I finished reading "Two Years Before the Mast" by Richard Henry Dana Jr. which I had begun over a year ago on 21 November 2013. Just as the current version of his book includes what he wrote 24 and 34 years after its initial publication, I decided to look him up 145 years after the last portion of his book. His book was very popular, especially when the gold rush put California in the news and the only reference book about California was his! He was very successful in life and sadly died of the flu at age 66 in Rome, Italy.
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| Richard Henry Dana Jr. (1815-1882) |
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We were in Raleigh, N. C., and so attended the Raleigh 2nd Ward in the afternoon. The chapel was incredibly noisy before the sacrament meeting began! There appear to be lots of children.
Opening hymn was #66, "Rejoice, the Lord is King!" by Charles Wesley.
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| Charles Wesley (1707-1788) |
Sacrament hymn was #193, "I Stand All Amazed," text and music by Charles H. Gabriel.
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| Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932) |
Youth speaker Sister Jessica Whipple, who is also the chorister, spoke on gratitude. Story of 10 Lepers from Luke. Quoted from Pres. Monson about "an attitude of gratitude." Being thankful for those things that help build our character. Thank people and be kind to one another. We can find much to be thankful for.
Sister Kim Moore also spoke on gratitude and thanked Jessica for not using too much of her talk. (Laughter) Uplifting, exalting attitude. Having gratitude is good for us. Those who are grateful are happier, healthier people. D&C 78:19. Recognize what our blessings are. The more we see them, the less we recognize them. Spoke about the nine lepers who did not thank Jesus. O remember, remember! Quoted from Pres. Monson and Pres. Joseph F. Smith about being grateful. Utter a prayer on occasion with only thankfulness. Express and show our gratitude. Take the time to ponder on the things we are grateful for. Let us follow the example of Jesus Christ and show how grateful we are for Him.
Special music by the ward choir "For the Beauty of the Earth"
Brother Paul Fiske spoke of teaching his young 19-month-old son to say please and thank you. Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation for our blessings. Spoke of story by Pres. Hinckley's father. Boys putting a silver dollar in each of a poor man's shoes. The gratefulness of the man in prayer. Alma 45:1. Gave thanks. Worshipped God with exceedingly great joy. Moroni 7:5-7. Psalm 100. Seek out gratitude in our lives.
Closing hymn was #94, "Come, Ye Thankful People," by Henry Alford. The first verse is surely familiar to most everyone. "Come, ye thankful people come; Raise the song of harvest home. All is safely gathered in Ere the winter storms begin. God, our Maker, doth provide For our wants to be supplied. Come to God's own temple, come; Raise the song of harvest home."
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| Henry Alford (1810-1871) |
We discovered that sacrament meeting was the last meeting for the ward. Mormon.org has gone downhill in their "Find a Church" feature. They now only list the units at the nearest building without specifying which one would be "your" unit, which they used to do. And they only show one time for each unit, presumably the sacrament meeting time with no indication whether it is first or last on the meeting block, which they used to do. So we missed priesthood, Relief Society, and Sunday School :(
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| Mormon.org |
Now we knew to some degree why it was so noisy prior to sacrament meeting. The children had just come from Primary and the adults and youth had come from Sunday School, the adult class being in the chapel.
Eileen and I chatted with Bishop Whitt after the meeting about the missionaries no longer knocking on Heather's door and her membership status.
I sent feedback to Mormon.org and received an answer quickly. Apparently now Mormon.org is primarily for non-members, hence nothing is shown specifying which one would be "your" unit. And they only show the time for the sacrament meeting time, which would be appropriate for non-members. Members of the Church should go to Lds.org where you scroll down to Quick Links, one of which is "Find a Meetinghouse." It is everything that I expected!!
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| lds.org |
I finished and published the 26 October entry for my blog.
At bedtime I finished reading "Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence" by Elder Joerg Klebingat of the Seventy to Eileen.
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| Elder Joerg Klebingat |
On Monday 24 November we were up bright and early with Liam! Eileen enjoyed reading to Liam.
I looked at all the Family Tree e-mails from Family Tree magazine in the U. K.
Eileen, Heather, and Liam went to a Toys 'R' Us while Tom and I went to Harris Teeter. Later while Liam was napping, Eileen, Heather, and I went to Costco and Harris Teeter. Gas at Costco was $2.619.
