On Sunday 27 December Eileen enjoyed "Music & the Spoken Word" followed by the Book of Mormon discussion about 3 Nephi 15 and 17 as we got ready for church.

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

Opening hymn was #214 "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" text by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) and music by John Baptiste Calkin (1827-1905). 

Released lots of members!

Dawson King will be advanced to the office of priest in the Aaronic Priesthood.

Sacrament hymn was #194 "There Is a Green Hill Far Away" text by Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) and music by John H. Gower (1855-1922).

The first speaker was Charmet Chester.  Last Sabbath day of 2015 and look forward to the new year.  Don't dwell on the past year but reflect on what took place.  Think on the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  We can be reconciled with God.  Quoted President Boyd K. Packer from last April's general conference.  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us.  Alma 5:33. "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you." Isaiah 40:11. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."  2 Nephi 1:15. "But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." D&C 6:20. "Behold, thou art Oliver, and I have spoken unto thee because of thy desires; therefore treasure up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love."  3 Nephi 9:14. "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me." She spoke of her father's suicide.  His Savior still loves him.  Quoted Elder Bruce R. McConkie about the atoning sacrifice of our Savior.  Isaiah's prophecies about the Savior.  Repent of our baggage that we may have.

Intermediate hymn was #205 "Once in Royal David's City" text by Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) and music by Henry J. Gauntlett (1805-1876).

The concluding speaker was Craig Chester.  He also spoke about reflecting on the past.  His male perspective versus Charmet's female perspective.  What have we done wrong and how can we fix it.  Spoke on prayer and our level of understanding about it.  Why some are not answered.  Book of James.  Unrighteous desires.  Consume upon your lusts.  Pray for things that we can righteously use.  Matthew 16.  Discernment.  Adulterous generation.  King Benjamin about the natural man.  Cannot serve God and Mammon.  Good and bad wolf inside you.  Who wins?  The one that you feed.  James.  Sufficient grace of the Savior.  Ether 12.  Make weak things become strong.  James.  Submit ourselves to God.  Joseph Smith went to Washington D.C. to see the president of the U. S.  "How do you differ from other religions?"  Gift of the Holy Ghost.  Pres. Henry B. Eyring from last general conference about the Holy Ghost.  Mosiah and King Benjamin.  Yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.  D&C 8.  Spirit of revelation.  2 Nephi 32:9.  Feast upon the words of Christ.  

Closing hymn was #159 "Now the Day is Over" text by Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) and music by Joseph Barnby (1838-1896).

Gospel Doctrine with Darlene Burgess.  She spoke about teaching in general in the Church.  In "Helps for the Teacher" was as follows:

"In a meeting with the Twelve Apostles, the Prophet Joseph Smith “told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (History of the Church, 4:461).

"As a Gospel Doctrine teacher, you have the opportunity this year to teach from “the most correct of any book on earth.” Guided by the Spirit, you will be able to help class members understand eternal precepts and strengthen their testimonies of Jesus Christ, His gospel, and the Prophet Joseph Smith’s mission. You will also be able to help them receive other blessings that come from diligent study of the Book of Mormon, some of which were described by President Ezra Taft Benson: 

“The Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Ne. 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time” (in General Conference, Apr. 1975)

“There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. … When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance” (in General Conference, Oct. 1986).

"As you teach, the Spirit of the Lord will bear witness to you of the power of the Book of Mormon in bringing people to a firm and steadfast knowledge of Jesus Christ and His doctrine."

I coordinated with Ron Fisher and Cheryl Dawson to clean the building on 8 January.

The hymn in priesthood was #30 "Come, Come, Ye Saints" text by William Clayton (1814-1879) and music from an English folk song. 

Dawson King was ordained to the office of priest in the Aaronic Priesthood by his grandfather Oren Hansen, our stake patriarch.

Jay Hanks, the high priests group leader, spoke about beginning PPIs (personal priesthood interviews) with the group members.

The priesthood lesson was the "Teachings For Our Time" talk from the Saturday morning session of October's General Conference by Sister Neill F. Marriott, second counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, entitled "Yielding Our Hearts to God."

"When we open ourselves to the Spirit, we learn God’s way and feel His will."

I read the following:

"Based on this knowledge of the Lord’s mercy and power, my husband, children, and I chose this family motto: “It will all work out.” Yet how can we say those words to one another when deep troubles come and answers aren’t readily available?

"When our delightful, worthy, 21-year-old daughter, Georgia, was hospitalized in critical condition following a bike accident, our family said, “It will all work out.” As I flew immediately from our mission in Brazil to Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, to be with her, I clung to our family motto. However, our lovely daughter passed into the spirit world just hours before my plane landed. With grief and shock running through our family like a current, how could we look at one another and still say, “It will all work out”?

"Following Georgia’s mortal death, our feelings were raw, we struggled, and still today we have moments of great sorrow, but we hold to the understanding that no one ever really dies. Despite our anguish when Georgia’s physical body stopped functioning, we had faith that she went right on living as a spirit, and we believe we will live with her eternally if we adhere to our temple covenants. Faith in our Redeemer and His Resurrection, faith in His priesthood power, and faith in eternal sealings let us state our motto with conviction.

