Friday, August 12th, 2022: James in Globe, Dawn's Zoom craft mtg, Dominoes and Dinner with HVDD, Texas Sheetcake, soup, chips, and biscuits

 

Seattle, Washington

19th operating temple

Dedicated: 17-21 Nov 1980

By: Spencer W. Kimball

Jesus Christ, Seed of

D&C 128:23

 Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. et the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!

Book of Mormon

Alma 49:9-30

14 But behold, to their astonishment, the city of Noah, which had hitherto been a weak place, had now, by the means of Moroni, become strong, yea, even to exceed the strength of the city Ammonihah.

"Come Follow Me"

Psalms 19:7-11; 29 The word of the Lord is powerful, "rejoicing the heart." Psalms 31-40.

AprGenCon

"Conversion To The Will Of God"

Elder Quentin L. Cook

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The "works of righteousness" emanate from and are the fruits of conversion. True conversion is brought about by the conscious acceptance and commitment to follow the will of God. The banquet of consequences and blessings that flow from conversion is true and permanent peace and the personal assurance of ultimate happiness - despite the storms of this life. Conversion to the Savior changes a natural man into a sanctified, born again, purified person - a new creature in Christ Jesus. 

James left for Globe this morning. Greg Anderson was supposed to go with him, but at the last minute he got a call from someone and he says he has to go to Phoenix. Now James has to unload sheetrock by himself and his back is killing him. I said some special prayers for him today.

My blood sugar was 108 today. I was happy. I made a Texas sheetcake for dinner tonight. My brothers and Vickie and Denice are coming over to play dominoes and have dinner and dessert. I cooked some more potatoes and added them and some ham to the ham, potato, and cheese soup. I refreshed the taco soup and made some frozen Red Lobster biscuits. My Texas sheetcake was dry because somehow I missed the timer going off and I overcooked it. It's still edible, but not moist. The frosting was good and I served it with ice cream to help make up for the dryness. Before the dinner tonight I had a Zoom craft meeting with Dawn, Lois, Rebecca, Cathi, and Laura, Connie and Carmen. 

Dawn had sent me some cutouts to make some Christmas cards. Dawn and Rebecca held up the finished card and told me how to put it together. I made two of them and I think they turned out pretty good.

 

Up close and personal

I visited with everyone but mostly with Carmen who came in a little late. She told me about her kids. Sydney is living at home, Sean is trying to sell his house in Idaho so he can move to Florida with his wife and daughter Lily. Sarah has a Master's degree in Environmental Engineering and works in Philadelphia at some big fancy firm. I could tell that Carmen is very proud of her. 

Connie is recovering from two knee surgeries and is doing very well. Rebecca wants to know if her grandkids can come up and ride Luna. I told her our schedule and said that September would be a good time. 

It was so fun to visit and actually make something crafty. I said goodbye around 3:00 because I needed to get ready for my company.

James got home around 4:30 but he was not in a good mood. He said he came through the worst rainstorm he had ever been in with cars stopped everywhere along the road. He also had a water leak at the Peeler's that he had to fix. He had left his plumbing tools at home so he had to go buy some tools to fix the leak. I had asked him to stop at Safeway and pick up some walnuts so I could crush them and put them on my Texas sheetcake. He bought me a drink and some juice for him. He had a problem checking out and someone came to help. This helpful person must have put James's walnuts in the wrong bag and James didn't make it home with them. Thank goodness he had the receipt so he can go back tomorrow and pick up the walnuts.

Vickie, Harold, and Dennis arrived while James was in the shower. Denice is at work and will come later. When James got out of the shower we had a blessing on the food and sat down for dinner. Denice called while we were playing our dominoes game, chicken foot. She was in Vernon but somehow she got lost. She had made it to 3625 but not to our road 3469. Vickie and I went out to look for her but we hadn't gone far when Denice called and said she had found her way. I guess James talked her here. She had gone down by Dave Elkins. 

