Wednesday, February 8, 2023: Stacy's 51st bday, Temple endowment session changes, Stacy & Paul go too,

Nuku' alofa, Tonga

23rd operating temple

Dedicated: 9-11 Aug 1983

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Teachig mode of

John 8:6

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 2:22-3:5

Come Follow Me

John 3:1-21 I must be born again to enter the kingdom of God.

Jesus's Name

Rabbi/Teacher

Lesson Words

Born again, everlasting life, "I am he."

Favorite Scriptures

John 3:5; John 3:16

OctGenCon

Follow Jesus Christ With Footsteps Of Faith

APresident M. Russell Ballard

Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Dear young men and young women, your footsteps of faith will help you to follow the Lord's invitation to serve missions - to be modern-day pioneers - by opening the way for God's children to find and stay on the covenant path leading back to His glorious presence.

100 Favorite Scriptures - Now Is The Time

Alma 34:32

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

Happy Birthday Stacy! She and Paul went to the temple to celebrate and so do I. They went to the Gilbert temple and I went to the Snowflake temple with Catherine Halcomb and Ruth Wallace. Sue Hubble was going to go with us but her recommend had expired.

I dropped off Catherine and Ruth at the front of the temple while I went and parked the car. As I came in the temple I showed my recommend and was just turning to go into the elevator when Judy Hunter who works this shift motioned me over. She asked me if I was going to an endowment session and when I said yes she said, "There are big changes and you are going to like them."  I thanked her and continued onto the elevator.

As Ruth, Catherine and I were waiting for the session to start we all noticed that there was no sister in the witness couple seat. President Perkins presided at this session. He pushed the button to start the audio-visual and then sat down. Yes, changes have been made. No witness couple and more pictures of the Savior and several other changes. It mentions at the beginning that there are five covenants we make and then listed those covenants. It seems as if this would be so good for young people or anyone going through the temple for the first time. The session was as long or longer than before. Ruth provided all of us with our names for this session. The last name is Vornkahl/Fornkahl and they all lived in the 1600's. The name started out to be Vornkahl but when they came to America they changed it to Fornkahl.

On the way home we stopped at Sonic. Ruth gave me $15. I protested but she insisted. $5 was for her lunch and the other ten was for my lunch and gas. Ruth is an amazing, quiet person who does family history research every morning. She has researched over 20,000 names.

When I got home James was just getting ready to lie down for a nap. I joined him but couldn't stop talking about the changes at the temple. He said to me, "I think you are too excited to take a nap." He was right but I soon settled down.

This afternoon I made Rollo pretzels with pecans like Kathy Crane's. I made four dozen and put them in little Chinese takeout boxes that had love printed all over them in black and red. James will take them with him to the valley tomorrow to hand out to each of our kids families. 

This evening I watched the new Nikki DeLoach and Andrew Walker mystery movie on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel. They are two of my favorites.  I also listened to our book with James while walking. 

I decided I am going to work family history research into my daily schedule. I think it's going to be the first thing I do in the mornings.

Happy Birthday Stacy

 

 

Tuesday, February 7, 2023: 8:30 appt at Grombach's, Kathy too, Grizz & Belle, Kathy's treats, Town, Sonic, Walmart, Home, Nap, MacArthur's, Dinner, walk, movie, book

 

Apia, Samoa

22nd operating temple

Dedicated: 5-6 Aug 1983

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Teaching mode of

John 7:16

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 2:11-21

Come Follow Me

John 2:1-11 Jesus Christ's miracles "manifested forth His glory."

John 2:12-25

Jesus's Name

Rabbi/Teacher

Lesson Phrases

"Born again", everlasting life, "I am he."

Favorite Scriptures

John 3:5; John 3:16

OctGenCon

What Is True?

President Russell M. Nelson

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

Dear brothers and sisters, God is the source of all truth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints embraces all truth that God conveys to His children, whether learned in a scientific laboratory or received by direct revelation from Him.

100 Favorite Verses - Endure to the End

D&C 14:7

And, If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

I wanted to sleep in this morning but I have an appointment at 8:30 and I needed to get ready for that appointment.  My appointment is a ministering visit with Janna Grombach before she leaves to go camping on the desert for two weeks. My partner Kathy Crane went with me, and so did James. He drove us because he said he knew where the Grombach's live. 

