Saturday, April 23, 2011

Happy Easter!

“He Is Risen,” Ensign, Apr 2009, 40–45
After His Resurrection, the Lord ministered unto many in the Holy Land and in the Americas. Many in ancient times bore testimony of the living Christ as did the Prophet Joseph Smith in modern times: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!” (D&C 76:22).
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He Is Risen, by Del Parson
The chief priests and scribes “shall deliver [Christ] to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again” (Matthew 20:19).
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He Is Not Here, by Walter Rane
“He is not here: for he is risen” (Matthew 28:6).
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As It Began to Dawn, by Elspeth Young
“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre” (Matthew 28:1).
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Easter Morning, by William F. Whitaker Jr.
“Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master” (John 20:16).
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The Three Marys at the Tomb, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
“They saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted” (Mark 16:5).
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© 2000 IRI
The Garden Tomb, by Linda Curley Christensen
“The angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door” (Matthew 28:2).
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The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre, by Dan Burr
“Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple. …
“So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre” (John 20:3–4).
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The Doubtful Thomas, by Carl Heinrich Bloch
Christ said to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; … and be not faithless, but believing” (John 20:27).
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The Resurrected Christ in Galilee, by Gary Smith
“And Jesus came and spake unto [the eleven disciples], saying, …
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:18–19).
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© 1998 IRI
Feed My Sheep, by Kamille Corry
“Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep” (John 21:16).
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© 1989
Christ on the Road to Emmaus, by Greg Olsen
“But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them” (Luke 24:29).
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© IRI
The Ascension of Jesus, by Harry Anderson
“And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51).
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© 1951 IRI
Christ Appearing in the Western Hemisphere, by Arnold Friberg
“And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw [Christ] descending out of heaven” (3 Nephi 11:8).

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© 2003 IRI
  Christ in the Land Bountiful, by Simon Dewey
“The multitude went forth, … and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands … and did bear record, that it was [Christ]” (3 Nephi 11:15).
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© 1996 IRI
Bring Forth the Record, by Robert T. Barrett
“Yea, Lord, Samuel [the Lamanite] did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.
“And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing?” (3 Nephi 23:10–11).
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© 1995
Christ and the Book of Mormon Children, by Del Parson
“[Christ] wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them” (3 Nephi 17:21).
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© IRI
Christ Praying with the Nephites, by Ted Henninger
“And no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard [Christ] pray for us unto the Father” (3 Nephi 17:17).
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© IRI
Jesus Christ Visits the Americas, by John Scott

“And [the Nephites] did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him” (3 Nephi 11:17).


Reflections of Christ by Mark Mabry

Easter always makes me so grateful for all that our Savior did for us.  I am grateful for his perfect life, death, and resurrection that we may all repent and be forgiven for our many sins and become spotless before our Heavenly Father when we finally meet him.


I am also grateful that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and through him, restored The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I cannot imagine how people go through life thinking that we are less important to the Lord than those of old times and that he would not allow us to have a living prophet like he did for those who lived during the time of the Bible and Book of Mormon. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! We are all blessed to have living prophets on the earth again!
Such good news!

HAPPY EASTER! CHRIST IS RISEN!

Mission Reunion

Jeph and I both served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Russia Samara Mission.  We usually have a mission reunion every six months, the weekend of General Conference.  We have never had our mission president at the reunion as he is from Belarus.  The last time I saw him was the last day on the mission before our large group flew home.  I honestly thought I would never see him again. 

 (Don't mind that I'm not wearing my name tag, I had just ridden a bus all night from a city where we were not allowed to wear name tags.)

 However, thanks to some of the missionaries and their home wards, who donated to a fund to bring President and Sister Davydik over for conference and the mission reunion we were able to see them again.  I think this was the largest mission reunion we've had (though we missed some of our favorite mission friends, Kim and Trent just to name a few) we were excited to see those who were able to come.

 ( Sister and President Davydik, and us)

(Sister Davydik, President Davydik, Ulia Lufa, her friend Tommy)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Robert LeRoy Lowder


 
July 23, 1924-March 24, 2011
RUPERT — Robert LeRoy Lowder, age 86, of Rupert, passed away Thursday, March 24, 2011, in Pocatello, Idaho, from a heart attack.
Robert was born July 23, 1924, in Hanzel Valley, Box Elder, Utah, to Lewis LeRoy Lowder and Myrtle Kenner Lowder. He lived in Hanzel Valley, Arco, View and north of Rupert (homestead.) He graduated from Burley High School and served in the Navy during World War II. Robert worked in both Rupert and Burley hospitals. He was a farmer, dairyman and custodian. Robert was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in many missions including Alabama Birmingham, stake, employment, bishop’s storehouse, Deseret Industries and the Logan Temple. He was also a Scoutmaster and a member of American Legion Veterans. Robert enjoyed making tables for his grandkids, building, working with his children and humanity projects.
Robert is survived by his wife, Nelda Smith Lowder; his children, Robert (Kay) Lowder Jr. of Kimberly, Dennis (Sharon) Lowder of Draper, Utah, Rodney (Marsha) Lowder of Surprise, Ariz., Brent (Janice) Lowder of Ogden, Utah, Judy (George) Allen of Soda Springs, Karla (Brent) Wilson of Rupert, Cindy (Loren) Smith of Downey and Dell (Wendy) Lowder of Rupert; 47 grandchildren; 112 great-grandchildren; his brothers, Eldon (Maxine) Lowder of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Don Lowder of South Jordan, Utah. Robert was preceded in death by his parents, Lewis LeRoy and Myrtle Kenner Lowder; his brothers, Richard Lowder and Royal Lowder; his grandson, Jared Lowder; and his granddaughter, Heather Lowder.
The service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, March 28, at the Acequia LDS 2nd Ward building, with Bishop Richard Poteet officiating. There will be a viewing from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, March 27, at the Hansen Mortuary Rupert Chapel, 710 Sixth St., and one hour prior to the service Monday at the church. The burial will follow at Rupert Cemetery.
His family suggests that in lieu of flowers you may donate to Primary Children’s Hospital or Humanitarian Aid.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Dilemma

