Monday, February 25th, 2020

Kyiv, Ukraine

134th operating temple

Dedicated: 29 Aug 2010

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Judge

Psalms 50:6

And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

2 Nephi 26:1-19; Study lesson with the Peeler's

Restoration:

Oct 2019 General Conference:

"Holiness and the Plan of Happiness"

President Henry B. Eyring

"Some listening today may be wondering: 'Why do I not feel the peace and happiness promised to those who have been faithful?

I have been faithful through terrible adversity, but I don't feel happiness.' 

Even the Prophet Joseph Smith faced this test. He prayed for relief when he was confined in a jail in Liberty, Missouri. He had been faithful to the Lord. He had grown in holiness. Yet he felt happiness had been denied. The Lord gave him an answer in Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-9"

Without using an alarm sometimes I sleep in. Today was one of those days. I woke up at 5:15. My excuse for sleeping in is: "Well I guess I needed the extra hours rest."

I am back to drinking cherry Pepsi. I couldn't find the Zevia at either Walmart up here. Hopefully when I go to the valley this coming week I will be able to find some. I could order it on Amazon but you have to order quite a bit and I really want to taste it first before I commit to so much.

James and I left for town around 11:00 this morning. He is taking his truck in to get the oil changed. He's going to Walmart because Jiffy Lube wants $90. Walmart will do it for $35. 

Our roads are like a muddy marsh. I stopped at the post office to buy stamps and to pick up mail. I had over 8 books. The guy who works at the post office helped me carry my books out. I told him I lived on a muddy dirt road. He looked at my car and said, "yeah, I can tell."

I picked up James at Walmart and we turned around and went back to Persnikkity's for lunch. The girl we minister to, Tanna works there. He husband owns the restaurant and besides, it is one of our favorite places to eat for lunch. 

Persnikkity's is a popular place and we had to stand in line to wait to place our order. While we were waiting Tanna came out from the kitchen and James introduced her to me. She said as soon as she could she would come by our table for a visit. 

We sat at the only table available, a small two seater. I ordered the orange chicken salad which I love and James ordered the twisted Philly cheesesteak with a side of sweet potato fries. I actually ordered the fries. The cheesesteak is twisted because instead of just regular beef it tastes like Korean bbq. It is yummy.

I had to take most of this home because I

ate so many of the sweet potato fries.

That little breadstick on the left was delicious

and filled with cheese.

That is fudge in the front, dark chocolate fudge.

All it lacked was some nuts. It was so creamy

and delicious. I normally do not like fudge but

I would order this again.

Tanna never made it over to see us and after we left she texted. I told her to tell her brother that we love eating at Persnikkity's. 

She thanked me and said she would.

James got out at Walmart where he picked up some truck and did some errands before going home. One of his errands was to pick up some prescriptions at CVS. His Nefediprine (blood pressure med), for a 90 day supply, cost him $200. Getting old and being sick is costly.

After dropping James off at Walmart I back tracked about half a mile to Dr. Moffat's office. The nurse asked me why I was there. I said, so I can get my prescriptions filled. She looked at her records and said, yeah, you haven't been in since August 2017. 

Dr. Moffat asked me some questions, did a brief examine, and told me he sent refills of my prescriptions to Walmart. He gave me a form to take to the arthritis center for a request for bloodwork checking my thyroid and cholesterol. 

After the doctor's visit I stopped at the carwash. First I sprayed off the top layer of mud in the do it yourself stall then I went through the automated wash. James said it wouldn't do any good to wash my car but I couldn't stand looking at it. 

When I got to the mud driving home I went very slow. I was surprised to see how much it had dried out since 11. When I got home I had very little mud on my car. There was a layer on the tires but that's to be expected. 

