On Sunday 26 October we watched "Music and the Spoken Word" on BYU-TV.  Eileen enjoyed the Book of Mormon panel discussion that followed.

On the way to church our odometer registered palindrome 85858.

Opening hymn was #294, "Love at Home."  Text and music by John Hugh McNaughton (1829-1891).

Sacrament hymn was #170, "God, Our Father, Hear Us Pray."  The first verse is very special!  "God, our Father, hear us pray; Send thy grace this holy day. As we take of emblems blest, On our Savior’s love we rest."

Today was the branch Primary presentation.  Brother Tony Stanley asked me to give the invocation. The Primary theme for the year is "Families are Forever."  Sister Caroline Echard, first counselor in the Primary presidency, introduced the program.  We have a small Primary with five children in the Sunbeam class, seven in the CTR class, and four in the Valiant class.  The children read scriptures and sang several numbers.

Closing hymn was #193, "I Stand All Amazed," a famous Christian hymn with text and music by Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932).

Eileen gave the benediction.

Elder Kuoha asked us to teach the last 10-15 minutes of the Gospel Principles class during Sunday School next Sunday on family history work.

Gospel Doctrine was back in the chapel with Sister Darlene Burgess teaching.  The lesson was #39, “How Beautiful upon the Mountains" using Isaiah 50-53.

The purpose of the lesson was to strengthen each class member’s testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

1. Isaiah speaks of messengers who bring glad tidings.

In Isaiah 52:7, Isaiah poetically described people bringing a great message.  In the ancient world, before electronic communications were available, important messages were often brought by runners traveling on foot. Isaiah uses the messengers’ feet to symbolize the messengers themselves. 

It is a message of good tidings, a message of peace and salvation.  The Book of Mormon prophet Abinadi explained that the messengers described by Isaiah include the prophets and also the Lord himself. In Mosiah 15:18 the prophet Abinadi describes the Savior as a messenger whose feet are beautiful upon the mountains. One reason his feet are beautiful is that they bear the prints of the nails, the tokens of his atoning love.

2. Isaiah prophesies of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice.

The Book of Mormon prophet Abinadi gave a powerful commentary on Isaiah 53:8–11 when he was speaking to the wicked priests of King Noah (Mosiah 15:10–13).

3. Isaiah describes some of our responsibilities.

As recorded in Isaiah 51 and Isaiah 52, what responsibilities do we have as those who have accepted the Savior’s Atonement?

a. Listen to and obey the Lord; do not fear the revilings of men.

b. Remember the Lord, who is the Creator. Do not fear Satan.

c. Awake and put on the strength of the priesthood (see D&C 113:7–8). Put on the beautiful garments of righteousness (see Revelation 19:7–8).

d. Depart from the wickedness of the world. Do not touch unclean things; be clean.

We sang the first verse of hymn #134, "We Believe in Christ" to open our priesthood meeting.  The priesthood lesson today was on the talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson in the April 2014 general conference Sunday afternoon session entitled "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ."

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

"In the words of Elder Neal A. Maxwell: 'Christ’s victory over death ended the human predicament. Now there are only personal predicaments, and from these too we may be rescued by following the teachings of him who rescued us from general extinction.'"

Elder D. Todd Christofferson
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In priesthood and Relief Society we met Elder and Sister Jessen who are on a full-time mission from Centerville, Utah.  They work in the mission office and have been out about a year.

After our church meetings we had the baptism of Tom Payton.  He was baptized by Brother John Cribb.  Brothers Terry Dorsey and David Echard spoke on baptism and the Holy Ghost, respectively.  Brother Ron Fisher and I were the witnesses of the baptism being performed properly.  Opening hymn was #116, "Come, Follow Me" and the closing hymn was #300, "Families Can Be Together Forever."

At home I went through the 35 screen shots of the names in my temple ordinance list that I have shared with the temple.  I wrote down all the PID numbers associated with the names and at some future date I will check in Family Tree to see what work has been done.  I had done this with the first couple of screen shots and all the females' work had been done but only baptism, confirmation, and initiatory of the males.

An example of a screen shot of those shared in my temple ordinance list

We spent some time vacuuming ladybugs in our bedroom!  There was a swarm of them outside and a substantial number got inside.  The numbers were pretty much reduced by bedtime.

Eileen worked two hours and Ben worked one hour on the Yorkshire parishes.

I was saddened to see that the Giants shut out the Royals, 5-0.  Now the Royals must win the next two games in Kansas City.

On Monday 27 October we went to the Gilmer County Health Center to take over from Stan Ashworth at the Kids Ferst display.  We were there from 10 - 12.

