We enjoyed the Plantation Ward sacrament service and returned to the hospital after the sacrament meeting.
We told Brother Potts that Sue would no longer be able to receive the sacrament. The opening hymn was #36, “They, the Builders of the Nation," which is appropriate as Pioneer Day is this Thursday. It was also the opening hymn sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Pioneer Day Concert.
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| Plantation Ward meetinghouse |
We told Brother Potts that Sue would no longer be able to receive the sacrament. The opening hymn was #36, “They, the Builders of the Nation," which is appropriate as Pioneer Day is this Thursday. It was also the opening hymn sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Pioneer Day Concert.
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| Pioneer Day Concert at the Conference Center |
The first speaker was Sister Belle Frahm as we heard from three of the ward's young women. She spoke on the pamphlet "For the Strength of Youth." She quoted from it. "Strong families require effort." Then she spoke on service and quoted from the pamphlet about it. She closed with her testimony.
Next was Sister Maryn Gonzalez and she spoke about dating from "For the Strength of Youth." Responsibility to protect one's virtue and standards.
The third was Sister Rachel Penrod. She spoke on "For the Strength of Youth" and the standards therein. She focused on honesty and music.
The intermediate hymn was #41, "Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Brother Edward Partridge. It was in the original LDS hymnbook in 1835.
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| Edward Partridge (1793-1840) |
The concluding speaker was Brother Mike Michaud, a member of this ward, was speaking on assignment by the stake presidency as a member of the stake high council. He spoke on honesty and quoted William Shakespeare “This above all: to thine ownself be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” from Hamlet.
He quoted part of the Scout Code "On My Honor." Honest by habit from President Monson. "I am happiest when I don't have a guilty conscience."
Letter on the return of a stolen ashtray to a motel with $26, $1 for each year he'd had it. He quoted "I had actually seen a light" from the Prophet Joseph Smith.
He spoke of Lehi's sons returning to Jerusalem for the brass plates. Zoram made a covenant with them and he remained true. 2 Nephi 26:22. "And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever."
Honesty is our foundation to be able to make a covenant. Alma 26:11-12. 11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
Luke 9:24-25. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, andlose himself, or be cast away?
D&C 136:26. Honest in your dealings with your fellow men. "If thou shalt find that which thy neighbor has lost, thou shalt make diligent search till thou shalt deliver it to him again."
Paying a full tithe. Keeping the law of chastity. Youth have semi-annual bishopric interviews. 1) Maintain a heart of thanksgiving. 2) Maintain a daily religious observance. Daily prayers. Reading the scriptures. 3) Be the best example. Teaching children between ages of 8-12. Between baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and becoming a teenager. 4) Study the Atonement and repent as often as needed.
Isaiah 1:18. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Gratitude for our Lord and Savior. Brother Michaud had plenty of time and he spoke from 12:33 - 1:02.
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| William Shakespeare (1564-1616) |
He quoted part of the Scout Code "On My Honor." Honest by habit from President Monson. "I am happiest when I don't have a guilty conscience."
Letter on the return of a stolen ashtray to a motel with $26, $1 for each year he'd had it. He quoted "I had actually seen a light" from the Prophet Joseph Smith.
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| Prophet Joseph Smith (1805-1844) |
He spoke of Lehi's sons returning to Jerusalem for the brass plates. Zoram made a covenant with them and he remained true. 2 Nephi 26:22. "And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever."
Honesty is our foundation to be able to make a covenant. Alma 26:11-12. 11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
Luke 9:24-25. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, andlose himself, or be cast away?
D&C 136:26. Honest in your dealings with your fellow men. "If thou shalt find that which thy neighbor has lost, thou shalt make diligent search till thou shalt deliver it to him again."
Paying a full tithe. Keeping the law of chastity. Youth have semi-annual bishopric interviews. 1) Maintain a heart of thanksgiving. 2) Maintain a daily religious observance. Daily prayers. Reading the scriptures. 3) Be the best example. Teaching children between ages of 8-12. Between baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and becoming a teenager. 4) Study the Atonement and repent as often as needed.
Isaiah 1:18. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Gratitude for our Lord and Savior. Brother Michaud had plenty of time and he spoke from 12:33 - 1:02.
In sync with the focus being on our youth today, we sang closing hymn #354,"True to the Faith" by Brother Evan Stephens (1854-1930).
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| Evan Stephens (1854-1930) |
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| Evan Stephens directed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1890 to 1916. |
We met with Bishop Penrod after the meeting and discussed the memorial service we would have for Sue. We were very pleased to learn that she could be cremated in her temple clothing.
We returned to the hospital. Later Kristen and Ryan, Russ and Gail's two children, visited and Bishop Eric Penrod and his wife Jennifer came for a visit. Later Brother Steve Frahm and his wife Audrey arrived. Bishop and Steve gave Sue a priesthood blessing with me standing in. Then Lloyd and Barbara Stuart visited. They were old friends of Sue and David and David had worked for Lloyd when David worked at Minuteman Printing.
In the meantime Russ and Kristen's husband Matt who is an electrician (and Russ is in construction) went to Sue and David's for two hours and could not figure out the power problem. Matt will return tomorrow.
