Sunday, July 12th, 2020

Guadalajara, Mexico

105th operating temple

Dedicated: 29 Apr 2001

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

 DC 76:85

These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

"Come Follow Me" lesson at the Peeler's

April General Conference

"The Power of the Book of Mormon in Conversion"

Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai

Elder David A. Bednar taught: "Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. Conversion requires us to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only. The Lord's action plan for us - the doctrine of Christ - is taught most clearly in the Book of Mormon.

Inklings
Strengthen, Beautify, Nourish
Inklings Institute with Emily

Lambson Study Group
 Discussion on Responsibility 
with Jared, Kacey, Kim, Brian
Sheri and Stacy

James studied the "Come Follow Me" lesson, listening to Book of Mormon Central "Come Follow Me" Insights while I worked on my blog. I already listened to Book of Mormon Central.

The Crane's were scheduled for our "Come Follow Me" group but they have family here so we met at the Peeler's again this week. James and I picked up Pierce on the way. Barbara isn't coming because she is still recovering from shoulder surgery. She had a rough night and was asleep when we picked up Pierce. 

After the opening song, prayer, sacrament song, and blessing and passing of the sacrament Owen started the discussion on Alma 30-31. He said he wanted each of us to share a spiritually defining moment in our lives and he would share first. He told about believing in the gospel since he was six although his family was not active. When he was 14 he was working in a hardware store and wanted to know for sure if God was real. He knelt down and said a prayer asking Heavenly Father if He was real. He felt something undeniable and knew that his prayer had been answered. He has never forgotten this experience.

Pierce said he went through a divorce and couldn't understand why because he had tried everything he knew how to make his marriage work. He prayed for peace and felt the comfort of the Spirit like he had never felt before. 

James said when he was 12 years old he was at a meeting where the song "I Stand All Amazed" was sung. This was a spiritual awakening for him.

 Donna shared how her dad would take her to church every week but neither of her parents ever went with her. Through attending her church and then later when she joined our church she has felt the whisperings of the Spirit. 

I told about the time I was preparing to teach a Spiritual Living lesson about the Holy Ghost and could not remember feeling the Holy Ghost in my life. I kneeled down to pray and the most power was feeling came over me and I knew it was the Spirit.

This afternoon in our conversation with  Jared and Kacey they said Summer was sick and had gone down to be tested for Covid-19. Her boyfriend has it but Summer tested negative. There are lots of false negatives so she may still have it. Jared may have to miss two weeks of work and he and Kacey will probably get it. I hope Charlie doesn't get it though. 

We had our Lambson Study Group discussion at six o'clock. We started out on Skype but we couldn't see Sheri and there was lots of background noise. When we went to Zoom things were much better. We had studied one of Ben's favorite talks, "100 Per Cent Responsible" by Elder Lynn G. Robbins. This talk was given at a BYU Devotional. We also read and discussed talks by Elder Christofferson and President Monson. Stacy joined the discussion today which was nice. 

This evening while James was writing his letter to Ben I listened to Emily on Inklings Institute and started a Lambson Study Group journal and a "Come Follow Me" group journal. I also made some dark chocolate brownies with walnuts. We ate a couple and put the rest in the freezer.

I still remember this day so vividly

Couldn't resist another one

Little Miss Charlie makes our Sabbath!

Sunday, July 5th, 2020

Birmingham, Alabama

98th operating temple

Dedicated: 17 Sept 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

1 Nephi 10:10

And after he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Review Alma 23-29 with study group at the Peeler's

April General Conference

"Spiritually Defining Memories"

Elder Neil L. Andersen

"My friend Clayton Christensen described an experience during a very prayerful reading of the Book of Mormon this way: 'A beautiful, warm, loving Spirit ... surrounded me and permeated my soul, enveloping me in a feeling of love that I had not imagined I could feel and these feelings continued night after night."

