Snowflake, Arizona
108th operating temple
Dedicated: 3 Mar 2002
By: Gordon B. Hinckley
Jesus Christ, Son of man
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Book of Mormon
3 Nephi 24:1-25:6
"Come Follow Me"
Hosea 6:4-7; Joel 2:12-13 Devotion to God must be felt inwardly, not just expressed outwardly. Hosea 10-11
OctGenCon
"Beauty for Ashes: The Healing Path of Forgiveness"
Sister Kristin M. Yee
Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
Just as Abigail was willing to take Nabal's sin upon herself, so did the Savior - in an incomprehensible way - take upon Him our sins and the sins of those who have hurt or offended us. In Gethsemane and on the cross, He claimed these sins. He made a way for us to let go of a vengeful heart. That "way" is through forgiving, which can be one of the most difficult things we ever do and one of the most divine things we ever experience. On the path of forgiveness, Jesus Christ's atoning power can flow into our lives and begin to heal the deep crevasses of the heart and soul.
James left for the valley before 5 o'clock this morning. He has a meeting in Glendale about the airport job at 9 a.m. As I was fixing my breakfast in front of the stove & oven I looked down at the mouse trap sticking out from under the oven. There are two. The white one looked kind of funny. I took a closer look and realized there was a mouse with his head stuck in the trap. Gross! I called James and told him he left a dead mouse behind. He said: "Just take it outside and sit it on the picnic table and I will take care of it later. You aren't so squimish that you can't do that are you?" "Yes I am that squimish and I won't do that!" He says it will stink, and I said it won't and he can take care of it when he gets home.
I prayed and journaled, did some gospel study, and ate my breakfast but didn't have time for much of anything else before it was time to get ready to go to the temple. I left the house at 9:30 to pick up my 88 year old friend Catherine. When I got to her house and she started walking down her walkway I thought the wind was going to blow her away. I went around to help open the door for her and put her temple suitcase in the backseat.
When we get to the temple I dropped Catherine off near the front door. Hopefully she won't fly away like Mary Poppins. I watch until she makes it inside and then I loop around and park where I can see the mountains, including Green's Peak, to the right side of the temple. Before I get out of my car I put a scarf around my hair to save it from too much damage.
The 11:00 session is small, 11 sisters and 8 brothers. Maybe the w ind is keeping people away. The last time I came to this session on Wednesday, January Smith Stratton and her husband Blaine led the session. Today another of my high school acquaintances led the session. His name, Charles Patterson. I knew him as Charlie in high school. In high school Charles was not a member of the church. He lived in Show Low and his parents owned the bowling alley. Charlie was the class clown and he could be very annoying. He was not one of my close friends. I am sorry to say, I tried to avoid him as much as possible. Today I was so happy to see him in the temple taking charge of an endowment session. I wanted to speak to him but I did not get a chance.
Normally on the way home we stop at Sonic for some lunch. Catherine loves their All-American hotdogs. She told me today that the last time we came she was very sick the next day. Because of this she did not want to order a hotdog. I told her how much I liked the chicken Slingers so she ordered one and we shared some French fries. Catherine loves to talk and she told me about the upcoming Halcomb family reunion the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Gilbert.
All of Catherine's children are adopted except for her oldest son, Kelly. She does not have that many grandchildren but she does have 22 great grandchildren of which I am very envious.
Catherine is close to a member of our ward, Ellen Kostusiak. She got to know Ellen because she and Kerri are Ellen's ministering sisters. Ellen is a recent convert. She comes from a Jewish background and is lacking in gospel knowledge. She has a word of wisdom problem but none of that stops Catherine. She wants Ellen and her husband Dave to be sealed in the temple. She knows how much Ellen loves Dave. She and Kerri took scriptures over to read to Dave & Ellen. One scripture they read to them was: D&C 82:10 - I the Lord am bound when you do what I say. When you do not what I say, ye have no promise. Catherine wants Ellen to know that if she does not get married in the temple she and Dave will not be together in the next life.
During this visit Kerri and Catherine discovered that the only scriptures the Kostusiak's have was the Book of Mormon. Kerri went home and got a couple of extra sets of scriptures and gave one to Ellen and one to Dave. They ask them to read the Doctrine and Covenants, Catherine says she also wants them to read Moses in the Pearl of Great Price. When they left the Kostusiak's they asked them to consider what they had said and they would check back at a later time.
I was impressed that Catherine and Kerri care so much. One of Ellen's problems is that she is a smoker. Catherine can identify because she used to smoke two packs a day. Ellen loves Catherine and hopefully Catherine can influence her to do the right thing.
James got home from the valley around 4:30. He brought home a check for $1,500 from the guy he is working for at the Glendale Airport. James went in to take a quick nap. I heated up some crab cakes I got at Walmart the other day. There were four of them. James had three and I had one. They were very good and I will be buying them again. After eating, James hurried off to an Elder's Quorum Presidency meeting.
James brought me home a "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet from the bishop's office. Thank you, Honey! James is a little overwhelmed and discouraged about his meeting. The bishop wants them to completely redo their ministering districts. They had just made new assignments and now they will change. The bishop wants people who live close to each other to visit each other. It sounds like a good theory but it is more difficult to work out in reality. We will see how it goes.
No final election results yet.
Bob & Cheryl Horne's granddaughter
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