On Sunday 19 October we watched "Music and the Spoken Word" on BYU-TV.  Eileen enjoyed the Book of Mormon panel discussion that followed.

The opening hymn was #9, "Come, Rejoice," text and music by Tracy Y. Cannon (1879-1961).  I love the words to this hymn!

1. Come, rejoice, the King of glory
Speaks to earth again.
Gladsome words ring out from heaven,
Joyous, wondrous strain.
Truth bursts forth in radiant light,
Showing all the path of right.

(Chorus]
Shout hosanna to his name;
One and all his might proclaim.

2. Angels, messengers from heaven,
Come to earth once more;
Bring to men the glorious gospel;
Priceless truths restore.
Let all hear who live today!
This is life, the truth, the way.

3. Great, oh, great is Christ our Savior.
None can stay his hand.
Now he brings to us salvation,
Cheering ev’ry land.
Sing, rejoice, the King of love
Speaks to earth from heav’n above.

The sacrament hymn was #192, "He Died! The Great Redeemer Died."  The text was by Isaac Watts and it was included in the first LDS hymnbook in 1835.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Brother Seth Tye from the Hickory Flat Ward spoke on faith.  He is a young man who looks like he is ready to serve a mission.  Spoke on tools to get things done in life and the spiritual tools we have.  1 Nephi 17:8. Nephi saw the needs for tools and asked God for help enabling him to make the tools.  Our faith must be centered in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Compare faith to light.  Darkness cannot put out light and will never win.  Light needs an energy source.  Elder Richard G. Scott.  1. Prayer.  We are not forced to pray.  2. Scripture study.  Gain insight as we study.  Apostolic blessing of peace as you immerse yourself in the scriptures.  3. FHE.  4. Temple attendance.  The most peaceful place on the earth.  Told of how his mom encountered the church.  The Spirit told her to go to the church.  A member answered her questions.  She was 27 and wished to serve a mission.  On the BYU campus she learned of a wealthy man who wanted to fund a missionary who could not otherwise serve a mission.

The intermediate hymn was #19, "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet," text by William Fowler.

William Fowler (1830-1865)

Concluding speaker was Brother Brett Hatch of the stake high council. Seth has received his mission call to Spain and departs in January.  Brett is also from the Hickory Flat Ward.  He also spoke of faith, the first principle of the gospel.  He spoke of the You-Got-To-Do-Something lessons when he was a missionary.  Alma 34:17.  Amulek.  Exercise your faith unto repentance.  Emulate the Savior.  3 Nephi 27:17.  We need to take advantage of the gift of repentance.  2 Nephi 31:20.  Elder Jorg Klebingat.  We should become really good at repenting.  Embrace and apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Keep His commandments and be obedient.  Alma 22:17-18.  Ammon.  King Lamoni.  Aaron teaches the gospel to the king.  King appealed to God.  Would give up all his sins.  The Lord will accept your and my offerings.  What are we willing to do to show the Lord that we love Him?  Pres. Uchtdorf in priesthood session of conference.  Look inside your hearts and adhere to the glorious gospel.  Does the Spirit of God dwell in your heart?  Do we understand the significance of the sacrament?  Mosiah 5:2.  Do good continually.  Personal scripture study and prayers.  How do we approach the Lord?  It's worth it to do the right thing.  He bore his testimony.

The closing hymn #123, "Oh, May My Soul Commune with Thee," text and music by Lorin F. Wheelwright (1909-1987).

Gospel Doctrine was in the Relief Society with Sister Claire Bowen teaching.  The lesson was #38, “Beside Me There Is No Saviour” using Isaiah 40–49.

The purpose of the lesson was to help class members understand that Jesus Christ is incomparable in his devotion to his people and that he has a great work for them to do.

1. Isaiah teaches that the Savior is incomparable.

2. Isaiah describes the Savior’s incomparable qualities.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that we need “a correct idea of [God’s] character, perfections and attributes” in order to have faith in Him (Lectures on Faith).  Isaiah gives many beautiful descriptions of the Savior’s character and attributes.

The Prophet Joseph Smith (1805-1844)

Isaiah 40:31. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

3. The world (Babylon) competes with the Savior for our devotion.

Babylon was a powerful city of the ancient world that was destroyed for its wickedness. In the scriptures, Babylon is often also used as a symbol for the wickedness of the world. Of course, Babylon is where I am from in New York!

