Monday, July 10, 2023: It rained today, the coyote didn't get the kitties, The Sting Operating continues, new puzzle,

 

Quito, Ecuador

175th operating temple

Dedicated: 20 Nov 2022

By: Quentin L. Cook

Jesus Christ, Types of, in Anticipation

Matthew 12:40

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Book of Mormon

Alma 30:46-60

Come Follow Me

Acts 6-9 "What Wilt Thou Have Me To Do?"

Jesus's Name

Light of the World

Word

Holy Ghost

Phrase

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.

Affirmation

I firmly believe that I am never left to face my challenges alone. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, I receive constant companionship, guidance, and comfort from my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. With the Holy Ghost as my constant guide, I find solace in the knowledge that I am encompassed by divine love and never alone in my mortal journey.

AprGenCon

Your Patriarchal Blessing - Inspired Direction from Heavenly Father

Elder Randall K. Bennett

Of the Seventy

I studied my patriarchal blessing frequently and, as a youth, often daily, which helped me feel the comforting, guiding influence of the Holy Ghost, who helped reduce my anxiety as I followed His promptings. this increased my desire to actively invite light, truth, and the Holy Ghost by studying my scriptures and praying daily and trying to more diligently study and follow the teaching of God's prophet and apostles. My patriarchal blessing also helped me desire to be more submissive to the will of my Heavenly Father, and that focus helped me experience great joy, despite my personal circumstances.

When Darrel's family was here Darrel bragged about how Ruby is their bishop's favorite youth. Ruby looked a little embarrassed and wasn't sure what to say. I said I knew Ruby was special because I had a spiritual confirmation when she was quite young and was staying here with me. I looked at Addy and added, "of course, all of your kids are pretty special Darrel."

James was happy and in a good mood this morning which always helps me to be in a better mood. After breakfast he made the bed and then we had scriptures and prayers together. Our typical morning routine.

I listened to Brother Halverson talk about the martyrdom of Stephen on "Unshaken Saints." There are five stories in this week's lesson:

Stephen, Philip, Saul, Ananias, and Tabitha (Dorcas). So far I am enjoying the book of Acts and the emphasis on the Holy Ghost.

We got a nice rain today which was kind of a surprise. It's a little early for the monsoons. It was a pleasant surprise and a good rain.

James went in to Kay's Building Supply today and ordered the materials for our new deck. It cost him over $7,000. Hopefully Jared Ammon can come up next week and help with the installation.

I started a new puzzle today and also watched a Christmas movie. Hallmark is having Christmas in July right now. I also paid personal and business bills. 

Not sure how this drain system works

Tonight's sunset

Sunday, July 9, 2023: The Allen's, Teresa Smith's RS lesson, Kaitlin Wilhelm, lunch, puzzle, DMT, Unshaken Saints, Sue Thomas, Blog, Talk w/ James, Charlie Bird, Sound of Freedom

 

Belem, Brazil

174th operating temple

Dedicated: 20 Nov 2022

By: Dale G. Renlund

Jesus Christ, Types of, in Anticipation

Jonah 1:17

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Book of Mormon

Alma 30:29-45

Come Follow Me

"Don't Miss This"

AprGenCon

He Could Heal Me!

Elder Peter F. Meurs

Of the Seventy

The Savior's response to the Nephites was both touching and instructive. He said, "Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you."

I believe that His compassion was much more than a response to the people's tears. It seems that He could see them through the eyes of His atoning sacrifice. He saw their every pain, affliction, and temptation. He saw their sicknesses. He saw their infirmities, and He knew from His agonizing suffering in Gethsemane and on Golgotha how to succor them according to their infirmities.

For the first time in as long as I can remember we had all Aaronic priesthood administer the sacrament today. Deven and Branden Crane blessed and Nathen Crane, Resten Tesarek, Colter Hunsaker, Logan Robles and Curtis Wilhelm passed. Nathen was wearing the shirt we bought him and it looked like his brothers Deven and Branden also had new shirts. 

