Bailey's Blog

On Sunday 14 September we watched "Music and the Spoken Word" on BYU-TV. Eileen enjoyed the Book of Mormon panel discussion that followed. Today is our 51st wedding anniversary. Eileen wore her necklace that I got her for our anniversary. On the way to church our odometer hit the palindrome of 82328.

Today is Fast Sunday as we had stake conference last Sunday. President Boland thanked the members for our successful food drive.

Our opening hymn was #263, "Go Forth With Faith" by Ruth (1927-1999) and Lyall Gardner (1926-2012). The first verse is as follows: "Go forth with faith to tell the world of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Bear witness he is God's own Son; proclaim his wondrous word. Go forth with hope and courage strong to spread the word abroad that people of all nations are children of our God."

President Boland's baby son Owen James Boland received a name and a blessing from his dad. President Boland's parents and other family were on hand.

After President Boland, I bore my testimony and assured the members from Jasper that the pantry there received a lot of food in Canton. David Echard bore his testimony and asked us to keep President Boland and his family in our prayers, likening what we see of his duties and responsibilities to what we see of the tip of an iceberg. Don Bivens was followed by Elder Burkinshaw; Sister Rueckert; President Boland's mom (Owen is her 21st grandchild); Peggy Espersen (her dad was 54 and her mom was 45 when she was born with two siblings 19 and 16 years older than her) told of her experiences with President N. Eldon Tanner and her daughter's health challenges as a child; and Phil Messina told of his searches as a young man for the truth, being raised Catholic and joining the Episcopal, Methodist, and Baptist churches, and meeting the elders when they knocked on his door. He and his wife knew what they were being taught was true. The Lord came to Phil at night and told him that the Church was true. The elders had been fasting for two days that Phil would gain a testimony from the Lord.

The closing hymn was #45, "Lead Me into Life Eternal" by Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1872-1952) and Alexander Schreiner (1901-1987).

Eileen offered the benediction so sweetly.

I gave the names and addresses of two local women to whom I have sent Book of Mormons to the sister missionaries.

Carol Messina had me go with her to the Family History Center to show me some things about ancestry.com, so Eileen attended Gospel Doctrine class without me.

Gospel Doctrine was in the chapel with Brother Jay Hanks teaching. The lesson was #34 “I Will Betroth Thee unto Me in Righteousness" using Hosea 1–3; 11; 13–14.

The purpose of the lesson was to help class members understand that the Lord is loving and merciful and will forgive us when we repent and return to him.

1. Using the similitude of a faithful husband and an adulterous wife, Hosea describes the relationship between the Lord and Israel.

Elder Henry B. Eyring explained: “This was a love story. This was a story of a marriage covenant bound by love, by steadfast love. … The Lord, with whom I am blessed to have made covenants, loves me, and you, … with a steadfastness about which I continually marvel and which I want with all my heart to emulate.”

President Henry B. Eyring

2. Because of his love for his people, the Lord continues to invite Israel to repent and return to him.

While the Lord’s blessings are reserved for those who keep his commandments, his love is constant and extended to all. Even when we turn away from him through sin, the Lord loves us and wants us to repent and return to him.

Our opening hymn in priesthood was #292, "O My Father," by Eliza R. Snow (1804-1887) and James McGranahan (1840-1907). The first verse is as follows: "O my father, thou that dwellest in the high and glorious place, when shall I regain thy presence and again behold thy face? In thy holy habitation, did my spirit once reside? In my first primeval childhood was I nurtured near thy side?"

The priesthood lesson today was from the "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith" lesson 17 on "Sealing Power and Temple Blessings."

“Elijah came to restore to the earth … the fulness of the power of priesthood. This priesthood holds the keys of binding and sealing on earth and in heaven of all the ordinances and principles pertaining to the salvation of man.”

