Sunday, April 19th, 2020

Atlanta, Georgia

21st operating temple

Dedicated: 1-4 June 1983

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Judge

Alma 11:44

Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

 Review Mosiah 1-3; Finish BM Study Guide and Sunday journal

April General Conference

"Opening the Heavens for Help"

President Russell M. Nelson

"Let us put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 

into action"!

"Ensuring a Righteous Judgment"

James R. Rasband

April 2020

Happy Anniversary to Sheri and Ian. I hope it was a good one!

I slept in until after six this morning. I spent time finishing up the "Come Follow Me" lesson in my Book of Mormon study guide and my Sunday journal.

Many people think this pandemic is a ploy by the government to take away our liberties. I am not sure what I think but I think something needs to happen in order for our economy to be restored.

James put Luna in the yard this morning instead of her little cooped up pen. I think she loved it. She was eating grass over by our bedroom until she found the patch of grass outside the dining room window. That's where she ended up staying most of the time.

At one o'clock we met with the Goodman's and the Peeler's at the Goodman's house for the sacrament and a gospel discussion.

We sang "Welcome, Welcome, Sabbath Morning" and then Brother Peeler gave the opening prayer. We then had the sacrament, James blessing the bread and Brother Peeler passing it and then Brother Peeler blessing the water and James passing it. 

When the Sacrament was finished we talked about what to do for our lesson. President Peeler, our stake president, had sent out an email this morning. Today was supposed to be our stake conference. As part of President Peeler's message each member of the stake presidency, President Beeler, President Smithson, and President Alder had made a YouTube video with a gospel message. We used Brother Goodman's phone attached to a bluetooth speaker to listen to the messages.  

We then had lunch. Brother Peeler and Sister Goodman had both made chili and they had combined it. There was frogs eyes salad, the bagged maple bacon bourbon salad I brought, and check cordon blue made at Safeway. There was also cheese for the chili and mini saltine crackers. It was a delicious meal. Afterwards we had orange, cranberry, applesauce bread that Barbara had made. 

As we drove in to the Goodman's we noticed a huge backhoe and big piles of dirt where trenches had been dug. When we asked about it Pierce explained that he was building a greenhouse that would be climate-controlled by underground pipes. He said he watched a YouTube video called "Greenhouse in the Snow." Of course we had to go out and see where this green house was going to be.

17 X 100 greenhouse. It seems as if

Pierce is planning on feeding all of Vernon.

This evening we had our family discussion on forgiveness, led by Jared. Those participating: Jared, Kacey, Stacy, Sheri, Kim, Brian, James and I. I was hoping Darrel and Trina would join us but they didn't.

It was a great discussion. I especially enjoyed Kacey telling about her dad leaving when she was a young girl and how she had done temple work for her dad's family. Everyone participated. It was a good discussion. When we were finished Stacy asked us to pray for her tomorrow since she has a test for he class that is comparable to state boards. 

It was fun seeing Charlie and Scarlett on the Skype call. Charlie had to tell us about watching "Cars." I think she was happy to see James and I on the call.

After our discussion James wrote a letter to Ben and I worked on my blog before going to bed. It was a wonderful Sabbath day.

 Jared rides his horse as James

rides Luna

Sheri and Ollie

Friday, March 20th, 2020

Cedar City, Utah
159th operating temple
Dedicated: Dec 10, 2017
By: Henry B. Eyring

Jesus Christ, Judge

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Jacob 6

The Lord will recover Israel in the last days - The world will be burned with fire - Men must follow Christ to avoid the lake of fire and brimstone.

Jacob 7

Sherem denies Christ, contends with Jacob, demands a sign, and is smitten of God - All of the prophets have spoken of Christ and His Atonement - The Nephites lived out their days as wanderers, born in tribulation, and hated by the Lamanites.

October 2019 Gen Con

"Covenant Belonging"

Elder Gerrit W. Gong

"Dear brothers and sisters, as witnessed by the Holy Ghost, everything good and eternal is centered in the living reality of God, our Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is the Mediator of the new covenant. Testifying of Jesus Christ is a covenant purpose of the Book of Mormon. By oath and covenant, God's restored priesthood authority is intended to bless all God's children including through covenant marriage, generational family, and individual blessings. 

Our Savior declares, 'I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I am he, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world.' With us at the beginning, He is with us, in all our covenant belonging, to the end. I so testify in the sacred and holy name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Ensign

"Inconveniently True"

 Max and Ruby were both up early this morning. By early I mean before 10. I think Joshua was up too but he may have been walking outside.

I worked on my blog and my book business most of the morning. The kids ate cereal. I helped Lola get her Honeycomb. I guess all of the Apple Jacks are gone.

Addy ran on the stairs because it was cold outside this morning. 

I fixed lunch for Rowan, Joshua and Max. Rowan and Joshua had grilled cheese sandwiches and Max had a couple of hotdogs. 

Much of the time they were here the boys were upstairs playing video games. Lola likes to be a part of the action so she would sit and watch them.