About 6:30 pm we returned to Sue and David's to change clothes. We fed the dogs, let them out, back inside, and we went to Russ and Gail's to have supper with them.
Gail returned to the hospital and we chatted with Russ until about 11 pm. I slept fine in the unairconditioned back bedroom and Eileen tried to sleep on the sofa in the living room, winding up on Sue's recliner.
On Monday 21 July Kristen's husband Matt and one of his employees (I assume) Chris came by and found the problem, a loose wire near the back bedroom in an outlet not even being used, but part of the circuitry!
FamilySearch is having a Worldwide Indexing Day as of 8 pm yesterday, so Eileen and I both indexed a batch of World War II Draft Registration cards from Arkansas.
About noon we headed for the hospital. Just after we arrived it was determined that Sue had passed away. It was about 1 pm. It was a very difficult time for all four of us, especially David and Megan. Eileen and I texted her siblings, my sister Lib, Eileen's sister Jane, and Sue's bishop Eric Penrod. I called Bishop Penrod for Sister Gonzalez' phone number. She is the Relief Society president and will oversee the sisters from the ward dressing Sue at the funeral home in her temple attire prior to the cremation. Eileen spoke to her.
Bishop Penrod came by at 2:45 after everyone else had left except David, Eileen, and myself.
We left at 3:30, got gas at Costco for $3.429, and returned to Sue and David's to feed the dogs. Eileen got all of Sue's temple clothing together and gave it to Bishop Penrod when he came by. He offered a prayer and left.
I finished reading "Lady Molly of Scotland Yard" by Baroness Emma Orczy which I had begun on 14 April. It was very good as she solved numerous cases.
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| Baroness Emma Orczy (1865-1947) |
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About 6:30 we took David with us and went to Matt and Kristen's for supper, returning home about 9:30.
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| David, Gail, Kristen, and Cooper |
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| Megan and Eileen |
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| David, Gail, Kristen, and Cooper |
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| David, Gail, Kristen, Cooper, and Brooke |
My sister Lib called to express her condolences.
On Tuesday 22 July the van from Vitas Hospice came and picked up their items here at Sue and David's, i.e., the hospital bed (frame and mattress), side table, potty, oxygen unit, and oxygen canister.
I e-mailed Jane Colmenares that we are ready to begin our work as Church Service missionaries for FamilySearch on the Wiki.
Gail came and picked up Eileen to go to the funeral parlor. They met five of the sisters from church at 2 pm to dress Sue in her temple clothing. Meanwhile I went shopping at Walmart. When Eileen got home, she told me how beautiful Sue looked.
We enjoyed supper with Russ and Gail at Lester's Diner in Sunrise.
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| Eileen, Gail, and Russ |
When we got home we began packing to return home to Ellijay. David, Megan, and Gail arrived to begin going through a lot of paperwork and correspondence that Sue always took care of.
Lib called again and was able to chat with Eileen.
I finished working on my blog entry for the week of 13 July and published it.
As we hit the hay we said goodbye to David as he will leave for work in the morning before we get up. It will be very hard for him to come home to an empty house tomorrow.
On Wednesday 23 July we finished loading the car between rain showers and left about 11 am. In front of Sue and David's and also next door were lots of birds, which I believe were white ibises.
We got gas along Commercial Blvd. for $3.479 and then at the Ft. Pierce exit off the Florida Turnpike for $3.389. It was odd that the gas gauge reflected filling up but the range indicator did not go up either time. Even with a full tank it still only showed 244 miles to go! Later I noticed that the average speed stated at 38 mph the whole trip. I zeroed both that reading and the mpg reading, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. It may need to go in the shop to be checked out!
We got gas along Commercial Blvd. for $3.479 and then at the Ft. Pierce exit off the Florida Turnpike for $3.389. It was odd that the gas gauge reflected filling up but the range indicator did not go up either time. Even with a full tank it still only showed 244 miles to go! Later I noticed that the average speed stated at 38 mph the whole trip. I zeroed both that reading and the mpg reading, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. It may need to go in the shop to be checked out!
We had lunch at the Ft. Pierce Cracker Barrel, our first time there in over two years.
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We got off I-75 at exit 329 in Wildwood, Florida, to visit the Russell Stover Outlet Store. We were looking for their sugar-free caramel drops that we got somewhere a year or two ago somewhere. We've never seen them since and they didn't have them either! Well, then I asked for sugar-free chocolate jellies. None!! What nonsense! We can get them at any chocolate establishment but not at Russell Stover. We were not happy with them :(
We got to Russ's place a little after 6 pm. Along the way our odometer reached 77777 and Eileen snapped a picture of it.
We enjoyed the rotisserie chicken and peas that we had bought yesterday at Walmart. Eileen found horseradish sauce in Russ's fridge that was spicy and delicious with the chicken. While eating we enjoyed watching videos from the Pioneer Concert that we had seen on Saturday evening.
We enjoyed the rotisserie chicken and peas that we had bought yesterday at Walmart. Eileen found horseradish sauce in Russ's fridge that was spicy and delicious with the chicken. While eating we enjoyed watching videos from the Pioneer Concert that we had seen on Saturday evening.