VS.

Jeph and I both graduate this spring.  I, with my master's degree in school counseling from University of Phoenix.  Jeph, with his bachelor's degree in business management.  We are so excited because we have worked pretty hard to accomplish said goals.  We had decided that this was a big deal for both of us so we were both going to walk at our respective commencement ceremonies. 

Today I found out:

Both ceremonies are on the same day at the same time in cities 2 hours apart.  
Mine is in West Valley at the Maverik Center at 10:00 AM and Jeph's is in Logan at the USU campus at 9:30 AM.

What should we do?

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Kinda Gross

My one complaint about my new job:

 I love being a school counselor.  I really do.  I love everything but one about the whole situation.  
You see I have this lovely desk. 
 And a basket of bribery candy on the corner of my desk.
 Well one day I came in to find my crackers that were in this drawer had a few nibbles taken out of them.  How a creature got into this drawer to eat my crackers is beyond me (the drawer is usually closed).  So I threw them away immediately.
 A few weeks later I come to work to find a basket of candies that look like this:
 And scratch marks like this:
So I threw all the candy away and sterilized the basket as best as I could.  Now I lock my basket away at night in a cabinet that has no secret entry ways and have not had a problem since. But let me tell you, it was pretty traumatic. I sure hope my little office friends have gone away for good.  I never knew they were quite the sneaky little beasts and climb desks. I have learned my lesson. 

Picture Collage from the past 4 months

 We have not been good at blogging about all of our happenings so today I have decided to do one giant picture blog post with all the random pictures we have in our phones and cameras from the past few months or so.

Venita's 27th Birthday celebration @ Cheesecake Factory.  Delish!
 

 Yulia and Jeph were so kind as to dress me up in this festive birthday getup.
They had decorated the entire condo with balloons, and streamers, and all sorts of fun stuff.
(We had college day at Alta so I was sporting my Alma Mater sweatshirt.)
Puppy loved the boa and enjoyed wearing it around (I think he really liked tearing it apart, but we pretend he isn't so vicious. Boy does he need a hair cut in this picture - what a mangy looking mutt).



We love going to the Utah State Fair.  However, Jeph only took one picture to send to his neighbear Rachel. 

 Jeph takes creepy pictures of us sleeping.

Jeph has not had a hair cut since probably May or maybe June.  But with time, the long hair grew on us (more so on him, ha) and we didn't want to cut it off. The day came when it was too long but Venita was not brave enough to cut it so we went to our trusted friend Lacey to get a hair cut.  here are the before and after pics. It's a good thing we have his next appointment already set up for next month because he is going to need it. (Jeph is also modeling some of the fancy glasses they carry at the vision clinic. Unfortunately they don't look too bad).
 Random picture of Venita.  I'm not really sure.

 A long time ago in a much more miserable world, I worked in this building. 
 This was my lovely office. After two and a half years I finally gained a window just to leave a few months later, back to a windowless office.  But I sure enjoyed it while I could.


 This was my awesome officemate and highlight of my last few months. As you can see, it was always a party when Sherranda was around.


 One day I was ambitiously doing sit-ups and was joined by the little pupster, he just laid there looking at me confused. 

 My scary pirate face that was my costume for work.
 Puppy needing a hair cut:
 Because we are cheap, we cut puppy's hair.  He will only let us cut so much at a time before he gets bored, irritated, and scared.  This is as far as I got one day and he walked around looking lioness for the next week or so until I found time to finish the job. 
 And when I finished, he looked much better (don't mind his nasty bone that is sometimes mistaken for something much less pleasant)

 Puppy enjoying a ride with his pa.
 We puppy sat one weekend for my brother.  Co6aka loved having Chaco over, but I think by the end Chaco was so sick of puppy bothering him so much.  But he was a good sport most of the time and it was a nice break for us.
 Jeph caught this at the DMB show in SLC.  He was pretty excited to have a Carter Beauford drum stick.  The advantages of front row.
 
 Because I have finished my major classes, I have had a little extra time on my hands.  Besides reading a few books for fun, I have become a little crafty.  These are a few things I made for my friend's baby shower.  I was pretty impressed with myself since I am not a crafty person.
 Again my attempts at craftiness.  While the boys were watching football over Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to try to make a headband out of some scraps from my grandma's house.  And this is what I made:

And that is some of what we have been up to the last four months.