1. Elijah restored the power to seal, or bind, on earth and in heaven.

"It seems to be most fitting that the last of the old prophets should close his words with a promise to future generations, and in that promise predict a time to come when there would be a linking of the dispensations past with those of later times." (Malachi 4:5-6)

2. The restoration of the sealing authority saves the earth from being utterly wasted at the coming of Jesus Christ.

"Why would the earth be wasted? Simply because if there is not a welding link between the fathers and the children—which is the work for the dead—then we will all stand rejected; the whole work of God will fail and be utterly wasted. Such a condition, of course, shall not be."

3. To prepare for salvation in its fullest, we must receive temple ordinances through the sealing power.

"The Lord [has] given unto us privileges and blessings, and the opportunity of entering into covenants, accepting ordinances that pertain to our salvation beyond what is preached in the world, beyond the principles of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance from sin and baptism for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; and these principles and covenants are received nowhere else but in the temple of God."

4. Because of the sealing power, we can perform saving ordinances for those who have died without receiving them.

"Who are the fathers spoken of by Malachi, and who are the children? The fathers are our dead ancestors who died without the privilege of receiving the Gospel, but who received the promise that the time would come when that privilege would be granted them. The children are those now living who are preparing genealogical data and who are performing the vicarious ordinances in the Temples."

5. Family history work and temple work for the dead are labors of love.

"There is no work connected with the gospel that is of a more unselfish nature than the work in the House of the Lord, for our dead. Those who work for the dead do not expect to receive any earthly remuneration or reward. It is, above all, a work of love, which is begotten in the heart of man through faithful and constant labor in these saving ordinances. There are no financial returns, but there shall be great joy in heaven with those souls whom we have helped to their salvation."

6. Through family history work and temple work, we complete the family organization from generation to generation.

"We are taught in the gospel of Jesus Christ that the family organization will be, so far as celestial exaltation is concerned, one that is complete, an organization linked from father and mother and children of one generation to the father and mother and children of the next generation, and thus expanding and spreading out down to the end of time."

"We cannot be saved and exalted in the kingdom of God unless we have within our hearts the desire to do this work and perform it so far as it is within our power on behalf of our dead. This is a glorious doctrine, one of the grand principles of truth revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith."

After our meetings Peggy Espersen invited us to dinner on Tuesday. Little did I know that it was a surprise birthday party for me!

We had planned to drive to Canton after church to visit the stake public relations person Tiffany Bird, but she was not feeling well. At home I sent Tiffany the pictures that Eileen had taken Friday and Saturday about the stake food drive with information about the pictures.

After an early supper we enjoyed watching "The Country House Revealed" from England. Interestingly the Long family tree was shown with one of the men marrying Margery the daughter of Sir Geo. Darrell. The narrator said "Geoffrey" but I didn't believe that. I thought it should be George and when I googled Sir Geo. Darrell, it stated that it was George.

David and Caroline Echard came by to visit as our home teachers. We enjoyed their visit and we all shared Eileen's homemade peach ice cream.

Then we finished watching the episode of "The Country House Revealed." We also enjoyed an episode of "Father Brown," although understanding the conversations was a challenge for both of us.

Mark Williams as Father Brown

I assembled all of the printouts for Sabrina in sheet protectors in a three-ring binder. Then looking at the 1870 US Census I realized that 14-year-old Elizabeth Wood might very well be 17-year-old Letitia Stanglen's sister, both from England. I found the Wood family on the 1861 England Census with Letitia spelled Lettichia. I had known from the 1880 US Census that Letitia was from Staffordshire.

I was upset at the Yankee closer David Robertson as he blew the save and lost the game against the Orioles, 3-2. He looked like he was pitching batting practice as the Orioles got three doubles off of him!

On Monday 15 September we enjoyed getting up late as nothing was on our calendar today. Eileen cleaned the basement as the White's will be here in two weeks and I worked on my 31 August blog.

Later I worked on straightening and filing so much paperwork in the office. I began putting Sabrina Bayless' family in Family Tree and almost immediately ran into some challenges, one of which required a call to the FamilySearch help number.

Sabrina called about when we can visit her. We decided to see her tomorrow morning and go to the Atlanta Temple on Friday.

