Tue, Dec 8, 2020: Montreal Quebec temple; Dallin's new song, Luna's tricks, Sentry Welding, Arby's, Christmas movies, Charlie, Alex, Curtis, Oaks's Thanksgiving

 

Montreal, Quebec

86th operating temple

Dedicated: 4 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Millennial Reign

Zephaniah 3:15

The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 7: 12-24 and "Don't Miss This"

"Come Follow Me"

Moroni 7:12-20 "The light of Christ helps one judge between good and evil.

OctGenCon

'Finding Joy in Christ'

Steven J. Lund

Young Men General President

If we desire "to be like Jesus," we should do what Jesus does, and in one astonishing sentence, the Lord explains what it is that He does: He said, "For behold, this is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

Restoration Proclamation

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Pages of this sacred text include an account of the personal ministry of Jesus Christ among people in the Western Hemisphere soon after His Resurrection.

I listened to Harrison Fjiord's new song "Lights". This is Dallin's band and Dallin sings in the song and I honestly wish he sang more because I love his voice. This is the first of their songs that I have really liked.

Here is Luna's new trick. She gets out at night and every morning when James goes out to feed her she is standing by the fence waiting for him to let her back in. She gets out by climbing up the hill and going around where the fence ends. James hasn't finished it yet. In the morning she's too lazy to go back up the hill and around the fence especially when she knows James will let her in. I told him not to let her in. He waits awhile but if he goes outside she follows him around and nudges him until he takes the wire down and lets her in. She has him trained well.

Something broke on the welder today and James needed to go into town to Sentry Welding and get it fixed. He asked me to go with him and I said I would.  

Sentry Welding is in what we used to call Wagon Wheel, just past the Walmart towards Lakeside. While James was inside I got out of the truck and began walking. I got about 1,000 steps before he was finished and we were on our way. He had to get something at Auto Zone on the other end of Show Low. Afterwards we drove down to Arby's and had lunch. I had a roast beef gyro and sweet potato fries,, 

Kim sent us three talks on hope to study this week along with the "Come Follow Me" lesson. These are the talks:

1. "Brightness of Hope" by Neal A. Maxwell

2. "The Infinite Power of Hope" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

3. "The Light of Hope" by Dwan J. Young

I put the rest of the decorations on my Christmas tree today, 12 doves, 7 crystal snowflakes and lots of glass icicles. It really does look beautiful. 

I listened to Tyler and Taylor on Book of Mormon Central today as part of my "Come Follow Me" study.

Here are the Christmas movies for the day:

"A Little Christmas Charm"

"The Christmas Temp"

"A Taste of Christmas"

Curtis Wilhelm and his mom

Love this!!

Mon, Dec 7, 2020: Villahermosa, Mexico temple; Paul's 50th birthday, Curtis's birthday, James valley & back, "Come Follow Me" and refreshments, Charlie, Scarlett, Lola

Villahermosa, Mexico

85th operating temple

Dedicated: 21 May 2000

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Millennial Reign

Daniel 7:14

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 7:1-11

"Come Follow Me"

Moroni 7-9 "May Christ Lift Thee Up"

OctGenCon

'Sustainable Societies'

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The societies in these two examples, Enoch and 4th Nephi, were sustained by the blessings of heaven growing out of their exemplary devotion to the two great commandments: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." They were obedient to God in their personal lives, and they looked after one another's physical and spiritual welfare. In the words of the Doctrine and Covenants, these were societies with "every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God."

Restoration Proclamation

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We further witness that Joseph Smith was given the gift and power of God to translate an ancient record: the Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

James left for the valley this morning. Before he left he made the bed and brought me some herbal tea. 

Today is Paul's 50th birthday. He has been a part of our family for over 30 years. I sent him a card and a Bass Pro Shop gift card on Friday and was pleased to know that he got it today. Happy Birthday Paul.

This is what Paul looked like when we

first met him.

Today is also Curtis Wilhelm's birthday. He is 13 and James is his ministering brother. I texted Curtis's mom and asked what we could get him for his birthday. She said he wanted a baseball style cap. 

I left for town around 10 a.m. and my first stop was at Big 5 Sports. 

I chose a black cap with a Diamondback rattler on it. The Diamondback's are Arizona's professional baseball team. Sister Wilhelm said he liked snap back hats so I made sure there was a snap in the back. I also went to Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Home Depot. Tonight is our turn to have the "Come Follow Me" study group at our house. I'm going to make sugar cookies for dessert tonight and hot chocolate with marshmallows, hence the stop at Walmart. I had to get some Simple Green to clean the fireplace glass because James is planning on being back before the meeting and he wants to build a fire for our guests. I got a gift bag, some tissue, and a birthday card at Dollar Tree. 

On the way home I stopped at the Wilhelm's to drop off Curtis's gift. Sandra was home but she said Curtis had gone to Morenci with his brother Talon for the week. She said she thought he would love the hat but I told her I would give her the gift receipt in case he wanted to exchange it for another hat.

When I got home I needed a break so I rested on the recliner and then got up and went to work. I made a batch of sugar cookie dough and let it sit in the frig for an hour. I overcooked the first batch because the oven was set to convection and I didn't know it. 

I only need five cookies for tonight. The Peeler's had lunch today at Burger King and must have gotten some bad food because they are both feeling rather ill. The Crane's aren't coming either. They are leaving early in the morning for Globe where Kathy is having a stress test done at Dr. Memon's office.

