Hong Kong, China
48th operating temple
Dedicated: 26 May 1996
By: Gordon B. Hinckley
Jesus Christ, Creator
2 Nephi 2:15
And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.
Book of Mormon
Alma 42:1-15
*What can we learn from the fall?
- We have our agency but must accept the consequences of our choices. God loves us and provides a way for us to return to Him.
Old Testament
Esther 9 - Job 1
9 The Jews slay their enemies, including Haman's ten sons - The Feast of Purim is instituted to commemorate their deliverance and victory.
10 Mordecai, the Jew, stands next to Ahasuerus in power and might.
Job 1
1 Job, a just and perfect man, is blessed with great riches - Satan obtains permission from the Lord to tempt and try Job - Job's property and children are destroyed, and yet he praises and blesses the Lord.
General Conference
It Is All About People
Bishop Gerald Causse
"My dear brothers and sisters, are we active in the gospel, or are we merely busy in the Church? The key is to follow the example of the Savior in all things. If we do that, we will naturally focus on saving individuals rather than performing tasks and implementing programs."
Sister Deatherage and Sister Applegate were the speakers in sacrament meeting today.
Sister Deatherage used two talks for her talk: "Being in the Thick of Thin Things" by Sister Michelle Craig, First Counselor in the General Young Women's Presidency. This talk was given at BYU women's conference. "As the world gets busier and noisier, it becomes critical for us to carve out time for those things that are of greatest importance." What will you take with you, what will you leave behind? Sister Craig says we take our covenants, relationships, and things that have built our character. We take those things that are of eternal importance. Do you have any personal quiet time? "Unless we make time for quiet contemplative time, the voice of the Spirit may not get through to us." What are you doing that you should not be doing? What am I not doing that I should start doing?
The next part of her talk was based on a General Conference address given by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf: "Am I Sleeping through the Restoration?" Selfishness and addictions and two road blocks to our progression and being active in the restoration.
Brother Applegate: How Can We Overcome Challenges, Weaknesses, and Sins? Brother Applegate only had about ten minutes for his talk. He spoke really fast but with enthusiasm and sincerity. He quoted Ether 12:27 - "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."
This thought came to me as I was listening to Brother Applegate's talk: "If my love for the Lord is greater than my love for my weaknesses, He will help me overcome them." Brother Applegate's talk was pretty amazing!
Sister Wood gave our Sunday School lesson: O.T. #29: "He Took Up...the Mantle of Elijah" 2 Kings 2; 5-6
The purpose of the lesson was to help us understand how the authority (mantle) passes from one prophet to another, to encourage us to obey the words of the prophets, and to assure us that the power of God is greater than any other power.
The 3rd hour was under the direction of the Bishop because it is the 5th Sunday. Bishop Miller started out by asking if there were any questions or concerns. Brother DeWitt wanted to know if there was a plan in place in case of an intruder with a gun. I guess because of the incident in Fallon, Nevada this concern is on most people's minds. The handbook states that we should hide, flee, or fight back in case of an intruder. Only law enforcement officers are allowed to carry weapons. We must realize that we are under the Lord's protection when we are at Church. I am not sure this was what Brother DeWitt wanted but the bishop really has no authority in this matter.
I asked the question: Why aren't ministering brothers and sisters set apart. The bishop thought it was a very good question. My answer came from Brother Patrick and Sister Miller and lots of others in between. Brother Patrick says that ministering is not a calling it is an assignment and that we only set people apart for callings. Sister Miller said that we are under our baptismal covenant to minister and care for one another. Those answers satisfied me.
Bishop Miller gave some wonderful counsel about ministering. He told of a time when he was living in Texas and was extremely busy including taking 24 credits in college. He was asked to home teach a very needy man and what a blessing it became in his life. He says that when you minister, you in return are ministered to. Also when we serve others we find ourselves because there is more of us to find. It was a great meeting.
At home after lunch and rest time I got a text from Stacy asking if we could change the couples retreat to September 15th. There is some confusion as to when our next deep clean of the temple is. The bulletin says Sept 12th but that is a Wednesday and deep cleans are always done on Saturday. When James got up from his nap he called Brother Patterson who is the stake cleaning coordinator. the cleaning is on September 1st so we are good with September 15th for the couples retreat. Now Kim is going to talk to Sheri and Stacy is going to talk to Trina about coming. Neither of them wanted to leave their kids at home. I told Stacy to please not pressure them to come but tell them there are things we want to do, such as have a council/counsel meeting and work on family history that will be easier if kids are not involved. Next year I would like to plan a family reunion for everyone and make it at a time that Jared and Kacey can come too.
James wanted me to read from "Life Everlasting," our Sunday reading book. We went out on the porch and read about the Resurrection.
I listened to the last chapter from "A Reason for Faith," Science and Religion Friends or Foes.
Sheri asked James to ordain Ben to the Melchizedek priesthood. Ben asked him to be his escort in the temple. What a wonderful month August is going to be!
James worked on our family tree that we are showing the kids at the couples retreat. Actually we have three trees. One for our council meeting and two for our family history meeting. Here are the trees:
Council Meeting
How can the image of this tree help us to raise a righteous posterity?
That will be our beginning statement and then we will go from there with a discussion on how we can help each other to raise righteous children.
How can we be more united as a family?
What are your concerns and feelings regarding this?
Family History
First we will talk about this combined tree which makes
the James Lambson and Karen Maxwell Family Tree.
We will then give each person a family tree to fill out of
their family.
We will get on family search and fill in names and talk
about the importance of establishing a strong family tree.
Can this family tree help us with raising our children?
If so, how?
Our children were represented on the tree given in the council meeting.
We will also be going to a spot on the river where we can relax, hike and have lunch together. Paul is going to cook dinner using a flat iron steak recipe that Stacy raves about.
Before leaving for the outing on Saturday morning James and I will make biscuits, with steak and gravy. We will also have fresh fruit for those of us who are light eaters.
After Fast and Testimony meeting on Sunday we will come home to a delicious crockpot meal and a big salad. I am not sure what the meal will be yet.
When James was working on the family tree he noticed that both of my great grandfathers on my dad's side died at the very young age of 38.
After going to bed tonight we experienced quite a show of lightning and thunder. We also got a little of unexpected rain.
It was a wonderful Sabbath day.
I need to visit Aunt Gene again. She is my link
to the past for the Maxwell and Robinson
families. I also need to find out who is Uncle Walter's
closest relative so I can get permission to do his and his wife's temple work
I love this family photo from 1978-79.
