Wednesday, January 8th, 2025: Up @ 5, still need a morning nap, scanning problems, "Burying Our Weapons of Rebellion", lo today 20, high 39, upstairs shower, moved boxes, Paul Peeler helps James , caught Sammy in the door

 

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

163rd operating temple

Dedicated: 14 Apr 2019

By: Dale G. Renlund

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 7:1-15

Come Follow Me

D&C 1:4-6, 23-24, 37-39

The Lord speaks through His servants, including latter-day prophets.

October General Conference

' Bonded to Jesus Christ: Becoming the Salt of the Earth'

Elder Jose A. Teixeira

"When our lives are filled with purpose and servicer, we avoid spiritual apathy; on the other hand, when our lives are deprived of divine purpose, meaningful service to others, and sacred opportunities for pondering and reflection, we gradually become suffocated by our own activity and self-interest, risking losing our savor. The antidote to this is to continue to be involved in service - being anxiously engaged in good works and the betterment of ourselves and the society we live in."

I am trying to get myself on a schedule. Part of that schedule is getting up at 5 am and having my walk and talk with Jesus and Heavenly Father. I have a great daily schedule I just haven't been able to implement it because of my low energy and poor health. I must do better! P.S. I still need a morning nap and that is not on my schedule. 

James needed something scanned today. The scanner on his old printer upstairs isn't working anymore so he came in to use the scanner on our printer in our bedroom. Neither one of us could figure out how to get the scanner to work. My computer is giving me grief. It is slower than sludge. It took me forever to do one blog post.

I read and listened to the talk for my lesson this month, "Burying Our Weapons of Rebellion" by Elder Christofferson. This sentence caught my eye. "Rebellion can be active or passive." Brother Christofferson gives examples of active rebellion: Sherem, Nehor, and Korihor in the Book of Mormon and William W. Phelps in church history. The he says: "Perhaps the more insidious form of rebellion against God is the passive version - ignoring His will in our lives." What really got to me is when further down he talks about caring for our physical body: " Another example concerns our physical being. Paul reminds us that we are to glorify God in both body and spirit and that this body is the temple of the Holy Ghost."

"We have a legitimate interest in spending time caring for our bodies as best we can." This is an area I feel that I can do better in.

The low today was 20 degrees and the high 39. I don't like winter weather here if it's not going to snow. Tom went outside a couple of times today but didn't stay long. 

I moved the Christmas boxes out of the way and Paul Peeler helped James get the old water heater out and put the new one in. I had already taken a shower upstairs with lots of water pressure. 

When the new one was installed James took a shower. He said it was the first hot shower he had in a week. 

James had the last of the scalloped potatoes for lunch today. We had chicken tacos, refried beans and corn for dinner. Yum.

I caught Sammy in the door and now won't come near me. It breaks my heart. I am so sorry Sammy.

Trenda's family

Wilhelm's in a row. 

We love this family!

Paul, Aaron, Gilbert Gonzales

I can't believe how much Paul looks

like Joshua in this picture!

Tuesday, January 7th, 2025: Up @ 5 nap @ 8, Below freezing outside, hot water heater won't light - he's going to buy a new one! Move Christmas boxes for new hot water heater, Fires in LA

Rome, Italy

162nd operating temple

Dedicated: 10 Mar 2019

By: Russell M. Nelson

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 5:7-6:6

Come Follow Me

DC 1 "Hearken O Ye People" 

Introduction to D&C

October General Conference

'Burying Our Weapons of Rebellion'

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

"Perhaps the more insidious form of rebellion against God, however, is the passive version - ignoring His will in our lives. Many who would never consider active rebellion may still oppose the will and word of God by pursuing their own path without regard to divine direction. Certainly in life there is plenty of room for personal preference and individual choice, but when it comes to matters of salvation and eternal life, our theme song ought to be 'I did it God's way,' because truly there is no other way."

I got up at five this morning and took a nap at eight. I just don't have the energy I use to when I got up at four and worked all day. That was a few years ago, when my kids were young. 

It was below freezing outside this morning. Tom went out for a short time but was right back in before too long, following me around. I try to get Sammy to come in but he is afraid. 

James cannot light the pilot on the hot water heater. He makes a couple of calls for help and decides he needs to buy a new water heater. I jump for joy (quietly inside of me). 

It is cold and overcast today. It's snowing in New Mexico and we are praying that it will be here tomorrow. 

Green beans, ham, and scalloped potatoes make a good lunch. Chicken tacos for dinner. 

I did some cleaning, did two blog posts, paid Verizon, and talked to Catherine Halcomb on the phone.

