On Sunday 9 August Lynn Nielsen called early and had a nice chat with Eileen.  She didn't know that we were coming for Aunt Esther's funeral and was very excited to hear that.  We finished packing for the trip north.

This blog entry is without pictures which I will add later.

Eileen enjoyed "Music & the Spoken Word" and the Book of Mormon discussion on the book of 2 Nephi 9 on BYU-TV and we enjoyed attending our Ellijay Branch.

The Relief Society presidency consisting of Diana Stephens, Connie Reichert, and Debbie Gerbers was released.  Caroline Echard was released as a Primary worker.  Connie Reichert was sustained as the new Relief Society president.

Brother Claude Miller was confirmed a member of the Church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost from Elder Seitz.

Opening hymn was #263 "Go Forth with Faith" text by Ruth M. Gardner (1927-1999) and music by Lyall J. Gardner (1926-2012).

Sacrament hymn was #191 "Behold the Great Redeemer Die" text by Eliza R. Snow (1804-1887) and music by George Careless (1839-1932). 

The first speaker was Cindy Dobson formerly Bozeman.  She spoke on love and the example set by Jesus.  She quoted President Ezra Taft Benson.  Abraham 3:25.  Pure love called charity.  Quoted from Moroni.  She also spoke on marriage.  She quoted President Boyd K. Packer.  He referred to the worldly view of marriage today.  Marriage is ordained of God.  President Gordon B. Hinckley and "The Family: A Proclamation to the World."  1 Corinthians 1:11-12.  She closed by quoting President Benson again.  Marriage in the temple.  She thought back to when she did not have the fulness of the Gospel in her life and the mistakes that she made.

The second speaker was Elder Seitz. He spoke of being able to serve with us while on his mission.  The 21-day challenge from Elder M. Russell Ballard.  Spoke of sacrament meeting and being able to partake of the sacrament.  Told President Monson's story about ship's accumulating barnacles on the hull.  Fresh water will take care of the barnacles.  We also accumulate "barnacles" as we go through life.  We need to seek a more pure environment.  Joseph in Egypt and Potiphar's wife.  Run from the situation.  Go to the temple to feel the spirit of the Lord.  Attend sacrament meeting.  Get counsel from our parents.  Be aware of situations that we should leave.  Testified of the Atonement.  D&C 121:45.  Strive to keep the Lord's commandments.  Testified of the Prophet Joseph Smith and President Monson.

Intermediate hymn #270 "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" text by Mary Brown (1856-1918) and music by Carrie E. Rounsefell (1851-1930).

The concluding speaker was Rey Hawkins.  He didn't have much time left to him.  Jealousy and covetousness is detrimental to our spirit.  Avoid people who habitually value the wrong things.  Be around people who are grateful for their blessings.  Be true to yourself and follow Heavenly Father's commandments.

Closing hymn was #131 "More Holiness Give Me" text and music by Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876).

The chapel was pretty full and the overflow area had to be used.

Gospel Doctrine with Harry Spooner was lesson #30, “God Is No Respecter of Persons" using Acts 10–14; 15:1–35.

The purpose of the lesson is to help class members recognize that the gospel is for all people and that the Church is guided by continuing revelation. 

1. Peter learns in a vision that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles.

2. Peter is miraculously freed from prison.

President Joseph F. Smith stated, “There never should be a day pass but all of the people composing the Church should lift up their voices in prayer to the Lord to sustain his servants” (Gospel Doctrine).

3. Saul (now known as Paul) and Barnabas preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

President Gordon B. Hinckley remarked: “With the ever increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with ‘the good word of God’ (Moroni 6:4). It is our duty and opportunity to provide these things” (in General Conference, Apr. 1997).

4. The Apostles determine that Gentiles do not need to keep the law of Moses.

The Church has always been guided by divine revelation and that revelation continues today.  Follow the counsel of the living prophet and other Church leaders.

The hymn in priesthood was #239 "Choose the Right" text by Joseph L. Townsend (1849-1842) and music by Henry A. Tuckett (1852-1918).

The priesthood lesson was #13 from "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson" entitled "Priceless Blessings of the House of the Lord."  It was taught by David Ashworth.

“It is in the temples that we obtain God’s greatest blessings pertaining to eternal life. Temples are really the gateways to heaven.”

I read part 6 whose heading was "Increased temple attendance leads to increased personal revelation."

