Thursday, May 18th, 2017

Mt. Timpanogos, Utah
49th operating temple
Dedicated: 13-19 October 1996 by
Gordon B. Hinckley

Alma 2:1-18

* Why do you think it is important to receive strength from God to stand against wickedness rather than having wicked influences removed completely from our lives?

James: "Trials help us grow and develop.  They not only can help us become stronger and more resistant, but they teach us valuable lessons and help us to recognize our reliance on God.  When we realize our reliance on God and exercise faith in Him, our love for Him and our savior increases and He is able to, through our faith perform miracles in our lives.  When we recognize the Lord's tender mercies we also receive a spiritual confirmation in our hearts that He knows us personally and loves us.  I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything!

Ether 5-6

5 Three witnesses and the work itself will stand as a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

6 The Jaredite barges are driven by the winds to the promised land; 

The people praise the Lord for His goodness; Orihah is appointed king over them; Jared and his brother die.

DC 76:25-37

An angel of God fell and became the devil; Sons of perdition suffer eternal damnation;

What is the "second death" and who are affected by this?

* Bruce R. McConkie: "Spiritual death is the second death.  It is to be cast out of the presence of the Lord, to die as to the things of righteousness, to die as to the things of the Spirit.  All are redeemed from spiritual death except those who have sinned unto death, (DC 64:7), or sons of perdition.

General Conference

The Power of the Book of Mormon

President Thomas S. Monson

"This morning I speak about the power of the Book of Mormon and the critical need we have as members of this Church to study, ponder, and apply its teachings in our lives.  The importance of having a firm and sure testimony of the Book of Mormon 

cannot be overstated."

There were patches of snow on the ground this morning when I got up.  Not enough to completely cover the ground, but still, it's May and there is snow.

I studied the old missionary discussions, Preach My Gospel, "Dad's Who Stay and Fight," Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide of the scriptures, and my Primary lesson.  I downloaded the book "Are Mormon's Christians" on my phone for James,  and tried to set up Deseret Bookshelf Plus on my tablet, but I got the message that they are not compatible.  It is an older and cheaper tablet and there probably are not enough gigabytes.  I see an iPad on the horizon.

We made a trip into town today to get the tire fixed on my car and to have the tires rotated.  Next week it will be an oil change and a new windshield.  James met me at Discount Tire and took care of all the business for me then we hopped in his truck and drove to Darbi's in Pinetop for lunch.  I had a patty melt and a coleslaw.  James had a tuna melt and potato salad.  After lunch I was going to go shopping but I just didn't feel like it.  I will be back in town tomorrow to go to lunch with my friend Pam and I will hit Walmart then.

I stopped at McDonald's for an ice cream cone and a diet coke. Their fountain drinks are the best!  James went to Safeway and then Kmart looking for Dr. Pepper 10 since Walmart is out.  He found some at Kmart.  I appreciate him being so thoughtful.

James worked on his trailer this afternoon and I paid bills, worked on my blog, and found a name to do ordinances for on Family Search.  The name is Clydia Strickland.  I recognize this name because this is my grandpa's sister.  I thought her work had been done, but I was wrong.  I even have her husband's name so she can be sealed to her spouse. James is a little jealous and wants me to work on his line.

I read a neat story about the Paris temple today.  Elder Andersen came to do an inspection and was concerned because there weren't enough flowers for the VIP tour which was to begin the next morning.  The gardener went to the nearest nursery and bought all of their flowers.  In the meantime he called a bishop and asked for volunteers to come and plant the flowers that evening.  40 people showed up, including children.  The flowers were all planted before the next morning and when Elder Andersen returned he said the grounds looked 100 percent better.  That is the magic of Mormonism!

We watched another two hours of Victoria today.  Tomorrow she will meet Prince Albert whom she is destined to marry.  On the way to bed I looked out the window and saw three elk.  James had a hard time seeing them, but finally his elk eyes came into focus.

Photos:

 I loved Elder Pace!

I wonder if any of this is edible.

I am a sucker for clouds, sunsets, and trees.

Windmills, not so much, but this one is great.

A burrowing owl looking into the camera lens.

Joshua telling Michael about Silver Surfer and

a scorpion.  So cute!

This temple has more stained glass art than any 

other temple.

A Christus outside on the grounds.

