Miracles All Around

Over the winter I had wondered why the flower beds on east side of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB) (between the JSMB and the old Church Admin Bldg.) were covered with white fabric sheeting and the beds on Temple Square were not. Rarely do we use those east doors because we work in the Family History Library west of Temple Square and there really isn't any reason to go there. But each Sunday,the JSMB is closed to the public and it is only the east doors that are opened for members to attend Church meetings so we do go in and out. Today I think I have solved the mystery of the white sheeting. (This is just me thinking and I have not verified any of this with anyone who might know so please be careful with what I say)

As we left the building today after our meetings I was in a spiritually beautiful place, happy with the world. I was looking forward to taking the 2nd set of photos of the developing beds on Temple Square. Coming through the doors into the light we all were oohing and awwing about the colorful pansies and crocus in the beds. The sheets had been removed sometime in the last two weeks (we didn't go that way last week because of conference) and there were flowers already!! (As you can see from my photos, there are not that many flowers in the T Square beds. See below. In fact, we had a snow storm last Tuesday which I have also shared some pictures of because all the beds were covered in a heavy spring snow. Wonderful for snowballs and snowmen and yes, we threw them at each other...the balls, not the snowmen ^_^).

So I wondered again, why would these beds be covered and not the others? Well, here is what I think.

By covering the beds the ground would be warmer when the sun came out. By having warmer beds the seeds would mature faster and the plants would come through the soil faster. When they come through the soil they blossom faster. Why do I think those beds needed to blossom faster? Well, it is just a guess, but maybe, just maybe, the wonderfully skilled master gardeners of the grounds wanted those beds to be beautiful as quickly as possible because when President Monson looks out his office window this is what he will see and they wanted him to see spring as soon as they could arrange it! What do you think? Does that sound feasible to you? I think it is wonderful what they do on the grounds here. Everything is so well planned.

I was so excited last week to share the growth of the beds on my blog thinking that spring had finally come. But what a surprise Monday afternoon brought! We walked home from the Library (one block) and by the time we got up to our apartment (8 floor elevator ride) it was beginning to snow.


Ed ran out for a couple of things but within 10 minutes the snowflakes were so large they were floating in the wind.

I took a picture of him walking back across the parking lot to the building. We thought that because it had been so warm the snow wouldn't stick, but boy were we wrong! By Tuesday morning it did not look like spring was just around the corner, it looked like it was miles miles away. I laughed at how positive I had been about spring, so I made my way onto T Square before going to work to get pictures at the places I had taken them on Sunday. Snow was covering everything!



I'm afraid I was in the way of the guys clearing the walks but they were kind. Anyone who walks on the Square after a snow with the sun shining knows there is one hazard to watch out for besides the slick walkways. You can't walk under the eaves of the Tabernacle because the warming roof causes the snow to slide right off and you will get hit with falling snow. I had to get by Door 11 to get one picture so I watched and waited for the right moment, being careful not to move too fast(falling is against mission rules). I tried to make it under the eaves but alas.....I got dumped on!

Fortunately the snow was still fresh enough that it wasn't ice so it didn't hurt, but it was still wet. Oh well. I took a picture of my personal pile of snow.

By Tuesday evening the sun was again melting the snow and by Wednesday it was gone except for the big mounds built by the snowplows on the streets. So today I took the pictures of the same spots.



A few flowers have come up and it is nice to see the color, but the most exciting thing is the promise of more!

We had another busy week. Tuesday we had a pizza party given by the department head as a "Thank You" for the extra effort put in by the many who helped us get a record number of Africa genealogies up by the deadline. It was a great team effort so that was nice. One of our missionaries had to have heart surgery for 5 bypasses so we visited him. He has a handicapped wife so we were concerned about her too but all has gone well and he will be home tomorrow.

Wednesday Ed and I went to the temple after work and did more family names. I LOVE doing that!

Thursday a couple who is about to go home to Nauvoo, Ill. gave a presentation on the building of the Nauvoo Temple. Brother Shurtz represented the Peoria Stake on the Nauvoo Temple Committee so he took pictures of the construction of the temple and he and Sister Shurtz shared some of their experiences from their journaling. I think they would be okay with me sharing this little anecdote. During the Temple Dedication Services the General Authorities who were there stayed inside the temple between sessions and food was brought in to them and rooms prepared for them to rest. (Otherwise they would have been mobbed outside.) Brother and Sister Shurtz were staying in town but had no access to a kitchen and she was supposed to be helping with providing cookies. She called her daughter and asked her to make a bunch of cookies which she did and they were sent up with the other food. In a little while the empty tray was brought down and there was a little handwritten note that said, "Could we please have some more of the chocolate chip cookies?" It was signed President and Sister Hinckley.

Isn't that a cute story? (I think I want that recipe!)

Friday I went to work early so I could take extra time for lunch and met some friends from the past for a long lunch. Ed and I went to dinner with a missionary couple that evening. Saturday I met my mother, my brother and my niece at the Family History Library and we spent a couple of hours working to find sources on our own family and then Ed and I ended the day playing games in our apartment with some other missionary couples.

It was another great week for me.

President Simmons (our mission president) prepared an article for the monthly electronic Mission Newspaper and in it he told about a talk given by Elder Howard W. Cheney to his zone on August 24,2010. The following is a part of what the President told us from Elder Cheney's talk:

“When someone asks me what I enjoy the most about my mission experience my answer is that every day I am blessed to do things I cannot do. Each day we serve, if we are observant and sensitive, we may witness miracles that take place in the Lord’s marvelous work of redemption. It would take many hours to discuss just a few of them, however I would like to briefly mention some of those I have been privileged to witness.”
“They range from the miracle involved in stupor of thought forcing us to back up to an error that we have inadvertently made so we may correct it before we move forward, to the miracle of reading languages that we cannot read, and writing that is
illegible, yet we are blessed to read it as the need arises. Another significant miracle we see is the Lord providing very special people with very specialized skills at the precise moment when they are needed. The volunteer who just happened to arrive when we were in the process of millions of very old and difficult Spanish records for the temples. Brother and Sister Endrek came to this country where their daughter was a citizen because Brother Endrek’s kidneys were failing. He had dialysis three times a week. He learned from his daughter who learned from a missionary having dental work done in her office that we needed help with Spanish. A most coincidental process? Or a miracle? I was amazed the first Saturday that Brother Endrek came to work with me at his ability to read the mid-1600 Spain Spanish records. He spoke no English and I asked his daughter and wife how he could read this so fluently. They indicated that he was a retired professor of languages at the Cordova University in Argentina. He told me that the records were not in Spanish but an ancient pre-Spanish language. He read fluently what the rest of us could not begin to read, not only was the language difficult but the quality of the records was very poor. He helped us process roughly four million names of this very difficult Spanish for the temples. It took about a year and during the entire time he was receiving kidney dialysis and yet continuing to serve each day. When the work was completed he was released from this life and taken to be with so many whom he had served.”

It is true that miracles are everywhere. If we are wise and sensitive enough to spiritual things, we will see them all around us. I believe Joseph Smith's promise: "If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates." If we live up to our privileges....what miracles may be found all around us!

In case you didn't know......I love being here.