Saturday, August 10th, 2019

Porto Alegre, Brazil

102nd operating temple

Dedicated: 17 Dec 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Foreordained

Abraham 3:27

And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.

Book of Mormon

Alma 48:1-18

New Testament "The Power of God unto Salvation"

Romans 6

General Conference

Feasting Upon the Words of Christ

Elder Takashi Wada

"The words of Christ will profoundly touch hearts and open the eyes of those who do not yet see Him. On the road to Emmaus, two disciples walked with Jesus. They were sad and did not comprehend that the Savior had triumphed over death.. In their grief, they did not recognize that the living Christ was walking with them. Though Jesus 'expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself,' they still did not recognize Him as the resurrected Savior until they sat and broke bread with Him. Then did their 'eyes' open As we - or our friends, associates, and neighbors - feast and break bread with Him, our eyes of understanding will open. When the disciples at Emmaus reflected on their time with the resurrected Savior, they said that their hearts burned within them while He opened the scriptures to them. This will be true for all of us."

I sold two books today and made over $47.00. If I could do this everyday I would be in good shape. 

We left the house around 5:40 and had time to go wash the car before arriving at the temple around 6:35. Our preparation meeting is at 7 so we were there in plenty of time, with a clean car. I cannot stand to take my car to the temple when it is covered in mud.

President Palmer and his wife presided during our shift today. We watched two videos regarding the baptistry during our preparation meeting. 

I was the veil director again today with Sister Rubert as my assistant. She arrived late and left early because she wasn't feeling well so she was only able to help during one session. 

The Elmer's were not here today. Sister DeWitt was our coordinator. She told me something that I have never been told before since being the veil director. She said I should have a veil dialogue card both in English and Spanish with me during the veil ceremony in case anyone needs it. Today I needed both. We had a sister from Peru from one session and Sister Crosby was the presenter because she speaks Spanish. She used the veil card.

Sister Crandell had her first time being a presenter at the veil so she needed the English card. This is something I need to remember and pass on to the next veil director.

We had one sister receiving her own endowments today and a couple being sealed. The young couple being sealed were also being married. The sister broke her leg yesterday so she was in a wheel chair. What a way to start off your marriage. In spite of this the young couple seemed very happy. James was the helper/escort for the brother.

Sister Bradshaw brought me a bottle of hot and sweet Kroger brand pickles today so I now know what the bottle looks like. I can never find them when I go to Fry's.

These are pretty hot when you eat them

by themselves. Sister Bradshaw always brings

crackers and cheese to the temple to eat with them.

I may like the bread and butter pickles better but

I am grateful to Sister Bradshaw for thinking of me

and getting this jar for me.

James got out an hour early but had to wait for me because I had the last veil at 12:30. There were 27 sisters and one was new. Because Sister Rubert was not there, I was called to be a presenter at the veil. I love doing the veil and I am so grateful for this calling.

On the way home again we stopped at Sonic for cherry limeades and a snack. I got a chili dog with fries and James got something new, a Philly cheesesteak.

It's funny how exhausted we are after our temple shift. We came home and took naps and then I had to do some walking. James keeps his phone with him during his temple shift but I don't so I had very few steps. My goal is to at least get 10,000 steps a day, except for Sundays. I walked and watched TV and did some blogging. 

This evening we watched the new Hallmark movie, "A Taste of Summer."

Happy 13th Birthday Rowan!

 Officially a teenager!

Four years ago when they were nine!

 Show Low Cougars are getting ready for their

next football season!

 I love this face!

Friday, August 9th, 2019

Recife, Brazil

101st operating temple

Dedicated: 15 Dec 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Foreordained

Moses 4:2

But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me - Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

Book of Mormon

Alma 47:20-36

New Testament "The Power of God unto Salvation"

Romans 5

General Conference

The Eye of Faith

Elder Neil L. Andersen

"Principles of the Proclamation on the Family are beautifully connected. If we pick and choose what we accept in the proclamation, we cloud our eternal view, putting too much importance on our experience here and now. By prayerfully pondering the proclamation through the eye of faith, we better understand how the principles are beautifully connected, supporting one another revealing our Father's plan for His children."

