Monday, May 16, 2016

Padre Island

Today our scripture reading was Alma 1:1-14.  Here are some notes I took:

People care for the poor and the Church prospers.  Alma becomes the Chief Judge and the High Priest over the Church.  Nehor teaches that all men will have eternal life.  Gideon withstood him and Nehor kills Gideon.  Priestcraft is introduced and is enforced by the sword.  1:16 - priestcraft is "preaching false doctrines ... for the sake of riches and honor."  1:7-9 - Gideon "was an instrument in the hands of God."  1: 13-15 - Nehor suffers an ignomonious death which is a shameful death.  

"The Greatest Leaders are the Greatest Followers."  Brother Owen, the Young Men's President.  

"There will be times when the path ahead seems dark, but keep following the Savior.

He knows t he way, in fact, He is the way."

James and I had lunch with our friends Blain and Diana Curtis.  When we went to get in the truck, I noticed it had a flat tire.  

James put air in the tire and we were on our way.  We parked the truck at the Curtis's and drove with them to Show Low. We followed Dennis and Denise's recommendation and tried The House Restaurant.

It was very casual and the menu is very small, featuring appetizers, salads, and sandwiches.  

Blain and Diana both ordered The Show Low sandwich which is described as: 8oz. bacon laced ground pork, crisp bacon, carved ham, pepper jack cheese, and chipotle aioli.

James ordered the Founder: slow cooked pork shoulder, spinach, tomato, green chili aioli.

I ordered the Chicken of Clubs: grilled chicken breast, bacon, pepper jack, avocado, spinach, tomato, and red pepper aioli.

James was the only one who didn't like his sandwich.  

Our sandwiches came with chips and were served in a box.  I did not like the fact that I had to eat out of the box but the food was good enough that I would come back again.  

Diana and I shared a piece of decadent cherry cheesecake with shortbread crust.  It was delicious!

 Our friends the Curtis's

They are awesome.

I got a call from Sister West who is  the cleaning co-ordinator for the temple.  She wants to meet with us Wednesday night and train us.  Our first assignment is on Thursday, May 26th, at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend.  We are responsible to get 20 people there.  Yikes!

I took a little nap this afternoon while James put a plug in the tire.  He is going to the valley tomorrow and doesn't want to wake up to a flat tire.  

After my nap I worked on my Primary lesson and Article of Faith notebooks for my class, and my blog.  I like to watch "Chopped" while I am working at my computer.  

James came in a little late so before he was ready for FHE I watched part of DWTS.  I will watch the rest tomorrow.  I heard the news that Antonio and Wanya went home.  Wanya was my second favorite after Paige.  I am sad.  Nyle, Ginger and Paige are in the finale.  I hope Paige wins. 

For FHE we listened to Brother Owen's talk and then read from our ebook, "A Lady's Favor." 

I love this memory from my photo collection:

Max wears the 'stache well.

 

 

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.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

It started out to be a beautiful morning.

 It got even better when we went to the Snowflake

temple.

James and I attended the 8 am endowment session.  Our friend from our ward, Blain Curtis was the officiator of our session.  I was proud of James for going even though he could only whisper and could not hear very well.  

After the session James left to go home.  I stayed and waited for our ward youth to come for baptisms.  I had to wait almost an hour so I sat in the chapel and read from the hymn book.  

We had a small group today, only three young women: Shelly, Alice, and Hailey, and three young men: Ty, Jace, and Andy.  There were five priesthood leaders: Wes Smith, Bishop Miller, Kip Hunsaker, Jimmy Applegate, and Rick Lauritzen.  There are supposed to be seven so we were two short.  James had been ask to go but because he couldn't talk or hear, he declined.  There were three women leaders: Diana Curtis, Tamara Applegate, and myself.  I got to hand towels to the youth as they came out of the baptismal font.  I really do love these young women:

Alice, Hailey, and Shelly.

They are so cute and fun!

After the temple the entire group went to El Cupido's for lunch.  Even though it was lunch time, I had my breakfast burrito with bacon.  It was yummy!

Alice, Hailey, Diana Curtis and I rode home with the bishop.  It was so fun to get to visit with my friend Diana again.  We get along so well.

