cake.

Happy Birthday Carmen.

Loveable Lovebirds

Why do they get our hopes up?

This is the scene I want.