Thursday, August 23rd, 2018

Albuquerque, New Mexico

73rd operating temple

Dedicated: 11 Mar 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Creator

DC 104:17

For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.

Book of Mormon

Alma 55:15-35

*What can we learn from Moroni's example?

- We have to be in the world but not of the world. His christian beliefs were always the basis of his choices. His only motivation in war was to save people, not to murder. It is possible to do what the Lord wants us to do without destroying others.

Old Testament

Psalms 66-70

66 Praise and worship the Lord - He tests and tries men - Sacrifices are to be offered in His house.

67 A messianic psalm - The Lord will cause His face to shine upon men - He will judge and govern in righteousness.

68 A messianic psalm of David - He extols JAH - The Lord gave the word - He takes captivity captive - He delivers us from death - Sing praises unto the Lord.

69 A messianic psalm of David - The zeal of the Lord's house has eaten Him up - Reproach has broken His heart - He is given gall and vinegar to drink - He is persecuted - He will save Zion.

70 David proclaims, Let God be magnified.

General Conference

Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives

President Russell M. Nelson

"Imagine the miracle of it! Whatever our Church calling, we can pray to our Heavenly Father and receive guidance and direction, be warned about dangers and distractions, and be enabled to accomplish things we simply could not do on our own. If we will truly receive the Holy Ghost and learn to discern and understand His promptings, we will be guided in matters large and small."

James left for the Howard's this morning to work after scriptures, prayers and breakfast. I made chocolate chip cookies and delivered them to Chelsea and Cammy. 

Chelsea just lives down and across the road from us. She is expecting her second baby on November 27th. Her husband has been a smoke jumper in Alaska since April and he will be home sometime at the end of September or early October. Chelsea is coaching 7th grade girls softball at the Show Low Junior High with her friend Madison Allen Halcomb. Madison is the Allen's daughter and she is married to Sister Halcomb's grandson. They have their first game today. 

After visiting Chelsea, Peyton, and Brutus, I had a few minutes before my next appointment so I went home and put chicken sausage links and cabbage in the crockpot to cook, and then I drove to the Grapp's. Cammy answered the door holding her month old baby. My girl Lianna came over and gave me a hug.

Lianna loves to read. She joined the book club

at the library and read over 40 books this summer.

I gave Cammy a book called My Family for her to enter her pedigree chart. When she didn't seem very interested I wondered what was wrong. Lianna said, "Tell her how you really feel, Mom." Cammy began to tell me about some of the unfortunate experiences she has had with family, both her own and her husband Thomas's. 

It was pretty sad and my heart went out to her. How can I help her to feel the love of the Savior in her life? 

Thank goodness for Thomas's grandparents who live next door and are very kind to Cammy.

I took both Chelsea and Cammy some homemade chocolate chip cookies which always make things better! I also brought my calender so we could plan the next time I will be babysitting so Thomas and Cammy can go out together.

Well James loves the cabbage and sausage links I cooked. He had several helpings. I wasn't as crazy about it but I did eat some.

I spent the afternoon cleaning upstairs, the kitchen, and the family/living room. Sheri, Ian, and the boys are coming for a visit and will be arriving tonight.

This afternoon when James got home he started the power washer for me so I could give Lexy a bath. She was very dirty. Afterwards he washed the truck and sprayed the driveway off. I sure do love him! As a reward, I read a very long chapter to him from our book, "The Secret Keeper."

We went to bed around 10 and Sheri, Ian, and the boys arrived around 11. At one point Ian wanted to turn around and come home because it was raining so hard. This was before Superior. I told Sheri to pull over and have a family prayer, which they did. Afterwards it stopped raining and they were able to continue on their trip.

This memory came up on my phone today.

Owen and James on their trip to the Northwest

Territories. I believe it was 2007.

Elk crossing

A couple of years ago. I miss them.

This shadow on the Superstition Mountain

looks like a cougar.  One of the things I like about

staying at Darrel and Trina's is the view of

the Superstition Mountains.

Aunt Gene

Tuesday, April 24th, 2018

Campinas, Brazil

111th operating temple

Dedicated: 17 May 2002

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ betrayal of

Mark 14:41

And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 15:10-31
*How has the gospel of Jesus Christ brought you joy?
Talk: The Great Plan of Happiness By: Marcus B. Nash 10/06
- The gospel of Jesus Christ has brought me joy, it has given me a sense of hope, and a desire to minister. Every hour of every day I am blessed by His gospel. Every time I look at one of my children ( I include their spouses as my children), or one of my grandchildren, every time I go to the temple with James, and he holds my hand I feel the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are the treasures I have in this life that let me know of my eternity. My eternal family brings me joy. I love His perfect gospel!
Old Testament
Ruth 2
Ruth gleans in the fields of Boaz, a near relative of Naomi - He treats Ruth kindly.
General Conference

Ministering

President Russell M. Nelson

"We will implement a newer, holier approach to caring for and ministering to others."