Gilmer County Health Center 

Kids Ferst Display and Ben

Eileen and Ben in Kids Ferst Shirts

I called Coloma Frozen Foods in Michigan to order two more quarts of their tart cherry concentrate which Eileen and I take with our pills every morning.

I called ETC technical support and left a message.  When they changed the software for my e-mail at etcmail.com, they emptied all of my contact groups in my address book.  I had called them on 15 October but it hasn't been fixed yet.  The same thing happened a couple of years ago when they changed their software and they were able to repopulate my contact groups.

We signed up three youngsters with Kids Ferst while we were there.  Then we got gas for $2.699!  We home taught Sabrina Bayless at 12:30.  She and her dad had liked very much the family history we had put together for them.

Bayless's

We visited Peggy Espersen because when we tried to call her yesterday for her birthday her phone number no longer worked.  She told us that her phone had been stolen at the Health Center!  She reported it to the police as the employee at the Health Center saw who took it!  Then she had her phone number blocked and got a new number.  She got another phone from her daughter and she entered our phone numbers.  We wished her a happy birthday.

Peggy Espersen's (ground floor on the left)

We went shopping at Walmart and Ingles as the sister missionaries are coming for dinner tomorrow and we are taking dinner to a branch family on Friday.

We hurried homewards to drop off our trash and recyclables at the dump and our groceries at home.  We were on the road again to meet Brother John Cribb at Ingles parking lot.  I rode with him in his truck north to Sister Dori LeVan's in Morganton to get the chest of drawers she had for our yellow room in the basement.  We took a gift of chocolates for her upcoming birthday.  We sure appreciated Brother Cribb's service!

Chest of drawers in our yellow room in the basement

Eileen got a few more things at Ingles and headed home to await our return.

Ben worked 55 minutes on the Yorkshire parishes.

On Tuesday 28 October we went to physical therapy at 11 am.  Besides the usual stuff they do, they had me on four different machines, too.

Bryant Physical Therapy

Bryant Physical Therapy

While there I finished reading "The Cruise of the Snark" by Jack London which I had begun on 17 April.  I had previously read "Sea Wolf" by London.

Two of the young ladies who work there said "yes" to my two Book of Mormon questions!  They both gave me their home addresses, not their work address.  One of them lives on Bailey Street in East Ellijay.

We mailed birthday cards at the post office to our daughter Heather and a fellow we home taught in Maryland, Alan Janney.

Then I dropped Eileen off at the beauty parlor and I went for a haircut.  I had a nice chat with Stacey and bent her ear about missions and missionaries.

Barbara's Hair Designers

Inside Barbara's Hair Designers

Eileen and Barbara

City Barber Shop

I picked up Eileen and we headed home to get ready for the sister missionaries coming for dinner. We stopped at R&A Orchards for a bag of apples.  It is still apple season and they are crowded every day as I imagine the numerous other apple houses are, too.

Side entrance 

Inside R&A Orchards

Inside R&A Orchards

Inside R&A Orchards

Inside R&A Orchards

Inside R&A Orchards

We picked up the sisters at Ingles (odometer reached 86,000 miles) and enjoyed Eileen's beef stew again with artisan rolls from Ingles.  Lemon bars for dessert.  Sister Sullivan took our picture with Sister Rueckert as she is being transferred tomorrow as is Elder Burkinshaw.

We took them back to Ingles and had a quiet evening.  I worked an hour on the Yorkshire parishes.

We were excited about the Royals leading the Giants, 9-0 in the 5th inning.  They won, 10-0!

On Wednesday 29 October we volunteered at the food pantry. We had about 110 families, much more than we expected on a fifth Wednesday.

Gilmer Community Food Pantry 

Diana Stephens visited us from 2:30 - 5:15 pm as I helped her with her family history.  Eileen worked on her Yorkshire parishes while I helped Diana.  Then we gobbled down leftover beef stew and headed to church where we covered the Family History Center from about 6:30 - 8 pm.  I worked one hour on the Yorkshire parishes.  Eileen worked a total of 2 1/2 hours on the parishes.

Our car in front of Ellijay Branch meetinghouse

When we got home we watched "Finding Your Roots" that I had recorded on PBS last night.

I finished reading the 8 June issue of the Church News.  It was interesting to read of the recognition of the Church in Vietnam and the travels of Elders Russell M. Nelson and Neil L. Andersen, both of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to Brazil where there are 34 missions of the Church.

Elder Russell M. Nelson with his wife, Sister Wendy W. Nelson, holds a child
at the Curitiba Brazil Stake Conference.

Elder Neil L. Andersen addresses attendees of a religious liberties seminar in Brasilia, Brazil. 

We were saddened that the Giants beat the Royals, 3-2, to win the World Series.