James can't get the old water heater out and the new one in until we move the Christmas boxes that are stored in that room. I guess that's on my agenda for tomorrow. 

James walks, I fall asleep watching a Christmas movie with Tom. 

Lest you be too sad by the fires, here is

something to cheer you up!

Mason

 

Monday, January 6th, 2025: Leave for valley @ 7:40, Tuna sandwich, D's sunglasses dropoff, AARA, Longhorn Steakhouse - oops, Lois & Dawn's, Armando @ Hatch's,

 

Barranquilla, Columbia

161st operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Dec 2018

By: Dallin H. Oaks

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 4:20-5:6

Come Follow Me

Jan 6-12: "Hearken, O Ye People" D&C 1

Introduction

October General Conference

'Following Christ'

President Dallin H. Oaks

" In the Book of Mormon, the Lord gave us the fundamentals in what He called 'the doctrine of Christ.' These are faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end, and becoming as a little child, which means to trust the Lord and submit to all He requires of us."

We left for the valley at 7:40 this morning and left Tom in the house. We went the Globe way because they don't do blasting on Monday. Burger House isn't open on Monday either so my desire for a Tony's breakfast burrito went unheeded. We did stop at our Circle K just outside of Superior and shared a tuna sandwich. Good, but a poor substitute for Tony's breakfast burrito.

Our first stop was at Darrel & Trina's. We dropped off Darrel's sunglasses that he left at the cabin. No one was home to we told him we would put them in one of the planters by the door. As we were leaving their neighborhood, we saw Addy out on her run. She didn't see us. 

On to AARA for my infusion, arriving 15 minutes early as planned.

Alicia put in my infusion and also took lots of blood samples as she says this is my yearly panel. My Orencia infusion only takes 30 minutes. Frances scheduled appointments for me up through April 30th.

Darrel & Trina gave us two gift cards for Christmas. One was for Jersey Mike's and the other for Texas Roadhouse. I failed to look at the gift cards and I had it in my mind that the one was for Longhorn Steakhouse so I Googled the closest one and away we went. The restaurant was located adjacent to the old Fiesta Mall on Alma School between Southern and Baseline. It is sad to see that Fiesta Mall is now just a big pile of rubble. I wonder what they plan on doing with the area.

Imagine my embarrassment when I realized I had directed James to the wrong restaurant. He was very nice about it and said he would pay with the business card since we will do business while we are here.

I had a filet, baked potato, a salad, and their delicious bread. James had 1/2 rack of ribs. The food was great and the atmosphere peaceful and quiet. A nice reprieve in our travels.

After satisfying our appetites we went on to visit James's mom and Dawn. Their amaryllis are blooming and look beautiful. I guess it's because the sunshine down here is warmer than it is in Vernon.

Dawn gave me a blue jacket and James got a red windbreaker. They wanted to give us more candy but we declined. 

After a nice visit we met Armando at Hatch's. He is behind on his work and Greg Hatch is a little frustrated. Part of the problem is President Hatch's tenant who asks Armando to do extra things and then tells him to get paid from Dr. Hatch. 

James wanted to go to the cleaners in Chandler where he has had pants hemmed before. He wanted them to fix a zipper in one of his jackets, they said they couldn't. He thought he brought a suit for them to clean, but he had forgotten the pants. I guess we will have to come back next time. It costs way too much to get dry cleaning done in Show Low.

Next stop, Deseret Book in Gilbert to spend my $50 gift card. I bought a "Come Follow Me" journal edition manual. I bought the newest volume of The Saints, Volume 4, and two garment bottoms. This left me with about $17 left on my card to spend on our next trip down.

We stopped for gas and a Polar Pop at a Circle K on Signal Butte and then again at the McDonald's in Globe for a potty break. We were home by 7:15. Tom seemed happy to see us, not elated, but happy. 

James walks while I watch TV on my recliner with Tom by my side. 

When it was time to go to bed Tom decided he wanted to go outside. He was back in at 1:30.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum, an oasis

in the desert. We drive past here when

we go the Globe way to the valley.

Trina took this picture on one of her hikes.

It reminds me of the rock formations we

see going through Superior Canyon.

Enjoying a nap with his mom

Sunday, January 5th, 2025: Barely enough hot water for a shower, in the 20's this morning, Church is sparsely attended, John Wilhelm teaches Sunday School, Testimonies, chicken tacos, J,K,Ch made it home safely, Theola Crawford passes away

 

Concepcion, Chile

160th operating temple

Dedicated: 28 Oct 2018

By: Russell M. Nelson

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 4:1-19

Come Follow Me

"The heavens are open."

