Monday, September 9th, 2019

Gila Valley, Arizona

132nd operating temple

Dedicated: 23 May 2010

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Glory of

2 Nephi 1:15

But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

Book of Mormon

Helaman 1:1-17

New Testament 2 Corinthians 1-7 "Be Ye Reconciled to God"

2 Corinthians 1-2

General Conference

The Eye of Faith

Elder Neil L. Andersen

"Some will say, 'You don't understand my situation.' I may not, but I testify that there is One who does understand. There is One who knows your burdens because of His sacrifice made in the garden and on the cross. As you seek Him and keep His commandments, I promise you that He will bless you and lift the burdens too heavy to bear alone. He will give you eternal friends and opportunities to serve. More important, He will fill you with the powerful Spirit of the Holy Ghost and shine His heavenly approval upon you. No choice, no alternative that denies the companionship of the Holy Ghost or the blessings of eternity is worthy of our consideration."

I listened to David and Emily's YouTube lesson on 2 Corinthians 1-7. It was totally different than the one I listened to last night. They are both good, just two very different approaches. 

I sold a book this morning and was working on my blog when I decided I needed to lie down for awhile. It was only 10:30 in the morning and James and I were both down for the count. 

James finally caught a mouse in his trap. He has a photo but I chose not to post it on my blog. 

James worked on replacing rotting railings, went to the Howard's to see if his tractor needed a tire replaced. It didn't. I guess Brother Howard already replaced it. He also went into Show Low to see if Dodge would do a diagnostics test on his truck. They told him he had to make an appointment and they were backed up for at least two weeks. 

On the way home James picked up a thin crust Pacific veggie pizza from Dominoes. By the time he got home with it it was half way eaten. Boy was it delicious!

He also brought me a new box of cherry Dilly bars. He knows the way to my heart!

I wrote Ben this morning early but I'm not sure he got my email. 

Here is a copy of the letter Ben sent to Sheri:

It's FaceTime!

I got 10,000 steps before 6:30 this evening when the Grapp's came over to watch "When Calls the Heart." They brought left over cake from Charlie Gordon's surprise party at the park. He turned 21 and his mom invited their friends to celebrate with him. We were invited but didn't go.

I made some of my homemade popcorn and everyone loved it. We watched episodes 6 and 7 of season 6, this years season of "When Calls the Heart". All that are left are episodes 8 and 9. I accidentally erased 8 and the Grapp's don't watch to watch 9 until they have watched 8 so they are waiting for the DVD to come out on October 1st.  Sorry guys episode 8 is pretty critical to the entire story about Lucas Buchard.

After the Grapp's went home I read to James and finished my walking.

 Happy 95th!

 Happy 41st to Jon!

 I love this!

 Before they left Tildy wanted me to take a picture of the

belt buckle she won at the rodeo in Star Valley.

I guess the horse she had won the race in her age group.

She wore the buckle on a pink belt around her pretty white

chiffon dress yesterday at church.

I wonder if she sleeps with it.

 Still on the loose. When I had my infusion in the valley

on Friday, one of the nurses was worried because she said

they had been seen in the Gilbert area where she lives.

Sunday, September 8th, 2019

Vancouver, British Columbia

131st operating temple

Dedicated: 2 May 2010

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Glory of

1 Nephi 22:24

And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall, and the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion, and might, and power, and great glory.

Book of Mormon

Alma 63:1-17

New Testament: Review 1 Corinthians 14-16"God is Not the Author of Confusion, But of Peace"

General Conference

Seeking Knowledge By The Spirit

Elder Mathias Held

"Many precious truths have become spiritual building blocks of what God is helping me to become. And I look forward to the many new teachings that He still wants me - and you - to receive as we go through this wonderful life and 'learn ... even by study and also by faith.' I know these things to be true and testify of them in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I spent the morning getting ready for Relief Society. I typed out and studied the section from Elder Homer's talk, "Hearing His Voice." Sister Curtis asked me to share , "Listening to the Wrong Voice," which is basically the story of Korihor and how listening to the wrong voice led him to destruction.

