Sunday, May 6, 2018

Thursday, May 3rd, 2018

San Antonio, Texas
120th operating temple
Dedicated: 22 May 2005
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, betrayal of
2 Nephi 6:9
Nevertheless, the Lord has shown unto me that they should return again. And he also has shown unto me that the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, should manifest himself unto them in the flesh; and after he should manifest himself they should scourge him and crucify him, according to the words of the angel who spake it unto me.
Book of Mormon
Mosiah 21:28-22:9
*Why should we always council with the Lord, even if the answer is not what you wanted or expected?
Talk: Choose to Believe
By: L. Whitney Clayton
April 2015
stef_littlefield: "Some things can only be learned by FAITH! Proverbs 3:5-6 His ways are higher than our ways. Nephi taught us, "I will trust in Thee forever!" His wisdom is superior to our own. We were never planned to have a perfect knowledge in mortality. Forbear and wait upon the Lord. Nephi: I know God loves all of His children yet I do not know the meaning of all things."
Old Testament
Samuel 8-10
8 Samuel's sons take bribes and pervert judgment - The Israelites seek for a king to rule over them - Samuel rehearses the nature and evils of kingly rule - The Lord consents to give them a king.
9 Saul, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, is a choice and goodly person - He is sent to seek his father's donkeys - The Lord reveals to Samuel the seer that Saul is to be king - Saul goes to Samuel and is entertained by him.
10 Samuel anoints Saul to be captain over the Lord's inheritance - Samuel manifests the gift of seership - Saul prophesies among the prophets, and the Lord gives him a new heart - He is chosen king at Mizpeh.
General Conference
Even as Christ Forgives You, So Also Do Ye 
Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk
"The outreach of forgiveness caused my heart to soften and opened a pathway to healing. Over time I learned how to have a forgiving heart. Only with the help of the Prince of Peace was my painful burden lifted."



Rescuing Wayward Children:
"The more love we have to give the more power we have to save others. Charity is a principle of power that can lift and save."
H. Wallace Goddard observed that charity has three meanings:
love from Christ, love for Christ, love like Christ. The process of loving begins when we feel Jesus reaching after us (love from Christ).
Somewhere along the path the miracle of His love breaks down our resistance. As we begin to understand His goodness and redemptiveness, we are changed. We are filled with a profound awe and gratitude for Him. We experience the stirrings of hope. Without this conversion, we are nothing spiritually (1 Cor.13:2; 2 Ne. 26:30; Moro. 7:44, 46; DC 18:19). As the amazing truth of His unrelenting love pierces our hearts, we are led to the second kind of charity, love for Christ. 'We love him, because he first loved us' (1 Jn. 1:19).... As soon as we glimpse His love for us we instinctively love Him in return. We fall at His feet and bathe them with tears of gratitude. Why would He do all He has done to love and rescue my flawed soul? Why??? The answer is charity. As we feel the love from Him and for Him, we naturally love like Him. We become saviors on Mount Zion with Him." (232-33)

Russell M. Nelson: 4/01: Personal Preparation for Temple Blessings: From the Bible Dictionary - President Nelson suggested we read the following: 1) Anoint 2) Atonement 3) Christ 4) Covenant 5) Fall of Adam 6) Sacrifices 7) Temple.

Dale G. Renlund: Melchizedek Priesthood - Chapter 3 - Priesthood Keys and the Holy Apostleship.

Ezra Taft Benson:4/88: "The Great Commandment" - I love this talk. It's in this talk that President Benson says: "If we put God first in our lives everything else will fall into place or fall out of our lives."

Ezra Taft Benson: 4/88: "Come Unto Christ and Be Perfected in Him." (The talk above was the first talk of this general conference and this one was the last. This one was read by President Hinckley).

At 9 a.m. James and I left for the valley. I had cut up veggies and put them in bags for us to munch on on the way down. James brought pistachios and walnuts. I ended up eating all of the pistachios. 

Arizona teachers aren't going back to work until tomorrow. Noah Korvalis is probably not happy. He is the one at the head of this teacher walkout. He is 23 years old, a die-hard liberal, and Stacy says he is a communist. I don't know about that one. 

Sheri texted me as we were going down the freeway and said she couldn't do lunch because she is home in bed with vertigo. I texted Kim and invited her to go to Olive Garden with James and I. We have a couple of gift cards that we got with our credit card Ultimate Rewards.

I had minestrone soup, salad, and breadsticks for lunch. James had stuffed chicken marsala. I can't remember what Kim had but she had her calories all figured out before she got there. She is doing the Isagenix diet and has lost 10-12 lbs. 