When we arrived at the Grombach's, Janna came out on the porch and invited us in. Kathy and I both had a valentine for her and I had one for Willie. (A bag of Dorito chips). 

Willie is doing some work on the house, new siding and trim outside and has done a lot inside too. They have a great view of Green's Peak from the porch and from their bay window. Kathy could hear the dogs whining in the other room and said it would be fine if they let them out. I said it was fine with me as long as they didn't jump on me. Janna assured me that they wouldn't. 

We never sat down for a visit because this was just supposed to be a quick drop off as they were scheduled to leave around 9 a.m. Janna showed us a picture of all of their kids and we talked about their dog Belle who is a golden lab and a diver. They said in Buckeye they had a ten foot diving pool and she would dive clear to the bottom. She once rescued Tyler, Janna's nephew, when he was four. I really liked Belle. The other dog is huge, and his name is Grizz.  He is a Rotweiller. Here is a picture of Grizz and Willie:

Willie and Grizz

Kathy gave us a bag of treats, pretzels with a melted Rollo and a pecan half on top, and white chocolate partially dipped Oreos. James and I both loved the pretzels. Kathy said how easy they were so when I went to town today I got the stuff to make them. James is going to the valley tomorrow and he can take them down to the kids.

This afternoon Kathy and I visited the MacArthur's. When we first arrived Chelsea was the only one home. Jarred had taken the younger kids to go pick up Peyton from school. He must have taken the long way home because we had a nice visit before they arrived. Peyton was the first to come in. She went straight over to her mother and gave her a hug. She had a flyer about a movie and dinner night the school was having and she showed it to me. I gave her, her birthday present. She will be 7 on Friday. I looked over at the table and Scotty was eating her Dig n Dips candy powder. Peyton opened her bag and began scrapping off the black from her unicorn valentine.

Chelsea's big concern right now is Jarred leaving on March 11th for Alaska where is a a hot shot fire jumper. He usually doesn't leave until June.

Another concern is training their dog, Ernie. He is very rowdy and likes to jump on people and also jump into their cars. She says they have been trying to train him but Chelsea says she can't help but compare him to their former dog, Brutus, who was a perfect gentleman.

It was almost 5:00 when I got home from Chelsea's, time to fix dinner. I made potstickers in the air fryer and sauteed mushrooms, onions, and spinach for a side dish. James was happy.

Today I started to listen to Robert Millett on "Follow Him" for this week's lesson but then decided since I am teaching the following week, I should listen to that lesson, which I did. Dr. Lincoln Blumell was the guest and he was great. I am teaching Matthew 5 and am very excited about it! Kim is teaching that week too so we are going to compare notes.

New pillows

Monday, February 6, 2023: 6:30 leave for valley, AARA, Sals for $200, Firebirds w/ Karen S, Kim's, Elmer's, Sheri's, Stacy's, Costco, Trina's, Wlmart, Vernon

Atlanta, Georgia

21st operating temple

Dedicated: 1-4 June 1983

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Teaching mode of

John 3:34

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 1:30-2:10

Come Follow Me

John 2-4 "Ye Must Be Born Again" Introduction

Jesus's Name

Rabbi/Teacher

Lesson Words

"Born again", Everlasting life, "I am he."

Favorite Scriptures

John 3:5; John 3:16

OctGenCon

This Day

Elder Ronald A. Rasband

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

I invite you, this day, to give a Book of Mormon to your friends and family, your associates at work, you soccer coach, or the produce man at your market. They need the words of the Lord found in this book. They need answers to the questions of everyday life and of eternal life to come. They need to know of the covenant path laid out before them and the Lord's abiding love for them. It's all here in the Book of Mormon.

When you hand them a Book of Mormon, you are opening their minds and hearts to the word of God. 

100 Favorite Verses - Calling on the Lord

Alma 37:36

Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

I got up at 4:45 for prayer, etc. We left for the valley at 6:30. James and I had our prayers and scriptures in the car. We listened to "The Storm Descends" all of the way to the valley. That's because we went the Payson way. It would never happen the Globe way as we found out on the way home. 

