My receiver quit working, so I was limited in how much I could hear the talks.
Our first speaker was Sister Autumn Pierce and she spoke on the hymn "Called to Serve." Autumn is going on a mission later this year. She told of the fact that there are so many Scripture Mastery verses that can be found in the hymn. We then sang that hymn #249.
Our next speaker was Sister Betty Hall. She spoke about her Primary lesson last week about hands. Her lesson today is about ears. There is so much talent in music and how wonderful it is to hear it. How often the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings Primary songs. She spoke of the hymn "Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah." One of the scriptural verses referred to is D&C 45:57. "For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day." We then sang verses one and three of that hymn #83.
Brother Roger Hall was our next speaker. He spoke of the Lord asking Sister Emma Smith to put together the Church's first hymnal. D&C 25:11-12. "11 And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacredhymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church.
12 For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." “We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer,” said President J. Reuben Clark in October 1936 General Conference.
"Inspiring music may fill the soul with heavenly thoughts, move one to righteous action, or speak peace to the soul," said President Ezra Taft Benson in October 1974 General Conference.
"I wonder sometimes if we realize the importance of music. I wonder if we know that the Lord Himself is concerned about it. He has given us the information that the song of praise is a prayer unto Him. In our day He has given revelation about music. He gave instruction that Emma Smith was to gather the hymns that were to be sung in the Church." (“Pres. George Albert Smith's Leadership Address,” Church News, Feb. 16, 1946, 8.)
Songs should be sung with righteousness. Hymns can lift our spirits and give us courage. Psalm 69:30. "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving." Withstand the temptations of the Adversary. Memorize some of our favorite hymns stated President Boyd K. Packer.
Brother Hall closed with his testimony. We then sang verses one and three of hymn #136, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives."
12 For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." “We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer,” said President J. Reuben Clark in October 1936 General Conference.
 |
| President J. Reuben Clark (1871-1961) |
"Inspiring music may fill the soul with heavenly thoughts, move one to righteous action, or speak peace to the soul," said President Ezra Taft Benson in October 1974 General Conference.
 |
| President Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994) |
"I wonder sometimes if we realize the importance of music. I wonder if we know that the Lord Himself is concerned about it. He has given us the information that the song of praise is a prayer unto Him. In our day He has given revelation about music. He gave instruction that Emma Smith was to gather the hymns that were to be sung in the Church." (“Pres. George Albert Smith's Leadership Address,” Church News, Feb. 16, 1946, 8.)
 |
| President George Albert Smith (1870-1951) |
Songs should be sung with righteousness. Hymns can lift our spirits and give us courage. Psalm 69:30. "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving." Withstand the temptations of the Adversary. Memorize some of our favorite hymns stated President Boyd K. Packer.
 |
| President Boyd K. Packer |
Brother Hall closed with his testimony. We then sang verses one and three of hymn #136, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives."
Brother Craig Chester was our concluding speaker. Elder Harold B. Lee gave a talk in 1968 about a school teacher helping a little girl put on her galoshes. It can be a little frustrating working with the youth. They are little rascals. If someone could steer them right like someone did for him, it would be wonderful. Elder Lee also told a story in that same talk about Horace Mann. If a school worth millions saves one boy, it was worth every cent. Someone was skeptical. You would especially believe it if it was your son.
 |
| President Harold B.Lee (1899-1973) |
He spoke of the branch fundraiser last night for the Young Men/Young Women upcoming camps. We did not attend, so we made a donation today. Alma 26:6-7. "6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them. 7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day." Our youth are special and are our greatest commodity. He closed with his testimony.
Here is the link to the talk by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone who spoke of Elder Lee's 1968 talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/1987/10/a-champion-of-youth?lang=eng
 |
| Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone |
I got three Book of Mormons from the branch library as I have to mail them in the next day or so to one person who said "yes" to my Book of Mormon questions as well as to the manager of the Sleep Inn in Owensboro who was so helpful and the gentleman from the Daviess County Public Library who helped me with my genealogy. The eight books that were mailed yesterday were all to people who said "yes" to my Book of Mormon questions.
I notified a member of the branch presidency, Brother Craig Chester, and the branch clerk, Brother Richard Callahan, that there were only two Book of Mormons left in the library. As part of my tithes and offerings, I contribute $10 monthly on the Book of Mormon line on the tithing slip.
Brother Jay Hanks taught our priesthood lesson which was lesson 10, "Our Search for Truth" from "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith." The lesson began with following quote from President Smith: "It is a requirement that is made of us, as members of this Church, to make ourselves familiar with that which the Lord has revealed, that we may not be led astray. … How are we going to walk in the truth if we do not know it?"
 |
| President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972) |
I spent an hour on the phone with Cindy Bivens helping her with using Family Tree. She took notes of everything that I told her.
As I was reading "Miracle of Forgiveness," I read Jeremiah 6:15. It reads, "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord." This certainly applies to fornicators and homosexuals. I posted it to Facebook.
We were visited by our home teachers Brother David and Sister Caroline Echard after supper. We always enjoy their visit.