They also played Settlers of Caitan, Scattergories, and Apples to Apples. One day all of the kids played Sardines which is like Hide and Go Seek except when you find a person you hide with them. When it was Rowan's turn to be it he asked me if there were mouse traps set in the pantry. I told him yes so he decided to hide somewhere else. 

One night they tried to play Gray Wolf but I think it was too muddy and they came in. Max thought the game would be too scary and didn't want Lola to play but Addy told him she wasn't scared of anything.

The girls and I did a puzzle together. Lola did the two small 100 piece fairy puzzles and all of us did a Snow White puzzle that had 300 pieces. We were a little miffed to find that one of the pieces we had spent a lot of time looking for was missing.

Trina sent money so we could go get the kids pizza this afternoon. I had to go to town to get my Tramadol and Metoprolol prescriptions anyway so when we got to town I called and ordered two large pepperoni pizzas and a large cheese pizza from Pizza Factory. No one has had Pizza Factory pizza except Joshua but the majority wanted to try it so that's what we ordered. It disappeared all but a few pieces in a flash. I guess you could say it was a good choice.

During "Come Follow Me" everyday Lola has read a verse of scripture. Today was no different as we read Jacob 6 and 7 and discussed how Jacob could not be shaken by Sherem.

Addy baked the roll of cookie dough we bought in my round pizza pan and I got out the homemade vanille Bluebell ice cream so we could have pazookie and ice cream for dessert. The only ones who ate any were all of Darrel and Trina's kids and me. The other three boys were too busy upstairs playing video games.

Tonight is the last night the kids will be here. I hope Evan is able to get a good night's sleep. He has difficulty sleeping up here.

I saw one of these uninvited guests in my house

Ziggie's under the bed

"Master the tempest is raging"

I love this!

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

St. Paul, Minnesota

69th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Jan 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

Psalms 96:13

Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

Book of Mormon

Ether 14:8-31

New Testament

John 8:12, 12:46; Philippians 2:12-15

Oct 2019 General Conference

"Finding Joy in Sharing the Gospel"

Cristina B. Franco

"Susana has become one of the greatest missionaries I have ever met. She is like the sons of Mosiah, bringing many souls to Christ. In one of our conversations, I asked her, 'What is your secret? How do you share the gospel with others?' She told me, 'It is very simple. Every day before I leave my house, I pray, asking Heavenly Father to direct me to someone who needs the gospel in their life. I sometimes take a Book of Mormon to share with them or pass-along cards from the missionaries - and when I start talking to someone, I simply ask them if they have heard about the Church.'"

"Your Great Adventure"

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"You need to choose to incline your heart to God. Strive each day to find Him. Learn to love Him. And then let that love inspire you to learn, understand, and follow His teachings and learn to keep God's commandments. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is given to us in a plain and simple way that a child can understand. Yet the gospel of Jesus Christ has the answers to the most complex questions in life and has such profound depth and complexity that even with a lifetime of study and pondering, we can scarcely comprehend even the smallest part."

I was up at 4:30 to study and pray and have scriptures and prayer with James when he got up. As he was packing his suitcase for our trip to the valley, he ironed his shirts that needed ironing. Bless his heart. I got some boxes and set them on the kitchen counter and started loading things to eat from the kitchen. 

I had about 15 gifts to wrap. I wrapped two and realized I was never going to be able to wrap all of them in time. I will need to finish when I get to Darrel and Trina's. James wants to leave around noon. 

I packed my books in my purple suitcase and my clothes in my small black suitcase. I pack my computer, two boxes of food and paper goods, a bag for the Aunt Dimity books and my phone chargers to have with me in the front seat. I iron three blouses and put them on hangers. Most of my clothes are on hangers and so are James's. I pack my red stock pot because I am going to make minestrone soup for our family party tomorrow night. I have my makeup and toiletries bag, 4 garbage bags full of blankets, a few wrapped packages, and wrapping paper, etc. James has one suitcase and some clothes and his briefcase. We left around 12:15 and stopped in Show Low to get gas and to wash the car. We went the Payson way per my request. We stopped at the Culver's in Payson for lunch. I had a burger and James had a Reuben sandwich. 

When we got to the valley we drove to the Chacon job to see if Armondo had finished the landscaping. He had not. Yesterday James spoke with Paul about Armondo's wife. Paul is still their ministering brother. He said he would make sure that Susan had a blessing. She is still in the hospital. 

When we got to Darrel and Trina's Addy and Rowan were the only ones at home. They helped us carry in all of our stuff. It barely fit in our room. Darrel is at work and Trina is gone to Ruby and Lola's dance recital. I wished we would have known, we could have planned on being here earlier. 

Addy left to go babysit and after James rested he and I went shopping at Fry's for the ingredients for minestrone soup. I am also supposed to bring paper goods and flatware to the party tomorrow. It's a good thing I had some flatware at home because they had none at Fry's. 

When we get home Rowan, Nick - Rowan's friend, Lola and Ruby were at home. Trina had gone to pick up Darrel at work. They didn't get home until after 10. I guess big Bertha is in the shop.

I colored with Lola until she got tired and fell asleep on the couch ottoman. She said her tummy was hurting. 

Armondo's and Susan's baby