I finished reading "Beethoven" by George Alexander Fischer which I had begun on 18 April.  Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the masters in the world of music.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

On Thursday 30 October we enjoyed getting up late as our first obligation was not until noon!  We were at Dr. Greg Codelli's then for both of us.

Eileen was seen first (she is getting a new bite guard) and I finally went in at 12:43, having read a chapter of the biography of naturalist Louis Agassiz in the lobby.  I almost finished another longer chapter before Dr. Codelli arrived at 1:23.  I also read about Beethoven's Mass in D.  Putting in my implant with the temporary crown only took 7-8 minutes.  Then I finished the chapter and made these notes.

Mountain Periodontics in Blue Ridge

We visited the Taste of Amish store for cheeses and baby pickled beets.

Eileen at Taste of Amish in Blue Ridge

We went for a ride out GA 282 to find 26 Helen Lane for the sister missionaries.  I had given them the name and address but it would be a lot of miles for them.  My two map apps disagreed on where it was so we checked it out.

We enjoyed the salad I made and leftover chili for supper, then I visited Roger Widmann in Ellijay to help with his family history.

The Widmann residence

The Widmann residence

When I got home I helped Eileen with the preparations for the beef stew she was making to take to the Pierce's for supper tomorrow.  She had already made two pans of cornbread.

Cornbread

We sang "happy birthday" on the phone to Eileen's sister Jane in New Jersey.

I finished reading "They Called Me God" by Doug Harvey and Peter Golenbock which was so good that I read it in five days. Doug Harvey was an outstanding baseball umpire and is one of the few umpires in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

We received the Relief Society newsletter from Olga Knight which mentioned the lesson coming up on Sunday.  It was the general conference talk by Elder L. Tom Perry from October 1991 about "Being Self-Reliant."  It said it was for Relief Society and priesthood but, knowing the Church members as I do, I was quite sure no coordination had taken place with the priesthood brethren.  Nevertheless I read it to Eileen.

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

On Friday 31 October (Happy Halloween) we were up early and Eileen finished her preparations for the supper we were taking to the Pierce's later in the day.  She made the same wonderful beef stew that we fed the Malone's and the sister missionaries, her delicious cornbread, and chocolate chip cookies.

We drove to Jasper to help Terry Dorsey with his family history.  We met his wife Judy and were there a little over an hour before we had to head back to Ellijay for our physical therapy appointment at 11.

The Dorsey Residence in Jasper

Then we met Ralph and Holly Hughes at the Walmart parking lot at 12:15.  We enjoyed lunch together at Ably Asian Cuisine in Jasper.

Eileen, Holly, and Ralph

On the way home we stopped at the scenic overlook and took pictures of the beautiful colorful fall foliage.

Ben and the lovely foliage

The Zell Miller Mountain Parkway

Holly and Eileen

Eileen and Ben

After getting home Eileen finished getting supper all ready to deliver and we took it to the Pierce's in Coosawattee.

The Pierce Residence

From there we filled up the car for $2.699.  We drove through downtown Ellijay and saw the hordes of costumed youngsters and older folks trick-or-treating at the stores, something I wasn't aware went on in town.

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

Then I finally finished my week of 5 October blog!

Tonight is to be the start of three freezing nights, so earlier today I brought in all the remaining few tomatoes and about 80 cherry tomatoes.  About 10 of them are ready to eat now.

On Saturday 1 November we enjoyed getting up late!  We had a snow shower during the night and our power went out briefly about 8:45 am.  Nothing scheduled until 1 pm when we were at the Lions Club White Christmas for Kids Ferst to sign up children under five for a book a month in the mail.  We were there until 3 pm and enjoyed some pizza from the local Pizza King.  We signed up three kids.

We shopped at Food Lion for eight Diet Mountain Dew, four caffeine-free for Eileen.  We had done this on Thursday, too, as the 2-liter bottle is only 89 cents, $1.10 off!

At home we enjoyed steelhead trout and salads from Ingles along with some of Eileen's chocolate chip cookies.

Eileen chatted on the phone with Colleen and an old friend from Maryland, Pat Turner.  She watched the two "America's Test Kitchen" and two "Cook's Country" that I recorded today.

We called my sister Lib and sang "happy birthday" to her answering machine in New York.

I worked an hour and 35 minutes on the Yorkshire parishes today and indexed 10 Virginia death records.

Tomorrow is Fast Sunday so nothing to eat until supper tomorrow except some water with our pills.  We fast for 24 hours, skipping breakfast and lunch and giving a fast offering to the branch to help those branch members in need.  One element of a true fast is giving a generous fast offering. President Spencer W. Kimball said, “I think that when we are affluent, as many of us are, that we ought to be very, very generous … and give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more--ten times more where we are in a position to do it” (in April 1974 General Conference).

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985)