Sunday, May 17th, 2020

Mount Timpanogos, Utah

49th operating temple

Dedicated: 13 Oct 1996

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, King

Malachi 1:14

But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Mosiah 24 with James; Sunday journal; study guide; "Come Follow Me Weekly" podcast

Lambson Study Group

Personal Revelation discussion with Kacey, Jared, Kim, Brian, and Sheri

Inklings

Restoration

April General Conference

"The Melchizedek Priesthood and the Keys"

President Dallin H. Oaks

"The priesthood is a divine power and authority held in trust to be used for God's work for the benefit of all of His children. Priesthood is not those who have been ordained to a priesthood office or those who exercise its authority. Men who hold the priesthood are not the priesthood. While we should not refer to ordained men as the priesthood, it is appropriate to refer to them as holders of the priesthood."

"Confide in God Unwaveringly"

Uliesses Soares

April 2017

I am determined, dedicated, and long-suffering.

We had 3 yearling cow elk and one older cow elk in our field this morning. 

Heard this quote in something I listened to today but I'm not sure where: Sometimes the best views come after the hardest climbs. 

Here is a quote from James, well actually from Karl Marx. James is referring to the current Covid-19 crisis: "Never let a crisis go to waste" - Karl Marx

I spent the morning finishing up my "Come Follow Me" studies. I read chapter 24 of Mosiah with James and then filled in my Mosiah 24 study guide. At 10:30 we went to the Peeler's to have the sacrament and to study "Come Follow Me" with the Peeler's, Goodman's, and Crane's. 

Meeting at the Peeler's: Opening song - "Let the Holy Spirit Guide"

Prayer - James, Sacrament hymn - "God Loved Us So He Sent His Son" sacrament blessed and passed by Pierce, Chuck, and Owen.

Discussion of "Come Follow Me - Mosiah 18-24 - We Entered into a Covenant with Him". I shared my comparison of Limhi's people and Alma's people. Making covenants with the Lord and keeping them saved Alma's people from destruction and misery. It reminds me of a quote by Mary Ellen Edmunds: "In a crisis one can only hope that a covenant-keeper is available."

For refreshment we had red jello with strawberries and bananas and whipped cream. It was light and refreshing! Thank you Donna. It was so nice to have the Crane's with us today. They are hosting next week.

James and I went home to a lunch of chicken enchiladas and a half Burger King green chili mixed burro a piece. Afterwards we both took a nap and then James got up and went to visit Anthony who had requested a visit and a message. They discussed the "Come Follow Me" lesson which Anthony had not studied. James played the Abinadi video for him. Anthony said, "I miss church." Anthony's message to James: "I see UFO's out here all the time."

I stayed home and reviewed the talks for our discussion on personal revelation today. My two favorite talks were the one by Elder Holland and Elder Scott. The ones by Elder Hale and President Packer were good too. I am so glad we are having these discussions. Thank you Kim and Brian for starting this group.

When James returned it was time to FaceTime with Kacey, Jared, and Charlie. Charlie wanted to see my Olaf. I had to tell her that I gave it to my little friend Leland.  Charlie was so sad, I guess she is really in to the movie "Frozen" now. I told her I would order another one and have it next week. 

At 6 p.m. it was time for our Lambson Study Group skype call. 

Kacey led the discussion on personal revelation and shared the personal experience about she and Jared moving to San Antonio and how they felt it was inspired but it did not turn out how they had hoped. This was a great way to start the discussion. Sheri shared a struggle she is having with Dr. Vanover regarding her disrespect for LDS people. We encouraged her to take a stand but she does not want to offend, yet Dr. Vanover is offending her. I think this is a classic example of standing up for what you believe in and it can be done in a non-offensive way. I pray that Sheri will have the strength to do this. 

James and I love this time with our family. It is such a good thing to do on the Sabbath. I am so grateful for my children and Kacey and Brian and their testimonies of the gospel.

This evening James wrote a letter to Ben and I worked on my blog. 

Afterwards we watched an episode of "Lark Rise to Candleford."

James is not pleased with Dorcas's casual 

attitude towards the missing clockworks

package. He blames the post office and she

is defending it. Minnie took the package so

Fisher, the clock maker, would stay longer with Laura.

 I watched this yesterday

 Looks delicious!

My grandma Maxwell

 Sunday Charlie

 Listened to Lamb of God today.

This is the first song.

 Charlie!

 Hall family in our ward

Love this!

 Beautiful Arizona

The Crane's son is involved in the

development of this park. Kathy 

told us that funding had been delayed

and this is affecting Jeff's family.

