Tuesday, December 31st, 2019

Medford, Oregon

79th operating temple

Dedicated 16 Apr 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

Isaiah 49:26

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the might One of Jacob.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 10:8-34

"Come Follow Me"

Introduction and Title of the Book of Mormon

Oct General Conference

Closing Remarks

President Russell M. Nelson

"Now, for just a moment, I would like to speak to our youth. We encourage you to qualify for limited use temple recommends. You will be asked only those questions applicable to you in your preparation for the ordinances of proxy baptism and confirmation. We are very grateful for your worthiness and willingness to participate in that sacred temple work. We thank you!"

Today is Kim's 46th birthday. Usually she is up here celebrating, but because the 31st is in the middle of the week, Brian has to work on the day after New Year which would cut their time short. We know she had a great birthday because Brian got tickets for them to go see Brian Regan.

Ben was made an A.P. this transfer. It is a little bittersweet for him because he will not be able to proselyte nearly as much as he is now. While Sheri was talking on the telephone to him, Ziggie had a "serious accident" on the rug by the door going outside. When I told Sheri she immediately cleaned it up even though she was still on the phone with Ben. Elder Brown, one of Ben's companions recently, and a thorn in his side because of his lack of desire to do the work, is going home because his time is up. Elder Clark who spent hours in the bathroom, and refused to go out unless he was forced to,  was sent home. How sad that missionaries come out and are not really interested in sharing the gospel with others.

Shayna and Alex went home this morning. They also have tickets to go see Brian Regan. 

Sheri took the picture for me. I was in the

kitchen making lasagna soup.

It's a little blurry I noticed. Shayna is such a tiny thing.

She weighs less than 90 lbs.

James and I had chicken tacos for lunch. I made lasagna soup and Sheri made rolls and a ham and chocolate chip cookies. Michael made another cobbler. This one was cherry and we had Bluebell Homemade vanilla ice cream to go with it. What is it about the holidays that makes everyone want to eat?

James and I made a trip to Dollar General. I gave Rowan a Hershey bar and a Mug rootbeer. Sheri brought plenty of snacks for her boys and Michael was taking care of Joshua. I thought Rowan might need a little TLC.

I did a little work today. I made our first mortgage payment and did all of my ministering interviews except for one.  I also got all of my steps and spent some of the Relief Society money we had left in our account. It won't roll over to the new year. I bought items from Walmart online and paid with my credit card. Hopefully I will get a receipt dated December 31st.

Today the kids got in to "The Twilight Zone." They taped episodes and watched it most of the day while Sheri and I were in the bedroom watching Hallmark movies. We should have invited Alexis in to watch with us. She said it would have been much better than "The Twilight Zone."

Michael and Alexis went to eat at Licano's again and to look for fireworks. They didn't find any fireworks to speak of. Michael brought tacos back for Joshua. Michael loves Licano's carne asada burros.

Christmas movies we watched: 

"The Christmas Jars" 

Kim asks me every time we talk if I watched it yet. It was really good and of course was about doing service.

"Two Turtle Doves"

"A Merry Liddle Christmas"

Happy New Year!

 Last year's visit

Monday, December 30th, 2019

Fresno, California

78th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Apr 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

Isaiah 44:6

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 9:20-10:7

"Come Follow Me"

Title Page of the Book of Mormon

Oct General Conference

"Fruit"

Elder Neil L. Andersen

"In our world today, the adversary's construction crews are working overtime, hastily inflating the large and spacious building. The expansion has spread across the river, hoping to envelop our homes, while the pointers and the scoffers wail day and night on their internet megaphones. President Nelson explained, 'The adversary is quadrupling his efforts to disrupt testimonies and impede the work of the Lord.' Let us remember Lehi's words: 'We heeded them not.'"

Sheri ran in 15 degree weather this morning. She is a real trooper. James and I went to help take down Christmas decorations at the church along with Chuck and Kathy Crane. Soon others came to help, Stefani, Alicia, and Holly Hunsaker, and Michelle Tesarek and a friend. We were through within the hour. James helped Chuck carry the boxes out to the shed where they are stored until next Christmas.

When we returned to the house I helped Sheri fix breakfast. We have eggs, bacon, and biscuits. 

After breakfast Sheri and I went into town. We stopped at Maverick for gas and Sheri also got a drink. It was difficult, but I told her no, I didn't want one. I did buy a Mug rootbeer later at Walmart. 

While at Walmart I wanted to buy a Red Baron pepperoni pizza for the boys but they were all out. Instead I got Tombstone pizza. When we got home I told Max and he said, "If it's Tombstone I don't want any." Oh well, I tried.