As we were coming in to Vernon I mentioned that I hadn't seen the antelope that usually graze in the field by the Vernon turn off for awhile.  Just as we came around the corner into Vernon, bishop pointed out a herd.  

 

 A quote from my first ebook,

"Amazed by Grace"

by Sheri Dew.

Before doing anything else I had to lay down and take a nap.  James joined me.  I also had to call Debbie Miller and have her ask Ed if he would teach Gospel Doctrine tomorrow because James has no voice.  

My intention was to spend the rest of the day working on my Primary lesson, which I did for awhile until James came in and ask when we were going to watch our movie.  I just can't turn him down.  We watched the new Hallmark movie, "Tulips in Spring."

Lots going on in our family this weekend.  Alex and Tre, who was the prom queen at Chandler High, and also happens to be in Alex's seminary class, went to Mormon Prom together.

 Such a cute couple!

Emmy was in a soccer tournament.  All the other teams were boys.  They got 2nd place and Emmy plays defender and did really well.

 Emmy's in the back row with the glasses on.

Jared and James went to their Fathers & Sons Outing.  Here are a few pictures that Jared sent me.

 I remember that apple head guy from years past.

 Love that smile!

 Is that smoke in the background?

Do they do prescribed burns?

 James sees something.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Happy Birthday to my nephew Monte!

(Seen here with his wife, Tasha)

My mom's birthday was on September 13th and she always said that 13 was her lucky number.  It is appropriate that her oldest grandchild would be born on the 13th.

Today's scripture study and question:
Mosiah 29:1-15
"What are the differences between the judgments of man and the judgments of God"?
God is perfect with a perfect eternal perspective.  He knows our hearts and our whole stories.  As "man" we have limited understanding of one another and one anothers situations.  Isn't it difficult to accurately judge someone when you don't truly know their story and what's on the inside?  
Good advice but hard to live by sometimes.

I made three dozen rolls today for the Father's and Son's Outing.  I used Rhodes frozen rolls but they are delicious and taste homemade.  Do you think anyone will notice?

I found an interesting situation in my family history today.  Could there be two brothers one with the name of Alexander A. Strickland born in 1862 and the other Alexander Strickland born in 1870?
I am not sure what to do because ordinance work has already been done.

This is a picture of my cousin Rita and her husband Bill.  Rita is a month younger than I am and we both have rheumatoid arthritis.
I guess it must run in the family.

 Rita and Bill are temple workers and Rita also worked at the family history center the last time I spoke with her.

Listened to Elder Bednar's conference talk about retaining a remission of our sins.  His talks are always so good!

I also listened to several articles in the New Era.  What a great magazine for our youth! 

I loved the smell of pine when I opened the window while ironing!
I also enjoyed the aroma of baking rolls!

James and I went to town again this afternoon.  James had to get roofing material and make a stop at Home Depot.  I had to go to Walmart and pick up a prescription.  I also picked up a few veggies and some other items.

I put some things away that I brought in from the garage, vacuumed downstairs and swept the upstairs.

Around 5:30 James and I took the Razr up the hill to Brady Springs to deliver rolls and water.  This was my first Razr ride of the season and it was great.  Did I mention that it was 82 degrees here today?

Back at home James worked until quite late so we didn't have time to watch a movie.  We did the next best thing, we watched an episode of "Chopped" instead!

I don't know why, but I love this show!

 

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Scripture study: Mosiah 28:1-20

 why did the sons of Mosiah want to preach to the Lamanites?

What should be our attitude about missionary work? 

V3 - "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human should perish; yea, even the very thought that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."  

I love the compassion the sons of Mosiah have towards the people they considered their enemies.  But they didn't view them as that, they viewed them as children of God that were just like them, in need of help to "see" and the potential to change.  This really struck me today.  If only I could view all my "enemies" like that.  

Also, I believe the sons of Mosiah desired to preach to the Lamanites because they could relate to them.  

V4 - "And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners.  And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever."  They knew what it was like to be "lost" and then be "found" and to have the Spirit of the Lord work upon them.  They felt the amazing difference between the two and knew they could help others feel that too.   

