Traces of Time . . . July 15-21, 2019

Traces of Time . . .

(To see last week's blog post--scroll down to the end of this week, then 
the Week of July 8-14, 2019 will be there. 
If it's not, hit "Older Posts." at the bottom right.) 

THIS WEEK- 

JULY 15 TO 21, 2019

MONDAY, JULY 15, 2018 

Family is Everything…

I didn't take any photos today.
Guess we just had a
relaxed day at home.
TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2019 

Family is Everything…

  Marci came again...

The R.N. put some Volteran cream
on Walt's knee to see if it helped
relieve the pain.  It did.
Thanks, Karen.

We watched an old 1939 movie
"The Four Feathers"
...about the British fighting in the Sudan.
Very interesting...

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019 

Family is Everything...

 Walt got to talk with Dr. Hoffman.
He also recommended the Volteran cream
to help relieve the pain in his knees,
since he should only have
Cortisone injections
every 3 months.

 Walt got a hair cut. 

 Then we went to bicycle.

 We only stayed 15 minutes because

Walt's knees started to hurt. 

a

 A friend--who lives by where the

new temple will be--e-mailed to

tell us that the caterpillars

have started digging at

the site.

So we drove over there to see.

The digging machine is busy,

with big piles of dirt to the side of it.

 Gary comes on Wednesday evenings

to watch a movie.

 We watched the 1940 movie: "Brigham Young" in honor of Pioneer Day next week.

 It was quite accurate and we enjoyed seeing it.

 I read more about this movie, which cost $2.5 million to make, it reported that it lost money--even in Utah.

THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2019

Family is Everything...

 Marci came to help Walt get

prepared for the day.

  John and the boys--
Jackson and Rigdon-- headed to
Idaho for the "Bricki" --
family reunion for 
Brent and Vicki Peterson.
All 9 children are coming with
their families and they are going
to take a family photo.

  Julie, Maddie and...

 

  ...Jacee left a little later for Idaho.

 We learned later that it was Brent and Vicki's

60th wedding anniversary (in Sept) but they

celebrated it now with all their family together.

 Happy Anniversary!  Wow -- 60 years.

They are a wonderful couple with an outstanding family.

FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2019 

Family is Everything…

We had breakfast at Denny's
after I had to go to the dentist because
yesterday when I was brushing my
teeth, a tooth fell out. 

  We enjoyed having Max
hang out with us.

 Thank you, Gary for staying 
overnight with us.
SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019 

Family is Everything…

 Marci came again.

 We may have cooked an

extra egg for Max.

 Steve and Natalie invited us to come

over for dinner and then a fire pit.

 Steve chopped a lot of wood...

...to keep the fire going.

It was great to talk with Carter

when he got home from work.

Thanks, Steve and Natalie for a

delicious dinner and S'mores,

and a fun evening with you.

SUNDAY, JULY 21, 2019 

Family is Everything…

Julie gave a great talk about Trek

today in Sacrament Meeting. 

She was a "Ma" and John a "Pa" to ten children. Julie has thought about these ten for the the several months they have been assigned to them. 

It was so touching when they saw the row of lanterns come up over the ridge to "rescue" them, and discovered it was their stake presidency and bishops.

It touched her heart that Jackson stayed close to his bishop because Bishop Mardesich is someone she knows is a great leader for her children...

...we need to spiritually help rescue each other.

...she pointed out that not all had a

spiritual experience there, but it may

come next week or next year.

One darling girl who said she didn't have

a spiritual experience there, ended her

testimony with "But I know God loves me!"

Many of the youth--and even the leaders--

said in their testimony meeting at Trek:

"I didn't want to come, but am so

thankful that I did."

Julie closed with a tender testimony

and said: "I love Jesus Christ."

  We had been asked to share help
with the lesson today in 
Maddie's Sunday School.

Our part for the last 15 minutes was: "Invite ward members to share experiences in which they felt or witnessed the power of the united prayers of members." This was to show how "the prayers of the righteous can bring forth great miracles."

We chose two different instances in our life.

1. 

Walt started falling in the San Salvador El Salvador Temple when we had been there just ten months.  (His first fall was actually on his 78th birthday--April 17, 2012--when we were in the temple lunchroom where someone had brought him a birthday cake. 

Brother Carbajal--from the Temple Dept--came for a visit the end of April  and saw President Petersen fall.  

He called the Temple Department and they wanted to fly Walt to Salt Lake that day, but all the planes were full, so we flew the next day.  The orthopedist--or maybe he was a neurosurgeon--Dr. Charles Rich, Jr., discovered that a disc in Walt's back had ruptured. 