Isaiah warned that Babylon would be destroyed because of its wickedness. These warnings can also be applied to the eventual destruction of the world and its wickedness.

The Lord promised great blessings to those who seek him rather than the world.

4. Isaiah describes the mission of latter-day Israel.

Isaiah 49 contains many prophecies about the mission of latter-day Israel. These prophecies can help us understand the important work the Lord has for each of us to do.  Many of the prophecies apply both to the work of the Savior and to the work of his servants, the house of Israel.

President Spencer W. Kimball said, “I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns."

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985)

Priesthood meeting was in the cultural hall as the Primary was using the chapel to get ready for their upcoming Primary presentation.

I gave the invocations in Gospel Doctrine and in priesthood.

The priesthood lesson today was from the "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith" lesson 20 on "Love and Concern for All Our Father’s Children."

“I think if all men knew and understood who they are, and were aware of the divine source from whence they came, … they would have feelings of kindness and kinship for each other that would change their whole way of living and bring peace on earth.” 

Brother David Echard asked me to begin the lesson by reading the material "From the Life of Joseph Fielding Smith."

1 With the knowledge that God is the Father of all people, we desire to love and bless others.

2 As we love and support one another in the Church, we become a power in the world for good. 

3 We express love for our fellowmen by serving them.

4 We need to appreciate and love people for themselves. 

5 When we love the Lord with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves, we are in harmony with all sacred law. 

"Let us love the Lord for this is the foundation of all things. It is the first commandment, and the second commandment, to love our neighbors as ourselves, is like unto it, and when we have done that we have fulfilled the law, because there is nothing that will be left undone."

After church Bobby and Brenda Malone followed us home and enjoyed dinner with us.  Eileen's beef stew was delicious and the lime bars were yummy.  My salad was good and the leftover salad Eileen deemed good enough to add to the one I'd made last night.

We enjoyed Bobby and Brenda's company and they left at 3:40 pm.  He spoke of taking the back roads to Blue Ridge and I looked at the route on my iPhone.  I confirmed that he would take Big Creek Road for some miles and then Aska Road to Blue Ridge.  In doing this I discovered that there is actually a Big Creek, hence the name of the road with which we are so familiar.

I worked on 5 October on my blog, 45 minutes on the Yorkshire parishes, and indexed 10 Virginia death records.

I read chapters 22 and 23 of "The Miracle of Forgiveness" entitled "God Will Forgive" and "The Miracle of Forgiveness," finishing the book which I had begun on 25 August 2013.

On Monday 20 October we visited Terry Dorsey in Jasper to work with him on his family history.  He joined the Church last October.  We got some gas at Walmart on the way for $2.959.

We stopped in Ellijay at Walmart, the post office, the dry cleaners, and filled up the gas tank for $2.799.

In the afternoon I worked on my blog and read chapter seven, "The First Principles of the Gospel," in "Gospel Doctrine" by President Joseph F. Smith.

Eileen worked an hour and 45 minutes and Ben worked an hour on the Yorkshire parishes.

On Tuesday 21 October we went to our physical therapy appointment at 11 am.

Bryant Physical Therapy

One of the rooms at Bryant

Workout machines

Workout machines

Both of our get-togethers with branch members to work on family history fell through today, one in the afternoon and one in the evening.  We visited Bill and Kimberley Kazy and their daughter Jessica this afternoon.

Kazy's Home

We picked up 6-inch subs at Ingles to take home for supper.

Eileen worked two hours on the Yorkshire parishes.  Ben worked an hour and a half.

In the evening we enjoyed "Finding Your Roots" on PBS.

I worked some more on my 5 October blog.

We had planned on visiting Heather and Liam because Tom would be out of town this coming weekend, but his plans changed so we're not going.

We were disappointed that the Kansas City Royals lost to the San Francisco Giants, 7-1.

I finished the 1 June Church News.  It was wonderful to read about the first stakes of the Church in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Sustaining vote in Cambodia’s South Stake.   Photo by Elder Richard Verhaaren.

On Wednesday 22 October we picked up the sister missionaries at Ingles and volunteered at the food pantry.  Our odometer reached the palindrome of 85558.  At the close of our morning meeting Judy Farmer mentioned that she had always asked a man to say the prayer (actually I think she has asked Brenda Leaming in the past).  She asked if any of the women would like to do it and I pointed to and mouthed "Eileen."  She gave a very nice prayer and Judy gave her a hug.  It was the fourth Wednesday so we only had about 71 families assisted.