I hope my attitude about missionary work would be similar to that of the sons of Mosiah.

Some thoughts from the Book of Mormon Student Manual:

"The desire to share the gospel is a natural result of personal conversion." - Howard W. Hunter

"The key to successful member missionary work is the exercise of faith.  Exercise faith by setting a date to have someone ready to hear the missionaries." - M. Russell Ballard

For my General Conference talk I read Elder Jairo Mazzagardi's talk, "The Sacred Place of Restoration."

'Palmyra was the stage of the Restoration, where the Father's voice would be heard after nearly two millennia.'

I read some amazing articles about General Conference in the New Era.  I love the New Era almost as much as the Ensign.

I usually read the Ensign first, then the Friend because I am in Primary, and then the New Era.

I'm just going to share a little bit from an article called, "My Conference Plan."  Here are the things we should do as a result of listening to General Conference:

Attend the temple

Read the scriptures

Be sincere in prayer

Open up to promptings

Listen to the Holy Ghost

Have the Desire

Find ancestors

Forgive others

I saw James looking out the window this morning.  He made the comment: "I wonder what that squirrel is eating."  I was curious so I came over and looked out the window too.  I wanted to say, an acorn, but there were no oak tree close by.  It looked like he was picking up something off the ground and holding it in his front paws and eating.  No sure what it was.

James loves the little critters we have around here.  He is always taking lettuce and carrots to the rabbits.  The other day he was holding a baby bunny and looking in the frig for something for him to eat.  

Here he is putting up the hummingbird feeder.

 He wouldn't let me take a picture of his face

because of his "owie's."

James is making great progress on the shed.  He's working on the roof right now.  He is so discouraged because he can't talk or hear right now, and his face has a big owie.

 

I changed sheets on three beds today and vacuumed our bedroom, the living room and the family room.  I also dusted those areas.  There was a ton of sawdust on one of the couch cushions so I had to vacuum that up too.  I think James must have sat there.

Jared has convinced me that ebooks are a nice thing to have on your phone.  Today I downloaded a book he said was really good called, "Amazed by Grace" by Sheri Dew.  It didn't cost me anything because of my platinum points.  I was a little disappointed it wasn't in audio.  The audio books cost alot more.

I also read from the book Jared gave me for mother's day, "To Mothers, Carrying the Torch of Faith and Family."  I think I am going to really enjoy it.

I worked out in the garage for an hour sweeping and organizing.  I was filthy, which called for a soak in the tub.

James Hayden had a ballroom dance recital tonight.  I wish I could be there to see him!  He is going to send me some pictures.  He danced to Phantom of the Opera and was dressed as the phantom.  Does it get any better?

Michael ran in the Meet of Champions tonight.  He got third.  Paul posted this picture.

 In two years I hope.

TBT on Facebook:

 He has grown so much!

Max totally looks like Harry Potter!

Tonight James and I watched a movie made in 2008 starring Jane Seymour.  It was a murder mystery with quite a bit of comedy thrown in.

James saw Jane Seymour on a plane one time.

For some reason he is not a big fan.

I like her.

 

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Mosiah 27:18-37

How does it feel to have your soul "redeemed from the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity"? This is the conversion story of Alma the younger and here are a few of my favorite verses:

24 - For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.

25 - And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;

28 - Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God.

29 - My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity.  I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God.  My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.

31 - Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him.  Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; then shall they confess, who live without God in the word, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his all-searching eye.

36 - And they traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah, zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church, confessing all their sins, and publishing all the things which they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear them.

Wow! What a change.  I wish I could see this dramatic change in some of my grandsons. 

 

During our morning study time:

While he's huddled around the heater, I am sitting under the fan.

 

Today is a smoky day.  For some reason the forest service thinks they have to do burns to protect the trees.  James and I are both frustrated.  We are wondering why they can't chip the trees, etc. and sell them to the chipping plant in Show Low.  The smoke makes us miserable, especially James who has such bad allergies.

 

James needed to get some materials for the shed in town and wanted me to go with him.  On the way we read from Sarah M. Eden British Isles Collection.  We never finished the last story and James wants to finish it before we go on to the next Narnia book.  The story is called "A Lesson in Love."