I got up this morning and as part of my gospel study I listened to Emily and Rio on the Inklings Institute lesson for the week. This is the line from the Restitution Proclamation for this week: "Pages of this sacred text include an account of the personal ministry of Jesus Christ among people in the Western Hemisphere soon after His Resurrection. We also studied Elder Gong's conference address, "Hosanna and Hallelujah - The Living Jesus Christ: The Heart of Restoration and Easter" We also discussed 3 Nephi 17:7-9 and 11:14-15. It was a great discussion. I learned that Hosanna means "save us" and Hallelujah means "you are saved." We start at the beginning and through truth and knowledge we grow in wisdom. As we continue to practice with persistence, we improve and our confidence grows. "With the passage of time, moral agency and mortal experiences help us become more like our Savior as we labor with Him in His vineyard and follow His covenant path."

Here are some of the comments left on the Instagram Inklings site: 

Someone shared this quote by Mary Magdalene from The Chosen:

"I was one way, now I am completely different, and the thing that happened in between was Him." 

Sue Heugly: "I have found that when I choose to have Jesus Christ in all parts of my life ... I don't drop him off in the morning and pick him back up in the evening. If "He" is to be within me always ... it works better if I include Him in my thoughts all day long ... for those thoughts are a speech before Him. A little Hosanna in the morning and a hallelujah in the evening, with prayers of gratitude in between, would definitely increase my personal connection with my Savior and make it more joyful for Him to find me."

I love hearing other people bear their testimony and express what the Savior means to them. 

We met at the Peeler's today for our "Come Follow Me" discussion. The Goodman's were not there. Barbara is still recovering from her shoulder surgery. As we discussed the missionary labors of the sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites, Brother Peeler shared a story from his mission to New Orleans, Louisiana. The missionaries were struggling to find people to teach. Brother Peeler and his companion met with a preacher from another religion. He gave an eloquent sermon. Afterwards Elder Peeler went up to him and asked who he thought God was. He took him several comments before he finally said, "I don't know." Elder Peeler then proceeded to teach him about the Godhead. Afterwards the preacher made this comment: "I didn't know this was what you guys believed. You are welcome to knock on the doors if anyone in my parish and those doors will be open to you." Brother Peeler said everything changed in the mission. They were able to get inside peoples homes and teach them and many people were baptized. A young missionary sharing a simple testimony made all of the difference.

Donna had made a cake with Coolwhip frosting and peaches on top for us to break our fast with. It was delicious!

We had a short visit with Kacey, Jared and Charlie via Face Time before our Lambson Study Group.

Our discussion this week was on mercy. Emily this morning said that mercy was especially active compassion. At least that is the Greek definition. We had three talks to study this week: "Mercy - the Divine Gift" by President Thomas S. Monson; "The Justice and Mercy of God" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland based on a talk he gave at BYU called, "Borne On Eagles' Wings"; and "Blessed are the Merciful" by President Gordon B. Hinckley. The talks were great. I loved the story of the southern soldier during the Civil War, Sargeant Kirtland, who carried water to the northern soldiers suffering and wounded in the battlefield. They built a statue of him in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I hope it wasn't desecrated by the protestors. 

This evening James  wrote a letter to Ben and I worked on my blog. It was a good Sabbath day. I listened to five talks and finished my Book of Mormon study guide. I love studying the gospel just about more than anything else.

 The Elmer Girls

 Poor Charlie!

 Love this!

Sunday, June 28th, 2020

Suva, Fiji

91st operating temple

Dedicated: 18 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 17:14

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Met with our "Come Follow Me" Sunday group and reviewed the lesson: Alma 17-22 "I Will Make an Instrument of Thee"

April General Conference

"Sharing the Message of the Restoration and the Resurrection"

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

"This story (see talk) is but one of thousands, hundreds of thousands, that speak of the time, treasure, and lives sacrificed over the last 200 years to share the message of the Restoration. Our aspiration to reach every nation, kindred, tongue, and people is undiminished today, as witnessed by the tens of thousands of young men, women, and couples currently serving under full-time mission calls; by Church members generally, who echo Philip's invitation to come and see; and by the millions of dollars spent annually to sustain this effort across the world."

