Sunday, July 3rd, 2022: Fast & Testimony Mtg, James bears his testimony, SS, overcast-no rain, Charlie's talk, Sheri 30hr travel day, James indexes over 300 names

 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

152nd operating temple

Dedicated: 18 Sep 2016

By: Henry B. Eyring

Jesus Christ, Second Coming

2 Peter 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Book of Mormon

Alma 26:17-37

36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

"Come Follow Me"

Review and Sunday School

AprGenCon

"But We Heeded Them Not"

Elder David A. Bednar

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The doctrine of Christ written "with the Spirit of the living God ... in fleshy tables of our hearts" increases our capacity to "heed not" the many distractions, taunts, and diversions in our fallen world. For example, faith focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ fortifies us with spiritual strength. Faith in the Redeemer is a principle of action and of power. As we act in accordance with the truth of His gospel, we are blessed with the spiritual capacity to press forward through the challenges of mortality while focusing on the joys the Savior offers to us. Truly, "if we do what' right we have no need to fear, for the Lord, our helper, will ever be near."

Overcast but no rain in our area. We are grateful for the rain we have gotten the past few days. 

We got to sacrament meeting in time to meet the investigators that Anthony brought. The woman's name is Mayla and her daughter is Vanessa. 

Only three brothers bore their testimonies, James, Pierce, and Greg Anderson. There were six women and several children. It was a good meeting where members pledged their gratitude for living in a free country and others talked about how they loved studying the Old Testament. 

There were lots of visitors today because of the holiday weekend. Many of them came to Sunday School. Brother Applegate featured two parts of the lesson in his class today. One discussion was on the widow of Zarephath and the other on Elijah and the priests of Baal.

James and I both fasted this morning for Tanner. When we got home from church we both took naps. I woke up earlier than he did and broke my fast. 

James made us dinner, shrimp and potstickers. I made some dark chocolate brownies with walnuts for him to take to Globe with him tomorrow. 

Stacy texted and said that Joshua bore his testimony today. 

James indexed over 300 names and I caught up on my blog while listening to Dave and Emily's "Don't Miss This" Come Follow Me for the coming week.

Each week they choose heroes to feature in the lesson. This week's heroes were: Elisha and the miracles he performed, the woman who poured out (2 Kings 4:1-7), the great woman (2 Kings 4:8-37), the little maid (2 Kings 5:1-19), and the servant (2 Kings 6:8-18).

While I was at the computer I ran off a couple of recipes, one for a lemon blueberry cheesecake cake, and one for Swiss meringue buttercream. 

Sheri and the boys made it to Phoenix around 11:37 pm. after a 30 hour travel day. I am so glad they made it home safely.

Beginning of the monsoons

Beach bums

Cows came to visit. James chased them

away on the Razr.

Twins

Saturday night fireworks in

Springerville

Tonight's sunset

Charlie gave her first talk in primary today and her topic was

how the Spirit speaks to us in a still small voice. She

was so excited to write her talk. We started with a prayer, which she gave herself, to ask for help to know what to say. When I (Kacey) asked her how she hears the Spirit she told me that she keeps her room clean and also feels Jesus' heart when she does good things. She told me she can best hear the Spirit at the temple and at church. I love the little testimony she has at just 3 years old. I love how fearless and confident she was to stand and share her testimony with the primary. I hope she never loses that excitement and enthusiasm to share gospel truths. I'm trying every day to be more like you, Charlie.

Saturday, July 2nd, 2022: Patriotic wreath, Show Low celebrates, Sheri & boys in London, James works on Thompson's,

 

Sapporo, Japan

151st operating temple

Dedicated: 21 Aug 2016

By: Russell M. Nelson

Jesus Christ, Second Coming

2 Thessalonians 2:8

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Book of Mormon

Alma 26:1-16

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

"Come Follow Me"

Video of "Elijah and the Widow of Zarapeth"

AprGenCon

"We Are The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints"

Reyna I. Arburto

Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency

Relief Society is not limited to a room in a building, a Sunday lesson, an activity, or a presidency at the local or general level. Relief Society is the covenant women of the Church; it is us - each of us and all of us. It is our "global community of compassion and service." Anywhere and everywhere we go, we are always part of Relief Society as we strive to fulfill its divine purpose, which is for women to accomplish God's work in individual as well as collective ways by providing relief: "relief of poverty, relief of illness; relief of doubt, relief of ignorance - relief of all that hinders . . . joy and progress."

Today was an overcast with a little rain. One of my favorite kind of days. It was nice to have scriptures and prayer with James this morning without being rushed. 

