On Sunday 26 January we were up early and enjoyed breakfast at the Comfort Inn.  We checked out and returned to the Marietta East Stake center for the Sunday morning session of stake conference.  It was unusual in that it was not a local stake conference.  It was taking place in Orlando, Florida, and being transmitted to multiple buildings in 48 stakes in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.  It was being presided over by Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Elder Erich W. Kopischke of the Seventy conducted. 

Elder Russell M. Nelson

Elder Erich W. Kopischke 

Elder Robert C. Gay of the Seventy spoke.  He spoke of the wiles of Satan and how prevalent they are today.  He told of the parable of President Hinckley's about the Indian boy and the poisonous snake.   

President Gordon B. Hinckley

A member in Soweto, South Africa, told Elder Gay how the absolute power of truth blessed her life.  He told of a woman who fought very much against the Church.  Her husband who loved her was a faithful member and took their children to Church.  They and their children were active and went on missions.  One grandson, aware of his grandmother's feelings about the Church, fasted and prayed month in and month out, even throughout his mission, that an angel would come to her to correct her way.  Finally an angel appeared to him and told him to write his grandmother with what he would tell him.  He did so and sent her the letter.  His grandmother read it and it contained things from her life that only she knew.  It touched her heart and she prayed.  Heaven was opened and she knew that she was loved by God.  But she still did not want to rejoin the Church.  Further prayer took place and the answer was that the Church is the Kingdom of God on Earth!  She returned to full activity after years of hostility. 

Elder Robert C. Gay

Carol F. McConkie, 1st counselor in the General Young Women a Presidency, spoke.  Keeping the commandments helps us to know the truth.  D&C 76:5 "For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. 6 Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory. 7 And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom. 8 Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations."

We are guided by a living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.  

President Thomas S. Monson

"Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God." Prophet Joseph Smith Jr.

Prophet Joseph Smith Jr.

She spoke of a young sister missionary who was always so happy and smiling when they headed a mission.  Keeping all the commandments unites us with God.

We are a covenant people.  Keeping the commandments are the path of safety and peace.  D&C 93:1 "Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am."

Carol F. McConkie

Elder Kopischke spoke.  Living outside of Europe for the first time.  Feels so welcome and at home in the South.  Celestial network of salvation.  Jesus Christ is the personal savior of you and me.  Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration.  The Lord's Kingdom reestablished on the earth is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah.  

Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."  The Lord is hastening the work of salvation.  We will be embraced by a spirit of urgency.  We are participating in the preparation for the Second Coming of the Savior.  This includes family history and temple work.  Invite others to come unto Christ as often as possible.  Be more worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.   2 Nephi 32:3 "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."  Spoke of the hike by a sister where he and his family gave her a ride.  They only saw her because they took a detour.  She sent a Christmas card explaining how they were angels in answer to her prayers.  He spoke of President Kimball's asking the members to pray for the softening of the hearts of leaders behind the Iron Curtain.  President Monson recently asked members to do something similar.  Pray with more precision.  He bore his testimony. 

Elder Nelson spoke.  Thanked the great choir.  And those others who spoke.  He spoke of Church growth.

A good strong heart is required by a large church just as by a large person.  Elder Nelson spoke of his anguish over the inactivity of his parents when he was in medical school.  In their 80's they were active and sealed in the temple.  Loving care is essential to bringing people into the waters of baptism and bringing people back to their covenants.  Spoke of "doctrine" and "doctrines."  The latter is often negative in connotation.  The doctrine of God and the doctrine of Christ.  Nine doctrines (he spoke on each): the Godhead; Plan of Salvation; the Atonement of Jesus Christ, to include the experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection; Dispensation, Apostasy, and Restoration (gathering Israel, sealing all together, and preparing for the Second Coming); Prophets and Revelation; Priesthood and Priesthood Keys;  Ordinances and Covenants; Marriage and Family (reread The Family: A Proclamation to the World) ; Commandments (are to protect and bless His children).  Nine facets of the Diamond of Doctrine.  He hopes we will love the Lord and be one of His true disciples.  He gave us his apostolic blessing.  He bore his testimony.

Closing hymn #157. "Thy Spirit, Lord, Has Stirred Our Souls." 

We then headed south on our trip to Eileen's brother Russ's second home in Brooker.  We stopped at Sam's Club in Valdosta and filled the gas tank for $3.069!  There were a couple of stops at rest areas.

Seen at the rest stop

As the passenger Eileen was able to admire the scenery and she often saw mistletoe in the trees alongside the roads.  

Mistletoe

Multiple mistletoe

We left the stake center at about 12:15 pm and arrived in Brooker about 5:40 pm.  A little while later Russ and our daughter Sue arrived from Sunrise, Florida. The clouds in the sky were beautiful! 

Russ's home in Brooker

After supper I worked on my blog for last week.

I read the Book of John chapter 7 and watched "The Baptism of Jesus" which you can view at this link:

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-024-the-baptism-of-jesus?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&&lang=eng

On Monday 27 January we were up very early (5:15 am) and took Sue to her procedure at Shand's Cancer Clinic at 7 am.  She left us at 8:35 to have the procedure done, this time by Dr. Vogel.  

