Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Montreal, Quebec

86th operating temple

Dedicated: 4 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Ether 13:11

And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 18 with James; Book of Mormon Study Guide; Lesson and video with Jean

April General Conference

"The Great Plan"

President Dallin H. Oaks

"The purpose of mortal life and the postmortal growth that can follow it is for the offspring of God to become like He is. This is Heavenly Father's desire for all His children. To achieve this joyful destiny, eternal laws require that we must become purified beings through the Atonement of Jesus Christ so we can dwell in the presence of the Father and the Son and enjoy the blessings of exaltation."

 The diesel mechanics were here bright and early. They were able to fix little Cat and James had to fork out another $600. Now he needs to fix the hydraulic hose and get a new tire before selling to Pierce.

I watched the Book Arbitrage webinar this morning with Kathy and Kris. They did some Keepa training. I am grateful to learn from them. I bought a couple of books and got tired of so many books being gated, over 20 on one page, I went in to fix an early lunch.

I started out thinking I was going to make tacos but they ended up being enchiladas. They were delicious. James loved them too. I sort of made up my own recipe using the green chili stew sauce, enchilada sauce, and beef stock. 

After lunch and rest time I began getting ready to go see my friend Jean. James informed me that he was going to drop me off and then take the car into town. I was not well pleased but what could I do?

Jean and I sat at the kitchen table and studied this week's "Come Follow Me" lesson. I downloaded the Gospel Library app on her phone and we watched the video "Ammon Serves and Teaches King Lamoni." I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon and told her that Ammon and his brothers changed the whole course of history for the Lamanites as they joined the gospel and changed their lives to become followers of Jesus Christ. 

As we sat at the table and visited we looked out the window at the gorgeous view. There was a nice breeze coming through the open window and it was so peaceful sitting with my dear friend. She told me about her granddaughter Tara and her online relationship with a banker from Dubai. He has bought her a home and completely furnished it. She spends most of her time talking with him online yet she has never met him. He is stuck in Dubai right now because no flights are allowed to go out. I can tell that Jean wants to be happy for her but is a little concerned.

When James came to pick me up Jean had him go in and look at some logs in their home that are cracking. He assured her the structural security of the home was in tact and that he could fill the cracks and make them look better.

I had arranged for my friend Maxine to make us some masks. We stopped by to pick them up. I picked out four, two for James and two for myself. She did not want to accept the $20 I gave to her but I insisted. I told her she could go buy some more fabric. She mentioned how much they loved my rolls. I got in the car and wrote Rhodes rolls on my shopping list.

James was able to pick up my prescription when he was in town but missed dropping off the book I was mailing at the UPS store by 15 minutes. They closed early, at 3 pm because of Covid 19. I am really tired of people using Covid 19 as an excuse for everything.

James went on a ride this evening while I worked on my Book of Mormon study guide and walked while listening to my audio book "Sanctuary."

When James returned I read a chapter to him from "Aunt Dimity and the Summer King." We fixed the vacuum together and I finished my walking while James got ready to go to the valley. He is leaving early in the morning. I am sad he has to take my car every week. Poor Lexy she must be so tired. Luna is James's baby and Lexy is mine.

"I love you sooo much!"

Now that's a hard puzzle!

 Emily's family

 Philadelphia temple

 Michelle Ward and Edward Payne were married

Saturday evening joining two families together.

Both of their spouses died within the last

few years. Both are wonderful families!

Monday, June 22nd, 2020

Villahermosa, Mexico

85th operating temple

Dedicated: 21 May 2000

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Alma 13:11

Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 17 with James, Sunday Journal, study guide, and video of Ammon serving and teaching King Lamoni

April General Conference

"Let This House Be built unto My Name"

Elder David A. Bednar

Why was the return of Elijah important?

"We learn from latter-day revelation that Elijah held the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood: and "was the last prophet to do so before the time of Jesus Christ."

The Prophet Joseph Smith explained: "The spirit, power, and calling of Elijah is, that ye have power to hold the key of the . . . fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood . . ., and to . . . obtain . . . all the ordinances belonging to the kingdom of God, even unto the turning of the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the hearts of the children unto the father, even those who are in heaven."

"Hear Him!"

President Russell M. Nelson

"What does it mean for you that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth?

