Saturday, April 5th, 2025: Three sessions of General Conference, chicken stirfry for lunch, snow off and on all day, dump & Dollar General, plumbing problems, two Hallmark movies

 

Hong Kong, China

48th operating temple

Dedicated: 26 May 1996

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 2:9-27

Come Follow Me

D&C 29:36-50

Jesus Christ redeems us from the Fall.

Why we need a Savior.

People, Places, Events

April General Conference

'My Love for the Savior Is My "Why'"

Ricardo P. Giminez

"The more we can connect the reason with our love for the Savior, the more we will be able to receive what we need or are seeking."

It snowed off and on all day today. James and I were inside watching conference. There were three sessions today. I watched all three. James missed part of the third session because he was outside working on getting the clog out of the sewer line. Still, no luck. We can't use the washer or the hall bathroom.

For lunch we made chicken stirfry. It was quite delicious and nutritious. 

All we have to do is add the 

chicken and sauce.

James went to the dump today and also to Dollar General to get me some drinks. For the afternoon session of General Conference Tom slept by me. I love it when he does that. 

This evening James and I watched the next installment of "Hearts Around the Table, Joshua's Third Serving." I also watched a new British mystery series on Hallmark Plus called "Rosemary & Thyme."

195th Annual General Conference

Saturday Morning Session

Saturday Afternoon Session

Saturday Evening Session

Friday, April 4th, 2025: Winter wonderland, Tom depressed, Felt a little better, but not much, "Live Up To You Privileges", caught up on my blog, Gathering..., James's trip to town, fire, Reels.. Penny the Talking Cat

 

Bountiful, Utah

47th operating temple

Dedicated: 8 Jan 1995

By: Howard W. Hunter

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 1:15-2:8

Come Follow Me

D&C 29:31-35

"All Things Unto Me Are Spiritual"

2 Nephi 9:39

April General Conference

'The Atonement of Jesus Christ Provides the Ultimate Rescue'

Elder Quentin L. Cook

"As we turn to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, He rescues us from the storms of life through His Atonement."

Today was a winter wonderland, at least for awhile. Tom is a little depressed because it is so wet, muddy, and cold outside.

I wonder what he's dreaming about

I studied from my book, "Live Up To Our Privileges" by Wendy Ulrich. I love this quote by the prophet Joseph Smith given at the first Relief Society meeting held in Nauvoo, Illinois:

"It is natural for females to have feelings of charity - you are now placed in a situation where you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms. If you live up to these principles how great and glorious! If you live up to your privileges, angels cannot be restrained from being your associates - females, if they are pure and innocent can come into the presence of God."

I am excited for conference this weekend. I don't have any questions to bring to conference like Charlie but I could use inspiration that conference always brings. 

I caught up on my blog today. We are studying D&C 29 this week in "Come Follow Me." We listened to "Follow Him" on the way to the valley on Wednesday which gave us a background into the lesson. The Gathering of Israel is a major focus of the lesson as is the Plan of Salvation. Also, little children are redeem through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

James went to town to get rebar today. He will be pouring a patio for the Beach's next week. 

I am getting tired of protein shakes. I need some high-protein recipes. I wish I liked tuna a little more than I do.

I love having a fire in the fireplace when it's cold and snowy outside. James likes to build fires before we go to bed. He says it keep the house warm all night long.

Ruby won the mile, again.

Thursday, April 3rd, 2025: Snow on the ground this morning, I am miserable & slept most of the day, I get up & do a few chores, Tom slept most of the day from his night out, James does office work and then makes a trip to town for soup & soda for me, "This Above All"

 

Orlando, Florida

46th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Oct 1994

By: Howard W. Hunter

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 1:1-14

Come Follow Me

"A Witness of God"

April General Conference

Third talk

There was snow on the ground this morning when I looked outside. Later it melted, but then more came down. We are grateful for the moisture. 

I am miserable. I slept most of the day on my recliner chair in the bedroom. After taking some pain pills I got up and did a couple of chores. 

Tom slept most of the day because he was out so late last night. Besides, he doesn't like to be outside when it is cold and wet. He slept on the recliner with me for quite awhile. 

James was busy doing office work most of the day. This evening he made a trip to town just for me. He bought me some hot & sour soup and a DPZ Polar Pop. The soup and soda felt so good on my sore throat.

James and I are both racing through our latest Regency romance book, "This Above All." I was actually a head of him in my reading so he asked if he could walk with my book to catch up.

I studied from my book, "Forgiving What You Can't Forget." The woman who wrote this book, Lysa Terkeurst, is not LDS but she has a lot of spiritual insight and knows the only way to be happy in certain situations is to turn them over to the Lord. She says, Forgiveness is the only step that leads to anything good. The peace from forgiveness is more satisfying than revenge."

