Friday, July 22, 2016

Havasupi Falls

Alma 37:11-25

12 - These records are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God.

13 - Remember Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. National Covenant: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land. - But if ye keep not His commandments ye shall be cut off from His presence.  ( I think we are suffering this right now in the U.S.).

14 - Remember, my son, God has entrusted you with these sacred things... for a wise purpose in Him, that He may show forth His power unto future generations.

15 - And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.  (This is a scary warning!)

16 - But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can take them from you, for God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words. (Powerful promise!)

17 - For he will fulfill all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

18 - For he promised unto them that he would preserve these things for a wise purpose in him, that he might show forth his power unto future generations.

19 - And now behold, one purpose hath he fulfilled, even to the restoration of many thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; and he hath shown forth his power in them, and he will also still show forth his power in them unto future generations; therefore they shall be preserved.

20 - Therefore I command you, y son Helaman, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all my words, and that ye be diligent in keeping the commandments of God as they are written.

21 - And now, I will speak unto you concerning those twenty four plates, that ye keep them, that the mysteries and the works of darkness, and their secret works, or the secret works of those people who have been destroyed, may be made manifest unto this people; yea, all their murders, and robbings, and their plunderings, and all their wickedness and abominations, may be made manifest unto this people; yea, and that ye preserve these interpreters.

22 - For behold, the Lord saw that his people began to work in darkness, yea, work secret  murders and abominations; therefore the Lord said, if they did not repent they should be destroyed from off the face of the earth.

23 - And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem(Joseph Smith), a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.  (Someday, when we are worthy, we will have the complete record).

24 - And now, my son, these interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying:

25 - I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.

GC: "A Pattern for Peace" by Bishop Christopher Waddell.

News: Gunmen launch deadly attack on Munich shopping mall still on the run.  Six killed.  
These types of headlines are happening way to often.  What is wrong with our world?

The Republican Nation Convention is taking place in Cleveland, Ohio.  James and I have not watched any of it.  It's hard when you don't have a candidate you can really support.

Jared is coming tonight.  He and a friend, Kacey, left El Paso around 5:30 so they won't be here until late.  James and I waited up until ten but we were tired so we went to bed.  Sorry we missed them.

20 bombs in retaliation for a truck killing 80 people

deliberately in Nice, France last week.

In happier news, some people got to go to Disneyland:

I love this picture of Molly!

Molly and Anna

Darrel explaining the periodic table to his kids

in his latest chemistry lesson.Carro

They needed a break so it was

Creamistry the new ice cream place

in Scottsdale.

Alexis and Arizona Carroll spending

time with their little brother, Maxwell.

Sunset in Shumway

Thursday, July 21, 2016

This picture is from two years ago.

When it came up on my Facebook feed under memories,

I had to post it.  I love these people so much!

Alma 36: 25-37:10

25 - The Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors. . . .

26 - Because of the word imparted unto me many have been born of God.

27 - I have been supported in trials and troubles of every kind.  God has delivered me from prison, from bonds and from death.  (This is Alma speaking.)  I trust in Him and He will deliver me still.

28 - He will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with Him in glory.  I will praise Him forever, . . .

30 - . . . inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.  If ye will not keep the commandments ye shall be cut off from His presence.

Alma 37

1 - Alma speaking to his son Helaman:

Take the records which have been entrusted with me.

2 - Also, keep a record of this people.

3 - Also hand down the plates of brass to the next generation, that they may go to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.

6 - . . . by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

(One of my favorites).

7 - . . . by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

8 - The brass plates have enlarged the memory of this people and convinced many of the errors of their ways and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.

9 - These records brought the Lamanites unto repentance, to rejoice in Jesus Christ, their Redeemer.

10 - Perhaps they will be the means of bringing many thousands more to the knowledge of their Redeemer.

GC: "Do I Believe?" Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson.

I had lunch at Panda today.  Half steamed rice, half veggies, and shrimp with veggies.  Delicious!  I also went to Staples and bought some filing supplies to take to Charlotte's.  I helped her from 12-2 and then went home to take a nap.  I think once we get all her paperwork which is sitting out everywhere filed away we can start working on the rest of the house.  It is going to take awhile but will be worth it if she can keep it organized.

Adam helped James today at Lindsay Smith's.

Bandana because he was sweating so much.

Cathi's housekeepers came today so both dogs stuck with me.

Lady

Indy

I went with James to take Adam home after work.  On the way home we stopped at Bahama Bucks and I had a strawberry colada bahama rahma. (With ice cream.)  James liked it so well he ate it while I read to him from "Washington's Hypothesis."