Not quite the same as the picture above you Dallin.

Scary!

Perfect attendance for Ruby the first quarter

of last year.

Love these two!!

This boy has the best 

sense humor!

An award for Rowan!

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Pennsylvania

3 Nephi 7:15-8:4

What part does the Holy Ghost play in conversion?

Answer: As we exercise faith, repent of our sins, and obey the commandments, we receive a witness born of the Spirit that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  We are visited "by the power and Spirit of God," (v.21), as we listen to testimonies of apostles and prophets.  The Spirit testifies of truth and touches hearts that are humble and teachable.

How can we become more deeply converted?  What lack I yet? How can we be a better influence for good?

Without the Holly Spirit we will not know what is truth and it will not prick our heart to change.  A mighty change of heart to completely follow the Savior and His gospel is an indication of true conversion and happens through the power of the Holy Ghost.

GC: 'Principles and Promises' by President Thomas S. Monson

"May we care for our bodies and our minds by observing the principles set forth in the Word of Wisdom, a divinely provided plan."

We left for town at 7:30 this morning.  James had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Moffat at 8:15.  I dropped him off then went to Walmart to do some shopping.  This is one of the things that I bought:

I love how all the pumpkin flavored items come

out in October.  These are actually quite good.

Doctor Moffat told James his laryngitis was caused by acid reflux, not his sinus infection.  He wrote a prescription but when we went to pick it up they said it wouldn't be ready until tomorrow.  Fine, we will be back tomorrow.  We drove all the way to Darbi's in Pinetop to have some breakfast.  I have been craving crispy hashbrowns, but instead I ordered this veggie burrito.  (I had some of James's hashbrowns).

James likes going out to eat with me because he eats his

food and then gets to eat half of mine too.

When I got home I crashed on the couch and watched last night's episode of "Dancing with the Stars."  It was Latin night, not my favorite, but I loved Lindsey and Calvin, and Sharna and James.

Sheri, Kim and I had a nice "text chat" about the dances.  I think Kim should be a judge.  She really knows how to analyze.

James finished fixing the waterline and the balcony decking.  He is such a little worker bee.  

We got out voters ballots today.  I am leaning toward Donald Trump for this reason:

Hillary scares me more than Trump.

We had chicken and asparagus for dinner.  It was a roasted chicken from Walmart and was very tasty.  Afterwards we watched the season's last episode of Chesapeake Shores.  Of course it is going to be a cliff hanger.  Trace (Jesse Metcalf) gets thrown in jail on the way to the hospital to see his dad who has just had a heart attack.  He failed to tell Abby where he was going.  Hopefully he will remember to call her once he gets to jail.  He was arrested because of an outstanding warrant but we don't know what for.

Grandkids Corner:

This was taken a year ago at our last FHE

before moving out of our house in Chandler.

Lola as a one year old, a perfect little angel.

Lola as a curious two year old.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

So many wonderful things to celebrate this time of the year.

The most important being the birth, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Meeting in the Peter Whitmer home in Fayette, New York, on April 6th, 1830, a small group of believers formally organized the Church that had begun to grow based on truths revealed to a young prophet,

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 The Book of Mormon was first published in March of 1830.  If you have a copy of the original Book of Mormon it is worth $100,000.  My "Nannie", Mae Strickland, gave me a copy of a 1920 edition of the Book of Mormon.  It is almost 100 years old.  I wonder how much it is worth?  It doesn't matter because it's worth to me is far greater than any monetary value.

In my gospel study today I came across this quote by President Howard W. Hunter as I was studying King Benjamin's address and his remarks about service.

"Seek opportunities for service.  Don't be overly concerned with status....It is important to be appreciated.  But our focus should be on righteousness, not recognition; on service, not status.  The faithful visiting teacher, who quietly goes about her work month after month, is just as important to the work of the Lord as those who occupy what some see as more prominent positions in the Church.  Visibility does not equate to value." 

(Ensign, November 1992, 96-97).

Along with reading the Book of Mormon, I think I have mentioned before, I am reading the Book of Mormon Student Manual Religion 121-22.  This course is taught at BYU and most of the commentaries are from General Authorities Conference addresses.

Here is another quote I found inspirational by Elder Robert J. Whetten of the Seventy:

" Conversion means consecrating your life to

 caring for and serving others who need your help 

and sharing your gifts and blessings....