We had lots of visitors again today. Many of them were here for a family reunion. The Wilhelm's also had visitors. Their son Ammon and his wife Kaitlyn and their children.

 Steve & Tina Allen were the speakers in sacrament meeting. Tina's nephew Jeremiah just passed away and the topic of both talks seemed to be surrounding the families reaction to his death. Tina had been assigned President Eyring's talk, "Finding Personal Peace." Her sister, Jeremiah's mother, is not a member of the Church and neither is her husband or their children. The entire family thinks Steve is a Priest. He conducts all of the funerals and other spiritual meetings in the family. He and his boys gave all of the family and whoever else wanted one, a blessing. Steve said before the blessing everything was chaotic and people were crying. After the blessings people were talking and laughing and the entire atmosphere of the room had changed. 

Steve's talk was about being a good example to others. Am I a good example of Jesus Christ and His gospel? 

It was a good meeting. The Allen's are an awesome family. They have a big family, six girls and two boys along with spouses and grandchildren.

Teresa Smith taught Relief Society and did an excellent job. She had asked people ahead of time to answer certain questions. The talk we were studying was Elder Nattress's, "Can I Really Be Forgiven.?"

Teresa assigned people to answer questions who normally don't talk very much in Relief Society. Cress Miller was one of them. I don't remember what her question was she was supposed to answer, something about receiving forgiveness from the Savior and learning to forgive yourself.  She ended up telling us about being an alcoholic and hitting rock bottom and wanting to change her life. She told her husband she was going to stop drinking and start going to Church and eventually go to the temple. She said he could come with her if he wanted but she was going to go to the temple with or without him. Richard, her husband, had to stop smoking, which he did. They both have temple recommends now and are the temple cleaning coordinators for our ward.

James gave Virgil Cooper a blessing today after the block. He asked Terry Tignor if he wanted to be a part of the blessing and he did. It was his first time to participate in giving someone a blessing since he received the Melchizedek priesthood. Virgil is having hernia surgery this week.

This afternoon I listened to "Don't Miss This" and part of "Unshaken Saints" for next week's "Come Follow Me" lesson. I also worked on my blog while James did some indexing.

I watched the last episode of "Sue Thomas F.B.I." I love this show and the people in it.

James had listened to Greg Matsen this week. He had Tim Ballard on. Tim talked about the movie about his work, "The Sound of Freedom." He is encouraging everyone to see the movie which is about the sex slave trafficking of children. Such a horrendous thing and Tim is doing something about it.

CWIC Media, the name of Greg Matsen's podcast is something James listens to quite frequently. Greg talked about Charlie Bird who was Cosmos the Cougar at BYU. He is extremely popular and has quite a following. He is also gay. He has done firesides for the Church and has been a positive influence. Now he is engaged to be married and Greg says he can't support him anymore. When Charlie was asked about going against the Church's standards regarding marriage he said he was sure they were going to change the Family Proclamation to include gay marriage. I have listened to Charlie's audio book about his life and he is a great guy, just a little confused. 

It was a wonderful Sabbath day.

The Bob & Suzy Case Family

Happy Sabbath with Charlie

Saturday, July 8, 2023: James & Rowan leave for Globe the l-o-n-g way, Home this afternoon, Hook & Ladder, Sue Thomas, James plants plants, walk & blog

Praia, Cape Verde

173rd operating temple

Dedicated: 19 June 2022

By: Neil L. Andersen

Jesus Christ, Types of, in Anticipation

Hebrews 5:10

Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Book of Mormon

Alma 30:12-28

Come Follow Me

Acts 4:31-37 Of one heart and of one soul.

Jesus's Name

Jesus

Word

Pentecost

Phrase

But ye shall receive power to bear testimony of me.

Affirmation

Through the sacred gift of the Holy Ghost, I am comforted, guided and empowered. His gentle promptings inspire me to follow the teachings of the Savior and align my will with God's will.

