In all fairness, the tulips have been running their course and it was time to pull them up. It doesn't look good to have entire beds of tulips withering away and turning ugly. The amazing thing about The Square is that while many are dieing many are just beginning to open like these:
I like the picture of Brigham Young walking. He is walking through the gardens headed for the temple which we enjoy every week also. It is such a blessing for us to be close enough to walk over any time. We went last week on Wednesday evening. The sun goes down so late now that I was able to get a nice picture from the temple grounds. During the day there are wedding pictures being taken in this part of The Square but that night it was just Ed and I and, like always, he was very patient with me while I tried to get some good pictures.
Wednesday was a special Church Service Missionary devotional at Noon. We always go because the choir sings at all the devotionals. The speakers are always so uplifting. This particular speaker was Joelyn Curtiss, Executive Assistant to the Director of the Church History Department of the Church. She was wonderful! She used a General Conference talk about "Building Bridges" with our past. She reminded me how wonderful it is to know that the work we are doing every day matters eternally and for that reason we should be aware of what we should/could be doing in our own lives to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren. She reminded us that every family has valuable stories to tell and that even things that are insignificant can mean so much to those who come after us. Our struggles and challenges and how we deal with them, even if it takes a long time, can help to strengthen our children and grandchildren in their own struggles in unique ways. They will always know us as old people if we don't record what it was like to be young and the challenges we had to overcome and things that brought us joy or how we gained our testimony of the Savior and His mission.
We were reminded of the influence Pres. Hinckley had on so many young missionaries several years ago when he told of the discouragement he experienced on his mission. Many missionaries struggle today and I recall hearing the words of Pres. Hinckley's father ("...forget yourself and go to work!") being quoted on more than one occasion here in our mission by our young Elders. I'm sure when our Pres. Hinckley wrote that letter to his father he was not thinking that it would be important to anyone later on in his life. The same may be true for us. Who knows how much our words may influence one of our descendants. Sister Curtiss said to us, "If one person reads your story and finds one word of redemption it is worth it."
She quoted Pres. Kimball who said, "Sometimes I don't feel like writing (he wrote every night)but I'm glad that for my posterity I recorded those things that needed to be recorded." Then she said, "Reading (and recording) diaries builds a bond of friendship with those who we plan to spend eternity with." This struck a key with me. I have been thinking about who might meet me and help me when I die and go to the other side. I want to know them and to feel comfortable with them when we meet. I want to recognize them and be able to say "thank you" for the legacy they left me.
Sister Curtiss closed by reminding us about the event recorded in the Book of Mormon when Christ visited the Nephites. He asked for the records to be brought and then asked why certain events had not been recorded. She quoted President Eyring who asked us all, "How would you like to be the one reprimanded by the Lord? If you think you've been embarrassed before, try this one?"
I know from my own research how important a personal history is. I am enjoying reading the histories that my mother has about her family as I scan them for my family. They were colorful, talented, well read, highly regarded and faithful individuals. I am so grateful that I can know some of them. As I mentioned, this devotional was on Wednesday and then we went to the temple Wednesday evening so it was impactful for me. I hope I can be better.
The rest of the week was full also. Our Monday devotional was especially good because our mission president, Dennis Simmons, spoke to us and read us a book by Carol Lynn Pearson called, "The Lesson". I had to find it on the internet that night to buy it because it was a good one.
We are working hard to get more records up online. I have been working on genealogies from the Cook Islands and the Austral Islands. We don't have many of these so the files are small and I should have them finished by next week. I am still working on Sister Mapu's personal history and helping with the Ghana redo. (Yes....we have to correct missing locations and names in the 1100 Ghana records we have put up to make them better. )
We also have a set time for our 4 hours of personal research time that we are supposed to take each week. Ours is now every Friday afternoon. It is great to have the time to find sources for my ancestors. Each thing I find helps me become closer to them. I especially love it when I can find a picture! (I have confirmed that my missing jaw and too many chins is a Mumford family trait! ^_^)
Ed took the time to get a haircut. He has always wanted to wear his hair shorter than I liked so he had a huge grin on his face when he came through the door on Friday evening after visiting the barber. I told him that it was too short and that I thought it made him look older (which Autumn totally contradicted when we saw them on Saturday) but he quickly came back with the response that the barber told him to use....."tell her that I cut Elder Todd Christofferson's hair last week just the same way so you have a General Authority haircut!" Yeah....I didn't think that made it any better either, but what is a girl to do. (For the record: I asked to take a picture of him for the blog to show the haircut but I was refused!)
Saturday we went to lunch with Autumn and Derrick in Provo. Still playing the waiting game for this grandson but it is all good. We enjoyed being together. Autumn is such a cute pregnant person.
So....that is a my week. The rose bed looks great and the cabin plants are growing quickly. The North bed looks the same with the tall tulips and the Museum and FHL beds are probably next to be changed out. The beds with the Forget-me-not's was totally stripped yesterday so I am happy I took the picture last week. I am excited to see what will happen next.....
Actually I hope that by next Sunday I will be able to post a picture of our grandson!!
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