Monday, June 29th, 2020

Meridia, Mexico

92nd operating temple

Dedicated: 8 July 2000

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 19:7

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 23 with James
April General Conference

Opening Message

President Russell M. Nelson

"How can we endure such trials? The Lord has told us that 'if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.' Of course, we can store our own reserves of food, water, and savings. But equally crucial is our need to fill our personal spiritual storehouses with faith, truth, and testimony."

Day 1 of me trying inter-mitten fasting. I am supposed to fast 12 hours and then the other 12 hours I eat 300 calories every four hours. 

Around 10 o'clock this morning I drove to the Taylor Walmart. I stopped at the post office and picked up a pile of books. I wore my mask in Walmart because I thought it was required. All of the workers wore masks but some of the shoppers did not. I kept mine on except I pulled it away from my nose. 

When James and I were on the Chunky Monkey Diet Challenge we drank a lot of smoothies. These smoothies were made with spinach, sometimes some kale too, a banana, and a cup of frozen pineapple chunks. We have some pineapple chunks at home but I wanted more. I couldn't find them in the freezer so I asked someone. He said, oh we don't have any. We had some yesterday but it's all gone. There was no frozen fruit whatsoever. I got my spinach and bananas and then went to the canned fruit aisle and got 12 small cans of pineapple. I plan on putting it in baggies and then in the freezer. 

James and I are in a bit of argument over going to the valley tomorrow. I want to go down and get my infusion, have some lunch, and come home. He on the other hand has to go to Sheri's and work on her AC cabinet, and meet with four different people all over the valley. I am imagining myself sitting in the car waiting for him in 110 degree weather and it's not making me happy. Finally in frustration he said he would take his truck but his truck is still dying and he is having to hold the key down to make it stay on. I told him I wanted him to come with me. I would miss his company if he didn't. It's settled, we are going together in my car. I will just bite the bullet and leave the AC on while I'm in the car.

This evening I got Max and Jared Ammon's birthday cards ready and put Lola's gift in a bag and signed her card. I also put labels on my box of books and got the label put on the outside of the box so my load of books is ready to mail. James wanted to go to bed at 9:30 because he said we had to leave at 5:15 at the latest. Great. That's almost two hours before I intended to leave. It was 11:00 when we went to bed.

 We all heard from Ben today. I will post his letters tomorrow.

Sunday, June 28th, 2020

Suva, Fiji

91st operating temple

Dedicated: 18 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 17:14

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Met with our "Come Follow Me" Sunday group and reviewed the lesson: Alma 17-22 "I Will Make an Instrument of Thee"

April General Conference

"Sharing the Message of the Restoration and the Resurrection"

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

"This story (see talk) is but one of thousands, hundreds of thousands, that speak of the time, treasure, and lives sacrificed over the last 200 years to share the message of the Restoration. Our aspiration to reach every nation, kindred, tongue, and people is undiminished today, as witnessed by the tens of thousands of young men, women, and couples currently serving under full-time mission calls; by Church members generally, who echo Philip's invitation to come and see; and by the millions of dollars spent annually to sustain this effort across the world."

Except for the howling wind, this was a beautiful Sabbath day. We had our friends over at 10:30 for the Sacrament and "Come Follow Me." The Goodman's are not here today because they have family visiting. Owen and Donna Peeler, and Chuck and Kathy Crane were our guests. This is how our program went:

Opening Song: "How Firm a Foundation"

Prayer: Kathy Crane

Sacrament Hymn: 

"As Now We Take the Sacrament"

Chuck Crane blessed the bread

Owen Peeler bless the water

James prepared and passed

"Come Follow Me"

We watched the video:

"Ammon serves and blesses King Lamoni"

James led our scripture study

We read from the scriptures not following the outline in the

"Come Follow Me" manual

Closing Prayer:

James

The Crane's loved the strawberry pretzel dessert, especially Kathy. She said it is a dessert that their family makes for Christmas. I apologized for the pretzels not being crushed enough and she said they were fine. Kathy was very pleasant today and she really is a good friend. I bought 18 eggs from her. She said something about the membrane around the egg that keeps the egg fresh. She said for this reason, not wanting to break the membrance, she had not washed the eggs. Later when I told James he was upset. He said that was unsanitary. I told him he could wash the eggs if he wanted to.

After lunch James and his partner Dave Westbrook went to the Woods' to give them the sacrament. James was so happy to do this. He has wanted to for a long time but Sean Hunsaker has been doing it. Sean told them they should have their ministering brothers bring them the sacrament and they agreed. Although Chuck is not a member he is such a nice guy. Pam is wonderful. She watches "The Chosen" and James told her that I watch it too.

