Tuesday, May 5th, 2020

Seoul, Korea

37th operating temple

Dedicated: 14 Dec 1985

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, King

Psalms 95:3

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Mosiah 12; Sunday journal; study guide

April General Conference

"Spiritually Defining Moments"

Elder Neil L. Andersen

"Eighteen years after the First Vision, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote an extensive account of his experience. He had faced opposition, persecution, harassment, threats, and brutal attacks. Yet he continued to boldly testify of his First Vision. 'I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true. ... I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.'"

"Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ"

Dallin H. Oaks

April 1994

"Grateful in Any Circumstances

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

April 2014

"Live by covenants, not convenience."

 My leg is still hurting this morning, behind my knee. The thought occurred to me that it could be a blood clot from sitting so long yesterday. James was so worried he wanted me to text Trina at 6 a.m. and see what she thought. Of course I did not do that. James had me take an aspirin and another pill that is supposed to help thin blood. Honestly, within a couple of hours, the pain was gone. 

Today is what I call a "Recovery" day. I worked on my blog and listened to Kris and Kathy on the book webinar, and rested. James was gone most of the day working at the Goodman's back filling the trenches to their amazing greenhouse. He wore the Star Wars mask Catherine H. made him but by noon it was so dirty he brought it home for me to wash. For lunch I made him a tuna melt sandwich and some tomato basil soup.

Today is my brother Dennis's 66th birthday. I called to wish him a happy birthday and asked what he was doing to celebrate. He said that he and Denise were in the valley waiting outside of Chili's trying to figure out how to order their food. Someone came out to take their order so our call was cut short. I love my brother Dennis, he is a great guy and lots of fun to be around.

I went with James over to the Halcomb's this afternoon to see about some stumps Kerri wants removed and some post holes she would like for him to dig. While Kerri showed James what needed to be done, I stayed inside and visited with Catherine. Catherine always has some interesting story to tell and today it was about being on the foster care board in California. She said being a foster parent is the best way to adopt a child. Her granddaughter wants to adopt but the $40,000 fee is too costly. Three of Catherine's children are adopted and all she paid for  two of them was the cost of the birth certificate. The other was through LDS Social Services and they had to pay $300.

James went for a Luna ride this evening while I did my gospel study. On the way home from the Halcomb's we stopped to talk to Chuck Crane. They think they finally found out what is causing Cathy's pain, it is her gall bladder. She is having surgery tomorrow.
Thank goodness! Hopefully this will do the trick. She has been through so many tests, and pain since the beginning of the year.

After James's ride he came back and grilled a couple of steaks for dinner. I put together a salad and warmed up some Busch beans and that was dinner. 

After dinner we watched a couple of episodes from season 1 of "Lark Rise to Candleford."

 Such beauties: Scarlett, Ivy, Lola

 I love the expression on her face

 Such wisdom

Great idea, if I was more organic

 James called me out to look at the moon

 May is concert month

Thursday, February 14th, 2019

Fukuoka, Japan

88th operating temple

Dedicated: 11 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Matthew 16:16

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 6:8-7:11

*How do the people of the Lord wait for Him?

- We wait for the Lord patiently. We quietly and obediently do what is asked of us by becoming strong in our testimonies of Jesus Christ. We listen to His teachings and develop an individual plan that will carry us through life. The plan will see us through trials, tribulations and also the best of times.

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

John 2:1-11 The power of Jesus Christ can change me

"Spiritual Eclipse" by Elder Gary E. Stevens, October 2017

General Conference

"For Him"

Sister Joy D. Jones

" The first of the Ten Commandments reiterates this divine wisdom: 'I am the Lord thy God. ...Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' The placement of this commandment helps us understand that if we place Him as our main priority, everything else will ultimately fall into place - even our service to others. When He takes the preeminent position in our lives by our deliberate choice, the He is able to bless our actions to our good and to the good of others."

Things Newlyweds Can Teach Oldie Weds

" Surprises show you are thinking of each other even when you aren't together and keep the sparks flying even when you're on a tight budget or have a busy schedule."

"Spontaneity and surprises seek to communicate about and fill each others needs, express gratitude and love daily, establish habits that connect. Gospel habits are vital but so are other traditions that create a couple culture. We go on a date once a week, time together away from other responsibilities. Each night we list 3-5 things together we are grateful for from the day. We also have a 3 year journal with a question for everyday and a spot for each of us to answer. After we turn the lights out, we talk about our highs and lows from the day. Accept imperfection."

- by Michaela Proctor Hutchins

Happy Valentine's Day, Honey

 Behind this card there is a bag of almond M&M's,

a jar of Trail mix with cranberries, almonds, and pecan,

and Hershey dark chocolate with almonds.

James ordered me a necklace and wrote me a letter.

The necklace had to be engraved and did not

come yet. Here is a photo.

James made me breakfast and do sweet things for me throughout the day. He also drove with me when I delivered my Valentine's to the Halcomb's and the Grapp's. We also brought birthday gifts to Benson, today is his birthday, and Tildy, who had a birthday in January. I got James a Rubik's cube and gave Tildy one of my collectible dolls, "Little Miss Muffet", along with her tuffet and a bowl of curds and whey.

