Sunday, July 14th, 2019

Tuxtla, Gutierrez, Mexico
75th operating temple
Dedicated: 12 Mar 2000
By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Firstborn

Romans 8:29

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Book of Mormon

Alma 32:21-43

New Testament "What Wilt Thou Have Me To Do?"

Review Acts 6-9

General Conference

The Quorum: A Place of Belonging

Elder Carl B. Cook

"Disciples of Jesus Christ are often gathered a few at a time, as invited by their friends. Anciently, when Andrew found the Savior, he went quickly to his brother Simon and 'brought him to Jesus.' Similarly, soon after Philip became a follower of Christ, he invited his friend Nathanael to 'come and see.'"

We made some new ministering assignments for our sisters this week and I ran off slips to give to the sisters that are in my district.

Adam and his friends came to sacrament but they didn't stay for the second hour. Adam and Kaitlin said they wanted to stay but they felt obligated to take Chris and Kyle back to the cabin.

I had two sisters ready to teach Relief Society today, Becky and Diana. Diana looked at the old schedule and she was prepared and had already handed out assignments to the sisters. Becky was fine with letting her teach. I need to make a new lesson schedule so this does not happen again.

The lesson was based on the talk given by Elder Christofferson on preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We talked about the Book of Mormon being the instrument that opened up the gathering of Israel and I told Ben's experience of staying up and reading from it most of the night and then deciding to go on a mission.

The lesson went well and Diana had lots of participation.

Yesterday James and I had steak and brussel sprouts. It was my first time with the little sprouts and suffice it to say it will probably be the last. Even the Barefoot Contessa's recipe couldn't convince me that I really liked them. Next time we will have cabbage instead.

Today we share the other steak we bought and I made a salad which suited me just fine. 

The kids went on a Razr ride but I guess no one wanted to go all the way to Green's Peak except Adam, so they didn't. It started to rain on them so they came back.

Adam and Kaitlin made Kaitlin's tater tot casserole for dinner. I had a taste and I must say it wasn't too bad. James liked it but I don't think I liked it well enough to ever fix it for dinner.

My eating was pretty much out of control today. I need to take some action to get it under control.

This afternoon we FaceTimed with Jared and Charlie. I sang the Eentsy Weentsy Spider and showed her my sheep and made sheep noises. She seemed to stay interested in us a little longer than usual.

Jared has two job interviews this week. One is in Texarkana and the other is in another smaller town. 

Brother and Sister South spoke in our sacrament meeting today. Sister South said she came from a family of 16 children and her mother always gathered them for family prayer and scripture study. She said that as a result, they recently had a family reunion of over 220 descendants and most all of them had served missions and had been married in the temple. "Out of small things proceedeth that which is great." I say, don't sweat the small stuff, just do it!

I read several chapters from President Nelson's biography, "Insights" this evening. He had a very close relationship with President Kimball. He said next to his dad no other man had influenced him as much as President Kimball.

We thought we were going to get some rain today but the clouds just hung in the sky and didn't share any drops of water on us. It probably rained in other places nearby but I guess it wasn't our turn today. 

I love getting photos of these two on

Sunday mornings!

This moth was outside on the porch window.

His body was half striped and half polka dot

Such a sweet adorable girl!

Friday, June 14th, 2019

San Diego, California

45th operating temple

Dedicated: 25 April 1993

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Examplar

DC 56:2

And he that will not take up his cross and follow me, and keep my commandments, the same shall not be saved.

Book of Mormon

Alma 16:1-21

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Matt 26:47-68; Mark 14:43-65; Luke 22:47-53, 63-71; John 18:1-14, 28-40

General Conference

A Place of Belonging

Elder Carl B. Cook

"There are long shots and underdogs all around us. Perhaps we all are in one way or another. But each of us here has a quorum, a place where we can both receive strength and provide strength. The quorum is 'all for one and one for all.' It is a place where we instruct each other, serve others, and build unity and brotherhood as we serve God. It is a place where miracles happen."