They are living on their "reserves."

Sunday, April 8th, 2018

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

95th operating temple

Dedicated: 30 July 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ Baptism of

John 1:32

And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him.

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 3:19-4:3

*What can I do to more fully yield "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit"?

- I can do the things that King Benjamin listed in Mosiah 3:19:

Become as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon me, even as a child doth submit to his father. 

Old Testament

Joshua 13-14

13 There remain some lands yet to be possessed - Some inhabitants are not expelled - The inheritances of Reuben, Gad, and one half of Manasseh are confirmed.

14 The land is divided by lot among 9 1/2 tribes - Caleb inherits Hebron as a special reward for his faithfulness.

Old Testament Favorite Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:5

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

General Conference

Young Women in the Work

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson

" Every young woman in the Church should feel valued, have opportunities to serve, and feel that she has something of worth to contribute to this work."

What should I pray for? Alma 13:28

But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on His holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

I got up at 4:47 to work on my Primary lesson. I got a little distracted when I was making wordstrips and I couldn't find my ruler because the drawer where I keep it was so messy, so I ended up cleaning out the drawer. Luckily I still had enough time to finish up my lesson on Jacob and Esau.

My clean drawer. I wonder how

long it will stay that way.

James always helps me carry in my supplies when we get to the church and he helps me set up my classroom. It certainly would be a lot harder to fulfill my calling without him. 

James and I came home from town yesterday afternoon around 12:30 and started our fast. We had a prayer to start. We are fasting and praying for moisture. There is a forecast of three months of drought but our land is in dire need of some moisture before the fire season begins at the end of May. We would hope that when we open our weather app and look at the two weeks forecast there will be some sign of moisture.

Dave, the guy we sold the water trailer to says there is a hole in it and it won't hold water. James assured him that he would pay to get it fixed. This is not good news as it may cost hundreds of dollars. Something else to pray for.

I bore my testimony in our fast and testimony meeting today. I felt prompted to share two examples of how general conference has helped me in the past year. The first example was regarding President Nelson's challenge in the April 2017 conference regarding studying the life of Christ using the 57 topical headings in the Bible's Topical Guide. There are many scriptures under these 57 headings. I am reading one a day. This has helped me to more fully appreciate the Savior's life and all he has done for me.

The second example was from the October 2017 conference. I shared with them how I read each conference talk each month and March was the sixth month in the cycle. James and I fasted for better health in March and Sunday afternoon after we broke our fast I was thinking about what I could do to improve my health. At the same time I was looking at the Ensign and read from the section Conference Notes, a summary of Sister Joy D. Jones's talk. A quote jumped out at me and touched my heart. This is the quote.

"If the love we feel for the Savior and what He did for us is greater than the energy we give to weaknesses, self-doubts, or bad habits, then He will help us over the things which cause suffering in our lives. He saves us from ourselves."

The thought came to me, which do I love more, the Savior or my Dr. Pepper 10. That thought, along with the promise that the Lord will help me, propelled me to action. I drank my last Dr. Pepper 10 and offered a prayer of help from the Lord so that I could improve my health. I have not had a soda of any kind for over a month. I know I could not have done this alone because I have tried before.

I will be eternally grateful to Sister Jones and hope that someday I can meet her and thank her. (Trina is good friends with her daughter, and has met Brother and Sister Jones.)

This month I am giving up sweets. At the end of the month I will re-evaluate how I want to handle sweets for the rest of my life.

These are the children who attended my Primary class today:

Liana, Andyn, Gracie, Colter, Kacey, Curtis, and Zemira. The last three are from the older class. Their teacher didn't show up.

In our lesson Esau is angry because of the deception that went on when Isaac gave Jacob his blessing. He says he is going to slay Jacob when he is through mourning the death of his father. 

Jacob is sent away to choose a wife from his mother's brother's family. He is gone for 20 years. When he returns he bows down to Esau and offers him gifts. Esau says he needs no gift and he meets him, embraces him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. (Genesis 33:4). This was my favorite part of the lesson.

I am doing away with my Primary Treasure Box. It has been good for Liana and Andyn but Colter just can't deal with the fact that he doesn't get anything because he doesn't do the work. I let him have something from the Treasure Box 2 because he says I "owed him for a time he did a paper." I have no recollection but I told him he could choose something anyway. I will do it this next week and that's it. Not a good spirit, too much contention...not what I wanted it to do. 

After the block Chuck Crane asked to meet with us. Next week I will have a new calling. I am not going to say what it is until after next Sunday. In a way I am excited for a change but I will so miss my dear sweet Primary children whom I have grown to love.