I gave the long-sleeved shirts that we had gotten from our son-in-law David that were too big for me to Olga Knight for her husband Marvin.  I got the unit numbers for the branch and for the stake from the branch clerk Richard Callahan that Elder Carlson in Salt Lake City had asked for and I told President Ryan Boland about our hopes to go on another mission next Spring.  I saw Peggy Espersen as she was leaving church (Eileen had sat by her in Relief Society) and she told me that her right knee was really bothering her since her knee surgery and that she would come by church Wednesday evening for me to give her a priesthood blessing.  I saw Lynn Edwards just as we were leaving church and filled her in on what I found for her on Family Tree regarding the paperwork that David Echard had given me last Sunday.  I chatted with Charles Bowen who was visiting with his wife Claire.  They are members of our branch that have moved to Virginia as he now works at Southern Virginia University.  We helped them with their family history at their home in Jasper.

We left church about 1:20 and headed north.  We stopped at Ingles in Blue Ridge and filled up for $2.119 with our 10 cent discount.

We drove the typical route that we normally take to our daughter Heather's in Raleigh, but this time left I-40 in Winston-Salem and headed north to the Comfort Inn in Rocky Mount, Virginia, arriving about 8:15 pm.  It was about 380 miles.

On Monday 10 August we had breakfast at the hotel and checked out at 7:20 am!  We stopped at nearby Burnt Chimney thanks to the Gas Buddy app on my iPhone and filled up for $2.199.  Gas is cheaper in Virginia.

At 9 am we got off I-81 at Buena Vista, where Southern Virginia University is located, for a pit stop.

At noon we had passed Washington on I-495 and were headed north on I-95 when we stopped at the Maryland Welcome Center for a break.  The Beltway brought back memories although we couldn't see the Washington Temple heading east due to all the trees in the way :(

Traffic and weather was crummy on I-95 in Maryland but all of a sudden we were zipping along again!

There was heavy traffic again as we approached the Delaware Memorial Bridge and crossed it about 2:20 pm. We reached Stetka's about 3:35 after filling up for $2.419 (ten cents extra for credit).  What a ripoff!! Our mileage was 112051, so we drove 436 miles today and 816 total. However today took eight hours and 15 minutes while yesterday only took six hours and 55 minutes.  Our mpg was 29.5.

Eileen and I went to the Town & Country Diner in Bordentown for supper.  Janie was away with her granddaughters Jamie and Samantha Mullen at Long Beach Island (LBI) and Steve was at work.

Steve had gotten home just before we returned from the diner.  He showed us lots of pictures from their Alaskan cruise on his laptop.  Janie had car problems when getting ready to leave LBI but later in the evening all were home safe and sound.

On Tuesday 11 August before we left for the funeral Tony, Beth, Tyler, and the baby came to visit.

We got on our way north at 8:58 and arrived at the First Presbyterian Church in Avenel at few minutes after 10.  We enjoyed the service, "A Service of Witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Celebrating the Life of Esther Pucker Nielsen."  Especially the part called Remembrances.  The pastor spoke of Esther's life, then her granddaughter Kristen Nielsen Donnelly, her daughter Lynn, and her son Roger whom we hadn't seen in years.  We last saw Aunt Esther and Lynn almost two years ago in Flemington.

We drove to the Cloverleaf Memorial Park in Woodbridge for a little graveside service and that was where Lynn and Roger saw that we were there.  We chatted with them both. We returned to the old church across from the newer First Presbyterian Church for a little reception and Lynn sat with us for a while.  We headed back to Janie's about 1:50.

We left at 3:16. Our mileage was 112187.  We took Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) west. We weren't going to deal with Washington rush hour traffic.  Our next palindrome was 112211.  South on I-81 at 5:38.  Our mileage reached 112333.  We entered Maryland and then crossed the Potomac River into West Virginia.  Our mileage was 112394 at 6:44.  We were I n Stephens City, Virginia, at 7:30 pm and filled up for $2.399.

We arrived at the same Comfort Inn in Rocky Mount about 11 pm.  Our mileage was 112625.  We had gone 438 miles.

On Wednesday 12 August I enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and we checked out at 7:45 am.  We filled up at Kroger in Rocky Mount at $2.269 (as I review this on 5 September it is down to $1.959 on GasBuddy).

We stopped at the Dillsboro Chocolate Factory in North Carolina at 1:15 pm.  Our mileage was 112900.  We bought a bunch of sugar-free candy and fudge.

We next stopped at the quilt store Stitch in Time in Franklin.  Eileen got some material and batting.

We reached Blue Ridge at 3:40 pm.  Gas was $2.159 at Walmart.

We arrived home about 4:15.  Our mileage was 113015.  It was 390 miles from Rocky Mount and 828 total.

We got word from Heather that all is well with her pregnancy, both her and the baby which is another boy!

