On Sunday 11 October we were up early and had fun with Liam.  Unexpectedly our blood sugars were good this morning although we both gained weight.  We listened to  "Music & the Spoken Word" as we got ready for church.

We reached our next palindrome of 117711 along Big Creek Road on the way to church.

We enjoyed attending our Ellijay Branch.  Lots of visitors with the overflow pretty full!  Presiding today was President David Stallings, second counselor in the stake presidency.

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

Opening hymn was #9, "Come, Rejoice" text and music by Tracy Y. Cannon (1879-1961).

Sacrament hymn was #177, "'Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Live" text by George A. Manwaring (1854-1889) and music by Ebenezer Beesley (1840-1906).

Today was Fast Sunday and many branch members bore their testimonies.

President Boland began his testimony by speaking of taking a new job in Alaska.  He bore his testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Robin Hanks spoke of a movie that she saw with her children which was uplifting and inspiring, exuberant and powerful.

Dorie Stanley spoke of bearing her testimony just after her husband joined the Church and she was not yet a member.  Her experience that day led her to return each week and gain a testimony that the Church is true.

A visiting young woman from Florida bore her testimony that she knows the truthfulness of the Gospel and its restoration in these latter-day days.

A visiting brother, who 30 years ago was the stake high councilor for Ellijay from the Chattanooga Stake, bore his testimony.

Debbie Gerbers began her testimony with "Aloha!" after returning from a visit to Hawaii.

Rod Clark spoke of prayers being answered.  

Naomi Boland tearfully bore her testimony (due to her dad heading for Alaska).

Nonmember Oscar Poole came to the podium and shared about his visit to Salt Lake City last weekend.  He has attended the Tabernacle Choir broadcast in the past.  He was introduced by Spencer Kinnard to the Choir.  He spoke of his many Mormon friends including President Boland.  He has attended before and said that he is almost persuaded to be a Mormon.  

Elder Rumsey thanked the Lord for sending him and his wife to Ellijay.  They've been here seven months.  He is thankful for our living prophet and his testimony.

A visiting sister bore her testimony.  We have to seek the Holy Ghost.  The Church is true everywhere you go.  

Another visiting sister enjoyed hearing "Aloha" as she had attended BYU-Hawaii.  She attended three sessions of general conference last weekend.  She bore her testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  She knows that her Savior atoned for her sins.

A visiting brother, who had spoken here six months ago with the stake high councilor, bore his testimony.  His first testimony years ago was as a Catholic nonmember.  He is involved with the Young Single Adult conference in the area, many of the attendees being here today.

Elder Twitchell bore his testimony as a new missionary in the branch.

President Stallings bore his testimony and spoke of President Boland's service as our branch president.  He testified of the Savior Jesus Christ and that God lives.  Jesus stands at the head of this Church.  He was grateful for general conference.    

Closing hymn was #137, "Testimony" text by Loren C. Dunn (1930-2001) and music by Michael Finlinson Moody (b. 1941). 

Gospel Doctrine with Harry Spooner was lesson #37, 'Jesus Christ: “The Author and Finisher of Our Faith”' using Hebrews.

The purpose of the lesson was to remind class members that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to his commandments. 

1. Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of Heavenly Father, is our Savior. 

2. The Melchizedek Priesthood is part of the fulness of the gospel.

“Neither the law of Moses nor the priesthood of Aaron which administered it was capable of bringing God’s children unto perfection. The Aaronic Priesthood is a lesser authority, and it administers the preparatory gospel only. The Melchizedek Priesthood, on the other hand, is the higher priesthood, commissioned to minister the gospel ordinances in their fulness and capable of purifying our lives so that we can again enter into the presence of the Lord” (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles [Church Educational System manual, 1979]; see also D&C 107:18–20).

3. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the new covenant between God and his children.

4. Those who exercise faith in Jesus Christ will inherit a place in the kingdom of God.

We are blessed to live in a time when the fulness of the gospel is available. Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to his commandments. We need to keep the covenants and commandments of the restored gospel.

The hymn in priesthood was #319, "Ye Elders of Israel" text by Cyrus H. Wheelock (1813-1894) and music by Thomas H. Bayly (1797-1839).

The priesthood lesson was #18 from "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson" entitled "Beware of Pride."

“Pride is the universal sin, the great vice. The antidote for pride is humility.”

It was "taught" by Brother Bond.  Eileen said that Nell Huston did an excellent job teaching the same lesson in Relief Society.

I read the following:

2 The central feature of pride is enmity toward God and our fellowmen.

Pride is a very misunderstood sin, and many are sinning in ignorance. (See Mosiah 3:11; 3 Ne. 6:18.) In the scriptures there is no such thing as righteous pride--it is always considered a sin. Therefore, no matter how the world uses the term, we must understand how God uses the term so we can understand the language of holy writ and profit thereby. (See 2 Ne. 4:15; Mosiah 1:3–7; Alma 5:61.)

Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing.

The central feature of pride is enmity--enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.” As Paul said, they “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” (Philip. 2:21.)

Our will in competition to God’s will allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled. (See Alma 38:12; 3 Ne. 12:30.)

The proud cannot accept the authority of God giving direction to their lives. (See Hel. 12:6.) They pit their perceptions of truth against God’s great knowledge, their abilities versus God’s priesthood power, their accomplishments against His mighty works.

Our enmity toward God takes on many labels, such as rebellion, hard-heartedness, stiff-neckedness, unrepentant, puffed up, easily offended, and sign seekers. The proud wish God would agree with them. They aren’t interested in changing their opinions to agree with God’s.

Another major portion of this very prevalent sin of pride is enmity toward our fellowmen. We are tempted daily to elevate ourselves above others and diminish them. (See Hel. 6:17; D&C 58:41.)

The proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others. In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1952, pp. 109–10.)

In the pre-earthly council, Lucifer placed his proposal in competition with the Father’s plan as advocated by Jesus Christ. (See Moses 4:1–3.) He wished to be honored above all others. (See 2 Ne. 24:13.) In short, his prideful desire was to dethrone God. (See D&C 29:36; 76:28.)

The scriptures abound with evidences of the severe consequences of the sin of pride to individuals, groups, cities, and nations. “Pride goeth before destruction.” (Prov. 16:18.) It destroyed the Nephite nation and the city of Sodom. (See Moro. 8:27; Ezek. 16:49–50.)

Traffic was very heavy on 515 due to the Apple Festival and I took the shortcut behind Rite-aid to readily get through the traffic light onto 52.

Later at home I began working on preparations to mail the three Book of Mormons.  I finished chapter nine of "Evidences and Reconciliations" by Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which was entitled "Marriage and the Family."

We watched the later portion of the Atlanta Falcons - Washington Redskins game which was quite exciting.

I scanned and emailed the recipe for the chicken-and-sausage gumbo to Heather along with the six-week muffin recipe.

We had delicious pork ragu for supper and Eileen shocked me by having it on spaghetti!  She wanted, as the chef, to see how it tasted as called for in the recipe (without the red wine, of course).

Eileen made a wonderful French apple tart.  Have we been bad!!

I finished reading the 2 August issue of the Church News.  I enjoyed the article about the "Worldwide Indexing Event" because it had a picture of Sister Bjornn and three patrons in the Family History Library.  She served with her husband when we were there.  Other articles were "Strengthening ties that bind families," "Choir is a family affair," and "Church thanks San Diego Padres."

Heather, Eileen, and I played three hands of Mexican Train and I was well ahead, even though each of us won one hand.

I put photographs in my 3 May blog entry.

On Monday 12 October we went to Burt's Pumpkin Farm east of us on 52.  We had a great time with a hayride and picking out two pumpkins.  The pumpkin aroma was delicious!

We returned to Ellijay to the Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company where Heather and Tom got some products.  Then we walked to Moo Bears Ice Cream and Treatery for ice cream.

  

At home we enjoyed leftover chicken-and-sausage gumbo and pork ragu.  I had it with the spaghetti, my first pasta in over seven months!

I called Power Solutions and they discounted the cost of the generator battery from our bill, so I wouldn't pay for it but it would still show on their records that it had been replaced.

Heather, Tom, and Liam left at 3:45 pm.  They were going to leave tomorrow but it would be better to take advantage of the night/his sleep time--he's not a fan of road trips yet.

I finished reading "The Lost Ancestor" by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. It was excellent!  I started it on 2 October and I had gotten it from Eileen (I think) for my birthday last year.

We went to church for our empty-nester family home evening with Harry Spooner.  I had printed census records from 1850-1900 for the Bond's ancestor Lyman Bond and gave them to him at church.

On Tuesday 13 October we went to the quilt shop in Jasper after dropping off lots at the dump, mailing three Book of Mormons and a manila envelope to Colleen which contained two math magazines, a photo from the Times-Courier with her three sons and us in front of the Gilbert Temple, and checks for Christmas and Spencer's birthday, and putting almost three gallons in the car for $2.099.

Eileen had fun at the quilt shop, picking out a quilt kit to make a quilt for the next Dowd baby, due in February.  Back in Ellijay we shopped at Walmart, Tractor Supply Co., and Ace Hardware.  We got a new water hose at the latter as Tom had examined the old one and thought it might be the reason why the water from the refrigerator door wasn't working.  But I replaced the hose and it still doesn't work:(

We enjoyed leftover crockpot cauliflower chicken chili (Eileen) and pork ragu with spaghetti and chicken-and-sausage gumbo (Ben) for supper.

