Saturday, August 1, 2020

Wednesday, July 29th. 2020-Stranded Books and Stranded Clothes

Newport Beach, California
122nd operating temple
Dedicated: 28 Aug 2005
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Light of the World
John 1:4
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"
Alma 40:15-26; "Don't Miss This" and "Teaching with Power"
April General Conference
"The Finest Homes"
L. Whitney Clayton
  Residents in the finest homes make time to study the scriptures and the words of living prophets every day. President Russell M. Nelson has invited us to "transform" and "remodel" our homes through gospel study. His invitation recognizes that fine homes house the tender, vital work of personal growth and remodeling our weaknesses. Daily repentance is a transformative tool that enables us to grow a little kinder, more loving, and more understanding. Studying the scriptures brings us closer to the Savior, whose generous love and grace assist us with our growth.



Anthony came early to help with the fence this morning. James says he only works about two and a half hours and then he is done. The goal is to finish the fence by my birthday. 

I could not find the clothes that I wear around the house, two shirts and two pants were missing. I looked in the laundry room and in my closet. I could not think where else they would be. Suddenly I thought maybe I should check James's closet. Walla! There they were. He swears he did not put them there. I'm pretty sure I didn't. I guess it was the gremlin.

James made a trip to town today. He called me and asked if there was anything he could get me. I told him some caramel shakes and diet Coke. He came back with the shakes and some shakes for himself, Stevia, but no diet Coke. What's a girl to do?

I actually did two blog posts today but it takes so much time because my computer freezes up when I am using my photo app. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it.

I still have 13 books stranded. So frustrating because I feel I have done nothing to merit this. I'm not sure if they are making new rules or if there are a bunch of new people at Amazon who don't really know what they are doing.

I walked, rested, and walked some more trying to catch up in that area of my life too. I'm behind in every aspect of my life: blog, Book of Mormon study guide, books, and walking. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever catch up. 

I had Kodiak power cakes for dinner and then watched "Don't Miss This" and "Teaching with Power." I also worked on my Book of Mormon Study Guide but did not catch up. 

James worked on the fence this afternoon and then took a Luna ride.

Elder Uchtdorf

Aurora, First day of Jr. High

"Teaching with Power"






Inklings: Beautify the Soul



Inklings: Nourish the Body

Sorry for the duplication












 

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 - James sees a Meteor

Aba, Nigeria
121st operating temple
Dedicated: 7 Aug 2005
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Light of the World
Luke 2:32
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"
Alma 40:1-14; "Book of Mormon Central"
April General Conference
"Come and Belong"
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
We invite all of God's children throughout the world to join us in this great endeavor. Come and see! Even during this challenging time of COVID-19, meet with us online. Meet with our missionaries online. Find out for yourself what this Church is all about! When this difficult time has passed, meet with us in our homes and in our worship places!
We invite you to come and help! Come and serve with us, ministering to God's children, following in the footsteps of the Savior, and making this world a better place.
Come and belong! You will make us stronger. And you will become better, kinder, and happier as well. Your faith will deepen and grow more resilient - more capable of withstanding the turbulences and unexpected trials of life.


We were worried that the deposit we made yesterday would be rejected because James signed the back to be deposited into the business account yet it was deposited into the personal account because we used the debit card at the ATM. Also, the check was made out to Lambson Construction. One time before they rejected a deposit for this reason. This time they did not! Our happiness with Chase Bank was short lived though.

James wanted to use Zelle to pay someone he has not paid before. This man's name was Sal Hernandez and he asked us to use his sister's name to pay him using Zelle. I set up the transaction to be taken out of the business account. Everything seemed to be fine as the transaction went through. About a minute or so later I got a message that our transaction had been cancelled. Not only did they cancel our transaction but they locked our account so we couldn't get into it. In order to get our account unlocked I had to call and wait on the phone for over 30 minutes. When a woman named Kat asked if she could help I told her our problem. She asked for my name and then declared that I was not a signer on the account so she couldn't help me. I told her I had been signing checks for over 40 years and the bank had always accepted them. That knowledge made no difference to her. She told me I needed to go into a branch and sign a signature card. I told her I would do that if I could find a branch open and then I handed the phone to James.

After a long process to prove James's identity she then asked how she could help. She told us she would unlock the account and that we should be able to make our Zelle transaction in about five minutes. We tried and it was rejected again so James just wrote a check and took it to the post office. So much for our love for Chase Bank.

When James went to the post office he brought back 10 packages. Seven of the packages were books and the other three were other things I had ordered including some dust masks for James.

James went to town to get pellets and hay for the horse, check on getting cabinets for Mario's, and to buy me some cherry Dilly bars. Of course he had to stop for the paving and make a stop at the Grapp's for the stuff he left there. He came home with Dilly bars and a homemade loaf of bread from Cammy. She makes the best bread! I took the opportunity to mop the kitchen, dining room, and hall-entry floors while James was gone. 

