On Sunday 6 July we watched "Music and the Spoken Word" which we can watch on BYU-TV here at Sue and David’s.  Then Eileen and Sue watched the roundtable discussion on the Book of Mormon that followed.

I finished working on my blog entry for the week of 29 June and published it.

I read the April 2014 General Conference talk “I Have Given You An Example” by Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  "The greatest example who ever walked the earth is our Savior, Jesus Christ. … He invites us to follow His perfect example."

Elder Richard G. Scott

We (Colleen, the boys, Eileen, and myself) enjoyed the Plantation Ward services.  Today was Fast Sunday, so testimonies were borne by many ward members.  In addition, two baby girls were given a name and a blessing by their fathers.

Plantation Ward meetinghouse

Testimonies were borne by Brother Steve Frahm (Sue's home teacher), the two fathers  who blessed their little girls and one of their grandfathers, the two full-time elders Allen and Thomas, Sister Penrod, and myself as well as Brother Garrett and Sister Potts.

Our opening hymn was #60, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the closing hymn was #339, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."

Gospel Doctrine class met in the chapel today unlike previous weeks when we were in the Relief Society room.  The teacher Brother Hales asked me to teach the class next Sunday!  Today's class was lesson 23, "The Lord Be Between Thee and Me For Ever” using 1 Samuel 18–20; 23–24.  The purpose of the lesson was to encourage class members to be true to their friends, as Jonathan and David were, and avoid being consumed by jealousy and hatred, as Saul was.

The priesthood lesson today was on Elder Donald L. Hallstrom's talk "What Manner of Men?" from April 2014 General Conference.  He is a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.  "What changes are required of us to become the manner of men we ought to be?"

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom

He said, "What is expected of a holder of the priesthood of God? What changes are required of us to become the manner of men we ought to be? I make three suggestions: 

1. We need to be priesthood men, showing spiritual maturity because we have made covenants. 

2. We need to serve! The essence of holding the priesthood is to magnify our calling serving others. 

3. We need to be worthy!  Moroni stated, 'See that ye do all things in worthiness' (Mormon 9:29). The Lord powerfully directed, 'And I now give unto you a commandment to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life' (D&C 84:43)."

There are many paintings of the Savior on the meetinghouse walls and here is one of the First Vision, where the Father and the Son appeared to the young Joseph Smith Jr.

The First Vision

The "My Passport" two terabyte external drive arrived.  With William's previous instructions that I saved, texting him, and a phone call from him, I copied my iPhoto Library which consists of 162.41 gigabytes.  It took only a little over three hours!

Sue and David have three annoying dogs, Trixie, Sasha, and Jackson.  Jackson is the cutest.

Jackson

I finished reading "Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus" by James Otis, the pen name of James Otis Kaler, which I began on 16 April.

James Otis Kaler (1848-1912)

On Monday 7 July I went shopping at Publix and took two pictures of Jacaranda signs.  A couple who served with us on our mission were Dennis and Jacaranda Loos, so we thought she would enjoy seeing the signs.

I spent over a half hour on the phone with Express Scripts to change the address for our prescriptions and renew several of them.

Then I spent the rest of the day in the car :(  I went shopping for four greeting cards and items for supper. The tires made an odd noise and the warning light on the dashboard came on.  I got the greeting cards at Hallmark, then I texted David and he contacted Value Tire & Alignment in Hollywood with what I needed.  I went there and got four new tires.  Then I tried to get the food items for Eileen.  I forgot that I needed a Super Walmart for those items as I went to two Walmarts that had no produce section 😝.  I then went to Super Target and was able to get some of the items.  Finally I went to the local Publix nearby and was able to finish the order.

Our Avalon is almost done!

When I got back to Sue's I learned that Megan had a fender bender with her car.  Then Eileen got a text from Colleen about how naughty the boys had been today!  So not the best of days! 

Supper was good as Eileen made stir-fried shrimp and snow peas with coconut curry sauce.

I have begun working on the Gospel Doctrine lesson for next Sunday.  I worked on the start of the lesson and have read 1 Samuel 25-31 and 2 Samuel 1-10.

On Tuesday 8 July I went shopping at Publix again and took two more pictures of Jacaranda signs.  I went by the nearest post office to mail a birthday card to Eileen's Aunt Esther, her dad's youngest sister.