I put together many new e-mail condolences from people whom we knew from our mission and forwarded them to David.

Eileen had ordered a baby stroller for William and Erin and I got the e-mail confirming shipment to Colleen.

When Tom and Dianne Ballew were here, Dianne noticed evidence on the artificial fall flowers on our front porch of a carpenter bee boring into the back side of our Bailey sign. So I have been e-mailing Susan Shedd about getting another beeminator for the front porch.

On Tuesday 16 September we dropped off garbage and recyclables at the dump.

We visited Sabrina and took an hour and 40 minutes to show her all of her father's genealogy in the three-ring binder all the way back to 1861 England.

Gerald and Sabrina's home

I got a haircut and Stacey Stanley thanked me the Book of Mormon that I had sent her.

City Barber Shop

We enjoyed lunch at the Oki Japanese Steak & Sushi restaurant in Ellijay. It is at least the third incarnation of a restaurant here and the decor inside has not changed at all!

We shopped at Ingles and Walmart and went by Barbara's beauty parlor to get the food she had collected for our food drive. She also received a fair amount of money which we can get from her tomorrow!

Eileen and Barbara

We returned home for a while so Eileen took a nap and I worked on my 31 August blog. Eileen had made apple cobbler to take to Peggy Espersen's for dinner. We stopped at Food Lion for vanilla ice cream.

We had dinner at Peggy's and what a surprise! It was for my birthday! Neither one of us had any idea. Diana Stephens and the sister missionaries were there as well as Peggy's grandson Jared. We had black beans, rice, corn tortillas, BBQ, Eileen's cobbler and ice cream, and cheesecake that Diana brought. I got sung to initially and again when the sister missionaries arrived.

Eileen and Diana Stephens

Sisters Sullivan and Rueckert, Diana, and Eileen

Peggy, Sisters Sullivan and Rueckert, Diana, and Eileen

On Wednesday 17 September we went by Barbara's beauty parlor to get the cash that had been given her for the food drive ($178 which included a $100 bill!) and then to the Reimax office to get the food there from Dianne Ballew (four heavy plastic bags).

We picked up the sister missionaries at Ingles and worked at the food pantry. We took their picture to put in the Times-Courier along with an article about them. Nearly 100 families were helped.

Sisters Sullivan and Rueckert at the food pantry

We brought in the food we had gotten from North Georgia Diamond, Barbara Rittenberry, and Dianne Ballew. I also gave Judy the $178 from Barbara. At the end of the morning meeting Judy told everyone of our food drive and how much had been collected. Everyone applauded!

We had talked to one of the volunteers last Wednesday about her upcoming trip to London, England, and today I gave her the list of places to visit in London that we discussed last week. She has no computer or e-mail, so I had to remember to print it out for her.

After dropping the sister missionaries off at Ingles, we went to our appointment at Bryant Physical Therapy on Progress Rd. in Ellijay. Mike Jones interviewed Eileen and Larry Bryant interviewed me. They each went through a set of exercises with us that we are to do at home. We made twice weekly appointments beginning after the White's leave on 10 October for five weeks for Eileen and six weeks for me.

Then we did some shopping at Walmart and Ingles, picked up my suit at the dry cleaners, got gas for $3.139, and headed for home.

After a quick supper (Eileen had some lunch at the pantry), we went to church where we worked in the branch Family History Center. I did a lot of straightening up and throwing out. Eileen worked with microfilms on the microfilm reader. Jennifer Boland came by with her kids and Eileen enjoyed holding little Owen.

microfilm reader

I got a reply to my 8 September e-mail about the frozen mussels that we had gotten at Ingles. Half of the mussels in the box stayed closed which is not as it should be. We'll see what happens with the next box Eileen opens and cooks.

On Thursday 18 September we practiced our exercises from Bryant first thing. Then we drove to Tate, south of Jasper about 45 minutes away to visit Diana Stephens, our Relief Society president, to work with her on the family history. We were there from 10:55 am to about 3:45 pm when the elders came by to visit (Burkinshaw and Kuoha, who is new, replacing Elder Howell).