It started raining in the middle of the night and it is still raining this morning. James came in the bathroom while I was getting ready to go to the temple and said that 20 elk just walked across the back yard. I asked him why he didn't come and tell me and he said, "Well they are probably still on the hill if you want to come and see." Me: "Too late."

I listened to a podcast this morning that goes with the "Come Follow Me" lesson for this week by Scott and Maurine Proctor. It was so good and I feel like I understand Grace, Justification, and Sanctification a little better. We go from sin to repentance and receive forgiveness and if we continue on the covenant path our nature becomes divine and we are sanctified. 

Here are a few quick notes I took while again, getting ready for the temple. Do we sin ignorantly or are we deliberately transgressing?

Mosiah 3 and 3 Nephi 6. 

Martin Luther believed and taught that we are saved by grace only but Paul taught about faith and works. Nephi said, "we are saved by grace after all we can do." We can go from becoming a caterpillar to a butterfly as we accept Christ's Atonement and strive to keep His commandments. We become at one with Him through His divine grace. We become infused with spiritual attributes such as patience, hope, love, and gratitude.

We made it to the 8:30 endowment session. It was a full session with several extra chairs set up. 

It was still raining when we came out of our session. We stopped at Sonic for cherry limeades and crispy chicken sandwiches. The crispy chicken sandwiches tasted like they had been cooked in old oil and really were not very good, but those cherry limeades were divine!

Back at home the rain finally stopped. This afternoon I made rolls, did some repricing on Amazon of my books, washed temple clothes, and walked. It was a great day!

 Cousins across the water

More like sisters that aunt and niece

They have fun together, 

 They get into trouble together.

 Scarlett loves to help "Pop" in the kitchen.

Thursday, August 8th, 2019

Boston, Massachusetts

100th operating temple

Dedicated: 1 Oct 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Foreordained

Ether 3:14

Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name and they shall become my sons and my daughters.

Book of Mormon

Alma 47:1-19

New Testament "The Power of God unto Salvation"

Romans 4

General Conference

Seeking Knowledge by the Spirit

Elder Mathias Held

"In my 31 years as a member of the Church, I have experienced many times that if we rely only on our rational mind and deny or neglect the spiritual understanding we can receive through the whisperings and impressions of the Holy Ghost, it is as if we were going through life with only one eye. But figuratively speaking, we have actually been given two eyes Only the combination of both views can give us the true and complete picture of all truths and of everything we experience in our lives, as well as of the whole and profound understanding of our identity and purpose as children of a living Heavenly Father."

Happy 10th Birthday Molly!

 Molly's baptism when she was 8

 Molly and Ruby

Singing together with her cousin Ruby

With her sister Charlie

Sold a couple of more books today and listened to the book webinar featuring Jim, Ricardo, and Herman. It was a good one and I learned some useful information. 

James is trying to get financing for our home so we can pay off our business line of credit with the high interest rate. He is working with someone at Chase and also online with Quicken loans.

We watched the last episode that I have recorded of Jane Doe. It featured Donna Mills as Jane's mother who was also a secret agent. We enjoyed it but I'm glad to be done with Jane Doe for now.

Cathi helped James get a brother in our ward signed on to Family Search who was having problems. She is privy to information we don't have because of her calling as an indexing, family history missionary.

We were going to go to the temple this afternoon but decided to wait until tomorrow morning because James wasn't feeling well. 

I did repricing on my books today getting ready for textbook season.

I also walked over 15,000 steps and worked on my blog.

Happy 16th Anniversary

Darrel & Trina!

 Max

 She's a climber!

 Rain

 and then a gorgeous sunset!