On Sunday 13 April we were up bright and early to attend Colleen's Ironwood Crossing 2nd Ward starting at 9 am.
The youth speaker Sister Brianna Coon spoke on true service. Helping another family at Christmas. Ephesians 6:6-7. "Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men." Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37. Christ was the very embodiment of service. Mosiah 2:17. "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Doing little acts of service can be so kind and bring happiness to others. Service can bring us close to Heavenly Father. Pray daily to discover whom you may serve. She quoted President Hinckley on service.
Sister Crystal Godfrey spoke. She and her family moved here from Highland, Utah, last October. Spoke on Elder Holland's April conference talk. We will find sometime in the future that we will need to defend our faith. 1. Keep the commandments. We don't acquire eternal life in a sprint (Pres. Uchtdorf). Active engagement in righteousness (Elder Maxwell). 2. Pure Christlike love flowing from righteousness. Increasing secularized society (Elder Maxwell). We interact daily with immortal individuals. The road of discipleship is not easy. D&C 121:1. "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" God never hides from His faithful children. The movement toward God is ongoing. Impediments and problems can help us to grow. Stand as a witness in all things and in all places (Mosiah 18:9). Discipleship is not a spectator sport. Live the gospel faithfully.
The ward choir sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer."
Concluding speaker was Brother Matthew Godfrey. (He started his talk at 10 am and ended at 10:07.) Mortality is a period of testing. Our testimonies of truth must be deeply embedded. We must be built upon the rock of Jesus Christ. From President Monson: 1. Prayer. 2. Study the scriptures. 3. Service (Mosiah 2:17). Spoke of a friend who lost his wife upon the birth of their second child. "Be not dismayed." (from the hymn "How Firm a Foundation").
Closing hymn was "Lord, I Would Follow Thee." The music was written by Brother K. Newell Dayley who was with his wife on our U. K. vacation last August.
We enjoyed the Gospel Doctrine class on "Bondage, Passover, and Exodus" using Exodus 1–3; 5–6; and 11–14. The lesson covered:
1. The Lord calls Moses to deliver Israel from bondage.
2. The Lord sends plagues upon Egypt.
3. The Lord instructs Moses in the preparation of the Passover.
4. The children of Israel cross the Red Sea.
We concluded by watching the Bible video “He is Risen." You may watch it at the following link:
It concluded with John 20:31 "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
Our opening hymn in Priesthood meeting was "Ye Elders of Israel." The chorus begins with "O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell;" and I always grin when we sing that as I am from Babylon, New York! To me Babylon is not "the world" but my home town!
Colleen's ward is only several months old but it is very large. The priesthood meeting was SRO and took up three classrooms! The number of high priests was not especially large, so there were many elders and youth.
Our lesson in the high priests group was from "Teachings of the Presidents of the Church Joseph Fielding Smith" and was "The Significance of the Sacrament." The same lesson was taught in Relief Society.
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| President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972) |
Sean, Colleen, and the boys drove down to Tucson for a family gathering at his brother Keith's home. Eileen and I stayed at Colleen's and relaxed. It's about an hour-and-a-half trip and they got there about 3:50 pm.
Eileen texted Sue in Florida and she replied that she is having a hard time with the side effects of her latest cancer treatment. She did send us a picture of herself with David and our granddaughter Megan at the Ft. Lauderdale Temple open house. We are so glad that Megan was able to go!
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| David, Megan, and Sue |
I finished my blog entry for our U. K. vacation last August and published it!
Sean, Colleen, and the boys got home safe and sound about 11:50 pm.
On Monday 14 April I read "Journal of a Civil War Nurse" By Georgiann Baldino based on the letters of Cornelia Hancock, 1840-1927, who served as a field nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War.
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| Georgiann Baldino |
I read "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen.
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| Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) |
Eileen and I took Ashton to school at Montessori at noon and then went shopping, visiting Costco (gas for $3.339), Walmart, and Fry's before picking Ashton up at 2:50 pm.
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| Greenhouse Montessori |
We enjoyed Family Home Evening as Colleen taught about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week prior to His death. Afterward we had a little bonfire in the backyard and roasted hot dogs.
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| Palm Sunday |
On Tuesday 15 April we dropped off Ashton at school and had a lunch date at Kneaders Bakery & Cafe in Gilbert. It was very nice! It reminded us of Paradise Bakery, Panera Bread, Atlanta Bread Company, and similar places. There are five locations in Arizona and 20 in Utah!
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| Kneaders Bakery & Cafe in Gilbert |
We shopped at Trader Joe's and Fry's on the way to pick up Ashton.
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| Baseball wall display at Trader Joe's |
At Colleen's I helped Sean with the project of assembling the bunk beds for Ashton and Tanner.
