On Sunday 30 August we were up at 6 am and had breakfast.  We checked out at 7:15 am and headed for the stake center.  We arrived before it was unlocked!  We walked around the building which was 500 steps according to the health app on my iPhone.  The lights went on and the doors were unlocked at 8 am and we enjoyed music by the organist.  We were the first ones there other than him.

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

While waiting for stake conference to begin I finished chapter 21 of "Gospel Doctrine" entitled "False Teachings."

We enjoyed attending the 10 am session of stake conference for all the stake members.  It was conducted by President Nicholls and presided over by Elder Dube.  We sat next to Vicky Taylor and her mom.  They are new in the stake so she was asking who some of the people were.

President Nicholls announced the stake temple days 29 September-1 October and the stake food drive in September.

Opening hymn was #7 "Israel, Israel, God Is Calling" text by Richard Smyth  (1838-1914) and music by Charles C. Converse (1832-1918).

President Marcom conducted the stake business beginning with brothers who were sustained to be ordained elders in the Melchizedek Priesthood.

Released was the stake YW presidency and stake institute teacher.  Sustained were new stake YW presidency and assistant stake clerk/stake historian and others.

The stake choir sang "O, Touch My Eye".

First speaker was President Nicholls. Suffers from some melancholy once in a while.  Spoke of Elijah.  Some suffer from depression while others are so happy.  Like his happy wife.  Wed 32 years.  2 Nephi 5.  Nephi into the wilderness and live in the manner of happiness.  Verse 27.  The Lord desires us to be happy.  Plan of happiness.  Quoted Elder Bednar.  To be happy at home.  Verse 6.  Everybody in the Church is to be sealed as a family and be happy at home with their family.  Alma 41:10.  Verse 12.  Scriptures.  Five years as stake president.  He has counseled with many who are having challenges in their lives.  How's your personal scripture study and personal prayer? Nephites were prepared.  Taught his people to work and be industrious.  Self-sufficient.  Blessing to society.  Verse 16.  Temple worship.  Nephi organized the church.  Verse 27.  Manner of happiness.  Greatest happiness is touched by the Spirit in the service of others.  Follow the counsel of the living prophet.  He knows the way.  

Second speaker was a sister.  Do we appreciate how much God loves us?  Told of a Puerto Rican family who joined the Church.  She was one of the children.  She and her two brothers had been inactive.  Spoke of King Benjamin.  "Humble yourselves before God."  God loves us with our imperfections.  Husband had been inactive for 20 years.  Their family is active now.  Working on her family history.  Quoted President Monson.  A sister helped her with a hug 10 years ago.  Love your less-active kids and husbands and fathers.  Bore her testimony.

Third speaker was a young woman.  Making and keeping covenants.  Takes commitment.  Personal Progress.  YW values.  Pray for missionary experiences.  Attending seminary.  D&C 82:10.  Partake of the sacrament each week.  Quoted President Hunter.  

Fourth speaker was a young man named Zack.  Preparing physically, spiritually, and financially to serve a mission.  "Preach My Gospel" on his phone.  Going out with the missionaries.  Spoke at the convert's baptism on the Holy Ghost.  Praying earnestly.  Missionary opportunities.  Mormon music.  3 Nephi 24:10 about tithing.  Bore his testimony.

Fifth speaker was Marla McLeod, stake Relief Society president.  Spoke on keeping the Sabbath day holy.  Sacrament is the most important part of that day.  Quoted Elder Hales.  Bearing your testimony to Heavenly Father.  3 Nephi 18:11.  Her family attended stake conference the day after the funeral for her sister who was killed in an accident.  Many members were surprised to see them at conference.  The words of eternal life.  "Early is on time.  On time is late.  Late is unacceptable."  Prepare for the sacrament.  She told Elder Dube to tell President Monson that the stakes in the South love him.

