Bern, Switzerland
9th operating temple
Dedicated: 11-15 Sept 1955
By: David O. McKay
Book of Mormon
2 Nephi 18:1-22
Come Follow Me
D&C 18:1-5
"Build up my church."
October General Conference
'Simple is the Doctrine of Jesus Christ'
President Henry B. Eyring
"As we do our best to teach those we love about the doctrine of Jesus Christ, some may still not respond. Doubts may creep into your ind. You might question whether you know the Savior's doctrine well enough to teach it effectively. And if you've already made attempts to teach it, you may wonder why the positive effects aren't more visible. Don't give in to those doubts. Turn to God for help. 'Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; ... let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.'"
Up at 4:17 thanks to Tom. We are leaving for the valley around 7:30. It was actually closer to 8 when we left. James went back to get some consecrated oil because Sheri asked for a blessing and he wasn't sure if it was for a health blessing or not.
Tom was asleep on his chair at the high table so we left him in the house with lots of food. I also left lots of food for Sammy. Harry hasn't been back since James too food away from him.
We met Erik at American Leadership Academy high school, applied technologies on Pecos and Sossaman. We dropped off the trailer and Razr. Thanks Erik for letting us park the trailer here.
From Erik's we went to Sheri's work to pick her up and take her to lunch. We took her car, which is so nice and clean, and went to Cafe Rio. Sheri wanted to try Pear Bistro but she thought it looked too busy.
It's taco Tuesday at Cafe Rio, which means tacos are $2.69 instead of $5.29, almost half price. Sheri saved us a table while James and I got in line. It was quite a long line. Sheri and I both ordered sweet pork tacos. Sheri also asked for a large drink and chips with queso, which she shared with us. James ordered a fire-grilled chicken tostado. We both got lemonade drinks, James flavored with mango and mine with strawberry.
Sheri told us about Dallin's company, Clear, merging with TSA and as a result, Dallin losing his job. She said it wasn't really his fault but company politics.
Sheri, Ben, Cayli, Max, Michael, and Joe are leaving for Italy on Thursday.
We went back to Sheri's office, which was closed for lunch. We went into one of the exam rooms and James gave Sheri a blessing. She said the problem is she just feels empty inside and hopeless about her kids every living the gospel. I could not hear James's blessing but Sheri seemed happy with it afterwards as she gave him a hug.
As we were leaving the parking lot we saw Ben & Cayli coming back from lunch so we stopped to talk with them for a few minutes and wished them a fun and exciting trip.
Our next stop was Kim & Brian's where we dropped off Joe's birthday card and picked up a piece of his birthday cake. Mmmm, delicious!
After Kim & Brian's we went to Stacy's to drop off Adam's birthday card, get a piece of her birthday cake and to give her some Tramadol for her back.
Stacy's cake is a vanilla cake with almond frosting and it was my favorite. James liked the frosting too. The nice thing about going to Stacy's is the dogs did not bark at us. Maybe they remembered us staying with them back in December and were a little more tolerant of us.
On to Lois and Dawn's. Dawn was gone teaching and Rebecca was there with her mom and Rebecca answered the door. Did I mention that it's 90 degrees here in the Valley of the Sun on this beautiful February day?
Lois told us about Tim's 15 year old daughter Valerie. Sheri had already told us most of it as she and Kim visited with Lois on Sunday. Valerie got a bad case of strep throat. The she got septis and her organs began to shut down. They immediately air-vacked her to a bigger hospital. James texted Tim and this is what he said:
"Thanks for checking Jim. They took her off the ventilator today and are in the process of trying to wake her up, She is still delirious and on some oxygen, but this has been a huge step forward."
We are praying for her. I can't imagine something like this happening to our Ruby who is 15.