Santino Fontana and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform West Side Story songs. http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/articles/west-side-story-songs?lang=eng
Santino Fontana and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform the "Prologue" and "Ten Minutes Ago" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella Broadway production.
http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/videos/prologue-and-ten-minutes-ago-from-cinderella?lang=eng
Santino Fontana and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform a "Happy" Medley including "Happy" by singer/producer Pharell Williams.
http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/articles/happy-medley?lang=eng
We had hoped to watch the season premier of "Who Do You Think You Are?" on The Learning Channel but Russ doesn't get TLC in his Brooker home. We'll have to watch for reruns.
http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/videos/prologue-and-ten-minutes-ago-from-cinderella?lang=eng
Santino Fontana and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform a "Happy" Medley including "Happy" by singer/producer Pharell Williams.
http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/articles/happy-medley?lang=eng
We had hoped to watch the season premier of "Who Do You Think You Are?" on The Learning Channel but Russ doesn't get TLC in his Brooker home. We'll have to watch for reruns.
On Thursday 24 July we left at 8:40 am and headed north. After I zeroed the mpg and mph settings they seem to be working okay. We'll see if the range indicator works when I fill up. We stopped at 10 am at exit 5 in Georgia to go to Cracker Barrel but went first to the Dress Barn Outlet that Eileen spotted. I took a picture of myself in the mirror by the fitting rooms but it's not quite what is called a "selfie" these days. I got gas for $3.299! Pretty neat green car filling up!
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We enjoyed breakfast at Cracker Barrel at the Lake Park location, the first time we've been there. We've now eaten 52 times at 25 Cracker Barrels since I started keeping track in December 2011!
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| Cracker Barrel breakfast menu |
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| In the gift shop |
It was great to be home! We spent a long time unpacking. I made a long list of things to do tomorrow. Eileen enjoyed watching several episodes of Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen that I had recorded for her while we were away.
And our king-size Sleep Number bed was wonderful!
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| Christopher Kimball and cast |
And our king-size Sleep Number bed was wonderful!
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| Our king-size Sleep Number bed |
We watched the end of the Atlanta Braves - Miami Marlins baseball game. It was tied 2-2 and it was disappointing to see Kimbrel, the Braves' top-notch closer, blow the game in the top of the 9th inning by striking out the batter with a wild pitch that allowed him to reach first base, followed by another wild pitch and single. So the Marlins won, 3-2.
It was very special being able to be in Florida to help Sue and David for two months until Sue departed from us.
On Friday 25 July we went into Ellijay, dropping off our trash at the dump (the recyclable dumpsters were full, so we had to hold onto those bags), picking up our mail on hold at the post office and giving them the hold form for 7/29-8/15/2014, getting my suit at the dry cleaners, picking up the previous three weeks' editions of the newspaper at the Times-Courier office, getting gas at Citgo for $3.359, going through the car wash at Squiggles, and shopping at Walmart, Lowe's, and Ingles.
On the way home we stopped at Walker's Bar-B-Que for pulled pork to put in Eileen's baked beans for the LDS branch picnic tomorrow. We were able to drop off the recyclables on the way at the dump.
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| Walker's Bar-B-Que |
Finally we visited R&A Orchards for this week's newspaper, some of their freshly-picked peaches, and a small cup of peach ice cream which we shared as we drove home from there. Somewhere along Big Creek Road we saw the next palindrome as the odometer reached 78187.
At Lowe's we got a new handle for our master bathroom toilet. I had noticed it didn't work right when I was here the end of June. This morning Eileen and I each figured out what was wrong with it. When we got home I replaced the old handle.
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| Toilet tank |
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I went through all four editions of the Times-Courier and saw our picture with the paper in front of Union Station in the 3 July edition. I also went through several copies of the Deseret News, and magazines from RCI, Interval International, AARP, and Consumer Reports.
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| Eileen and Ben in front of Union Station in St. Louis |
On Saturday 26 July we enjoyed the branch picnic at Fishtrap Park in Coosawattee in Ellijay. The weather was great and a nice breeze through the pavilion felt good. We visited with Peggy Espersen whom we home/visit teach. I should remember next year to ask for some medium rare burgers!
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| Welcome to Fishtrap Park |
On the way home we picked up two jumbo bags of Spicy Hot Boiled Peanuts for Eileen's brother Russ at the roadside stand on the corner of GA 52 and Big Creek Road. The fellow is there every weekend. I get a chuckle out of his signs for Seniour Discounts and Wat,ter!
At home we enjoyed watching episodes of Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen that I had recorded today and previously. We also snacked on crackers with Cajun Crab Dip that we had gotten at Ingles. Yummy!
Eileen had cleaned our hummingbird feeders and I hung them back outside. This evening we saw our first hummingbird of the season!
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| Our hummingbird feeders |
Oh good, about your toilet handle fixture. I thought maybe it was just me that thought it was hard to flush and wondered how you and Mom did that regularly! I'll have to come back again now and try out your new one! LOL :)
ReplyDeleteIt works a lot better now!
ReplyDelete