At 7:30, after my gospel study time, I made muffins to take to Sister MacArthur's house to share with her family and with Laurann, my companion.

After the muffins were done I made out a grocery list and menu plan, and then got ready to start out on my adventures for the day.

I met Laurann down by the Hunsaker's and drove her to Sister MacArthur's. Of course Laurann has her twin one year old boys and Chelsea has her 2 year old daughter Peyton and her nephew Cooper who belongs to the Umphresses. After handing out the muffins to Peyton and Cooper I asked Chelsea if I could take a picture of the mule deer mounted on her wall. I tried to tell James about it last time but I needed a picture.

Shot on Chelsea's parents ranch in Idaho.

I guess I should have taken a photo of the people, but I didn't.

We had a nice visit. Chelsea said she wanted to come and see our house and I told her just give me a warning text so I could make sure I was dressed and she could come any time. Laurann said she would like to come out and go for a walk sometime. Maybe we could walk down to "Chocolate Lake."

Just as I am getting ready to go Laurann asks me if I know Jeanne Wallen. At first she caught me off guard and then I explained how I knew her. She said her mom is best friends with Jeanne and Jeanne told her that I lived in Vernon and that I was very sweet. I told Laurann I could say the same thing about Jeanne.

I left a little after ten for my lunch appointment with my friend Pam at the Show Low hospital. Pam invited her friend and co-worker, Jennifer to join us for lunch. When I got to the checkout in the lunch line Pam swiped her badge before I had a chance to get my card out. That makes the fifth lunch in the past two weeks that I have not paid for. 

Jennifer's husband Ed had a bad accident not too long ago and has been without work. Pam got Jennifer hired at the hospital and now Ed has to have surgery and Jennifer will have insurance to cover it. Jennifer also has a 15 year old daughter that has a brain tumor. She needs good insurance! Pam is a saint. She also brought Jennifer to church on Sunday and Jennifer is very interested in the gospel.

I so much enjoyed my lunch with these two sweethearts, plus I got all three of my veggie servings!

Next stop, grocery shopping at Walmart, with my calculator because I am trying to stay within my budget of $200. I had to eliminate some of the things from my list, but my total was under $200 at $197.

When I got home James was putting shutters on the house. He had made them and painted them while I was gone. I'm glad I wasn't here to see him put them on the upstairs bathroom window. A picture is forthcoming when he finishes the ones for our bedroom.

I put the groceries away, rest a few minutes, and then blog and listen to President Nelson's talk from the October 1996 conference, "The Atonement." 

For dinner I bought a ready made kit made by Walmart. It had pulled pork, country style beans, and mashed sweet potatoes. It was delicious. I especially loved the beans. 

I finished the April Ensign today, read to James from "Stars Above Northumberland", and listened to Robert Millett's book, "The Atoning One," chapters 6 "On Calvary's Cross," and 7 "Infinite, Yet Intimate." I also walked a few steps.

Part of my gospel study today.

Eden and Winter

Here is the story as posted by their mom, Christina:

Evan and his "little brother," Oliver.

It's so nice that Oliver likes this.

What's he thinking here?

My friend Taylor looks beautiful

in her new glasses.

Those were the days!

Duddings were members of our ward.

It's changing hearts that makes a difference.

Saturday, June 10th, 2017

Provo, Utah

15th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Feb 1972 by

Joseph Fielding Smith

(read by Harold B. Lee)

Alma 13:21-14:5

* Alma invites the people to hearken to the voice of the Lord and enter into His rest.

* The ancient prophets speak of 'entering into God's rest' (see Alma 12:34; DC 84:23-24); what does it mean?

"To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in His plan, to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else" (Joseph F. Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church:Joseph F. Smith, 56).

* "True saints enter into the rest of the Lord while in this life, and by abiding in the truth, they continue in that blessed state until they rest with the Lord in heaven....The rest of the Lord, in eternity, is to inherit eternal life, to gain the fulness of the Lord's glory" (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 633).

* What words in Alma 13:27-29 show how Alma felt about the people and about his message?

* As we respond humbly to the invitation to repent, the Spirit will lead us into the 'rest of the Lord.'

DC 87:1-8

1-4, War is foretold between the Northern States and the Southern States; 5-8, Great calamities will fall upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

What is meant by "stand in holy places?"

* Stakes of Zion, how one lives more than where one lives. Live worthy of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.  Our homes should be holy places.  A holy place is any place where a person enjoys the spirit and presence of divinity. The temple is such a place. (See p. 196, Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual).

General Conference

Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into our Lives

President Russell M. Nelson

Earlier this year, I asked the young adults of the Church to consecrate a portion of their time each week to study everything Jesus said and did as recorded in the standard works. I invited them to let the scriptural citations about Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide become their personal core curriculum. I gave that challenge because I had already accepted it myself. I read and underlines every verse cited about Jesus Christ, as listed under the main heading and the 57 subtitles in the Topical Guide. When I finished that exciting exercise, my wife asked me what impact it had on me. I told her, ""I am a different man!"