For our family scripture study we read from Alma 16 and then we read our baptismal covenants in Mosiah 18:8-10 and talked about how we renew our baptismal covenants when we partake of the sacrament. We talked about the promises we make and the promise Heavenly Father makes to us. 

After scriptures and breakfast Ruby and I left for Walmart for her birthday date. Rowan stayed home with Lola and we promised Lola we would bring her a surprise. She said to me: "And don't forget my pink leggings." The day they went to Woodland Lake she had a blue dress on with pink flowers. It was a little short and I promised her I would get her some "leggings" or shorts to go underneath it.

Ruby wanted Calico Critters for her birthday. We also got muffins, ice cream, balloons, a tablecloth and paper plates. We got Rowan a root beer for babysitting.

I got Lola a wand with a long rainbow ribbon attached. She loved it and the sparkling pink shorts I got her. We set up for the party and the kids blew up the balloons. We had a good time.

 Ruby insisted on reading her card first.

It had a "quacking" duck. Ro picked it out at

the dollar store

.

 The big 10, double digits now.

Yes, Rowan is posing. I'm not sure what's 

wrong with Lola.

While I was cleaning up from the party Lola came in and said she broke grandpa's bank. I said, "Oh he is going to be sad." She took off running upstairs and I knew I had made her feel bad. She went straight to her bed and was sobbing her eyes out. Rowan asked her what was wrong and she said, "I just need to cry a little bit."

I went up and comforted her and told her I knew it was an accident and it was okay. I asked her if she would come and help me clean it up and she said. Yes. She wanted me to glue it back together but it was broken in too many small pieces. I told her I would get granpa a new bank.

This is what was left after we cleaned up

all the little pieces. Everyone helped.

There was lots of change and that's why

Lola dropped it because it was so heavy.

RIP Joe Cool.

Around 6:30 we all went on a Razr ride. It's been a long time for me and I had forgotten how much I enjoy getting out in the forest. We saw an antelope and some elk before ever climbing the hill.

We saw lots of cows and baby cows and the kids wondered why the baby cows are always by the side of the road. We saw another antelope in the woods, a couple of more elk, and a herd of five deer.

We had to turn around and come back before too long because we thought we might run out of gas. 

When we got down to our road we saw the same female antelope we saw when we left. We followed her a little ways and then I let Rowan out to look for her baby. She ran from the Crane's over to our place but he thought she may have been trying to throw us off the path of where her baby was hidden. He looked for awhile and then I picked him up. 

We had burgers and beans for dinner. I made corn again because I know Rowan loves to mix baked beans and corn together. A tomato slice for Lola and cantaloupe for Ruby to go with their burgers. Ruby said she was going to tell her dad that this was the best burger she had ever eaten.

After dinner it was time for baths and to kill a few stinking moths. There seems to be a gathering in the kids bathroom.

The Tibbetts, Marin and Jason, Ethan, Lila, Ashton, and Addy arrived around 9. Lila was tired and shy so she and Lola didn't really interact. The Rowan, Ruby, Lola and I went downstairs to watch a movie so everyone else could go to sleep.

It was Rowan's turn to pick a movie. He wanted to pick one that he thought the girls would like too. He picked "Mrs. Doubtfire" because he said Addy said it was good. I told him it was pretty good but a little sad. I had forgotten that there was also some bad language and it really wasn't appropriate for kids under 13.

My only consolation was it was done a little low and maybe the kids didn't catch all of the things they said.

The basic story is good. Here is a dad that loves his kids so much that he will do anything to be with them.

It was almost 11:30 when it was over and the kids went straight to bed.

Happy Birthday Day 

Brian and Dallin!

Lola colored hers all pink.

 Charlie found her dad's stash.

Hawley Lake

Rowan's picture of LaVerne

Tonight's sunset was red because of smoke
from the fires around the state.

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!