Monday, May 13th, 2019

Oakland, California

13th operating temple

Dedicated: 17-19 Nov 1964

By: David O. McKay

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

1 John 2:22

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist,that denieth the Father and the Son.

Book of Mormon

Mosiah29:1-15

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Matthew 19:1-15; Mark 10:1-16; Luke 18:15-16; Gospel Topic: Marriage

General Conference

Your Priesthood Playbook

Gary E. Stevenson

"We holders of the priesthood have a team (a quorum) and a playbook (the holy scriptures and words of modern prophets). 

Do you strengthen your teammates? How well have you studied your playbook? Do you fully understand your assignment?"

James left for the valley this morning at 5:30 after our family prayer. 

I worked on our book business from 8 am to noon. I bought five new books and set some alerts. 

I am taking it easy on my knee again today. 

Kacey and I texted today about their family. 

James is working at the Willis's today putting on new siding and painting their house. I hope he gets enough people to help him.

I made a trip to the post office and Dollar General this afternoon. 

I got a mother's day card from Kim and Brian which was very much appreciated. Inside the card was a gift card to Cheesecake Factory. I also got a graduation announcement for Bettylea Rogers.

At Dollar General I bought diet Dr. Pepper, ice, a small package of Little Debbie turtle brownies which were delicious, a small package of sausage, a frozen macaroni and cheese meal, a package of snack sized frozen burritos, peanut M&M's, and a package of dill pickle Lay's potato chips. All of this for under $20. I ate chips all the way home and then threw the rest of the package away before I ate it all.

I did not email Ben this week but James did. Ben sent an email to Sheri for all the members of the family who want to read it. All you have to do is ask Sheri and she will send it to you.

Elder Trezise is quite the preacher. I am so grateful for his faith, obedience, and testimony. It's one of the things that keeps me going.

I watched the latest Hailey Dean Mystery this evening. It is a whodunit and I guess right!

Thanks Kim and Brian for accepting dad into your home to stay this week.

 Two cuties

 The Reidhead's in Georgia

The Chase's in Chandler

 Elder Rosenbaum has long legs!

 Charlie loves her mom!

 Scarlett loves the trampoline!

 Not too scary and I like the characters

Not up to par yet.

Wednesday, May 8th, 2019

Idaho Falls, Idaho

8th operating temple

Dedicated: 23-25 Sept 1945

By: George Albert Smith

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Colossians 1:13

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 25:15-26:13

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Luke 14

General Conference

Seeking Knowledge by the Spirit

Mathias Held

"But how could we know if what the missionaries were telling us about the Book of Mormon, about Joseph Smith, and about the plan of salvation was actually all true? Well, we had understood from the words of the Lord that we could 'know them by their fruits.' So, in a very systematic manner, we started examining the Church by looking for those fruits with the eyes of our very rational minds. What did we see? Well, we saw: A church where Jesus Christ and families are at the center of everything, where members fast once a month and donate to help the poor and needy, where healthy habits are promoted, teaching us to abstain from harmful substances."

Elk and rain this morning, and also, the hummingbirds are back and James has been feeding them.

I loved Elder Holland's talk, "The Other Prodigal." Here are some notes I jotted down: "If envy were a fever we would all have one." "In the story of the prodigal son, the father doesn't tantalize his children. He does not mercilessly measure them against their neighbors. He doesn't even compare them with each other. His gestures of compassion toward one do not require a withdrawal or denial of love for the other. He is divinely generous to both sons."

"We will be provided with a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness for each of us,cleansed in the blood of the Lamb."

It was rainy and cool most of the day. James built a beautiful fire but he says that we are now out of dry firewood. We just thought summer was here, but today it felt more like winter.

Using the workflow chart that Kathy H. made I worked on the book business this morning. James is too busy to help right now because he is getting bids for the Memon and Kisana jobs. Here are the things that Kathy says she feels are important to do on a regular basis:

- Checking books sold overnight and ordering 10-30 more books. This business is all about building inventory. 

- Setting Keepa alerts on good books to buy when the price is lower.

- Prepping merchant fulfilled books for shipment.

- Strive to get positive feedback on sales made. This helps the Amazon algorithm trust you as a seller, and encourages more buyers, too.

- Have a plan. What are your goals, financial or otherwise with this business. 

- If not using a prep center, prepare shipments on a daily basis.

- Add books that you have purchased to the inventory list

-Repricing keeps you competitive, so reprice often.

- Buy as many books as your budget allows, find new sources or ways to buy, reprice, and local source once a week.

- Check feedback and then do any cleanup (stranded inventory, client messages, etc.)

Well, Kathy is my hero in this business. She just did $20,000 worth of sales last month. Two of the things that I like about Kathy are her willingness to share her trade secrets because she genuinely wants to help people and her personal touch. She responds to everyone who asks a question or makes a comment on Facebook and she does that in every aspect of her business. She is a nice person who wants to help others. I wish I could afford to have her be my mentor.

I did desk work today and paid some bills, including Lambson Construction bills. 

James got a call from the Willis's daughter Sandy today. She works during the day but lives with her parents and helps take care of them. Today the company James had do the drywall patching the Willis's needed sent a guy over by himself and I guess he was a bit of an annoyance. He knocked on their door and asked to come in and use the bathroom. When Sister Willis told him no he asked if he could go in her yard. She again said no. He also knocked on the door for a drink of water. Sandy was concerned for her parents safety and that's why she called James. He immediately called the owner of the company and complained. The guy said he would take care of it. The job isn't done yet so hopefully this won't happen again.

 I know it doesn't look very fancy but

those little venison steaks are very tasty.

 My hubby the fire starter

Nothing like a nice fire on a cold day to create

a homey atmosphere.

 Meghan and Prince Harry with their baby boy

 Before the press knew his name they were calling

him baby Sussex. I guess that's because Meghan and Harry

are the Duchess and Duke of Sussex.

 Scarlett sweeping while holding her drink.

 Trying to get out of her seat.

 In to the magazines. At least she

chose a good one.

 The mountain disappeared

Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

Tijuana, Mexico

149th operating temple

Dedicated: 13 Dec 2015

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

1 John 5:10

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 9:1-19

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Matthew 21:23-46; 22:41-46; 23:37-39

General Conference

The Power of Sustaining Faith

President Henry B. Eyring

"By raising your hand to sustain, you make a promise with God, whose servants there are, that you will sustain them."

Happy 21st Birthday Alex!

Sheri posted so many I couldn't choose.

These seven were my favorites.

A couple of quotes from the article in the Ensign, "Instruments or Agents": 'Righteousness must be freely chosen.' 'Does God want his children to be submissive instruments or proactive agents? It should not surprise us that the answer is both. He wants His children to become as He is, and that requires that we acquire the attributes of both a trusting instrument and a trusted agent. He wants us to humbly and willingly learn from our experiences in the hands of the Master so that we may one day be masters ourselves.'

We sold some more books on Amazon today. The best was one we have here at home called, merchant fulfilled. It is an old wire-bound book on building ponds in different ecosystems. We priced it at $77.95 and we made $55.91. One of our best sales so far. I prepared to ship the book to the woman in Oregon and we will mail it tomorrow. 

James worked on the Willis's roof today and then came home this evening. He said he was rained on most of the way. I wasn't even aware that it was raining here. What does that say about me?

I bought ten more books today to replenish our inventory.

You're my hero.

Oh dear, this is just too much!

Best friends forever!