We FaceTimed with Jared, Kacey, Charlie and Tanner this afternoon. Jared is not feeling well. He has  pustular soriatic  arthritis. He has a boil like sore on the back of his neck and is pretty miserable. I remember my dad having boils on his neck and I am wondering if he had this type of arthritis. I am so sad that this condition has been passed to both Jared and Darrel. Also, Stacy has lupus which is closely related. 

Charlie's favorite treat is wintergreen Ice Breakers. I wonder if she inherited this love for them from me. They are my favorite mint too. 

Tanner is bored and got on one of Charlie's ride on toys and galloped around the house. Anyway, we so much enjoy our daily visits with our Whitehouse, Texas family. 

At six o'clock we met with Kim, Brian, Sheri, Jared, and Kacey for our weekly Lambson Study Group. Stacy joined us for a short time but wasn't feeling well so she didn't stay. She did watch two of the talks though. Our discussion was on prayer and personal revelation. Kim led the discussion. Jared asked the question how to we picture Heavenly Father when we pray. We all liked that Kacey pictures the Savior beside her when she prays. Jared told a story about going to "EFY" and attending a class where prayer was discussed and a song by Hilary Weeks called "He Hears Me." He said he prayed to know if Heavenly Father was real and received an answer. He also said that expressing gratitude helps us see how the Lord is in the details of our lives. Brian shared that his favorite quote from all of the talks we read was in Sister Cordon's talk. The quote was by President Nelson: 

"Understand that in the absence of experiences with God, one can doubt the existence of God. So, put yourself in a position to being having experiences with Him. Humble yourself. Pray to have eyes to see God's hand in your life and in the world around you. Ask Him to tell you if He is really there - if He knows you, Ask Him how He feels about you. And then listen." I think this is my favorite quote too.

This evening James and I both wrote letters to Ben. He is such a bright spot in our family right now.

I watched an episode of "The Chosen" while waiting for James to finish his letter. This was the episode where Peter meets the Savior and the Savior fills his nets with fish. When Peter asks what he can do for Him, the Savior says, "Follow Me."

I also listened to a discussion on Book of Mormon Central about next week's "Come Follow Me" lesson.

Scarlett makes my day happier!

 On their way to Zion's National Park

Tanner and Charlie

Charlie: The best part of our Sabbath

Saturday, June 27th, 2020

Melbourne, Australia

90th operating temple

Dedicated: 16 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

D&C 133:18

When the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father's name written on their foreheads.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 22 Aaron Teaching King Lamoni's Father; Study Guide: Sunday Journal

April General Conference

"The Finest Homes"

"The attributes of Christ are acquired in the "Process of time" by intentional progress along the covenant path. Christlike attributes adorn the lives of those who strive to live with goodness. They fill homes with gospel light, whether the floor is mud or marble. Even if you are the only one in your household who follows the injunction to "seek after these things," you can contribute to the spiritual furnishings of your family's home."

Every  morning, except Sunday when I watch "The Chosen", I watch an episode of "Lark Rise to Candleford" on my phone. Yes, I love the series that much. I also love "The Chosen."

James went down to work on the road after we had scriptures and family prayer. Perkins poured five loads of gravel on Friday and 8 loads today. James decided to do our driveway and road. We have about 16 more loads to go. I am excited!

James sold little Cat to Pierce Goodman for $10,000. He took it over to him last night. When Barbara went to pay him she said: "Do you want cash or check?" James looked at her for a minute and then said how about half and half. He came home with a $5,000 check and an envelope with 50 - 100 dollar bills. Now the Goodman's have a new toy to play with.

I finished my audio book, "Sanctuary" and started another one, "The House of Stone and Ivy" by Anita Stansfield. James came in when I was listening to it and said, "We read that book together and then he proceeded to tell me just about the entire story. 

I made two desserts this afternoon for tomorrow. It is our turn to host the "Come Follow Me" discussion. I made a strawberry pretzel dessert from a recipe I got off Pinterest and an Eagle Brand pie for James. Before going to bed I tried the strawberry pretzel dessert. It was good but I wish I had crushed the pretzels a little better because they were sort of chunky.  

Luna is doing so much better in her face mask. Her eye is almost all cleared up. James was too busy to take her for a ride this evening. She doesn't mind too much as long as he feeds her some oats.

Truths taught by Ammon and Aaron to the Lamanites

 I still remember how upset Addy was because

Grandpa and Rowan beat us

Gravel for our road

Christina's girls