Fall Foliage, Labors, Geese, Graves, Oct. 8 - 13

Monday, Oct. 8th

Bristol Mountain

Bristol Mountain

BRISTOL MOUNTAIN
We rode with Bonds to Bristol Mountain and joined other couples to take the Fall Foliage ski-ride.  The colors had begun to turn but were not in their full glory. However,  the day was warm and dry and beautiful.  We ate our lunch outside on the picnic tables then took a leisurely stroll to enjoy the beauties around us.  Sister Lindsay and I gathered leaves of all colors.  We both saw how beautiful the chorus of leaves were but when we went to gather individual ones each had its flaws.  A bit like the human race I’m afraid. Glorious to behold together yet none of us perfect.  I thought about the leaves on the trees of the temple stained glass.  The artist states that the leaves represented the Children of Israel.  I suppose these fall leaves could do the same.

Bonds have been so kind to share their Deseret and Church News with us.  We have a running joke about how Elder Bond feels pressure to get it read so he can leave it in our mailbox.  Truth be told, I think the pressure comes because a new edition arrives every few days.   

In the September 2nd Deseret News “Voices” page there was an editorial ‘No work is insignificant’ . 

Ray and the children would tell you that as the children grew up I could be heard to saw things like, “I don’t care what you choose to do, just do it well.”  Or in my more frustrating times I might say  “I don’t care what you choose to do, just don’t be an idiot.”

So I had a good chuckle when I read a quote from this newspaper article credited to Martin Luther King, Jr.  “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry.  He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’”

Tuesday, Oct. 9th

View on the Bristol Mountain Ski-ride.

I have taken the challenge of President Nelson to take a fast from social media for 10 days.  That hasn’t been extremely hard.  And also to read the Book of Mormon by years end.  I thought it fun that my ward, daughter, and friends have all given me charts to mark my progress. So quick to respond to the call of a prophet. 

In addition to my scripture study I have been reading ‘The Wright Brothers’ by David McCullough.  I quite like the way he writes and I am enjoying the book when I find a moment or two to read.  

NOTE: When I was in high school, I had a chance to take a computer class.  This was much different than what you might think of today.  The computer was as big as a room and was housed at the community college in Moses Lake, WA.  At Connell HS was a punch machine we would use to create punch cards.  Each card was a line in the program code.  We would punch out a stack of cards, someone would haul them to Moses Lake, they would enter the cards into the computer and the computer would spit out the results on a print out.  Then the print out  and cards would come back to Connell HS and we would look for errors, make corrections, prepare a new stack of cards and the process would start over.  Sometimes we would write math formulas, sometimes a design.  I remember one student was set on earning enough money to own a Rolls Royce so we wrote a program that would print out the logo. What was interesting about this was that one student, Bart McKay was full of ideas, I could not think of anything.  But most of the time Bart’s program had mistakes.  I was great at correcting the mistakes.  So together we made a pretty good team.

As I was reading about Orville and Wilbur Wright I found this description of them that seemed to reflect my own experiences.

 "Many men are better fitted for improving chances offered them than in turning up the chances themselves.” 

 The early part of the week was warm so we tried to get as many bike rides in as we could.  We found some geese playing and diving on the canal. (best if viewed full screen)

Beauties along the Erie Canal Trail
The light green is Algae growing on a stagnant pond along the trail.

Bonnie Hayes, Director of Palmyra Historic Society

Ducks along the Erie Canal

Annual Palmyra Cemetery Walk

Saturday, October 14

 The temple was full today which is such a joy.  4 of the 5 sessions were beyond capacity.  4 own endowments through out the day.  Baptistery was busy as well with the YSA ward and new converts attending, a wedding and several initiatory patrons kept us all happily busy doing the Lord’s work.

In the evening we went with the Bonds to the Annual Palmyra Cemetery Walk.  It has turned bitter cold...OK 40 degrees. But it feels cold compared to the 70 degree weather we have been having.  We bundled up and walked through the cemetery with a rather large group.  From time to time we would come upon a vignette of someone buried there who told their life story.  There were all kinds of characters.  Several surrounding the civil war, a policeman, Churchill, General Cornwall, and even E. B. Grandin played by some site missionaries.  It was all done very well with good costuming, props, and microphones so you could hear.  Besides getting cold, I enjoyed it very much.

A favorite as I continue to learn the lessons of the temple.

Doctrine & Covenants 78:17-18

Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;  And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

General Conference, Oct.1 - 7

Monday, Oct. 1st

It is hard to believe it is October already.  The leaves are starting to turn and we are all bracing for winter.  We purchased some rubber matts for the car to help with the winter snow and salt.  They look rather nice. 

