Saturday, January 25th, 2020

Winter Quarters, Nebraska

104th operating temple

Dedicated: 22 Apr 2001

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

Revelations 21:6

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

1 Nephi 15

"The Second Great Commandment"

President Russell M. Nelson

October 2019

"Latter-day Saint Charities has provided more than two billion dollars in aid to assist those in need throughout the world. This assistance is offered to recipients regardless of their church affiliation, nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender, or political persuasion.  This is not all. To assist members of the Lord's Church in distress, we love and live the ancient law of the fast. We go hungry to help others who are hungry. One day each month, we go without food and donate the cost of that food and money, to help those in need."

We left at 5:41 this morning for the Snowflake temple. We brought two dozen rolls and one dozen cinnamon rolls I had in the freezer. On the way over we listened to scriptures and conference talks and I did a little sleeping. 

The Palmer's presided over our preparation meeting. President Palmer discussed the new ceremonial clothes that will be available at the end of March. We watched three training videos. One was the importance of smiling at the front desk so the first impression people get of the temple is a positive one. 

I started out at the sealing desk downstairs and was there for an hour. The Merrill's came in with names and so did the Bowen's. These are regular temple attenders who are always working on family names. The Bowen's had lots of Scandinavian names but I guess they have trained Brother Flake how to say them. At least that's what his wife said when she came to take over at the sealing desk.

I visited with Sister Cochran and Sister Lofgreen during my break. 

After my break I was the presenter at veil 2 and then I was "as assigned." During my as assigned I continued my reading of the Old Testament chapter headings. I am about half way through Isaiah.

I spent an hour in the baptistry. Although the rest of the temple was rather slow, we had no weddings or own endowees, the baptistry was very busy. Sister Caldwell said they hadn't had a break all morning and as I left another large group was coming in.

I worked in initiatory, locker room and was the presenter at veil 2 for the 11:00 session. I was scheduled to do initiatory after being at the veil but because the veil time went over, I was 15 minutes late. Sister Hancock said the only patron was a worker and they had her covered so I got off 15 minutes early.

I went down to the break room and had a cupcake. It's been a long time since my morning break. James went outside to get my phone and to get in a few steps before the 1:30 session which we attended. 

I was so tired that at one point I fell asleep and a sister had to tap me on the should to wake me up. I hope that never happens again.

For the second week in a row Sister Andersen from Flagstaff, was my presenter at the veil. 

After our session we went to Eva's Mexican Food in downtown Snowflake. I had a chicken enchilada with rice and beans, same old thing I almost always have. James had a seafood enchilada and a tostada.

We are scheduled to clean the temple tonight at 6:30 so we had some time to kill after lunch. I suggested we go to Walmart to walk, which we did. While we were there I also bought some tea, Citrus Sunshine, Apple Cinnamon, and Cinnamon Orange. The Walmart in Show Low has none of these flavors right now.

We drove back to the temple and parked so we could see Greens Peak, Mt. Montoso, and Negra Knoll, all mountains over by Vernon.

We walked around the temple a couple of times and then James got in the car to take a short nap. I sat down to redo my daily schedule. 

Around 6:00 we walked in to the temple with our friend Kerri Halcomb. We signed in and got our temple cleaning clothes on. We were so happy to have 19 people from our ward attend. The Show Low Creek ward had 10 people. These our the ward members who came to help us clean: Kerri Halcomb, Virgil Cooper, Anthony Romyak, Jerry Scott, Becky and Chris Skousen, Jim and Linda Diewald, Barbara and Fred Klug, Pierce Goodman, Blain Curtis, Alicia and Bishop Hunsaker, MaKenzi and Tyler Forrester, and Ron Chandler, plus James and I. 

James and I dusted the two ordinances rooms, the wood in the hallway and on the stairs. It was a lot but pretty easy. 

We were home before nine o'clock. When we got home I finished my steps and then James made us herbal tea and then we watched "Hearts of Winter" starring Jill Wagner and Victor Webster, two of our favorite Hallmark actors. It was a long day and this was a good way to unwind.

I am so grateful for the temple!

 Bench at Eva's

 Evan really knows how to have fun!

Who buys a 5 lb tube of hamburger.

I guess you could freeze it and use it for a weapon.

