Wednesday, July 1st, 2020

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

94th operating temple

Dedicated: 16 July 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

DC 58:11

 And after that cometh the day of my power; then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb, and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 25 and "Don't Miss This"

April General Conference

Opening Message

President Russell M. Nelson

"The purpose of this and every general conference is to help us to hear Him. We have prayed, and invite you to pray, that the Spirit of the Lord will be with us in such rich abundance that you can hear the messages that the Savior has especially for you - messages that will bring peace to your soul. Messages that will heal your broken heart. Messages that will illuminate your mind. Messages that will help you know what to do as you move ahead through times of turmoil and trial."

After reading Alma 25 together and having our family prayer James left to make a delivery to the Goodman's. He spoke to Pierce as Barbara was too miserable to have company. She is recovering from shoulder surgery. Pierce says she is taking tramadol and it makes her hallucinate so she doesn't get any sleep at night. 

I texted Sheri and asked her to get the dried plums the Goodman's wanted. She said she would and she will bring them up on the 13th. We are both saddened by the condition in our country right now. Sheri says she either wants to die or have the Savior come. I agreed with her.

For lunch I made a mini batch of enchiladas with some sauce that I had leftover from the last batch I made. There were about four servings. I had one and James had the other three. 

Kerri brought over July birthday cards for me to sign. I told her I would take the cards over to Maxine's because I had something else I was taking her. I made rolls because Maxine mentioned when I went to pick up face masks from her that I could have paid her in rolls and she would have been happy. 

James and I left to take the rolls to the Thompson's around 5:30 this afternoon. I texted Maxine and told her we were coming but she never answered. We drove all the way to their house, 8-9 miles, and they were not home. We left the rolls and the cards on their front porch. I mentioned to James that Maxine might have gone to our house. Sure enough we passed her red Jeep on the way home. She texted and said the had gone to our house. She didn't read my text because she didn't have her phone with her. Funny. We should have met halfway. 

James went on a Luna ride this evening to chase some cows away. He said she is so spooky. That would have been a good name for her, Spooky. At one point she caught the movement of a cow from behind a tree and took off running at high speed. She puts the bit in her teeth so pulling on the reins doesn't stop her. James has to turn her head to make her stop. He was pretty disgusted with her.

This evening I listened to and watched "Don't Miss This" with Dave and Emily. I loved some of the things they said about Alma 26 where Ammon remembers the great things the Lord did for them in teaching the Lamanites. Emily says she has her kids read this chapter before they come home from their missions and in their letter to her share their feelings like Ammon shared his. She said these particular letters are some of her most treasured possessions. 

I am going to write to Ben and ask him to do this same thing.

Before going to bed I read to James from "The Pilgrim Hypothesis". This is the book Jared sent him for Father's Day. Thanks Jared. I also read the first chapter from our new Aunt Dimity book, "Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure."

Happy 17th Birthday Max!

Greer

Shayna

 I want one

Anti-Nephi-Lehies

Tuesday, June 30th, 2020

Veracruz, Mexico

93rd operating temple

Dedicated: 9 July 2000

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Revelation 19:9

And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 24 with James; 

Lambson Study Group

God is Merciful

Inklings

Healthy benefits of beans

We left for the valley at 5:15 this morning. Our first stop was in Globe to get gas and then in Miami to pick up a Tony's Special breakfast burrito at Burger House. Masks are required, no public restrooms, only three customers in the building at a time. Such a downer.

Burger House Heist

One taste of this breakfast burrito we shared and we

knew it was worth any hardship. Delicious!

James's two houses failed inspections again. There are three contractors that are supposed to come back and deal with problems. None of them came. James has to reschedule an inspection for the third time. 

I dropped James off at Sheri's to work while I went to my infusion. Stacy came by to pickup some pills from me and ended up taking me to my appointment. James needed to keep the car to pick up some materials at Home Depot. We both wore our masks in case she is still contagious although by this time she should not be. It's been almost a month since she came down with it. 

My infusion went quickly. They called me back and I got started at 10:30. My appointment wasn't until 10:45 but I was early. I was done by 11:30. I can't call while I'm in the infusion center so I kept texting James but he never answered me. I went outside and called when I was finished and he said he had not seen my texts. I told him I was going to walk across the street to Freddy's and he could pick me up there. The only thing open at Freddy's was the drive-thru window so I waited outside in front on a bench sitting in the shade until James got there. We drove back to Sheri's and I picked up Max and Evan and took them to Jersey Mike's to order some lunch. We had to wear masks and the dining area was not open so we took our sandwiches home to eat them. I love the Jersey Shore Special, Mike's Way. Max and Evan were thankful that I bought them some lunch. We also saw Alex when we got back to the house. He said he is taking Max fishing near Saguaro Lake on the Salt River tomorrow morning for his birthday. 

James didn't quite finish at Sheri's. He tried to call Sal and Greg Hatch but could not get a hold of either one of them for a meeting. He said he had to go to Peoria to meet with someone whose job he and Sal are starting this week. We drove 45 miles across town so James could meet with this guy for about 10 minutes. He lives in a nice neighborhood and has retired at a young age. James was impressed with him. Aaron is the guys name and he had requested to meet James. 

Next stop was at Dobson Ranch where James has done lots of work. Some guy named Don wanted James to look at something that might be a potential problem. James took a look and told him what to do and that was it. 

My friend Barbara had surgery on her shoulder yesterday. I texted her and ask if I could pick up anything for her at Costco. She wanted sweet plums, Barbacoa beef, and Quaker granola cereal. Before going to the Gilbert Costco we stopped in at Deseret Book which is right behind Costco. I got a new Book of Mormon, triple combination.

I have my reasons

James helped me shop at Costco. We thought Barbara wanted fresh plums so we picked up a bag. I got the last package of Barbacoa Beef, and then we easily found the Quaker's granola. After we had checked out I looked at my phone and realized these are the plums Barbara wanted. 

I texted this picture to Sheri. She is going to get these plums and bring them up when she comes up on the 13th. In the meantime Pierce and Barbara will have fresh plums to eat. 

Our best deal at Costco was a big bag of walnuts for twelve dollars. From Costco we drove to Darrel and Trina's. No one is home. Darrel is on his way but he is a long ways away. I got the garage code from Darrel and we broke in and left Lola's birthday present on the table. I also stole (I asked) one of Darrel's caramel protein shakes.

Loved it!

From Darrel's we headed for home. We didn't roll into our driveway until 9 p.m. James's first concern was feeding Luna. I helped him unload the car and we got the Barbacoa beef and some green chili pork into the refrigerator. It felt so good to be home! 

I took a shower and changed in to my comfy clothes. I did not get all of my steps today but I will make it up the rest of the week. We will deliver to the Goodman's tomorrow. James made a spinach, pineapple, banana smoothie and shared some of it with me. I forgot how much I love them!

Somewhere near St. George, Utah 

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.