Post office on Old Hiatus Rd.

Each time I've driven to the post office, I've seen a sign for Welleby.  So I googled the name and learned that Welleby is 
a master association for over 4500 single family homes, condominiums, and rental units in Sunrise, Florida.

I e-mailed Jackie (Jacaranda) and Dennis Loos from our mission and sent them pictures of the Jacaranda signs.

Geoff got his boarding pass at BWI and will arrive this evening from Maryland.

Back to Publix again and I got a small creme brûlée at d'Lites Emporium for Sue.  As near as they are to Sue, they are located in Plantation, Florida, not Sunrise.

d"Lites Emporium

Colleen and the boys had arrived and I picked up a coconut on the street to show everyone!

Colleen and Eileen with the coconut

Geoff arrived about 7 pm and we drove in the rain to Sue and David's.  Colleen and the boys had left.

Welcome to Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood Airport

Eileen and Geoff at Sue's

David brought home lots of food from a German restaurant near where he works.  Sausages, schnitzel, sauerbraten, spaetzle, red cabbage, sauerkraut, and potato pancakes along with a couple kinds of bread and little pretzel pieces, German mustard, sour cream, and apple sauce.

On Wednesday 9 July it was pretty quiet.  Eileen installed Family Tree Maker Mac 3 on her laptop.  I worked some more on the Gospel Doctrine lesson for Sunday.  Colleen, Geoff, and the boys came over in the late afternoon.

Megan and Aunt Colleen

Geoff busted open the coconut in the back yard with the boys to reveal the coconut as we see them in stores.  So we tasted the coconut milk and enjoyed eating some coconut.

Geoff with busted open coconut

We enjoyed leftovers and a yummy cheese and black bean casserole that Colleen made for supper.

Geoff with Sasha and Jackson

Geoff with Sasha and Jackson

On Thursday 10 July I went to McDonald's to get hot cakes for Sue.  I thought I might not make it due to an accident on the corner where McDonald's is located, but I got the hot cakes right at 10:30.  I don't know what the cutoff is for breakfast.

Accident at the intersection of University Blvd. and Sunset Strip

After bringing the hot cakes to Sue, I went to Publix for all the ingredients that Eileen needed for her Hungarian goulash.  Rather than pasta out of a box, she is also making spaetzle, too!

Colleen put lots of family pictures in Photo Stream, many of them old pictures and some I'd never seen before.  I imported them into an iPhoto folder and albums.

Russell W. Pucker, Eileen's dad, on the right

I e-mailed an old photo we had found of Eileen and friends Judy Burdick and Judy Quidort in Berchtesgaden, Germany, over 40 years ago to them.

Eileen and friends Judy Burdick and Judy Quidort

I printed Geoff's boarding passes for his flight back home tomorrow.

I wrapped up my preparations for teaching my lesson on Sunday.  I printed out the items that I would like class members to read as well as my lesson itself, which is also in my notes on my iPhone.

The nurse came by to visit Sue.  She is looking into finding a hospital that has a bed and will be able to do the same procedure as last time to remove fluid from Sue’s abdominal area.

Colleen, the boys, and Geoff came by in the afternoon.  Geoff showed us pictures of a raccoon up in a palm tree outside Colleen's time-share suite.

We all enjoyed Eileen's delicious goulash which was wonderful!  Her spaetzle was very good and she also cooked some rotini for the boys.

On Friday 11 July I went to pick up Geoff and bring him back to Sue's to say goodbye to her.  Then I took him to the airport to catch his 12:40 flight back to Maryland via Cincinnati.

I went by Costco and got gas for $3.499, then went inside and got a bag of Calimyrna dried figs to surprise Eileen!  She hasn't had them for almost seven weeks.  Then on to Winn-Dixie for items for supper and Hair Cuttery for Paul Mitchell hair spray.

I enjoyed more yummy goulash and pasta for lunch, the first bowl warm and the second bowl room temperature.  Both delicious!

Geoff arrived safely in Cincinnati, halfway to BWI, and later safely to BWI.

I went to Office Depot for office supplies for Sue and David and then across the street to Walmart for some vitamin supplements.

