Tuesday, September 13th, 2016

Happy Birthday to this beautiful lady,

my Mom!

Bettylea Strickland Maxwell

September 13, 1930

March 31, 1999

Don't you just love my mom's hair

and my bonnet. (And what about that baby chin?)

Helaman 3:19-37

What do these verses tell us about the power of prayer?  How can you apply these principles to your own life?

Helaman 3:35 is the key to becoming a true follower of Christ.  They fasted and prayed oft and increased in humility and were firm in the faith of Christ.  They became sanctified because they yielded their hearts unto God.

I also love verse 20 which says that Helaman did that which was right in the sight of God continually.

GC: 'The Sacred Place of Restoration' by Elder Jairo Mazzagardi

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it."

Isaiah 2:2

James and I went to the Snowflake temple today and here is what we did: Three female initiatories, including Vickie's mom.  Two endowments, including Vickie's mom.  James did two male baptisms,  and also had my mother sealed to her parents, something I thought had been a long time ago.  That is 8 ordinances!  We took a selfie afterwards but we both looked tired and wrinkly (which we were, but who wants to see that!)  I am posting this instead:

Two little lovebirds,

James and Karen.

The reports said there would be no rain today but there were huge rain clouds in the sky when we left Snowflake and Taylor.  This turned out to be one of the best widespread rain days that we have had in a long time.  (I think we were rewarded for doing so much temple work.)

As we headed back towards Show Low James dropped me off at the hospital to see Aunt Gene while he went to do some errands.  Rita has something to do today and she ask me if I could spend an hour with her this afternoon and I said I would.  Aunt Gene was asleep when I got there.  Rita said to wake her up but I didn't want to.  Soon a nurse and an orderly came in and turned her and the nurse tried to wake her up but she was exhausted and was barely audible when the nurse ask her what day it was.  She said Wednesday, but that's close enough.   I guess they wore her out in physical therapy.  While I was there a couple came in who are friends of Aunt Gene.  They said they moved here in 1998 and she was the first person they met.  They were the Crittenden's.  Anyway when James picked me up I was glad I didn't leave my Auntie alone, even though I don't think she even knew they were there.

James and I did our grocery shopping at Walmart.  I am always so grateful when he helps me.  We bought a silk wreath, done in fall colors, to put on my mom's grave.

We didn't stay long because of the lightning,

thunder, and rain!

Well, it happened.  Both my temporary and my permanent crown fell out this afternoon.  It's a good thing I got some Dentemp when I was at Walmart.  If I keep having to replace these babies shouldn't I get some kind of a discount?

I wonder how much I could get from the tooth fairy.

I crashed when I got home and watched the premier of DWTS.

Of course James watches from his spot at the dining room table and pretends he's not interested.

I am signing off with a scenic picture and a C.S. Lewis quote:

I wonder if Brother Lewis's temple work has been done.

The windy road to Hawley Lake.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Apostle Richard G. Scott passed away today.

He was 86 years old.

"Recognize the good in others,
not their stains."
-Richard G. Scott

James calls elk out on the porch every morning and every evening.

I think this group is onto him because they aren't responding.

James went with me today to visit two of the sisters on my visiting teaching beat.  These were the handouts I gave for the lesson on the divine attributes of Jesus Christ, power and glory.

The quote says:

"The Savior uses His Power to Redeem

and Empower us.  Our Faith in Him will increase as

we Remember that He is full of Power an Grace."

This quote is attached to a small Book of Mormon.  I told the sisters that I feel like I get power from reading about the Savior in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon.

We left the house around 9am.  Our first visit was with Elida Pope.  The Pope's live further away from the ward building than any other family in the ward.  We met Elida at the second well on Stanford Rd.  It is 14 miles from the Stanford store to Elida's house, mostly all on dirt roads.  Her house is actually closer to Taylor than it is to Vernon, but there are no roads going into Taylor from where she lives.

 On the road to the Pope's

The Pope's home.  They have solar energy

and a generator and their own well.

I told Elida she was truly a pioneer.  She also home

schools her little boy Ethan.  She has three boys but

Eli and Edmund aren't in school yet.

I had a nice visit with Elida.  I was impressed with how soft-spoken she was with her kids.  She is a convert and she says her husband Eric introduced her to the gospel.  They served in the military together.  She just returned from a trip to her home state, Florida, for her great grandmother's funeral.  She said she was glad to get home and loves the peace and quiet which surrounds her at home.

After our visit with Elida we headed back to the well where we met her and turned to go to visit Hailey Chafin at the Chafin ranch.  

The Chafin's have no electricity.  They have solar power

and a generator and their own well.

Hailey had her baby Huntley Nicole with her.  Her baby has more hair than any baby I've ever seen and it is black and sticks straight up in the air.  Sorry I didn't get a picture.  

We figured we traveled about 60 miles round trip to visit with these two sisters.  I just hope I can make it when it snows.

After our visit with Hailey we headed into Show Low.  We wanted to have lunch at LaCasita but there was no place to park, so we went on down the road to Grumpy Jake's BBQ.  I had the pulled pork sandwich with a side of cowboy beans.  It was all very tasty!  Kyle Thomas, a member of our ward when James was the bishop in Chandler, was in the booth right behind us.  He is a dentist and lives up here now.  

We drove on to the Lakeside Cemetery to check on the mums on my Mom's grave.

They are blooming because of all the rain.

James checking to see if the soil is wet.

On the way home we stopped at Walmart for a little shopping.  When we got home we took a nap and watched a Hallmark movie.

I also worked on my blog and did some cleaning.  James worked on income taxes.  When we went to bed, it started to rain.