After lunch we went to Darrel and Trina's to find no one home. Trina forgot we were coming and Darrel was at work. We texted Trina and she said the back door was open so James went around. 
We laid down to take a nap on Rowan's bed which is very comfortable. We had planned on taking Addy to the temple to do a baptism but it was after six o'clock when she got home. I rescheduled with her for May 29th, which is Tuesday of the week we will be down here in the condo. 

I had saved up my sweet calories for a sugar cookie from Swig so we loaded up Addy, Ruby, and Lola and headed out. Addy and Ruby both wanted lemonade because they had made cookies at Bryce's house but Lola wanted a chocolate cookie. I asked her if she meant chocolate chip and she said, "No, chocolate." They call their chocolate cookies dirtballs so I ordered a dirtball, a sugar cookie, and a coconut cookie. The coconut was for James. 

This place originated in Utah and Utah and
Arizona are the only place you can find them.

After Swig n' Sweets James said he had to go to Bob's house in Chandler to give him a credit card to get some things for the job. 
On our way Sheri texted and asked if Dad could come and give her a blessing. Of course we can. When we got to Sheri's she had no oil so James had to go down to Cathi and Terry's and borrow some. 
After the blessing Ruby and Lola went outside on the trampoline. They are afraid of Ollie. While Addy and I were sitting on the back porch Ollie came up and nipped at Addy on the leg. She almost cried and it left a bruise. I know he is a puppy but I wish he wouldn't nip at people. Ian showed us his log cabin birdhouse, new hummingbird blown glass feeder, and the new swing he put up next to the bird house.

Birdbath, Birdhouse and Birdfeeder

Swing





Going for a walk to see Cathi. Ollie leads
the way. He loves Cathi.

Lola had my phone for awhile in the car. She said she wanted to
take a selfie, which she did. She actually took several selfies.

Is that chocolate on her face?

Trying to keep it interesting

I think Molly did some selfies on 
my phone once. 

Cutie pie

Addy gets in on the action.

While we were in the neighborhood we stopped at the Jiminez's and picked up some lemons and $200. The $200 is payment for James hooking him up to the city sewer.



When we got back to Darrel and Trina's no one was home except
Rowan. We gave him his chocolate chip cookie and he said that his mom was gone to pick up Chik-fil-a. She also got a new bedspread for Rowan's bed. We are sleeping in style.

Trina and Lola took James and I for a walk to see a house that had to be moved in their subdivision. It was built too close to the property line. Someone has already bought the house. Would you buy a house that was moved off the property and then back on? I would be afraid of cracks, etc.

Not the house for me

Today was National Day of Prayer

Sister B with Pres. T

From his talk on Revelation




Saturday, May 5, 2018

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2018

Manhattan, New York
119th operating temple
Dedicated: 13 June 2004
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ betrayal of
1 Nephi 11:32
And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.
Book of Mormon
Mosiah 21:9-27
*Why did the Lord not see fit to deliver the people of Limhi out of bondage (21:15)? How does this relate to our trials?
- sue_heugly: "Vs 15, the Lord was slow to hear. The Lord did not see fit to deliver the people of Limhi from bondage. Why? Because the people needed to make genuine changes. When going thru hard things we exercise our agency by showing whether we will be bitter and angry, or become more humble and draw ourselves closer to God and seek His help."
Old Testament
1Samuel 6-7
6 The Philistines send back the ark with an offering - The Lord smites and slays the Israelites in Beth-shemesh who look into the ark.
7 Samuel exhorts Israel to forsake Ashtaroth and Baalim and serve the Lord - Israel fasts and seeks the Lord - The Philistines are subdued - Samuel judges Israel.
General Conference
Am I a Child of God?
Elder Brian K. Taylor
"This great war over divine identity rages fiercely as Satan's proliferating arsenal aims to destroy our belief in and knowledge of our relationship with God. Thankfully, we have been blessed with clear vision and understanding of our true identity from the beginning: 'And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,' and His living prophets proclaim, 'Each human being is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.'"



I paid bills today and it's a good thing I did because I had made a mistake in my checkbook register and I would not have had enough money to pay all my checks that were out and then would have had to pay an overdrawn charge of $34. I made a transfer from our line of credit and took care of the problem.

Russell M. Nelson, 10/2000: Living By Scriptural Guidance
DC 88:36-38
36 All kingdoms have a law given;
37 And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom.
38 And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also conditions.

Rescuing Wayward Children: Unity of Faith through Purpose, Action, Fasting, and Prayer.(223-24).
Whatsoever ye shall ask in faith, being united in prayer according to my command, ye shall receive. DC 29:5-6
"Accessing the power of the unified faith of thousands through the temple prayer rolls, and of the faith and help of those across the veil, whom we help when we do the work for the dead, we can effectively gather in the Lord's name as we strive for the salvation of our children and loved ones, knowing that Christ's grace and power is thus in our midst and we are His."

