Sunday, July 31, 2016

One of my favorite temples

Alma 43:15-26  Why is it important to be prepared?

15 - The two armies prepare to meet.

16 - Nephites are led by Captain Moroni.

17 - Moroni was only 25 years old.

18 - Moroni's army are prepared and armed.

19 - The army has breastplates, arm shields, head gear and thick clothing.

20 - Zerahemnah's army only has swords, cimeters, bows and arrows, stones and slings and the Larmanites are girded with a loin cloth.

21 - The Lamanites are afraid even though their numbers are great.

23 - Moroni sends spies to follow the Lamanites.  He also inquired of the Prophet Alma if the Nephites should go and defend themselves against the Lamanites.

24 - Alma says yes and tells Moroni's messengers the Lamanites plan to attack Manti.

25 - Moroni takes part of his army to Manti.

I spent most of the morning before church preparing for my Primary lesson and typing quotes for James's gospel doctrine class. 

My lesson is entitled "Nephi Prophesies".  The main message is on the importance of following the Prophet.

Sacrament meeting was wonderful today. Rick and Pam Giles spoke and they were amazing.  Here is a quote Pam shared in her talk: "The most terrible poverty is loneliness and feeling unloved." - Mother Theresa.  She spoke about love and service and I loved the things she said.  She is a great example as she visits those in rest homes who don't have many visitors.

Rick spoke about President Nelson's talk on priesthood power.  He is a very eloquent speaker and spoke with conviction and sincerity.

I was so proud of both of them!  They were the celebrities for the day.

The bishop said we had more sick people in our ward than all of the other wards in the stake combined.  Along with George Wallace, Mil Bell, and Julie Berry we have Sean Hunsaker with heart problems, Dave Kustuziak, Billy Gillaspy, Brother Patrick, and Dustin Curtis who has stage 4 bladder cancer.  Dustin is the son of our good friends Blain and Diana Curtis.  He is quite young, in his late 20's or early 30's.  I need to text Diana.

We had four girl visitors in our Primary class today along with Curtis and Zemira.  Our visitors were: Reagan, Mariah, and Addison Tingey all from Mesa, and Carson who is also from Mesa.

During the 3rd hour I was excused from Primary Sharing Time to go to the bishops counsel meeting.  I am so glad that I did.  It was wonderful.  He ask what he had recommended to us last year in this meeting to help with most of our problems and to help give us an added measure of comfort for our concerns.  Teresa Smith knew the answer: "Keep the Sabbath day holy."  He reaffirmed that promise and added something else.  He said over the past few years he has been prompted to increase his temple attendance from monthly to weekly and it has made all the difference in his life and also in his wife's life.  He said he began this before he was called as bishop and knows that he would not have been called if he had not made this weekly commitment.  He quoted Elder Maxwell: "Not shrinking is more important than surviving."  I now quote from the remained of his counsel:  "The temple and the Sabbath will hone us to become more like God.  I am a better person because of the temple.  The temple will give you added strength to carry your burdens.  You know what is important and need to do it.  Please don't say you don't have time.  We all have the same amount of time.  It is a matter of priorities.  Remember Elder Oak's talk from a few years ago: "Good, Better, Best."  The temple is the best.  There is power in the temple.  Christ's gospel makes us the best."

He also quoted from President Ezra Taft Benson:

"The temple is a standing witness that the power of God can stay the powers of evil in our midst.  Many parents, in and out of the Church, are concerned about protection against a cascading avalanche of wickedness which threatens to engulf Christian principles.  I find myself in complete accord with a statement made by President Harold B. Lee during World War II.  Said he: 'We talk about security in this day, and yet we fail to understand that ... we have standing the holy temple wherein we may find the symbols by which power might be generated that will save this nation from destruction."

Wow I love our bishop.  He is humble and inspired and such a great example.

Becky Skousen went with me today to visit three boys in my Primary class that I have never seen.  The first was Lej Westbrook. His mother came to the door.  I had cookies.  When I ask if I could meet Lej she hesitated and then said, "I will take the cookies" and that was that.  Well, at least we made contact.  Next we went to the Kenyon's which is always fun.  We gave Cameron two plates of cookies and a handout from today's lesson.  I had a good feeling about him.  Our last visit was to Braxton Penrod.  He was on the computer and you could tell he didn't want to be disturbed, but at Becky's insistance he came to the door and accepted the handout and cookies.  I am grateful to Becky for going with me.  Next month I am going once a week except for fast Sunday, and taking members of my class with me.  Next month we will be delivering Book of Mormon's with reading assignments along with our cookies.

Brother Wallace is doing poorly again.  This has been going on since May 9th when he had his first surgery.  James is very concerned about him.  George is discouraged, but says he is getting better.  I hope so.  James's blessin he gave him said he would get well.

Studied this afternoon and waited for Kim and Brian to arrive.  I finally texted Kim and they said it would be after 10 tonight.

We also waited for the rain but it didn't come until after we went to bed.  Here is the place Kim and Brian attended the Avett Brothers concert on Saturday night..

I love these two C.S. Lewis quotes:

Last year at the cabin:

You've come a long way baby.

A tea party in honor of Molly's birthday.