I had planned on working on my book business this afternoon but after resting and reading I decided I needed to walk. It was 3 pm and I did not even have 5,000 steps. I did some walking and before I knew it it was time to get ready to go to the Peeler's for our "Come Follow Me" discussion group. On the way over we saw a huge herd of elk on both sides of the road, I would say 60 or 70. James thought there were more like a 100. We were both guessing.

The Peeler's greeted us and introduced us to two of their grandsons. When the Goodman's didn't show by 10 after, they live next door, I texted Barbara. She said they thought we weren't meeting this week and they were on their way home from the valley. I said it's next week we aren't meeting because both Donna and I have doctors appointments in the valley.

After going through the lesson and discussing it, Braydon, one of the grandsons, served us apple pie and ice cream. Donna had made the pie and it was delicious!

We said our goodbyes and headed home. We hoped we would see the elk again but they were either gone or bedded down. At home I did some more walking, read to James from Aunt Dimity, and we studied from the Book of Mormon some more before bed.

I spoke with Stacy today. Skyler has never paid her any money so she is reporting him. He is threatening her with claiming she has told him about inappropriate sexual behavior she has had with Joshua. Ridiculous lie! Stacy's friend who is a police officer told her to go to the police and report this threat before Skyler does. She did this today. What a mess! We will definitely keep Stacy in our prayers.

 We will be staying with Darrel this weekend. Trina is going to Hawaii to visit her sister who has a baby that Trina has not seen. "Come Follow Me" with the family will be Sunday evening at Darrel's.

 Michelle's invitations for our

RS activity in March

 Why?

Ruby gets braces!

 I invited the Grapp's to come over and watch

"When Calls the Heart" next week.

 I like my yellow pillows

 Ready to go to the doctor's

She eats a lot but she burns it all off. 

Wow!

Ben's Letter

Monday, April 2, 2018

Adelaide, Australia

89th operating temple

Jesus Christ Authority of

Abraham 3:27

And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.

Book of Mormon

Words of Mormon

*What things did I learn from General Conference so far?

- What truly touched me about this General Conference is how palpable you could feel the love of our Father in Heaven, His Son's, our prophet, the apostles, and all the others who spoke in conference. You knew that they were men of God who loved the Lord I thought that the common theme was Christ and His love for us and how we should acquire that same love to minister to others. The gospel is really simple, love the Lord and love our neighbor. If we truly love the Lord, we will do all that He asks. When we do all that He asks, we become like Him and we do the things that He did when He walked the earth.The pure love of Christ truly makes the world go round. My hope for me is that as I come unto Christ I will acquire the pure love of Christ and then take that love and become one of His ministering angels. We have a great example in our prophet who has the pure love of Christ in him. What a spiritual feast we had this General Conference!

Old Testament

Deuteronomy 34 and Joshua 1

34 Moses sees the promised and and is taken by the Lord - Joshua leads Israel - Moses was Israel's greatest prophet.

Joshua 1

The Lord speaks to Joshua - He is commanded to be of good courage, to meditate upon the law, and to keep the commandments - He prepares Israel to enter Canaan.
General Conference

Am I a Child of God?

Elder Brian K. Taylor

" How can each of us experience the power of understanding our divine identity? It begins by seeking to now God, our Father."

Paul is on a diet. Here are some of the results of the past two weeks: (Facebook post)

At the beginning of March I got bad news from my doctor, my HbA1c was 8.6, normal is 6.0. I was already taking medication to control my diabetes but this meant that the medication was no longer working. He gave me a new medication, but it also failed to lower my blood glucose. In addition my blood pressure was moderately high and cholesterol was also elevated both also being controlled through medication.

I resolved to make a change I had long expected but resisted. What has happened in the last two weeks is pretty amazing and I don't think I can credit any one thing as the reason for these changes but likely a group effort so to speak.

My doctor put me on an even stronger dose of medication, but by then I had eliminated soda from my diet. I then increased my frequency of 2 mile walks from 3 times a week to 6. The biggest change was starting Isagenix as a way to help me regulate blood glucose and make my diet predictable. I then started working out.