Erik had told James to call him before using the Razr. He forgot to connect some kind of hose and James had to do this which was a little difficult. He did manage to get the job done though. When the hose was connected he hopped on the Razr to chase cows away and then to go get Luna at the Elkins.'

James went outside to feed the horse and saw something amazing. Here it is described in his own words:
"At twilight, just before dark, I went outside to check the water I was filling in the horses' trough.  I was walking toward the corral and I heard a sizzling noise and looked up toward the north and saw what appeared to be a large bright, almost white, glowing ball of fire moving from west to east. It was huge! Although it seemed like about two or three miles away, it appeared larger than a basketball and I thought...that has to be bigger than my house. I knew right away that it was a meteor. All of a sudden, for about 8 to 10 seconds, there was an orange tail about 4 or 5 times its' length trailing behind and it glowed bright orange and was the same diameter as the meteor at the beginning, tapering to a cone shape, but uneven. After a short time the tail went out and separated into a dozen large orange sparks about the size of an orange, from my point of view, then the tail disappeared but the glowing bright meteor fire ball continued on, now at a slightly downward arch and went between Mount Montoso to the north east and the slightly smaller peak with the tower to the north of Montoso, proving to me that it was only a few miles away and about a quarter of a mile above the ground where I first saw it and possibly no more than 15 or 20 yards below the top of the lower peak. As it descended at an angle it disappeared on the east side of the peaks descending quickly because of the angle of its' trajectory. I imagined that it crashed into the side of one of the volcanic cones beyond, or close to the highway between Springerville and St. Johns. It was magnificent."


I got another shipment of books ready to ship today. 

































Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Monday, July 27th, 2020

San Antonio, Texas
120th operating temple
Dedicated: 22 May 2005
By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Light of the World
Isaiah 60:19
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
Book of Mormon/"Come Follow Me"
Alma 39-42 "The Great Plan of Happiness"
Alma 39 with James
April General Conference
"Finding Refuge from the Storms of Life"
Elder Ricardo P. Gimenez
It is said that "to one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." (This statement has been attributed to Thomas Aquinas but is most likely a loose paraphrase of things he taught.) However, we have limited understanding of the things that happen here on earth, and often we do not have answers to the question of why. Why is this happening? Why is this happening to me? What am I supposed to learn? When answers evade us, that is when the words expressed by our Savior to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail are completely applicable: 
"My son, peace be unto they soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high" (DC 121:7-8)


I am in charge of the Lambson Study Group topic for this week. My topic is "Am I Saved?" I have three talks chosen but I need to listen to them before I send them out. I guess I will have to do that tomorrow because today I am traveling to the valley.

I had my infusion today and I also saw Dr. Kumar. I needed to be at the AARA at 10:00. James and I had a few minutes so we stopped at Del Taco for a snack before my appointment. I saw the doctor first, which took about five minutes then I went in for my infusion. Dr. Kumar wanted me to get a chest xray today but they were too busy so I scheduled one for next month. 

James picked me up and we went across the street to Costco to get some walnuts for him and some things for the Grapp family. I noticed the guy who went in ahead of me did not have a mask on and no one stopped him. I wore my mask most of the time I was in the store. 

We were going to go to lunch but James had something he had to take care of at the job in Mesa. The neighbor was complaining about the fence being on his property. The guy was pretty reasonable when James went over to talk to him  and James told him he would get him a copy of the surveyors report. 

Our next stop was at the LaGlorietta subdivision in Chandler where Greg Hatch hired James to do some work. James met Armando there and they determined what needed to be done because of the concrete that was under the dirt where they were going to pour a slab today. James called Greg and he said he would pay an extra $800 to take care of the extra work involved. From LaGlorietta we went to a Chase bank to deposit the check James got from Mario and then it was on to Lois and Dawn's in Tempe. 

James had a Zoom meeting with the bone doctor in Flagstaff so I brought my computer in to Lois's and set it up for him. He had the meeting but the sad thing is they had never ordered his xrays from Summit so it was all for naught. They said they would get the xrays and get back with him but he was pretty upset they had not already done that.

Lois handed me a bag with gifts in it for my birthday. She also gave me three quilts, a book to read, and a stand for my tablet or a book. She wanted to give me a plant but I declined because I am not good at keeping plants alive. She is very kind and generous.

Instead of working at Montessori where things are still up in the air because of the coronavirus, Dawn is going back to work at ASU on August 16th. She will be working online coaching teachers on how to teach.

We left Tempe and headed for home. We got into a hard rainstorm and the burnt desert smelled like charcoal when it got wet. It was raining so hard some cars were pulling off to the side of the road. 

In Payson we stopped at Culver's for some dinner. I got a butter burger and a dish of ice cream. James got a fish sandwich. There was more rain around Heber. There was no rain in Vernon but we could tell it had rained earlier in the day. We stopped at the Grapp's and gave them the stuff they ordered from Costco. Cammy gave me a check. James left some of our stuff with them so he will have to go back and get it tomorrow.

One of the things about being in the car most of the day is that I did not get all of my steps and neither did James. We walked for awhile when we got home but we were soon tired and went to bed.