Monday, June 29th, 2020

Meridia, Mexico

92nd operating temple

Dedicated: 8 July 2000

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 19:7

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 23 with James
April General Conference

Opening Message

President Russell M. Nelson

"How can we endure such trials? The Lord has told us that 'if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.' Of course, we can store our own reserves of food, water, and savings. But equally crucial is our need to fill our personal spiritual storehouses with faith, truth, and testimony."

Day 1 of me trying inter-mitten fasting. I am supposed to fast 12 hours and then the other 12 hours I eat 300 calories every four hours. 

Around 10 o'clock this morning I drove to the Taylor Walmart. I stopped at the post office and picked up a pile of books. I wore my mask in Walmart because I thought it was required. All of the workers wore masks but some of the shoppers did not. I kept mine on except I pulled it away from my nose. 

When James and I were on the Chunky Monkey Diet Challenge we drank a lot of smoothies. These smoothies were made with spinach, sometimes some kale too, a banana, and a cup of frozen pineapple chunks. We have some pineapple chunks at home but I wanted more. I couldn't find them in the freezer so I asked someone. He said, oh we don't have any. We had some yesterday but it's all gone. There was no frozen fruit whatsoever. I got my spinach and bananas and then went to the canned fruit aisle and got 12 small cans of pineapple. I plan on putting it in baggies and then in the freezer. 

James and I are in a bit of argument over going to the valley tomorrow. I want to go down and get my infusion, have some lunch, and come home. He on the other hand has to go to Sheri's and work on her AC cabinet, and meet with four different people all over the valley. I am imagining myself sitting in the car waiting for him in 110 degree weather and it's not making me happy. Finally in frustration he said he would take his truck but his truck is still dying and he is having to hold the key down to make it stay on. I told him I wanted him to come with me. I would miss his company if he didn't. It's settled, we are going together in my car. I will just bite the bullet and leave the AC on while I'm in the car.

This evening I got Max and Jared Ammon's birthday cards ready and put Lola's gift in a bag and signed her card. I also put labels on my box of books and got the label put on the outside of the box so my load of books is ready to mail. James wanted to go to bed at 9:30 because he said we had to leave at 5:15 at the latest. Great. That's almost two hours before I intended to leave. It was 11:00 when we went to bed.

 We all heard from Ben today. I will post his letters tomorrow.

Saturday, June 20th, 2020

Tampico, Mexico

83rd operating temple

Dedicated: 20 May 2000

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 5:12

Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 16 with James, Study Guide

April General Conference

"That They May See"
Bonnie H. Cordon
"My dear brothers and sisters, for years I've pondered the principle I learned from Elder Perry. The Lord's invitation to let our light so shine is not just about randomly waving a beam of light and making the world generally brighter. It is about focusing our light so others may see the way to Christ. It is gathering Israel on this side of the veil - helping others see the next step forward in making and keeping sacred covenants with God."

"In the Strength of the Lord"

Elder David A. Bednar

BYU Devotional

 I'm itchin' to go back to the Taylor Walmart. It was such a good shopping experience on Tuesday. James went out to work on little Cat and I finished my blog and headed for Taylor. It was after 11 so I thought I would beat the rush and get a cheeseburger at Sonic. There's no beating the rush nowadays so I had to wait in line. I ate my cheeseburger in the far ends of the Walmart parking lot. 

My shopping experience was not as good as the one on Tuesday, because it's Saturday, but it was still better than Show Low. I got two 25 ounce bottles of liquid Safeguard soap, my main reason for coming. Somehow I managed to spend over $100. I had $75 in cash and without thinking, I gave all of it to the cashier and paid for the rest with my debit card. As I was driving home I realized that I had  spent all my cash and I was going to go to the Campbell girl's carwash and bake sale and have them was my car for cash. They are trying to raise money to go to the San Diego Zoo. I wanted to support them because their mom is so amazing about loving and supporting other people. I texted Candi, the mom, and asked if I could send them money via Zelle or Venmo. She told me I was so sweet but that they would have another carwash next month. She helped me to feel better and I told her I would definitely save my cash for the big event.

James has found another problem with little Cat and will need to get the mechanic back out here next week. We both sat on the couch in the recliners and I read to him from our latest Aunt Dimity book, "Aunt Dimity and the Summer King." 

After my nap I did my gospel study. This evening I am going to work outside so I switched my gospel study to this afternoon. I finished my Book of Mormon study guide for Alma 16 and finished reading all the talks about covenants for our Lambson Study Group on Sunday. I also finished my Inklings study by studying Elder Christofferson's conference talk on the Restoration and the Resurrection. Good times.

