Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

Gilbert, Arizona

142nd operating temple

Dedicated: 2 Mar 2014

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Judge

Isaiah 5:16

But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

2 Nephi 31:13-21

I love Sister Dalton!

Saints, Volume 2

Chapter 31

The Shattered Threads of Life

October 2019 GenCon

Be Faithful, Not Faithless

Stephen W. Owen

"Brothers and sisters, I testify that Jesus Christ is at the head of this Church. He is inspiring our leaders and guiding us to the spiritual nourishment we need to survive and thrive in the latter days. That spiritual nourishment will help us be faithful and not faithless. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

We left the house around 7 o'clock this morning and drove to the Walmart on Baseline and Signal Butte. James bought a pair of shoes. I got caught up in buying a basket and gifts for Sandra Wilhelm. Yesterday was her birthday. I want to get her something nice because she is such an amazing person. She is raising 10 children in a teeny tiny house. I almost made us late for our session at the temple. Also, I told James to turn the wrong way getting off the freeway and that cost us an extra five minutes. 

When we arrived at the temple it was a little past 8. The session starts at 8:30. I am sure Sheri is already here. The first thing I did was go to the records office and ask them to print off a family name for me. We were able to do this because I have the family tree app on my phone. We could have done this for James too but instead he just used a temple name.

We dressed and went upstairs to the chapel. We were the last two they let in. As the company got up to walk to the FaceTime room Sheri turned around and when she saw us she had the biggest smile on her face. That smile was worth any effort we had to make to be here.

Sheri saved me a place by her. I love going to the temple with family members. Kim couldn't make it this morning. She goes to work at 10. 

There were 112 brothers and sisters in our session. That's over twice as many as we can handle in a session in Snowflake. 

The session went smoothly and efficiently. Each row has 8 seats and the two sisters each took a side of the room and did four sisters in each row.

There are 12 veils in the Gilbert temple, twice as many as we have in Snowflake. They moved us through quickly and effectively. Sheri and I visited in the Celestial room for a few minutes. She told me a story Ben told her about a girl named Lucy on his mission. The family name I went through for was Lucy Skinner. I wanted Sheri to wait for James but she said she had to get to work so we said our goodbyes. James wasn't too upset that she left without saying goodbye to him. I think he understands the demands of work.

After the session James took me to the Hobby Lobby on Gilbert Rd. I wanted to get some decorations for St. Patrick's day. Yesterday Lola had a leprechaun trap she had made. It was a shoebox decorated with a Skittles rainbow and several Rollos stacked up to look like a pile of gold. She was taking it to school for an activity.

After I finished shopping at Hobby Lobby, we drove across the street and down half a block to Olive Garden. We were the first one in the door at 11.  James ordered zoodles primavera which consists of zucchini noodles and other vegetables with grilled chicken. So healthy. I ordered chicken scampi with sauce, onions, bell peppers and noodles. Not so healthy but very delicious.

We had breadsticks and salad and for dessert we shared a chocolate lasagna brownie. Thank goodness for gift cards or we would never order dessert.

Brownie layered with cream cheese.

It was good but my favorite dessert here is

the strawberry cheesecake.

I left the brownie we didn't eat and my leftover chicken scampi in Darrel and Trina's frig. 

We went back to Darrel's and both took a nap. As I got up from my nap I began looking for the card I bought for Tanner and the one I bought for Sandra. They were in the same Walmart bag. I could not find them. James looked in the car and I looked everywhere inside. Have we done it again? Did I leave the bag in the cart or on the counter at Walmart? 

We got ready to go. No one was there to say goodbye to. Our first stop before leaving town was Walmart.  I wanted to get Tanner and Sandra another card so we could send Tanner's today and deliver Sandra's on our way home.

While I was looking for cards James was at the service counter with my morning receipt. He came over to me and gave me a gift card. He said, not only did you leave the cards but you left some Easter grass and other items totaling around $15. I used the gift card to check out. Sometimes James is on the right track, especially when it comes to matters of money.

We mailed Tanner's card before leaving town and delivered Sandra's basket on the way home. Why didn't I take  picture? The basket was a cute pink basket with a stuffed cow you can play peek-a-boo with. There were two bags of mini Cadberry chocolate eggs, Sandra's favorite. I put in my favorite lotion, Jergen's Original and my favorite bodywash Soft Soap Honeysuckle and Orange. There was a pedicure brush, body scrubbers, purple and yellow and Sister Nelson's book. Sandra was very grateful and so was Lanel, her little two year old girl.

I forgot to mention that we stopped at Burger House on the way home. James got a green chili burro and I got a bean and cheese. Mine was delicious and so was his. 

We FaceTimed in the car with Kacey, Jared, and Charlie. We had a REALLY good visit!

When we got home and got everything unloaded and put away, we watched a Hallmark movie starring Jesse Metcalf. It's the Martha's Vineyard Mystery Series, episode two.

I did not get my steps on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. I have some catching up to do this week.

Trenda's birthday is March 1st and her mom's is

March 2nd.

