A New Project

An exciting new project came to us this week, the Tongan Oral Genealogies Project. We have now been given the assignment to prepare theses oral genealogies for publication on the Community Trees on Family Search. There are 487 transcripts so far that have been digitized. We clean them up and then change them into pdf files so they can be matched with the MP3 file of the actual oral recording, given a proper description and then get them up online It is tedious, but thrilling. We are trying to get the first 80 done within a month. Because the work is tedious we are breaking it up with a continuation of the Visitations of London project we began working on. There is still much to be done with that, so when we need a break from the Tongan cropping and filing we will continue with that.

We have had a fun week together. Well, fun may not be the way to describe our Monday night. Ed cut his finger slicing a piece off a summer sausage he had bought. It was 9:30pm at night and it was deep. He could still move his finger joint so we didn't think it was bad enough to go to the emergency room, but it did bleed a lot. He even got blood on some of the old family group sheets my mom had given me to research! I made a late night run to Walgreens for some Neosporin and proper band aids. One of the things that was fun about the week happened the next day as a result of going to the nurse for her to look at it.

The nurse is right by the training area on the 3rd floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg. After seeing the nurse we stood in the hallway and spoke with Elder Kucher who is the Training Zone Leader and a fascinating man. During the course of our conversation he mentioned that there was a Thai couple in training that day who were going back to Thailand for a mission. Now, I knew that there was a missionary and his wife, both whom I had known in Thailand who were heading out in Nov. but we hadn't seen each other yet so I asked if it would be alright if we interrupted their training to say hello. He said sure and led us right to them. I had not seen them for 34 years. He was a missionary at the same time I was there on a mission. I taught her the gospel while I was there and she joined the Church. I didn't know until a few weeks ago that they had married each other. So when I came around the corner and told her who I was (obviously she didn't recognize me since I have put on so much weight no one from my past would recognize me)she just lost it. We both hugged and hugged and held hands and distrupted the entire training area. When people learned that I had been one of the missionaries who helped her join the church they all thought that was pretty cool. Well, actually it was....!
Her husband, Mani, was in the next row and he was wondering what was happening. He was also surprised when he learned it was me. It was just a great moment. I had forgotten, but she told me that before I left Thailand I had told Mani that he should marry her and take her to the temple. He has never forgotten that. I'm so glad for them both. They are a great couple and will be great missionaries in Thailand. Their family and friends their will be so happy to have them return.

That was Tuesday. We returned to our zone and worked for a little while and Kathy Black came from Ogden to do some genealogy so we got to go to lunch together. Then I had physical therapy and felt great afterward. We met my mom and niece for dinner at Paradise Cafe that evening.
What a great day!!!

Wednesday we were shown what we needed to do for the Tongan project and so we got started on that. Thursday I went to dinner with a friend to have Thai food and then went shopping for a black blazer.

Saturday was also a great day. We both exercised and then had a list of errands to run. We started at 11:00am by meeting my friend who manages the mens department at the Nordstrom Rack in Sandy. She had told me she had some great suits on sale so we ended up getting Ed 3 suits. He was hesitant at first, but he seemed to get into it. Each time he came out of the dressing room with another suit on he would say, "So you really want me to get this one too, huh?" This statement would always be said with a little smile on his face that meant, "I've really decided I like these suits, but I want you to coax me a little." It was great fun and we did get some good quality suits that look great on him. He came here with only 3 suits which he has to wear every day. Two of them are 10-12 years old and are in need of some repair so he really needed some more.

Our other errands including dropping things off at family members homes. It was good to see them. I have been here for a month and haven't even seen them yet, so even though it was brief, it was good say hello. We also stopped at my mom's house and delivered my dad's wheelchair back to her. I had thought about it for a couple of days because it was nice to know we still had the chair in case I needed it, but it was time to not have it around. I need to be on my own now. I am so blessed.

Ashley and Aubree took care of a somewhat major problem at our house this week too. We are so happy they are there and very proud of them. Our neighbor had emailed us that we had a dead tree in our backyard. Ashley made calls to many of our friends and was given the name of someone who could come and look at them and give a price. He told them that there were two trees in the back that were dead and another large pine that had pine beetles in it but wasn't dead yet. There was also a sickly tree in the front that should come down. So they came down on Saturday. I am so sad to lose my beloved trees. I'm afraid I left a Woodlands and I'm going to come back to some more like the Panhandle. I am very grateful that our girls were there to handle the problem. Thanks to all of you who may have helped them out.

A scripture was used in prayer meeting this week that I have always loved and I thought about it as I was evaluating my recovery this week and whether or not to return the chair to my mom:

Alma 26: 11-12
But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and i will rejoice in my God.
Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

I feel so blessed. My health is returning quickly and I will be able to do the work I have been called to do because of His tender mercies toward me. I love my Savior and I love this work.