OUR FAMILY

Monday, July 13, 2020

Sunday, July 12th, 2020

Guadalajara, Mexico

105th operating temple

Dedicated: 29 Apr 2001

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

DC 76:85

These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

"Come Follow Me" lesson at the Peeler's

April General Conference

"The Power of the Book of Mormon in Conversion"

Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai

Elder David A. Bednar taught: "Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. Conversion requires us to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only. The Lord's action plan for us - the doctrine of Christ - is taught most clearly in the Book of Mormon.

Inklings
Strengthen, Beautify, Nourish
Inklings Institute with Emily

Lambson Study Group
Discussion on Responsibility
with Jared, Kacey, Kim, Brian
Sheri and Stacy

James studied the "Come Follow Me" lesson, listening to Book of Mormon Central "Come Follow Me" Insights while I worked on my blog. I already listened to Book of Mormon Central.

The Crane's were scheduled for our "Come Follow Me" group but they have family here so we met at the Peeler's again this week. James and I picked up Pierce on the way. Barbara isn't coming because she is still recovering from shoulder surgery. She had a rough night and was asleep when we picked up Pierce.

After the opening song, prayer, sacrament song, and blessing and passing of the sacrament Owen started the discussion on Alma 30-31. He said he wanted each of us to share a spiritually defining moment in our lives and he would share first. He told about believing in the gospel since he was six although his family was not active. When he was 14 he was working in a hardware store and wanted to know for sure if God was real. He knelt down and said a prayer asking Heavenly Father if He was real. He felt something undeniable and knew that his prayer had been answered. He has never forgotten this experience.

Pierce said he went through a divorce and couldn't understand why because he had tried everything he knew how to make his marriage work. He prayed for peace and felt the comfort of the Spirit like he had never felt before.

James said when he was 12 years old he was at a meeting where the song "I Stand All Amazed" was sung. This was a spiritual awakening for him.

Donna shared how her dad would take her to church every week but neither of her parents ever went with her. Through attending her church and then later when she joined our church she has felt the whisperings of the Spirit.

I told about the time I was preparing to teach a Spiritual Living lesson about the Holy Ghost and could not remember feeling the Holy Ghost in my life. I kneeled down to pray and the most power was feeling came over me and I knew it was the Spirit.

This afternoon in our conversation with Jared and Kacey they said Summer was sick and had gone down to be tested for Covid-19. Her boyfriend has it but Summer tested negative. There are lots of false negatives so she may still have it. Jared may have to miss two weeks of work and he and Kacey will probably get it. I hope Charlie doesn't get it though.

We had our Lambson Study Group discussion at six o'clock. We started out on Skype but we couldn't see Sheri and there was lots of background noise. When we went to Zoom things were much better. We had studied one of Ben's favorite talks, "100 Per Cent Responsible" by Elder Lynn G. Robbins. This talk was given at a BYU Devotional. We also read and discussed talks by Elder Christofferson and President Monson. Stacy joined the discussion today which was nice.

This evening while James was writing his letter to Ben I listened to Emily on Inklings Institute and started a Lambson Study Group journal and a "Come Follow Me" group journal. I also made some dark chocolate brownies with walnuts. We ate a couple and put the rest in the freezer.

I still remember this day so vividly

Couldn't resist another one

Little Miss Charlie makes our Sabbath!

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Saturday, July 11th, 2020

Winter Quarters, Nebraska

104th operating temple

Dedicated: 22 April 2001

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Mormon 9:6

O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 31:19-38

April General Conference

"Consider the Goodness and Greatness of God"

Elder Dale G. Renlund

Each of us has received gifts that we could not provide for ourselves, gifts from our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, including redemption through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We have received life in this world; we will receive physical life in the hereafter, and eternal salvation and exaltation - if we choose it - all because of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Every time we use, benefit from, or even think of these gifts, we ought to consider the sacrifice, generosity, and compassion of the givers. Reverence for the givers does more than just make us grateful. Reflecting on Their gifts can and should transform us.

After family prayer and scripture study James left to take his broken augers over to Pierce's to see if he had equipment that could fix them. When he returned he said: "I think Pierce moved here so he could take care of the Vernon ward. He hauled a 10,000 gallon water container for Brother Lauritzen from Safford. His greenhouse will feed the entire ward. We think that is why he is building it. He does dental work for people who cannot afford to go to the dentist. He has a huge metal building full of equipment and James said he will be able to fix his auger using Pierce's equipment. He has a car lift if you want to use it to change the oil in your car. He is a counselor in our bishopric and is such a blessing to our ward! He is also a temple worker and is a coordinator on his shift. We are so grateful for the Goodman's in our ward.

While James was gone I worked on my blog and finished listening to Brother Wayne May talk about Book of Mormon Geography in North America. It is a very interesting talk and I would encourage anyone who is interested in this subject to listen to it on YouTube.

Sal Jiminez poured concrete at the job in Peoria today. He called James and said the pump he ordered wasn't powerful enough to pump the concrete. James told him to get some guys to wheelbarrow the concrete in, which he did. Sal did a great job and the owner called James and told him he loved his new patio.