FHE was at the Welcome Center at the Sacred Grove.  We filled the room and had a joyful lesson by Elder Robins.  He shared lessons learned from the First Vision.  I was enthralled by his knowledge and testimony.  And uplifted by the workings of the Lord in these the latter-days.  One of my favorite quotes we read was from Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 
“would you like a formula how to get personal revelation?  It might be written in many ways.  My formula is simply this:  

1. Search the scriptures, 

2. Keep the commandments, 

3. Ask in faith.  

Any person who will do this will get his heart so in tune with the Infinite that there will come into his being, from the ‘still small voice’, the eternal realities of religion.  And as he progresses and advances and comes nearer to God, there will be a day when he will entertain angels, when he will see visions, and the final end is to view the face of God.”

This pattern was also taught by our current prophet, President Nelson in the April 2018 conference.  I continue to reflect on his words.

“The Prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us to follow in resolving our questions.  Drawn to the promise of James that if we lack wisdom we may ask of God, the boy Joseph took his question directly to Heavenly Father.  He sought personal revelation, and his seeking opened this last dispensation. In like manner, what will your seeking open for you?  What wisdom do you lack?  What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand?  Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph.  Find a quiet place where you can regularly go.  Humble yourself before God.  Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father.  Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.  Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart.  And then listen!  Write the thoughts that come to your mind.  Record your feelings, and follow through with actions that your are prompted to take.  As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will ‘grow into the principle of revelation…..”

I love this!  And I am trying to develop this more fully in my life.

Thursday, Oct. 4th

Last night was rough.  Ray went to bed early while I worked on his father’s history.  A few hours later he awoke with a terrible pain in his stomach. This caused great distress and fear.  Was it an ulcer returning, what was the cause?  Laying down made it worse.  So I helped him get comfortable on the chaise part of the couch where he could sit up and stretch out his legs.  It is wider than the regular couch so more comfortable.  I took his blood pressure which was a little elevated due to the pain but nothing alarming.  I got a heating pad for him and put a pan nearby in case he needed to throw up.  He rested this way for a while.  I stayed nearby.  (Well, that’s all you can do in an apartment anyway.)  After some rest in this way he decided to go to bed.  The journey there chilled him so the heating pad followed and I tucked him in.  As I watched him shiver I thought I might lay next to him to help warm up the bed but his response was so sharp against it that I fled the room and struggled to find sleep on the couch.   I’m sure his fear and pain had taken control of his good senses.

By morning the pain had passed and we were able to complete our temple assignment, clean the apartment, repair the front door striker plates for ours and Bond’s apartment,.

The weather is holding so we took our bike ride to Newark to do the laundry…

On Ray’s ride to Newark at the last hill, he lost his momentum and tumbled toward the canal.  This must have been scary for him and he arrived at the laundromat with his back and sides covered with debris.  Lucky for him, no abrasions or broken bones.  Though I think he may be sore tomorrow.  

He changed into a clean shirt. 

I headed home on the bike, being careful of the muddy trail filled with falling leaves and twigs.  I arrived home safely.  While biking, I spoke with Kristi, Sharee and Sean.  That is a lovely way to pass the time.  I got home around 7pm.  It was getting dark. 

We headed to Walmart for a rug for the entry, a light for over the mirror in the bedroom, and a few odds and ends.

Friday, Oct. 5th

I spent a good part of the day working on the history for Ray’s father, George Pickup.  It has been fun to gather stories and pictures.  But is quite time consuming.  Ray busied himself with projects around the apartment, getting a bigger rug, setting up FHE speakers, etc.  I also cleaned out my work area (a constant battle).  Somehow the day slipped by without getting out on a bike ride.  We watched the BYU game vs. Utah State.  It was a frustration for us but I’m guessing not for the Utah fans.

Saturday, Oct. 6th - Sunday, Oct. 7th 

General Conference - I took lots of notes, felt strengthened by the spirit, and set some personal goals.  I had questions answered and a renewed sense of God's love for His children.  There was an emphasis on strengthening our homes and the powerful influence of righteous woman.  The music often had me in tears as did many of the messages.  What a joy to have living prophets, seers, and revelators.  As well as other righteous, prepared men and women who delivered powerful sermons for our day. The personal stories provided insight and examples of how to implement the principles of the gospel in our lives.  There are way too many quotes to share all but one that gave me strength, hope and something to strive for was from M Joseph Brough - "We can and should find joy when we face hard things."  