James left to go ot the Thompson's and I was left home alone. I wasn't feeling great so I took some Tramadol and reclined in the bedroom in front of the TV. My phone rang. It was Janna Grombach. I had just been looking at pictures on Facebook of Janna and Willie's recent trip to Colorado. Janna said she had made a patriotic wreath for us as thanks for teaching her and Willie the temple prep lessons. She asked if she could come over and bring me the wreath. Of course!

I love it!

James and I talked about going to town today after the 4th of July parade and the crowd had dispersed to either the rodeo, or Frontier park or wherever else they are going. He called me and said he was already in town. I guess he was getting ready to leave the Thompson's which is 7-10 miles from our house and realized he was almost out of gas. He went in to town to get gas and asked what I wanted. I wanted a drink from Sonic and he said he would be glad to get it. I was still disappointed. Maybe we can take a drive up on the mountain later. The activities in town are not appealing to me and neither one of us likes crowds, so the further away from town we can get, the better.

I worked on my blog, walked and watched Hallmark Christmas movies. Once in awhile I would head for the kitchen for something to eat. I did do a little cleaning and washed two loads of laundry. James worked on the sprinklers and hooked up the new pump which isn't going off as it should. We finished our book, "Yorkshire Carol." It had a happy ending. 

As we said our family prayer this evening we decided we were going to fast for Tanner.

 

 

 

Friday, July 1st, 2022: Max's birthday, James, Globe and plays cowboy chasing cows at home, Show Low is busy, Sonic, Mail Lola's card, What I'm reading

 

 Provo City Center, Utah

150th operating temple

Dedicated: 20 Mar 2016

By: Dallin H. Oaks

Jesus Christ, Second Coming

2 Thessalonians 1:7

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

Book of Mormon

Alma 25:1-17

9 ... Thus the words of Abinadi were brought to pass,...

Come Follow Me

1 Kings 19:19-21 Serving the Lord takes priority over worldly concerns. 

AprGenCon

"Preaching The Gospel Of Peace"

President Russell M. Nelson

President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Every person who has made covenants with God has promised to care about others and serve those in need. We can demonstrate faith in God and always be ready to respond to those who ask about "the hope that is in us." Each of us has a role to play in the gathering of Israel.

"Missionary Service Blessed My Life Forever"

President M. Russell Ballard

Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The Lord knows you. When you are serving your mission, you will have experiences that will help you come to know Him better. You will grow spiritually in serving Him. In His name, you will be sent on errands to serve others. He will give you experiences with promptings from the Holy Ghost. The Lord will authorize you to teach in His name. You can show Him that He can trust you and can rely on you.

After prayer James left for Globe this morning. It rained here this morning. 

Today is Max's 19th birthday. He celebrated in London with Sheri, Ben, and Evan. He got Krispy Kreme donuts instead of a cake.

I left for town around 2:30 this afternoon. I mailed Lola's birthday card. I'm not sure why I didn't send it with James yesterday to mail. I'm just a little ditzy. Anyway, I went through the drive-thru at Sonic and got myself a drink and then went to the Show Low post office to mail Lola's card. Show Low is packed with people coming up for the Fourth of July rodeo, parade, fireworks, and other activities. On top of all that, it's raining! The rodeo doesn't start until this evening so maybe the rain will stop by then. 

I texted with Kacey today asking her about the baby birds. I guess she lost them all because she ran out of feed and they were out at the pet store too. I am proud of her for making such a valiant effort. She also sent Tanner to rehab this week which I imagine was hard to do. 

In other family news, Paul definitely has rheumatoid arthritis. His RA factor was 385. His doctor said that's the highest he's ever seen. I think mine was a little higher, somewhere in the 400's. Stacy said she was pretty angry because she said he was compelled to get the Covid vaccine at work due to the federal mandate. He is pretty miserable right now and probably will be until he gets on some medication. 

When James got home this afternoon there were some black cows drinking out of Luna's water. I guess the elk knocked the fence down somewhere and these cows got in. James saddled up Luna and ran the cows off, just like home on the range. Giddyup cowboy!

I quit reading "Before the Fortress Falls" because it got too gory. 

Watched an old Christmas movie, "Gingerbread Romance". Hallmark and GAC are both doing Christmas in July. 

Here are a couple of notes I took while listening to "Teaching with Power." 

Serving the Lord takes priority over worldly concerns.

We believe in a God who answers by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

Began listening to Charlie Bird's book, "Without the Mask." Charlie was BYU's mascot Cosmos at their football games and was very popular. He came out as gay and now has written a book about his feelings and experiences.

I also listened part of an All In podcast featuring Steven Harper on the law of Consecration. It is so good.

Happy Birthday Max!

 

Show Low