We went to church to cover the FHC. No one came by and the Internet was down.  I did get with President Boland and Bo Kelly about the upcoming stake food drive.  I will email the materials that Lee Snyder sent me to Bo and he will bring it up in branch PEC on the 23rd.  We'll be in Raleigh.

Jim Combs called to cancel dinner for tomorrow night as he is still in the process of gathering information from relatives about his family history.

I finished reading the 31 May issue of the Church News.  I especially enjoyed "The lost son", "BYU to again display famed 'Mormon Panorama'", and "'A witness of our covenants'".

As I looked at the next article in the July Ensign to read to Eileen, I saw that it is "Religion & Government" by Elder Wilford W. Andersen of the Seventy.  When I had read it at the White's early last month, I saw the quote from "Handbook 2: Administering the Church".

It is so appropriate and saddening as the next national elections draw closer in 2016.  I labeled it "Political and Civic Activity" in a note on my iPhone.  Here it is:

"In accordance with the laws of their respective governments, members are encouraged to register to vote, to study issues and candidates carefully, and to vote for individuals whom they believe will act with integrity and sound judgment. Latter-day Saints have a special obligation to seek out, vote for, and uphold leaders who are honest, good, and wise (see D&C 98:10)."

Why is it so saddening?  Because there are no presidential candidates in either political party that I "believe will act with integrity and sound judgment" and I think are "honest, good, and wise".  It is quite likely that I will not vote for any presidential candidate.  They are all a pretty sorry and immoral lot :(

On Thursday 13 August we had a quiet day.  I sent another picture to the Times-Courier.  We both did some indexing on familysearch.org as part of FamilySearch's indexing effort called "Fuel the Find".  I sent the information about the stake food drive to Bo Kelly and the branch presidency.  I asked Betty Hall to put it in the Sunday bulletins the next several weeks.  We watched "Who Do You Think You Are?" with Alfre Woodard from last Sunday evening.

We put the two hummingbird feeders back up on the front porch in hopes that the hummingbirds would return. We called William and sang to him for his birthday.  #36!

On Friday 14 August we drove to Mineral Bluff to meet with Ralph and Holly to go to lunch.  We rode with them to Brother's Restaurant in Murphy, NC.  We were last there with them in June 2012.  We came back to their home and enjoyed visiting with them for several hours.

Back in Ellijay we went to the office store to get six large copies made of the flyer that Eileen put together about the stake food drive from what we received from Lee Snyder of the stake high council.

Then we visited Walmart and R&A Orchards on the way home.  Our picture in front of the Lubbock Temple was in the Times-Courier.

I fixed the crumb trails for Crossmolina in County Mayo and Castletown, Crickstown, and Donaghmore (Ratoath) in County Meath.  I emailed Sandra Pond about the Maine Town Clerk project.

We watched the Braves lead the Diamondbacks, 3-2, when we went to bed as the 9th inning began.  The Braves won by that score.  I had the Yankee - Blue Jay game on my iPhone and "watched" Carlos Beltran hit his three-run pinch-hit home run in the top of the 8th to put the Yankees ahead, 4-3.  The bottom of the 9th was a real nail biter as Yankee reliever Andrew Miller allowed the Blue Jays to put men on second and third with only one out.  He struck out the next batter and took 12 pitches to strike out the last batter.  I felt almost sure he would get a hit and the Blue Jays would win, 5-4, but that didn't happen!!  So the Yankees are back in first place by a half game over the Blue Jays.

On Saturday 15 August we saw and heard a hummingbird by the feeders this morning!

Our odometer was at 113113 as we went into town.  We dropped off some stuff at Faith, Hope, and Charity, and returned some hangars to our dry cleaner as it is so close. Nearby is the post office where we mailed a book about horses to Colleen and I turned in the form to have them hold our mail next week. Next door is the bank where we got $$ for next week.  We went to River Street to check out the shoemaker listed on the Internet but as we thought it is long gone.  We shopped at Ingles for food items on sale along with goat cheese and fruit-2-O.

Our son Geoff has his truck to Tate Dodge in Maryland and it is our first attempt to use his Direct Buy Warranty.  They are giving him a hard time.  I called Tate Dodge so they would do the work regardless.  Geoff sent me photos of the warranty pages for me to read and I'll call DBW on Monday.

Later in the afternoon I took the garbage to the dump so it wouldn't sit in the garage all next week.

Eileen enjoyed watching "Treehouse Masters" with Pete Nelson on the Animal Planet Channel.

Later we watched a little of the Braves losing to the Diamondbacks.  We hit the hay with the Braves having just scored in the bottom of the eighth inning making the score 6-1.  As I learned later they scored three more times but lost, 8-4.