2023 October 7, Journal Entry

I have been struggling with our automated irrigation system in the front garden. The hose, that can be seen in the photo, winds through the garden with smaller tubes, that you can't see,  branching out to the various plants to provide them with water. To shorten a potentially long and boring story, most of what I was trying to do resulted in leaks and insufficient water to some plants.

I was on my way to the hardware store to get new rubbing when I spotted a truck that belongs to our neighborhood landscaping maintenance company. The words "Irrigation and Sprinkler Systems" were painted on the tail gate of the truck. 

I stopped and talked to the man who was working on a sprinkling system near our home and, bottom line, he came over and completely repaired and reworked our irrigation system. For no charge. (I gave him a few bucks so he could have a nice dinner or whatever)

So later today, after we serve in the Bishops Storehouse, I'm hoping to put down mulch and get our stone path back in place. 

The tree that is located in the parking strip in front of the house is dead and our HOA (Home Owners Association) has insisted it be replaced at our expense.

I clipped all the branches of and put them in our trash so all that is left now is a stump. Jake has agreed to come over on Monday and help me pull out the stump so our new tree, which will be delivered soon, can be planted there.

Come Follow Me 

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Notice that the way that husbands are to love their wives is spelled out to be "as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it". It's been my experience that among other blessings, wives who are loved like this return that love many times over. Makes for a celestial marriage.

"Happiness at home is most likely to be achieved when practices there are founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ...

The home is the great laboratory of love. There the raw chemicals of selfishness and greed are melded in the crucible of cooperation to yield compassionate concern and love one for another...

Thank the Lord for these [family members] who—like our Heavenly Father—love us not only for what we are but for what we may become."

Elder Russell M. Nelson, April 1999, "Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women"

"Charity is the antidote to contention. Charity is the spiritual gift that helps us to cast off the natural man, who is selfish, defensive, prideful, and jealous. Charity is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Jesus Christ. Charity defines a peacemaker.

When we humble ourselves before God and pray with all the energy of our hearts, God will grant us charity.

Those blessed with this supernal gift are long-suffering and kind. They do not envy others and are not caught up in their own importance. They are not easily provoked and do not think evil of others.

Brothers and sisters, the pure love of Christ is the answer to the contention that ails us today. Charity propels us “to bear one another’s burdens” rather than heap burdens upon each other. The pure love of Christ allows us “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things”—especially in tense situations. Charity allows us to demonstrate how men and women of Christ speak and act—especially when under fire."

President Russell M. Nelson, April 2023, "Peacemakers Needed"

Book of Mormon reading 

Alma Chapter 57, Helaman recounts the taking of Antiparah and the surrender and later the defense of Cumeni—His Ammonite striplings fight valiantly; all are wounded, but none are slain—Gid reports the slaying and the escape of the Lamanite prisoners. About 63 B.C.

Chapter 58, Helaman, Gid, and Teomner take the city of Manti by a stratagem—The Lamanites withdraw—The sons of the people of Ammon are preserved as they stand fast in defense of their liberty and faith. About 63–62 B.C.