In two weeks here are the results:

A follow up with my doctor has reduced my blood pressure medication in 1/2 and I likely could get rid of it. My last reading was 92/63, way too low. 

My "big boy" belt is useless, I am on the last notch only because it doesn't go lower.

My shoes became loose y fitted hats are too big.

I'm sleeping better. My workout tights are no longer tight.

I have way more energy. I'm more focused especially at work.

My glucose levels have dropped from an average 230 to 105 in two weeks. I've lost 30 lbs this month, 20 in the last two weeks.

I

am no way near done but off to a good start My goal is still to get off all medication and if the weight goes, then that's a bonus.

I'm so grateful for those who have offered me support and encouragement.

I am grat eful for Paul's example. I have initiated some changes in my own life. I went off diet soda the Monday after fast Sunday in March. On April 1st James and I said we were going to give up sweets for the month of April. I have been keeping track of my calories for the past few days and I walk 5-6 miles a day. My goal is to lose 25 lbs. by my birthday in August. I feel like with this quote from the October 2017 General Conference, I now have the motivation to do it.

" If the love we feel for the Savior and what he did for us is greater than the energy we give to weaknesses, self-doubts, or bad habits, then He will help us over the things which cause suffering in our lives. He saves us from ourselves."

-Sister Joy D. Jones

This is what keeps me going. As I realize the sacredness of the body the Lord has given me I realize I need to treat it with more respect. 

James left after our reading of the Book of Mormon and family prayers around 7:20, for his appointment with Dr. Moffat. He needs referrals to see other doctors and Dr. Moffat writes those referrals.

I was sad to see the General Young Women's presidency released at conference. I had grown to love Sister Oscarson, Sister McConkie, and Sister Marriott. In the April 2017 general conference Sister Jones, the Primary General President lost her counselor, Sister Jean B. Bingham. Sister Bingham is now the General Relief Society President. This conference her other counselor, Sister Bonnie Cordon, was released and called as the Young Women's General President. All I can say is, Sister Jones picks awesome counselors!

Young Women General Presidency:

President - Sister Bonnie H. Cordon

1st Counselor - Michelle Craig

2nd Counselor - Becky Craven

New Primary Counselor:

Sister Lisa Harkness

I am not feeling too well today. I think I am tired and run down from this past weekend. I did not stay on my schedule today. I didn't clean or pay bills or fix any meals or work on my Primary lesson. I bought the ChildrenLearningReading program and worksheets. I started running off the worksheets until I ran out of colored ink on my printer. I am so excited to start the program with Amaron. He is coming over on Thursday so I can help him with the Primary handout for this month. I also blogged two days and walked.

James went on a Razr ride this afternoon. He says he is looking for antlers to give to Terry. He saw elk and a herd of 20 antelope. He was gone a couple of hours.

This evening James and I started watching the Saturday afternoon session of general conference. We missed it because of our Easter party. It went like this:

Sustaining of Church officers and calling of new officers: 

Dallin H. Oaks. 

Auditing Report - we skipped this.

7. "Meek and Lowly of Heart" - Elder David A. Bednar

8. "One More Day" - Elder Taylor G. Godoy

9. "Young Women in the Work" - Bonnie L. Oscarson

10. "Saving Ordinances Will Bring Us Marvelous Light" - Elder Taniela B. Wakolo

We stopped here and will listen to the other two talks in this session tomorrow evening. 

I walked while listening to these talks and got over 19,000 steps today.

Kim's Easter eggs. She dyed them and then

made the designs with a small Sharpie.

Amazing!

Christina's three children on Easter:

Eden, Winter, Ander

These pictures remind me of photos my mother

took when Harold, Dennis, and I were young.

I always had an Easter bonnet.

Proud grandparents,

Rebecca and Brent

Two years ago when Elder Heyman was

called as an Area Authority Seventy.

Carmen's Snowman