Elder Dale G. Renlund: Melchizedek Priesthood: Chapter 2: Priesthood Offices and Keys

It has been raining/snowing for quite sometime now! We had moisture off and on all day and I am so thankful because there are now two fires in our state, the Rattlesnake and the Tinder. 

I woke up at 1 a.m. this morning with severe pain in my upper left arm. Yesterday when getting out of the bathtub I hurt it. I got up, ate one of my rolls, took a couple of aspirin, and laid down on the recliner. I couldn't sleep so I finished watching the new Candace Cameron Bure movie on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, "You Reap What You Sew." Afterwards I fell asleep. I slept a short while and it was time to get up for the day. I ate, took some Tramadol and began to feel better in about an hour after taking the Tramadol. 

Our dry does not get hot. I did laundry today and hung things around the house. 

Because of the broken skidsteer James did some errands with Alex, who was one of his workers today, and then decided to come home. 

I cooked him his favorite for dinner, cooked cabbage. He was so happy. 

I had a meeting tonight to plan the next ward activity which the Relief Society and the missionary department is in charge of. Laurann was home with sick kids so it was Tamara, Kerri, myself, and Brother Reidhead the ward mission leader. 
It was a great meeting. Tamara had the idea to use family history as the theme and we all just brainstormed from there. Here is what we came up with: 

8:00 - Activity ends

Jesus and Mary as painted by
Minerva Teichart
(Trudy Lamb's grandmother)

I would love to go here sometime and
see what a real tea party is like.



Kim would have loved the weather
up here today.

I love these two!

I love him too!

This is so funny!
I remember Paul when he
was this age. Such
a cutie but only when
he was smiling!

It's pig raising season for the Chaffin kids.

I love the look on her face I 
couldn't resist reposting.
Sorry about the photo bomber.

Bishop Miller with his girls.















Thursday, May 3, 2018

Tuesday, May 1st, 2018

Copenhagen, Denmark
118th operating temple
Dedicated: 23 May 2004
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ betrayal of
1Nephi 19:10
And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.
Book of Mormon
Mosiah 20:12-21:8
*What lesson can we learn from King Limhi on how we should treat our enemies?
- Ultimately we all must turn to the Lord for deliverance from our enemies. Limhi's people will try to take care of the situation themselves but will not succeed. Finally, they will humble themselves and turn to the Lord. The Lord in His wisdom will not rescue them too soon. He waits until genuine internal change has taken place and then provides for the needed rescue.
As far as how to treat our enemies, the Lord says to love your enemies, and to do good to those who despitefully use you.
Old Testament
1 Samuel 5
The Philistines place the ark in the house of Dagon, their god - The Philistines in Ashdod, then Gath, and then Ekron are plagued and slain because the ark is lodged with them.
General Conference
Precious Gifts from God
"I have known our new prophet-president for over 60 years. I have served with him in the Quorum of the Twelve for 33 years, and I am a witness that the hand of the Lord has been preparing him to become our presiding apostle and prophet to administer all the keys of the holy priesthood on the earth. May each one of us completely sustain him and his counselors and follow their direction."





Russell M. Nelson, 10/99: A Testimony of the Book of Mormon
Russell M. Nelson, 4/00: The Creation


BMSM, 158: "Our observance of the Sabbath day reflects our appreciation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ" - Elder Mark E. Petersen

Meridian Magazine: Teaching Our Children to Trust God
2 Nephi 4:34 - O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.

RWC: DC 29:5-6 
5 Lift up your hearts and be glad, for I am in your midst, and am your advocate with the Father; and it is his good will to give you the kingdom.
6 And, as it is written - Whatsoever ye shall ask in faith, being united in prayer according to my command, ye shall receive.

Elder Renlund: The Melchizedek Priesthood

Listened to the Relief Society section of the handbook. We need an update!

I got a text from my friend Laurann. She is sick and so are her twins and she has no baby wipes. She asked me if I would go to Dollar General and get some. I had told her if she needed anything to call me so of course I had to spring into action. I got dressed, did my hair and headed out. It's just a hop, skip and a jump to Dollar General. Not. It's about 12 miles. I got the wipes and made the delivery. My little buddy Amaron answered the door. I guess he is the only one that isn't sick. He offered to pay me and of course I declined. They were only $2. I am grateful for the opportunity to do this very small favor for a friend.