Teri Grace came by at 2 pm for me to help her with her family history. We worked for an hour.

Eileen worked an hour and 40 minutes on the Yorkshire parishes.  Ben worked an hour and a half.

We were glad that the Kansas City Royals bounced back against the San Francisco Giants, beating them 7-2.

In our bedtime reading I finished "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ" by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from April 2014 General Conference.  That is the lesson for priesthood and Relief Society this Sunday.

"Jesus of Nazareth is the resurrected Redeemer, and I testify of all that follows from the fact of His Resurrection."

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

On Thursday 23 October we got up later than usual.  So nice!

We went to our physical therapy appointment, got gas at $2.759, voted at the county courthouse,

Ellijay County courthouse

shopped at Walmart for our dinner for the sister missionaries tonight and the chili and cornbread cook-off at church on Saturday, and went by North Georgia Diamond for a silver chain that Eileen could use with the little silver charm she received from David.  It has our daughter Sue's fingerprint on one side and her birth and death dates on the back side.

We stopped at Ingles for a little cheesecake as Sister Rueckert likes cheesecake a lot.

We picked up the sister missionaries at Ingles at 5:15 pm.  Before we ate we discussed family history.  I looked up ancestors for Sister Rueckert.  I found what might have been her Swedish grandmother and for sure her paternal grandparents Harold and Hertha Rueckert.  I found a picture of them and they had on missionary badges!

Eileen had spaghetti and meatballs with my tossed salad and her homemade apple crisp for dessert, topped with vanilla ice cream and Cool Whip.  All so delicious!

We took them back to Ingles and returned to finish the apple crisp. Our odometer reached 85658.

We enjoyed watching "Georgia Outdoors" about Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area;

the African-American community of Flat Rock;

and The Monastery of the Holy Spirit, officially called "Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery," a Roman Catholic Monastery near Conyers, Georgia.

Eileen worked an hour and 10 minutes on the Yorkshire parishes.  Ben worked 30 minutes.

On Friday 24 October we were up and drove to the Atlanta Temple.  We did sealings for ourselves, Diana Stephens, and Teri Grace. We sealed six couples, 13 sons (three of Teri's and two of Diana's), and 10 daughters (two of Teri's).

Then we visited d'Lites Emporium in Marietta.  Eileen had pistachio and caramel brownie batter.  I had caramel brownie batter and German chocolate cake.

We stopped in Canton at Hallmark where Eileen used a 40% off coupon to get a large Jim Shore turkey.  We also got a few birthday cards.

A few doors away was the Dress Barn that is closing its doors as of Sunday.  Eileen is upset as other ones are further away and not nearly as convenient.  She bought a few things and they gave her a discount though she really wasn't entitled to one.  She complained about them closing and was told it was because of the property owner jacking up the rent.

At home we enjoyed Eileen's delicious leftover spaghetti and meatballs with my tossed salad.

I entered the temple work done today in my PAF database.  I reviewed the work done for us by Bud and Jan Farr in Mesa, Arizona, and e-mailed them about sending them more names.

I did some more research on Sister Rueckert's grandparents.

It was a long day!

On Saturday 25 October we slept late which was very nice.  The first thing I checked was the baseball score and was glad to see that Kansas City beat the Giants, 3-2.  That was the score when we went to bed last night.  And I was glad that LDS pitcher Jeremy Guthrie pitched well and got the win.

When we got up I selected the family file cards to send the Farr's and Eileen began her cooking for our branch fall festival tonight.  She is making Boilermaker Tailgate Chili, our niece Kristen's cornbread, and Frightening Fingers cookies.

Boilermaker Tailgate Chili

Cornbread

Frightening Fingers cookies

We both worked on our CSM project with the Yorkshire parishes.  I have completed K-O and Eileen has done A-H.  

The weather is absolutely beautiful today!  

We enjoyed the branch fall festival at church.  Eileen's Frightening Fingers cookies were a big hit and her cornbread quickly disappeared.  She e-mailed the cornbread recipe to Robin Hanks.  Her chili was very good and a tiny bit spicy.  We also enjoyed some carrot cake for dessert.

At home we relaxed as Eileen played solitaire on her laptop and I copied some family history from an e-mail from Basil Cumberpatch in the Bahamas.  

I finished reading "Lineages and Lies: A Nick Herald Genealogical Mystery" by Jimmy Fox.  It is the second book I have read that I got from Eileen for my birthday.