Sunday, May 26th, 2019

Mexico City, Mexico

26th operating temple

Dedicated: 2-4 Dec 1983

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Mosiah 15:2

And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son-

Book of Mormon

Alma 5:53-6:8

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Review: Matthew 21-23; Mark 11; Luke 19-20; John 12

 General Conference

Exercising Our Spiritual Muscles

Elder Juan Pablo Villar

"I have come to realize that spiritual gifts behave in the same way. They also need to be exercised to grow. The spiritual gift of faith, for example, is not just a feeling or a mood; it is a principle of action that frequently appears in the scriptures linked to the verb exercise. Just as reading and learning about muscles is not enough to build muscle, reading and learning about faith without adding action is insufficient to build faith."

As we were driving to church this morning I got this text from Brian: I'm sorry Karen. We won't make it today. We've been up most of the night. Kim is very sick and dizzy. I almost took her in to the ER a few hours ago. She's resting now but if it doesn't improve I'm going to take her in. If we are here when you get back, can you ask Jim to help give her a blessing? My blessings don't seem to work.

Poor Kim. She has had so many health issues in her life and more so recently. This dizziness is one of the worst things to experience. 

Our ward was full past the second overflow today. There are a few times each year this happens. James had 13 kids in his tiny Primary classroom. 

Brother Peeler was the main speaker today. I love him and his wife Donna so much. He says he is the oldest person in our ward. To me he looks like the stately southern gentleman. 

Brother Peeler started out by saying that we are cleansed and changed by repentance but we must ask ourselves, "What lack I yet"? He began quoting the Articles of Faith and discussing them. He said that in his day you did not graduate from Primary unless you could quote all 13 Articles of Faith. The Articles of Faith help us stay on the Covenant Path. He also spoke about following the Prophet and our local leaders. He said we should ask ourselves, "Was my bishop called of God?" We must pray to know our spiritual gifts and work to develop them. He said that the Articles of Faith help us live a higher law. He then began speaking about the temple and it's importance in our lives. The temple teaches us the higher law. How do we as a people treat one another? He said that in his "prenuptial" agreement with his wife they agreed they would never belittle one another in public or private. 

Diana Curtis gave the lesson in Relief Society based on Sister Eubank's conference address, "Christ: The Light That Shines in Darkness." It was a great lesson and we had lots of good discussion. We had 18 visitors and several of them gave some good comments. 

When we got home James and Brian gave Kim a blessing. Afterwards she gave both of them a big hug. She does feel a little better than she did this morning. She says that many of the problems she has relate to the fact that her neck is straight instead of curved as most peoples. She feels a numbness in her head. Brian says when they get home she is going straight to the doctor.

For lunch we had raw veggies and bacon, cheddar cheese burgers. The burgers were delicious. After lunch we all took naps. When I got up from my nap I had a message from Jared that he and Charlie wanted to Facetime. I cleaned up and combed my hair and told him I was ready. Charlie is still not interested in me. I tried to play peek-a-boo but she wasn't looking. Next time I am going to grab a stuffed animal and see if that gets her attention.

I worked on my blog this evening and then the four of us watched "When Calls the Heart." Kim and Brian like it as much as we do.

Lukas Bouchard proved that he is a good guy. Next week is the finale.

James wrote a letter to Ben while I was finishing up on my blog and then we went to bed.

 Scarlett, our little southern belle

 I don't quilt but I love quilt, especially ones

with geometric designs

 The desert is beautiful in the spring

 I love this!

Our sweet Charlie girl!

Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

Tijuana, Mexico

149th operating temple

Dedicated: 13 Dec 2015

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

1 John 5:10

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 9:1-19

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Matthew 21:23-46; 22:41-46; 23:37-39

General Conference

The Power of Sustaining Faith

President Henry B. Eyring

"By raising your hand to sustain, you make a promise with God, whose servants there are, that you will sustain them."

Happy 21st Birthday Alex!

Sheri posted so many I couldn't choose.

These seven were my favorites.

A couple of quotes from the article in the Ensign, "Instruments or Agents": 'Righteousness must be freely chosen.' 'Does God want his children to be submissive instruments or proactive agents? It should not surprise us that the answer is both. He wants His children to become as He is, and that requires that we acquire the attributes of both a trusting instrument and a trusted agent. He wants us to humbly and willingly learn from our experiences in the hands of the Master so that we may one day be masters ourselves.'

We sold some more books on Amazon today. The best was one we have here at home called, merchant fulfilled. It is an old wire-bound book on building ponds in different ecosystems. We priced it at $77.95 and we made $55.91. One of our best sales so far. I prepared to ship the book to the woman in Oregon and we will mail it tomorrow. 

James worked on the Willis's roof today and then came home this evening. He said he was rained on most of the way. I wasn't even aware that it was raining here. What does that say about me?

I bought ten more books today to replenish our inventory.

You're my hero.

Oh dear, this is just too much!

Best friends forever!

Friday, March 8th, 2019

Monterrey, Mexico

110th operating temple

Dedicated: 28 Apr 2002

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

I am a little overwhelmed with life right now and have decided that I need to simplify my blog so that I have time to do other important things, such as, family history and our book business. I will continue to read and study the gospel as before but will not be posting so much of my gospel study on here. I will continue to post the temple pictures. 

"Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice"

Bishop Dean M. Davies

"The chief cornerstone and building block of the Church and for our lives is Jesus Christ. This is His Church. President Nelson is His prophet. President Nelson's teachings witness and reveal for our benefit the life and character of Jesus Christ. He speaks lovingly and knowingly of the Savior's nature and of His mission. He has also borne frequent and fervent testimony of the divine calling of the living prophets - the Presidents of the Church - under whom he has served."

James, Rowan and I left the house around 6:45. No one inside was awake. As we were sitting in the car getting ready to go Trina came running up. I guess she had been outside running. It was nice that Rowan got to see his mom before we left. She made my day because she said to me, "Oh Karen, you look pretty." It was probably surprising to her to see me with my hair done and makeup on.

We had to drop off something in Mesa at James's jobsite before heading to Chandler to pick up Max, Evan, and Joshua.  We got to Sheri's before 8 and she and the boys weren't there. I told James they probably went to get gas and drinks. I was right. While we were waiting for Stacy to show up with Joshua, Ollie got out and ran down the street. Sheri, Evan and I hurried after him. Of course he went straight to Cathi's and Sheri was able to get him. It was a little scary for a minute because when he was running down the street the garbage truck was headed right for him.

I went for a walk and when I got back Stacy was there with Joshua and their three dogs in the car. I went over to say high to the dogs and they went crazy in the car. 

We are trading cars with Sheri for the week because all of the boys won't fit in our car. Rowan forgot his Sunday clothes so Sheri got some of Evan's for him to wear. 

After we left Payson Rowan said he had to go to the bathroom. He had to wait until we got to Heber. It rained from Heber until we got to Show Low. In Show Low we went to Subway for Evan and to KFC for everyone else. We just ordered the chicken to take home with us. 

After we got home and everything was unloaded I headed back for town to do some grocery shopping and to pick up the Razr tire at Center Tire. I ran into the tire store and got soaking wet just to find out that it won't be ready until Monday. 

I bought groceries at Walmart to feed these boys until next Wednesday. I bought bacon, pork chops, steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken. I also bought chicken tenders and pizza rollups, cereal and milk, and snacks. I think I would rather have too much food than not enough.

James grilled hamburgers and hotdogs outside for dinner. I made corn and beans to go with them.

The boys wanted to play ball on the driveway so

they swept it off. It started raining before they could play.

 Quilt

I think that puppy is real. All they need 

is Lola in the mix.

 I read this today as part of the "Come

Follow Me" lesson for the week.

Sunday, March 3rd, 2019

Guadalajara, Mexico

29 Apr 2001

105th operating temple

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Mark 1:1

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 25:1-13
*How would you explain our gospel in plainness to help a child or investigtor understand our beliefs?

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Matthew 6-7 Review

"If Ye Had Know Me", David A. Bednar, 10/16

General Conference

Lift Up Your Head and Rejoice

M. Joseph Brough

"As we face hard things in the Lord's way, may we lift up our heads and rejoice."

"There is Sunshine in My Soul Today." 

I love this quote from Elder Robbins: " There is only one way to judge righteous judgment as Jesus Christ does, and that is to be as He is."

"If children are defiant and difficult to control. be patient with the until you can conquer by love, ... and you can then mold their characters as you please." President Joseph F. Smith

Many of the testimonies today in our fast and testimony meeting were regarding the Book of Mormon. I read today in an article in the New Era a story about a time when President Nelson was a doctor and one of the nurses he worked with asked him what made him different than the other doctors. He didn't get angry, or use bad language and he was always kind. This was his reply: "Because I know the Book of Mormon is true." He gave this nurse a copy of the Book of Mormon with his testimony. Years later while visiting a stake conference in Tennessee as a General Authority, he met this woman again. As a result of her conversion she shared with him the 80 people had joined the Church. Wow!

During Sunday School we were discussing foundations and I got to read Helaman 5:12 -And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
Sister Woods' went around the room and asked everyone what foundation they were built upon. I thought to myself that Christ is our foundation but I didn't say anything. People were saying things like prayer, love, forgiveness, etc. The bishop got up and said he did not think those things were our foundation. He said our foundation is built upon apostles and prophets and Jesus Christ being our chief cornerstone. The attributes we mentioned earlier are the walls. Interesting. Nice to have our bishop in class to set us straight.

When I got home from church this afternoon I called Marie Robertson to check on her. She said she was doing okay and had plenty of food. She told me this was the first time in 24 years that she had felt real affection from her husband, that it had been a hard marriage but as a result of his actions recently she knew that he loved her.

I read an article today in the Ensign by Elder Godoy about the saints in Venezuela. The name of the article is, "Sources of Peace and Power." Here is a quote from that talk: How can the members in Venezuela, who face great challenges, still be cheerful, strong and at peace? I believe what is happening with many of them is that they are becoming more dependent on God. As a consequence, they are receiving strength from the source of all strength. They recognize the blessings they receive from Heavenly Father, they rely on the power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and they are comforted, supported, and strengthened by the Holy Ghost. As a result, their burdens become lighter, their sorrow is relieved, and they find peace in the midst of their trials."

We had a family history training meeting this afternoon with Brother Ranstrom. We still have not learned anything on the computer. Our homework is to ask someone in the ward to allow us to help them on family search. I am asking Sister Halcomb and James is asking Tom.

We watched the next episode of "When Calls the Heart" this evening.

Sunday morning photo session

 I love this face!

 Fools Hollow Lake