Talk: "The Blessing of Continuing Revelation to Prophets and Personal Revelation to Guide Our Lives" Elder Quentin L. Cook,

April General Conference 2020

October General Conference

'Trusting Our Father'

Elder David P. Homer

"At all times, it is helpful to remember Alma's teaching that God gives His word according to the attention and effort we devote to it. If we heed God's word, we will receive more; if we ignore His counsel, we will receive less and less until we have none. This loss of knowledge does not mean that the truth was wrong; rather, it shows that we have lost the capacity to understand it."

'God Loves All His Children'

Elder Gregorio E. Casillas

" President Nelson taught, 'In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior's power that the world has ever seen.'"

It was in the 20's this morning. I barely had enough hot water for a shower. Thankfully James took his last night. 

There were lots of people missing from church today, including Bishop Hunsaker and his family who are in the valley to participate in priesthood ordinations of two grandsons.

Today was fast and testimony meeting. We are praying that our three grandsons, Rowan, Joshua, and Evan are preparing to serve missions.

Here are the testimonies shared in our ward:

Chris Skousen - Had pneumonia for two weeks at Christmas time and missed all of his family's holiday celebrations. I felt my Savior's love. I know God lives and that the Book of Mormon is true.

Lorraine Vaught - Tomorrow is the 57th anniversary of my baptism. One of my greatest challenges is not having the priesthood in my home. I have gone in and out of activity but never lost my testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Challenges make us stronger.

Paula Johnson - Everyday we should be getting closer in our actions to returning to Heavenly Father. We need church, we need each other. I am grateful to those who helped the couple in need that I told about on Facebook. The response was tremendous. We have some good people here in Vernon.

Chimi Tesarek (Young woman) - I always ask myself the question, "What would Jesus do?" when I have a decision to make.

Owen Peeler - I remember the solemn assembly when President Kimball was sustained as the prophet. He spoke for three hours.

Quote from President McKay: "Consciousness of victory over self."

I feast upon the Book of Mormon daily. Heavenly Father is real, Jesus Christ is our Savior, Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is true. Spiritual experiences transport us into the realm of the Book of Mormon.

Tom Peralta - I love my daily walk with Christ. I try to emulate the Savior everyday. Drugs take you away from the Savior. Bore testimony, mentioned George Wallace and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Winna Ulmer - Thanked Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for her blessings. Expressed gratitude. Winna raised her three granddaughters, Hailey, Hope, and Heaven. Now she is raising two great grandsons who belong to Hailey. Hailey's mom, Winna's daughter is helping her.

John Wilhelm, the Sunday School President was the gospel doctrine teacher taking Jimmy Applegate's place. He taught by asking a series of questions and having us answer them.

What stood out to you this week in this lesson?

* Matching New Testament scriptures with those in the D&C help to strengthen my testimony.

* Restoration Proclamation

* Faith comes through obedience

* What Church to join, none are true, a Restoration was needed and Priesthood authority.

* Ask and you shall receive.

* The Restoration is ongoing. Am I sleeping through it? Personal and prophetic revelation.

* Brother Scott was 25 years old when he was baptized. "I couldn't walk away from it."

* The Heavens are open - continuing revelation.

* Go to the temple to redeem the dead.

* Do family history work.

* The Spirit conveys the truth to us and to others.

* We need personal revelation to survive the times in which we live. RMN

* The Restoration is to prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

We had our afternoon naps and then we broke our fast. I made chicken tacos. Finally. They were very tasty.

After lunch I worked on my blog. Tom is staying inside because it is so cold outside. 

Theola Crawford passed away today. She would have been 100 years old on February 12th.  Reed Brown, her son, posted about her death on Facebook.

I made a To Do list for this week and it is very long. Time to get back in to the swing of things. Hopefully my health allows me to do so. 

Here are some of my goals for the new year:

1. Get rid of clutter and organize my home.

2. Fill out needed paperwork in my Nokbox, Next of Kin box.

3. Attend the temple 2x a month.

4. Consistently work on family history.

5. Be more missionary minded.

6. Lose 20 lbs.

One of the things we are doing this week is going to the temple with our friends Willy and Janna Grombach.

 

Scarlett

Charlie on the plane ride home.

Vernon Sunrise

Happy Sabbath!

