Tuesday, March 12th, 2019

The Hague, Netherlands

114th operating temple

Dedicated: 8 Sept 2002

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Mosiah 3:8

And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 30:1-18

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

Matthew 10:21-42; 12:46-50 "The Lord gives His Servants Power to do His Work"; "Ponder the Path of Thy Feet" by Thomas S. Monson, 10/14

For Him

Joy D. Jones

"May I share with you some words of wisdom that were found on the wall of an orphanage in Calcutta, India: 'If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God ... anyway."

Sold another book today, a children's book, Miss LaRue.

I read Ben's letter to the boys this morning. The letter was a talk he gave about how to prepare for a mission. It was great!

We had a snow storm today and the snowflakes this morning were huge! It almost looked like feathers coming down. 

The boys watched the Simpson's, Harry Potter, and Deal or No Deal this morning. 

James and I missed the first hour of the webinar because everyone else is on daylight savings time and we didn't tune in until the regular time, 9 am.

 The internet was very slow today, maybe because of the snow. I sourced some books and worked on my blog after the webinar.

For lunch I made burgers, hotdogs and hashbrowns. 

This afternoon while working on the computer I watched a new Hallmark mystery "Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle To Die For" starring Lacey Chabert and Brennan Elliot.

I like them better in the romantic movies

together.

James had to fix dinner this evening. He make pork chops and talapia. I had a stake family history meeting in Lakeside and I drove over in a blizzard while talking to Stacy on the phone.

Brother Platt from the high council and President Miles were in charge of the meeting. 

James is still having some grief with his job. He has more fees to pay after they told him there would be no more.

A scandal involving Lori Loughlin bribing USC with $500,000 to get her girls into the school. 

Joshua and Rowan came in when I got home and ask if we could have family prayer. We did and Joshua offered a very hearfelt, sincere prayer.

 She's smiling, but not feeling well.

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.