On Sunday 16 March we attended our Ellijay Branch.  The speakers in sacrament meeting were Sister Dori LeVan and Brother Jason Ray.

Dori spoke on the subject of forgiveness.  She researched "The Miracle of Forgiveness" by Elder Spencer W. Kimball.

President Spencer W. Kimball

She shared the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) emphasizing verses 14 and 15 which follow. Forgiveness means forgetfulness.  She related the Bishop Kempton story from President Kimball (see October 1977 General Conference).  Matthew 5:43-45.  "43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."  D&C 64:9-10.   "9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.  10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men."  She spoke of Jesus' sufferings on the cross and his words "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  She shared a poem "An Evening Prayer" by C. Maude Battersby.

Jason spoke on keeping the Sabbath day holy.  As a policeman he has to work on alternate weekends.  He had never given a talk before.  He began dating his future wife who was raised in the Church.  He got a long list of things not to do on Sunday.  Now he has a better understanding of keeping the Sabbath day holy.  This theme is reiterated throughout the scriptures. He quoted from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:8-11.  "8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." He spoke of the consequences in the Old Testament for breaking this commandment.  D&C 59:9-12 “9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; 10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High; 11 Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times; 12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.” and 68:29 “And the inhabitants of Zion shall also observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” We know now of the blessings of keeping the Sabbath day holy.  He then spoke of things we should do on the Sabbath.  He quoted from Elder Kimball on these things.  Jesus set an example in the New Testament of how He kept the Sabbath.  It is most important to partake of the sacrament on Sunday.  We need to regenerate our spiritual and physical being.  As an expression of our love for God, we should obey His commandments.  He spoke of observing the Lord's Day as the Sabbath.  He quoted from President Gordon B. Hinckley about the blessings of keeping the Sabbath day holy.  He bore his testimony as had Dori.

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Brother Tony Stanley commented about the Sabbath as Jason was done at 10:48 am.  Tony keeps his suit on (most of the time) to help him remember it is the Sabbath.  He liked so much Dori's description of what the Savior went through on the cross.  He spoke of the apparent unfairness of having to forgive someone who has been unfair to you.  But the negative impact of keeping the unforgiving feelings are so adverse.  He said that if you would take revenge on that person you need to overcome that tendency.  Then if you could help that person would you?  You need to honestly say "yes."  It's not easy to do these things.  The Savior was able to forgive instantly and completely.  We are not yet perfect and cannot do that.  It is hard to fathom the Savior forgiving His enemies immediately.  We can strive to follow the Savior and become like Him.  Forgiveness is a great principle though not easy.  As Tony comes to church on occasion, he is amazed at the perfect organization of the Church.  He testified of the callings of President Boland and Brother Craig Chester and bore his testimony.  He reached 11:01 am!

Brother Craig Chester filled in for Brother Ronald Fisher teaching Gospel Doctrine in Sunday School.  Today the lesson was "Birthright Blessings; Marriage in the Covenant" from Genesis 24-29.

In priesthood meeting our lesson was from Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith on "Faith and Repentance."

After priesthood I chatted with Brother Terry Dorsey, a recent convert to the Church, about working with him on his family history.  He will be in Brother John Cribb's family history class starting next Sunday.

We had a baptismal service at 1:45 for Austin Yeoman.  He had been taught by Elders Cleverly and Faber. Brother Terry Dorsey spoke on baptism, Brother Scott Pierce baptized Austin, Brother Marvin Knight spoke on the Holy Ghost, and Brother Chester welcomed Austin into the Ellijay Branch.

Eileen made yummy Vietnamese spring rolls with peanut sauce for lunch!

Vietnamese spring rolls

Peanut sauce

Late in the afternoon Brother David and Sister Caroline Echard came over to visit as our home teachers.  We enjoy their visits.  We learned that Brother Ronald Fisher will be released as Gospel Doctrine teacher as he has been called to be the branch executive secretary.

Eileen enjoyed watching an episode from season 3 of "Lark Rise to Candleford."