Sixth speaker was President Bennion.  "I do not know the meaning of all things but he loves his children." (Nephi).  Alma.  Incomprehensible joy.  Mission presidents' seminar on DVD from this year.  Elder Perry.  Be a missionary yourself.  Set a good example.  Told of a missionary experience due to losing his wallet.  Israel is scattered everywhere.  

Intermediate hymn was #255 "Carry On" text by Ruth May Fox (1853-1958) and music by Alfred M. Durham (1872-1957).  Emotions welled up within me during the chorus.

Seventh speaker was President Stallings.  He displayed a tiny mustard seed to those on the front row.  Make the Sabbath a holy day.  This is the Lord's work and we are His people.  He spoke briefly to leave time for the Dube's.

Eighth speaker was Sister Dube.  Father in Heaven loves us so much.  Prophets and apostles feel of the members' prayers.  Spoke of Prophet Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail.  D&C 121.  Affliction for a short moment.  Told of her daughter at BYU.  

Ninth speaker was Elder Dube.  We have surely been taught.  We could say "Amen" and go home.  Meeting in the upper room of the Salt Lake Temple with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  John 3:16.  Quoted Elder Holland.  "Every age and every nation."  "True nature of our Father in Heaven."  Take His yoke upon us.  Luke 11.  Find rest unto your souls.  Know Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  Search the scriptures.  Luke 22.  Savior observed the Passover with His disciples.  Instituted the sacrament.  Obedience of the Savior to the Father's will.  The price of our pain has been paid by the Atonement.  Observance of the Sabbath.  Spoke of being ordained by President Packer.  Truly grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ.  Follow the counsel of our prophet.  He loves us as do the apostles and Elder Dube does.

The choir sang hymn #2 "The Spirit of God" text by William W. Phelps (1792-1872) and music by Anon., 1844.  In the first LDS hymnbook and sung at the Kirtland Temple dedication.  I got a bit choked up as I remembered singing this hymn at stake conference at an arena in Kentucky 40 years ago with investigator Hugh George with me.  His wife Judy was a member and he joined the Church.  They visited us here in Georgia.

Afterwards we picked up materials for the stake food drive from Lee Snyder.

We headed home, unpacked the car, and got comfortable.  We both took a nap as we got about 6 1/2 hours sleep last night.

I finished the text of my blog entry for 7/26.

On Monday 31 August Eileen slept late and I was up and about early due to my coughing from my cold before I got back in bed to read.  My coughing probably disturbed her sleep somewhat.  All the sugar-free cough drops during the night raised my blood sugar this morning to 98.

We went into town to the post office to put the anniversary card for Sean and Colleen in a padded envelope so the card wouldn't get damaged and also mailed a check to Geoff, a birthday card to Erin, and five more family file cards to the Farr's.  We went to Bryant Physical Therapy for an hour's workout, then checked the food drive boxes at Walmart, taking what had been donated so far.  We were very impressed with how Walmart had made our two displays so much nicer and more visible to shoppers.  We stopped at Lowe's to get a new light switch for our bedroom and checked the food drive boxes at Ingles as well as do some shopping there.  There was a small donation at Ingles which we left in the box.  I thanked T. J. Calvert for whomever had put our two boxes at Ingles on some type of wooden stand so they were up off the floor.

We drove to Ingles in Blue Ridge and filled up at $1.959 with our 10 cent discount.  We shopped at the Taste of Amish store and went to Sue's Best Burgers and Ice Cream to see if they had sugar-free ice cream, but they didn't :(  On the way home our odometer reached our next palindrome of 114411,

At home we watched an old "Who Do You Think You Are" that we hadn't seen which was nice as one of the locations was Annapolis, Maryland.  Then I replaced the defective light switch in our bedroom while Eileen watched an episode of "Georgia Outdoors" called "In Tune With Trees."  She also watched "Cook's Country" and "America's Test Kitchen."

After supper I finished the text of my blog entry for 8/2.  We enjoyed FaceTiming with Heather, Tom, and Liam.

  

We had on the Braves - Marlins ballgame which the Marlins won, 4-0.

Then we had on some "House Hunters" on HGTV.