After doing my blog post I spent most of the rest of the day working on my next shipment of books. I told James that if I do well this season which peaks the end of August and the first of September, I am going to hire a processing center to clean and send my books because it takes so much time and takes me away from the important part of the business which is buying books and repricing books in my inventory. As I was cleaning these 14 books I discovered that one is an instructor's manual which I am not allowed to sell on Amazon. the seller cleverly covered this message with a piece of black tape: This work is protected by U.S. copyright laws and is for instructors' use only. I sent a text to Valore books and the seller on Valore telling them that I wanted a complete refund for this book. Since I did not buy this book on Amazon, the return process is harder and a little more risky. To say I was annoyed is putting it mildly.

James finally filled the hummingbird feeder today. When I was out on the deck I saw a couple of hummingbirds come and try to take a drink only to realize the feeder was empty. I told James if he wasn't going to fill the feeder, he needed to take it down. That's when he decided to fill it.

Luna needs exercise on a regular basis because she basically lives in a cell until James gets the fence done. This is why James takes her out in the evening for a ride. When he returned I asked him if he saw anything or if Luna did anything interesting. He said he didn't see anything but Luna kept pricking her ears and looking around as if she saw something.

James watched Wayne May's talk on "Book of Mormon Geography in North America" on the TV this evening. He missed the last part I watched this morning and wanted to see it. He thinks Cathi and Terry would like to watch it too.

Kacey's flowers

A quokka and her baby

Case Family Beach Trip 2020

Lola and her cousin who lives in Hawaii

All of the Case Cousins

Rowan, Kayla, Kilee, Addy

Ruby and Kreed

Darrel, Trina, Bryce, Lexi, Westley, Lacey, Tristan

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Friday, July 10th, 2020

Montevideo, Uruguay

103rd operating temple

Dedicated: 18 Mar 2001

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God

Helaman 6:5

Yea, and many did preach with exceedingly great power and authority, unto the bringing down many of them into the depths of humility, to be the humble followers of God and the Lamb.

Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"

Alma 31:1-18

April General Conference

"A Living Witness of the Living Christ"

Bishop Gerald Causse

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is a free gift offered to all who have lived, who currently live, and who will living on the earth. In addition to bearing the burden of our sins, the Christ took upon Himself our sorrows, infirmities, sufferings, and sicknesses and all the afflictions inherent in the mortal condition of man. There is no anguish, no pain or sadness that He did not suffer for us.

James's mom had asked Cathi and Laura to bring back the quilt top she gave me a few years ago for Christmas. She gave them to all of us, Cathi and Laura have one too. She knows a lady that will quilt them and that's what she wants to do this year for our Christmas. The problem is we couldn't find mine. I thought it was downstairs in the years supply/Christmas closet but Cathi could not find it. I looked in my closet and had no luck. I told Cathi to tell Lois I have too many hiding places in my house but I would go through every closet until I found it. Cathi and Terry stayed downstairs and they said it was cool, quiet and nice.

I called James back when they got ready to leave so he could say goodbye. He brought Anthony with him, as Anthony had been helping him work on the fence. We introduced Anthony to everyone before he left for home, his air conditioning and his cat. He loves the fact that he now has air conditioning.

James told me that while he and Anthony were working on the fence they both heard a train whistle. Anthony thought it was a train but James said no, it was probably a truck with a train whistle. Anthony convinced James it was a train because they could hear clicking as it was going over the train tracks. It was a quiet morning with no wind. They have a pretty straight sixty mile shot to Holbrook so, who knows, maybe they did hear a train. They both would swear that they did.

We said our goodbyes to Dave, Laura, Cathi, and Terry. We really enjoyed their visit and hope they will come back soon.

Good looking group

Laura had told me if I wanted to know more about the Laurie Vallow, Chad Daybell case I should listen to the interview Laurie's best friend Melanie Gibb gave. I asked her if it was on YouTube and she said yes, she thought it was. I watched it. It was about an hour and forty five minutes long. I now know more about the case. It is a sad one and I feel sorry for Laurie who was duped by Chad and his belief system. Melanie ended up saying that it was of the adversary.

I did two blogposts today and got my next shipment of books ready to ship. I also walked 13,797 steps and caught up on my Book of Mormon study guide. I listened to a BYU Speech by Lynn G. Robins about being 100% Responsible which was excellent.

Karen Schneider texted me and said she got the book "Grace Where You Are" that I sent her for her birthday. I was going to wait and give it to her at our next birthday luncheon, but after Governor Ducey's press conference yesterday, who knows when that will be.

Restaurants can only operate at 50% guest capacity and the governor is encouraging everyone to stay home as much as possible. He said, our grandfathers stormed the beaches at Normandy to stop the Nazi's. All I'm asking you to do is stay home and watch Netflix. I wonder if he has stock in Netflix.

This evening after dinner and riding Luna James wanted to watch a movie. I asked him if he would watch "Teaching with Power" with me instead and he said yes. He even sat next to me! At the end the next YouTube video to come up was by a man named Wayne May, and was titled: "Book of Mormon Geography in North America."

James was interested but we turned it off early because it was 10:00 and we wanted to go to bed.