"Every unselfish act of kindness and service increases your spirituality.  God would use you to bless others.

Your continued spiritual growth and eternal progress

are very much wrapped up in your relationships -

how you treat others.  Do you indeed love others and become a blessing in their lives?

Isn't the measure of the leverl of your conversion how you

treat others?

The person who does only those things in the

Church that concern himself alone will never

reach the goal of perfection.  Service to others

is what the gospel and exalted life are all about."

(Ensign, May 2005, 91).

James had to go to town today to get some more cement for his building project and to take a tire in.  I needed to pick up some prescriptions and do a little shopping at Walmart, so I went with him.  

Of course we went around lunch time.  We have been wanting to try Darbi's restaurant in Pinetop for a long time, so that's where we decided to go.  

This parking lot was pretty full, but we found a spot.

The food was delicious.  James had a french dip sandwich with a side of potato salad.  I had a green chili chicken sandwich on buttered sourdough bread with bacon and cheese and a side of sweet potato fries.

The fries had a cinnamon dipping sauce that was very yummy.

I ate most all of the fries and consequently could only eat half of my sandwich.  I was going to take it home but decided to give it to James instead.  He gobbled it up.

After lunch James dropped me off at Walmart while he went to get a tire fixed.  As we were driving home I was reading a short story to him from our Sarah Eden book.  They are doing work on Highway 60 between Show Low and Vernon and the traffic was a little backed up.  Suddenly a truck from behind us passed.  James made the comment: "Do you know why I am driving a little slower?"  I said: "Because of the bags of cement you bought which makes our load heavier.?"  He looked at me with a shocked look on his face.  "I forgot the cement!"  We were just past the St. Johns Y so we turned around to go back to town first stopping at the Stanford Store to see if they had any cement.  They didn't.  We had to go all the way back to the Home Depot in Show Low.

On our way back to Vernon we saw a huge plume of smoke.  James made the comment that if it was a prescribed burn, it looked like it was out of control.  Here are some pictures he took.

About 7 miles from our house, according

to James.

This picture was taken on our road.

I posted this first picture on Facebook and got some interesting responses:

Pam Giles: "I went to look.  Highway 60 has a do not report prescribed burn flashing sign. ( It's past the Vernon turnoff which is why we didn't see it.)

Courtnie Dobson Angell: It is prescribed, they are burning over 1000 acres.  It's not about burning the trees it's burning the underbrush that fuels the fires, and they do cut, it's just seasonal.  The marked trees are the ones that stay.

I hate burning.  It ruins our air quality and makes the forest look desolate.  I know it needs to be done but I wish there was a better way.  I especially wish they wouldn't do it on dry, windy days.

James finished the footings on the shed, just as he planned, in spite of an hour delay.  

I did some work around the house and paid a few bills.  

This evening we watched the LDS World Report which was on between conference sessions on Saturday.  I loved seeing Elder Ballard and Elder Kearon helping distribute goods to the refugees in Europe.  We also saw Elder Bednar and his wife speak to the saints in Libya and Sister's Esplin and Marriott visit the saints in Asia.  When you see these leaders out in the world serving it brings a whole different light to who they are.  I would like all my children and grandchildren to watch this report.  It just might strengthen their testimonies of the gospel.

We also watched "Ice Dreams" on the Hallmark movie and mystery channel.

A former Olympic figure skater coaches an up

and coming star.  It was good.

As we were getting ready to go to bed I hear that James has started a load of laundry.  I have already said my prayers and am waiting in bed for him to return so we can say our family prayers.  When he finally comes in he says: "I had another senior moment.  I washed my pants with my phone in the pocket.  When I remembered I found it in the bottom of the washer.  It had been immersed in water."  

  I looked up some information on Google.  James blow dried it and then immersed it in wheat since he couldn't find any rice.  

We will see what happens.  Apple says not to take the phone apart but seek help.  I guess we will be going to Verizon tomorrow when we go to the valley.  I think James might have "Sometimers", instead of Alzheimers.

It seems I have disappointed some of my children lately.  Last week we missed going to see Jared and this week we won't be in town soon enough to babysit Lola for Darrel or pick up Sheri's kids for her. I hate disappointing the people I love the most!