Tuesday, January 9th, 2018

Cardston, Alberta

6th operating temple

Dedicated: 26-29 Aug 1923

By: Heber J. Grant

Jesus Christ Atonement through

DC 29:1

Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I Am, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins;

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 7:16-8:15

After being beaten, mocked and persecuted by his brothers, Nephi did "frankly forgive them." How can we find it in ourselves to forgive those who have hurt us?

Old Testament Reading

Genesis 18-20; Abraham 5

Genesis 18

Abraham entertains three holy men-They promise that Sarah will have a son-Abraham will command his children to be just-The Lord appears to him-They discuss the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis 19

Lot entertains holy men-The men of Sodom seek to abuse Lot's guests and are smitten with blindness-Lot is sent out of Sodom-The Lord rains brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah-Lot's daughters preserve his seed in the land.

Genesis 20

Abimelech desires Sarah, who is preserved by the Lord - Abraham prays for Abimelech, and the Lord blesses him and his household.

Old Testament Scripture Mastery

Exodus 20:8-11

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

General Conference

Spiritual Eclipse

Gary E. Stevenson

"With so many appropriate and inspired uses of technology, let us use it to teach inspire, and lift ourselves and to encourage others to become their finest - rather than to portray our idealized virtual selves. Let us also teach and demonstrate the righteous use of technology to the rising generation and warn against the associated hazards and destructive use of it. Viewing social media through the lens of the gospel can prevent it from becoming a spiritual eclipse in our lives."

I came across this quote today while reading from the book, "Rescuing Wayward Children": 

"Inasmuch as we succeed in securing eternal glory, and stand as saviors, and as kings, and priests to our God, we will save our posterity." - Lorenzo Snow

Also from "Rescuing Wayward Children":

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared - and he never taught more comforting doctrine - that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father's heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God. - 

Thanks to James's help all the Christmas decorations got taken down today. I still have a few things downstairs to box up.

A nice day here in Vernon, Arizona. What is even nicer is that there is snow on the horizon, rain and snow tonight.

James worked outside today. I am not sure why he watered the grass with the rain coming.

My friend Amy posted on Facebook that someone had 52 thoroughbred horses they wanted to give away. The dad died and the son does not want to care for the horses. James tried to call several times but could never get through. That is what happens when the word "free" is thrown into the mix.

Watched "Heartland - Life is a Highway."

Friends of Darrel and Trina own this place.

I am dying to get on of their ice cream crepes.

This homemade crunch wraps look 

better than the ones at Taco Bell.

(Can you tell I'm hungry)

A trip down memory lane. James

looks so young, and so do the kids!

Paul with his dad and his brother Aaron.

While the cats asleep the mice will play.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Apostle Richard G. Scott passed away today.

He was 86 years old.

"Recognize the good in others,
not their stains."
-Richard G. Scott

James calls elk out on the porch every morning and every evening.

I think this group is onto him because they aren't responding.

James went with me today to visit two of the sisters on my visiting teaching beat.  These were the handouts I gave for the lesson on the divine attributes of Jesus Christ, power and glory.

The quote says:

"The Savior uses His Power to Redeem

and Empower us.  Our Faith in Him will increase as

we Remember that He is full of Power an Grace."

This quote is attached to a small Book of Mormon.  I told the sisters that I feel like I get power from reading about the Savior in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon.

We left the house around 9am.  Our first visit was with Elida Pope.  The Pope's live further away from the ward building than any other family in the ward.  We met Elida at the second well on Stanford Rd.  It is 14 miles from the Stanford store to Elida's house, mostly all on dirt roads.  Her house is actually closer to Taylor than it is to Vernon, but there are no roads going into Taylor from where she lives.

 On the road to the Pope's

The Pope's home.  They have solar energy

and a generator and their own well.

I told Elida she was truly a pioneer.  She also home

schools her little boy Ethan.  She has three boys but

Eli and Edmund aren't in school yet.

I had a nice visit with Elida.  I was impressed with how soft-spoken she was with her kids.  She is a convert and she says her husband Eric introduced her to the gospel.  They served in the military together.  She just returned from a trip to her home state, Florida, for her great grandmother's funeral.  She said she was glad to get home and loves the peace and quiet which surrounds her at home.

After our visit with Elida we headed back to the well where we met her and turned to go to visit Hailey Chafin at the Chafin ranch.  

The Chafin's have no electricity.  They have solar power

and a generator and their own well.

Hailey had her baby Huntley Nicole with her.  Her baby has more hair than any baby I've ever seen and it is black and sticks straight up in the air.  Sorry I didn't get a picture.  

We figured we traveled about 60 miles round trip to visit with these two sisters.  I just hope I can make it when it snows.

After our visit with Hailey we headed into Show Low.  We wanted to have lunch at LaCasita but there was no place to park, so we went on down the road to Grumpy Jake's BBQ.  I had the pulled pork sandwich with a side of cowboy beans.  It was all very tasty!  Kyle Thomas, a member of our ward when James was the bishop in Chandler, was in the booth right behind us.  He is a dentist and lives up here now.  

We drove on to the Lakeside Cemetery to check on the mums on my Mom's grave.

They are blooming because of all the rain.

James checking to see if the soil is wet.

On the way home we stopped at Walmart for a little shopping.  When we got home we took a nap and watched a Hallmark movie.

I also worked on my blog and did some cleaning.  James worked on income taxes.  When we went to bed, it started to rain.