Except for the howling wind, this was a beautiful Sabbath day. We had our friends over at 10:30 for the Sacrament and "Come Follow Me." The Goodman's are not here today because they have family visiting. Owen and Donna Peeler, and Chuck and Kathy Crane were our guests. This is how our program went:

Opening Song: "How Firm a Foundation"

Prayer: Kathy Crane

Sacrament Hymn: 

"As Now We Take the Sacrament"

Chuck Crane blessed the bread

Owen Peeler bless the water

James prepared and passed

"Come Follow Me"

We watched the video:

"Ammon serves and blesses King Lamoni"

James led our scripture study

We read from the scriptures not following the outline in the

"Come Follow Me" manual

Closing Prayer:

James

The Crane's loved the strawberry pretzel dessert, especially Kathy. She said it is a dessert that their family makes for Christmas. I apologized for the pretzels not being crushed enough and she said they were fine. Kathy was very pleasant today and she really is a good friend. I bought 18 eggs from her. She said something about the membrane around the egg that keeps the egg fresh. She said for this reason, not wanting to break the membrance, she had not washed the eggs. Later when I told James he was upset. He said that was unsanitary. I told him he could wash the eggs if he wanted to.

After lunch James and his partner Dave Westbrook went to the Woods' to give them the sacrament. James was so happy to do this. He has wanted to for a long time but Sean Hunsaker has been doing it. Sean told them they should have their ministering brothers bring them the sacrament and they agreed. Although Chuck is not a member he is such a nice guy. Pam is wonderful. She watches "The Chosen" and James told her that I watch it too.

We FaceTimed with Jared, Kacey, Charlie and Tanner this afternoon. Jared is not feeling well. He has  pustular soriatic  arthritis. He has a boil like sore on the back of his neck and is pretty miserable. I remember my dad having boils on his neck and I am wondering if he had this type of arthritis. I am so sad that this condition has been passed to both Jared and Darrel. Also, Stacy has lupus which is closely related. 

Charlie's favorite treat is wintergreen Ice Breakers. I wonder if she inherited this love for them from me. They are my favorite mint too. 

Tanner is bored and got on one of Charlie's ride on toys and galloped around the house. Anyway, we so much enjoy our daily visits with our Whitehouse, Texas family. 

At six o'clock we met with Kim, Brian, Sheri, Jared, and Kacey for our weekly Lambson Study Group. Stacy joined us for a short time but wasn't feeling well so she didn't stay. She did watch two of the talks though. Our discussion was on prayer and personal revelation. Kim led the discussion. Jared asked the question how to we picture Heavenly Father when we pray. We all liked that Kacey pictures the Savior beside her when she prays. Jared told a story about going to "EFY" and attending a class where prayer was discussed and a song by Hilary Weeks called "He Hears Me." He said he prayed to know if Heavenly Father was real and received an answer. He also said that expressing gratitude helps us see how the Lord is in the details of our lives. Brian shared that his favorite quote from all of the talks we read was in Sister Cordon's talk. The quote was by President Nelson: 

"Understand that in the absence of experiences with God, one can doubt the existence of God. So, put yourself in a position to being having experiences with Him. Humble yourself. Pray to have eyes to see God's hand in your life and in the world around you. Ask Him to tell you if He is really there - if He knows you, Ask Him how He feels about you. And then listen." I think this is my favorite quote too.

This evening James and I both wrote letters to Ben. He is such a bright spot in our family right now.

I watched an episode of "The Chosen" while waiting for James to finish his letter. This was the episode where Peter meets the Savior and the Savior fills his nets with fish. When Peter asks what he can do for Him, the Savior says, "Follow Me."

I also listened to a discussion on Book of Mormon Central about next week's "Come Follow Me" lesson.

Scarlett makes my day happier!

 On their way to Zion's National Park

Tanner and Charlie

Charlie: The best part of our Sabbath