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!