The Simple Woman's Daybook - My August Sampler~

Today

Looking out my window
Right now as I look out the window, I can see the street lights, and it's a beautiful evening. I can't see the stars tonight because we continue to have bad air from the fires coming out of Utah and other states. It has been a terrible fire season. I'm very frustrated because I have a chronic cough that is always present except for a few weeks each year. I have been having a non-cough time now for a couple of weeks until the fire and smoke came barreling into our city. The air has been horrible.

 I am thinking

I think that I have some hectic moments ahead and I need to get this post completed tonight. Saturday my schedule is crazy, and I won't be able to do it all. First of all, we will get up at 3:15 am to get ready for our temple shift at 4:30 am. We are then leaving our assignments early to go to our brother in law, Don Brady's funeral. My dear husband is speaking at it. He has spent many hours on his message. He will be talking on behalf of all of his siblings and their thoughts and feelings about Don. Don is married to Roger's oldest Sister Marilyn, who passed away in 2011. He had been ill for a long time. It was a blessing for him to join her again. After the funeral, burial, and luncheon, we are hoping to come back, change and go to our grandson, Jonathan's Championship Soccer game. We then have a social function with dinner and a band with many of our friends from the temple. Somewhere in between it all; we should go to a wedding reception. I think exhaustion will set in at some point in time. We aren't spring chicken's anymore. 

Our love Brother in law - Don Brady

                                                     I am thankful

I do have a grateful heart for many great blessings in my life. I have a wonderful husband that cares deeply for me, and I for him. We have a spectacular relationship. I love being with him. I have a fantastic family. I have a sincere testimony of my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have many dear extended family members and deeply beloved friends. I am blessed. 

My handsome Cowboy~

One of my favorite things

One of my favorite things is to spend time with my precious grandchildren. Many of them I don't get to see very often, but when I do, it brightens my day. Right now I have three of them living in my home. I love my precious moments with them. Right now I have been teaching them basic piano. 

Ben - Emma - Alyssa

We also attended a soccer tournament for our grandson, Jonathan. He is an excellent player, and we enjoyed watching him play. 

Our Grandson Jonathan~

I am creating

I am creating more time in my schedule to do family history work. Just yesterday, I found family names that I can do their temple work. I was very excited about that. 

I also have some letters that were written by my Grandfather, Herbert F. Gledhill to his mother and other family members while he was serving in the army during the 1st World War. He was killed in the trenches in France on June 14th, 1917. I am transcribing them from the original handwritten letter which is in pencil. I found a precious note; the very last one he wrote on June 13th, before he was killed on the 14th. I shed many tears on this one. 

My Grandfather Herbert and my beloved Dad, Millan~ My Dad's Birthday were on August 15th, he would have been 102 years old.  I miss him so much. I wonder if they celebrate birthdays in the spirit world. 

                                                       I am wearing

I am wearing a dark green nightgown with black PJ bottoms and black flip-flops. It is now almost 10 pm. I'm ready to jump into bed soon. 

I am reading

The Fire and Steel - Volume two, The Storm Descends by Gerald Lund. It is a compelling book of the era of the German war. I have been reading this book about a German young man fighting in the trenches in France for Germany. It is about the same time as my Grandfather who was fighting for the American side. It's been a little difficult to read. I love historical fiction, and this is a good one. There are 5 books in the series, and I am having trouble putting it down. He weaves a good story. There was some excellent missionary work that was being done by our church in Germany at this time, so this is part of the story as well. 

Of course, I am busy reading my precious Book of Mormon every day. This is indeed the most influential book of all. 

I am hoping

I am hoping that the fires go away soon and that our valley can be free of smoke. I want some more time not coughing. I love to talk and sing and can't as much when I have a cough. 

I am learning

I'm learning to be more patient with myself and others. I am finding that I don't have to be on top of everything all the time. I can relax more and enjoy moments of reading novels and playing my piano. 