I sent St. Patrick's Day Jacquie Lawson e-cards to the children and grandchildren.

On Monday 17 March we began celebrating St. Patrick's Day as I got a big card from Eileen.  

We had a phone call from Sue who came back home from the hospital yesterday.  For some reason our power had gone off about 7:45 am.  Thank goodness for our whole-house generator!  It was off about 45 minutes.

We enjoyed watching old favorites on the Food Network, "Good Eats" with Alton Brown and "Unwrapped" with Marc Summers.

Alton Brown

Marc Summers

Eileen made wonderful corned beef and cabbage for supper with onions, potatoes, and baby carrots.  It was delicious!

After talking to Sue, Eileen proposed that we drive down to Sunrise tomorrow to be with her and help her for a couple of weeks.  So we started packing the car.

On Tuesday 18 March we visited Sabrina Bayless at 10 am and then went to the post office to have our mail held for us for 2+ weeks.  One of the gals behind the counter, Kim, said "yes" to my Book of Mormon questions!

We topped off at Kroger in Jasper for $3.199.

Arrow Exterminator came by at noon today to treat the outside of our home.

When we got onto I-475 I stopped for gas at Kroger for $3.169 and we enjoyed Cracker Barrel in Macon.  One of the gals, Gail, who works out in the gift shop area said "yes" to my Book of Mormon questions!  Now I have gotten three positive responses this month which enabled me to reach one of my goals for 2014 of getting at least one per month (as I had not done it in January or February).

Eileen enjoys this game at Cracker Barrel

Flowers at the Cracker Barrel

Ben and dolphin at rest area

Unusual load along I-75

Gas has really gone up in Florida!  The Valero station near Russ's has gone from $3.439 to $3.699!

We got to Russ's about 6:30 pm.  We brought a bunch of egg cartons for Russ's friends Tom and Ann who have chickens, the three "beeminators" we bought from Susan Shedd at the food pantry for Russ's carpenter bee problem, and the six Corelle bowls for Russ's kitchen (just like the ones we have at home).  The beeminators have worked very well for us at home.

Beeminators

Beeminator at Russ's

Beeminator at Russ's

On Wednesday 19 March we left Russ's just before 10 am and reached Sue's about 3:30 pm.  We stopped for gas just before we reached the Florida Turnpike; it was $3.559!  We bought two wraps at Publix when we reached Sue's neighborhood and enjoyed them with her.

Sue and David's

Palm in Sue and David's front yard

Eileen's favorite palm tree

When we got settled I made reservations for nine of us for the Fort Lauderdale LDS Temple open house at 5:30 on 29 March.

Fort Lauderdale Temple

I finished reading "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare.

Balcony Scene

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

David came home and we enjoyed delicious leftover corned beef and cabbage for supper with more cabbage, potatoes, and baby carrots.

On Thursday 20 March I went to Publix as Eileen wanted to make "Mississippi Sweets' Brunswick Stew."  She stayed with Sue and I went shopping.  Thank goodness for text messaging!  I knew that I'd have lots of questions as I shopped.  Some items I would've guessed right on, but others I just didn't know :(

The stew was delicious!  I had never had Brunswick Stew with chicken before.  Here is the recipe:

Mississippi Sweets' Brunswick Stew

The spice of this zesty stew can be adjusted according to taste by the amount of red pepper flakes and Tabasco.

1 (11-ounce) can whole kernel corn, undrained

1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup lima beans, frozen

1 medium onion, diced

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 pound potatoes, diced

3 tablespoons ketchup

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 heaping teaspoon chicken base (such as Better Than Bouillon brand)

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, or to taste

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

6 cups water

2 ounces fresh okra (about 8 medium pods), ends trimmed and thinly sliced

10 ounces cooked chicken (about two large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves), shredded

1 Using a large nonreactive pot over medium high heat, place all ingredients except okra and chicken. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium low, partially cover, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours. (Stir every 15 minutes or so to prevent it from scorching.)