"President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God. … The Lord will not forsake us.”

"Our family motto doesn’t say, “It will all work out now.” It speaks of our hope in the eternal outcome--not necessarily of present results. Scripture says, “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.” This doesn’t mean all things are good, but for the meek and faithful, things--both positive and negative--work together for good, and the timing is the Lord’s. We wait on Him, sometimes like Job in his suffering, knowing that God “maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.” A meek heart accepts the trial and the waiting for that time of healing and wholeness to come.

"When we open ourselves to the Spirit, we learn God’s way and feel His will. During the sacrament, which I call the heart of the Sabbath, I have found that after I pray for forgiveness of sins, it is instructive for me to ask Heavenly Father, “Father, is there more?” When we are yielded and still, our minds can be directed to something more we may need to change--something that is limiting our capacity to receive spiritual guidance or even healing and help.

"For example, perhaps I have a carefully guarded resentment toward someone. When I ask if there is more to confess, that “secret” comes clearly to my memory. In essence, the Holy Ghost is whispering, “You honestly asked if there was more, and here it is. Your resentment diminishes your progress and damages your ability to have healthy relationships. You can let this go.” Oh, it is hard work--we may feel quite justified in our animosity--but yielding to the Lord’s way is the only way to lasting happiness."

It was "taught" by Brother Curtis Bond.  Eileen said that Judy Dorsey did a good job teaching the same lesson in Relief Society.  Judy is a recent convert.

We are still accelerating our reading.  We read chapter seven of the book of Moroni.  I finished reading the talk to Eileen from the Sunday morning session of October's General Conference by President Henry B. Eyring entitled "The Holy Ghost as Your Companion."  I then finished reading a chapter of "An Irish Country Christmas."

We FaceTimed with Colleen and congratulated Spencer as he had the Aaronic Priesthood conferred on him and he was ordained a deacon today.

Later I read myself the talk from the Saturday afternoon session of October's General Conference in the November Ensign by Elder Vern P. Stanfill of the Seventy entitled "Choose the Light." 

I was delighted to observe that in President Eyring's talk the scripture references were embedded in the talk itself, not as a footnote at the end of the talk.  I much prefer it that way and there was only one other talk that I've read so far that did that.  It was by Elder Francisco J. Viñas of the Seventy from the Saturday morning session.

Before we hit the hay I read to Eileen another chapter of "An Irish Country Christmas" and the first talk from the Sunday afternoon session of October's General Conference by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles entitled "Why the Church." 

On Monday 28 December we enjoyed lunch at the Pueblo Mexican Restaurant in Ellijay with Ralph and Holly.  From there we went to Walmart, Ingles, Rite-aid, the post office, and the bank.

At Rite-aid we checked into the very reasonable prices for the Freestyle blood glucose meters and test strips.  We called Dr. Raisig's office to have him call in prescriptions for both of us for the meters.  We'll pay for the test strips.  We are doing so well with our blood sugar that Dr. Raisig doesn't think insurance would cover these things any more.

We watched the Military Bowl with Pittsburgh versus Navy.  Of course, we were rooting for Navy and they won, 44-28.  They were 11-2 for the season.

We lost power at 5:36 before the game was over and the generator came on. I called Amicalola and reported the outage.  Power came back on and the generator shut off at 8:53, after almost 3 1/2 hours.

We are still accelerating our reading.  We finished chapter eight of the book of Moroni.  I finished reading the talk to Eileen from the Sunday afternoon session of October's General Conference by Elder David A. Bednar entitled "Chosen to Bear Testimony of My Name."  We knew that President Monson wasn't in good health when he didn't conclude general conference.  In Elder Bednar's talk the scripture references were embedded in the talk itself!  I then finished reading a chapter of "An Irish Country Christmas."

Eileen enjoyed making a pretty brown flowery runner for herself.  I began researching ancestors in my PAF database who were born in 1904, meaning they're over 110 years old now and permission is not required to do their temple work.

I read the talk from the Saturday afternoon session of October's General Conference in the November Ensign by Elder James B. Martino of the Seventy entitled "Turn to Him and Answers Will Come." 

On Tuesday 29 December the fellow from Arrow came by to check the traps up in the attic.  No flying squirrels were trapped inside the attic, and he removed the traps.

We dropped off bags at the dump and went by Rite-aid for our new Freestyle blood glucose meters.

We visited Bonnie and Randall Helton and gave Bonnie lots of printouts of her ancestors.  We took her family file cards to insure the temple work gets done.

Around supper time we watched Giada de Laurentiis, Ina Garten, and Ree Drummond on the Food Network.

Later we watched programs that I had recorded, i.e., "Sara's Weeknight Meals" with Sara Moulton, "Cook's Country," and "America's Test Kitchen."

