Gila Valley, Arizona
132nd operating temple
Dedicated: 23 May 2010
By: Thomas S. Monson
Jesus Christ, Prophecies about
Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of rusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Book of Mormon
Alma 30:46-60 What's the difference between believing and knowing? A: It is belief that pushes us forward to come to know. Knowing is when you receive a spiritual confirmation from the Holy Ghost that confirms your belief is true.
D&C
76:81-119
"Come Follow Me"
76:24 How might the world be different if everyone understood that we are all children of God?
76:50-70 How can I help my family prepare for exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom?
AprGenCon
"The Personal Journey of a Child of God"
Elder Neil L. Andersen
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Years ago, feeling deep concern for the number of abortions in the world, President Gordon B. Hinckley addressed the women of the Church with words that are relevant for us today. He said: "You who are wives and mothers are the anchors of the family. You bear the children. What an enormous and sacred responsibility that is . . . .
What is happening to our appreciation of the sanctity of human life? Abortion is an evil, stark and real and repugnant, which is sweeping over the earth. I plead with the women of this Church to shun it, to stand above it, to stay away from those compromising situations which make it appear desirable. There may be some few circumstances under which it can occur, but they are extremely limited. ... You are the mothers of the sons and daughters of God, whose lives are sacred. Safeguarding them is a divinely given responsibility which cannot be lightly brushed aside."
#6
We declare that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized on April 6, 1830, is Christ's New Testament Church restored. This Church is anchored in the perfect life of its chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, and in His infinite Atonement and literal Resurrection. Jesus Christ has once again called Apostles and has given them priesthood authority. He invites all of us to come unto Him and His Church, to receive the Holy Ghost, the ordinances of salvation, and to gain enduring joy.
Inklings
Believing in Christ allows us to access grace.
We left at 5:40 this morning for the temple. We said a prayer before leaving and then on the way I read from the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the "Come Follow Me" lesson. After I was finished reading we listened to Elder Andersen's conference talk, "The Personal Journey of a Child of God." By this time we were just about to Taylor. We arrive at the temple in Snowflake at 6:25. Our preparation meeting starts at 6:45.
When I looked at my scheduled assignments I noticed I was assigned to be the initiatory director all day, something I have never done. Hopefully I will get a little training. President and Sister Perkins are presiding today at the temple. Sister Perkins talked about unity and how important it is. President Perkins reminded us to focus on the patrons.
The first patron for initiatory was not scheduled until 7:30. Sister DeWitt and Sister Humes were assigned the first hour to help me in initiatory. They were so helpful. I could not have done it without them. Because there are three stations in initiatory and only two workers, I had to help with the first patron. Thirty minutes is allowed for each patron. They can do 5 names in that time. We had four slots that were not filled from 7-12 and we had 6 patrons, Sisters Goodman, Gunnell, Larsen, Howcroft, Shappell, and Haws. While Sister Larsen was waiting for her turn she came and sat by me and we began talking. She lives in Linden and knows both Harold's and Dennis's families. She grew up and went to school with Monte. Tasha was her secretary when she was the stake Primary President. She knew Jaci, Dennis's first wife and she works with Denise at the hospital. I asked her what her maiden name was and she said Hall. She said Harry Lynn was her uncle and Michael was her dad. We went to high school with Michael and James used to work for Harry Lynn when Harry Lynn was facilities manager for the church in the valley. Harry Lynn was also a stake president in Show Low. Lucy, Sister Larsen's first name, said her brother is now the stake president in Show Low. He is a foot doctor in Show Low, Dr. Hall. Michael Hall, Lucy's dad, died when Lucy was quite young. He was working under his car and it fell on him. Lucy also introduced me to her mom who is now Sister Frost and worked on our shift today. I love coming to the temple and making these connections.
These are some of the sisters that I enjoyed working with today: Sister Elmer, our co-ordinater, the assistant co-ordinater, Sister Shelton. Sisters Hamblin, Cureton, Gentry, Frost, Gaston, Larsen, and of course Sister DeWitt from Joe City and Sister Humes from St. Johns. I love all of these sisters. Temple workers are the best!
There was a live sealing today and I got caught in the guest traffic and there was quite a crowd. I got caught when they came in and again when they went out.
I finished at 11:30 about thirty minutes before James did. I waited for him outside in the parking lot. While I was in the dressing room changing into my street clothes someone said there was a fire in Vernon. I said I thought it was a prescribed burn. James said he saw small fires all over the hill by the girls camp when he came home from town yesterday. He figured it was prescribed because there were so many little fires. The sister I spoke to, who is on the afternoon shift at the temple, said it was a lightning strike fire. We never noticed it this morning when we left Vernon but as I looked off the hill in the parking lot where you can see all of the mountains near Vernon, there was a big plume of smoke.
We stopped and El Cupido's and James went in and got us some lunch. I ordered an Arizona burrito and James ordered a chili relleno burrito. He got me a 44 oz drink which is too big for me to handle, but somehow I managed. My Arizona burrito was good, but not as good as the ones I get at Aliberto's.
After taking a nap when I got home, I set my timer for 20 minutes and alternated between walking and working on my blog. This is something I normally do. While blogging I watched a movie on my phone and while walking I listened to "Edenbrooke" on my phone. What would I do without my phone. Trina reminded me how funny the book Edenbrooke is and after a few months I can read a book again and it will seem like new. Here is a quote from Edenbrooke by Mary Ann: "Hope gripped me so hard it left me breathless."
James loves to be outside and the smoke from the fire was not too bad this evening, although the fire is closer than we originally thought, so he went for a ride on Luna. He loves to be outside and I spend most of my time inside. That's just the way we are.
To rain or not to rain, that is always the question around here. At 6:46 pm. it was 77 degrees and still sunny.
Tonight I read from three of my books, "The Heavens are Open", "Written on Our Hearts", and "MindBody Toolkit".
Kacey posted something on Facebook/Instagram that I want to share on here. She also told me yesterday that Charlie asked if she could go to grandma's house today. That just melted my heart and I told her we wanted to come for Charlie's birthday. Here is Kacey's post.
I got a little carried away with the fire pictures.