I sat by Dennis and while we were playing our game Kyle's wife, Stacey, sent a video of Bridell driving in the rain. I asked where that was and Dennis said Queen Creek. I guess Kyle got a job at a factory that makes metal for Tesla's in Phoenix and they moved to Queen Creek. Kyle has lived in Colorado for years. I wonder how they will like the change in weather.

The rest of the evening was very enjoyable. I really do enjoy their company and I'm sorry we don't get together more often. As everyone got up to leave, around 8 because Harold gets up at 3:30 to walk his dogs, I told Harold it was his turn next to have us all at his house. He agreed. 

James washed the dishes while I cleaned the kitchen and put things away. After we were done we walked and listened to our book before going to bed.

Thursday, August 11th, 2022: J's back Deep Blue & Tenzi, Temple Presidency release letter, Chelsea MacArthur, Peyton, Scotlyn, Boone here, Pierce's trailer, Klug's dirt,

 

Tokyo, Japan

18th operating temple

Dedicated: 27-29 Oct 1980

By: Spencer W. Kimball

Jesus Christ, Seed of

Job 38:7

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Book of Mormon

Alma 48:19-49:8

19 Now behold, Helaman and his brethren were no less serviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God, and they did baptize unto repentance all men whosoever would hearken unto their words.

"Come Follow Me"

Psalms 8; 19; 33 The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 

Psalms 21-30.

AprGenCon

"Is The Plan Working?"

Elder Adrian Ochoa

Of the Seventy

In times of trouble, turn to Jesus Christ right away.

Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up to greater things.

"Then Will I Make Weak Things Become Strong"

Elder Kevin S. Hamilton

Of the Seventy

Let's review the requirements to change according to the Lord's pattern:

First, we must humble ourselves. 

Second, we must have faith in Jesus Christ.

Third, through His grace He can make weak things become strong.

After scriptures and prayers this morning James laid down on the bed and I rubbed some Deep Blue on his back and then hooked him up to my Tenzi. His back has really been bothering him the past few days.

We got release letters from the temple presidency today. I'm going to save mine and maybe even frame it.

We had clouds, rain, and some sunshine today which was nice. The high was in the 70's. I put more cans in the basement today. I'm so tired of doing this that I began to roll the cans down the stairs, which made the process so much faster. 

While I was making a ham, potato, and cheese soup today I started a new audiobook, "A Daring Proposal." 

We need some clean dirt in our backyard before we plant grass. Fred and Barbara Klug, members of our ward, offered to give James some. He was very excited and borrowed a dump trailer from Pierce to go get the first load. He got back to our place and got stuck in the mud in our field before he could get to the backyard to dump the dirt. He dumped it in the field and all of the hydraulic fluid drained out of the trailer. He took the trailer back to Pierce and he and Pierce fixed it so James could use it again for one ore load which, this time, was dumped in the backyard.

James has to chase cows away again today. Those onery critters.

 Chelsea MacArthur and her kids, Peyton who is 6 or 7, Scotlyn who is 3, and Boone who is 9 months came over today. They brought me two dozen eggs. Chelsea said I didn't need to pay for them but I did, all in quarters. The girls were happy. 

Peyton, and especially Scotlyn, were so excited to play upstairs that Scotlyn took one lick of her ice cream cone and said, "I'm done. Can I go upstairs." I distracted her for a few minutes with the Calico Critters, but she has a short attention span and that didn't last long.

Upstairs the kids loved the blocks, the tea set and some of the Disney figures. They also played with a small Jenga set and they were so good. I'm not sure where it came from. We played for awhile and then Chelsea said it was time to go. Before they left I showed them our games and puzzles and the girls wanted to play HeadBanz. It was fun. On the way down the stairs there is a picture of President Monson. Chelsea asked Scotlyn who it was. She looked, and said, "Joe Biden." Chelsea was embarrassed and said, "Wherever we go she tells people we don't like Joe Biden. I'm afraid she is going to offend someone." I said, "I think most people would agree with her."