This is from a woman who was sexually abused as a child, had her father leave as a child, a drunk driver ran into their home and they had to cancel her 9th birthday party. Her one and only sibling, a younger sister whom she was very close to died, lightning struck her car, she got hit by a golf ball on the golf course, and her husband cheated on her. These are just a few things she has endured, things that have ultimately made her stronger. I admire her so much.

Mason checking out the Wheat Thins

Apache Junction: Two bobcats in a

Saguaro cactus

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025: 7:30 Leave for valley, smoke or clouds, AARA, Costco, Kim's, Lien release for DJ, Chili's, Kim home, Burned home in hood w/ Armando, Sheri's - dry cleaning, Salvador, Homeward bound to Tom

 

San Diego, California

45th operating temple

Dedicated: 25 April 1993

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Book of Mormon

Words of Mormon 1:1-18

Come Follow Me

D&C 29:1-28

Jesus Christ invites me to help gather His people before His Second Coming.

Video: The Gong's

April 2025 General Conference

Talk #2

We left for the valley at 7:30 leaving Tom asleep in his chair and Sammy with plenty of food and water. Of course Tom had food and water too in the house.

We went the Payson way and I noticed the dead trees, so sad. It's because of bark beetles who attack trees who need water.  We also saw what we thought was smoke from a fire but actually only turned out to be clouds, thank goodness.

Looks like smoke but it turned out to be a cloud

We arrived at AARA at 10:53 for my 11:15 appointment. Amanda took me right back. She put in the port and took some blood before Renata, a registered nurse came over and started my Orencia infusion. Ang is in Portugal on vacation. I hope she is having fun. Frances has new glasses. They are big for her small face but she looks cute in them.

James waited for me outside because I was only inside about 35-40 minutes. He walked and read from "The Life of Lucien Maxwell."

When I came out we went across the street to Costco. James needs to get his Acai juice and pomegranate juice. I only had 3 things on my lift: protein waffles, Harry Potter popcorn, and Swiffer duster replacement heads. I was disappointed because I could not find any of these things. I did find a new foam mat for our kitchen and that was it.

After coming out of Costco we headed for Chandler to pick up Kim for lunch. Darryl Johnson kept calling James about releasing the lien now that the money he sent is actually in our account. When we got to Kim's James went in and used their computer to run off the form he needed. Kim and I went with him to the UPS store where someone notorized his signature and he sent the form to Darryl Johnson and to Titan Lien. Now maybe Darryl will leave us alone for awhile. His wife, Leigh Ann is supposed to send us $2,600 for the money we loaned them to get their car out of hawk. Hopefully she will honor her commitment but for some reason I doubt it.

I wanted to go to Chili's for lunch where we could get a protein packed meal. Both Kim and I are on a low-carb diet. We both ordered steaks, Kim got the sirloin and I got a ribeye, with asparagus and plain mashed potatoes. James got the brisket quesadilla.

James took 3 pieces in a takeout box and gave

them to Kim to give to Brian. He also ate

Kim's potatoes and I saved mine for him and he 

had them for breakfast on Thursday with some eggs

in the form of a potato patty.

I got my steak medium well and Kim got

hers well-done.

We took Kim home and then met Armando at a house on Palm Lane that has lots of fire damage. The insurance company had already paid the owner over $200,000. This is a job that Salvador found and he will probably be doing a lot of the work. He needs to use James's contractor's license so that's why James is involved. James says we could make up to $20,000 doing very little work. I suppose any work our company does will be done by Armando.

Sheri was at her house because the AC repairmen were looking at her AC. I guess it's under warranty and they are putting in a new motor. Sheri picked up some dry cleaning for us so we picked it up and said hi to her. James also stopped to talk to Salvador who lives in Gail's old house, about the job on Palm Lane.

We went home the Payson way. There is supposed to be some rain or snow but it was nothing like last time, this time it was a very small amount. 

I was chilled, had a sneezy, runny nose, a sore throat and a cough, I immediately changed my clothes and climbed under my cozy blanket on the bedroom recliner where I can sit up and not cough so much. I finished watching "Wicked" on my phone, took some meds, and went to sleep. I think I may have also had a protein shake.

Tom was happy to see us when we got home. He couldn't decided if he wanted in or out. He finally decides to stay outside. I let him in when I got up to go to the bathroom at 1 a.m.

The perfect addition

So true. I had a dress like the girl in the

front row, far left. Socks with dress shoes too.

Tuesday, April 1st, 2025: So tired, slept in, Beach's, wind blew hard, lunch, town - bloodwork, gas, Taco Bell, Hatch Concrete, clean floor & baseboards, new book, ""This Above All"

 

Toronto, Ontario

44th operating temple

Dedicated: 25 Aug 1990

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Book of Mormon

Omni 1:12-30

Come Follow Me

D&C 29

Heavenly Father has a plan for the salvation of His children.