I also printed out the rest of my ministering companionships that had changes and handed them out before sacrament meeting.

Bailey, the young woman who was supposed to be the youth speaker was a "no show" as Brother Crane put it. Heather Bowen was the next speaker and she spoke less than 5 minutes. Alicia H. had the rest of the time but when she finished there was still 15 minutes on the clock. 

Brother Crane was the only member of the bishopric on the stand today. Brother Grapp, the elders quorum president joined him and got up and spoke the last ten minutes of sacrament meeting and did a wonderful job relating faith promoting stories from his family and his mission to Hawaii.

Sister Curtis did a great job in Relief Society starting the discussion on listen to the voice of the Spirit. I sat by Sister Kuffer who very rarely comes to church because she works on Sunday.
She told about her 15 year old grandson who recently collapsed in Walmart and was taken to the emergency room of the Show Low hospital. They discovered his kidneys were 30% shut down and jetted him to the valley. That was over two weeks ago. The doctors are saying they are not sure what caused this but they are saying it is caused by an autoimmune disorder. His kidneys are now 90% shutdown. They have him on dialysis and on a kidney transplant list but they are afraid his body will reject new kidneys. It is a very sad situation. The bishop called a special fast for him.

Tamara and I went to Sister Tesarek's setting apart after the block. She has been called to be the Relief Society activities chairman and we are so excited to be working with her. She is young, energetic and has lots of great ideas and is a born leader. Kerri couldn't be there because she had a missionary committee meeting.

This afternoon James and I FaceTimed with Charlie, Kacey, and Jared. I look forward to this every week.  We are counting the weeks until they come in November for a convention.

I taped President Nelson's 95th birthday celebration and we were watching it when our friends the Halcomb's rang the doorbell.

There friends, Dennis and Kelly have property in Vernon and as soon as they sell their home in Ajo they want to move up and build a home here. 

While James showed Dennis around Kerri and Catherine and I visited in the family room. Kelly, Dennis's wife is in Ajo this weekend.

We finished watching President Nelson's birthday celebration after they left. We also listened to the YouTube presentation by The Power of Teaching for 2 Corinthians 1-7.

 Separate homes or just separate play areas?

Saturday, September 7th, 2019

Oquirrh Mountain, Utah

130th operating temple

Dedicated: 21-23 Aug 2009

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Glory of

Revelations 1:14

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Book of Mormon

Alma 62:34-52

New Testament "God is Not the Author of Confusion, But of Peace" 1 Corinthians 14-16

1 Corinthians 16

General Conference

The True, Pure and Simple Gospel of Jesus Christ

President M. Russell Ballard

"Effective ministering is best viewed through the focused lens of loving God and loving our neighbors. Simply stated, we minister because we love our Heavenly Father and His children. Our ministering efforts will be more successful if we keep our ministering simple. The most joy comes from the simple things of life, so we need to be careful not to thin that more needs to be added to any of the adjustments we have received to build faith and strong testimonies in the hearts of God's children."

At first James didn't want to go outside to work on the railings because of the smoke from the fire but the smoke disappeared and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

We did have a little cloudburst in the afternoon with left us with quite a bit of rain. 

I worked inside most of the day preparing for tomorrow, watching "Come Follow Me" YouTube videos, working on my blog, and walking. 

A little after four we left to do a little birthday shopping at Dollar General. We were invited to Emsley and Liana Grapp's birthday party and dinner starting at 5. We bought cards for each of them. I brought a journal from home to give to Liana. We got her some colored pens to go with that journal. For Emsley James suggested crayons and a coloring book so that's what we got.

When we got to the Grapp's we were the first ones there besides Uncle Mark and Thomas's grandparents. Cammy said when she asked the girls who they wanted to invite to their party Emsley, the six year old, said: "I want to invite adults because kids are just too rowdy." 

The Nicoll's family, Brianna and Wyatt and their kids came along with the Finnell's.

The Finnell's are a couple a little younger than us who have grown children but no grandchildren. They have adopted the Grapp children as their grandchildren and the kids call them grandma and grandpa. 