It means that you and your family can be sealed together forever! It means that because you have been baptized by one who has authority from Jesus Christ and have been confirmed a member of His Church, you can enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. He will guide and protect you. It means you will never be left comfortless or without access to the power of God to help you. It means that priesthood power can bless you as you receive essential ordinances and make covenants with God and keep them. What an anchor to our souls are these truths, especially during these times when the tempest is raging."

"Witnesses of Christ"

Dallin H. Oaks

October 1990

O what a beautiful morning, O what a beautiful day. I've got a beautiful feeling, nothing is going my way. 

My day started out with a phone call from my friend Karen who lives in south Gilbert. She and her husband Lance rented an air b-n-b in Heber for this weekend. Right now because of the Bush Fire highway 87 through Payson is closed. If they come up they would have to come through Globe. She checked the air quality for Heber and it is in the red zone. Her question to me was, what is the air quality like in Vernon. Yesterday it was not good but when I looked outside this morning it wasn't bad. Of course we are about 60 miles east of Heber. As I looked towards Heber I could see smoke on the horizon. Karen, I think, wants to cancel but because it is an air b-n-b they won't get their money back. I told her to just keep checking the fire and the air quality before she makes her final decision. It's funny because she called me before 7 a.m. I guess she knows that I am an early riser.

James asked me this morning if we could pay the plumber via Zelle. I told him I was hesitant because the last time we tried he had given me the wrong phone number and nothing went through. I wasn't sure if we could edit the phone number. I got on to our Chase account and was able to edit the phone number but when I tried to send money it declined the transaction. I tried a second time and it still didn't go through. Instead it locked our Lambson Construction checking account. We were given a number to call. James talked to someone named Christian. When he told him what the problem was Christian said "One moment please, let me transfer you to the fraud department." That one moment turned into 45 minutes. Finally a lady from India came on and asked the same questions Christian had asked and several more, such as, what cars have you owned over the past several years. She asked him how long he had worked for Land Bob Construction. He said he had never worked for them which was the correct answer to this trick question. She left for about 15 minutes and came back. She said she would take the lock off the account. After James hung up I tried to get into the account but it was still locked. Long story short, I was on hold for one hour and James was on hold for another 30 minutes before we finally got the issue resolved. The last person he spoke to said, "Please don't ever try to send money via Zelle to this particular person again." We ended up having to send him a check in the mail. All of this lasted into the afternoon and put both James and I in a foul mood. Nap time and story time brought us back to our normal cheery selves.

I watched an episode of "The Chosen" on my phone app. Each episode is only 30 minutes long. I watched episode number 3, "Jesus Loves the Little Children". I loved it. It is my favorite so far!

James texted Tanna, someone we both minister to, about helping her fix up her house before her baby is born. She said the first thing she needed to do was build a pen for her dogs. When she leaves them outside they bother the neighbors and when she brings them inside they make a mess in the house. After the dog pens are up James will go over and see what she wants him to do. He spoke with the bishop about her and the bishop said that fixing up this house has been a 27 year project. If the ward was going to help the bishop needs some commitments from Tanna. I would say the first commitment should be that she and her boyfriend get married. First things first.

I got my mother's day gift from Jared today. It's a book that I am excited to read after I finish the one about the temple that I am reading right now.

James and Sheri both got letters from Ben. He is struggle a little right now because of some controversy regarding his companion. Ben is very protective of him. Ben also feels like the emphasis is on numbers instead of people in the mission. His testimony is intact and is loves teaching the gospel. He will be okay. 

Sheri also had an encouraging conversation with Alex about the 2nd Coming. There was a time when we felt like he didn't even believe in God but obviously that is not true. 

The cows James chased of  yesterday came back today and brought a friend. Somehow they were able to reach through the fence and were nibbling on the hay. They had already drank all of Luna's water. James jumped on Luna and drove them off. Luna kept trying to go in the opposite direction. She is clearly afraid of them. We should have named her "Whimpy."

As part of my gospel study this evening I watched the video in the lesson about Ammon teaching and serving King Lamoni. These videos certainly bring the Book of Mormon to life! When Nathan was here he told about how some students were allowed to wear their hair long because they were in the videos. 

I received the lamp I ordered from Overstock.com. James put it together. I love !

James was impressed with how 

well this lamp is made.

It was 11:00 before we went to bed. I waited for James and watched him put the lamp together.

 Don't understand this. Am I making money

on shipment fees?

 Lola looks like a little Addy in this

picture!

 I could make this!