We got home, broke our fast, and had lunch and our naps. I laid down on the recliner and tried to listen to a talk by President Nelson from 1989 but I fell asleep so I will have to listen to it again tomorrow.

Stacy called me because she was lonely and hungry. I wish I was there to help her. She said Paul went to Church today and that Joshua bore his testimony. It went something like this: 

" I'd like to share a story with you about something that 

happened to me this week. 

I was at scouts the other night and we were reciting the

scout law and oath. My scout leader told me to

slow down and listen for the meaning of the words and

I would feel reverent. I thought to myself, how can I feel reverent?

Today during the sacrament I decided to slow down and to listen

to the words. I felt a feeling of reverence and I know

that my Savior and Heavenly Father love me."

What a sweet testimony. I hope he is able to keep it strong. I remember when Dallin used to bear his testimony every fast Sunday.

This evening I helped James get on Family Search. He started to enter our children and their spouses and came up with two Stacy's and couldn't get rid of one of them and I couldn't figure out how to do it either. Merging didn't work and there was no place to edit. Both Stacy's have the same ID number. We tried the help center but they weren't much help. Family Search is doing upgrades so I told him we should try again tomorrow and maybe we would get to talk to a live person. I am sad he had such a frustrating experience.

I asked for help with doing endowments for several names we have. Jared and Sheri responded. Thanks to them!

Today is James's sister Rebecca's birthday. He sent her a message on Facebook and then was afraid she wouldn't see it so he texted Brent because he didn't have Rebecca's number. He remembers that she was born on Easter Sunday and after his Dad went to visit her and his mom in the hospital in Gallup he came back and took all of the kids on a picnic. He says he loves that memory.

I got a text from Hailey today who moved to New Mexico. I was her visiting teacher and she thanked me for always coming to visit her even though she lived on a horrible road. She said the Church needs more "Sister Lambsons." She mad my day.

My friend Sandra asked for the quote I mentioned in my testimony so I sent her Sister Jones's quote.

Channy Arnett's daughter got married in Queen Creek yesterday and we were invited. Although I have never met her daughter I am sorry we couldn't go because I absolutely love the Arnett's.

Channy's daughter Shandra and

her husband.

This was taken on Saturday

during a soccer game.

This is Jared's post, obviously.

Our friends the Lueck's.

There kids have grown up!

Wow! Our friend Betty as a teenager!

I love the Arizona desert in the spring.

When we were down last week it still

hadn't bloomed. Is that because of the drought?

This is the bookmark I received from

the stake Primary presidency. I 

sent it to Stacy today because of

Joshua's testimony.

Sunday, March 11th, 2018

Edmonton, Alberta

67th operating temple

Dedicated: 11-12 Dec 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ Authority of

2 Nephi 10:14
For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words.
Book of Mormon
2 Nephi 29:1-14
* How have these verses increased my appreciation for the Book of Mormon?
Old Testament
Numbers 24
Balaam sees in vision and prophesies of the destiny of Israel - He prophesies of the Messiah: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.
Old Testament Favorite Scriptures
Exodus 20:16
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
General Conference

Repentance is Always Positive

Stephen W. Owen

" I have a friend who grew up in a less-active Latter-day Saint family. When he was a young adult, he too 'came to himself' and decided to prepare for a mission. He became an excellent missionary. On his last day before returning home, the mission president interviewed him and asked him to bear his testimony. He did so, and after a tearful embrace, the president said, 'Elder, you could forget or deny everything you have just testified of in a matter of months if you do not continue to do the things that built your testimony in the first place.' My friend later tole me that he has prayed and read the scriptures daily since he returned from his mission. Being constantly 'nourished by the good word of God' has kept him 'in the right way.'"

I was up at 4:15 this morning. I had my prayers and continued working on my Primary lesson, "Abraham and Lot," The Circle of Love.

We left at 8:40 because I wrote personal notes to all the kids in my class.

Andy W. was the youth speaker in sacrament meeting today.  He spoke on his favorite scripture story which was Nephi getting the plates and what an example he was of overcoming trials.

Sister S. Wilhelm spoke on the Church's Self-Reliance program. 

Brother Goodman was the final speaker and what a wonderful talk he gave. He spoke about justice and mercy and how God wants all his children to enjoy all of His blessings. We open the vault to those blessings through our faith and obedience. As we live God's laws we find protection and are pointed toward Jesus Christ. Suffering for sins should help us to change. That is it's purpose.