Chelsea is going to get me some meat from her sisters ranch in Utah.

I told her I would be gone the last week of August and she said that would be perfect because she could have the meat here by September. Kim is going to come up and we are going to can meat and vacuum pack M&M's. James and I vacuum packed some candy today with the mason jar attachment I bought for the Food Saver. It really works and Wendy DeWitt says the candy will last and be fresh as the day you sealed it for 10 years. This candy is going to outlast me! James fixed us shrimp for dinner. I had four.

Aunt Gene and some of her great grandkids

Skyler and Rachel Chubbs Pannell

from our ward in Chandler

The Hunsaker's Alaskan Salmon

Stefani says they are going to can most of it.

Wednesday, August 10, 2022: Rowan's 16th Bday,Thompson's, cans in basement, Kathy Crane, post office downpour on James, Amazon orders, Stake Meeting in Lakeside, Starlink

Sao Paulo, Brazil

17th operating temple

Dedicated: 30 Oct-Nov 2 1978

By: Spencer W. Kimball

Jesus Christ, Seed of

Job 1:6

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

Book of Mormon

Alma 48:1-18

10 And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of Christians.

"Come Follow Me"

Psalms 2; 22 The Psalms point our minds to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Psalms 11-20.

AprGenCon

"We Each Have A Story"

Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, "It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of - a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven." The sociality we create here can exist with eternal glory there. Indeed, "we without our family members cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect," that is, in "a whole and complete and perfect union."

 James works at the Thompsons while I carry cans to the basement. I'm getting smarter though. Now instead of carrying them down the stairs, I am rolling them. So much easier and so much more fun!

When James came home early in the day I ask him to stop at the post office and pick up the mail because I have a couple of packages waiting to be picked up. When he got there it was raining. He waited for it to let up a little and then he made a run for it. With two boxes and several letters in his arms when he came out he didn't make it to the car before a downpour caught him and those envelopes he was holding got very wet, and so did he. It seems like he has a knack for getting caught in downpours.

I got my pink cake stand, lancets and strips for my blood monitor, fondant, mason jar sealers, and tongs. 

James said the Hunsaker's can't help him tomorrow but they said they could help on Monday, so he rescheduled for Monday.

I watched a movie called, "The Christmas Promise" today. Here are a couple of quotes between Nicole and Joe. Nicole lost her fiance Henry just a year ago and Joe is remodeling the home they bought together because Nicole is going to sell it. Nicole still texts Henry even though he has been gone a year.

Nicole to Henry: "I'm pretty sure nothing will ever compare to the pain of losing you. I wake up every day and I ask myself, how can I possibly move forward in the life without you? Who am I now that you are gone? Who am I stepping into the unknown?"

Nicole doesn't know it but Joe just got a new phone and his number is Henry's old number. Nicole is surprised when she gets an answer from Henry's number.

Joe: "Sometimes things that break apart can come together stronger. Sometimes those broken places will let in the light. A joyful heart will always chase away sorrow."

I loved this movie starring Torrey Devito.

This evening James and I attended a quarterly Elder's Quorum and Relief Society training done by the stake presidency. The people we saw were Maxine and Gary Thompson. We waited with them in the foyer and talked to some sister missionaries. When the Relief Society room was available we went in and promptly took up half of the back row. Tamara, Kerri, and Stefani Hunsaker who is in the Stake Relief Society Presidency, came in next. Tamara and Kerri joined us on the back row. The meeting was good and I learned a lot. It lasted from 7-9. 

Here is my action list from the meeting:

1. Download and register on the JustServe app.

2. Become familiar with the Covenant Parth Progress program.

3. Remember that my ministering interviews are an opportunity to minister to the ministers. Be consistent and compassionate when I do my interviews.

4. Consider having councils at our Sunday meetings.

I love President Beeler's closing message. His brother is also a stake president and President Beeler and his brother were raised by a single mom. She must have been pretty awesome. 

