Friday, June 12th, 2020

Tuxtla, Gutierrez, Mexico

75th operating temple

Dedicated: 12 Mar 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, King

DC 45:59

For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and their lawgiver.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 11:21-46 with James; Sunday journal, Study Guide: Scott and Maurine Proctor's podcast

Ensign

Weekly Book of Mormon Insights

Family Study

Elder Bednar's talk

Restoration

Chapter 19 "Life in Nauvoo the Beautiful"

Inklings

Beautify the Soul; Nourish the Body

April General Conference

"The Power of the Book of Mormon in Conversion"

Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai

"The Savior has given us the Book of Mormon as a powerful tool to aid in conversion. The Book of Mormon provides spiritual nutrition, prescribes a plan of action, and connects us with the Holy Spirit. Written for us, it contains the word of God in plainness and tells us of our identity, purpose, and destiny. With the Bible, the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ and teaches how we can know truth and become like Him."

"A Good Foundation against the Time to Come"

Elder Gary E. Stevenson

"In reviewing this brief history, I am in awe of the seership of Brigham Young - first, his ensuring that, to the extent possible and, using construction methods available at that time and place, the Salt Lake Temple would be built in a manner to endure throughout the Millennium and, second, his prophesying of the growth of future temples worldwide, even to number them in hundreds."

"Meek and Lowly of Heart"

David A. Bednar

April 2018

 James needs six little plungers for little Cat. These plungers, he says, are about the six of one of his fingertips. The cost will be around $800. I am only concerned about James's ability to put everything back together and have it work. He is trying to save having the mechanic come out again.

The water is off until James gets the leak in the downstairs fixed. He did turn it on this morning so I could do some laundry and a load of dishes. He went down to work on the road, using mama Cat. I worked on getting all of my books inventoried so I can start preparing a shipment. I am slow. I got them all inventoried but I still have to clean old stickers off and weigh them and pack them in a box. I planned on finishing up tomorrow morning and then taking them into town to ship when I go in to buy groceries.

I watched Emily Belle Freeman's Inklings Institute post this morning. She talked about doing hard things. She told the story of walking with her children and about 80 other people who wanted to come, to the Salt Lake temple from the Draper temple, a distance of 25 miles. She got the idea from the story of John R. Moyle who was a stonemason who worked on the Salt Lake temple. For over 20 years he walked the distance from Alpine, Utah to Salt Lake City, a distance of about 25 miles, two times a week. He would leave early Monday morning from his home, work all week on the temple and then return Friday afternoon beginning his walk at 2 p.m. One weekend the cow kicked him and broke his leg. He made himself a wooden leg and practiced walking until he could make the twenty five mile trip again. Talk about doing hard things! There is a church video about him called, Only a Stonecutter.

This afternoon James's sister Rebecca, her husband Brent, and their two youngest, unmarried boys, Nathan and Scott came by for a visit. They had been camping up on the East Fork of the Black River. There was a fire near Alpine and the smoke and the ash became a bit too much for them so they decided to go home. On the way they stopped to visit with us. Brent and Rebecca are such nice people and so are their boys. Nathan is the youngest. He served a mission to France and now he is going to school at BYU getting his degree in computer programming. He wears glasses, is very friendly and is a nice looking boy. Scott is more quiet and shy but he did contribute to the conversation and showed me a snake they saw swimming in the East Fork stream. He has a degree in electrical engineering. We would have invited them to stay except for the water issue. I think they were ready to go home though as they have been gone for a few days. Rebecca says they are remodeling their kitchen and she is trying to decide what kind of countertops to get. She would like to have stone but doesn't know if they can afford it. I invited them to come back when the heat begins to bother them. I suggested August after it starts to rain. Rebecca said she would love to come back and paint a picture of Luna. I would love that!

Tonight we watched the final episode of "Lark Rise to Candleford." James loved it as much as I do. Alf proposes to Minnie and Gabrielle tells Dorcas he loves her. Margaret starts out being mean to Thomas and you wonder why until you find out that she is pregnant. It was a good ending to a great series!