Charlie and Mason

 

Saturday, January 4th, 2025: Kim & Brian leave, Kim's cake for brkfst, Uzzle w/ Charlie, Picture w/ Charlie, Donut puzzle, Goodbye to J,K, Ch, Sheri babysits & Mesa Temple, we go to dump and town, water heater still not fixed

 

Cedar City, Utah

159th operating temple

Dedicated: 10 Dec 2017

By: Henry B. Eyring

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 3:9-31

Come Follow Me

"The Promised Restoration Goes Forward"

October General Conference

'This Is My Gospel - This Is My Church'

Elder Dale G. Renlund

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enables access to God's power because it is authorized by Him both to teach the doctrine of Christ and to offer  the gospel's saving and exalting ordinances. The Savior yearns to forgive our sins, help us access His power, and transform us. He suffered for our sins and longs to pardon us from the punishment that we otherwise would deserve. He wants us to become holy and be perfected in Him. Jesus Christ has the power to do this. He didn't simply sympathize with our imperfections and lament our eternal condemnation in consequence of sin. No, He went beyond that, infinitely beyond that, and restored His Church to enable access to His power."

Kim and Brian left around 8 o'clock this morning. James had lit the pilot light on the hot water heater so I asked Kim is she took a shower. Her comment was: "No, I will just wait until I get home." She wasn't chancing the water would be cold. One cold shower in a week is enough.

Love these two so much!

 Some of us had Kim's cake for breakfast. It is still delicious!

Kacey and Charlie slept in James's office last night because Kacey liked the bed better than the one in my office where they had been sleeping. Early this morning sawdust fell down from one of the logs right on Kacey and Charlie who was still sleeping. How embarrassing. Another indication that we need to dust our logs. We are also going to put a fogger in that room in case there are any ants.

Jared finished his 500 piece donut puzzle only to find out that one of the pieces was missing. So frustrating. I'm not going to throw the puzzle away though.

I finally got to play Uzzle with Charlie, making up our own rules. We had a good time. Jared played with her too.

Uzzle 

Before leaving for the valley Kacey asked if she could take a picture of us with Charlie. Luckily I had cleaned up and done my hair.

We love this little girl!

We are excited that Jared & Kacey are going to the valley and will go to a session in the Mesa temple. It will be Kacey's first time. Sheri is going to watch Charlie. Stacy & Paul were going to go with Jared & Kacey to the temple but they are both very sick. Something Jared Ammon passed on to his family.

Thank you for coming, we loved having you here!

Come again soon!

 After saying goodbye to Jared and his family, James and I decided to do our errands right now, while we were both ready. Chuck has had pneumonia for awhile and is in bed today. We asked Kathy if we could go to the dump for her and she said yes, give me about 30 minutes to get everything ready. While we were waiting for Kathy James and I read our Book of Mormon and part of the Come Follow Me lesson. Kathy gave us $5 which helped with the $8 dump charge. After the dump we went to look for 40 N8172 as James got specific directions from the person who owns the property and wants James to pour him a floor.  We followed the directions exactly and we found the secluded lot. We would have never found it on our own because the numbers Apache county assigns these roads does not make any sense. Someone named Matt Davis had a piece of equipment and was working there. When James told him the difficulty we had finding the place he said don't use Google of MapQuest. He said to go to the Apache County Assessor's website. Good to know.

On to Walmart. James picks up his Tramadol prescription along with $35 worth of over the counter drugs. I bought everything on my list except lightbulbs. We will either have to get them at Home Depot or order them from Amazon. 

On the way home we stopped at the post office to pick up our mail. I looked for my antelope but they were hiding somewhere. 

Tom and I had a rest time. I did finish washing the sheets for upstairs, now I need to do the towels. I worked on my blog and then texted a little with Sheri. Charlie wanted to go in the quiet booth at the visitors center to read scriptures.

We came to the visitor's center to meet up with Jared & Kacey. 

We went to the Chandler mall and visited Sees Candy, Barnes and Noble and Scheels, then we walked the dogs, then we came to the visitor center. I got her some dark chocolate and chapter books for the flight home. 

Scheels

The park by Sheri's house

Mesa temple

Mesa visitor's center

Salt River, on the way back to the valley

from Vernon

No trip to Arizona is complete without

a stop at Burger House!

Charlie and Aunt Sheri

Friday, January 3rd, 2025: Thrift shopping w/ Jared, Kacey, Charlie & James, Lunch @ The House, Willow Tree, Smore in the firepit, Lite Brite, "The Way Home" episode one season three

 

Meridian, Idaho

158th operating temple

Dedicated: 19 Nov 2017

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 2:16-3:8

Come Follow Me

The Promised Restoration goes forward.

October General Conference

'God's Favorite'

Elder Karl D. Hirst

" So if someone we care about seems distant from a sense of divine love, we can follow this pattern - by doing things that bring us closer to God ourselves and then doing things that bring us closer to them - an unspoken beckoning to come to Christ."

