Monday, October 21st, 2019

Idaho Falls, Idaho

8th operating temple

Dedicated: 23-25 Sep 1945

By: George Albert Smith

Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd

Mosiah 26:21

And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive.

Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 10:1-19

How have you seen Christ work in your life like a "hen gathering her chickens under her wings" for protection?

New Testament:1&2 Thessalonians:"Be Not Soon Shaken in Mind, or Be Troubled"

1 Thessalonians 1-2 "Ministers of the Gospel preach with sincerity and love"

General Conference

Covenant Belonging

Elder Gerrit W. Gong

"To belong with God and to walk with each other on His covenant path is to be blessed by covenant belonging."

"RWC": DC 50:40-42...none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost. (Weak members of the Church whom the Savior is offering mercy.)

I got a call from Stacy this morning. She said she found out this weekend that Skyler got his money and he has been lying to her. She said she had a horrible weekend because she knew she was not going to get her money and she was not going to be able to go to aesthetician school. Skyler is calling Stacy horrible names and blaming her for everything. She said that's what he does when he gets caught. Stacy talked to Chad, Paul's brother-in-law who is married to Nicki. He is an attorney and he told her what she should do to try to get her money. There are no guarantees because Skyler probably spent all of the money and he has no assets. Such a sad story. 

I sold two more books today making a total of 283. My next shipment to Amazon is ready to go but I won't be mailing it at UPS until tomorrow.

James and I went to pick up the mail today. I got four more books to sell. Afterwards we drover to Stanford Store. I went in and got some Schwan's Passion Punch sherbet. It is by far my favorite sherbet. It is tangerine sherbet swirled around a fruit punch sherbet. At least that's what it says on the carton. Yummy!

I went in to Dollar General and got some applesauce and a lemon-lime Gatorade for James. I said hello to Lynda Tanner. She said hello. I asked her how long she had been back in Vernon and she said since the end of January, but she had been laying low. 

Lynda was a member of our ward a few years ago. She was married to a man who was not a member of the Church who was suffering with cancer. His name was John Cheney but Lynda called him Punk. One day he shot himself. I guess he was in a great deal of pain and couldn't take it anymore. James was one of Lynda's home teacher's and Bishop Hall called him and asked him to please come and help comfort Lynda. James went and held Lynda's hand  and tried to comfort her. This is the second husband of Lynda's that committed suicide. She also had a 17 year old grandson that did the same thing. Why do some people have so many trials? 

A couple of years after this happened Lynda got married again and moved to the valley. We have not seen her since that time until today. She has not been to church since she came back and to my knowledge we have not received her membership. Lynda was a horse trainer in her working days and is a very strong, independent woman. My heart goes out to her. I wish she would come back to the ward. So many people would love to see her. One more thing about Lynda. She was involved in local politics and she knew Uncle Delbert and had a great respect for him. James let her read Uncle Delbert's book that he wrote when he was a prisoner of war in Germany. Lynda is probably our age or maybe a little younger. She takes good care of herself and is quite beautiful.

Sheri sent Ben's letter this afternoon and I read it to James on the way home from the store. 

I listened to two podcasts today, "The Scripture Study Project" and "This Is the Gospel." 

Tonight was 80's night on "DWTS." Sailor Brinkley-Cook went home. She deserved to stay. Sean Spicer should be going home. Burno made a rude comment about Sean. He said that Sean was like a brick with arms and legs when he dances.

Ben's Letter

Scarlett's back!

Charlie loves her baby and I love Charlie!

Where have all the flowers gone?
Just a month or so ago this field was
filled with yellow flowers. I miss them.

 Ruby wants to be queen of the roller derby!

Today I washed the kitchen window and
cleaned the blinds. I stepped in the sink to do it.
I knocked a pipe loose and James had to fix it.

My morning view.

 Congratulations Luke!

