Monday, October 3rd, 2022: J & G Globe, Isaiah 58 Proper Fast & Sabbath Observance, Great British Baking Show, Crockpot dinner, Scarlett's 1st tooth, Clean car inside, Paint, DWTS, NIkki & Nora

 

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

71st operating temple

Dedicated: 26-27 Feb 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Son of man

Luke 12:10

And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

Book of Mormon

Helaman 14:1-19

"Come Follow Me"

Isaiah 58-66 "The Redeemer Shall Come to Zion" Isaiah 59

OctGenCon

"Help the Poor and Distressed"

President Dallin H. Oaks

The Church of Jesus Christ is committed to serving those in need, and it is also committed to cooperating with others in that effort.

Up at 5 with James to help prepare his lunch and get him ready for Globe before Greg gets here at 5:45.

After James left I went back to my desk and read Isaiah 58 which is about proper fasting and keeping the Sabbath holy. Here are some note I took after reading "Making Sense of Isaiah" by Terry Ball:

The Lord's instructions about what constitutes a proper fast are inspiring and can be life-changing if we follow them. He explains that our fasting needs to have a purpose. For example, we can fast to help ourselves and others find strength to overcome weaknesses, to loosen "the bands of wickedness," to undo "heavy burdens," to free the "oppressed," and to "break every yoke" (58:6). The temptations, trials, tragedies, sins, and sorrows of mortality can indeed bind, burden, oppress, and yoke us, but the Lord tells us that fasting can give us the strength, power, and perspective we need to persist in faith. The Lord further instructs that rather than withdrawing and hiding as we fast, we should look for ways to help others, such as dealing our bread to the hungry and providing housing for the poor and clothing for the naked (58:7, 10). We do this today by being generous in our fast offerings, contributing what we can to the funds used to assist those who are in need. In an effective fast, our thoughts and actions are turned outwards rather than inwards.

Thus, in addition to abstaining from food for a period of time, a proper fast also includes fasting for a purpose and caring for others. Wonderful promises are given to us if we fast as the Lord instructs. Our "light," or truth, knowledge, and intelligence (D&C 93:24-37), will "break forth as the morning," surely arising each day and growing brighter as the day proceeds (58:8). Our health will improve, springing "forth speedily" (58:8). We will be protected as our righteousness goes before us and the "glory of the Lord" is our rereward, guiding, warning and defending us from behind (58:8). When we call unto our God, He will hear us, answering, "Here I am" (58:9). We will find light even in our darkest hours and living water and sustenance to satisfy our souls (58:10-11). We and our children will be able to raise up, build up, and restore the foundations and paths that will lead us to dwell with our God (58:12). Surely, fasting is a simple act of worship that yields profound returns.

I love this explanation of fasting and I am going to be more dedicated in my fasting moving forward. 

Keeping the Sabbath day holy isn't as difficult for me as fasting, although I could do better on some Sundays. Here is something I found in Brother Kerry Muhlstein's book, "Learning to Love Isaiah" on page 473:

"Isaiah teaches us that the Sabbath is not for pursuing our own desires. It is for pursuing God's will. When we want what God wants, such a day is not a burden but a delight. ... When we desire God's will more than anything,  then time set aside to do His will becomes a delight, and God blesses us with the greatest of covenantal blessings."

Scarlett got her birthday card from us and she lost her first tooth. 

                   She's excited for the tooth fairy

 to come!

While eating my lunch of a grilled cheese sandwich and after putting dinner in the crockpot, I sat down to watch this week's episode of "The Great British Bakeoff." Maxy is still my favorite even though Janusz is probably the best baker.

This afternoon I went out to the garage to clean my car. Tomorrow I am driving Catherine H. and Ruth W. to the temple and I especially want the inside of the car to be clean. I used my TriStar vacuum and the hand vacuum I bought a few months ago to clean the floors. I washed my Tinkerbell mats and shined up the dashboard and emptied all of the trash. I dusted and washed off the back window. I don't think my car has been this clean since it was new. I feel good about going to the temple tomorrow!

I spent the rest of the afternoon working in my room. I did quite a bit of painting and James gave me a new roller with an extension rod and plastic to put on the floor. I was grateful. I just not sure how much more time I am going to have to paint this week. 

My Korean beef I put in the crockpot this morning was done cooking by the time James got home from Globe. He said it smelled delicious and he was looking forward to trying it. First he had to take a shower. I had some with some noodles and I really liked it and when he tried it, he did too. He was especially grateful that I added broccoli and cauliflower. 

I watched about half of this week's "Dancing with the Stars" before turning it off so I could do something with James. Tonight they are dancing to music from the James Bond movies because this year is the 60th anniversary of the first James Bond movie. There are 25 of them. I watched my favorite couple Mark and Charli before turning it off. They did not disappoint!

James and I watched a new series on the Hallmark Movie & Mystery channel. The series is called Nikki & Nora and is about twin sisters who haven't seen each other in ten years and are totally different from each other. They inherit a detective agency from a friend of their deceased parents.  Although there was a surprise ending that was a little sad, we both liked the show and will watch the next episode.