We had two visitors in our Primary class, the Patrick's grandchildren Rhea and Graham. They are not members but they love coming to Primary. I also had Curtis from the older class, and Liana, Amaron, and Andyn from my class. I spoke with Sister Singleton about Jace and he is in Whiteriver visiting his birth mother. Gracie was not here today and I have written her a note as I did all of the children in my class. Colter was in the valley visiting his sister Brielle with his parents and LeeAnn and Hailey.

When I gave out the notes I wrote to the children in my class, Curtis ran out of the room. It was sometime before he returned.

Sister Hall's mother did singing time today. She was quite good. 

Sister Skousen did sharing time which involved all the children and was based on the scriptures. 

I spoke with Sister Skousen about Sister Gentry and she loves Sister Gentry as much as Sister Gentry loves her.

Liana and Andyn both got to pick two treasures for the two newsletters they turned in. Amaron wanted one too but I had to tell him no. I told him I would help him do the paper which isn't due until the next fast Sunday so he could pick a treasure. I can no longer do these papers every week, but now only once a month.

Andyn took the fishing hat and some colored pencils. Liana took some candy and a doll.

We went home and had lunch and before we knew it Darrel and Trina were here with all the kiddies.  

At 4 p.m. I went to a high priest group presidency meeting with James. They are planning a party for the older single sisters in the ward and they want the wives input. Sister Hunsaker was there too but Sister Curtis is still in St. David taking care of her father who has alzheimers.

The meeting was just an hour long and then we were back home with our company. James cut the chicken breasts in half and I made a honey mustard to marinate them in. I also took out the chicken tenders from the freezer and put them in some warm water and took some rolls out to rise. We had a very nice dinner: Chicken, grilled and fried tenders, green beans, corn, beans, a salad which Trina made, and rolls. It was quite delicious.

After dinner I played Apples to Apples with Ruby, Trina, and Addy.  Addy and Rowan worked on my Provo City Center, "Brick'em temple and then we watched Lindsay Lohan in "The Parent Trap." Of course Lola had to watch her favorite movie, "Brave" before we watched ours. It was after midnight before we went to bed.

Couldn't resist this one.

President Nelson and his wife Wendy

greet some young adults at the 

Nevada fireside.

The last of the Butler brothers.

Salt River Canyon

Such a lovely couple

Trina said it was like they were in a cloud.

Salt River Canyon

Courtesy of Darrel

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Happy Easter!

Johannesburg, South Africa

36th operating temple

Mosiah 9:1-13

Zeniff leads a group of Nephites to return to the land of Nephi.

*What did Zeniff fail to see because of his overzealous desire to obtain the land of Nephi?

*What are the dangers of being overly eager when making decisions?

*What are the dangers of making decisions without counseling with the Lord?

Helaman 14

Samuel predicts light during the night and a new star at Christ's birth - Christ redeems men from temporal and spiritual death - The signs of His death include three days of darkness, the rending of the rocks, and great upheavals of nature.  About 6 B.C.

DC 58:24-33

Men should use their agency to do good; The Lord commands and revokes;

Why does the Lord want us to be more pro-active about serving others?

General Conference

Return and Receive

Elder M. Russell Ballard

"To return to God's presence and to receive the eternal blessings that come from making and keeping covenants are the most important goals we can set."

Kindness, Charity, and Love

President Thomas S. Monson

"Let us examine our lives and determine to follow the Savior's example by being kind, loving, and charitable."

Happy Birthday Alex

Happy 19th Alex!

Hiking with his mom

Sacrament meeting was the bomb today.  We had three testimonies, some special musical numbers, and  the featured speaker was Brother Grapp.  He is amazing and conveys the Spirit better than anyone I know.  He is just so full of love and happiness and joy and he radiates it. It was wonderful to have him speak on Easter Sunday.  

I gave a lesson in Primary on the resurrection today.  I had ten kids in my class: Jace, Khalie, Colter, Lianna, Curtis, Zemira, Ashton, Talena and two guests, the DeWitt grandchildren, Daisy and Jenna. Oh yes, the DeWitt's are back from their mission to the Dominican Republic. 

We had cupcakes in sharing time to celebrate Easter.

I think the kids enjoyed being outside.

It was a nice break.

Easter is my favorite holiday.  I am so grateful for the Savior.  These pictures about Easter tell it best.

The Resurrected Christ appears to Mary

I love this picture

I want to do one of these posters next year.

"Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm."

It was a wonderful Easter day for me.  We came home and had ham, scalloped potatoes, croissants and a salad for lunch.  Then we took a nap and got up and studied the gospel.  James did some indexing and I wrote in my blog.  Happy Sabbath!  Gratitude fills my heart on this Easter day.