I accepted this challenge by President Nelson and it is the first

thing I do when I get up in the morning.  It makes me excited to get up and has set the tone for my prayers and scripture study.

When we drove up Friday evening there was one lone bull in our yard.  I guess someone drove the other cows away.  When we got up this morning Mr. Bull had one of his wives and a couple of his children here.  

I read something on Facebook that caught my attention today.  

A Christian women's soccer player refuses to wear gay pride jersey and withdraws from the U.S. National team. "Jalena Hinkle posted on her Twitter page: Colossians 3:32: 'And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.' If you live for people's acceptance, you will die from their rejection."

Today in the New Testament I read about the Savior instituting the sacrament.  In Teaching in the Savior's Way I studied the section, "Help Learners Liken the Scriptures to Themselves."

I just about have the first half of the Living Christ memorized.  

James is quite pleased with himself the morning. He was able to fix the auger.  He is getting to be a pretty good mechanic, including the greasy smell. 

Tonight we clean the temple.  I marinated some chicken for us to grill tomorrow.  I ironed James a white shirt, took a shower and did my basic daily clean of the house. I wrote down a quote from President Nelson's talk on growing closer to the Savior about the Savior's power.  I put it in my ponder journal so I can look at it every day.  

James was on the phone most of the day today. We had 11 people who signed up cancel on us today. We left for the temple at 5:15. This year we are doing a deep clean with the Show Low Creek ward so we only clean 3x a year and it is so much easier!  Brother Patterson is our stake co-ordinator along with his wife so he conducts the chapel session and gives out the cleaning assignments. He is very spiritual and always gives the sweetest messages.  James and I got an easy assignment.  We got to dust several rooms, including the celestial room.  That was wonderful.  

Even though we had 11 people cancel we had 18 people show up. I love the Vernon ward for this reason. They have never let us down when it comes to cleaning the temple. We had 3 Hunsaker's, 2 Peeler's, 2 Smith's, 1 Butler, 2 Wilhelm's, 2 Applegate's, 1Vaught, 2 Cranes, and 1 Gordon, plus ourselves.  Go Vernon!

We were invited by the Cranes to go with a group to dinner at Ava's mexican food but James was stressed about getting home to work on his lesson so we went to Taco Bell instead.  It was 10:30 by the time we went to bed.

It was 22 years ago today that Carly Elmer

drowned in our neighborhood pool.

Gone but not forgotten.

Rock climbing last summer

Where's Lola?

Last summer Max went with the Scouts

to San Diego.

Hunk alert

Now there is a real Hunk!

I remember Sheri bring these lemon creme almonds

to the resort last year.  I had to go right out to

Sprouts and get my own!

Monday, November 25, 2013

'Small and Simple Things'

-Elder Arnulfo Valenquela

"As members of the Church, we are able, through our own small and simple things, to convince many of the error of their ways and help bring them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls." 

(see Alma 37:8)

'Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?'

- Elder Timothy J. Dyches

"As we repent and become converted to the Lord, we become whole, and our guilt is swept away."

I got a funny text from my friend in Chandler, Karen Schneider, this morning.  It went like this: 

"I had a dream about us.  We stole 2 paintings from an old farmer's truck and were on our way in your car to Las Vegas to try to sell them.  I had a giant chocolate bar but only shared a little.  Interpretation?  I am a crook and stingy?  You are just a crook. :) "

Here was my response: "Partners in crime.  I want more of that chocolate bar so I am covetous too.  I love your dreams!"

Karen S.: "Maybe a positive spin is we are partners in creative endeavors and you go forward and I have more to give!!"

James gets back from working on the Horne Auto job around 11 and he helps me load my car for my trip to the valley.  I am taking half the kitchen, plus a turkey to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.  We wanted to watch The Mentalist, this is the one where Red John is revealed, but there just wasn't time.  I have to make it to Chandler in time to go to the So You Think You Can Dance live concert with Brian and Kim and they are leaving a little after six this evening.  I left for the valley right at 1 pm.  I arrived in Chandler at 5 pm.  James went back in to the job in Show Low.  He is coming down to Chandler later tonight.  After I unload the car and go get ready for the concert.  Chelsea Elmer Pace is my date.  We ride together in the back seat of Brian and Kim's car.  Sheri and Ian are coming in their car.

We had a blast at the concert.  We were right down in front.  We saw Addy, Trina, Trina's Mom, Lexy, Kilee, and Kayla.  Here is a picture I took when we went to visit them during intermission.

Kilee, Addy, Kayla

Addy and Trina at SYTYCD concert

Got this picture off Facebook.  It was taken

at Sheri's wards Trunk or Treat.  The businessman

and the angel look like the bride and groom.

Sad football news in the state's high school semi-finals.  Hamilton beats Chandler 21-17 and Blue Ridge beat Show Low 14-7.