Tuesday, April 17th, 2018

Winter Quarters, Nebraska

104th operating temple

Dedicated: 22 Apr 2001

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

What should I pray for?

Bible Dictionary, "Prayer," paragrah #4

It was the custom to pray three times a day, as David (Ps.55:17), Daniel (Dan.6:10), and the later Jews. Prayer was said before meat ( 1 Sam.9:13; Matt. 15:36; Acts 27:35).

Jesus Christ betrayal of

Matthew 17:22

And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 10:1-22

*What happens if traditions are based on things that aren't true?

- Unwanted traditions are those which lead us away from performing holy ordinances and keeping sacred covenants. Our guide should be the doctrine taught by the scriptures and the prophets. Traditions which devalue marriage and family, abase women or do not recognize the majesty of their divine nature and God-given roles, or honor temporal success more than spiritual, or teach that reliance upon God is a weakness of character, all lead us away from eternal truths.

Old Testament

Judges 9-11
9 Gideon's son Abimelech is made king - He slays his seventy brothers - Jotham tells a fable of trees choosing a king - The Shechemites conspire against Abimelech - He is slain at Thebez.
10 Tola and then Jair judge Israel - The children of Israel worship false gods, are forsaken by the Lord, and are distressed by their enemies - They repent and ask the Lord for deliverance.
11 Jephthah is chosen as the captain of the armies of Israel - The Ammonites assail Israel in war - Jephthah is guided by the Spirit and defeats Ammon with a great slaughter - He makes a rash vow, which leads to the sacrifice of his only daughter.

General Conference

Pure Love: The True Sign of Every True Disciple of Jesus Christ

Elder Massimo De Feo

" The gospel of Jesus Christ is centered on the love of the Father and the Savior for us and our love for Them and for one another."

Along with reading the Old Testament I am reading the BYU Old Testament Student Manual. It says this about this period of time, the time of the Judges, in the Israelites history:

"After this, the Israelites grew effeminate as to fighting any more against their enemies, but applied themselves to the cultivation of the land, which producing them great plenty and riches, they neglected the regular disposition of the settlement, and indulged themselves in luxury and pleasures; nor were they any longer careful to hear the laws that belong to their political government: whereupon God was provoked to anger, and put them in mind, first, how, contrary to His directions, they had spared the Canaanites: and, after that, how those Canaanites, as opportunity served, used them very barbarously.

Extraordinary courage was required for an Israelite to be devoted to the Lord during this ear. Unfortunately, this situation arose not because of pressure from outside of Israel but because of pressure from within. Gideon's neighbors, not a group of pagan Canaanites, were worked into a murderous frenzy when Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal. Jotham's prophecy was uttered against his own brother, not against some Philistine king. Indeed, Israel's problem did not stem from the pagan masses they faced. It lay within their own hearts. Their greatest enemies were not the power-hungry Midianites or Moabites but inward vacillation, apathy, disobedience, and rebellion. Their outward enemies raged through them constantly only because the inward weaknesses raged unchecked also. 

The Canaanites and Philistines are gone today. But are not the offspring of their gods, metamorphosed into modern form and made intellectually acceptable, still with us And what of apathy, disobedience, vacillation, and rebellion? Is not our greatest enemy within? If so, then the same kind of courage displayed by the people of whom you have just read is as necessary now as it was then."

Ensign reading: Freedom or Captivity - "sometimes the wrong path looks more interesting. We have to remember our ultimate goal, or we'll lose the destination we are seeking." (p. 56)

I read a conference talk that Jared recommended: "Waiting Upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done" Elder Robert D. Hales, October 2011 GC. 

"The purpose of our life on earth...is to grow, and develop, and be strengthened through our own experiences." 

This was a great talk. Thank you Jared for recommending it.

President Nelson, Sister Nelson and the Holland's continue their tour:

Tuesday, April 17, Harare, Zimbabwe

"Meetings will be held with missionaries and member in Zimbabwe. A devotional will be broadcast to all Latter-day Saint congregations in that African country. 

Nearly 30,000 Latter-day Saints call Zimbabwe home. Missionary work began in what was then Southern Rhodesia in the early 1930's.