In the evening I copied the coverage of each General Conference talk in the Church News online into my note on my iPhone for future reading. I have done this for the last several conferences.
On Wednesday 16 April we went with Colleen to the Queen Creek Olive Mill nearby. Eileen makes sure we come here whenever we visit Colleen. It's quite the establishment!
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| Olive trees |
I called the members of our church cleaning team to arrange to clean on 26 April at 2 pm. I spoke to Carol Messina and Cheryl Dawson, and left messages with the Fisher's, Ray's, Darlene Burgess, and Peggy Espersen.
In the afternoon we all went to pick up Ashton and head for the Mesa Temple grounds for the LDS Church's Easter pageant. On the way we had an early supper at Sweet Tomatoes in Gilbert. Everything was good! For dessert Eileen enjoyed a cute tiny cone with soft-serve swirl and I really liked the chocolate lava cake.
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Ashton, Spencer, and Tanner
with Colleen, Sean, and Eileen |
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| Eileen and her cute tiny soft-swirl cone |
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| chocolate lava cake |
I read "Seven Sacred Sites in the U. K." by Kate Everson.
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| Kate Everson |
We enjoyed sitting and waiting for the pageant to begin, although the folding chairs are hard. We met some other Latter-day Saints and several sister missionaries.
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| Approaching the temple |
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| Beautiful flowers |
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| Approaching the temple |
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| Beautiful flowers |
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| Looking back at the temple |
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| The visitors' center |
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| The visitors' center |
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| Front of the temple |
The pageant started at 8 pm and ran for an hour. It was wonderful! The sound system was fantastic! The dancers were excellent! And, of course, the story was inspiring!! The ending with Christ appearing in the sky above the angels was awesome!!
I have gotten a late start on the April issue of the Ensign magazine. One of my goals for the year was to read the Ensign each month. I enjoyed an excellent article aimed at young adults called "Lasting Happiness."
I also found lots of pictures on the Internet of the Easter Pageant to include in this blog entry. At some point during the pageant I had thought that there must be some "Christian" protesters on the fringes of the temple grounds somewhere. I spotted some pictures of them and their banners on the Internet. While reading the Ensign article I realized why "they" don't think we are Christians. Church members sometimes wonder how can "they" say we're not Christians? I believe "they" can say that because to them to be a Christian is to accept Jesus Christ as your savior AND accept "their" doctrines about Christ!
We Latter-day Saints are witnesses of the name of Christ in the world and testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ and of His mission as the Savior and Redeemer of the world. But that is insufficient for "them."
Back to the Ensign: it was wonderful to read the testimonies of the 15 men whom we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators about the Living Christ.
The family got home and then we dropped the boys off at a babysitter who is in the neighborhood. The four of us adults then drove to the Gilbert Temple, only 15 minutes away. It is quite stunning inside. It was unusual in that you do not put on your ceremonial attire until you are in the sealing room.
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| Eileen and Ben in front of Gilbert Temple |
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| Eileen, Colleen, and Ben |
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| Approaching the recommend desk |
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| Sealing room |
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| Celestial room |
Afterwards we had a late supper at the Arriba Mexican Grill in Gilbert. It was quite good and the portions were very generous. Then we picked up the boys at the babysitter.
On Friday 18 April I finished reading "Toilers of the Sea" by Victor Hugo which I had begun on 21 November.
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| Victor Hugo (1802-1885) |
Eileen, Colleen, and I took Tanner to his horse riding lesson which was fun for us and for him.
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| Ben, Eileen, Tanner, and Missy |
We shopped at Walmart and got gas at QT for $3.419.
You may watch it at the following link:
On Saturday 19 April I sent Easter e-mails to numerous siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews with the above links from this blog.
After Sean and the boys got back from Taekwondo, he hit the hay and the rest of us went shopping. We got free tools from Harbor Freight Tools in Mesa and then went to Trader Joe's nearby. On the way home we went to Kohl's and Walmart and I got more Asher's sugar-free chocolates at Hallmark, still in Mesa.
I dropped Sean off at work after supper and Eileen and I went shopping at J C Penney's for Sunday attire for the three boys.
While we were gone Colleen had plastic Easter egg fun with the boys. They showed off their glow sticks when we got home.
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| Tanner, Ashton, and Spencer |
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| Spencer and Ashton |
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| Ashton and Spencer |
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| Tanner |
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| Tanner, Ashton, and Eileen |
I had started reading “Peter Simple" by Captain Frederick Marryat and liked the following:
“We are all of us variously gifted from Above, and he who is content to walk, instead of to run, on his allotted path through life, although he may not so rapidly attain the goal, has the advantage of not being out of breath upon his arrival.”
I posted it on my wall on Facebook.
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