Bailey's Blog

On Sunday 6 April we watched "Music & the Spoken Word" followed by the fourth session of the 184th Annual General Conference at 9 am local time. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf opened the session followed by Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Then Sister Jean A. Stevens, first counselor in the Primary General Presidency, spoke.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Jean A. Stevens

Elder M. Russell Ballard

The Tabernacle Choir and congregation sang "Teach Me to Walk in the Light."

Bishop Gary E. Stevenson, Presiding Bishop of the Church, spoke followed by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Then our beloved prophet President Thomas S. Monson gave the concluding talk of the session. He mentioned 1 John 4:21 "And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." And Moroni 7:47 "But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him." He quoted

John Greenleaf Whittier, "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.' "

Bishop Gary E. Stevenson

Elder David A. Bednar

President Thomas S. Monson

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)

I watched the Bible video “Young Jesus Teaches in the Temple.” You may watch it at the following link:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-003-young-jesus-teaches-in-the-temple?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng

We watched the fifth session of the 184th Annual General Conference at 1 pm local time. President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, opened the session. He must sit to deliver his talks and he appeared a number of times to be in pain as he spoke. (Later at supper no one agreed with me!) Like Elder Nelson he will be 90 in September. He quoted D&C 76:22-24 "22 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! 23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— 24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God." He was followed by Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy. He quoted John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." He spoke of "standing on the shoulders of giants" which I learned was attributed to Sir Isaac Newton. The next speaker was Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He will be 92 in August but appears to be in fine health and looks 10 years younger. He quoted the 3rd Article of Faith: "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." We need to be faithful and obedient!

President Boyd K. Packer

Elder William R. Walker

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

Elder L. Tom Perry

The Tabernacle Choir and congregation sang "Hark, All Ye Nations."

Three brethren of the Seventy spoke. Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge who talked of the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. and the First Vision, when the Father and the Son appeared to young Joseph in 1820. He said that the truth will always be opposed. He spoke of many doctrines revealed in the latter days. Elder Michael John U. Teh from the Philippines is the youngest currently-serving General Authority. He spoke of the treasures of heaven and of a widow in the Philippines living in a tent who keeps her temple recommend under her pillow. Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis from Brazil is of Lithuanian heritage. He spoke of asking in faith, nothing wavering.

Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge

Prophet Joseph Smith Jr.

the First Vision

Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis

Elder Michael John U. Teh

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the ministry of the Resurrected Christ in Israel and America. Faith in Jesus Christ is necessary to be saved.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

The conference's concluding speaker was our beloved prophet President Thomas S. Monson. Take the time to read the conference messages. Resolve to do a little better than we have done in the past. May our homes be full of love and courtesy and the spirit of The Lord. He bore his testimony in a very special manner.

President Thomas S. Monson

The Tabernacle Choir sang "Come, Let Us Anew."

We watched "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir presents An Evening with James Taylor and the Utah Symphony" on BYU-TV. It took place on September 6th and 7th last fall. This was our introduction to James Taylor even though he's been performing for 48 years and is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. We enjoyed his rendition of "You've Got a Friend."

Eileen and Sean made a yummy pasta and finely-chopped chicken dish for supper with the tomato sauce recipe of Eileen's dad which is delicious!

Having finally published my blog entry for the week of 23 March, I began on that of 30 March.

On Monday 7 April we had an enjoyable FaceTime session in the morning with Heather and Liam on my iPhone.

I worked on a wooden helicopter kit for Ashton, gluing the various parts together.

Ashton's wooden helicopter

For the first time in a long while we enjoyed Papa John's pizza! It is far and away my favorite!!

After supper we had Family Home Evening as Colleen taught the lesson about the Creation, etc.

"We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest.” President Thomas S. Monson

Good news today is that our son William has been offered an internship in Folsom, California! He and Erin have sold their home with closing on 9 May. She will be staying with her folks and William with a relative of hers in the Sacramento area for the summer.

On Tuesday 8 April we enjoyed Papa John's for breakfast! I published my 30 March blog entry.

Eileen finished the wooden helicopter kit for Ashton, attaching the rubber band to make the propeller spin around.

We took Ashton to the Greenhouse Montessori preschool and visited Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, and the Southeast Regional library before picking him up. At the library I learned that Gilbert, Arizona, is a sister city to Leshan, China. This was all several miles north and west of Colleen's.

Terracotta warrior at the Southeast Regional library

We visited the Superstition Ranch Market, a farmer's market north of Colleen's.

Welcome to Apache Junction

Eileen and Colleen at the Superstition Ranch Market

the Superstition Mountains east of Colleen's

Colleen should be taking it easy but she is the Webelos leader, so Sean took her and Spencer to church for their den meeting. Then he went with Ashton and Tanner to his Taekwondo session. Colleen got a ride home from church, though it is so close that Spencer walked both ways.

I worked more on our U.K. blog entry and now am ready for our visit to Normandy.

I finished reading "George Washington" by Calista McCabe Courtenay, published in 1917 for young readers.

On Wednesday 9 April we just hung out with Colleen as Sean, Spencer, and Ashton were out and about. At 4:30 I went with Sean and the boys to the boys' Taekwondo session.

Ashton and Tanner

Spencer

On Thursday 10 April we began a busy day by dropping Colleen off at a home-schooling workshop in Gilbert and then the three boys at a home-schooling activity in Mesa. Later we picked the boys up and dropped off Ashton at the Greenhouse Montessori preschool and we then went to the Southeast Regional library (both in Gilbert) before picking him up.

Southeast Regional library

On the way to pick up the boys, we saw some interesting Southwestern flora.

At the library we saw a dollhouse called "La Maison des Reveries," "The House of Dreams," a French chateau.

La Maison des Reveries

We picked up Ashton, got gas at Sam’s Club for $3.299, and went to Wendy’s for soft-serve ice cream in waffle cones.

Then we picked up Colleen about 4:15 and came home. It was much too hot to spend time outside as it reached 99 degrees!

I worked more on our U.K. blog entry and now am back in England at Gadfield Elm chapel in Worcestershire.

On Friday 11 April Colleen went with

me to drop off Ashton so she could go to a meeting while he was in school. I picked her up and then Ashton as we headed home in time to drop Sean off at work (Banner Ironwood Hospital) and go to Taekwondo.

Banner Ironwood Hospital

Afterwards we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for supper.

On the way home we passed the Gilbert Temple. It is beautifully lit at night!

I began and finished reading "La Tontine" by Alain Rene Le Sage.

Alain Rene Le Sage (1668-1747)

On Saturday 12 April I got up early and picked up Sean from work. Our youngest, William, came by and picked us up at 10 am. He and Erin are house sitting for Tom and Katie (Erin's sister) Brown in Gilbert. We enjoyed lunch at the Blue Lemon restaurant in Gilbert.