Topics & Questions, "Plan of Salvation" Gospel Library

April General Conference

So tired that I slept in until seven. James had to go to Beach's to strip forms. We said family prayer and waited to read from the Book of Mormon and "Come Follow Me" until this evening. 

The wind blew hard today, so hard I decided not to visit my mom's grave. I will do it when the wind quits blowing so hard.

James came home for lunch. I fixed BLT's and heated up some of Brian's pasta fagioli soup without the pasta. After lunch we made a trip to town. We deposited some cash into the business account so James could pay Beach's concrete bills. Johnson's deposit is pending until April 9th. I guess because it is an out of state bank, I don't know, but Daryl is not going to be happy.

I got my bloodwork done at Sonora Quest. This girl, Jeanne MacKey

was so good, I didn't feel a thing. I wish they were that good at Arizona Arthritis. The purpose for the bloodwork is to check my thyroid. 

We got gas for our trip to the valley tomorrow. James also bought me a drink. After being off diet drinks for over a month I felt desperate for one today. It tasted so good on my dry throat. 

We drove through Taco Bell. I got my standard two tacos while James was more adventurous and tried the new steak street chalupas. They were okay. His favorite things was the crispy cheese on the outside of the shell. 

On the way out of town we stopped at Hatch Concrete to pay our bill. We had a difficult time finding someone to pay. James handed the check to a guy with a long beard named Aaron, just for the record. 

Back at home James cleaned out his truck while I cleaned the wood floors and baseboards in the family room. Well, at least I got a start. Every baseboard in the house needs to have Liquid Gold put on it.

We had scriptures and James walked and listened to our new book, "This Above All" by Dana LeCheminant. Tom played with Pinky#2 and pulled his eyes off. I am feeling more energetic after drinking my DPZ.

Notes & Quotes

"In a world filled with contention and division, where civil discourse has been replaced with judgment and scorn, and friendships are defined by -isms and-ites, I have come to know that there is a clear, simple, and divine example we can look to for unity, love, and belonging. That example is Jesus Christ. I testify that He is the great unifier."

Amy Lemmerman's dad

Nita Holta & Pam Giles 2023

Monday, March 31st, 2025: Anniversary of my Mom's death - Stacy always remembers, Kim & Brian leave, James pours concrete, Deposit from DJ's dad, Dr. Brady,

Las Vegas, Nevada

43rd operating temple

Dedicated: 16 Dec 1989

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Book of Mormon

Omni 1:1-11

Come Follow Me

Mar 31-Apr 6: "Jesus Christ Will Gather His People"

D&C 29 Introduction

October General Conference

'The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again'

President Russell M. Nelson

"The best is yet to come, my dear brothers and sisters, because the Savior is coming again! the best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ."

I dropped my phone under the recliner this morning and I had to wait until James got up to help me get it out. Tom had jumped up on me around 4 for pet and purr. 

James left around 6 to pour concrete at the Beach's. He says T-Bo wants to help him but James says he really doesn't need him but doesn't want to hurt his feelings. So T-Bo came and James ended up being grateful. Some of the forms "blew-out" and T-Bo was there to help him was everyone else was working on getting the concrete out. T-Bo has a heart condition and James sent him home after he was there for a couple of hours. The pour turned out well and Anthony, the finisher who called at 3:45 this morning saying his truck broke down, made it to the Beach's before James did. Chris Pronger and Paul Peeler were also there. 

As important as a concrete pour is, this wasn't the important story of the day. Daryl Johnson's dad is visiting Daryl and says he has the money to pay $14,500 of the $21,000 Daryl owes us. James said he would release the lien if they paid the $14, 500. Daryl's dad wrote the check and Sheri met them, picked it up, and deposited it in James's account. I looked and it is pending. I think they can cancel the deposit for up to three days after the deposit is made so we are not in the clear yet. I guess the reason Daryl had his dad pay us is because the owners finally locked him out of the building. Daryl's wife, LeeAnn says she will pay the $2,600 they borrowed to get their car out of hawk. 

I got a call from Dennis, my brother today. He said he was coming home from seeing his doctor, Dr. Brady, and was wondering if I still wanted to get in to see him? I said yes, both James and I were looking for a new doctor. He said he spoke with Dr. Brady and the doctor said he would take me as a patient, even though the front office says he is not taking any new patients. I called and got an appointment for May 1st. Yay! Thank you Dennis!

As for accomplishments for the day they were nil. My eating was off, I was tired and that translated into being lazy. I was a lazy rebel. On a more exciting note I did get an Amazon package today. I got my new Sunday shoes, which I love, my night cream, and my eye mister. 

Stacy texted me, as she does every year, on the date of my mother's death. She always remembers and I am grateful. I want to visit my mother's grave and I also want to do my mom and dad's temple sealing very soon so I can be sealed to them.

Notes & Quotes

And, as it is written - Whatsoever ye shall ask in faith, being united in prayer according to my command, ye shall receive.