I am Dreaming

I am dreaming of having some marvelous moments with my husband. I want to spend some time on a picnic, or swimming in a lake or perhaps hiking through some small hills. I don't think we can do a big hike, but I would love a small one.

I am looking forward to cooling weather to take a few rides in the mountains that I love. 
One of my favorite places to visit is Fish Lake, Utah. 

Fish Lake

. We are planning a quick 3 day trip to Monticello, Utah. We haven't been to this area before. It is the area where a group of stalwart pioneers settled and were the characters in a novel series by Gerald Lund entitled; "Undaunted" -"Only The Brave" and "To Soar With Eagles." I was deeply touched by their stories. Thus, I have wanted to visit that area. 

Monticello, Utah area

We planned to attend the Monticello Utah Temple while we are there. I am thrilled to be able to do that. 

In my kitchen

In my kitchen, there is a pile load of dishes to do. I don't know if I can leave them until tomorrow, but it is getting late.  

Board Room 
I have a Pinterest Board for videos that I love. One of my all time favorites was "Gone With The Wind." I must watch it again soon. 

Shared Quote

My endearing granddaughter that is on a mission in Sacramento, California sent this quote by Sister Kristen Oaks, wife of President Dallen H. Oaks of the 1st Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was present at a devotional that they spoke at in her mission. I loved these thoughts so much. 

"Salvation is not easy, it is not a cheap experience. Expect to walk some of the paths that Jesus Christ walked, to feel a portion of His pain, and to shed at least one of His tears of sorrow. That is the price that we must pay at one point in our lives. You will know the Savior when you pay the price."  

A moment from my day

Closing Notes

My closing thoughts are for all my friends out there. I wish for you enough food, sufficient clothing, a roof over your head and all the necessities of life. I wish for you someone that loves you genuinely and will care for you tenderly with all your needs. I hope for you the knowledge that you are indeed a daughter or son of a loving Heavenly Father that wants you to return and live with Him again. I wish for you an ever-expanding love for our beloved Savior Jesus Christ. I want you to know and feel His love. I want you to know that He gave His all for us that we might return to be with them again. Through His Atonement, you can become clean and pure. Through Him, you can receive all the blessings promised to our Heavenly Father's children. Through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance baptism, you can obtain the precious gift of the Holy Ghost to assist you in enduring to the end. 

I wish for you to take the challenge to read "The Book of Mormon" and come to know Jesus Christ. Search and find the truths that are found in the Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You will find more meaning and pure joy in your life. You will see that you can have eternal relationships that go beyond this earth life existence. 

I know these thoughts are true!  I love each  of you~

You can read more wonderful The Simple Woman's Daybook entries here and join us all in writing a daybook post.     http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/ 

The Sun Sets On July~

The Month of July flew by, and I can't believe we are already into August. Sometimes, I wonder why time goes so fast these days. If I didn't take photos of events; I would be missing a lot of memories. 

Here is our sweet Great Granddaughter Myah's  4th birthday. It seems like I was just holding her as a new infant not long ago. She is the cutest little one. I love being around her. She is fun loving and has an endearing personality. We had fun going up to this birthday celebration. 

We had just finished a temple assignment and hurried up to Heber city to be with them all. They held it in a new Aquatic Center. We missed the gifts and cake but were happy we could spend some moments with our oldest son and his family with his oldest son's family. 

We were blessed to be able to have our Grandson, Michael fly here to be with us on the day before he was due to enter the Mission Training Center. I picked him up at the airport, and we came home and picked up my husband so we could go to lunch 
Then later in the afternoon, we took him to an endowment session in the Jordan River Temple. It was a delightful experience. We had a great dinner in the cafeteria there. They have an excellent cook there; the food was yummy! 
He stayed with us overnight. He had already been set apart as an Elder, so he had to have Roger and or Micheal, our son in law as a companion. 
His Uncle Burt and his family came by for a goodby moment too. 
We really enjoyed visiting with this spectacular grandson. We are so proud that he has chosen to serve the Lord on a 2-year mission for our church. 