I called and made home teaching appointments for Tuesday with three of those whom we home teach.
I watched the Bible video "A House Divided" from Luke 11:14-26 and Matthew 12:31-42. You may watch it at the following link: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-006-a-house-divided?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng
Eileen and I watched the video of Elder Neil L. Andersen and his grandson Clayton Hadlock at Roots Tech 2014 demonstrating the use of puzzilla.org and we played with it a little bit. Here is the link: https://www.lds.org/topics/family-history/rootstech/youth-puzzilla?lang=eng
On Monday 19 May I finished reading the 16 February issue of the Church News. There were a lot of wonderful articles. Of particular interest were the articles about Roots Tech 2014.
Elder David S. Baxter of the Seventy spoke at a devotional at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square on 11 February. He presented six points.
1. There is a God in heaven, He is our Eternal Father, and we are His spirit offspring.
“Our loyalty and devotion runs first to Him, as was so magnificently patterned by Jesus Christ.”
2. Stay true to what we know to be true.
He asked, “Are we weakened with fear and doubt or growing stronger in the faith through relentless resolve, fortified faith, constant courage, and decided determination? … Are we faint-hearted and lily-livered or grounded and set, constant and immovable?”
3. Obey the laws, doctrines, and commandments of the Lord.
“As we prove to be obedient, we are all entitled to all the blessings of heaven. There is no substitute for straightforward, noncompromising obedience to God’s law,” he said. “In this there truly is safety and peace.”
4. Live good and productive lives.
“Our hope is that academic excellence, the glory of God’s intelligence, ... matched with discipleship, doing good and being good, will become the golden threads that will be woven through the tapestry of your lives,” he said.
5. Welcome adversity.
“If we allow Him to do so, the Lord will use our life challenges to shape our character, to carve until our divine potential is set free.”
6. It is an absolute necessity to follow Jesus Christ in every aspect of life.
“Come, follow me” was Christ’s divine call to “be as He is, to think as He thinks, to act as He acts, to speak as He speaks, to strengthen and bless others, to establish the Church as He has done, to put God first in everything as He has always done.”
We went to our appointment at our family practitioner Dr. William Raisig for our quarterly bloodwork.
 |
| Dr. Raisig's office |
Then to the post office to mail the three Book of Mormons, one of which included the check for the mailing of my mouse and mouse pad that I had left at the Daviess County Library in Owensboro.
 |
| Ellijay Post Office |
We picked up my two medications at Rite-aid for my implant surgery on Wednesday and some things at Ingles, some of which is for dinner for the sister missionaries this evening.
I helped Eileen cook the cut-up London broil for her Hungarian goulash. It is traditional to serve that when a missionary comes to dinner for the first time and neither if these sisters have been here yet.
I turned over the soil in both raised bed gardens, discovering a large colony of ants in one of them! I drove the car around into the backyard and unloaded the compost and fertilizer from the trunk. Then I hooked up our sprinkler hoses to wet down both raised beds which should chase the ants away and also ensure that the sprinkler hoses still work. I discovered last year that the ones we'd had for several years no longer worked!
We are looking at going to Vermont for vacation in the fall, so I checked out several resorts with Interval International. The White's could fly into Burlington.
The sister missionaries, Sisters Burgess and Rowley, came for dinner and enjoyed Eileen's goulash, our Caesar salad, nice bread from Ingles, and her lemon bars. They left a spiritual thought from Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon and took lots of leftovers with them.
 |
| Sisters Burgess and Rowley |
 |
| Sister Rowley gives the spiritual thought |
We enjoyed some episodes of "Georgia Traveler" which were recorded in March on PBS.
On Tuesday 20 May we were up early (for us) and visited Sabrina Bayless at 10 am. Then I used the rest of the gift card that I'd gotten from the Lions Club for giving blood for gas at Walmart ($3.459).
We went by Peggy Espersen's and she had just gotten home! So we visited her and I gave her a priesthood blessing.
Today is Election Day as there are Democrat and Republican primaries today. We drove out GA 52 to the little voting precinct building nearby. One of the volunteers was Barbara Johnson whom we know from the food pantry. The two other volunteers were Christine "Chris" Murphy and Barbara Barrett. We remembered seeing Chris from previous elections.
When we got home we had a box in the mail on the front porch. It was from "A Cheerful Giver" website and was the Keepers of the Light honey-butter 30 oz candle that we had seen at the Deseret Book store in Mesa, Arizona. I ordered it on 13 May. A big surprise for Eileen!
Then we went to Blue Ridge and stopped at the Taste of Amish store.
 |
| Taste of Amish store |
 |
| Large variety of pickled items |
We took some dilly beans when we visited Darlene Burgess. All three sisters today received a short lesson from Elder Neil L. Andersen's general conference talk entitled "Spiritual Whirlwinds."
 |
| Elder Neil L. Andersen |
Eileen made a wonderful original dish that I call "bacon-wrapped stuffed chicken breasts." They were delicious with potato salad from Ingles and several kinds of Mezzetta olives.
Eileen enjoyed watching "Flip or Flop" on HGTV.