Today is Ian's 48th birthday.

Happy Birthday Ian

 I feel this way too but I wonder how

my family feels.

 

The early Kirtland saints suffered and sacrificed much to build the Kirtland Temple, the temple that is said to have cost the most to build when you factor in the poverty, persecution, and violence the saints endured. Wilford Woodruff stated, "the bells of hell did not cease their tolling" while the temple was being built. The Saints were commanded to build a house unto the Lord and they obeyed. They had no idea, and couldn't even imagine, what HUGE blessings would pour out upon them, upon their families, and literally the whole world for time and all eternity. It all came from their sacrifice. Sometimes the Lord blesses us with things we love for the purpose of sacrificing it, we only need to listen, obey, follow and trust. The blessings will come. (Inklings comment) 

My little 86 year old friend Catherine posted this.

You go girl

 Rebecca, Scott, Nathan, Brent Tibbetts

Go Molly!

 John making his wooden leg shown in the picture on the

right picture.

Wednesday, June 12th, 2019

Las Vegas, Nevada

43rd operating temple

Dedicated: 16 Dec 1989

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Exemplar

Mark 10:21

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Book of Mormon

Alma 14:32-15:4

New Testament "Not My Will, But Thou Wilt"

Matt 26:26-30 Mark 14:22-26 Luke 22:14-20 Gospel Topic: The Sacrament.

General Conference

Behold the Lamb of God

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"My beloved brothers and sisters, with the exciting new emphasis on increased gospel learning in the home, it is crucial for us to remember that we are still commanded to 'go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day.' In addition to making time for more home-centered gospel instruction, our modified Sunday service is also to reduce the complexity of the meeting schedule in a way that properly emphasizes the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as the sacred, acknowledged focal point of our weekly worship experience. We are to remember in as personal a way as possible that Christ died from a heart broken by shouldering entirely alone the sins and sorrows of the whole human family."

I love this quote by President Nelson:

"I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation." 

He counseled us to pray. to listen, to write down our thoughts, and to take action.

After breakfast and scriptures this morning we all left for town. I am going to do some grocery shopping while James takes the kids to Woodland Lake to take some pictures on the covered bridge.

Our first stop was Wendy's for lunch. We saw Brother and Sister Elmer from Eagar at Wendy's. They are our temple coordinators and we enjoyed seeing them and introducing them to the grandkids.

After lunch I walked over to Walmart while James loaded the kids in the car to take them to Woodland Lake. Trina called while I was in the Walmart parking lot and I told her she should probably call James if she wanted to talk to the kids, which she did.

Charles Gordon from our ward checked me out at Walmart. He is quite shy and quiet, barely saying anything to me. I must say he was an efficient cashier though.

Here are the photos James took at the lake:

I wish I would have done Lola's hair better.

She says her mom is the best at doing her hair. She can do

it anyway. Sorry Trina.

On the way home I read an email from a sister in our ward who is giving away two cats to a good home. Rowan texted his mom with a picture and of course she said no.

Lola likes this one

Back at home the kids watched the movie "Rio" and ate popcorn and M&M's. Afterwards Rowan and Ruby went on a hike and Rowan found a horned toad. 

Ruby even got to hold it.

While Rowan and Ruby were hiking with granpa Lola played with the Calico Critters.

She has shoes on because she was going to go on the hike

but she changed her mind.

For dinner I fixed chicken nuggets, peas, rolls and strawberries. 

After dinner James took the kids on a long Razr ride while I had a 

Relief Society presidency meeting with Tamara, Kerri, and Maxine. We worked on our father's day gifts, candy bars with clever quotes for dad's.

One of the things reported in our meeting was the brother Joel Robertson is speaking after having a stroke. This was good news! 

Happy Birthday Ian!

 The first time in 40 years a church has been

recognized in Kuwait.

 Hush, Hush sweet Charlie

 I love this!