2 Add okra and continue simmering mixture 30 minutes more. Add chicken and cook until chicken is heated through.

Makes about 8 servings.

At 7:30 pm I was in a conference call on Brother Lee Snyder's cell phone at the first stake food drive meeting in Woodstock, Georgia.  I am the Ellijay Branch representative. 

On Friday 21 March I watched the Bible video “The Naming of John the Baptist.”  It was especially touching as John’s father Zacharias was able to speak and affirm that the baby’s name should be John.  You may watch the video at the following link:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-004-the-naming-of-john-the-baptist?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng

Eileen and I went to a local La Granja Peruvian Restaurant of which there are numerous in this part of Florida.  It appears on their website that there are two near Orlando and about 26 more from Ft. Pierce south to Miami.  We ordered takeout for ourselves and Sue.  It was a nice-looking colorful clean restaurant and the food was quite good!

I finished reading the LDS Church News dated January 12th.  I read them cover to cover and fall further and further behind as they come weekly.  The centerfold listed the 122 new mission presidents throughout the world and saw that the Georgia Atlanta North Mission will have a new mission president.  President John E. Bennion and his wife will be replacing President Mark A. Wolfert and his wife and serve for a period of three years.

It was most interesting to read the article "How to create your own gospel-centered blog on the Internet."  I know my blog has a lot about the gospel in it.

The Church News Viewpoint on the back cover was entitled "Christ our Champion" and closed with the following statement: "Death and sin remain absolute truths in our lives.  But joy can be just as certain when we remember that a loving Savior leads us.  He alone opens and offers a path to immortality and deliverance from sin."  I posted this to Facebook.

Back home in Ellijay I had discovered a magazine entitled "British Heritage" dated December 1980/January 1981 in my basement library.  I brought it with me and have read interesting articles about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Croquet.  Quite entertaining and interesting, respectively.

Playing croquet

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

I finished reading "The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux which I had begun on 21 November.

1920 edition in France

Gaston Leroux (1868-1927)

On Saturday 22 March we were up early and took Sue for her scan.  While she was having that done, we found the SAS shoe store and Eileen got two pairs of sandals (red and caramel).  

Wall display at SAS

Late in the afternoon I went shopping for Eileen and filled up the car at $3.599!  Eileen made chicken 'n' dumplings for dinner tomorrow.  I tried to burn my fingers as I pulled apart the whole cooked chicken for her!

On Sunday 9 March we attended our Ellijay Branch.  I was asked to give the benediction.  Our speakers were Carol and Phil Messina.

Carol quoted from Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the subject of compassion.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie
(1915-1985)

She spoke of the Savior's compassion when He visited the Nephite saints in America.  She quoted from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles about compassion for the mentally disabled.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

The Messina's had a mentally disabled son who took his own life as an adult.  Never lose faith in Heavenly Father.  When she was in nursing school, she was in a terrible accident and was delayed a year in graduating.  Her ankle was crushed and the worse part of the accident.  Her compatriots told her that she would learn compassion later as a nurse.  She related the story of Joseph sold into bondage in Egypt.  He had compassion on his brothers and family.  He saw God's hand in preserving his family.  She told of the sick young man who was at a restaurant in Salt Lake City traveling from Boston to California and the help he received from an LDS couple.  He wrote to the Church about the help he got from that couple.

Phil spoke on tolerance.  He quoted from the dictionary on toleration, tolerate, tolerant, etc., and their many synonyms.  He said that he has had problems with tolerance but is a very forgiving person.  He quoted from Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles about religious freedom and tolerance.

Elder Russell M. Nelson

He quoted the 11th Article of Faith by the Prophet Joseph Smith.   "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."  

Prophet Joseph Smith

He quoted from Matthew 22:36-38 about which is the great commandment.  36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  38 This is the first and great commandment.  39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."  Followed by Mosiah 2:17 in the Book of Mormon.  "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your  fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."  We need to build our capacity for tolerance.  Malice toward our brethren does not sit well with Heavenly Father.  Love comes from the heart.  Have love one for another.  It's a commandment.  Be one that builds, not tears down.  We have miles to go before we sleep (poet Robert Frost).