James got home around 4:30 and I put him to work before he laid down for a quick nap. I had him bring up the nativity and set it on the entry table. I also asked him to put the tree skirt on the tree. 

This is how James put the tree skirt on.

I guess he doesn't realize the purpose of 

a tree skirt.

We had such a fun time with the Goodman's and Vicky this evening. We read the lesson and then we had refreshments. We had a hot chocolate bar and I had each person decorate their sugar cookie like I had seen on a Hallmark movie. The sugar cookies were heart shaped and we were making them in to Santa faces.

Pierce got a little confused and made his 

Santa upside down

Vicky

Barbara

Pierce made his Santa upside down

I wish I had put some white to line the hat.

James did not frost his cookie. He says he likes it without frosting.

After everyone was gone and we cleaned the kitchen we watched a movie and went to bed.

This dinner took place last night but I

missed this picture and the next one.

Bob Bogle, Stampede!

I took a screen shot from the movie

"Christmas by Starlight"

 

Sun, Dec 6, 2020, Nashville Tennessee temple: Fast and Testimony meeting, "Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas", The First Presidency Christmas Devotional

 

Nashville, Tennessee

84th operating temple

Dedicated: 21 May 2000

By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ, Millennial Reign

Daniel 2:44

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Book of Mormon

Moroni 1-6 Review

"CFM"

Moroni 1-6 "To Keep Them In The Right Way"

OctGenCon

'Love Your Enemies'

President Dallin H. Oaks

1st Counselor in the First Presidency

  An even greater help in learning to love our adversaries and our enemies is to seek to understand the power of love. Here are three of many prophetic teachings about this.

The Prohet Joseph Smith taught that "it is a time-honored adage that love begets love. Let us pour forth love - show forth our kindness unto all mankind."

President Howard W. Hunter taught: "The world in which we live would benefit greatly if men and women everywhere would exercise the pure love of Christ, which is kind, meek, and lowly. It is without envy or pride. . . .It seeks nothing in return. . . . It has no ;ace for bigotry,  hatred, or violence. . , . It encourages diverse people to live together in Christian love regardless of religious belief, race, nationality, financial standing, education, or culture."

And President Russell M. Nelson has urged us to "expand our circle of love to embrace the whole human family."

 

Restoration Proclamation

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Others came as well, including Elijah, who restored the authority to join families together forever in eternal relationships that transcend death.

Our Fast and Testimony meeting was very special today. Special because James bore a beautiful testimony of the Savior. And special because our former bishop, Bishop Miller and his wife Anne bore their testimonies for the last time as members of the Vernon ward. They are moving to Kansas in a couple of weeks.  Bishop Miller said that Christ, our Savior, feels our heartache and will comfort us. It was a touching testimony.

Another special testimony borne today was by a new sister in our ward, Sister Gilbert who moved in four months ago. She said she had a difficult childhood and not much family, that our ward was her new family. She bore testimony that she knew that Christ had brought light to a darkened world. 

Sister Vaught, our ward librarian, handed out new "Come Follow Me" manuals for 2021. We will be studying the Doctrine and Covenants. 

At the end of James's fast today he made some elk steaks. They were delicious! We watched a really good Christmas movie today, "Time for Us To Come Home for Christmas." Lacey Chabert and Steve Huza starred in this special movie and we felt good watching it, because it was in keeping with the Sabbath day. 

This evening we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was wonderful and truly brought the Spirit of Christ into our home. President Oaks conducted the devotional and excused President Eyring. The Choir at Temple Square sang "Joy to the World", "The First Noel", "O Come All Ye Faithful", the "Hallelujah Choir" from the Messiah and "Silent Night." Brother Bradley Wilcox gave a touching opening prayer and Becky Craven was the first speaker. She spoke of a Christmas in Berlin, Germany when she was a little girl and Santa Claus visiting her home and how her dad missed Santa because he was carrying out the trash. She told of lambs born on Christmas morning and of a kind nurse in the hospital offering a warm, comforting blanket and how we need to remember to give Heavenly hugs to others. Here is a quote from her talk:

"In a world so much in need of peace, our gentle words, our acts of compassion and kindness can be the means of wrapping another in a warm blanket. I have come to understand that the more we act on promptings to serve others, the more heavenly blankets the Lord gives us to share."

Brother Brent Nielsen was the next speaker. He spoke of his dad's Christmas's while serving overseas in World War II and how much he missed his family. He bore testimony of the Savior and how He is the real gift at Christmas time.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke about the first Christmas and those who came, many in the night when troubles are laid to rest. Here is a quote from Elder Holland's talk:

"The sweet dreams of the night can make everything right, no matter how difficult our day has been."

Elder Holland said: I leave with you the "Dreams of Bethlehem" and the babe who made them all come true.

President Nelson was the last speaker. I was hoping we would hear from our dear prophet!

President Nelson spoke of the mission of the Savior and His gifts to us. He also invoked a blessing upon us: 

We and our families would feel peace, that we might hear the voice of the Lord more clearly and receive personal revelation and that we would seek Jesus more earnestly.

Sister Bonnie Cordon, Young Women General President, gave the closing prayer.

The cast of "Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas"

The Sabbath with Charlie and Scarlett

Ben making his favorite food!

Congratulations!