President Beeler ministers to a brother Cox who had to have a leg amputated. Brother Cox loves to go to Denny's so President Beeler takes him. That is ministering.

When we got home James and I both had steps so we listened to our book, "Edward and Amelia."

Happy Sweet 16 to a great guy!

Ro's 10th birthday

Uh oh

Tuesday, August 9th, 2022: James chases cows, I go to the Temple with Catherine Halcomb, Rain, Wendy DeWitt Food Storage class for our ward

 

Washington D. C.

16th operating temple

Dedicated: 19-22 Nov 1974

By: Spencer W. Kimball

Jesus Christ, Seed of

Genesis 6:2

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Book of Mormon

Alma 47:20-36

29 Now when the servants of the king saw an army pursuing after them, they were frightened again, and fled into the wilderness, and came over into the land of Zarahemla and joined the people of Ammon.

"Come Follow Me"

Psalms 1; 23; 26-28; 48 The Psalms teach us to trust the Lord.

Psalms 1-10

AprGenCon

"Lift Up Your Heart And Rejoice"

Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis

Of the Seventy

Serving a full-time mission may seem difficult to us. Perhaps it requires that we give up important things for a moment. The Lord certainly knows this, and He will always be by our side.

Well, today was the day James was supposed to pour concrete at the Thompson's but it didn't happen because he did not have enough help. Armando has had his truck in the shop for two and a half months and paid a guy $5,000 to put in a rebuild engine.  When he went to pick up his truck the guy said the rebuilt engine didn't work and his truck wasn't ready and it was going to cost a lot more. 

James cancelled the concrete for today and rescheduled for Thursday. He did pour footings today.

Before James left this morning he had to chase cows out of our yard. Where are these cows coming from. James thinks they are coming off the mountain and looking for water.

My blood sugar was 134 this morning so I have another low-carb day. 

Catherine Halcomb and I went to the temple today. Maxine and Gary Thompson usually go but they stayed home because they thought their concrete pad was being poured. When James had to cancel the concrete Maxine said to Gary, "See, I told you we should have gone to the temple." She gave Catherine and I each a name to do. There was only one more seat on the sisters side of the endowment room.

After our session Catherine and I went to the distribution center in Snowflake to get Catherine a veil. The sister told us she didn't have any. Catherine said she is going to Utah on Thursday and she would look up there for a veil.

We got lunch at Sonic, an All-American dog for Catherine and a corndog for me. We each had a diet cherry limeade.

When we left the temple it looked like there was a big rainstorm between Vernon and Show Low. We got in to a little rain but it was dry at Catherine's. When I got home it wasn't raining but it looked like we got hit pretty hard because there was puddles everywhere.

I rested with James about an hour and then I got up and moved some more cans downstairs, and then it was time to get ready for our Relief Society activity tonight. It starts at 6:30. 

I passed up the refreshments tonight. Wendy's demonstration was pretty much what I watched on YouTube with a few updates. Collin was there to support her. I left right after she was finished. I was a little down and just needed to get home and crash. I had two favorite comments from the evening. Jeanie Jameson reminded us of President Nelson's quote to "take our vitamins" and asked Wendy of dry vacuuming vitamins would extend their shelf life and Wendy assured her they would. 

My other favorite comment was by Millie Scott. She said when she was a Relief Society President in Ajo they did a food storage class and one of the sisters afterwards said she just didn't want to do all that stuff. Millie told her to store what she eats and eat what she stores. A few days later she was visiting this sister and she said she wanted her to see her food storage. She took her out in the garage and showed her. On one wall there was bags of potato chips and on another there was a big supply of Pepsi.

Olivia Newton John passed away today.

She was 73 years old.

Her birthday: 26 Sept 1948

Dawn detergent has super powers!

Sheri's rainbow

The Hunsaker's fishing trip to Alaska

This is Stefani.

Alicia and Stefani identical twins

married to brothers. Alicia's husband is our bishop.