At 11:30 today I met Denise, her mom Peg, and Vickie at Licano's in Show Low for lunch. Everyone else had chicken tacos and I had a chicken enchilada with green sauce. It was quite delicious. Vickie ended up buying it for me. Thanks Vickie!

We visited awhile and then we walked up the hill to Aunt Gene's house. She lives in grandma and grandpa's old house behind Licano's. We were an hour early and caught her without her wig on, watching the news on television. We visited a few minutes and she said we were going to have a party and excused herself to put on her wig. We all helped get the muffins and the hot chocolate and miniature marshmallows on the table. She even used her china plates. We took pictures, ate, and laughed, while Aunt Gene told us funny stories about growing up in Lakeside and Show Low. Once she and some friends ditched the last part of the school day. It was her idea. She said if they walked up Springer Hill which was covered with snow backwards, the truant officer would never find them. Well he did find them as they were trying to build a fire to keep warm. What was the truant officers name? Arlee Maxwell, Aunt Gene's dad!

Another time in high school she and a group of friends were in Snowflake and decided to steal some of the Neff family's chickens. (James and I work with some Neff's in the temple.) They stole the chickens, killed them by popping their heads, which Aunt Gene demonstrated, and then decided not to cook them that night. They took them to Aunt Gene's family's restaurant, the Show Low Cafe, and put them in the refrigerator with the idea they would go back the next day and cook them. Aunt Gene had to get up early in the morning, 6 a.m., to open the cafe with her dad, my grandpa. They heard a knock on the door and their stood a police officer. Aunt Gene said: "Darn, someone snitched on us!"

Aunt Gene talked about her 90th birthday party and how all of her grandchildren were there except Emmy, Rita's daughter who lives in Texas and one other of Randy's kids. She said even Rita's son Rusty, who works in Washington D.C. on the Foreign Affairs Committee was there. 

Aunt Gene is excited to be going with Gary in May to his son Max's graduation from Harvard. She is also happy that Senator Jeff Flake is the keynote speaker. She said, "His dad Glenn was one of my first boyfriends!" The Flake family is from Snowflake.

 Aunt Gene, Denise, Vickie, Me

Denise, Aunt Gene, Peg, and Vickie

(Peg and I were roommates when I went to

New York with Dennis and Denise. I love her!)

Denise, Aunt Gene, Me, Peg

You will notice how Denise has the seat closest to Aunt Gene. They

absolutely love each other. Those were poppy seed muffins and were very good although I only ate half of mine. 

Randy, my cousin and Aunt Gene's son, says his mom plays bridge in Pinetop on Thursdays and they warn everybody between Show Low and Pinetop that she's on the road. She has a beautiful new cadillac that she drives. How many 90 year olds still drive?

I am so grateful for my Aunt Gene's life. She is my oldest living relative. I told her I would be back to hear more of her stories.

I went to Walmart to pick up a few items and then to The Book Barn to get my Primary boy Amaron some scriptures and a scripture cover. This is the cover I got:

He asked me if I would buy him the kind 

that are open and don't have a zipper but 

they didn't have that kind for boys.

While at The Book Barn I spoke with Brother Rhoton, who is the stake clerk, about who he thought the next stake president was going to be. He said he didn't know but he was sad that President Shumway was being released. I told him I felt the same way.

He suggested Bishop Miller could be the next president. I told him I hoped he wasn't because he is a great bishop. 

As I have been thinking about it I think Brother Greer would be a great stake president. He has been a mission president and he loves people!

As soon as I got home I took a quick rest on the recliner and then read to James from "Ashes on the Moor."  

I listened to my 19th President Nelson talk. This was is from April 1993, "Honoring the Priesthood."

" Honoring the priesthood fosters respect, respect promotes reverence, and reverence invites revelation."

James wrote a check for $381 for federal income taxes. He said we would be getting $50 back from the state. The federal website is down so everyone was given a days extension on their taxes. They expect 14 million to request an even further extension.

Barbara Bush passed away and the flags will be at half-mast tomorrow.

Barbara Bush is the only woman besides Abigail Adams to have her son and her husband be president of the United States.

Area Seventies of African descent.

A new species of Bird of Paradise?

Brian and Cher on their Harley.

No wonder Colby wants one.

Look how cool the look. jk