Monday, March 11th, 2019

Nauvoo, Illinois

113th operating temple

Dedicated: 27-30 June 2002

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship - 2 Nephi 25:19 - "For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

2 Nephi 29:1-14; Matthew 10:1-20; BD, Apostle, "These 12 Jesus Sent Forth"; "The Power to Make a Difference," Richard G. Scott, 10/83

All Must Take Upon Them the Name of the Father

Elder Paul B. Pieper

"It is important to remember that taking the Savior's name upon us is a covenant commitment-beginning with the covenant we make at baptism. President Nelson has taught, 'Our commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available.' One of the supernal privileges of taking the Savior's name upon us by baptism is the access it provides to the next ordinance on the covenant path, our confirmation. When I asked one of my eight-year-old friends what taking the name of Christ meant to her, she replied simply, 'It means I can have the Holy Ghost.' She was right."

Believe, Love, Do

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Come, help us build and strengthen a culture of healing, kindness, and mercy toward all of God's children. For we are all striving to become new creatures where 'old things are passed away' and 'all things...become new.' The Savior shows us the direction to move-forward and upward. He says, 'If ye love me, keep my commandments.' Let us all work together to become the people God intended for us to become."

I made muffins for breakfast, blueberry and banana nut. Rowan and James prefer the banana nut but I must say the blueberry ones disappeared first.

Here is Ben's email for this week:

We left around 12:30 for Lakeside to see Woodland Lake. I have been wanting to go for awhile now and to my surprise the boys wanted to go too.  Recently before the moisture we have received, the lake was dried up. Now it is as full as it has ever been. I was sad to see that the little covered bridge where my mom, Harold, Dennis and I had our picture taken is in disrepair. There is another bridge across the lake on the other side and it looks as if this bridge is no longer used. 

Rowan was upset when we got there and he kept running away from the other boys. At one point he climbed up a tree to get away from them. 

After leaving the lake we stopped at Safeway in Pinetop so that I could look for flowers and a small cake for my friend Catherine as today is her birthday. Rowan stayed in the van. I spoke with him about how he stood up for himself when playing the game with Max. If Max thought you gave a wrong answer he would say, "you're out," This is what upset Rowan because he thought he had given the right answer and Max called him out.

The other boys put snacks in my cart while I was shopping.  I told them Rowan was sad and it would be nice if they would get a snack for him. They picked out a bag of sour patch kids and when Max gave it to him his face lit up and he told Max, "Thank you, that was nice of you to think of me." He really is such a sweet kid.

I did not find a cake and flowers at Safeway for Catherine so we stopped at Walmart where I got a small chocolate cake and a flowering plant. I took James and the boys home and I went back to Catherine's to deliver her gifts: A card with quotes inside, a candle, the flowering plant and cake. Kerri was home too so I got to visit with them both. Catherine is 85 years old today.

James fixed pizza rolls and chicken for lunch. I brought back some apples from the Halcomb's. Today was Food Bank delivery day and someone who got food from the Bank gave them an entire box of apples. James has been wanting some baked apples so I took about a dozen.

James has really cut down on his walking. He says his foot hurts but he also says he was wasting too much time. Today he got just over 10,000 steps. 

I inventoried 10 books for our Amazon business but the box is still not full so it's not ready to be shipped yet. 

Joshua gave the family prayer this evening. It was very sweet. Rowan and I had a nice conversation about Jacob's vineyard from Jacob 5. I showed him a visual and pointed out that we are in the gathering phase of Israel's history right now in preparation for the Savior's Second Coming.

 Kathy is my mentor in our book business

 Two cuties have lunch together.

 Exhausted after her trip to Arkansas

for Tanner's birthday.

Sunday, March 10th, 2019

Ascuncion, Paraguay

112th operating temple

Dedicated: 19 May 2002

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

 Gospel Study: Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship - John 5:5; 

2 Nephi 28:17-32; Review Matthew 8-9 and Mark 2-5;

"Finding a Safe Harbor" Joseph B. Wirthlin, 4/2000

"Our Campfire of Faith" Gerrit W. Gong, 10/2018.

Our Campfire of Faith

Elder Gerrit W. Gong

" As we keep the best of familiar patterns while seeking new and holier ways to love God and help us and others prepare to meet Him, our campfire of faith can encourage us to remember perfection is in Christ, not in ourselves or in the perfectionism of the world."

I ironed four white shirts and four pairs of pants before church this morning. Thank goodness I didn't need to iron James's shirt.

Paula Johnson and Curt Gillespie were the speakers in sacrament meeting today. Paula spoke about recently going to the temple and getting her endowments and Curt bore testimony of the importance of fast offerings. He has been the financial clerk in this ward for over 10 years. He had a personal story to tell about fast offerings his parents paid when they were in an assisted living home, even when they couldn't afford it. He said when they paid their fast offerings there was always a way made possible to pay their other bills. 