Sheri and I watched "Mistletoe and Menorahs." She liked it almost as much as I did. Ziggie is a big distraction for Sheri. She is constantly worried that she is going to have an "accident." I think she has had a couple but we won't tell James.

After my nap I worked on running off  the Redheaded Hostess Book of Mormon lesson for this week. I am so glad I subscribed because she offers so much material for all ages. I also have the study book which is pretty amazing.

Michael and Alexis went for a run. I think they are struggling because of the high altitude.

Michael made a peach/blueberry cobbler this evening. Sheri and I ate ours while watching, "Christmas in Angel Falls."

I got my 10,000 steps but I am getting further behind on my blog. 

We wanted to take the boys to the pit this afternoon to go sledding but no one wanted to go except Rowan and he didn't want to go by himself. He has not been sledding since he got here.

Everyone stayed home and played video games, Trivial Pursuit, Settlers of Catan, and light sabers.

Sheri made chicken tacos for dinner. They were delicious. 

Joshua, Michael, Alexis, Alex, and Shayna went to Licano's for lunch and brought food back for Ian. James, Sheri, and I ate the tacos. I think Max and Evan had ham sandwiches.

About seven years ago

 Settlers

 Trivial Pursuit

 Five Crowns

Sheri's post

 Ziggie and Shayna

 I wonder if Evan is wounded

Sunday, December 29th, 2019

Palmyra, New York

77th operating temple

Dedicated: 6 April 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Isaiah 43:14

Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 9:1-19

New Testament

Review and finish the book of Revelation

Oct General Conference

"Take Up Our Cross"

Elder Ulisses Soares

"Please never give up after subsequent failures and consider yourself incapable of abandoning sins and overcoming addiction. You cannot afford to stop trying and thereafter continue in weakness and sin! Always strive to do your best, manifesting through your works the desire to cleanse the inner vessel, as taught by the Savior."

Our stake president, President Beeler, sent out an email to members of this stake this morning. This is what it said:

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the White Mountain Stake;

Due to the heavy snow and icy conditions in many parts of our stake, we have decided to cancel church meetings for December 29th. Many of our residential streets have been difficult to keep plowed, as have our Church sidewalks and parking lots.

The exception to this cancellation is the Vernon Ward. Those who wish to attend meetings in Vernon or neighboring stakes/wards are certainly invited to do so.

We invite all to keep the Sabbath Day holy by serving others, studying "Come Follow Me" together in your homes, and doing other activities which bring you closer to the Savior.

Thank you for understanding. We love you and appreciate your faithfulness. And we give the Lord thanks for the wonderful snow that has come to our mountain home!

Much love,

President Beeler

Except the Vernon ward? I wonder why we are the exception? We got snow too. Maybe it's because our bishop is a "Prepper" and a little bit of snow doesn't scare him. Oh well, I'm glad we got to go to our meetings because Michael and Joshua went with us.

Tamara gave me a Christmas gift: A container with a bag of homemade unfrosted sugar cookies. I ate all of them. A Christmas dishtowel that says, "Dashing through the Snow." (How appropriate, that's how we got to church today), Antlers Co. Double chocolate flavored hot cocoa, Bodycology small cherry blossom body cream, a "Charity Never Faileth" bookmark, and a Silent Night Mineral Bath Soak. Thank you Tamara.

Shanna Penrod was the first speaker. She spoke on "How Jesus Christ Can Bring Us Peace, Joy, and Happiness." Repentance and obedience bring us real joy as we come unto the Savior. Suffering is swallowed up in the joy of Christ, He is the source of enduring joy. Shanna bore a wonderful testimony. 

President Smithson, a new counselor in our stake presidency was the next speaker. He brought his entire family with him and said he was grateful that someone in the stake had meetings today. 

Everyone seems to be looking for constant entertainment. Look instead for peace and joy. How do we respond to tragedy? Fall to our knees and turn our focus to Christ. The Lord does hear our prayers. Increase in joy. Ether 12:27 - "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

The second hour the adults stayed in the chapel for a discussion on "Come Follow Me" What Works and What Doesn't" with Bishop Hunsaker. Michael and Joshua both stayed with us. These are some of the ideas that I liked as a result of our discussion.

Tamara Applegate - We have a set time, 8 p.m. The discussion lasts an hour. Whoever is there carries on. One night it was just Ty and me. Ty had a video to watch that applied to the lesson, so that's what we did."

Bishop Miller - "Each one of our children have their own copy of the scriptures and the lesson manual. Sometimes we find them studying on their own. (Probably his oldest, Andyn.)

Bishop Hunsaker - "There is a sister and a brother who have done a YouTube video called, "Don't Miss This." There names are David Butler and Emily Belle Freeman.

Michael came home and made pancakes for everyone. They were quite delicious. James and I laid down for a nap and when we woke up everyone was gone. I guess they took the sled out and gave rides behind Alexis's car. I worked on my blog for awhile and then we FaceTimed with Jared, Kacey, Charlie, and Molly. Tricia did end up letting Molly come to visit even though the other kids didn't come.

As I was cooking steaks for Max, and Evan and Josh, Sheri, Ian, Rowan and Ziggie arrived. 

Shana did the dishes which was very kind of her.

Sheri, Ian, and Ziggie are staying downstairs so I took the clean sheets and put them on the bed. Sheri and I went in our room and watched, "A Storybook Christmas." 

The kids used flashlights and went outside to play Jews and Germans. 

Today I didn't keep the Sabbath as well as I should and neither did anyone else. There was a football game playing on the TV in the family room most of the day. It made James sad.

 Molly and Charlie

 My friend Sherry Cosper Byars took this picture

at her home. Can you see the temple in the background?

  

Saturday, December 28th, 2019"

Friday, December 27th, 2019

Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico

75th operating temple

Dedicated: 12 Mar 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

Isaiah 41:4

Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 7:35-48

New Testament

Revelation 19-20; Redheaded Hostess and New Testament Student Manual

Oct General Conference

"Giving Our Spirits Control Over Our Bodies"

President M. Russell Ballard

"The word that keeps coming to my mind now when I consider the plan is 'reunion.' It is a plan, designed by our loving Father in Heaven, that has at its center the grand and glorious possibilities of family reunion - of eternally reuniting husbands and wives, parents and children, generation upon generation in the household of God."

Ministering is exercising divine love

Repentance is daily refining

I talked to the boys about what they wanted to eat before I made a trip to town. It's the same things they always want. Pizza, steak, hotdogs, and hamburgers. Alex asked if I would buy him Simply Orange orange juice with no pulp, and some eggs. 

James went to town with me. While I was shopping Stacy kept texting me that Alex left his egg pan and other dirty dishes in the sink and didn't clean the kitchen. I am not sure what she wanted me to do. I told her to please ask him to clean up after himself. 

As we were going through Vernon we passed Sarah, Dallin, and Charlie leaving. We stopped and talked a few minutes and told them to be careful going home and that we enjoyed their visit. 

We stopped at Little Caesar's Pizza and picked up two large pepperoni pizzas, and two orders of breadsticks for $20.44. That is an amazing price!

We got more snow today. The kids tied the sled to the back of Alexis's car and are pulling each other down the road. It looks a little dangerous but they are having fun.

My foot is hurting. I blogged Dec 13th, the day of the gingerbread houses, Addy's concert and Jared and Kacey going to Marshall, Texas. There were a lot of pictures. 

I checked on Jared today. He still has numbness on the left side of his face. 

Max and Evan say they are not hungry tonight. I hope I didn't buy all of this food that Sheri is paying me for and no one is going to eat it. 

Joshua broke his new fancy light saber today and Paul is very upset because Michael told him to duct tape the batteries in. The tape is stuck inside the handle. Joshua is so upset he goes outside and no one can find him. When Evan comes in Stacy asks him if he will go outside and look for Joshua. Evan leaves out the back door and in a few minutes Joshua comes in the front door. Now Stacy is worried that Evan is going to get lost. I told her he would be fine.

James and I watched a Christmas movie, "Christmas On My Mind," starring Andrew Walker.

 Bryce Case's family

Bryce is Trina's brother

 The gang

December 26th, 2019

Oaxaca, Mexico

74th operating temple

Dedicated: 11 Mar 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Jehovah

2 Nephi 22:2

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 7:20-34

New Testament

Revelation 16-18; Redheaded Hostess and New Testament Student Manual

Oct General Conference

"Knowing, Loving, and Growing"

Elder Hans T. Boom

"There is no need to constantly tell our spouse or children how they can improve; they know that already. It is in creating an environment of love that they will be empowered to make the necessary changes in their lives and become better people.

In this way repentance becomes a daily process of refining that might include apologizing for poor behavior. I remember and still experience situations where I have been too quick to judge or too slow to listen. And at the end of the day, during my personal prayer, I felt loving counsel from heaven to repent and become better. The loving environment first created by my parents, brother, and sisters and later by my wife, children, and friends has helped me to become a better person."

We left the house and our company around 10:10 this morning. I returned two books I had ordered to UPS. One book cost $16 to return. UPS is too expensive. 

We were supposed to meet a Medicare supplement insurance agent who is with Physicians Mutual at Panda Express at 11. He texted James and said it was too noisy and there were no tables available at Panda and could we meet at Firehouse Subs, so that's where we went. It's right next door to UPS. 

While James picked out a table to wait for Todd Walker, the agent with Physicians Mutual, I went up to order us something to eat. 

I ordered a large Philly cheesesteak and James and I split it. I also go some chips and a drink. I asked Todd if he wanted anything but he declined. 

We spent about an hour with Todd and it was a total waste of time. His company will not cover my infusions. We are currently with Trans America through the NRA. We qualify for the insurance because James is a lifetime member of the NRA. They cover my infusions so we are staying put.

 Todd had convinced James over the phone that he could get us insurance $77 a month cheaper which obviously was not the case.

We left Firehouse and headed for Linden to see Dennis, Denise, Harold and Vickie. Since Dennis was the only one who answered my text we went to his house first. He and Denise were both home and Rachel and her 2 1/2 year old daughter Evie were there too.

We brought banana nut bread and blankets for Dennis, Denise, Harold, and Vickie. I tried to call Vickie and Harold but my phone would not work in Dennis's house. It was okay because they came over after we had been there a little while. 

Evie loved James. She sang him songs and made him sit a certain way on the floor so she could roll a ball to him. When he got the ball he was supposed to make an animal noise.

Evie to the "people" on her tower: "Don't fall people."

Evie sang about alligators getting the monkeys several

times. She also sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," and

"Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed."

When they were sitting on the floor playing with the ball James had

to put his legs out a certain way before she would roll him the ball.

I think Denise was a little jealous of Vickie's yellow blanket. She kept commenting about how pretty it was. We enjoyed our visit. We need to go over and visit more often.

Rachel, Evie, Dennis, Denise, and Evie again

Denise and Rachel told about a book program Dolly Parton has called Imagination Library. Evie receives a free book every month from them until she is five. They are sent to Denise because she lives in a rural area. Dolly is doing the program  in memory of her dad who never learned how to read. 

When we left the cabin Stacy, Paul, Joshua, Dallin, Sarah, and the three dogs Vader, Shipley and Charlie were there. When we returned Michael and Alexis had arrived and everyone was eating pizza from "Pizza Factory" the Gonzales's favorite pizza place on the mountain. 

I took a nap and was working on a blogpost when Kacey texted and said Jared has had some numbing on the left side of his face over the last few days. It has gotten worse and is almost completely numb and he's also had severe headaches. He went to urgent care and they told him to go directly to the ER for brain scans. He is headed there shortly. Please keep him in your prayers. I will keepy you updated. 

I immediately sent a family message out asking for everyone to offer a prayer for Jared. James, Stacy, Paul, Joshua, Dallin, and I knelt down and James offered a prayer. We are worried it may be a stroke. 

Alex, Shayna, Max, and Evan arrived. All of the boys have glowing light sabers that make sounds like the real thing. Dallin built a bonfire outside. It was cool looking out and seeing the light saber fights in the dark. 

The new TV has been on just about nonstop while Stacy is working on the Disney puzzle Adam gave her for Christmas. 

While we were in town today we bought a wall mounting kit for the old TV to be mounted in our bedroom. James installed it and when he asked for help Michael and Alex came in. It took awhile to get it mounted and other people wandered in including Dallin and Shayna who were talking about someone who is running for president that they like whose name is Andrew Wong. 

Back in the family room Stacy wants to watch "The Greatest Showman" with Sarah who has never seen it but it is too noisy. 

Kacey texted back regarding Jared: 

CT scan shows a lipoma in the brain which is a benign fatty type tumor. Typically not serious but depending on location and size could be but  not usually. Doesn't seem to be too big from what he can tell. Also CT shows sinus disease especially on the left side. Either of these could be causing the symptoms. He's not a neurologist though but just an ER doctor. He has a call in to the neurologist to figure out what is next. So more waiting. Blood work was normal.

Thank goodness it is not as serious as it could have been but we are still worried and will continue our prayers.

This is Kacey's last text:

Jared ended up getting home around 1:00 last night. They gave him steroids for the inflammation in his face and started an antibiotic for the sinusitis. The neurologist has scheduled him for an MRI today to figure out more.

Dallin looks like he has a headache

Cousin Christina and her family