We arrived at AARA around 10 o'clock and my appointment isn't until 10:30 but I went in early because then they will take me back early and I will be done early. That's a lot of earlys but it's better than a lot of lates.

James is trying to get on a conference call with the doctors at St. Joe's but it just didn't happen. The secretary told him the oncologist doesn't do phone calls, only Zoom calls but since James doesn't have internet in the parking lot at AARA he can't do Zoom. He didn't want to drive all the way to Sheri's, do his Zoom meeting, and then drive all the way back to get me.

After my appointment for my infusion James and I drove to Sal's house and picked up $200 that Sal owed James. He always gives us cash, which is nice. Now we can go to Costco. 

I arrived before Karen at Firebird's, our favorite place to eat. She had reserved a booth, which was nice because there aren't very many.  Karen Schneider, my friend, came in less than 5 minutes after I did. 

We both ordered baked potatoes, and Karen ordered veggies and I ordered a salad. We really love their sourdough bread so we enjoyed that while waiting for our meal. We both used to order coconut shrimp and then a chocolate sundae for dessert but they don't have the coconut shrimp any more and Karen doesn't eat sugar so no ice cream sundae.

She told me about her health issues and I told about mine and James's. We talked about Inklings and Emily, family history, and David Archuletta. Karen used to be a big fan of David's but she doesn't like how he is talking against the Church right now.

We had a great visit and we went outside in her car to wait for James to pick me up. I forgot to turn my phone on and when I remembered to look at it, James had texted and said he was walking around the building while waiting for me. James said hello to Karen and then we said our goodbye's. I gave her a birthday card because her birthday is on February 24th.

James and I headed back to Chandler, first to Kim & Brian's to give them their valentines and to drop off cake supplies for Kim who is making Joe a CakebyCourtney birthday cake.

Instead of getting something to eat while I was having lunch, James went to check on a job so he was starving when we left Kim's. I suggested we got to Elmer's and get some food before going to Sheri's. I texted Sheri to see if she wanted us to get her something at Elmer's but she didn't answer. As we got out of the car at Elmer's the first person we saw was Sheri coming out of the building with a bag of food. I laughed and told her we were getting some lunch for James and then we would see her at her house. I ordered a mini bean and cheese because Sheri said they were great but not nearly as big as the regular. I ordered mine deep fried but next time I won't. It was good but I felt guilty the entire time I was eating it. When we got to Sheri's I saw Ian and told him how sorry I was about his dad. We ate at Sheri's with Ziggie begging, and we chose to ignore her. 

We gave Sheri her birthday card and left valentines for everyone before leaving for Stacy's. At Stacy's we visited with Paul and Stacy and the surprising thing is, the dogs didn't even bark at us. It was a real shocker. Maybe Sophie recognized me and remembered having to be in time out when she barked at me. We gave Stacy her birthday card and left valentines for everyone. I tried to run off Lela Strickland for Stacy to do at the temple on Wednesday but was not able to.  Paul said Tara and Jeff are visiting from Wales and would be here any minute. We left before they came.

On the way to Darrel & Trina's we stopped at Costco. The weather is absolutely perfect today. Sunshine and 70 degrees. I see now why there are so many winter visitors here. My Costco card is compromised but the woman who checked us out was so nice about it when I told her they were sending me a new card. Out of the $200 we got from Sal, we spent $163.00. I got egg bites, James got 3 bottles of juices, I got alkaline water, we got toilet paper, pistachios, and walnuts. I also got some storage containers. Anyway, we love going to Costco because we always find something we didn't expect. We saw Marcy, Kevin's first wife, and I had a nice chat with her. Bremen, her son is going to a school where he is learning how to drive heavy equipment. She says he loves it.  It was so fun talking to Marcy. 

Trina said she and the girls were gone rollerblading but when we got to their house they were home. Darrel was at work and Rowan was upstairs sleeping off a trip to the dentist. We gave Trina her birthday card and cash and left the valentines. Lola was watching TV. I gave her a hug and she showed me her valentine box for school. Ruby was getting ready to make German pancakes. Trina had just gotten back from the store with strawberries. We visited a few minutes and then we had to leave.

