Monday, January 7th, 2019

St. Louis, Missouri

50th operating temple

Dedicated: 1 June 1997

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Death of

Colossians 1:22

In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 5:7-6:6

* Lehi was filled with the Spirit as he began to read the plates. Which scripture really teaches you and why?

* The Nephites understood the importance of their genealogy. How has doing your family history made a difference in your life?

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Matthew 1; Luke 1; "Be it unto Me according to Thy Word"

General Conference

Truth and the Plan

President Dallin H. Oaks

" We honor individual agency. Second, we are a missionary people. We esteem all mortals as children of God and we want to share our spiritual and temporal abundance with everyone. Mortal life is sacred to us. Some are troubled by some of our Church's positions on marriage and children. Our knowledge of God's revealed plan of salvation requires us to oppose current social and legal pressures to retreat from traditional marriage and to make changes that confuse or alter gender or homogenize the differences between men and women. 

We also have a distinctive perspective on children. We look on the bearing and nurturing of children as part of God's plan and a joyful and sacred duty of those given the power to participate in it. In our view, the ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children and our posterity. Therefore, we must teach and contend for principles and practices that provide the best conditions for the development and happiness of children - all children."

I sent an email to Ben this morning on our way in to Show Low. We left the house at 9 o'clock. James dropped me off at Walmart to get my prescriptions filled for my post-implant surgery. There are four of them; amoxicillin, 600 mg ibruprofen, and 5 mg hydrocodone, plus a mouthwash. 

While I was in Walmart James went to the gas station to get the car washed, something we normally do before going to the valley.

As James drove away the card was making a load rubbing sound as it does when the wheel wells are full of mud. I guess at the carwash James had to cut the plastic cover for the gas tank off because it was dragging on the ground. I guess we are going to have to order a new one.

Our first stop once we got to the valley was at Darrel and Trina's. All of the kids and Darrel were gone, except Rowan who had an orthodontist appointment today. Lola had dance earlier and now she is at a friend's house and Ruby and Addy are at school. Rowan helped us unload our car. We visited with Trina and Rowan a little. Darrel had texted me earlier and told me that Rowan was the new deacon's quorum president in their ward. I guess lots of those 29 deacons moved up and are now in the teacher's quorum.

I asked him if I should call him

President Lambson and he said no,

he prefers Rowan.

We left for James's doctor's appointment a little after two. It's not until 2:45 but it is clear on the other side of Tempe near Rio Salado and Riverton way. While James was in his appointment I did some walking down Beck St. This is where old meets new in Tempe. New modern apartment buildings and old houses and a corner grocery store. 

I walked for about an hour and a half. Because this area is close to ASU, I had a view of A mountain, there were motorized scooters all along the sidewalk. I was tempted to jump on one but I didn't. I should have got a picture though.

I did a little shopping at Rollins Market. I needed a snack. A diet A&W rootbeer and some miniature powdered donuts. What's the point of walking if you eat donuts afterwards?

We used our Cheesecake Factory gift card for an early dinner. We were both craving crab cakes. Now all they have is little bite-sized ones as an appetizer. We ordered one to share. We also enjoyed the bread basket with the sourdough and whole grain bread. I ordered steak medallions with mashed potatoes with tomatoes, mushrooms and asparagus. James had salmon but he said it was not as good as Olive Garden's. No room for dessert. (The donuts were my dessert).

We got back to Trina's around 5:30, just in time to go with her and the kids to the movies. We had planned on seeing "Mary Poppins Returns." James and Rowan ended up going to see the new spiderman movie, "Spider-Verse." (Not sure if that's right, but close enough).

As we were leaving the movies I was walking behind Trina and Addy and realized how much they look alike, especially from the back. During the movie I had the privilege of sitting by Lola and Ruby and sharing my popcorn with them. Lola and I both liked the bathtub scene the most in the movie. Ruby liked at the end when the people were hanging on to balloons and floating in the air.