When I got home from Laurann's my next task was to mend the scripture case I gave Amaron. What kind of a case breaks the first time you use it? The little task gave me alot of grief. I had to handsew and I couldn't make the stitches look even. I kept getting loops. After about two hours I declared I was finished and then I noticed I needed to secure the handle a little better. Will this never end? Finally.

 While fixing Amaron's scripture case and while working on my blog I had the TV on, I watched: "The Voice," and a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie that I really liked called "The Beach House." I learned about the habits of Loggerhead turtles while watching "The Beach House."

James had some rather bad/sad news to tell me today. While working on the golf course removing concrete he got the bucket a little full and this happened:

Yikes!

When James tried to turn it off the engine kept  running and cause it to throw a rod. Remember, this is our friend, Bother Howard's machine. It could cost up to $4,000 to fix. Of course, I imagine James will try to get it fixed much cheaper than that either by someone he knows or by fixing it himself.

No school again today in most schools in Arizona. The parents are getting quite frustrated, or so I hear from Stacy.









Cheese!









Monday, April 30th, 2018

Accra, Ghana
117th operating temple
Dedicated: 11 Jan 2004
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ betrayal of
John 13:21
When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
Book of Mormon
Mosiah 19:25-20:11
* Why did the Lord let Limhi's people end up in bondage?
- sue_heugly: There are two kinds of bondage: The self-inflicted kind from poor choices and iniquity, and the kind that comes from the consequences and choices of others. Limhi's people chose sin, which is to serve Satan. Abinadi warned and prophesied that the people would be brought into bondage because they hardened their hearts against Abinadi's words and wouldn't repent. The dues of discipleship do not come cheap. If we want blessings and freedom from bondage, we must be loyal to God, obey his prophets, keep the commandments and remain humble, submitting our will to His. A blessing always carries with it a responsibility, and a consequence. 
Old Testament
1 Samuel 4
The Israelites are smitten and defeated by the Philistines, who also capture the ark of God - Eli's sons are slain, Eli dies in an accident, and his daughter-in-law dies in childbirth.
General Conference
Let Us All Press On
President Russell M. Nelson
"Your desire to obey will be enhanced as you remember and reflect upon what you have felt these past two days."



Rescuing Wayward Children (221) "When you are united, your power is limitless." - Gordon B. Hinckley

Russell M. Nelson:(4/99) Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women

The Atoning One Chapter 9: "Potential Perils of Grace",
Chapter 10: "The Gospel of God", Chapter 11: "Speaking of the Lord's Atonement" 
I am a little sad I finished this book today because I have really enjoyed it. Next I am going to listen to Elder and Sister Renlund's book, The Melchizedek Priesthood.

At 8 a.m. I left for town, about 20 minutes behind James. We are taking the truck and Lexy in to get new tires. James has to pay for his, I don't have to pay for mine. It's to replace the used one they put on a few days ago when I got a flat coming home from the Morrison's.

 They got our tires on in less than 30 minutes. We took a short walk and it was time to go. Next stop, Walmart, to get the oil changed in Lexy. James made the arrangements and then left. I walked down to the mailbox and mailed the note I wrote to President Shumway.
Now it's time to go in and do my weekly shopping.

I took my time shopping, calculating all my expenses. I checked out and then went to see if my car was ready. I sat in the little waiting room and watched some of Harry Potter. I could see the hood still up on Lexy so I took a spin around the store. This trip is going to be more costly than it seems because I found things to put on my wish list: Grabbit Stick, Black memory foam shoes, "Oh The Places You'll Go" Dr. Seuss book, "Coco,"the movie, and "Coco book and playset. "Star Wars 5 Minute Stories." I actually went home and used my Amazon gift card to by two of the books and the movie. I also bought the movie, "Wonder" because Stacy said it was so good. 
Two more things on my wishlist, cute photo album papers, and some new Ginger scissors.

Finally after a few more trips around the store and the passing of two hours, Lexy was finished. I paid the girl, got my report, and loaded up Lexy for home.

I got home and put everything away and sat down in my recliner wondering where James was. He came in a few minutes later with Brother Howard's Cat skidsteer on his trailer. I was watching a Hallmark movie and he sat down and finished watching it with me. 

For dinner we had cooked cabbage. For F.H.E. we listened to President Nelson's conference talk from October 1999, "A Testimony of the Book of Mormon."

James took me outside to show me how to feed the bunnies. There was a full moon behind clouds that looked rather eerie.





8th grade. Better than his dad.



These two are pretty amazing.

My rose garden.

Ready to go

The Philistines God





Christina's Post



Maybe they should have named him Harry
or Fluffy.

Daddy Daughter Super Hero Dates