Here are the Valentine's I made for the kids along with sugar cookies and suckers.

Pretty basic but fun for me to make

Boxes of cookies and birthday presents

This evening we delivered these cookies

to the Wilhelm's. They were at the temple

with their kids so we took them to 

Mel and Ruth's.

This evening after delivering the cookies to the Wilhelm's we watched the newest Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movie, "Emma Fielding: More Bitter Than Death." I guess who the killer and bad guy was about half way through the movie. I still liked this movie though and so did James. We prefer the romantic movies but this one was pretty good.

 Happy 107th birthday Arizona

 Palmer & Autumn

Sweet Scarlett

 The best Valentine ever!

 Kacey's cute dates

Tuesday, November 20th, 2018

Logan, Utah

2nd operating temple

Dedicated: 17-19 May 1884

By: John Taylor

Jesus Christ, Death of

Proverbs 14:32

The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.

Book of Mormon #1

Mormon 2:17-29

* What happens when the strength of the Lord is not with us and we are left unto ourselves as it says in verse 26?

-We may not recognize and appreciate how much Heavenly Father helps us in our daily lives as we try to live faithfully. Mormon wrote that when his people became wicked they lost the strength of the Lord that had previously protected them. While serving as a member of the Seventy, Elder Ray H. Wood explained: "When a person violates any of God's commandments, if there is no repentance the Lord withdraws His protective and sustaining influence. When we lose power with God, we know of  a certainty that the problem lies within us and not within God. 'I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise' (DC 82:10). Our misdeeds bring despair. They sadden and extinguish the perfect brightness of hope offered by Christ (2 Nephi 31:20). Without God's help, we are left to ourselves." (Ensign, May 1999, 40-41). I am personally amazed and grateful to Mormon for his righteousness amidst such wickedness. It must have been difficult to stand as a witness of Christ against such odds!

Book of Mormon #2

Alma 34-36

Old Testament

Daniel 11-12

General Conference

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"Last April, when President Russell M. Nelson introduced the concept of ministering, he stressed that it was a way to keep the great commandments to love God and love each other."

Alma 35:15 - ...they began to be offended because of the strictness of the word... (this is still happening today!)

I made LeVain Bakery chocolate chip cookies with walnuts this morning and took a plate to the Grapp's. The kids loves nuts in their cookies and so does Cammy. 

The Grapp kids surrounded me and I found myself in the middle of an Old Maid game. I am not really a fan of this game because whoever gets stuck with the Old Maid gets their feelings hurt. I think Emsley got it this time and she was not happy.

I heard that Cammy didn't teach Relief Society yesterday so I wanted to talk to her about why. It was just a simple family matter. Brother Grapp wanted her to go with him to church in Snowflake to her brother Freeman sing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." She talked to Kerri on Saturday and made arrangements for her to teach for her so she could go with her family to Snowflake. She loves teaching Relief Society and says it has helped her in dealing with depression.

Next stop was the Halcomb's. I got to visit with both Catherine and Kerri. Catherine loves to visit and I wanted to see what they were doing for Thanksgiving. They have plans and the Scott's and the Scott's neighbors are coming over for Thanksgiving. 

Sister Catherine knows the Goodman's we knew in Chandler. Her son is married to one of their nieces. It's a small world. I love this turkey Catherine made:

Catherine is diabetic so I did not bring her cookies, I brought her a candle instead.

On the way home I dropped by the Wilhelm's and picked up pies I ordered for Thanksgiving. The pies and Village Inn pies and the proceeds go to help the wrestling program in Show Low. All of the Wilhelm boys wrestle, except maybe for George who is three.

I bought a lemon supreme, cherry, and chocolate cream pie.

When I got home I put a pizza in the oven that claims to have a cauliflower crust but I could not tell the difference. It was really good!  I also had a taste of lemon and cherry pie. Quite good.

James came home for lunch and took a nap. While he was napping I realized that I had forgotten to go to the post office earlier and I knew we had a package waiting. I hopped in the car and made a quick trip, only 30 minutes. Sure enough, the scale I ordered to weigh books on had arrived. 

James went back to the Howard's to work for a short time. They are going to the valley for Thanksgiving. I paid bills while he was gone but didn't quite finish. When he got home we went to town to buy a meat smoker and to do the rest of our Thanksgiving shopping.

We found smoker's at Home Depot and chose the most reasonably priced one for $99. We got it into the car without too much difficulty and then headed for Walmart. We only had a few items to pick up so it didn't take long. 

We were home and had all of the stuff put away by 8:30. 

I paid bills and walked before bed. I did not do a blog post or work on the book business today, but what I did was important.

Wallen's Thanksgiving:

Jared's kids James, Anna, Emmy and Molly are

in this photo.

Patrick's family spent Thanksgiving in Utah.

Kit and Kristina had their first baby today.

Her name is Myra Lily Lambson.

Congratulations!

 Kilee posted this today.