The boys all went to their classes. Brother Applegate said he appreciated having Joshua, Rowan, and Evan in his class because of their participation. John Wilhelm said the same thing about Max. It was a proud grandparents moment for us.l

Sister Curtis gave the lesson in Relief Society using Elder Uchtdorf's talk "Believe, Love, Do." 

We took the boys home and fed them lunch and then we returned to the church for our family history training meeting. Before the meeting started Maxine showed James how to get on Ancestry and My Heritage from Family Search. He said he learned more in the five minutes he spent with her than in all the other training he has received. The problem with the training is, they don't train you on how to use Family Search!

This evening James gave the "Come Follow Me" lesson. It was very good and the boys seemed interested. He had them read a scripture from the lesson and then he would show a video. After it was all over he asked each one what their favorite miracle was that Jesus performed. Max said feeding the five thousand, Evan healing the blind, Rowan the woman with an issue of blood, and Joshua walking on the water. 

I gave Evan some lotion and antibacterial ointment for his hands. They are so red and chapped that they are starting to bleed. 

The weather today was nice in the morning and windy and cold in the afternoon. It started to rain around 9 p.m.

Today the Rome, Italy temple was dedicated by President Nelson. This temple had great opposition and took ten years to build from the day it was announced.

Happy 15th Birthday Tanner!

Tanner had a party in Arkansas at his Aunt Loren's house.

Three other cousins also had birthdays.

Keela loves Tanner.

 Charlie in her Sunday best.

Scarlett getting some rest.

 I love quilts with geometric shapes.

 Dinner

 "Come Follow Me"

Harry Potter marathon

 I love this!

 The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve

all attended the temple dedication at the request of

President Russell M. Nelson

I wondered about the shape of the temple.

This motif is carried throughout the decor

inside the temple.

Saturday, March 9th, 2019

Campinas, Brazil

111th operating temple 
Dedicated: 17 My 2002
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Today's gospel study included: John 4:14; 2 Nephi 28:1-16; Mark 4:1-34; "The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom" by Jeffrey R. Holland, 10/1996, and "One in Christ: by Ulisses Soares, 10/2018.

One in Christ

Ulisses Soares

"My beloved companions in the work of the Lord, I believe we can do much better and should do better in welcoming new friends into the Church. I invite you to consider what we can do to be more embracing, accepting, and helpful to them, starting this very next Sunday. Be careful not to let your Church assignments get in the way of welcoming new friends at Church meetings and activities. After all, these souls are precious before the eyes of God and are much more important than programs and activities. If we minister to our new friends with our hearts full of pure love as the Savior did, I promise you, in His name, that He will assist us in our efforts."

We left for the temple around 5:45. James was pretty "stressed out" because he wanted to leave by 5:30. We started off with a beeping noise in Sheri's van. We stopped twice to try and close the doors. The back door on the driver's side does not completely close. I wonder if it was like that when we got the van. Finally the beeping stopped and we were able to listen to two conference talks on the way over. We made it in plenty of time for our preparation meeting at 7 which was presided over by President and Sister Palmer.

One of the first people to welcome me back was Debbie Vance, my friend from Chandler. Sister Cochran and Sister Humphries also said they were glad to see me. I missed seeing Sister Bowers and Sister McCleary. Sister Bowers is taking a leave of absence. I'm not sure where Sister McCleary is.

My schedule went something like this: ASD - Assistant sealing director. I sat under the stairs in the corner at a desk and assist people when they come in to do sealings. I was only there from 7:30 - 8 and assisted three different people. I had to go up and down the stairs to the sealing room three times. Too bad I don't have my phone with me. I was also a greeter a couple of time, and worked in initiatory two times. The third time was at the end of our shift and the afternoon workers had someone to take through so I was excused early. 

I dressed and went outside to wait for James. He was at the recommend desk so I was able to tell him where I was. As I was walking around the parking lot I noticed a fellow worker, Sister Blank, who is a young adult returned missionary, sitting in her car calling someone on the phone. I didn't think too much of it until a few minutes later when a police officer showed up. I guess she had something stolen from her car. The last time I heard of this happening it was at night. This time it was done in broad daylight. We must remember to lock our cars!

On the way home I texted Max to make sure everything was okay. He said it was and that they were fine so James and I went to Walmart to pick up my thyroid prescription. While James was at the pharmacy, I walked in the McDonald's entrance and ordered him a quarter pounder and got myself an ice cream cone. He seemed very appreciative because he was quite hungry.

When we got home the boys were playing hide and go seek outside. It was great to see them doing something besides playing video games. 

I cooked steak for dinner in my cast iron skillet. James cooked some on the grill and I thought they were better. The boys were already done eating by the time the ones on the grill were done.

This evening I worked on my blog and watched the Hallmark movie, "Harvest Moon." 

The boys watched Harry Potter in the family room.

In other news, President Nelson and President Ballard were able to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican today. It is the first time a President of the Church has met with the Pope.

This little girl brings so much joy!