Sunday, October 20th 2019

Mesa, Arizona

7th operating temple

Dedicated: 23-26 Oct 1927

By: Heber J. Grant

Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd

3 Nephi 18:31
But if he repent not he shall not be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people for behold I know my sheep, and they are numbered.
Book of Mormon
3 Nephi 9:1-22
What does it mean to offer a sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit?
New Testament:Review Philippians & Colossians:"I Can Do All Things Through Christ Which Strengtheneth Me"

General Conference

Spiritual Treasures

President Russell M. Nelson

"As you exercise faith in the Lord and His priesthood power, your ability to draw upon this spiritual treasure that the Lord has made available will increase."

Denice and Bishop Ron Hall were the speakers in sacrament meeting today. Denice's topic was casual versus careful based on Sister Becky Craven's talk in the April General Conference.
Denice has been a bus driver for the Blue Ridge schools for 15 years and she talked about her experiences with children in her talk. One of the thing she said was never make a promise you can't keep, especially to a child."To see the disappointment in a child's eyes if you don't keep a promise would break you heart." She also shared an experience when she went to visit her brother in prison. One of the most hardened looking prisoners was the father of a four year old girl that ran to him and said "Daddy"! She said his countenance changed and he melted into butter. Because of that experience she said she would never judge someone by how they look again. Denice also said "no empty threats." Don't ever say something that you are going to do if you really don't mean it. 

Bishop Hall was the bishop when we moved to Vernon and I love him. He is such a dear sweet man. His mom was the sister of one of my former boyfriends and his grandpa was my bishop when I was a teenager in Show Low. Bishop Hall was assigned to speak on Elder Homer's talk, "Hearing His Voice." "In a world with so many competing voices, our Heavenly Father has made it possible for us to hear and follow His." Bishop Hall is a truck driver and he talked about going past the Wild Horse Casino in Chandler and it reminded him of the Great and Spacious building in Lehi's Dream of the Tree of Life. He said when he was a little boy his parents taught him over and over and over again about Lehi's Dream of the Tree of Life. He said he grew up knowing that if he held fast to the Iron Rod he would make it through the mists of darkness.
He told us to go home and read the story of Korihor in Alma 30. He mentioned the story Elder Christofferson told in conference about the stake president in California who was paralyzed as a result of a body surfing accident. Because of his focus on the gospel he was able to serve as a gospel doctrine teacher and a stake patriarch. 
Bishop and Denice's older kids who aren't in our ward came to hear them speak. Bishop said he was proud of Denice because she deals with "anxiety" and it is difficult for her to get up and speak in front of people. (Maybe the anxiety comes from driving a school bus. That was just a thought I had.)

Amber Judd taught our Sunday School lesson and did an amazing job. I sat by a single sister who comes to church by herself. She had a couple of strokes four years ago. For awhile she stayed home but missed coming to church. I see her every week. It was great to have Ellen Kostusiak at church today. She and Dave came home this weekend. Dave has been in the hospital for months and I honestly did not think he would make it. After heart surgery he got mersa which caused all kinds of problems for him. So great to have them back!

I got some news from Maxine Thompson about Pat Tedder who fractured her back while working in the temple laundry room. Maxine is in the valley with her husband who is recovering from knee surgery and she went to see Pat today at Barrow's. This is the report we got: "I went to see Pat today. She is going to be moved to a rehab facility tomorrow. they are trying to avoid surgery so it would be very dangerous. She had a 'turtle' brace to wear. They did not give her a time frame, but she is guessing 3-4 months there. 
If she moves at all it is extremely painful. She is only allowed to mover in her bed 30 degrees. She had a blessing at the temple and another one after the severity of the situation was realized."

We FaceTimed with Jared, Kacey, and Charlie. We love to do this every week and hope Charlie will recognize us when they come to visit. 

This evening we listened to three "Come Follow Me" YouTube videos. I gained something from each one. They were all so very different. I think my favorite was "Teaching with Power."

 San Diego temple, so gorgeous!

 I'm going to take these to the 

Grapp kids for Halloween

Saturday, October 19th, 2019

Cardston, Alberta

6th operating temple

Dedicated: 26-29 Aug 1923

By: Heber J. Grant

Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd

1 Nephi 22:25

And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture.

Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 8:5-25

How can we prepare today for the Savior's Second Coming?

New Testament: "I Can Do All Things Through Christ Which Strengtheneth Me"

Colossians 3-4 & Colossians 3:1-17 Disciples of Jesus Christ become "new" as they live His gospel.

General Conference

Covenant Women in Partnership with God

President Henry B. Eyring

"Becoming a covenant woman in partnership with God is how great and good daughters of God have always mothered led, and ministered."

Two Great Commandments

President Dallin H. Oaks

"We must try to keep both of the great commandments. To do so, we walk a fine line between law and love."

As I said my prayers this morning I asked Heavenly Father, what lack I yet? The thought came to me that I need to be more self-disciplined in all areas of my life.

"RWC" DC 50:7 - Behold, verily I say unto you, there are hypocrites among you, who have deceived some, which has given the adversary power; but behold such shall be reclaimed; 

This gives me hope for wayward grandchildren!

I love this quote from Joseph B. Wirthlin found in the New Testament Student Manual: "That we do a lot may not be so important. That we focus the energy of our minds, hearts, and souls on those things of eternal significance - that is essential."(p. 442)

I sold two books today for a total in sales of 145.00.

At nine o'clock this morning James and I went to the church to clean. We noticed last week in the bulletin that Blain Curtis was pretty much assigned to clean the church by himself. Diana is still recovering from surgery and everyone else probably don't know they have the assignment because they don't come to church. James told him he would be there Saturday to help him clean. 

Blain wasn't there when we got there so we started without him. I vacuumed, James emptied trashes and cleaned the bathrooms and was vacuuming the pews in the chapel when Blain came around 10:30. He was most appreciative of our help and he told us to please go home and he would finish up, which we did.

I am grateful to James for honoring his commitment to Blain. I tried to talk him out of it, saying that he was recovering from surgery and Blain would understand if he called and told him he couldn't make it. He would not do that. I had not planned on going but there was no way I was going to let James go by himself. I was grateful we did it. There is something so satisfying in doing something for someone else.

We missed the breakfast at the park kicking off the November Food Drive.

We also missed the political rally at the park for David Peelman and Cope Reynolds. I'm not sure what David is running for but Cope is running for Apache County Sheriff. Cope is a good friend and a member of our ward. I think he would make an awesome sheriff and he definitely has my vote! (Cope isn't his real name. He adopted it when in his less active days he chewed Copenhagen tobacco. Nevertheless, he is a great guy! He's also tall and can be intimidating.)

Jaden Hood's baptism. Jaden is mentally but he has come up through the ranks in Primary and I have seen a definite improvement. He understands more than you think, he just cannot speak so you can understand him. At least I can't understand him. Maybe there are those who can.

We left our house this evening a little after five to clean the temple in Snowflake. On the way we stopped at the church and picked up our friend Tom Howard who is going with us. He is Jaden's Primary teacher and he attended Jaden's baptism. Jean, Tom's wife was going to come too but she was not feeling well. He said she was at home with the electric blanket I got her for Christmas wrapped around her.

On our way to Snowflake I got a text from Tamara Applegate. This is what it said:

"Sorry, Jimmie and I got asked to accompany youth to corn maze. Hope you have enough to clean the temple. So sorry not to be there."

We were already going to be a little short so this was disappointing, especially to James who loves Jimmie Applegate.

We are grateful to these ward members who were there to help clean the temple: Amy and Sam Gordon, Wes and Teresa Smith, Anthony Romyak, Kerri Halcomb, Jerry Scott, Virgil Cooper, Tom Howard, Owen Peeler, Chuck Crane, Cammy Grapp, Collin DeWitt (came from the valley to honor his commitment), and of course James and myself. 

James and I vacuumed. I vacuumed and he held the cord. I got to wear the backpack vacuum and someone said: "Who you gonna call, Ghostbusters!" The backpack vacuum is for vacuuming the stairs.

We stopped at McDonald's on the way home and I got an ice cream and a Happy Meal burger and James got an ice cream without the cone. We stopped at Maverick so Tom could get some mints for his Primary class tomorrow. He says they love them and try to get them out of his pockets. He loves kids and I'm sure he is a great Primary teacher.

We were home before nine and read from Aunt Dimity and watched part of the new episode of "Good Witch" before going to bed. James said he didn't feel any pain while he was cleaning the temple.

It was our privilege to help clean the Snowflake temple

this evening.

 Oh Charlie, you are so funny!

 Little Lola

Michael

Friday, October 18th, 2019

Laie, Hawaii

5th operating temple

Dedicated: 27-30 Nov 1919

By: Heber J. Grant

Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd

1 Nephi 13:41

And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb; and the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed, as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; wherefore they both shall be established in one; for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth.

Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 7:15-8:4

What part does the Holy Ghost play in conversion?

New Testament: "I Can Do All Things Through Christ Which Strengtheneth Me"

Colossians 2 & Colossians 1:12-23 "My faith is founded on Jesus Christ"

General Conference

Beloved Daughters

Bonnie H. Cardon

"At the heart of all we do in Young Women is our desire to help you gain unshakable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

"CFM" Through His Atonement and Resurrection, Jesus Christ triumphed over all earthly powers and authorities. (Colo.2:15)

I sold a Captain Marvel book to a guy who lives in Mexico City. I guess if he doesn't speak English he can enjoy looking at the pictures.

James had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. He said the gas pains are not going away. He was told if he walked around it would help alleviate them but it hasn't.

Kacey helped me today with the Strong Concordance app we are using for our Inkling study. Greek words are found in the Old Testament and Hebrew in the New Testament. 

I had everything to make zuppa tuscana soup except for kale, which I replaced with spinach. I made it this morning and it was so delicious to have it for lunch. I feel so bad for James and told him I would strain the soup so he could have the broth but he didn't seem too excited so I didn't do it.

James drove to the post office today. He wasn't suppose to drive until the 19th, but hey, it's Vernon so we chanced it. He brought back one book I had ordered to sell and three books I ordered from 

Deseret Book about the priesthood. James saw one of them and said, "You already have this book." It was the one by Sheri Dew called, "Women and the Priesthood." I said, no I don't, you are thinking of a different book. I knew what book he was thinking of but I let him go upstairs to look for it anyway. He came back with the book, "Woman and the Priesthood" by Rodney Turner thinking he had proved me wrong. I pointed out the differences and he realized he had made a mistake.

I ordered these books to go along with the Inkling study at the suggestion of Emily Freeman. I have a lot of reading to do!

I watched "DWTS" again while walking. I researched and bought two books. 

Stacy got $500 from Skyler. He stills owes her over $6,000. 

James tried to watch some TV while I was blogging. He wasn't interested in anything I had recorded so he basically just scrolled with the guide. He came across a hunting show and finally settled on that. We had some herbal tea for our little evening snack. Mine was blueberry, his was black cherry.

19 people are out of town this weekend which is making it difficult to find people to help clean the temple. He basically called everyone on the ward list that has a temple recommend and we still only have 19 people. We are supposed to have at least 20.

We got some sad news today. A member of our ward, and a dear friend of mine, Pat Tedder fell flat on her back while working in the laundry room a the temple. She was air vaced to St Joseph - Barrows in Phoenix with a fracture in her upper back. This is so sad to me because I am sure she is in a great deal of pain.

Ziggie came to visit the Trezise's and I think she is there to stay.

 What did you say mom? I'm getting a

sister?

What's a sister?

This is a sister. Her name is Ziggie.

Sheri said they tried her out and everyone fell in

love with her because she is so gentle and sweet. 

Ollie barked for awhile because he is very territorial

but by the end of the evening they were playing together.

Halloween treats

 Charlie went to her first football game and

she loved it!

 James's bananas that he can't eat