I helped finish some leftovers including Eileen's stir-fried shrimp and snow peas with coconut curry sauce that she made on Monday.  Tonight she made puttanesca sauce with fried capers over linguine.  It looked good and she said it tasted good, too.  I'll have some tomorrow.

puttanesca sauce with fried capers over linguine

Colleen and the boys came by for a while in the evening.

Ashton and Tanner with Jackson

I finished reading the July Ensign.  Besides the article about the Saints in Brazil which I mentioned in last week's blog, I enjoyed the article "Keeping a Journal YOUR WAY."  Of course, my blog is my journal.  There were many other excellent uplifting articles. Elder Russell M. Nelson had an excellent article entitled "The Book of Mormon, the Gathering of Israel, and the Second Coming" from an address he gave last year.

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The article "Leading Like the Savior" was very good as it quoted President Spencer W. Kimball from the August 1979 Ensign.  I had recently read an article in the Washington Post online about a circuit court judge ruling about the gerrymandering of districts in Florida.  The article began "Last night a circuit court judge in Florida voided the state's congressional map, citing a 'secret, organized campaign' by Republican operatives that 'made a mockery of the Legislature's transparent and open process of redistricting.' "  How does this relate to President Kimball's words?  The Democratic congresswoman from District 5, Corrine Brown, "issued a blistering statement opposing the judge's ruling."  Even though the Republican shenanigans hurt the Democrats all across the state, Brown was helped and that's all she cared about, not her party.  As President Kimball compared the Savior's leadership qualities to worldly leaders, he stated, "Where Jesus met the genuine needs of others, they were concerned only with their own needs and wants."  This describes Congresswoman Brown to a tee! 

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985)

On Saturday 12 July I went to help Colleen and the boys pack up and check out of the resort.  Then they headed to Lowe's for some fun stuff for kids.  Colleen takes the boys there and Home Depot for such activities.

Colleen packing up at the time-share

Early in the afternoon Colleen and the boys came by to show us what they had made and say goodbye to Sue (and us).

Spencer with his snail

Tanner with his snail

The boys racing their snails

They headed for Russ's place in Brooker.  We went to Office Depot to return what I had gotten there and then to Hallmark for their Keepsake Ornament Premiere.

Eileen got several ornaments that she wanted and I got the two Frosty Friends ornaments.  Normally I get one each year for Eileen and have done so for over 30 years.  This year they had the 35th issue as well as the 35th anniversary ornament.

I finished reading "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I enjoyed it very much!  I had begun it on 9 April.

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924)

The Secret Garden

I also finished reading the 23 March edition of the Church News.  It was interesting to read of the missionaries returning to Tacloban in the Philippines four months after the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan.

An article told of the visit to Asia of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy , and Presiding Bishop Gary E. Stevenson.  They visited Beijing, Hong Kong, Macao, Taipei, and Bangalore.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland address members
at a missionary meeting in Taipei, Taiwan.

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom speaks
during Mission Presidents Seminar in Hong Kong

Latter-day Saint family in Taipei, Taiwan

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland speaks during
devotional in Hong Kong.

Another article told of a series of 10 videos about President Joseph Fielding Smith, whose teachings are being studied this year in priesthood and Relief Society.  They can be seen at history.lds.org/article/joseph-fielding-smith-building-the-kingdom-a-call-to-the-apostleship.

President Joseph Fielding Smith and his third wife Jessie Evans Smith

I enjoyed watching the video on Youtube of the drone flight over the Washington D.C. Temple.  The link is at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDy81Wxqb8k

Washington D.C. Temple

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 watched the Bible video “Christ and the Rich Young Ruler."  You may watch it at the following link:  

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-005-christ-and-the-rich-young-ruler?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng

I watched the Bible video “To This End Was I Born."  You may watch it at the following link:  

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-007-to-this-end-was-i-born?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng

I finished reading the biography "Benjamin Franklin. A Picture of the Struggles of Our Infant Nation, One Hundred Years Ago" by John Stevens Cabot Abbott which I had begun on 20 March.  I have also read "David Crockett His Life and Adventures" and "Napoleon Bonaparte" by Abbott.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

John Stevens Cabot Abbott (1805-1877)

It is quite apparent that our nation's existence owes an enormous amount to George Washington and Benjamin Franklin!