I began loading the car for tomorrow and our suitcases were being backed.

We also had on now and then the North Carolina - Baylor bowl game.  Baylor won, 49-38.

Eileen FaceTimed with William, Erin, and Weston.  I worked on the Kids Ferst newsletter and sent it to Richard Armisted at Ferst Foundation. 

On Wednesday 30 December we finished packing and headed north about 9 am.  We stopped at R&A Orchards for the newspaper but they didn't have it yet.  We drove to the Times-Courier office for the paper, but it wouldn't be ready until 9:30 and it was only 9:19.  So we'll get it when we return on Monday.

We stopped at Ingles for gas for $1.689.  Eileen had forgotten cheese at home so she got some there.  Of course, I forgot something, too.  I wanted to take the Mitford book "Come Rain or Come Shine" to start reading to Eileen once I finished "An Irish Country Christmas."  But I forgot.

There were high rivers all along the way due to all the rain we've had.  We didn't encounter much rain until we neared Raleigh.

Just east of Greensboro traffic was at a crawl, so we got off I-40 onto NC 87 then US 64 then US 1 then I-440.  We stopped at Costco and filled up for $1.769, quite good for Raleigh.  We reached Heather's at 5:18 pm.

I began and finished reading "The Lamp A Short Story" by Agatha Christie.

On Thursday 31 December Eileen had fun playing with Liam getting him from his bedroom about 8:25 am.

All five of us opened Christmas presents in our bedroom which was fun.  I got another Star Trek Next Generation Kindle book "Immortal Coil" and Eileen got a mirror for our bathroom that she can use for putting on makeup and fixing her hair.  She also got a little hair spray to try.  Tom got me a New York Jets hat as I've been so good at sending him articles from the New York Times about the Jets.  Unfortunately it was too large, so it will be returned for a smaller size.

Later Eileen and Heather went to visit the tile store while Liam and I watched a cartoon movie "The Emperor's New Groove."  Tom's not feeling so well and was lying down.

I went shopping later at Harris-Teeter to buy the ingredients for our New Year's Eve goodies.  Due to our diet, we will not be having slush this year.  But Eileen made pigs-in-a-blanket, little hot dogs in barbecue sauce, and sausage balls.

I finished the 25 October issue of the Church News.  I enjoyed reading about the groundbreaking of two new temples ("Pres. Uchtdorf dedicates ground" in Tucson and "Ground broken for future temple in Concepcion"), "Forum for mutual support" with Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Elder D. Todd Christofferson visits Mormon Battalion Monument," "Family History Library celebrates its 30th anniversary," "Fulfilling the purpose of Relief Society," and "Keeping our balance" by Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President.

I read the talk from the Saturday afternoon session of October's General Conference in the November Ensign by Elder Randall K. Bennett of the Seventy entitled "Your Next Step" and two talks from the Sunday morning session, "Let the Clarion Trumpet Sound" by Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer of the Seventy and "That They Do Always Remember Him" by Elder Claudio R. M. Costa of the Seventy.

We all enjoyed the goodies as we watched Clemson defeat Oklahoma, 37-17.  Clemson was ranked #1 and Oklahoma #4, yet Oklahoma was favored.

I worked some more on the Palmer family tree and emailed a Sister Tracy who has been doing a lot of work on that line.

 

We didn't even try to make it until midnight!  We hit the hay a little after 11 pm.  Heather and Tom went to bed just before us.  We set the DVR box at home to record lots of fun programs this evening on PBS.

On Friday 1 January we enjoyed the morning with Liam and family as we watched the Rose Parade on HGTV.  I worked some more on the Palmer family tree.

I read the talk from the Sunday afternoon session of October's General Conference in the November Ensign by Devin G. Durrant, first counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency, entitled "My Heart Pondereth Them Continually."  I decided to try to implement his two invitations.  The first was to save money each week which we have started doing.  The second is to "ponderize" one verse of scripture each week.  I selected the first verse of my favorite Book of Mormon scripture, i.e., part of 1 Nephi 1:20:

"But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

We watched "Hagia Sophia: Istanbul's Ancient Mystery" that Tom brought up on the TV.  It can be watched on YouTube for a fee.

After making a big salad for supper, I read the talk from the Sunday afternoon session of October's General Conference in the November Ensign by Elder Von G. Keetch of the Seventy entitled "Blessed and Happy Are Those Who Keep the Commandments of God." 

I finished reading "Tracing Your English & Scottish Ancestors."

On Saturday 2 January we were up early.  We all went out together to Lumber Liquidators for Heather to look into flooring for upstairs.  Eileen got some thread she needed for her runners at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  Heather sent my New York Jets hat back at UPS.

Later Heather and I went to Harris-Teeter and then picked up her barn door for upstairs at Home Depot.

I worked some more on the Palmer family tree off and on throughout the day.

After supper I read the talk from the Sunday afternoon session of October's General Conference in the November Ensign by Sister Carole M. Stephens, first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, entitled "If Ye Love Me, Keep My Commandments."