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

I read the Book of John chapter 21.  Now I will move on to read of Jesus in 3rd Nephi.

I watched the Bible video "The Parable of the Talents."  You may watch it at the following link:  

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-001-the-parable-of-the-talents?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng

During our priesthood meeting I told about my two questions that I ask people referring to the Book of Mormon and that I would be sending one to the cashier at Tractor Supply.  Brother Bond asked if her name was Becca as he knows her.  I said that it was.  In our class we discussed priesthood ordinances and blessings as found in the LDS Church's Family Guidebook.  We discussed the requirements involved, naming and blessing children, consecrating the oil, administering to the sick, and giving a father's blessings of comfort and counsel to his wife and children.

After our church meetings Eileen and I individually met with our branch president Ryan Boland to begin the renewal of our temple recommends.   When we joined the LDS Church temple recommends  were good for one year, but effective November 2002 President Gordon B. Hinckley made them good for two years.

President Gordon B. Hinckley
(1910-2008)

We then visited Peggy Espersen for a short visit and then drove to Blue Ridge to visit Darlene Burgess.

We called our daughter Colleen in Arizona and sang "happy birthday" for her 40th birthday.

We enjoyed three episodes that we had recorded of "Rick Steves' Europe."  One was in Normandy and one was in Edinburgh, both of which we visited last August.  The third was an hour of music in Seattle where Rick hails from, featuring seven different European composers and noted music associated with the countries.

Rick Steves

I worked on my blog from the previous week and published it.

On Monday 10 March we enjoyed having Jan Pardee visit us as I helped her work on her family history from 1-7:30 pm.  I had Ancestry.com on my laptop and she had Familysearch.org on hers.

Familysearch.org

On Tuesday 11 March I finished reading "Tom Swift and His Air Scout, or, Uncle Sam's Mastery of the Sky" by Victor Appleton.

We met Ralph and Holly Hughes for lunch at the new Oki Japanese Steak & Sushi restaurant in Ellijay.  It still had all of the interior decorating of the previous Italian restaurant!  It was very good!

Oki Japanese Steak & Sushi in Ellijay

Then we visited North Georgia Diamond to pick up my new bracelet that Eileen had gotten me to replace the previous one that was damaged. While there I got her some diamond earrings for her birthday which is next week and put a diamond necklace on layaway for our anniversary in September.

North Georgia Diamond

We drove to Blue Ridge to play putt-putt at Cohutta Cove Mini Golf as the weather was gorgeous.  Eileen and I were both over par and she won by one stroke on the 18th hole.  It was a fun date!

Late in the afternoon Brian Shedd, son of Susan Shedd whom we know from the food pantry, came by to give us an estimate on cleaning up some of the fallen trees in the wooded areas of our property.  We discovered his line of work at the pantry open house last Friday.

The temperatures dropped below freezing two nights in a row, so we cut our pretty daffodils and brought them in the house.

I finished reading "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" by Lew Wallace which I had begun on 27 March 2013.

Lew Wallace (1827-1905)

On Wednesday 12 March we did not have to pick up the sister missionaries as they attended their missionary zone conference.  We went straight to the food pantry.  There were nearly as many families (about 112) helped this week as last week.  I met volunteers Don and Linda.  He helped me with the plastic bags and she was a shopper.  I was able to tell him a lot about serving LDS missions.

Afterwards we mailed some materials to Colleen and a Book of Mormon to the cashier at Tractor Supply.

We stopped at R&A Orchards as we always do on Wednesdays to get the Times-Courier and some pickled items, i.e., dilly beans, green tomatoes, and baby beets.

Later in the afternoon we went to our appointments in Blue Ridge with the periodontist Dr. Gregg Codelli.  Eileen was fine but the dental hygienist Martha found that I had a draining abscess and with the x-ray a broken tooth.  After consulting with Dr. Codelli I made an appointment to have the tooth removed (it had had a root canal sometime in the past) and get my third implant!  I paid 1/3 down.  Dr. Codelli also mentioned about having seen the "Book of Mormon" play and he was impressed by the Church's advertisements in the playbill for the  Book of Mormon itself. 