I spread the four bags of compost and will buy four more tomorrow before we go to Blue Ridge for my implant surgery.
On Wednesday 21 May I finished reading "A brief description of Orkney: Zetland, Pightland-Firth & Caithness" by John Brand (1668-1738), a minister of the Church of Scotland, which was begun on 20 January. (I don't know why the book cover has the date 1883!)
We were up early and picked up the sister missionaries (Sisters Burgess and Buhler as Sister Rowley was on exchanges today) at Ingles as we all went to help at the food pantry.
 |
| Gilmer Community Food Pantry |
We helped 116 families with Eileen doing #116. After dropping off the sister missionaries at Ingles, we picked up four more bags of compost at Ace Hardware which I spread on the raised beds when we got home. On the way home we shopped at R&A Orchards for the Times-Courier and some strawberries.
Then it was on to Dr. Codelli's for my implant surgery appointment at 3:15 pm. They knocked me out and when I woke up it was all over! It went well and I was out of there about 5:45. This is my third implant and the first to replace an existing tooth. The first two filled holes where teeth had been located.
 |
| Mountain Periodontics |
 |
| Lobby of Mountain Periodontics |
Eileen drove us home. She fixed us grilled cheese sandwiches on our panini grill and soup, butternut squash for herself and potato leek for me.
 |
| Our panini grill |
 |
| Our panini grill |
On Thursday 22 May we were up early, i.e., before 8 am, as Eileen had her hair appointment at 9:30.
 |
| Barbara's Hair Designers |
 |
| Eileen and Barbara Rittenberry |
I stopped by the post office and dropped off another notice to have them hold our mail while we're in Florida.
 |
| Gilmer County Public Library |
 |
| Special Collections Room and Genealogy Research Center |
I picked up Eileen a little before 11 am and we went by Walmart. She plans on making crawfish étouffée in Florida, so I picked up five packages of crawfish. I filled up using my Walmart gift card, so it was only $3.439. Apparently it is 10 cents off for the summer rather than the usual three cents for the gift card.
I worked at home in the raised bed gardens, mixing in the 10-10-10 fertilizer with the compost and older soil beneath it.
Supper was wonderful as I had grabbed some Italian sausage (mostly for me) and salmon (mostly for Eileen) from the chest freezer in the garage. Eileen used more of her Vidalia onions and made a delicious salad with sliced strawberries and mozzarella pearls, as they're called.
I worked back outside in the raised bed gardens, mixing more of the 10-10-10 fertilizer with the compost and older soil beneath it. Then I put out the sprinkler hoses and watered both beds really good, removing one section of the sprinkler hose that no longer sprinkles!
I worked on day four of my 4 May blog entry in between working outside and enjoying supper.
I finished reading "The Jumping Frog" by Mark Twain which I'd bought in Hannibal. It contained his short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
 |
| Mark Twain (1835-1910) |
 |
| The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County |
On Friday 23 May we were up early and drove to Blue Ridge to pick up Sister Darlene Burgess. We took her to her 10 am VA appointment in Blairsville.
 |
| VA Outpatient Clinic |
 |
| VA Outpatient Clinic |
We called to arrange to meet Brother Gordon and Sister Nell Huston at their home in Jasper at 2 pm. We stopped for lunch at Madeline's Cafe & Bakery in Jasper. It was very nice!
 |
| Madeline's Cafe & Bakery |
 |
| Inside Madeline's Cafe & Bakery |
 |
| Inside Madeline's Cafe & Bakery |
 |
| Inside Madeline's Cafe & Bakery |
 |
| Inside Madeline's Cafe & Bakery |
We met with the Huston's to begin teaching them about doing their family history online. We taught them about searching for ancestors on familysearch.org as well as using Family Tree to do their temple work. We counseled them about having software on their own computer for their family history data. We were there two hours. Elders Howell and Faber, the full-time missionaries from our branch that work in Pickens County, stopped by briefly.
On the way home we stopped at R&A Orchards to purchase vegetable plants for our raised bed gardens. We got little and regular-sized tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and red peppers.
As we turned onto Cartecay Cove Drive there was a snake on the left side of the road. I took a picture of it out the car window and was told the next day that it was a copperhead!
After supper I finished and published my blog entry for 4 May. Lots of pictures!
We enjoyed watching the Atlanta Braves defeat the Colorado Rockies, 3-2.
I did some family history research on the family of William and Margaret Taylor.
On Saturday 24 May we were up and I helped Eileen as she planted our garden. We began with zucchini, cucumber, red and green peppers, and little tomatoes in one bed and several large tomatoes in the other bed.
We drove into Ellijay and picked up some herbs and flowers at R&A Orchards and Lowe's. I gassed up at Walmart for $3.429. Back at home we drove straight into the backyard and planted the herbs and flowers.
After supper we had a nice visit with Bill and Kimberley Kazy and their daughter Jessica Pepper. Eileen took Kimberley the Mother's Day flowers that she had gotten at church.
We packed for our departure for Florida after church tomorrow.
_-_cover_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_18752.jpg)