When Darrel got home from work he and James gave me a priesthood blessing because I am a little nervous about my implant tomorrow.

Helping mom clean the car.

 Christmas lights linger at this house.

Sunday, January 6th, 2019

Mount Timpanogos, Utah

49th operating temple

Dedicated: 13 October 1996

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Death of

Jonah 1:17

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 4:20-5:6

What can we learn from Zoram who, after learning about the Lord's will from Nephi, decided to leave Jerusalem and follow Lehi and his family?

New Testament

Lesson 2 - Matthew 1; Luke 1; "Be it unto me according to Thy Word."

General Conference

Gather Together in One All Things in Christ

Elder David A. Bednar

""The purpose and purification, the happiness and joy, and the continuing conversion and protection that come from 'yielding our hearts unto God' and 'receiving his image in our countenances' cannot be obtained merely by performing and checking off all the spiritual things we are supposed to do. Rather, the power of the Savior's gospel to transform and bless us flows from discerning and applying the interrelatedness of its doctrine, principles, and practices. Only as we gather together in one all things in Christ, with firm focus upon Him, can gospel truths synergistically enable us to become what God desires us to become and endure valiantly to the end."

Stacy shared that Jared Ammon recently gave her a hug. This is a huge improvement over how he has treated her in the past year. Prayers really are answered.

I stopped my studies this morning to help James with his Primary lesson. I told him I would help him give it if he still had laringitis. I think he is going to be able to give it though. The steroids are finally kicking in. 

During sacrament meeting today I pondered on what my goals should be this year in the following areas: 1) Health, eating and exercise, 2) Finances, budgeting, less spending, pay down loan, 3) Family History and Temple work, weekly research and temple attendance, and daily blog 4) Family unity and relationships, less criticism, more praise, patient and kind, 5) Clean and organize my home, 6) Create: cards, table runners, caligraphy 7) Book Business 8) Relief Society 9) Gospel study. Just a rough draft of some of my goals for the year.

Fast and testimony meeting was good and it lasted only an hour. There were more people in second hour than I have ever seen in the Vernon ward. If this continues we may have to move into the chapel. Sister Wood led the discussion on how we are responsible for our own learning. Lots of good scriptures and discussion.

After our meetings James and I went to the Peeler's so James and Owen could administer the sacrament to Donna. Kathy Crane was there too.  Donna is suffering from nerve pain and she can't be on Lyrica because of her diabetes. She has an appointment later in the month with her nerve doctor and then with Dr. Crandall, James's doctor.

 It was Mr. Toad's wild ride up our hill and our driveway again. 
Before we broke our fast we expressed our desire for greater family unity in living the gospel in our home and each of our children's homes. 

I made roast beef and swiss subs for lunch. They were delicious. James went down for a nap after lunch. We got some more snow but none of it is sticking. Later we got some sunshine which helped to melt some of the snow. 

This evening we read from the Book of Mormon together and studied the second "Come Follow Me" lesson. James emailed Ben. I will email him in the morning. 

I finally finished my blog for 2018. I got a text from Sheri asking if we could stay at Darrel or Trina's or Cathi's when we come down tomorrow. I guess Max doesn't want to give up his room. She apologized for his selfishness but I told her it was okay and that I didn't want him to resent us. I was sure we could stay with Darrel and Trina.

 

Saturday, January 5th, 2019

Hong Kong, China

48th operating temple

Dedicated: 26 May 1996

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Death of

DC 45:4

Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified.

Book of Mormon

1Nephi 4:1-19

Have I ever been "led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do?"

New Testament

I am responsible for my own learning.

1 Nephi 10:17-19; Alma 32:27; DC 18:18; 58:26-28; 88:118

General Conference

Be Not Troubled

Elder Ronald A. Rasband

"Our desire to 'always have his Spirit" with us will push fear aside for a more eternal view of our mortal lives. President Nelson has cautioned, 'In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.'"