 Trina with Tristan and Tristan's 3 kids

James says even though she is blonde, she

is a black bear. This picture was taken in

British Colombia.

  

Monday, March 2nd, 2020

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

141st operating temple

Dedicated: 17 Mar 2013

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Jesus Christ, Judge

2 Nephi 13:14

The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people and the princes thereof; for ye have eaten up the vineyard and the spoil of the poor in your houses.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

2 Nephi 31:1-12

Saints, Volume 2

Chapter 30

A Steady, Onward Movement

October 2019 GenCon

True Disciples of the Savior

Elder Terence M. Vinson

"Are we true followers of Him who gave His all for us? He who is our Redeemer and our Advocate with the Father? He who was Himself absolutely committed in His atoning sacrifice and is so now in His love, His mercy, and His desire for us to have eternal joy? I plead with all who hear and read these words: Please, please don't put your total commitment off until you get around to it at some nonexistent, future time. Get fair dinkum now and feel the joy!"

I already did this post once but my computer some how lost it, or maybe I forgot to save it. Anyway, here it goes again. 

I got up and worked on my blog for awhile before going to get my infusion. Darrel took Addy and Rowan to school. They leave much earlier than Ruby and Lola. Suzy came and picked up Ruby and Lola to take them to school. 

James dropped me off at AARA for my infusion. He borrowed my Costco card and said he was going to see if they could fix his hearing aid. He also went to Verizon and got the ringer on his phone fixed. I asked him if he got me a cord like I asked him to and he said he forgot. He said we could go by and get one later. We never did.

I had a few minutes after my infusion to go to Deseret Book and get a book for my friend Karen whom I am having lunch with to celebrate her birthday. I got her Sister Wendy Nelson's book, "The Heavens Are Open." It's the one that I am reading. I was afraid she might already have it and she did. I told her I wanted to get her Emily Belle Freeman's new book on grace but it doesn't come out until March 9th. She told me to take this book back and get Emily's and the next time we have lunch I could give it to her. Will do.

I had what I almost always do when I go to Firebirds, coconut shrimp with mango coleslaw. It is actually an appetizer. Karen used to order it too but now she is eating a plant-based, gluten free diet. She ordered a baked potato and a salad. She told the waiter that I wanted dessert. We both always use to order a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. I guess she wants to live vicariously through me because she told him that's what I wanted. It was yummy.

I guess when old people get together they talk about their ailments. That's what we did. Karen still does chemo every other Wednesday. She's lucky her hair has not fallen out. She says she will have to do the chemo for the rest of her life. She has some type of kidney cancer. 

Lance, her husband, had prostate cancer and did 8 weeks worth of treatments at Loma Linda University in California. This school is run by the Seventh Day Adventist church who are very health conscious.

When it was time to go, it was raining outside so James pulled around by the front door. Karen said it was hailing when she left and she had to wait for about five minutes. I think it was a cloudburst right over the restaurant because we were out of the rain a few minutes after we left. 

We went to Chacon's tire shop in Mesa where Mario signed the contract and gave James a check for $6,200. 

James hired Duran Thompson, a friend from Chandler that he has worked with before, to survey Mario's lots. His price was under a thousand dollars whereas the guy Mario hired wanted $1,700.

James went by to see Duran before we headed to the Gilbert Costco.

Costco was a big disappointment. I wanted toilet paper and paper towels and they were out of both. I also wanted some fresh strawberries to take home to Darrel's kids. They had none. We got cantaloupe instead. No bread so we got croissants. I got lunchmeat and cheese and some chicken salad to make sandwiches for the kids dinner. Suzy was going to do dinner for them but I told her we would. She took the girls to school and picked them up and then took them to their tumbling class.

When Ruby walked in the door from tumbling she asked what was for dinner. I guess tumbling makes you hungry. Addy had heated up the leftovers from last night and I had stuff out to make the croissant sandwiches. Lola ordered a turkey with cheese. 

Darrel came in with a big handful of mail. I guess they don't pick up their mail very often because one of the letters I sent for Valentine's day was in the pile. 

Lola wanted to know why I used pink and yellow to color the LOVE card. I told her because that was the colors at her mom and dad's wedding reception. When she heard that she wanted to make a card just like it. She did a pretty good job of duplicating it.

Lola started talking about her birthday and how she wishes it was on the "oneth" of July instead of the fourth. Rowan thought that was so funny. He said, "yeah, you could tell everyone your birthday is the oneth of July!" I told Lola she wouldn't want her birthday on that day because that was Max's birthday. 

James and I went to bed pretty early because we are making a trip to Walmart in the morning before going to the temple. James left his dress shoes at home and needs to get another pair. We could have gone tonight but I was already in bed when he made the discovery.

Just hangin' around

 Tristan, Trina's sister in Hawaii

 Greg Butler giving Deb Randy's plaque

Greg worked in my dad's store as a teenager.

I was happy to see Aunt Gene in this picture.

I can't believe my mom lived here.

Before school: