Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Memphis, Tennessee

80th operating temple

Dedicated: 23 Apr 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

John 1:29 (Alma 7:14)

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

(Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.)

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 14:1-14 with James; Sunday journal; Study Guide; "Sunday on Monday" podcast

April General Conference

"The Melchizedek Priesthood and the Keys"

President Dallin H. Oaks

"The power of the priesthood exists both in the Church and in the family organization. But priesthood power and priesthood authority function differently in the Church than they do in the family. All of this is according to the principles the Lord has established. The purpose of God's plan is to lead His children to eternal life. Mortal families are essential to that plan. The Church exists to provide the doctrine, the authority, and the ordinances necessary to perpetuate family relationships into the eternities. Thus, the family organization and the Church of Jesus Christ have a mutually reinforcing relationship."

"The Doctrine of the Priesthood"

Bruce R. McConkie

April 1982

I listened to all five of the talks about Covenants today. I also read about Living Water and Love at Home as part of my Inklings study. 

James left this morning early for the valley. He is going down to check on the job and to help Sheri find a contractor to put in a couple of new air conditioning units on their house. He left to come back home a little after noon and was home by 4 p.m. He brought me a bean burrito from Burger House at my request. The road to Payson is closed because of a fire so it's a good thing he went the Globe way.  

Nothing out of the ordinary for me today except I fed Luna her midday meal. She didn't say thank you but she did seem appreciative. 

For some reason I had to take a lot of breaks today because of fatigue. Maybe it's because I am not sleeping very well at night. I did manage to change the sheets on our bed, do some vacuuming and dusting and cleaned the wood floor in the family and living room. I paid two credit card bills and I paid tithing for May. 

James is having trouble with the off and on valve he installed outside for the water. It is not working. Now he has to take it off, go to town to get another one, and reinstall it. 

Study time this evening was spent working on the "Come Follow Me" lesson and watching videos. Alma 14, to me, is one of the saddest chapters in the Book of Mormon as the women and children who believed were cast in to a pit and burned. 

Thank goodness there was a Charlie story today to make me happy.

Tuesday, June 16th, 2020

Medford, Oregon

79th operating temple

Dedicated: 16 April 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Isaiah 53:7 (Mosiah 14:7)

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 13:20-31 James, Study Guide, Sunday Journal; "Teaching with Power" 

April General Conference

"He Goes Before Us"

President Henry B. Eyring

"Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."

I sold two books today, each of them for $60. This business moves on! Listened to Luke on the webinar this morning trying to sell Done For You lists calling them turbo-charged. He makes them sound so desirable yet the last ones I got I did not buy one book. Thank goodness there was no charge for those lists. Now they cost $250 per month per list but Luke says you can make $750 profit off each list now that they are turbo-charged. This offer won't last long!

Nada. Luke also said: "You can't ever make big money without using someone else's money." He suggested they have a lender that will lend interest free. He is trying to gear people up for textbook season which is in August. Now is the time to prepare. Well, I'm not going to by DFY lists and I'm not going to borrow money, at least not right now. I guess I'm just not a wheeler dealer like Luke.

Kris and Kathy were on too. Kris told a funny story about Kathy. When they first started in this business they were doing book trades rather than book arbitrage. They were on a training session with Luke and Jon. During the training Kathy did $2,700 worth of trades. That's Kathy. 

I left James working on baby Cat this morning. I picked up Catherine, my 86 year old friend whom I minister too. We stopped at the Grapp's and hung a bag of liquid hand soap, 64 ounces to be exact, on their gate post,  and then we got back on the highway and headed for the Taylor Walmart. Catherine's daughter Kerri helps tutor the Grapp kids every morning. She was at the Grapp's when we dropped the soap off. Cammy home schools the kids are the older ones are not wanting to listen to her or to Thomas, hence the reason for Kerri to be there. They will listen to her.

The Taylor Walmart is a smaller Walmart that Show Low's but the shopping experience is so much better! The shelves aren't bare and the store is not packed with people. I came down to get Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. As it so happened the girl who orders ice cream was working on her order while I was looking for my Skinny Cows. I asked her if they had any. She said that they must be seasonal because they are no longer on the order form. Seasonal? I am saddened but not defeated. Life goes on.

I bought myself a new and bigger purse. I found one exactly like I was looking for. I am grateful. Catherine found something she was looking for that they don't usually have at the Show Low Walmart. We both came away from Walmart without our nerves being frayed and we actually had smiles on our faces. 

After getting gas we headed for Sonic. Catherine is from Oklahoma and she says that's where Sonic started. We usually go to Sonic when we are together. We each got a corndog and a small cherry limeade. Catherine also ordered french fries which we shared. Catherine paid for our lunch. I so enjoy Catherine's company, she loves to talk and she shares what is going on in her life with me. One of her dear friends who lived in Vernal, Utah passed away yesterday. She was 93. Catherine thinks she was affected with depression because she was lonely as a result of the Cove-19 quarantine. Well 93 means she had a long life and from what Catherine says a good life. Catherine also is fun-loving and has a great personality. I truly love her. When I dropped her off at home she said: "The next time you want to paint the town red, give me a call!"

James and I both have a love/hate relationship with technology. I wanted to order an antennae for our router. I got on Verizon and thought I could just pick one out, press a button, and boingo, it would be sent to me. Not so. I had to get on a chat. The person on the chat couldn't help me so they referred me to someone else. They couldn't help so they referred me to someone else. He said I should speak with an "antennae expert" (my words, not his). He transferred my call and it rang, and rang, and rang, and finally I couldn't stand it any longer so I hung up. Talk about customer service. Thanks Verizon, another memorable experience with you chalked up in my memory. 

I had a similar experience with Pay(notmy)Pal. We still have not received the money that was paid to us on June 4th. They have a hold on it. First they said they needed verification now they are saying they need the sender to go in and verify that they have received the services they paid us for. Why would they have paid us if they had not received the services. It is a circle of redtape and we are being held hostage by it and so is our money. Also their service fee is $40.10. Never again. Tomorrow I will email Tyrone from the City of Chandler and have him verify that he received our services.

James is still overwhelmed and a little discouraged. My job is to cheer him up but sometimes it's hard when I am discouraged to. One of us needs to snap out of it. This afternoon James took the car into town to get hay and to have the oil changed. He is going to the valley tomorrow to check on the job and to pay subcontractor's. 

My one solace is the gospel. I love studying and that is what I do before I go to bed. I am so grateful for my Savior and how He helps me carry my burdens. Tomorrow I will have a better attitude because of Him.

 I know the feeling

Betty lived in Vernal, Utah 

 Ruby's 10th birthday 

June 2019

I wish I had been one of those vendors

 My dear friend Diane Vance Layton

who was my counselor as I served

as a young Primary President

 "I Feel My Savior's Love"

 Tucson fire

Love this!

Taco Tuesday

 Pork with onions, peppers, 

abodo sauce, and guacamole

Monday, June 15th, 2020

Fresno, California

78th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Apr 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, King

Moses 7:53

And the Lord said: Blesses is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith - I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity;whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 13:1-19; "Don't Miss This"

April General Conference

"United in Accomplishing God's Work"

Jean B. Bingham

"As children were born to them, Adam and Eve taught their family what they had learned from heavenly messengers. They were focused on helping their children also understand and embrace those principles that would make them happy in this life, as well as prepared to return to their heavenly parents after having increased their abilities and proved their obedience to God. In the process, Adam and Even learned to appreciate their differing strengths and supported one another in their eternally significant work."

"Keys of the Priesthood"

Russell M. Nelson

October 1987

Lambson Study Group

"Covenants"

After finishing my blog for the day and reading scriptures and saying prayers with James, I began working on preparing my books for shipment. I took the ones that needed labels removed into the laundry room where with a wet rag, a hot iron and a removal spatula I was taking the old labels off. James came in and announced he was going in to town to get a new tire for the Cat. I panicked. I said, but I need to take my books in and I'm not ready. I don't want us to make two trips to town again today. He asked me to hurry and get ready to go. I told him I needed his help. He took over the job of removing stickers while I got ready to go, and prepared the shipment information online. I was having James put the books in the box and getting it ready to go when I realized I had not put stickers on the books yet. I yelled "STOP"! I came in with the labels and began taking the books out of the box and putting labels on them. James then put in packing paper and sealed up the box while I went to print the outside label for the box. I was amazed how quickly we got all of this done. Two heads, and bodies, really are better than one!

We dropped the old Cat tire off at Robert's Tires and picked up the new one on the way back. James dropped me off at the far end of the Walmart parking lot while he went to the UPS Store and Home Depot. He was just finished at Home Depot when I called him and asked him to pick me up at Walmart, which he did. We had wanted to go to Firehouse Subs but he said the line was way too long. We were hungry but I didn't care where we went. James chose KFC because we both like their coleslaw. We ordered a large container of coleslaw, James ordered a three piece meal and I ordered three chicken tenders. It cost us $20. That's our eating out for the week. So expensive. I think we should have gone to Taco Bell or waited to eat until we got home. 

They had no Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches at Walmart. I do not like the Great Value ice cream sandwiches so I asked James if we could go to Safeway and see if they had any Skinny Cows. They did not, but James got us a nice watermelon. He also got me some mochi ice cream, mango flavored. He really shouldn't have. I can't eat just one and they are 100 calories a pop. I ate all six of them before the day was over. 

Tasty!

An addiction food I can't keep in my house,

very often at least.

After Safeway it was back to Robert's Tire and then home. We started reading our new Aunt Dimity book, "Aunt Dimity and the Summer King." We stopped at the post office and mailed Ruby's panda mask for her birthday and picked up a book. I was so glad to finally be home. Show Low is a rat race in the summer time. I am grateful for the peace and quiet of Vernon.

It's my turn to choose the study topic for our family study group this week. I chose the topic "Covenants." Here are the talks I chose, there are five of them. It's hard to narrow them down. 

1. "Always Remember Him"

 Elder Ulisses Soares

BYU Speeches

February 5, 2019

2. "The Transformative Power of Covenants"

Ellie L. Young

BYU Speeches

June 11, 2019

3. "Look Unto Jesus Christ"

Elder Kim B. Clark

April 2019 GenCon

4. "Children of the Covenant"

Russell M. Nelson

April 1995 GenCon

5. "The Power, Joy, and Love of Covenant"

Linda K. Burton

October 2013 GenCon

Sheri called this afternoon saying she needed two new air conditioning units and it was going to cost her $30,000. I told her dad was taking a nap but he would call her and they could discuss her options. She has had trouble every summer with her air conditioning units. Wolf Mechanical installed them and their has always been a freon leak.

I went to bed at 10:00. I woke up at 12:24 and couldn't go back to sleep so I finally got up and wrote some of my thoughts down:

I am not truly happy in our present situation. We need to downsize. We have too much to take care of. James works so hard and he's always behind and down on himself for not being able to do everything. If we had less to take care of we could focus more on church and temple work. I am questioning my book business too. I want to work on my life story but I can't seem to find the time because of book biz. I feel a need to get our things in order.

After writing this down I finished some Book of Mormon study and went back to bed and slept like a baby.

 I ordered this lamp today for my corner of

the world