Saturday, May 23rd, 2026: The indomitable Mary Ellen Edmunds has passed away - oh how I love her!, $5,000 in J's account, "A Provincial Peer", rain clouds - no rain, finished handouts, "favorite sins"

 

Nashville, Tennessee

Temple #83

5 am. prayer first. I then began worrying about James's account as he has been writing checks to Kat & Larry from his account and also his vehicle insurance comes from that account. I checked and he has just a little over $200 in the account. I transferred $5,000. The checks he write to Kat & Larry are always for $200. That's how much he pays them every time they work.

"London society are vultures, waiting for prey." - Georgiana Wood, "The Duke's Bargain."

I started "A Provincial Peer' by Sian Ann Bessey. Here is a short descriptions of the book:

Lord Benning is no ordinary nobleman. The heir to an earldom, he feels more at home working on the farm at his country estate than socializing in the ballrooms of London. (This is in 1796). So when a mysterious, veiled woman mistakes him for a farmhand, he takes the assumption in stride and though he is not offended, he is intrigued. Following a devastating outbreak of smallpox, Caroline Granger and her young daughter Meg, retreat to Caroline's childhood home in the village of Leyfield in Gloucestershire, England. Left widowed and weakened by the ravages of the disease, Caroline wears a veil to hide her facial scars and to prevent the inevitable gasps of horror or murmurs of pity others offer in response to her altered appearance. Caroline is mortified when she learns of her error in addressing Lord Benning - or Benedict, as she called him during their growing up years - as a farmhand. But shared childhood memories and a precocious 4 year old inevitably draw Benedict and Caroline together, and it's not long before she realizes that Benedict accepts every part of her, including her scars. With newfound courage and a growing love for Benedict, Caroline feels the first stirrings of hope. But when the disease that took so much from Caroline finds its way to Leyfield, she stands to lose more than she can bear, and Benedict must decide exactly how much he is willing to risk at a chance for love. - The doctor who actually helped find a cure for smallpox is featured in this story. It is a good one!

One of my very favorite BYU Women's Conference speakers, Mary Ellen Edmunds, passed away. I will always remember and lover her for her sense of humor and her testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I actually finished my handouts today. I ended up with 59 instead of 60. I'm not sure why but now I get to keep a key. Because the talk this lesson is based on is so short I read lots of extra things to supplement my knowledge and remembrance of "I Will Give Away All My Sins to Know Thee." Should I focus on the desires of our hearts and how important they are, or should I tell the conversion story of King Lamon's father from the Book of Mormon. Maybe both.

I walked 12,000 steps, which takes about two hours, did one blogpost, which takes about an hour, and started another before getting caught up reading and working on my lesson. 

I cooked steak for lunch and it was soooo good. I guess you could say it is my favorite food, along with the shrimp at Culver's right now. (My favorites change from time to time.) Here was what James was doing when I called, "lunch time."

Am I ready to get rid of my favorite sins to know God?

Strange things on the table.