Tuesday, June 12th, 2018

St. George, Utah

1st operating temple

Dedicated: 6-8 Apr 1877

By: Daniel H. Wells

Jesus Christ, Condescension of

Romans 8:3

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Book of Mormon

Alma 14:23-15:4

*How does your faith in Christ give you strength?

- It gives me strength because I know he is always there for me and will take care of me if I do my part. It is a very comforting thing.

Old Testament

2 Kings 11-12

11 Ahthaliah destroys the royal family in Judah and reigns herself in Judah - Joash is preserved and crowned king when seven years old - Jehoiada the priest destroys the house of Baal.

12 Jehoash (Joash) reigns in righteousness - The breaches in the temple are repaired - The safety of Jerusalem is purchased with the hallowed things in the temple - Joash is slain and Amaziah reigns.

General Conference

The Elders Quorum

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

"Years ago, President Boyd K. Packer observed that 'the priesthood is greater thann any of its offices. ...The priesthood is not divisible, An elder holds as much priesthood as an Apostle. (See DC 20:38.)

When a man has the priesthood conferred upon him, he receives all of it. However, there are offices within the priesthood - divisions of authority and responsibility. ... Sometimes one office is spoken of as being 'higher than' or 'lower than' another office. Rather than higher or lower, offices in the Melchizedek Priesthood represent different areas of service."  Brethren, I devoutly hope that we will no longer speak in terms of being 'advanced' to another office in the Melchizedek Priesthood.

Russell M. Nelson 4/15 #65. The Sabbath is a Delight.

"How can you ensure that your behavior on the Sabbath will lead to joy and rejoicing.?"

Dale G. Renlund The Melchizedek Priesthood. Chapter 24

Conclusion

James started out this morning to help Brother Howard's neighbor. Brother Howard caught him and asked if he could fix his waterline as they have no water so he did that first and then went to the neighbors with Big Cat and did some grading for $50.

Your ward's youth trek starts today. Sister Allen said they would be coming by our house. I will look for them.

I actually caught up on my blog today after several weeks of being behind. It is a good feeling!

I texted Amaron's mother Laurann today. Here is the text I sent.

Hi Laurann. I wanted to talk to you about Amaron. Initially the reason I wanted to help him with his reading was because he struggled reading in our Primary class and lacked confidence in his ability. I know you have not asked for my help and if you would rather I didn't, just tell me. I will not be offended. I have realized I can't do much good just seeing him once a week. If I am going to continue, I will need to give him things to do and read at home to you on a daily basis. He needs to practice everyday. I can reserve a room at the library on Thursday evenings where I can meet and work with him. He is such a sweet boy and I want him to feel the excitement and success of being a good reader. I am afraid if we don't help him he is going to get further and further behind. Please let me know how you feel about this. We could start next week as I am going to the temple at 4:30 this Thursday with Deborah Brewer. Think about it and let me know. Your friend, Karen.

I never heard back from Laurann today and I thought maybe I had offended her. I thought about it until I finally went to sleep tonight.

I decided that tomorrow I would text her again.

This afternoon I finally got the Whitecap account username and password straightened out so that I could pay that bill. James made several calls about returning our phones and when I went to town to get groceries he stopped by the Verizon store and they contacted Verizon and they are sending us labels to return our old phones.

On the way to town I drank my green smoothie because I knew I couldn't go shopping on an empty stomach. I picked up the Treewax floor polish remover I ordered. I thought I had ordered six bottles but it ended up being 12 because two bottles are wrapped together. They cost $76.

I'm going to be busy the next few weeks.

After putting my groceries away this evening I walked over 10,000 steps. It feels good to be able to walk my steps again!

I also spent 25 minutes reading from Children Learning Reading, then practiced with my caligraphy pen by writing my ancestors names on a family tree I found while cleaning.

I had to make it extra large so you could see the names.

We went to bed with open windows and turned the AC off. We are supposed to have rain on Friday and Saturday which is highly unusual for this time of year. We can hardly wait!

Happy 46th Birthday Ian!

If you think Ian looks young in this photo it's

because this photo was taken last year.

I sent his card yesterday. He didn't get it today.