He did surgery on May 1. 

Before we left, I had told our temple

workers that we wanted to be there

for the entire 3 years that we were

called for, not just this ten months.

When we returned on June 7th

 Walt walked out into the

foyer of the Temple and a 

Temple worker said to an elderly lady

she was pushing in a wheel chair, 

"Here's President Petersen."

The patron looked up at Walt and asked:

"Are you the Temple President?"

When Walt said "Yes," she said:

"I pray for you."

She didn't know him, but knew he needed to be prayed for.

 We learned that the 

temple workers and many

members had been praying

for President Petersen to

get better and be able

to stay the 3 years.

We found out that the Area Presidency had

told President Monson that they thought

President Petersen should be released. 

They said that the Prophet looked down,

paused for a minute,

then President Monson said:

"No, we are not going to release him now,

he will finish his full 3 years."

That was a miracle and power of

many members united in prayer

for their temple president.

*** *** ***

2.

The other miracle we shared was from

35 years ago -- May 1984 when Burley

and surrounding area were almost

flooded in a catastrophic way!*

The extra heavy winter's snow began

melting rapidly when 
it turned so

hot in May. 

The Oakley Dam began filling beyond its capacity and was ready to overflow. All that water would have overrun the old Goose Creek bed, which was where the city of Burley and residential area was built.

Walt had been stake president of Burley West Stake for one year. President Rex Gerratt was the Oakley Stake President and also had been called to be over any Emergencies that happened in the Region.

These two, along with President Boyd Poulton of the Burley Stake, 
met and prayed.

A small diversion ditch had been built over to the Murtaugh Lake, but it proved to not be sufficient.

These stake presidents determined that a canal needed to be built from the Dam to the Snake River--

21 miles to the north.

Many people rallied round bringing the big machinery needed for this momumental undertaking.

Relief Society sisters made thousands of sandwiches to feed the workers who did shifts around the clock to get the canal built in time.

It was finished in 3 days!

And during those days, the hot weather

had been tempered, and the rain had stopped

to give them the 72 hours that were needed.

The many prayers were answered, not just from

members of The Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints, but members of the

other Churches, and those who 

were not members 
of any Church.

A miracle!

(Who knows how long it would have taken if the

government red tape had gotten involved?)

For the several weeks that the overflow water

rushed through the canal, many people

patrolled the banks--day and night--

to make sure the sides of the

canal did not wash out. 

Walt said if the Oakley Dam

had not had that canal to

direct the water to the

Snake River but had

flooded, it would

have been the

worst calamity

to ever happen

in Southern

Idaho.

[*To know about the full story, read A Flood Cannot Happen Here by Kathleen Hedberg.

It received the award for the best non-fiction

book written that year in Idaho.] 

  Sister Allen did a wonderful
job of teaching these 12-year-olds
about Acts 10-15.

She had the kids role play the parts of Peter, Cornelius, the angel, the Gentiles with swords. Then she had them write down the keys to receiving their own revelation when they have a question about something. (She had beards, a halo, and swords.) They were really in to it.

Walt said he was sitting there thinking: "We have to follow her!" She is an amazing teacher. Julie told us she is a school teacher, also.

 We were relieved our part
turned out okay.  

 *** *** ***

We are so thankful for The Plan of Salvation

and the Atonement of  Jesus Christ

that makes this Great Plan operational.

At the end of this July 21st,

we pray you have had a

restful , peaceful, and spiritual

Sabbath Day...

We share these truths as our testimony to you...

Heavenly Father lives and knows us each by name. He loves us and wants us to return to Him and Heavenly Mother when we leave this mortal existence.  He loves us just as we are at this very moment.

*** *** ***

Jesus Christ came to earth as The Only Begotten of the Father and fulfilled the Atonement. He is the Redeemer of all. 

*** *** ***

Joseph Smith was foreordained to be the Prophet of the Restoration.  He is the Restorer of all things.

*** *** ***

President Russell M. Nelson is the Living Prophet today for all the world. 

*** *** ***

The Bible is "the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly" and is a Testament of the Divinity of Jesus Christ.

*** *** ***

The Book of Mormon is the Word of God and is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is the most correct book of any book on earth.

*** *** ***

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the True Church on the earth today.  

*** *** ***

Of these truths we testify in the Name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Walt and Eileen Petersen

Saratoga Springs, Utah, U.S.A.

July 21, 2019