On the way back to Chandler we stopped at Charlotte's.  She has three credit cards that her son ran up charges on and refuses to pay and she is trying to pay for them on her retirement.  Every month she goes further into the hole.  James took down all her information and is going to call the credit card companies and see if he can get her reduced rates.  We had a group hug before we left and I think Charlotte feels like she has friends and that we really care about her, which we do.

We went back to Cathi's and packed up to go home.  We got gas at Sam's Club and stopped at the Subway nearby and got some dinner.  I had a veggie sub on whole wheat and really liked it.  No chips or drink.

We went the Payson way.  I read to James and slept.  We were home around 11:30 and in bed by midnight.  Home sweet Home!

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

The Logan temple

This is so true!

Alma 36:1-24

(National Covenant) 

1 - . . . inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.

2 - Remember the captivity of our fathers, for none could deliver them except the Lord.  He did deliver them in their afflictions.

3 - Helaman, my son, her my words and learn of me.  I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, their troubles, and afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

4 - I know these things because of God.

5 - I know these things because I have been born of God.

6 - I was seeking to destroy the Church of God with the sons of Mosiah until God sent His holy angel to stop us.

7 - He spoke with the voice of thunder and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet.  We all fell to the earth for the fear of the Lord came upon us.

8 - The voice said unto me arise.  I arose and saw the angel.

9 - He told us to quit seeking to destroy the Church of God.

10 - I fell to the earth and for 3 days and 3 nights I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs.

11 - The angel spake more things to my brethren, but I did not hear them.  
12 - I was racked with eternal torment for all my sins.
13 - I was tormented with the pains of hell for all my sins and iniquities.  I had rebelled against God and not kept His commandments.
14 - I had led many of His children away into destruction.  The very thought of seeing God did rack my soul with horror.
15 - I wanted to be banished and become extinct both soul and body that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God to be judged of my deeds.
16 - For 3 days and nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.

GC: "Choices" by President Thomas S. Monson.

James and I took one of the elders assigned here in Vernon, Elder Rosenbalm, to the Scottsdale Mission Home.  His mission isn't over until next Monday, but he has a doctor's appointment this week.

Elder Rosenbalm in the front, Elder Goodenough behind him.

Elder Rosenbalm slept most of the way to Payson while I read to James from The Washington Hypothesis.  He woke up enough to hear some so we told him about Tim Ballard.

We stopped in Payson at Denny's for breakfast.  Our next stop was in Scottsdale to drop Elder Rosenbalm off at an apartment with some other elders, across from the mission home.  Goodbye and good luck.  He is flying to London next week to see his family.  They will then go to France and on to Kuwait where his family is living.  After a week in each of these places Elder Rosenbalm will fly back to the states to attend BYU.

When we arrived at Cathi and Terry's Cathi was at home.  Terry has been in the hospital this week having treatments done for his ulcers. Cathi brought him home today.  James was going to go visit George Wallace but when he called he was being released and was on his way home.  So, no hospital visits today.

When Cathi left to go get Terry she told the dogs, "Stay with aunt Karen."  Lady was very obedient and never left my side.

My little friend.

James took me to lunch at Jersey Mike's before leaving to work at Lindsay Smith's.  He is making and putting up decorative shelves for her.

Nice

I called James's mother, Lois, and talked with her quite awhile on the phone today.  Dawn and Rebecca are visiting Gail in Oregon and she is home alone.  She said she doesn't mind being alone, in fact she rather enjoys it.  She talked about regrets she had with her kids when they were growing up and never being able to attend their school functions, etc., because of work.  I told her I was sure they understood and knew she had done the best she could.  She really is a sweet person and so very talented and level-headed.  I am so grateful to have her in my life.

When Terry got home from the hospital he looked as good as new and said he felt great.  I am sure they will be back at the Records Operation Center by tomorrow.  

James got home, took a shower and crashed on the bed complaining that his back hurt.  I took the car and went to see my friend Charlotte Mattice.  Her Relief Society president, Melanie Patton was there helping her sort and organize papers.  I helped and told her I would be back tomorrow with James.  He is going to help her with some financial issues she has.

Facebook finds:

This is so true!

This is true too!

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

I love this family tree!
I want James to draw one on the wall for me.

Alma 35:1-16

1-2 The missionaries go to Jershon.

3 - The more popular Zoramites were angry with the word because it did destroy their craft; therefore they would not hearken to the words.

4 - They consulted with the people in the land concerning the word.

6 - Those who were in favor of the words spoken by Alma and his brethren were cast out of the land, and they were many.  They came over to the land of Jershon.

7 - Alma and his brethren did minister unto them.

