Sunday, January 20th, 2019

Detroit, Michigan

63rd operating temple

Dedicated: 23 Oct 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship
2 Peter 1:17
For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Book of Mormon
1 Nephi 15:1-18
*Has there ever been anything in my life that is "hard to be understood" until I made sure to inquire of the Lord?
* Why is it important to avoid the spirit of contention?
New Testament
Luke 2:40-52 Even as a youth, Jesus was focused on doing His Father's will.
General Conference

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

" Surely each of us could cite an endless array of old scars and sorrows and painful memories that this very moment still corrode the peace in someone's heart or family or neighborhood. Whether we have caused that pain or been the recipient of the pain, those wounds need to be healed so that life can be as rewarding as God intended it to be."

Rowan had an early morning BYC meeting this morning. He is the deacon's quorum president in his ward.

James, Jared, Kacey, and I attended the Galveston 3rd ward sacrament meeting and Sunday School. During sacrament meeting Bishop Wanlass told about his dad's stroke and how the people in his California ward rallied around him and his wife. He challenged his ward members to visit and care for each other when they feel prompted to do so.  Sheri held the baby for awhile but the real steal came during Sunday School.

We all settled in Gerry Price's class and Charlie got a  little fussy. She was holding her and took her out. We never saw her again until the class was over and it was time for Max's ordination. 

James ordained Max a priest and gave him a wonderful blessing. I hope Max remembers the things he said. Those in the circle with James: Jared, Darrel, Brian, Terry, Michael, Bishop Wanlass, Mike Ellsworth, and Brother Allen.

Others in the room who witnessed the ordination: Ian, Sheri, Evan, Stacy, Joshua, Kim, Kacey, Charlie, Trina, Addy, Rowan, Ruby, Lola, and Cathi. 

Afterwards we all went outside and Brother Ellsworth took a family photo for us.

 I sure do love these people!

Rowan just couldn't resist.

Sheri fixed lunch for everyone at her house. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, rolls, corn, snickerdoodles, chocolate cake, water, lemonade and DP10. It was so much fun and so nice of Sheri to provide food for all of us.

 Lola inherited some people's leftover cake.

 Ollie took second seat to Charlie and

he sought solace in Brian's arms.

 Charlie was the hit of the party.

I've never seen a sweeter or cuter baby!

Darrel even got a turn.

Lots of love going around.

James got a chance to visit with his friend Zaki before we left Sheri's. 

When we got back to Darrel and Trina's we had a "Come Follow Me" lesson. Darrel ask his dad to be in charge. Rowan answered most of the questions. Darrel showed a video or two from the lesson on the TV. 

Here at Darrel and Trina's Charlie was still the center of attention. Lola gathered all of her "friends" to meet her sweet little cousin.

Trina made her famous guacamole to go with the chips we had. Did I mention how yummy it is? Thanks Trina!

 Who can resist this adorable face?

 Two adorable faces!

 Watching a video from the "Come Follow Me"

lesson.

Jan 20-27 lesson.

Saturday, January 19th, 2019

Columbia, South Carolina

62nd operating temple

Dedicated: 16 Oct 1999

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Luke 9:35

And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 14:9-30

* What are the characteristics of the Church of the Lamb of God vs. the church of the devil?

New Testament

Matt. 2:13-23 Parents can receive revelation to protect their families.

General Conference

Becoming a Shepherd

Bonnie H. Cordon

"So how do we become the shepherds the Lord needs us to become?

As with all questions, we can look to our Savior, Jesus Christ - the Good Shepherd. The Savior's sheep were known and numbered, they were watched over, and they were gathered into the fold of God."

The breakfast boys, Adam and Chris, made their second big breakfast in a row. Today it was breakfast burritos with bacon, sausage, potatoes, and eggs. Kaitlyn got up just in time. 

James went to the dump and was going to take a walker to the Howard's for Jean but they are in the valley. One the way home he stopped at the post office and picked up some more books. Only one was approved to sell. I made up a box before we left for the valley but it was 4:12 when we got to the UPS store and they close at 4 on Saturday, so we drove on to the carwash. The line was too long so we drove on.

Stopped at the Burger King for a Whopper Jr. for me. I took tramadol and needed something in my stomach. James waited for Taco Bell in Globe. Can't believe he chose Taco Bell over Burger House. 

When we got to the valley we drove straight to Stacy's because she was waiting for my pains meds. We also picked up the rest of the clothes we had left at Sheri's at Christmas. I finally got my red sweater back. At Stacy's we were greeted by a chorus of three dogs. Jared Ammon left his dog Sophie with them and Stacy is not too happy. Sophie is afraid of men and does not like Paul and did not take too kindly to James either.

We went to the carwash just south of the Sonic on Arizona Avenue and Germann. We got our car clean for $7. 

On to Darrel and Trina's. Lola was very happy to see us and so excited that Charlie is coming.

Jared and Kacey's flight was delayed an hour because someone saw flames coming out of the exhaust and they had to trade planes, so instead of arriving at 10:30 in Phoenix it was 11:30 p.m. Darrel and Trina went to pick them up. The kids were all upstairs asleep and James and I were outside walking when they arrived. Charlie was awake and it was fun to see her but she was very tired. We all went to bed around 1p.m. 

Our two little sweethearts. 

This is Charlie's fat little foot.

Camping with the Case's

As fun as camping was, Ruby said this was the best day of her

life because she got to play with goats and ride a horse:

 Interesting fruit at the Fry's store.
We went shopping late Saturday night.

Friday, January 18th, 2019

Bismarck, North Dakota
61st operating temple
Dedicated: 19 Sept 1999
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Luke 9:35

And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 13:40-14:8

*Why is it so important to hold fast to the plain and precious truths of the gospel?

General Conference

The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead

President M. Russell Ballard

"Joseph F. was called to serve a mission in the Hawaiian Islands in 1854 when he was 15 years old. This mission, which lasted more than three years, was the beginning of a life of service in the Church."

We had 80-100 elk migrate across our property this morning. James was so excited to tell someone, he went upstairs and woke Adam up. 

I cut James's hair this morning. He wants to look good for when Jared and Kacey and Charlie come to visit. 

I had a nice visit on the phone with Anne Miller today about her ministering assignments and about how she is doing with her health. After talking to Anne I worked on getting a book order ready. There are 20 books in the shipment. After fees and shipping fees, etc., we will make less than $30 on this shipment. We need to figure out what we are doing wrong. I think if we buy a book that will sell for less than $30 we need to ship merchant fulfilled instead of fulfilled by Amazon.

James picked up five books at the post office today, all of them textbooks. He was excited for me to ship them off until we found out all of them except one we are not approved to sell. So, we don't make any money on the cheaper books and the more expensive ones where we have a chance of making money, we can't sell. This is not good. When we talked to Paul at Book Arbitrage, he said Amazon sometimes does that to new buyers until they establish themselves as legitimate buyers. We are frustrated to say the least but we are not giving up. 

This evening while Adam and his friends were playing games and making cookies in the kitchen and dining room we stayed in our bedroom and watched the new Hallmark movie, "Winter Princess." James got to sit and watch it while I walked around the room because I had less than 6,000 steps when we started the movie. I ended up getting over 10,000.

Carmen's Noah's Ark cake

Such a sweet baby!

The books in orange are profitable to buy but
we probably are not approved to sell them
according to Amazon.

James prepping books to ship to Amazon