 The next morning, he said his good-byes to our daughter and her family. We then took him out to breakfast and had a super enjoyable meal with lots of conversation. 
We then drove to the Provo Mission Training Center to drop him off. It really is a drop you off moment. You drive into an underground parking lot. We were met by a young Elder who was a host for gathering the missionaries. They quickly got his luggage out, and we said our final goodbyes. I was a bit emotional about it all. 
This part of taking your missionary to the MTC has changed a lot. It used to be that you brought them into the mission home and watched an introductory film on being missionaries and other instructions. We would then wait as they went out one door and we went out another. There was always a lot of emotion at this time. These young people are leaving their families for 18 months to 2 years. It is a significant commitment in their lives. We sent off 3 sons and 1 daughter on a mission, so I have shed a lot of tears at these goodby moments. 
I think dropping them off at the curb is a good idea; it's a little less emotional in some ways. 

We next took a short trip to Las Vegas, Nevada to see my Sister in law; Amparo. She is in the midst of fighting cancer. We had the best of visits. We were able to with her family and daughter Kathy, her son Gabe and his family and then her other son's wife Corinna and their daughter. Jonnie Cherie. Later in the evening; her son Gus and Vivianna came by for a visit too. It was a delightful trip. We stayed two nights and then left for home. Las Vegas was beastly hot; so we didn't spend a lot of time outside. I now remember why I wasn't unhappy when we moved from there.

While we were in Las Vegas, we decided to take a little bit of time and go to where we used to live. We took some fun photos of the homes we lived in and the elementary school that a few of our children went too. 
We left Las Vegas and went as far as Beaver Utah. We spent a night there. 
The next day we decided to go on a different rode and see my Aunt Alene who lives in Monroe. She seemed okay, and we had a fantastic visit with her. 

We had a surprise visit from a very dear friend, Ellen that we met when we lived in San Jose, California. We have kept in touch for many years, so getting to see her was a treat. 
She and her husband just completed a mission in Alaska. They were assigned to take care of the Church's youth camp for a couple of years. They loved that experience. We hadn't seen each other for over 20 years. Visiting with her was terrific. They presently live in Benton City, Washington. Her husband wasn't able to come so she was with her brother. It was great to meet him. 

Here's a missionary update on all of my Grandchildren that are now serving a mission. 

Here is our beautiful Granddaughter, Sister Workman. She is serving in the California Sacramento Mission. Her is some photos of her and different companions, some of the children she has been working with and also members of her missionary district. She is having great success and is busy finding, teaching and has some convert baptisms. She was working in a Marshallese Branch but recently was transferred and will be a trainer. She is loving every minute and learning so many good things. 

Our Grandson, Elder Williams is enjoying his missionary experiences. I love to read his updates. He has some profound, rich experiences. He has been having some great teaching moments and a couple of baptisms. He's in a hard area for doing missionary work. The Midwest is a problematic area for the weather; hot and humid and sometimes tornados and then frigid winters. Some of the Midwest is where our church was restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith. There is a great deal of church history in these areas. He is blessed to serve there. He had a Great Great Great Grandfather serve his mission in that exact area.  He is in the Omaha, Nebraska Mission. As you can see he caught a big fish on his P-day. They do get to have some fun activities. 

Our most recent missionary, Elder Adamson is in the Provo MTC for 6 weeks. He will be going to the Spanish speaking, Lubbock Texas Mission. Elder Adamson will stay in the MTC longer to learn the language. He loves it. He told me recently that he believes he has been blessed with the gift of tongues. I think that is so awesome. I can see in his face how happy he is to be serving our Heavenly Father on a mission.
I am so proud of these marvelous missionaries and their desire to serve. They all have a deep love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they love teaching and preaching of our Savior, Jesus Christ and the Plan of Happiness. They love The Book of Mormon and always bear testimony of this marvelous book being their greatest missionary tool. Missions are such a powerful thing for young people of this age to do. They come home from these experiences ready to go forth in their lives with direction and abilities to start their work, education, future marriages and raise families.
Have a lovely Sabbath Day everyone!