AprGenCon

Accessing God's Power Through Covenants

Elder Dale G. Renlund

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The covenant path leads to the ordinances of the temple, such as the temple endowment. The endowment is God's gift of sacred covenants that connect us more fully to Him. In the endowment, we covenant, first, to strive to keep the commandments of God; second, to repent with a broken heart and contrite spirit; third, to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. We do this by exercising faith in HIm, making covenants with God as we receive the ordinances of salvation and exaltation, keeping those covenants throughout our lives, and striving to live the two great commandments to love God and neighbor. We covenant, fourth, to keep the law of chastity, and fifth, to dedicate ourselves and everything the Lord blesses us with to build up His Church.

James and Rowan left early this morning going through Payson and Roosevelt Lake to get to Globe. It took them right around three hours but they made it there by 8:00.

James has someone coming to lay tile for the Peeler's and also Trina is coming to pick up Rowan. She was a little late but she did make it. She wanted Rowan home today because her mother has arranged for family pictures for their entire family. Trina's sister is in town. She lives in Oklahoma.

It was a long and tiring day for James. He tried to come home through Salt River because the app didn't say it was closed, just that there were delays. They wouldn't let him or the other people behind him through so he had to go all the way back to Globe and come the Payson way. It was about 1:30 when he got home. He stopped in Show Low and picked up some lunch. A couple of Hook & Ladder subs. He ate his on the way home. I ate half of mine for lunch and half for dinner. 

After taking a nap James went outside and did some work. One of the things he did was put up our Lambson Lane sign. It looks great!

He also planted the flowers that have been on our front porch since last Friday. Two hydrangea plants and some petunias.

I did not feel well today and as a result I did not accomplish very much. I did work on my puzzle, walk, and work on my blog, and pay our tithing. Oh yes, I also watched several episodes of Sue Thomas. I am almost through season 3 which is the last season.

I listened to "Unshaken Saints" and hear are some notes that I took:

"Dwelling in righteousness can't be skin deep. It has to go all the way down." 

"If you are the shadow, you are not the light, but the shadow can lead others to the light."

"The chief priest were filled with indignation. The Apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost."

My latest puzzle,

Children's Books

 

 

Friday, July 7, 2023: Rowan's last day here, scriptures & prayer, ride in the woods, Razr needs mud flaps, mail Palmer's card, 60 to Globe closed - fire,

 

Yigo, Guam

172nd operating temple

Dedicated: 22 May 2022

By: David A. Bednar

Jesus Christ, Types of, in Anticipation

Psalms 110:4

The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Book of Mormon

Alma 29:9-30:11

Come Follow Me

Acts 3; 4:1-31; 5:12-42 Disciples of Jesus are given power to perform miracles in His name.

Jesus' Name

Jesus Christ

Word

Pentecost

Phrase

Ye shall receive power to testify of me.

Affirmation

Through the sacred gift of the Holy Ghost, I am comforted, guided and empowered. His gentle promptings inspire me to follow the teachings of the Savior and align my will with God's will.

AprGenCon

Finding Personal Peace

President Henry B. Eyring

Second Counselor in the First Presidency

We all have felt the pain when children raised by inspired parents, sometimes one parent alone, choose, after a lifetime of faith and peace, to take the path of sorrow. 

Even when that sadness occurs, my optimism rests in another give from the Lord. It is this: that He raises up many peacemakers among HIs trusted disciples. They have felt the peace and the love of God. They have the Holy Ghost in their hearts, and the Lord can guide them to reach out to the wandering sheep.

Today is Rowan's last day here with us. I must say, I think we will miss him, especially when we study the scriptures. He is an active participant.

One of the jobs that Rowan did was put in the missing bricks in the patio. James said he did a good job. He has put in 30 hours of work this week and James paid him $480. I am grateful that Rowan was here to help because James is limited in how much physical work he can do right now because of his back, knees, and thumb. He takes a least two naps a day as do I. 