On Tuesday 1 September we watched the latest "Who Do You Think You Are" with Tom Bergeron which was very good.

I took apart the bed in the pink room in the basement and Eileen vacuumed the basement.  That bed was Eileen's parents.  We will put our bed of almost 50 years that was in our front bedroom in that room.  Eileen discussed the bed with Heather who might like to have it.

I did the check to C-Scapes for the three times they did the lawn in August ($225) and the check to renew our vehicle registration ($198.30).

I called Elder Tanner at the bishops' storehouse in Tucker and discussed the $1000 food assistance for the Fannin County Food Pantry.  Per his instructions I scanned the documents I already had gotten from David Echard and then e-mailed them to President Marcom of the stake presidency.  I called Sherry Morris of the food pantry and mailed her more firms for the homeless / battered women's shelter as Elder Tanner said that they could get the $1000 food assistance, too.

After supper I finished reading "The Lost Empress" by Steve Robinson which I began on 7 August.  It is the fourth genealogical mystery of his that I have read.  The only slip-up in this one was finding something on the 1890 census which was destroyed by fire.  This is one of the three books that I got from Heather last year.

Eileen has been working in the front room on her next painting.

I renewed the Ensign subscriptions for Peggy Espersen and Sabrina Bayless.  I emailed Carol Messina about my efforts in August as family history consultant.

Eileen enjoyed watching the "Treehouse Guys" on the diy network.

I began and finished reading "The Four Just Men" by Edgar Wallace.  I couldn't put it down!

On Wednesday 2 September we enjoyed volunteering at the food pantry.  Even though it was the first Wednesday of the month we just reached 100 families assisted.

Eileen's laptop came today but requires a signature, so we have to get it from the post office.

Fedex delivered the paperwork for our new Freestyle glucose meters from Abbott Diabetes Care.  We will take it with us to Dr. Raisig tomorrow to have him write prescriptions for Rite-Aid.

After an early supper we went to the post office and got Eileen's laptop.  We checked the food donation boxes at Walmart and Ingles and shopped at both stores, too.  We saw Sister Jennifer Boland at Ingles.  Then we went to church, arriving earlier than needed to cover the FHC.  We unpacked Eileen's laptop and she is excited to have it back and working!  We also brought in some food donations we had gotten a few days ago and put them in the large container in the kitchen.

We enjoyed being at the FHC, though the only people we helped were ourselves.  I did research on the Conrad and Elizabeth Metzger family while Eileen worked on her laptop.  She also explained and showed the microfilm reader to young Stuart and Levi Boland.

I discussed my recent email with President Boland concerning the food drive, our missionary applications, and putting items in the Times-Courier.

At home I went into Family Tree and used the new capability of sending someone a message to ask about doing temple work for the Conrad Metzger family.

On Thursday 3 September we went for our haircuts, Eileen to Barbara's and myself to the City Barber Shop.  James Garner did my haircut and in telling him of what we've been up to lately, I told him of our visit to Salt Lake City and our mission.  So he knew we were Mormons and, when I asked him what he knew about us, he said not a lot, though he had known some Mormons and they were good people.  I told him some about the Church and its restoration and asked if he'd like a Book of Mormon.  He said "yes" and gave me his address in Chatsworth.

I got a reply from Darlene Metzger Tracy and she was excited to have someone help with Conrad Metzger's family's temple work.

From there I went to One Source business store and had more posters done for our food drive.  The gal there said she'd be happy to put a collection box there with one of the posters, which she made for herself and didn't charge me for.

I picked Eileen up at Barbara's and had a nice chat with Mary, who volunteers at the food pantry.  She was recovering well from knee surgery and has finished her physical therapy.  Barbara was happy to take some supplies for the stake food drive.

Then we went to North Georgia Eye Clinic just down the street and Patricia there was happy to also take some supplies for the stake food drive.  We went to North Georgia Diamond jewelry store and they took the supplies for the stake food drive.