Happy 76th birthday to Cathi Lambson. We love you!

I took a fairly hot shower, Brian took a warm shower and Kim took a cold shower. The pilot light on the water heater is out again. 

Today James and I went thrift shopping with Jared, Kacey, and Charlie while Kim and Brian stayed at the cabin and took down all the Christmas decorations. I am so grateful to them!

Our first stop on the thrift store trail that Janna Grombach mapped out for us was at Sweet Potatoes. Janna says they aren't really a thrift store but they have some neat stuff. She was right. They have mostly home furnishings and we found some things we really liked but of course we didn't buy anything. Next door was the Safe House Thrift Shop where all all proceeds go to a woman's shelter. We looked again, but didn't buy.

Next we stopped at Cottage and Cabin in Wagon Wheel. It was small but had some cute things. The only thing we walked out the door with was a free candy cane for Charlie. She is saving it for her hot chocolate when she gets back to the cabin.

We drove on into Lakeside to the Veteran's Village Thrift Shop. Everything was 50% off because it sounds like they are going out of business. There was nothing in this store that attracted my eye and I honestly was happy to leave. I just kept remembering that this was where Janna got her beautiful couch.

Back to Show Low for something to eat because Charlie was hungry. We were going to go to Darbi's in Pinetop but it was after 2:00 and they close at 2:30. We went to The House in Show Low instead.

The House is right behind KFC in Show Low on Hall St., across the street from the old Willis residence. It's kind of a specialty burger joint. Kacey, Jared, and Charlie and I all like burgers so it was a good place to eat. They have chicken and that's what James got. We were going to pay, but Jared ended up paying for us. Thank you Jared.

Our order went something like this:

Jared - House Burger - 8 oz beef patty with roasted poblano chili, pepper jack cheese, and friend onion strings with chipotle aioli. Also came with green chili slaw. (I think)

Kacey - The Meltdown - Pepper Jack, cheddar, and Havarti cheese, with bacon, tomato, baby greens with a burger patty on sourdough bread.

Charlie - Kids cheeseburger and homemade potato chips - Charlie likes her burgers with cheese, tomato, and mustard and that's it!

James - Pickled Chicken with two dipping sauces.

Me - Pigs N Fritz - Sweet corn fritters, pulled pork on a bed of green chili slaw with bacon crumbles and diced tomato with green chili aioli. 

I've got to remember that they serve their meals in a box, everything piled on top of each other and sort of mushed together. I ate my corn fritters and part of the pulled pork, which needed BBQ sauce, and saved the rest for later. 

James's chicken was good. You could really taste the dill pickle juice.

Next time I am going to get what Kacey got, The Meltdown. She said it was delicious. Jared liked his burger too. We ate outside in the yard. It was a little chilly and Charlie kept going over to sit by the fire.

After we finished eating, we crossed the street and went to The Willow Tree Store which is in Terry Whipple's old house. Kacey and I both loved it. This was our favorite stop, even though it is not a thrift store but more like a boutique. I bought a pair of red heart shaped earrings. They still had their Christmas stuff out and Kacey bought a wooden nativity. Charlie loved looking at the books. So cute! Definitely going to come back.

I talked to Janna later and she said we missed some of her favorite stops: The Red Door, Hopeful Treasures, and Dog House Thrift. Next time or maybe when Trina comes up.

Back at home I asked if I should fix some chicken tacos, something I've been going to do since Kacey and Jared got here, but everyone said they weren't hungry. I came in and took a nap and I guess while I was sleeping Jared, Kacey, and Charlie played Five Crowns. Charlie says she loves it.  Oh, I forgot to mention that Charlie gives the sweetest prayers. She blessed the food last night and it warmed my heart.

Kim and Brian were inside when I got up from my nap and Kacey, Jared, Charlie, and James were all outside around the firepit keeping cozy by the fire. Charlie had some hot chocolate and was sticking her candy cane in it. She also asked if we could do 'smores, which we did. She said her mom and dad don't really like them, but she does. We talked by the fire for quite a while. It was very relaxing. I almost caught my new house slippers on fire. Kacey pointed out to me that smoke was coming from one of them. 

Kim played Lite Brite with Charlie again. They did all the six pictures that came with the set. Kim is very patient with Charlie and Charlie was giggling most of the time. I came over to the family room while everyone else was by the fireplace and watched the first episode of season 3 of "The Way Home." Jacob is finally back in the 21st century.

Charlie petting Luna

Forgot this one at the temple.

Kacey's post

Charlie and her kitty, Mae