I'm thrilled at the additional 12 temples that were announced.  What a time to live on the earth.  When I was a young girl there were only 12 temples in the whole world.  Now there are 159 operating temples, 11 under construction, and 31 announced. (201 in all)  Map of temples around the world   This is an amazing blessing to all of God's children. 

Sunsets and Fire, Kings & Queens, Sept. 24 - 30

Friday,  September 28th

Ray has been working on repairs around the apartment.  He took the back door off earlier this week and repaired the bottom and added a new rubber seal.  It looks quite nice.

I worked on a lot of family history today and printed some 50 or so ordinances

We got a late start to our bike ride today.  We rode out the hill Cumorah the long way down Stafford Road to avoid the highway and traffic.  

On the way we noticed a parade was starting and found this rather curious until we learned that it was homecoming.  New Yorkers like their parades and look for lots of reasons to hold them.  We didn’t linger to watch it.  We did feel a little strange on the part of Stafford road where the parade would go, passing those waiting for something a bit more spectacular than two old people on their bikes.

We hurried to get home before dark startled by a cannon burst that marked the beginning of the game.

As we rode onto Main Street we saw a large plumb of smoke toward the east and heard multiple emergency response vehicles heading in that direction.  There were a few minutes of daylight left so we ventured down to find the cause.  Just a few blocks away from us we discovered a warehouse on fire.  Many emergency responders were there but not one fire truck, yet.  The fire departments are all volunteer in this area making response time delayed.  I’m guessing many were coming from the game.

Soon there was a huge flame that rose up between the buildings.  This was not good.  Luckily, the water hoses were ready and they were able to distinguish it rather quickly.  We hung around just to watch.  In the end over 7 trucks came from neighboring towns and I would guess some 20+ vehicles.   In the end the ladder truck sent a firefighter over the roof to examine the damage and any lingering problems.

Saturday, September 29th

We had a lovely day in the temple.  Many patrons came.  It is always rewarding to fill up the sessions. We again headed out on our bikes to the Hill Cumorah.  We spent some time in the Visitor’s Center with the interactive displays and watched most of a film but had to leave to bike back before dark. 

Sunday, September 30th

On the way to church today we read and studied about Queen Esther.  And then watched the video presentation the church has produced.  One from seminary years ago and a recent one about courage that parallels current courageous woman.  They are inspiring. Video links:  Courage    For Such a Time as This

Our lesson in SS was on the Sabbath Day then I helped in Primary.  As I came in Sister Eurich asked if I was ready to teach the YM/YW and primary children the Christmas Songs.  Sure !?!  Luckily I had about 20 minutes to pull something together.  One of the songs was Away in a Manager.  So we learned the one from the Children’s Songbook.  It went very well.  Sometimes no prep time is better. I was impressed with Andrew.  He is a senior, tall, big football player.  I watched as he kindly interacted with the primary children and won over one of the young girls.  Earlier as we were learning and singing, this little girl would just stare at me and not sing a word.  Almost defiant, though I really could not tell for sure.  However, when Andrew sat by her and helped her read the words to O Little Town of Bethlehem, I caught her out of the corner of my eye singing along.  What great power is the example of youth.  I wanted to through my arms around Andrew and tell him what a great influence he has and will have on those around him. 

Sister Carberry sent me home with a pint of her homemade canned peaches.  Yummy!  She is so sweet!

I got a nice nap this afternoon.  I must have needed it as I slept several hours.  The rest of the day I spent working on activities, writing in the blog and journal, cooking stew for dinner, and things like that.  Brian called and talked to Ray which was heart warming and a welcome joy.

Ray and I talked about future plans for missions wondering what we would like to do next.  We shall see where the spirit takes us.  There is an article in the Church New about senior missionary opportunities putting it in our minds to think about.We don’t know if there can be a mission so wonderful as serving in the temple.  In fact, we struggle a bit when we are not there to remain peaceful and kind. 

 One of our early challenges extended in our training was to see the temple in the scriptures as we read them daily.  This has been a rewarding experience for me.  In the break room at the Palmyra temple hangs this picture by Minerveh Tiechert.
I have pondered on this and suddenly one day I realized that this scripture was not just for the living but through the temple ordinances we can lift and rescue those who have gone before whose life experiences were harsh and strained without the good news of the gospel to help them through.  But the Lord has not forgotten them and we can carry them back to their Savior having administered saving ordinances that will heal all of life's wounds.  

Isaiah 49:23  And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers:...But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: 52:9-10 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.