Our plan this morning was to load up our garbage, go to the church to do our cleaning assignment, and then take the garbage to the dump. When James went out to start loading it up he realized it was gone. I'm surprised that we didn't notice it last night when we came in. Brian and Kim took our 12 bags of garbage with them. Wow! What can we say. We appreciate them so much! 

When James contacted Brian to thank him and ask him what he did with it, Brian said: "When we got home the garbage man was just coming down the street. We put some of the bags in our container and some in our neighbors. The rest I took to Auto Zone around the corner."

James made us smoothies for breakfast before we left to clean the church. The Allen's, one of the families we are assigned to clean with, wanted to meet no later than 8 a.m. We arrived at the church at 8. James went in to see if anyone was there because he saw a car parked on the other side and the door on that side was propped open. We could find no one inside but soon the Gardner's showed up, Brother and Sister Gardner and Liam. The Allen's said they forgot when James called them later. They said they had a temple wedding to go to and that's what they were thinking of. We found out later that it was Aaron Winsor's sealing. He was a youth in Vernon and after his mission he moved to Taylor with his mother.

James started out by emptying trash throughout the building and discovered one of the classrooms was missing their trash cans. I started out by cleaning the bathrooms. Brother Gardner and Liam vacuumed and cleaned the chapel. Sister Gardner washed windows and cleaned the kitchen where she found mouse droppings. We will need to report this and the missing trash containter to the FM (Facility Management) so I took down their number. 

It only took us a little over an hour to clean. At 9 Sister Crane and her crew, Kerri, Amy, Alicia, Kip, Hailey, and Colter came to take down the Christmas decorations. Brother Gardner and Kerri took all the trash to the container outside. It was a good experience being in the building with these good people. The Gardner's are hard workers and so very kind.

We picked up our mail and headed to Dollar General to see if they have bananas. They don't. Next stop was Stanford General. They had one ripe banana and the clerk gave it to me. She said they needed to make a produce run but hadn't done so yet. I need at least three bananas to make banana nut bread for the Crane's. I have been promising them since Christmas. I thought we had bananas or we would have picked some up yesterday. James was so nice and didn't even complain when I asked if we could go to Walmart. 

We bought bananas, flour, sugar, eggs, shakes, oil, and butter. I just like to have baking supplies on hand, plus I am also making peanut butter cookies for Brother Wilhelm who had a birthday on December 30th. We stopped at Taco Bell and I got two tacos and a diet Pepsi. When I realized that a medium diet Pepsi at this joint cost $1.89 I vowed to never buy another.

We also stopped to get gas and then we were homeward bound.
It was stressful going up our hill and around our driveway but we made it, mud and all.

I worked on my blog and tomorrows "Come Follow Me" lesson while baking peanut butter cookies for Brother Wilhelm. I also read James a chapter from our book, "The Captain's Daughter." 

I was just getting ready to put a loaf of banana nut bread in the over at around 4:05 when the electricity went off. I put the bread in the refrigerator instead. The electricity ended up being off for around two hours.

While we were waiting in the dark James decided to light our kerosene lamps so I could read some more. After reading a chapter he said we should go deliver John his cookies. I reminded him that we could not get the garage door open. He said we could. 
It was difficult but we got the door open enough to put James's walking stick under it to prop it open. I drove the car out and we delivered the cookies to Sandra and the kids. John was not yet back from the young men's bicycle outing. 

The electricity came back on shortly after six and I baked the banana nut bread for the Crane's. James walked over in the snow and delivered it around 8 pm. James was gone for awhile as Chuck told him about the outing with the young men in Black Canyon.
Kathy texted me and said the bread was delicious! 

I put a log on the fire and we watched the new winter Hallmark movie, "Winter Castle." It's about a wedding held in an ice hotel. This hotel actually exists in the city of Quebec. Why would anyone want to stay in hotel that is freezing cold no matter how beautiful it looks? There is a new Hallmark movie every Saturday night in 2019. I am excited!

We began our fast before going to bed. We are fasting for greater family unity. 