On the way home we stopped at the fellow who has a small shed almost across from the dump on GA 52.  He had weird gourds, huge pumpkins, and lots of vegetables.  Eileen stops there specifically for the elephant garlics and she also got a gourd for our front porch.

At home I repaired the corn cob holder and put a new corn cob on it.  I filled the three bird feeders and put them back up, one in front that had been torn down and two out back.  One or more black bears are in the area, fattening up for the winter.  So I need to bring in all three bird feeders and the corn cob itself before the sun goes down.

As I was in the basement I put together the bed in the pink room we had brought down from the front bedroom.

I got the library input from Heather Parker today and was able to submit the Kids Ferst newsletter for Gilmer County, though a few days late again.

We returned to town to visit Dr. Raisig to learn of our lab results.  He was very pleased, just as he was in May.  Eileen's A1C dropped again from 6.6 to 6.4 and mine from 5.9 to 5.8.  My triglycerides dropped from 102 to 87 and Eileen's from 183 to 170.  Our HDL and LDL were good.  He said that I no longer need to check my blood sugar.  Eileen should use my blood glucose disks from now on.  He said that my kidney functions, which had disturbed him enough last March to see dialysis in my near future, were back to 100%, which he didn't often see happen.  He will change my blood pressure medication from Atacand HCT, which is actually two medicines, to just Atacand when I get close to the end of my current supply.

I finished reading the 21 June issue of the Church News.  I especially enjoyed 'Apostle visits Scotland, England' with a nice photo of Edinburgh Castle, 'Fathers of the prophets' in the center section, 'General Authority speaks to world religious leaders', '"I will always be obedient"' about M. Joseph Brough, new 2nd counselor in the Young Men general presidency, 'Church responds to call for food bank support', and 'Settling the Salt Lake Valley.'

Eileen enjoyed "How It's Made" on the Science Channel, and "Fixer Upper" and "House Hunters" on HGTV.

On Friday 4 September we got to Bryant Physical Therapy after 11 am and paid them for September.  We worked out for an hour and went to Walmart.  Both boxes for the food drive had lots of canned goods in them.  We shopped a bit and then visited North Georgia Diamond as Eileen had a bracelet that needs some adjustment.

On the way home (we didn't want to miss UPS delivering my laptop today) we got more apples (Stayman Winesap) at R&A Orchards and some yellow squash and green bell peppers at the roadside stand on Big Creek Road.

Eileen and I made the bed in the pink room with all the linens and pillows.

Eileen enjoyed "Lakefront Bargain Hunt" on HGTV.  And later "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on the Food Network.

I have my laptop back and it works perfectly!  We both thank our son William so much!!  I began entering the temple work that has been done since my son got my laptop late in June into my PAF database (beginning with the sealings of couples).  I prepared the six Book of Mormons for those people who said "yes" to my two questions while we were away and one for the fellow who cut my hair yesterday.

After getting the okay from President Boland, I emailed April Teague at the Times-Courier about putting in an ad for the Ellijay Branch monthly for $8.25 which would then allow other articles, such as one about the food drive, at no cost.

On Saturday 5 September I began working on the missionary recommendation forms on lds.org as President Boland had done his part so that we could begin.

We got the new battery that William had ordered for my laptop.  We left home for the post office to mail seven Book of Mormons and then to Murphy, NC, for Eileen to take a three-hour class this afternoon with her new sewing machine at the Bless My Stitches store.

As I relaxed in the "husband's" area of the store, I finished the text of my blog entry for 8/9.  Then I finished reading "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen which I began on 18 August.

Eileen's class was over at 2:30, she being the only student.  We returned to Blue Ridge, filling up at Walmart for $2.039.  Then we visited Darlene Burgess as her home teachers.

Back in Ellijay we went to Walmart and bagged up all the donated cans of food in the two boxes, leaving them there for now.  We checked the boxes at Ingles and shopped there.

During supper we enjoyed watching "Cook's Country" and "America's Test Kitchen" that we had recorded.  Later we watched the "Georgia Traveler Family Special" which we enjoyed a lot.