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| Toys 'R' Us |
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| Costco |
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| Costco |
I researched resorts in mid to north Georgia with RCI to see where we'd like to go with the 2014 deposit of our week at Oak Plantation.
We enjoyed a delicious ravioli and sausage supper with some mince pie (one of my favorites) for dessert. I had gotten the mince pie at Harris Teeter.
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| Mince Pie |
I finished the 29 June issue of the Church News. I especially liked the articles dealing with the 2014 Seminar for New Mission Presidents and their wives.
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| President Thomas S. Monson, center, stands with his counselors in the First Presidency, President Henry B. Eyring, left, First Counselor, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor, at the mission presidents' seminar June 22 in Provo, Utah. |
The center section was "FamilySearch posts billionth digital online image."
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It was delightful to read about President and Sister Uchtdorf's visit to Poland, Switzerland, and Italy since they are from Germany.
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| Posing for a picture on the lawn of the Bern Switzerland Temple |
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| President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf acknowledge the congregation prior to speaking about the blessings of the temple at a devotional |
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| President and Sister Uchtdorf, Elder and Sister Andersen, Sister Reeves listen to the children's choir in Zollikofen, Switzerland |
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| President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, visit the Rome Italy Temple, which is under construction |
I watched the video "Scriptures Legacy" narrated by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The link to this video is:
www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-04-004-scriptures-legacy?lang=eng
On Tuesday 25 November we enjoyed Liam and later in the morning I went to Costco for duck. We continued to enjoy Liam during the day. When he napped, I read and Eileen napped. I also worked on my blog, entered temple ordinance data into PAF, and replied to several e-mails. I ran errands later to Rite-Aid and Harris Teeter.
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| Liam and his stuffed giraffe |
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| Liam and Elmo |
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| Ride 'em, cowboy! |
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| The living room is the playroom |
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| Putting a puzzle together |
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| Grandmom and Liam |
In the evening Eileen, Tom, and Heather watched "Finding Your Roots," but I didn't want them to have to turn the volume up enough for me to enjoy it, and I was finishing "Where Nobody Knows Your Name Life in the Minor Leagues of Baseball" by John Feinstein and I didn't want to put it down. It was excellent! I had started it on 2 November. I can watch "Finding Your Roots" when we get home as I recorded it.
The other book I had read by Feinstein several years ago was "Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember."
At bedtime I finished reading "Yes, Lord, I Will Follow Thee" by Elder Eduardo Gavarret of the Seventy to Eileen. He had delivered his talk in general conference in Spanish.
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| Elder Eduardo Gavarret |
On Wednesday 26 November we were up and playing with Liam. I ran errands for Heather, stopping at Sam's Club, Home Depot, and the Upper Crust Bakery (for the pecan pie they had ordered). It is my other favorite pie!
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| Upper Crust Bakery |
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| Pecan Pie |
In the afternoon I finished my blog entry for 2 November.
I ordered our supper from Jason's Deli nearby and picked it up. It was all yummy!
Heather made a wonderful pecan spice cake for Thanksgiving tomorrow. It looked wonderful!
At bedtime I read "Are We Not All Beggars?" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to Eileen. I could not help but think that many Mormons must compartmentalize their religion and their politics and never the twain shall meet. As a religion we are commanded to help the poor and needy. It is so important that the Church added to its longstanding three-fold mission a fourth in 2009. The four-fold mission is as follows:
First, to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people;
Secondly, to perfect the Saints by preparing them to receive the ordinances of the gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain exaltation;
Thirdly, to redeem the dead by performing vicarious ordinances of the gospel for those who have lived on the earth; and
In 2009 a fourth element was added to the mission of the Mormon Church to make it a four-fold mission, which is: To care for the poor and needy.
Yet politically the Republican Party and its members (and most Mormons are Republican) view the poor and needy as deadbeats. We must remember, as Elder Holland stated, that Jesus Christ was homeless (Matthew 8:20).
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| Elder Jeffrey R. Holland |
On Thursday 27 November we celebrated Happy Thanksgiving! We watched the Macy's parade.