We stopped at Cora's Country Diner in Tate (formerly Millie's) for a late lunch/early supper. Our odometer reached the palindrome 82528.

Eileen at Cora's

Cora's Diner

We relaxed at home and enjoyed some naan and hummus. We both did our exercises.

On Friday 19 September we were up and practiced our exercises from Bryant first thing. Then we were on the way to the temple by 10:15 am, arriving at 11:40. We enjoyed doing several sealings and put family file cards in our file in the waiting room, both for the three stake temple days next week and our branch youth temple trip on the 27th. We'll be at Heather's from 21-29 September.

Atlanta Temple

Recommend desk inside the entrance to the temple

On the way home we stopped at the d'Lites Emporium in Marietta. Eileen enjoyed rocky road and vanilla while I had rocky road and chocolate. Yum!

Ben at d'Lites Emporium in Marietta

We shopped at Walmart and Ingles and went by the post office to fill out the form to have them hold our mail while we're at Heather's next week.

We got home and got comfy. Eileen made some of her six-week muffins and they are delicious! Eileen called Holly Hughes to see how Ralph was doing and Holly said his polyps were benign!

I entered the temple work that we did today in my PAF database on my laptop in Windows.

I looked up the numbers of the dozen or so microfilms at our family history center on the Family Search catalog online. I recorded the descriptions of the microfilms, some of them having numerous items on the film. These will be kept in a binder at our family history center for reference.

I made reservations in Statesville, NC, for this Sunday and in Franklin, NC, for the 29th, going to and returning from Raleigh. I e-mailed Lynda White about the hotel I recommended for 9 October when they head back to the vicinity of the Atlanta airport to fly home the next day.

We watched the Detroit Tigers crush the Kansas City Royals, 10-1, and enjoyed some naan and hummus. We both did our exercises.

On Saturday 20 September we were up and practiced our exercises from Bryant first thing. Then we went to "Plant Math 101" at the Gilmer County Library at 10 am. It was outside in a very nice area that the Master Gardeners have built with multiple raised beds for all kinds of plants. They had us sign in and enjoy different kinds of muffins and drinks. Several of them were at three or four stations to tell us all about various herbs and plants, giving out some of each for us to plant at home. I was told by one of them, Karen Hyde, I believe, that the flowery purple weed we see along Big Creek Rd. is called New York Ironweed. I will compare pictures of it online with ones I took two years ago.

Eileen checking in

Raised beds

Eileen checking out the flowers

Master gardeners at their stations

We stopped at the post office to have them hold our mail next week and got gas for $3.139. Our odometer showed 82728 as our next palindrome.

We visited the Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company location in Ellijay and got olive oil and balsamic vinegar for Heather and Tom.

Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company

Then we stopped at R&A Orchards and got two packages of fried peanuts for Heather and Tom and a jar of dilly beans for ourselves. It is very crowded this time of year as people come from all over for the apples here and at other apple houses. Many people come to pick their own apples in the orchards. It was hard to find a parking space.

Side entrance of R&A Orchards

Inside R&A Orchards

I finished preparing the microfilm index, printed 44 pages, and put them in 22 protectors in a small three-ring binder.

The hummingbirds, at least four of them, were very busy out front with both feeders.

Eileen enjoyed the next box of mussels and all of them opened! So unlike the previous box for which we're going to get a check from the company.

We both began packing for our drive to Raleigh after church tomorrow. I wrote 11 thank-you notes to our friends, neighbors, and businesses that participated in the stake food drive.

Eileen enjoyed watching episodes of "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country" which I had recorded today on both of our PBS channels.

Christopher Kimball and Bridget Lancaster

Christopher Kimball and Julia Collin Davison

I set our DVR box to record "Finding Your Roots" on Tuesday evening as well as "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country" on one PBS station next Saturday. We both did our exercises.

I finished reading chapter 20, "A Time of Reckoning," in "The Miracle of Forgiveness" by President Spencer W. Kimball.