Hedgehog cake

New Inklings Study

One of my favorite pictures

of Queen Elizabeth

Fall is here

 

                  

                                          

Sunday, October 2nd, 2022: Lois's 95th Bday, GC Sessions 4 & 5, Indexing and Blogging, Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy

 

Kona, Hawaii

70th operating temple

Dedicated 23-24 Jan 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Son of man

Matthew 12:32

And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Book of Mormon

Helaman 13:21-39

This morning's sunrise outside on

our deck.

For breakfast this morning before General Conference started, I made some ham, cheese and egg croissants. James doesn't normally eat white bread or white rolls, but he loves croissants so recently I have tried to have some on hand. I gave James his croissant and then made myself one. When I asked him how it was he said, "The best I have ever had." He loved it and it is one way I can eat egg.

We watched conference in our bedroom just as we did yesterday. I like to watch it in here because I can sit at my desk and take notes. James sits in the recliner. 

192nd Semi-Annual General Conference

Sunday Morning Session #3

Today is James's mom, Lois's, 95th Birthday. She is an amazing woman and is to be celebrated. He called and talked with her. Dawn and Carmen were fixing paprika chicken using the recipe found in Lois's cookbook. Gail is in town and would soon be coming over with Erik and his family. Tim may be with him as James mentioned him too, but wasn't sure if he was there. Men never get all the details, at least mine doesn't. Lois loved her card we sent.

For lunch I heated up some chili and served it with chips and a cucumber, tomato, onion salad with Olive Garden dressing. After lunch James took a nap. I cleaned up the kitchen and continued to work on my blog. The photo app is not working very well so it was taking me forever to download photos. The next and the last session of General Conference started at 1 p.m.

General Conference

Session 5

Conference was amazing, as usual. I loved all of the talks. One of my favorites was by Sister Browning in the first session. She is the new second counselor in the Primary General Presidency. I also loved Elder Uchtdorf's from the first session also. Conference Sunday's are the best. This evening James and I indexed and I worked on my blog and cooked some shrimp for dinner.

Looks like we aren't the only ones who

enjoyed conference.

 

 

Saturday, October 1st, 2022: James leaves for Rim to meet D&Ro, Some rain, G C Session 1, 2, 3, Pam's invite, Left heel hurts, New book w/ J, Joshua's Homecoming Date

 

St. Paul, Minnesota

69th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Jan 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Son of man

Luke 6:5

And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Book of Mormon

Helaman 13:1-20

James was up before 4 this morning. We had family prayer together and he left somewhere between 4:30 and 5. He is meeting Darrel and Rowan over on the Rim where they are hunting. After leaving he got a message from Darrel saying they overslept and would be an hour late. Nice. 

I was worried James was going to hunt with his broken ankle but all he did was take Rowan his shotgun to use and most of the cinnamon rolls that the Halcomb's brought over. He wasn't in any hurry to get there since he knew Darrel and Rowan were going to be late, so he went over on the Rim road and saw lots of wildlife, everything except turkey's. I'm glad he's not hunting because I do not want a wild, tough turkey to pluck and cook.

James called me between conference session and said he was in Show Low and would I order a couple of Chicken Slingers for him to pick up at Sonic. I did. He ate his on the way home and I ate mine when he got here. I figured he had missed the first session of conference but, he said when he turned on the radio in his truck that President Oaks was speaking and he was the first speaker. He talked about what a great session it was and I agreed. Elder Uchtdorf's talk and Sister Browning's talk were my favorites. 

James was so tired, he laid down and took a nap until I turned the next session of conference on. The second session was good too. After the second session James cooked some frozen crab cakes that I got at Walmart. They were a big disappointment. They had cream cheese and jalapeno's and it was hard to taste the crab meat. I had one and that was it for me. We ended up throwing some of them away.

The evening session started at 5pm Arizona time. I think James fell asleep in this session because he said he was going to have to watch it again. 

I got a text from my friend Pam after conference. Jenny and I have lunch plans for Tuesday at Bandidos @ 11. Please join us if you can. I miss you and would love to catch up. I answered back:

Thanks you Pam. I miss you too. I would absolutely love to have lunch with you and Jenny but I am taking an older sister (88), who is also a friend, to the temple that day. Pam texted back and said:  Ok, next time. I agreed.

James was napping in the bedroom so I went into the family room to get my steps. I turned on the newest GAC movie,  "Home for Harvest" and walked around one of the couches. I only got a little over 10,000 steps because my heel on my left foot was very sore and tender. 

Before going to bed this evening James called Darrel to make sure they got home okay and to see if they saw or got any turkey. They did get home safely but they neither saw nor got any turkey. I am sure Trina is happy. We listened to a little bit of our new book by Sarah Eden, "The Bachelor and the Bride."

192nd Semi-annual General Conference

Saturday a.m. Session #1

Saturday Afternoon Session #2

Saturday Evening Session #3

Joshua's Homecoming Date