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| Liam admiring Thomas the Train Engine |
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| Liam admiring Thomas the Train Engine |
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| Snoopy |
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| Liam admiring Thomas the Train Engine |
Mystery writer P.D. James, who brought realistic modern characters to the classical British detective story, died today at her home in Oxford, England, at age 94. James’ books, many featuring sensitive sleuth Adam Dalgliesh, sold millions around the world, and most were just as popular when adapted for television. We enjoyed her books and TV productions.
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| P.D. James (1920-2014) |
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| An elderly P.D. James working at her desk |
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| A much younger P.D. James working at her desk |
As the morning progressed, Tom and Heather were busy cooking our Thanksgiving feast.
I finished reading "The Fortunes of Nigel" by Sir Walter Scott which I had begun over a year ago on 21 November 2013. I have also read many Scott novels beginning with "Ivanhoe." Others were "Waverley," "Rob Roy," "The Heart of Midlothian Volumes 1 and 2," "The Bride of Lammermoor," "A Legend of Montrose," "Quentin Durward," and "The Fair Maid of Perth."
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| Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) |
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We watched the Detroit Lions defeat the Chicago Bears, 34-17, after being behind 14-3.
We all enjoyed the Thanksgiving dinner. We had duck and turkey, stuffing, rolls, green bean and onion ring casserole, mashed white potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, gravy, two yummy salads, and three kinds of cranberry sauce, one from the can. Friends of Tom and Heather's were guests: Keith and Ashley, Truett (his wife Susan was not feeling well), Jonathan and Kelly, and Juan Carlos.
Before and after our meal we watched the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 33-10.
On Friday 28 November we packed the car and enjoyed Liam some more. We had some desserts for breakfast.
We left just before noon so Liam could wave goodbye before his nap. We stopped at New York Bagels & Deli to get bagel sandwiches for supper. Our next palindrome was 87878. We paid $2.659 on I-40. Later the odometer read 87978.
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| Ben in front of New York Bagels & Deli |
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| Inside New York Bagels & Deli |
We reached the Comfort Inn in Franklin about 5:15. We had a fun chat with the gal at the front desk and she said "yes" to my two Book of Mormon questions! We learned that she has LDS relatives who have done their genealogy.
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| Inside our suite |
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| Inside our suite |
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| Inside our suite |
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| Inside our suite |
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| The breakfast area |
We enjoyed our bagel sandwiches and desserts for supper.
We worked on the pictures we took at Heather's of Liam and made them available to Heather. I read over my preparation for my colonoscopy on Monday.
At bedtime I finished reading "Finding Lasting Peace and Building Eternal Families" by Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to Eileen.
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| Elder L. Tom Perry |
On Saturday 29 November we enjoyed breakfast at the Comfort Inn. When we reached Georgia we had a palindrome at 88188.
We got home in plenty of time to unpack, receive the mail for nine days from our letter carrier, and drop Eileen off at Barbara's Hair Designers at noon. Barbara was opening just for Eileen to get her hair done before we head for Arizona on Tuesday.
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| Barbara and Eileen |
I got gas at the Citgo station in Ellijay for $2.49! Then I got a haircut as Eileen thought I was due even though it was only 32 days since my last one. The barber Marcelle agreed that I needed one.
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| City Barber Shop |
After picking Eileen up, we went to Walmart and then North Georgia Diamond where she picked up a layaway and I got her Christmas present, a watch that needed a couple more links in the band.
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| North Georgia Diamond |
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| Inside North Georgia Diamond with Rana and Eileen |
We took the car through Squiggles, the carwash in Ellijay, and gave the insides a good vacuuming.
On to Ingles and finally we stopped at R&A Orchards for the Times-Courier and some apples.
After we got home I strung our Christmas lights across the front of our garage.
In the evening I made reservations for our trip to Arizona, with stays in Jackson, MS, Dallas, TX, Fort Stockton, TX, and Willcox, AZ. Two Comfort Inns and two Quality Inns (unfortunately in our experience Quality Inn means lack-of-quality).
I finished reading "Lord Jim" by Joseph Conrad which I had begun on 21 November 2013. I have also read "Heart of Darkness" and "Secret Agent" by Conrad. Conrad's books are rather difficult to comprehend!
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| Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) |
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