On the way out of town we stopped at the Walmart just north of Darrel and Trina's where I got some more valentine supplies. It's going to be after 9 when we get home.

The first thing James did was go feed Luna. There was a light dusting of snow in Show Low when we stopped at Speedway for gas, where it was cheaper than anywhere else we saw today at $3.31 a gallon. There was snow on the ground in Vernon too. Just like a dusting of powdered sugar. 

After putting things away we walked and listened to our book. It was 11:00 when we finally went to bed.

 

Sunday, February 5, 2023: 150 elk go through our fence & field James is ecstatic, Fast & Testimony mtg, SS, Nap,

Jordan River, Utah

20th operating temple

Dedicated: 16-20 Nov 1981

By: Spencer W. Kimball

Jesus Christ, Teaching mode of

Luke 24:32

And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 1:13-29

Come Follow Me

Sunday School and Come Follow Me with Lynne Hilton Wilson

Jesus's Name

Anointed One

Lesson Words

Forty, "Follow Me", Divine Potential

Favorite Lesson Scripture

Luke 4:18-19 & Isaiah 61:1-3

OctGenCon

Let Doing Good Be Our Normal

Elder Rafael E. Pino

Of the Seventy

President Nelson has counseled:

"Embrace your new normal by repenting daily. Seek to be increasingly pure in thought, word, and deed. Minister to others. Keep an eternal perspective. Magnify your callings. And whatever your challenges, my dear brothers and sisters, live each day so that you are more prepared to meet your Maker."

The Eternal Principle Of Love

Elder Hugo Montoya

Of the Seventy

Our Heavenly Father's love for each of His children is real. He is there for each one. I don't know how He does it, but He does. He and His Firstborn are one in doing the work and glory of the Father "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." They have sent us the Holy Ghost to guide us, to warn us, and to comfort us if necessary.

100 Favorite Verses - The Premortal Christ

John 1:1 (JST)

In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.

Sometimes I look out the window when I get up but most of the time it is still dark. James always looks out the window when he gets up. He saw elk in our field. At first he thought there were around 30 but upon further investigation he counted around 150. Wow! There goes our fence. The stayed for awhile and ate and then in a line they left. It was a little excitement for a winter's morning.

James bore his testimony today in our fast and testimony meeting. He was the last one but his testimony of the Savior was, I felt, the best. He started out with, I know our Savior lives...

Bishop Hunsaker opened the meeting with his testimony. He talked about partaking of the sacrament and renewing his covenants with the Savior. He asks himself the question, "what do I need to do differently"?

Chuck Crane bore a beautiful testimony and so did Jerry Scott. Tamara talked about conversion and her new calling teaching the new members Sunday School. A couple of Primary children bore their testimonies. Abigail Jameson was the only youth who did. It was a great testimony. Tebow bore his testimony for the first time. He looked very nice. He had a white shirt and tie and a nice jacket on. 

Curtis Wilhelm blessed the sacrament today for the first time and did a wonderful job. I was very proud of him. The Crane boys were at the table with him. 

After Sunday School James and I spoke with Jimmie Applegate about teaching on the 19th. The lesson will be the first part of the Sermon on the Mount. 

After our meetings I came home and took a three hour nap along with James, and then I broke my fast. James fasted for a complete 24 hours. He did indexing and reviews all afternoon and then went out to feed and water the horse which took awhile because Luna was out of water. 

I blogged, listened to Dave and Emily on "Don't Miss This" and finished the valentines for the valley. I signed Trina's, Stacy's, and Sheri's birthday cards and then had James sign them. I paid tithing and made ministering appointments for Tuesday with Janna Grombach and Chelsea MacArthur.

Amber Judd was handing out wedding invitations for their oldest daughter at church today. She gave us one. I sat by Catherine Halcomb in Sunday School and Catherine and Kerri got invited to the sealing in the Gilbert temple on Catherine's birthday, March 11th. 

Shaelynn Smith and Shelly Applegate were both at church today. They both served missions at the same time and left from our ward. I think it has been at least five years since they returned. Time goes by so quickly. Shelly is one of my former young women.

Sweet Scarlett

Beautiful Scarlett

Sweet and Beautiful Charlie!

Elk