Dr. Gregg Codelli

Darlene Burgess had called as soon as I had gotten into the dentist's chair.  We called her back and discussed a car she might possibly buy from her daughter in Tennessee.  After researching it online when we got home and calling her back, we all agreed it wasn't a good idea. 

After supper (mussels and hot Italian sausage) we enjoyed an episode of Father Brown.

Cast of Father Brown

On Thursday 13 March we went to the Lions Club building in Ellijay for me to give blood.  We called the toll-free number to check into why Eileen could not donate.  She should be hearing back from them.  We met Eileen Below, Emil Harvey, and Nancy who also volunteer at the food pantry.  Eileen and Emil also volunteer for Kids Ferst.

Then we headed south, getting gas at Kroger for $3.219.  We shopped at the Dress Barn at the Outlet Shoppes At Atlanta which is actually in Woodstock.

Outlet Shoppes At Atlanta 

We each enjoyed an Auntie Anne's pepperoni pretzel, though it was more like fried bread than a nice soft pretzel.

Auntie Anne's pepperoni pretzel

On the way back home we got a long-sleeved shirt and a short-sleeved shirt for me at Kohl's.  At Amy's Hallmark we got birthday cards that we needed up through May.  Back in Ellijay we visited Ingle's which we always enjoy.

A box came from our son-in-law David Opatosky with fish salad and a package of kale that had been frozen.  The kale was good for supper as Eileen added bacon and onion, and she again made egg drop soup.

On Friday 14 March I finished reading “Doctor Syn: A Smuggler Tale of the Romney Marsh" by Russell Thorndyke (1885-1972).

A few weeks ago the large mirror on Eileen's dresser had come crashing down, just missing her toes!  Today she suggested that I put it back up with the screws just an inch to the right and that worked fine.

We went to the post office, mailing a box to Eileen's sister Jane in New Jersey, and did some shopping.  When we returned to our car at Food Lion, the sun was shining just right so that I saw something shiny under Eileen's seat.  I reached down and extracted it.  It was Eileen's oyster shell charm that she thought she had lost in Florida in January!  How marvelous!

We got texts from our granddaughter Megan in Florida that our daughter Sue had an elevated temperature and was being admitted to Westside Medical Center in Plantation.

In the evening we watched an episode from season 3 of "Larkrise to Candleford."

On Saturday 15 March we drove to the stake center in Marietta after picking up the sister missionaries, Sisters Wilcox and Burgess.  The event the women were attending was the Relief Society Birthday activity with dinner and a program with a cast presenting "The Parable of the Ten Virgins."  Along the way we stopped at Amy's Hallmark in Canton to get the four packages of Asher's Sugar-Free Chocolates that they were holding for us.

Marietta East Stake Center

Here are some pictures that Eileen took at the Relief Society Birthday activity:

Birthday cake made by Olga Knight

Table decoration

Stage setup for "The Parable of the Ten Virgins"

Painting of "The Parable of the Ten Virgins"
seen in many of the LDS meetinghouses

After dropping off Eileen and the sister missionaries, I went to the Clock Repair Service also in Marietta to get the two clocks that we had left there for repair some weeks ago.  His repair estimates were much too high, so I just picked them back up from him.  

I watched the Bible video "Ye Have Done It Unto Me."  You may watch it at the following link:  

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-068-ye-have-done-it-unto-me?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng

I read the Book of 3rd Nephi chapter 9 where Jesus Christ spoke from Heaven to the righteous Nephites.

While waiting for the Relief Society Birthday activity to finish, I finished reading "The Corsair King" by Hungarian author Mor Jokai (outside Hungary known as Mauras Jokai).

Mor Jokai (1825-1904)

When we got home we enjoyed episodes of "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country" that I had recorded earlier in the day.

Christopher Kimball and Bridget Lancaster