We enjoyed a bite to eat in the Clinic's Atrium with pita chips, hummus, and artichoke dip.  Then I got a phone call that Sue was back on the Patient Holding area at 11:45.  Dr. Vogel came by to visit Sue about 1 pm.  We left the hospital at 4:15.

We enjoyed supper that Russ made and I published my blog for the week of 19 January.

On Tuesday 28 January I got up and watched three Bible videos.  I watched "Jesus Turns Water into Wine," "Jesus Cleanses the Temple," and "Jesus Teaches of Being Born Again."  Here are the three links if you would like to watch them:

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-023-jesus-turns-water-into-wine?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&&lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-039-jesus-cleanses-the-temple?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&&lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-028-jesus-teaches-of-being-born-again?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&&lang=eng

I tried to do some Family Search indexing but there are no batches available at the beginner level.  When I have tried the intermediate level in the past, the batches have been very difficult to read.

I went for a ride with Russ to his local dump.  They do not have "single stream" recycling.  They have  three very large dumpsters, each one for certain types of recyclables.  They also have the facility to dump used oil, electronic equipment, etc.

Sue got a call from Shand's and they are still not comfortable doing the radioactive seeds for the cancer as they feel that her system would allow the seeds to roam to other parts of her body.  There are alternatives, so now she waits again for the doctors to discuss what can be done.

I worked some more on the Stubbs' genealogy, using familysearch.org, ancestry.com, and google.  I found some interesting published histories by googling.

We learned from an e-mail from Judy Farmer that the food pantry will be closed tomorrow due to the bad weather.  I called the sister missionaries and they've been told not to venture out tomorrow unless it's just nearby on foot.  I replied to Judy about us coming home on Wednesday.

I read the Book of John chapter 8.

On Wednesday 29 January we got a reply from Judy that conditions were terrible in North Georgia.  She said, "Atlanta is in total gridlock.  People have been on north bound I75 sitting since yesterday.  If I were you I would stay in Florida.  I 575 is closed at BigUns BBQ to Ellijay.  Most of 52 is closed.  Hope you are staying in Florida at least one more day."  So we decided to stay one more day but Russ and Sue would head home to Sunrise.  

Then Sue got a phone call from the hospital that they wanted her to come in to show her what they would like to do.  We jumped in the car and drove to Shand's.  So now we're staying longer and Sue will have another procedure on Friday!  We'll probably be here until Sunday.

So we stocked up on lots of meat, cheese, etc., at the deli at Publix.

After lunch I remembered to call the post office in Ellijay to hold our mail until we return this weekend.  Then Bill Kazy called as he and Kimberley wanted to see how Sue was doing.  We visit (home teach) them every month.

Our oldest son Geoff texted us and later called.  His back has been bothering him and he texted that he has a bulging lower disk which is pinching his nerve.  So his left leg is numb "from the butt to the foot."  He is considering surgery at the hospital in Annapolis.

We went to the Conestogas Restaurant in Alachua with Russ's neighbor Tom for supper.  It's our favorite place to eat when we visit Russ's place in Brooker.

Eileen and Sue at Conestogas

I worked a lot on the Stubbs's genealogy and began working on Family Tree in familysearch.org.

On Thursday 30 January we read all about the debacle in Atlanta when we got up in the morning.  What an awful wintry disaster for the folks there!  We took Sue to get her nails done and we shopped at Sam's Club for meals.

I worked a lot on the Stubbs's genealogy.  I called Family Search at the 866 number because when you request temple ordinances for an individual, that individual shows up in the temple ordinance list but when you return to the detailed information for that individual and click on ordinances it still shows that you need to request the ordinances.  Only if you get out of familysearch.org and then go back in do the ordinances in the detailed information appear correctly, i.e., with yellow squares for the ordinances showing that they've been submitted.

We had delicious salmon for supper.  I posted the following to Facebook:
"God’s word out of the Holy Bible is very relevant to each one of us. The teaching of this divinely inspired book will ultimately lead us to Christ and salvation. I believe that people of faith who read and ponder biblical teachings in their lives form the moral underpinning of society.” D. Todd Christofferson

On Friday 31 January we were up at 5 am to take Sue in to Shand's for her second procedure of the week.  She had to be at the hospital at 6:30.  The electronic display board up on the wall behind the reception desk in surgery made me smile.  The times use the 24-hour clock, yet they still append AM and PM so people aren't confused.

The procedure went well and Dr. Vogel is optimistic that the appointment can be made for the radioactive seeds to be implanted to combat the tumors on her liver.

While at the hospital Family Search called back and wanted me to talk to technical support.  Since I was not by my computer, we made arrangements for them to call me tomorrow at noon.

We got back to Russ's about 4:45 pm and enjoyed supper, though Sue only ate a little white rice as she can't eat much after her procedure.

On Saturday 1 February we just hung out as Sue wasn't feeling too spiffy.  I did a lot of work on the Stubbs family on Family Tree, adding many to the Temple Ordinance List.  It was interesting that parts of the family had their temple work done in the 1930s and in the Palmyra Temple in 2004!

Family Search called back and refreshed my memory that Internet Explorer is the problem.  When I switched to Firefox as my browser, I had no problems with Family Tree.

I read the Book of John chapter 9 and watched the Bible video "For God So Loved the World," probably the most precious video I have watched in this series so far!  You can view it at this link:

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-042-for-god-so-loved-the-world?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&&lang=eng