I downloaded the pictures from Eileen's camera on both laptops, from Shenandoah Valley and the Dowd's visit.  For some reason on Eileen's laptop it is not getting any of my pictures from iCloud.  I created photo streams for the Dowd's visit and for our vacation in the Shenandoah Valley, inviting eight people to be able to view them.  Eileen's laptop is uncooperative however as it is not accessing iCloud.

Eileen enjoyed watching "Cake Boss" and "The Great British Baking Show."

On Wednesday 14 October we volunteered at the food pantry.  It was slow today even though it was the second Wednesday of the month.  We helped 80 patrons.

We stopped at R&A Orchards for a half peck of apples (mutsu and fuji) and the Times-Courier.  Our picture with the Farr's in front of the Mesa Temple was in the paper as well as a wonderful spread with three pictures about the church food drive.

I worked on the children of Brother Bond's ancestor Lyman Bond.

We went to church to cover the Family History Center from 6-8:30 pm.  Harry Spooner was with us from about 6:30 on.  We worked on both his and Shirley's parents and grandparents.

Eileen enjoyed watching episodes of "Cake Boss."

I began and finished reading "The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger A Tommy & Tuppence Short Story" by Agatha Christie. 

On Thursday 15 October Eileen enjoyed watching episodes of "Cake Boss" that I had recorded this morning and some "House Hunters" on HGTV.  She also enjoys "The Kitchen" and "Pioneer Woman" on the Food Network.

I called Interval International about the deposit at Oak Plantation week 51 unit 202.  It couldn't be reversed as someone else has already reserved it.

I put photographs in my 10 May blog entry.

I called most of the families that we home teach, made three appointments, and left some messages.

After supper we drove to the Cumming Playhouse, about an hour southeast of our home, to see the show "Smoke on the Mountain" at 8 pm.  It is one of the few shows in the Playhouse's history to enjoy all sell-out shows.  It tells the tale of the Sanders Family Singers as they make their return to the Gospel music circuit during a Saturday night church singing in 1938.  The music was by the Skillet Lickers, a multi-generational bluegrass band based in Dacula. Ironically, The Skillet Lickers began making music in 1923, the same year the Cumming Schoolhouse was built. The Schoolhouse was restored by the City of Cumming in 2004 and now houses the Cumming Playhouse. The Skillet Lickers have been playing and recording albums for the past 92 years.

We enjoyed the hilarious antics of the Sanders Family as audiences become guests at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and are swept up into a simpler time in history.  It was fun!

I got four gallons on the way in Dawsonville for $2.199 and filled up afterwards on the way home for $2.099.  We got home a little after 11.

I began and finished reading "At the 'Bells and Motley' A Harley Quin Short Story" by Agatha Christie.

On Friday 16 October we slept late and were elated that we are both under a certain weight for the first time since started our diet on 2 March!  I have lost 42 pounds and Eileen has lost 31 pounds.  I have about two pounds to go to reach my goal.

We went to Bryant Physical Therapy for an hour at noon.  I asked Kelly if she'd like to know more about the Book of Mormon that I sent here some time back.  She said she'd let me know.

We shopped at Ingles primarily and a bit at Walmart.  Then we visited Melanie Pardue at her home.  She, her husband, and little boy Aryan are moving to Jasper, Alabama, next week for her husband's job change.

We returned home to drop off our groceries.  I turned off the main power to check the generator.  It turned on and then, after I flipped the circuit breakers back on, it turned off just fine.

We left a little while later to visit Kelly Johnson at her home even more in the boonies than our house is.

Later at home we enjoyed cheeseburgers on lettuce leaves and our usual salad for supper.

Eileen enjoyed "House Hunters" on HGTV.

I finished reading the 9 August issue of the Church News.  I enjoyed the center section article "Church Releases Book of Mormon Printer's Manuscript" and the article "'Get ye up into the mountain' Temples are the mountain of the Lord's house" by Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society general president.

On Saturday 17 October we slept late and then mailed the cruise certificate to our son-in-law David.  We visited Peggy Espersen at her home.  Afterwards we shopped at Food Lion and Ingles.

I worked on my reply to Rennie Brannon to whom I was referred by Deanna Turton.  He is a grandson of Humphrey Turton as is Deanna's husband.  The Turton's are related to the Darrell's by marriage.  I sent a friend request to him on Facebook at his request.

I thanked Marcy Kelly for the checks that arrived from Oppenheimer today.

We watched some of the Toronto Blue Jays - Kansas City Royals game.  It was a shocker as the Blue Jays' ace David Price was sailing along with a 3-0 lead after six innings and he fell apart in the seventh as the Royals scored five runs!  They won, 6-3.

I emailed some of the branch leadership about our visits to Melanie Pardue yesterday and Peggy Espersen today.

I began and finished reading "The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper A Tommy & Tuppence Short Story" by Agatha Christie.