8 - The Zoramites were angry with the Ammonites.  The chief ruler of the Zoramites was a very wicked man and ask the people of Ammon to cast out the Zoramites who came into their land.

9 - He breathed out many threatenings against them.  The people of Ammon did not fear his words.  They received all the poor of the Zoramites and did nourish the and did give unto them lands for their inheritance, and did administer unto them according to their wants.

10 - The Zoramites stir up the Lamanites to anger against the people of Ammon.

13 - The people of Ammon departed out of Jershon and went to the land of Melek.  The armies of the Nephites tay in Jershon so they could contend with the armies of the Zoramites and Lamanites.

14 - Alma and his brethren return to Zarahemla.  The converted Zoramites stay in Jershon to help the Naphite army.

15 - Alma is sorrowful because of the hardness of the hearts of so many of his people.

16 - Alma counsels his sons individually.

GC: "A Sacred Trust" by President Thomas S. Monson.

My knee still hurts today and I walk around most of the morning without bending it.  As Sheri was fixing breakfast I told her I thought I was just going to stay in my sweats today.  I went in to take and shower and changed my mind and my clothes.  It's hard to be slothful after you have taken a shower.

Sheri ran 6.5 miles today.  I am very proud of her.

The Trezise's like the game show network.  Today they watched "Let's Make a Deal."  Someone won over $200,000.  

I played Five Crowns with Sheri, Ben, and Max before they left for home.  I finally won one game and Sheri won one, taking down Ben as his reign as champion.

Sheri fixed quesadillas and cheese crisps for lunch.  I had Joshua take a shower before leaving for home and then he went on a Razr ride with Ben and Evan and Max, and they all got soaked in the rain.  Grrr.

Joshua and the Trezises' minus Alex.

I think the only one who really wanted to go home was Joshua.  He said he missed Shipley and his family.

Mary Carroll had her baby boy today.  

Maxwell Gray Carroll

I like the first name.

Dallin says it's easy to fall in love at first sight.

Eden and Ander Hoose,

two of Rebecca and Brent's grandchildren.

It was overcast this afternoon but we got very little rain.  As we are leaving for the valley in the morning I spent the afternoon studying for my Primary lesson.  For dinner we had homemade beans and coleslaw left over from the Saladmaster presentation on Saturday night.

Monday, July 18, 2016

I love this! Tony Robbins is a great motivator.

"If you saw the size of the blessings coming, you would understand the magnitude of the battle you are fighting." - Unknown

Alma 34:17-41

17- Begin to exercise faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon His holy name, that He would have mercy upon you.

18 - Cry unto Him for mercy for He is mighty to save.

19 - Humble yourselves and continue in prayer unto Him.

20 - Cry unto Him when ye are in your fields and over your flocks.

21 - Cry unto Him in your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.

22 - Cry unto Him against the power of your enemies.

23 - Cry against the devil who is an enemy to righteousness.

24 - Cry over your crops.

25 - Cry over the increase of your flocks.

26 - Pour out your souls in your closets and your secret places.

27 - And when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those around you.

28 - You must also care for the poor and needy or your prayer is in vain.

29 - Ye must be charitable.

30 - ... Come forth and bring fruit unto repentance.

31 - Harden not your hearts any longer.  Now is the day of your salvation.  If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

32 - 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.  

33- ... do not procrastinate the day of your repentance . . . if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 - Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God.  Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

35 - For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

36 - And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temple, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.

37 - And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ.

38 - That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

39 - Yea, and I also exhort you, my brethren, that ye be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the temptations of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last day; for behold, he rewardeth you no good thing.

40 - And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them;

41 - But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.

That was long but I just love these verses by Amulek!

GC: "Eternal Families" President Henry B. Eyring.

James and Ben were outside this morning around 5:30 getting ready for the concrete pour.  Talon, Curtis, and Zemira were here at 7, and Sheri and Ian too.  

I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and to share outside.  Sheri and I also filled up the five gallon water container.  Here are some pictures of the action of the day.

Talon, Ben, Curtis, and Zemira

The truck is here but the concrete was so hard

they had difficulty getting it out of the truck.

James thinks that instead of adding a retardant

the concrete company, Perkins, added an

accelerator instead.

Things go so bad that when Talon's dad, John Wilhelm,

called to see how it was going Talon told him that

they needed help.