I rearranged furniture on the patio, swept the patio, and emptied the garbage. I picked up all of the pinecones under the pine tree and put them in a container. I also picked up trash in the "back yard." I use the term yard loosely. I re-organized the furniture on the deck outside of our bedroom and brought one of the small tables over from the deck so we could sit outside in the shade if we wanted to. The only thing I didn't do was clean off the ping pong table and cover it with the cover I ordered. The weather was so beautiful and so was the sunset.

We had chili for dinner and cheese crisps and then watched a new Hallmark movie, "Love Under the Olive Tree." Cheesy

Smokey sunset

 Cuteness abounds

 Love this puzzle

Wednesday, May 20th, 2020

Preston, England

52nd operating temple

Dedicated: 7 June 1998

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, King

Matthew 25:34

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Mosiah 26:13-39 with James; Sunday journal; study guide, Meridian Magazine podcast with the Proctor's

Family Study Group

"Whatsoever He Saith Unto You Do It" by Whitney L. Clayton, April 2017

April General Conference

"That They May See"

Sister Bonnie L. Cordon

"By virtue of the Restoration of His gospel, we can be filled with the light of our Savior. However, that light is not meant for you and me alone. Jesus Christ has called upon us to "let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." I have come to love the phrase "that they may see." It is an earnest invitation from the Lord to be more intentional about helping others see the path and thereby come unto Christ."

"Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds"

Neal A. Maxwell

April 1991

I am a child of God, blessed, and thankful.

I dropped James off at the Howard's around 8:00 this morning and then I went grocery shopping at the Walmart in Taylor. I know, I already went shopping yesterday. I am fixing mashed potatoes for the boys tonight. I knew I had a bag of potatoes in the pantry but when I checked them they were a little mushy. So here I am, on my way to Taylor on a beautiful spring morning. 

Shopping at the Walmart in Taylor is a much nicer experience than shopping at the one in Show Low. It is not too crowded and they aren't out of everything. 

I got my 5lb bag of yellow potatoes and a few other items. More than I had planned and I spent more money than I had planned. I got myself a t-shirt, some tan pants, and a pair of shoes. I got six frozen Healthy Choice meals and some garlic bread, a couple of notebooks, some shakes and various other items I don't recall right now. My trip would have been a complete success except I forgot to check and see if they had any Citrus Sunshine tea.

James worked at the Howard's for the use of his truck this morning. He needs to pick up bathroom fixtures and make a trip to the valley. The part for his truck is still not here. He told Tom he would work for him and fill his truck up if he could take it to the valley. Of course Tom, the nice guy that he is, said yes. 

Shopping in the morning is the best time to shop around here but it kind of messes up the rest of my day. I did not work on my books today. Today is my friend Pam's birthday. I met her at the church parking lot at 2:00 this afternoon. Pam is a very careful about always wearing a mask in public so I put on the pink mask Catherine made me. We talked in the parking lot for awhile and I gave her a card and her gift, the book "Grace Where You Are" by Emily Freeman. I hope she likes it. 

I struggled to get 10,000 steps today. My feet were hurting. The boys just hung out here at home today and rode Luna this evening when James got home. The boys went fishing at Sheep's Crossing but didn't catch anything. They said it was beautiful there and they did not see anyone else. That's the advantage of going out in the middle of the week. Alex loves to play games. They played Five Crown's, Scattergories, Banana Grams, Chess, Settlers of Caitan, and they wanted to play Hearts with grandpa but I think that will have to be tomorrow night because Grandpa is tired and he is getting up early tomorrow to go to the valley. While they were outside riding the horse Alex made the comment, "let's see if we can find a rattlesnake". He picked up a board up by the hill and, lo and behold,  there was a rattlesnake within 4 inches of his hand. The snake crawled in to a hole. Alex says they are going back tomorrow to either re-locate it or get rid of it in other ways. I told him to please be careful. I want the snake gone but not at his expense. Lola and Ruby will be here this weekend and I don't want that snake around when they are here.

Luna got new shoes today. Our friend Wayne Todd came out and did the job.

I had all of my part of the dinner ready by 6:30 like James said. He didn't come in to prepare the steaks until 6:30. It didn't take long for them to cook because the boys all wanted their's medium rare. James and I both wanted medium. For ribeye steaks they weren't as tender as I had wanted but the boys thought they were great. There was one steak left and Max asked if he could have it. I told him he could. He likes to eat his steak like a sandwich in a roll. I made Rhodes rolls today. We had steak, mashed potatoes, asparagus, Bush beans, and rolls. Afterwards Alex made brownies for dessert. 

I did my gospel study this evening but didn't quite finish. James wanted to go to bed before 10. It was 9:45 when my head hit the pillow.

Lark Rise to Candleford

 Do you think James would wear one of these?

Backsplash re-do

James and Luna on the trail of some antelope

 Who could resist that request