Dawn came home from teaching and we got to visit with her a few minutes. She told us how to get to Aunt Faye's. Aunt Faye lives at Fellowship Square on Main in Mesa just east of Power on the south side of the road. We met Aunt Faye in the lobby around 4:15. We went back to the dining room and ordered our food and gave our orders to our waitress whose name was Darlyn. We all got the brisket on Texas toast with peas, mashed potatoes, and a salad with Italian dressing. We all had lemon water to drink and Aunt Faye had iced tea. For dessert lemon cake with ice cream.
After dinner we went up to Aunt Faye's apartment in building 4, the third floor, room 4372. Her dog Toby had his head sticking between the balcony railing watching us come from the dining area across the patio to come upstairs. Aunt Faye was on her scooter, James, myself, and the security guard walking. He had to unlock doors for us because Aunt Faye forgot her key.
Toby is a very energetic 4 year old part poodle, the rest of him a mixture, dog. We visited for awhile as James played with Toby.
Aunt Faye's favorite color is red. Red drapes, a red wall in the dining area and in her bedroom. She showed us family pictures, one with Lois as a teenager that I would love to have a copy of.
We gave Aunt Faye a hug and said goodbye to Toby. Aunt Faye is lonely in spite of having friends here. I am so glad we made this visit. On to Darrel & Trina's where we are staying.
Darrel, Trina, Ruby and Lola were at home and helped us to bring in our stuff. They were just finishing up dinner. I sat down and visited. Ruby was working on her chemistry homework. Darrel wasn't much help because he said he couldn't remember the concept she was working on. He had a sore shoulder and was using the Tenzi on it. I mentioned YouTube. Darrel said to Google the answer and you may find out how to work it. Ruby is getting ready for track season to start this week. She can run a mile at 5.36.
Trina told a story about Lola. She said when she was little she didn't like to go to church and she would say, "I don't want to go to church, I don't want to go to church,...sorry Jesus."
Lola also had a lot of warts on her hands. I told her when I was in high school I had 17 warts on my hand that the doctor burned off. Trina said they had already tried that. Poor Lola. Lola takes dance classes and her recitals are coming up.
Rowan got home from work where he was washing bouncy houses and balls. He also went to see a friend open his missionary calling. Rowan has 16 Suns jerseys hanging from his bedroom wall and three guitars. I picked out my two favorite jerseys but forgot to take pictures of them. Thank you Rowan for letting us stay in your room.
Darrel had drained their pool and Trina is afraid the plaster is going to crack. Darrel says it's fine and he will fill the pool up on Saturday. He told about the last time Rowan took the truck to the cabin something was wrong when he got back. They took the truck in and the mechanic said it looked like some kind of an animal had chewed some wires in two. That's what happens when you bring your car/truck to the country. At least there is a chance of it happening.
Trina had a stuffy nose and she kept apologizing for being sick and not knowing she was sick. I told her I have stuffy noses all of the time. She was doing her homework to finish her bachelor's of nursing degree so she can become a nurse practitioner.
James walked to Safeway and spent $52.00. I can't complain because half of what he got was for me. He went up to bed when he got home. This was before 10. I wanted to wait for Addy to get home from work at Firehouse Sub. I thought she would be home a little after 10. When I mentioned this to Trina she said she wouldn't be home until 10:45. I went to bed without seeing Addy hoping I would see her in the morning.
Darrel turned on the AC for us because it was 86 degrees. Once it cooled down the AC went off. I turned on the fan in Rowan's room and the room temp was very comfortable.
We met all of these incredible family members today and I got no pictures. I'm just too forgetful!
Notes & Quotes
"If the love we feel for the Savior and what He did for us is greater than the energy we give to weaknesses, self-doubts, or bad habits, then He will help us overcome the things which cause suffering in our lives. He saves us from ourselves.
Let me reemphasize: if the pull of the world is stronger than the faith and trust we have in the Savior, then the pull of the world will prevail every time. If we choose to focus on our negative thoughts and doubt our worth instead of clinging to the Savior, it becomes more difficult to feel the impressions of the Holy Ghost."
- Sister Joy D. Jones
Not much snow, but it's a start