 

I shopped at Walmart and probably spent too much money while James was buying roofing materials.  When he was finished he picked me up and I went with him to Home Depot.  While he was buying building supplies I bought a new filter for our refrigerator and some air filters for the air conditioner.  The items I bought were right around $100.  Keeping up a home is expensive!

Oh yes, James heard from Erik and my car does have a warped head gasket so that's probably going to cost us around $1,500.  Let's just say that it's expensive to live.

 

On the way home we listened to Elder Mervyn B. Arnold's conference address, "To the Rescue: We Can Do It" Here is a quote:

"The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost . . .

"For it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

 

On a little lighter note:

Our choices for President of the United States are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  I honestly don't know who to vote for.

 Is there a decent third party running.  We will have to wait and see.

Laura says we need to vote Republican because of the Supreme Court nominations, but can I honestly vote for someone who I think is incompetent?

Kaeli Nicoll and I went to visit Claire Mercado this afternoon.  We even met beforehand and had prayer.  I took Claire and her daughter Marlie a basket of fruit an Claire seemed very appreciative.  She ate one of the bananas while we were there.  

 

After our visit I couldn't get in the house so I called James to let me in.  He was still outside working and so I told him not to worry about it.  As I was walking around to the back of the house where the door was unlocked he came charging through the garage and ran into a wall.  He was a bloody mess when I saw him.  He has a big gash between his eyebrows.  He probably needed to have stitches.  He spent all day on a ladder and never got hurt and then this happens.  He wouldn't let me take a picture.

 

I fixed cabbage and broccoli for dinner and we both loved it!  While we were settling in to watch our movie Dallin and Joe were performing with Alpin Hong at MCC.

Dallin is singing on the far right.

These two are very talented if I do say so myself!

 

Here is the movie we watched.  Another one with Ed Asner as the grumpy, wise grandpa.

Some gorgeous northern California

scenery in this movie.

 

 

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

I just posted this picture because I thought it was pretty.

Today's scripture study: Mosiah 27:1-17:

Mosiah forbids persecution and enjoins equality.  Alma the younger and the four sons of Mosiah seek to destroy the Church - An angel appears and commands them to cease their evil course - Alma is struck dumb - All mankind must be 'born again' to gain salvation - Alma and the sons of Mosiah declare glad tidings.

My favorite verses:

4 - They should let no pride nor haughtiness disturb their peace; that every man should esteem his neighbor as himself, laboring with their own hands for their support.

14 - The angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people . . . Alma prayed with much faith that thou might be brought to the knowledge of the truth.  Therefore for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.

Question: How can righteous parents influence wayward children?  

I think we have here a prime example of what a parent can do.  Pray and exercise faith and be a good example.  Never give up!

I also listened to Elder Neil L. Andersen's conference address, "Whoso Receiveth Them, Receiveth Me."

'Children today find themselves in many different and complex family configurations.  We need to reach out to those who feel alone, left behind, or outside the fence.'

I also listened to several articles from the New Era.  It was a review and summary of conference addresses by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

This is what James built today while I was preparing for the missionaries:

Sweet!

I started preparing dinner around 12:30 p.m. and finished just before 5 p.m. when the missionaries were scheduled to come.

Elder Rosenbalm and Elder Goodenough.

Elder Rosenbalm is from Lehi, Utah but right now his family is living in Kuwait where his dad has a job.  Elder Goodenough is from Daytona Beach, Florida.  Both of them want to attend BYU or BYU-Idaho after their missions.

We had enchiladas, spanish rice, refried beans, corn and a lettuce salad for dinner.  For dessert, brownies, ice cream, and chocolate sauce.  

We really enjoyed visiting with these elders.  It seems like they are on missions for all the right reasons.  Before leaving Elder Rosenbalm shared a scripture from Romans 8:16-17:

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

After cleaning the kitchen we were both so tired we just wanted to sit down and relax and watch a movie.  This is the one we chose:

Cute movie.

 Thank goodness for Facebook or I wouldn't know anything.

Kylie, Addy, and Kayla are all 

Golden Scholars!

Woohoo!