James went to town today and mailed Palmer's birthday card. I hope he gets it on time especially after the fiasco of Autumn's card. 

After working most of the day James took Rowan on a Razr ride to look for elk. They didn't see any elk but the did see some deer, a couple of does. They got very dusty on their ride. James says it would help if we got new mud flaps, so that's on our to do list.

James scheduled a colonoscopy for August 25th. At first I was upset because that is awfully close to Charlie's birthday and our trip to Texas. Jared says he has the next Monday and Saturday off and if we came that week he could spend more time with us. I'm going to see about getting my infusion changed from September 5th to the 12th. 

I am grateful that Jared got some medication to help with his nerve pain. I have been praying him throughout the day for the last couple of days and I am grateful that prayers were answered.

I made shrimp for Rowan and James for dinner. Rowan also ate most of the rest of the mashed potatoes that were in the frig. 

I downloaded the Arizona Department of Transportation app today. It's called ADOT. I am checking the 60 between here and Globe which is closed. The alternate route is thru Payson and down by Roosevelt Lake. Instead of two hours, this route takes 3 1/2. The reason for the detour is a fire. This means instead of leaving at 6 in the morning in order to meet Trina at Globe by 8 a.m., Rowan and James need to leave around 4:30.

Listened to "Unshaken Saints" with Jared Halverson today. He is very thorough in discussing the scriptures.

The Branding Iron in 1952 when in opened.

Uncle Clair, Rita's dad, is in the picture.

Scarlett camping with her family

Thursday, July 6, 2023: Dizziness gone, scriptures & prayer, Inklings, James's knee still hurts, Re-Marks 1960 puzzle, more bee extraction, Mashed potatoes, steak, asparagus

 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

171st operating temple

Dedicated: 8 May 2022

By: Gary E. Stevenson

Jesus Christ, Types of, in Anticipation

Revelation 2:17

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Book of Mormon

Alma 28:9-29:7

Come Follow Me

Acts 3:19-21 What are "the times of refreshing" and "the times of restitution" of all things?

Jesus' Name

Jesus Christ

Word

Pentecost

Phrase

But ye shall receive power to testify of me.

Affirmation

Through the sacred gift of the Holy Ghost, I am comforted, guided and empowered. His gentle promptings inspire me to follow the teachings of the Savior and align my will with God's will.

AprGenCon

A Living Prophet For The Latter Days

Elder Allen D. Haynie

Of the Seventy

Current conditions in the world have caused some to panic. As God's covenant children, we do not need to chase after this or that to know how to navigate through these troubled times. We do not need to fear. The doctrine and principles that we must follow to survive spiritually and endure physically are found in the words of a living prophet. that is why President M. Russell Ballard declared that "it is no small thing . . . to have a prophet of God in our midst.

My dizziness is gone and I am feeling much better today. I am still offering prayers throughout the day for Jared. 

After prayer and scriptures I watched Inklings. Emily was on today and we discussed Elder Christensen's talk, "There Can Be Nothing So Exquisite and Sweet as Was My Joy."

James's knee and back bother him everyday. He has so much he wants to do but struggles to do it. 

James sealed up the log where the bees built their hive in the back. Now he has to take care of the bees in the front. He says there are more in the front than there were in the back.

Tonight we had grilled steak, asparagus, rolls, and mashed potatoes. Rowan loves mashed potatoes and he says that mine and the best. I'm glad that I could make something that he really likes. Rowan leaves on Saturday morning. James is meeting someone at the Peeler's in Globe at 8 a.m. about some tile work and Trina is going to meet them there. 

I came across the following quote today:

"Pure love is the true sign of every true disciple of Jesus Christ. ... In the midst of His greatest pain, in the garden that night, He was the one who needed help, suffering in a way that we cannot even imagine or comprehend. But in the end, He forgot about Himself and prayed for us until He paid the full price. How was He able to do it? Because of His pure love for the Father, who sent Him, and for us." 

-Elder Massimo De Feo.