After the electricity came back on James had

to go up and fix something on the garage door.

He's saying, "Don't take my picture."

 The Gilbert temple

 Where are the hearts on this Valentine

card?

 Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby.

I wonder what's buried under this

pile of snow.

 I miss these guys

This is the first Christmas card we received this 

past Christmas. I love this sweet family!

 I like this.

 Dennis and Denise's family

Dennis, Rachel, Evie, Santa, Peg

Denise, Thor

Friday, January 4th, 2019

Bountiful, Utah

47th operating temple

Dedicated: 8 Jan 1995

By: Howard W. Hunter

Jesus Christ, Death of

DC 20:23

He was crucified, died, and rose again the third day;

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 3:9-31

Why do you think Sam willingly followed Nephi while Laman and Lemuel persecuted him?

New Testament

John 7:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; James 1:5-6, 22; 2:17

General Conference

Laying the Foundation of a Great Work

Elder Steven R. Bangerter

"Consistent, wholesome family traditions that include prayer, scripture reading, family home evening, and attendance at Church meetings, though seemingly small and simple create a culture of love, respect, unity, and security. In the spirit that accompanies these efforts, our children become protected from the fiery darts of the adversary so embedded in the worldly culture of our day."

I got up at 3:36 this morning to take a shower. I went back to bed and James and I lay their talking, trying to decide if we were going to our appointments in the valley today. James finally said, "Yes we are. We can do hard things." We left around 5 a.m.

James drives. The hardest part is getting out of the garage because of the snow piled up in our driveway. Away we go! No stopping. We drive directly to James's appointment on Dobson just south of Frye. 

I leave the keys in the car and text him that I am walking north on Dobson Rd. My infusion appointment is at 10:30 and it's around 8:45, on Baseline and Arizona Avenue. I only walk a short ways before he picks me up and drives to the Chandler mall. The only place open is Wildflower Bakery. I ordered some lemon ricotta pancakes and James has some orange juice. I eat two of my pancakes. They are delicious. What is it with me and lemon these days?

Two of my favorites are in the infusion center, Angie who puts in my drip, and Frances who makes the appointments. I got 640 mg of Actemra. My blood pressure was 108/64. I think my walking is helping me to stay a little more healthy although my weight is up about four lbs for last month.

 At 11:30 I am finished. James is outside waiting. I drive this time to QuikTrip to check the air in our tires and to get some gas. 

Our next stop is the Olive Garden on Gilbert and Germann. I have the Ravioli di portabello:

My favorite OG dish right now.

This is what James ordered:

Asiago Tortelloni Alfredo with Grilled Chicken

I liked mine better.

Our waiters name was Jesse. I really liked him so he got a good tip.  

We were going to go to Darrel and Trina's just to say hi but Trina was taking the younger girls to Sodalicious and the older two were gone somewhere else. Rowan was with the Trezise's bowling.
 We said goodbye and that we would be back Monday and Tuesday, and headed home.

 Evan, Joshua, Rowan, and Max

 The winners!

Alex and Ian

I drove until we got to the Circle K in Superior. When we got out to trade places I realized what a beautiful, sunny day it is. 

Our ride was pretty uneventful until we got to the Safeway in Show Low where James stopped to get me some Dr. Pepper 10. As he was carrying it to the car he realized that it weighed more than the 5 lbs that he is supposed to be lifting. Sorry honey.

As we got to our hill in Vernon we made a running start and kept it going until we rounded the road into our driveway and garage. We almost got stuck in the driveway!

I walked and worked on my computer this evening doing my blog. I am a little sad because I have watched all the Christmas movies I had recorded, all 126 of them.

 I love Sister Hinckley!

 The Wanlass Family

Posting ideas for Valentine cards

 I took a picture of this when I was at the 

Chandler mall this morning.

My favorite temple, I couldn't resist posting

 In Arkansas at Kacey's mom's

70th birthday. Charlie loves her

brother Tanner.