John showed up and right along with him was someone who had called about getting an inspection done.  John is the building inspector for the city of Show Low. John told him we needed help and he wanted to help too. The person's name is Brandon Garvin. (It turns out he is Brian Maxwell's boss).  Brandon is a general contractor, a concrete contractor, and part owner in Perkins Concrete.  James said he offered a prayer for help and not three minutes later Brandon, someone we don't even know, turns up with concrete tools in hand and takes over the operation.  James was exhausted from trying to get the concrete out of the truck.  Brandon and John literally saved the concrete.  Ben, Sheri, and Ian were all helping too but they really had no experience so it was great that someone came who knew what he was doing.  John Wilhelm walked up to James and said: "You just received Divine Intervention."  James said, "I know.  It was a tender mercy."  I have heard of these things happening to other people but I have never seen it so profoundly exhibited.  We are so grateful.

John and Brandon working the concrete.
Johnny on the left and Zemira on the right.

This afternoon Sheri and I took Joshua, Max, and Evan to Greer.  We went on the Green's Peak road and enjoyed the scenery and cows.  That's about all the wildlife we saw.  Our ice cream shop in Greer was closed down but we found another one.

Cute little shop with an ice cream counter.

Sheri took the boys down by the creek but there were alot of people so we didn't stay long.  I didn't get out of the car at the creek because my knee was bothering me.

On the way home we drove to the top

of Green's Peak.

The views are gorgeous.

The sky was awesome!

Green, dark green, blue, and dark blue.

Some places got more rain than we did.

When we got home Sheri grilled chicken and made mashed potatoes for dinner.  I cooked some corn in the microwave.  Ben, Sheri, and I also played Five Crown's.  I still haven't won a game.

Ben is the big winner.  The TV is on the Game Show network most of the time.  This family is a big fan of Family Feud and "Let's Make a Deal."

For FHE I had everyone fill out a four-generation pedigree chart.

It's kind of sad that Ian has never met his maternal

grandparents.

In other parts of the world:

A dust storm in the valley.

Mary Johnson posted on Facebook that it 

was raining dirt.

The Case cousins are getting ready to leave the beach.

We missed Aurora's baptism this evening but we sent her a card and a CTR necklace.

Erik and Aurora

Newly baptized!

Baptism is a family affair.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Alma 34:1-16

1 - Amulek begins to teach.

5 - The great question which is in your minds is whether the word be in the Son of God, or whether there shall be no Christ.

6 - My brother has proved unto you, that the word is in Christ unto salvation.

7 - Zenos said that redemption cometh through the Son of God, and also Zenock and Moses.

8 - I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true.  I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon Him the transgressions of His people, and that He shall atone for the sins of the world.

9 - There must be an Atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish.

10 - There must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice made.

12 - There can be nothing short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world.

13 - After the great and last sacrifice there should be a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the law of Moses be fulfilled.

14 - This is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of god, infinite and eternal.

15 - He shall bring salvation to all who believe on His name.  The intent of the sacrifice is to bring mercy unto men that exercise faith

unto repentance.

16 - Thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.

GC: "In Praise of Those Who Save" President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

I did my usual early morning Primary preparation.  This is my lesson for today:

It's the story of Helaman and the 2,000 Stripling Warriors

and how they saved the Nephites and not one 

of them was killed.  It's a pretty amazing story

of faith and courage and I think the kids really enjoyed it.

Braylin, Curtis, Zemira, and two visitors, Rusty Allen's nieces, Bentley and Brinden were in my class.

Rusty and Jackson when Rusty left and then

when he returned.  Jackson has grown so much,

and so has Rusty, only in a different way.

Rusty with all of his siblings.

Rusty Allen gave a report of his mission to Guadalajara, Mexico today in our sacrament meeting.  He has such a sweet spirit about him and his talk was amazing!  He has become a spiritual giant.  The bishop spoke after Rusty and he spoke about his mission and a prayer that he gave as to whether he should stay on his mission and go home which became the turning point and the source of all this blessings in his life.  What a wonderful meeting.  I am so glad Sheri's family was here but I especially wish Alex would have been here. The Trezise's went home after sacrament meeting and took Joshua with them.

In sharing time today we talked about temples.  The San Diego temple, to me, is the most beautiful.

It is so beautiful and white.

Last week we had 8 children in sharing time.  This week we had 20.

After church it was nice to go home and have a bean and cheese from Burger House waiting for me and a green mixed burro waiting for James.  Thank you Sheri and Ian!

Sheri also made meatball subs for dinner.  They were delicious!

Sheri making her homemade meatballs.

I began preparing for next week's Primary lesson about Lehi and Nephi in Prison and I also played a couple of games of Five Crown's with Ben and Sheri. I was the big time loser both times.

James participated in the Worldwide Indexing Day.

Here is an idea for a kids clubhouse I would like James to build.

Simple but nice.

It rained hard just before Church got out and was overcast and rainy most of the rest of the day.  To me, it was the perfect day.