  

Sunday, May 15, 2016

I got up at 4:30 this morning to finish studying and preparing my Primary lesson.  I love the story of the conversion of King Lamoni's father.  Maybe someday we will know his name.

Ty Applegate was the youth speaker today in sacrament meeting.  He spoke on Brother Owen's conference address, "Great Leaders are Great Followers."  

His mother, Tamara, was the next speaker.  She spoke about what she learned from stake and general conference.  Here is a list that she created: 1.) Attend all sessions 2.) Look for answers to problems 3.) Pray and invite the Spirit 4.) Don't disbute or criticize like Laman and Lemuel, and don't harden your heart. 5.) "The Lord blesses those who want to improve." - Elder Jeffrey Rl. Holland.  

She then discussed what her "conference plan" was going to be.  Here is mine: Attend the temple more frequently, read the scriptures with greater intent, be sincere in prayer, open up to promptings, listen to the Holy Ghost, have the desire to improve, find my ancestors, and forgive others.

Sadie Westbrook was the last speaker.  She spoke about her participation in the Pathway Program.  The Pathway program prepares you to go to BYU-Idaho or BYU-Online.  It is three semesters long.  Sadie is finishing up her third semester and wants to attend BYU-Idaho in September.  

Zemira, Curtis, Braylin, and Kacey attended Primary today.  The lesson went really well and at the end we played tic-tac-toe, answering questions from the lesson.  The game was a tie.

After church, as we were leaving to go home James says to me: "I have some bad news.  The bishop wants to see us in his office at 2:45.  I had told him earlier that I thought they were calling a camp director today.  At first I was a little nervous, but I said a prayer, and I felt fine.  It turns out the bishop wants us to be the temple cleaning co-ordinators.  The only part of the calling I am a little nervous about is getting 18 other people to clean with us when we go every other month.  

Today I finished reading Mosiah 29 and listened to President Nelson's talk on the priesthood.  I also worked on my Primary lesson for next week which is about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.

James went with Rick Lauritzen to give George Wallace a blessing this afternoon.  George had hernia surgery this week and he is retaining fluids.  He has gained 25 lbs. in four days and refuses to go back to the doctor.  

James and I both wore our jammies most of the afternoon after our meeting with the bishop. 

James wanted to watch TV this evening, so we watched "The Good Witch."

  Cheryl Horne posted these flowers on Facebook.  They are in her backyard.  I love them, especially the purple ones.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

The hero of our story in Primary today.

Ammon was a great servant.

Notes on my personal gospel study.  Somehow James and I need to get back together on this.  Mosiah 25:15-26:13:

16 - Remember it was the Lord that delivered the people out of bondage.

18 - Alma baptizes Limhi and his people. 

19 - Alma establishes seven churches throughout Zarahemla.

24 - And they were called the people of God.  And the Lord did pour out His Spirit upon them, and they were blessed, and prospered in the land.

Mosiah 26

Many of the rising generation did not understand the words of King Benjamin and they did not believe the traditions of their fathers.

This causes problems throughout the Church in Zarahemla.  Alma doesn't know what to do with the non-believers and their iniquities.  First he goes to Mosiah, but Mosiah told him he was in charge of the church.  Then Alma goes to the Lord.

Maddie Carroll gave the youth talk in Church today.  Chuck and Kathy Crane were the main speakers. 

  Kathy shared the talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland in the April 1997 General Conference, "Because She is A Mother."  I liked this quote from the talk:

'If you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do.' 'Sometimes the decision of a child or a grandchild will break you heart.' 'Oh, God, let me not lose my own.' - Joseph F. Smith.

'No one fails who keeps trying and keeps praying.'

Chuck's talk was based on President Uchtdorf's talk in the recent priesthood session of conference entitled, "In Praise of Those Who Save".  'As we emulate the Savior's love, He will surely bless and prosper our righteous efforts to save our marriages and strengthen our families.'

There was a little bit of time left at the end of the meeting so Bishop Miller got up to say a few words.  He went to the state track meet in Mesa and talked about a girl who was a very fast runner and who through training and dedication had accomplished her goals.  He then said: "Conquer physical weaknesses through our mind.  Think about what you think about.  Everything begins with a thought."  Something to think about.

My Primary class went well today but they were too focused on the candy I brought.  I had Izabel, Zemira, Curtis, Braylin, and Talena.  Talena is from the older class but Denice Hall wasn't here today.  

They all enjoyed the story of Ammon and trying out the sling.  Of course all the boys want James to make them one.  

It's sad not having Sister Berry in sharing time.  Our Primary is so small I guess they sent her class to be with Sadie's or Rosa's.  

This is Rosa Westbrook and her daughter Sadie.

They are the two other Primary teachers who are

there every week with me.

I love them both.  Rosa raised seven boys and two girls.

After Primary we went home and James cooked me a most delicious fillet steak.  He also gave me Jordan almonds and the sweetest mother's day card.

Those potatoes don't look like much but they were delicious!

After lunch I took a short nap and then spent some time studying and then working on my next week's Primary lesson.  I also worked on my blog.  The TV never came on once today.  It was a wonderful Sabbath day and a great mother's day.  I heard from all of my children.  They really are wonderful.