Sunday, June 21st, 2020

Nashville, Tennessee

84th operating temple

Dedicated: 21 May 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 7:14 (1 Nephi 12:11)

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

(And the angel said unto me: Look! And I looked, and beheld three generations pass away in righteousness; and their garments were white even like unto the Lamb of God. And the angel said unto me: These are made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him.)

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Review of Alma 13-16 "Enter into the Rest of the Lord"

April General Conference

"A Perfect Brightness of Hope"

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"We pray for those who have lost loved ones in this modern plague, as well as for those who are currently infected or at risk. We certainly pray for those who are giving such magnificent health care. When we have conquered this - and we will - may we be equally committed to freeing the world from the virus of hunger, freeing neighborhoods and nations from the virus of poverty. May we hope for schools where students are taught - not terrified they will be shot - and for the gift of personal dignity for every child of God, unmarred by any form of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice. Undergirding all of this is our relentless hope for greater devotion to the two greatest of all commandments: to love God by keeping His counsel and to love our neighbors by showing kindness and compassion, patience and forgiveness. These two divine directives are still - and forever will be - the only real hope we have for giving our children a better world than the one they now know."

James went out to feed Luna as he does every morning only to find that cows had come in the night and eaten more than a bale of hay.

Not only that, they drank all of her water too!

 They were back in the evening when he went out so he chased them away and put the hay inside the electric fence. Two bales of hay donated to feed Kerry Dobson's cows.

Happy Father's Day to my sweetheart. He is the best husband, father, and grandpa anyone could ask for.  We have been married for 52 years and I love him more now than ever.

I got up early this morning and started a stew for our dinner. I started the meat first and it smelled so good. When James got up I had a card and a gift bag for him to open. I got him two books that are as different as they can be from each other. I ordered him something for the outside grill but it hasn't come yet.

 I started reading this one!

He would have a better chance if

he kept quiet.

We had our "Come Follow Me" meeting at the Goodman's this morning. The opening song was "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief", all seven verses. I gave the opening prayer and then we sang the sacrament song, "With Humble Hearts". James and Owen blessed and passed the sacrament.

Pierce asked us if we had seen Elder Bednar's YouTube video about Covid-19 and Religious Freedom. We had all heard of it but none of us had watched it. We took a vote and decided instead of going over the "Come Follow Me" lesson which we had all studied, we would watch the video. It was informative and eye-opening.

James wants all of the kids to watch it too. Sheri watched it this evening. 

After the video we had a discussion about it and the situation of the world right now. Pierce told a story about Danny Arnett living in Manhattan and seeing busloads of Antifa members being unloaded. We talked about being required to wear a mask if going out in public in both Maricopa county and Tucson. Elder Bednar spoke about how the government should not be allowed to have unlimited power. We are all concerned about the future but mostly for our children and grand children.

We had delicious lemon squares for our refreshments. We said our goodbyes and went home to our stew.

We both loved the stew and after lunch we laid down to take a nap. I couldn't sleep so I got up after about five minutes.

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon going over the talks for our discussion on Covenants. 

At 5:15 Jared called for our weekly Face Time talk. Charlie wasn't really in the mood for company until she got her drink and animal crackers. Jared, Kacey, and Charlie were able to attend church today. They said they had not looked forward to it but it was actually a very nice experience. The quiet atmosphere of just having 50 people in attendance helped them to feel the Spirit. 

When we were talking to Pierce today he said that the bishops and stake president had decided to skip phase one of going back to church and were waiting for phase two.

Jared, Kacey, Kim, Brian, and Sheri joined us for our discussion on covenants. Kim shared about how she had prayed for peace and felt it. My take away from the discussion was something Kim said and an experience that Kacey shared. Kim said she realized that in order to truly keep her covenants she needed to be involved more in sharing the gospel and ministering to others. Kacey shared how when she became active at the age of 23 she was still struggling with some addictions. She got her patriarchal blessing and in the blessing it said she needed to go to the temple. (Sorry Kacey, I know I'm paraphrasing). She went to the temple and no longer had the problem with the addictions. That is the power of obedience and keep covenants. Kim is going to be in charge of next week's discussion. I tried to get Stacy to join us. She promised she would next week.

I spent this evening reading from the book about the temple that I got James for Father's Day while he wrote a letter to Elder Trezise.

Fountain Hills with the Bush Fire in
the background

Goodnight everyone.