Let me tell about the dinner we had. Cammy had a big pot of beans. When I asked for her recipe she said that Rikki, Thomas's grandmother, sprouts beans and then pressure cooks them and bottles them. Cammy takes those beans and adds green chilies, and other spices and boingo, those are the beans. There was fry bread and all kinds of toppings. Here is what Cammy's plate looked like after going through the line:

Yummy!

After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Emsley, who's sixth birthday is today, and to Liana, whose 11th birthday is the 20th.

 Benson, Liana, and Emsley

Cheesecake and chocolate zucchini cake.

Here are some photos we took during the evening.

The baby is baby Abigail, the Nichol's baby.

 Little Leland handing a toy to Mason.

Leland was a big hit pushing his walker around.

He turned 1 in July.

 Emsley and Abigail

 Tildy and Abigail

Abigail and Liana

 Cammy home schools her kids and she

has them write in the journal everyday.

Kacey, Autumn, and Loren went to TOFW

in Arlington Friday and Saturday.

Charlie and Jared stayed home.

Don't you just love that face!

Friday, September 6th, 2019

Draper, Utah

129th operating temple

Dedicated: 20-22 March 2009

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Glory of

2 Peter 1:17

For he received from God the Father honour 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

Alma 62:19-33

New Testament "God is Not the Author of Confusion, But of Peace" 1 Corinthians 14-16

Today: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

General Conference

A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord Dwells

President Henry B. Eyring

"I know that the priesthood keys restored to Joseph Smith were passed on in an unbroken line to President Russell M. Nelson. Those keys make possible the sealing of families today. I know that Heavenly Father loves us His spirit children, with a perfect love. I know that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can repent, be cleansed, and become worthy to live in loving families forever with our Heavenly Father and with His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I had cake for breakfast. What a way to start the day. 

We went to see James's mom this morning before my infusion. She seems to be feeling much better than the last time we saw her. She and Rebecca have been making Christmas ornaments. Here is a photo of Lois with Jack, Teresa's son. 

The round bulbs are the Christmas

ornaments.

This package was from Dawn. It contained 

a set of wind chimes.

 The table runner Lois made for me

A beautiful box with a purple necklace and

earrings, a leather journal, a card and a

$50 Amazon gift card.

The outside of the beautiful box.

Lois always showers her family with gifts and I am most grateful.

We had a nice visit and then we left around 10:15. James took me to my infusion and then he drove to Phoenix to have a meeting with Salvador and someone who wants him to build a house.

I was finished with my infusion by noon and James was waiting for me. We drove to the Olive Garden on Chandler Blvd. and the 101 for lunch. Darrel and Trina, and Kim and Brian both gave me Olive Garden gift cards for my birthday plus I ordered one with my credit card points.

I wanted tortellini but there was none on the menu so I ordered chicken and shrimp scampi. James got the stuffed chicken marsalla. I couldn't eat all of mine so I took it and gave it to Sheri. 

We dropped Stacy's cake plate off at her house. She was not there. Afterwards we drove over to Target. I wanted to look for a bag of Harkin's popcorn but they didn't have any. Brian probably got his at the Target Greatland over on Gilbert Rd. 

After Target we went to Sheri's to visit with her. Ollie barked a little at us but not like he used to. We said hi to Max and Alex and sat down to talk with Sheri. Max and Alex went to the gym and when they left James gave Sheri a blessing. It was a really good blessing and I hope it helps her. After the blessing we said goodbye and headed for home. The heat has been stifling and I can hardly wait to get back up north. We went the Payson way at my request.

When we got home the entire Vernon valley was filled with smoke. I guess there was a fire started by lightning while we were gone. It is called the Telephone Fire and started near Lake Mountain. So far about 230 acres have burned.

Our house smelled like garbage that we had forgotten to carry out. On the plus side we did catch Jif in the pantry and another mouse in the garage. We unpacked and put things away. I finished walking my 10,000 steps and then James and I watched a Hallmark movie.

It's good to be home!

 Tonight was his celebration, Monday

is his birthday.

 Arizona Highways 1948