Edison Comes to Work

Yep! The highlight of my week was taking our grandson to work with me on Wednesday. I was the most popular missionary on the floor because Edison is so cute and was such a good baby. Even the young elders enjoyed coming and talking with him and having him grab their fingers and smile at them. I actually had to remind one of them that it was time for him to go back to work. Edison napped a little in the morning but was otherwise very interested in playing with his toys. In the afternoon he took a 2 1/2 hour nap so I really was able to get a lot of work done so I think that I will try it again this week. As he gets more mobile it will probably not work as well, but by that time we will be well on our way with loading Ghana online. We are starting Monday morning and it will be grand!
This is Edison helping me stay hard at work. He is on the floor right next to me and the light shining on him is coming from the window of the JSMB on the east side. I have a picture below to show you the window by which I work each day now. (I put a blue box next to it so you can see which one. It's to the right of the blue box.)

I have moved to another station outside of the row with the other people I work with because we didn't have enough spaces. Our replacement couple started with us last Monday and they will work out great. The both teach beginning computer at Portland Community College and are here for 9 months because they have to go back to work. With the new senior missionary flexibility they decided they could go on a 6 month mission and extend for 3 months and that would work out for them and the school. Great, huh? Now that seniors can do a 6 month mission I suspect the Church will see much more activity. There is so much to be done!

We have had a busy week. There are always things to do and we are way behind on our own personal research because Africa and New Zealand are consuming us. Ed is not sleeping much since he returned from being with his mom back east so she has been going in to work at 4:30 or 5:00am. If anyone in authority knew about this I think we might be called into the President's office, but we are so anxious to have this backlog of records organized and some parts finished before we leave. Your prayers for us would help if you feel so inclined.

Each time we feel that we have it all put together correctly we will test the next stage and then we find something else that needs fixing! Isn't that just the way it goes. But we are not discouraged or deterred! We are on the Lord's errand and we know we can do it.

The mountains have brought such beautiful color this week. I wanted to get a picture, but we haven't been in a place where that would be possible. I'm hoping we can make a trip into a canyon early on Saturday before General Conference. It would be a great way to begin the weekend to see the fall colors changed by God's hand.

One of my sisters and one of my brothers hiked up the Timp trail yesterday and she was telling me of these two young men, mid 20's, who had hiked all the way up and then slid down the glacier to make the descent faster. Both we banged up pretty bad because of the time of year and the glacier melt which exposes rocks, etc. but they were hobbling down slowly and when my sister passed them they had stopped and she heard them say...."look at that tree....that is awesome!...the colors are gorgeous!" They turned to her and said, "We came up in the dark and we didn't see this then. Isn't this amazing?"

Here were two young men who were obviously in pain, but stopped to look at the colors of the leaves on a tree. How often do I take no notice of the beauty of nature and just feel peace in the moment? Shame on me.

I am so grateful for the bits and pieces Heavenly Father gives to us to help us get through the day knowing that He is there and that He wants us to live in a place while we are away from Him that is as beautiful as He can make it. Rainbows, fall colors and of course.....
sunsets. ^_^
Goodnight!

Signs of My Time

I thought I would share images to tell about my week.


You may ask why am I putting up a picture of a parade float? Good question...
This happens to be a photo I took on 25 July this year at the pioneer parade in downtown Salt Lake City. Today at our Stake Conference one of the speakers was Susan Black who was the organizer of the committee to create a parade float from our Stake for the parade this year. This is that float. It was very interesting to hear about the creation process and the little miracles that happened during this project. As you can see the float is very busy. It includes 5 different faiths with prominent congregations in the downtown area....actually the five that reside within the boundaries of our stake, the Ensign Stake (the oldest stake in the Church). For a number of years now these 5 congregations have come together for different projects in the community like many other communities around the country. When the stake was asked to provide a float Sister Black was inspired to use this as the theme and to represent the uniqueness of the entire faith community. I love that the Tabernacle is not at the front of the float, but at the center. I really like the different houses from the Avenues as well as the wonderful photos around the float.

Taking the "many faiths" theme further in stake conference, our wonderful President spoke of his experiences being part of the Interfaith Committee meetings and getting to know the other ministers in the area. He testified that he believes they are men of God, going about doing many of the things that the Savior did when he was on the earth, giving service. Pres. Ames spoke of becoming sensitive to the statement we sometimes make: I know this is the only true church on the earth. The fact is that many churchs in the world have truth. He recalled how President Hinckley had invited people from all faiths to come and join us and bring with them what they know and we will add to it. I remember as a missionary in Thailand how the Thais would tell us, "All religions teach men to be good." How true that is.


Today was also probably the last time I will have an opportunity to sing in the Tabernacle choir seats. So Ed and I had our picture taken in front of the pipes and I took a picture of the chair I sat in....men's side, 5th row up on the inside next to the pipes. (Also right next to the stairs that go behind the pipes and yes, I explored and almost got locked out....)

It was an amazing morning on Friday. It was cloudy but not raining here yet as I walked from the apartment to work. I really had no reason to turn around and look behind me, but I did and I saw the rainbow. I hurried to the JSMB and took the elevator to the 10th floor because I knew it would be amazing to see the temple with the rainbow behind it. These pictures do not show the beauty of those moments, but I wanted to share what I had. Fortunately we were having our devotional on the 10th floor so many from our zone got to see it and one of our favorite young elders was assigned the thought. He talked about how it made him feel to see the rainbow, "I think it's so cool that God makes science fun!" He bore his testimony about the beauty of the earth and everything in it that God gave us. I so agree.

I had such a great experience watching the full moon rise from behind the mountains one evening. Again, a picture just doesn't do justice to the real thing, but you can see how big the moon is just to the right of the street lamps just below the center of the picture. Zooming in you can see how the moon is lighting the clouds around it. I had fun taking these photos in the cool evening breeze.

With the cooler weather comes the changing colors. These color changes at the Square signal it is time to take another drive to the canyons and see the changes beginning there before too much time passes. Maybe this weekend. For now, I will enjoy the fall colors still lingering in the valley.


It is still amazing to watch the preparations for winter and the holiday lights on the Square. All week long there have been two lifts and 4-6 people working in the cedar from Lebanon. Since they only light it once every other year I have been interested in the care they take in putting on the lights. One of the gardeners told me it wasn't as harmful to the tree now that they use the LED lights because they do not put out any heat but the tree still suffers just from having people climbing around in it and new growth branches getting damaged. Can't wait to see it with snow and these red lights!


Enjoyed a visit with "Texas" friends this week....isn't it wonderful how memories keep us close.
That thought brought me to share this sweet photo I took of baby Edison asleep next to his great grandmother Moulder when we visited her in the hospital in Pennsylvania recently. I love that he was holding her finger so contentedly. He is soooo cute!!!

I couldn't let the post end without another of my wonderful sunsets. I wish I knew why the sunrise and sunset moves me so much, but I am glad for the feeling it gives me to see these beautiful events. I am happy to share them.

Goodnight.

A Somber Night and Flashy Lights

It is 9:50PM and Ed and I just returned from walking together on Temple Square. I returned from choir practice about 8:45pm to find Ed in his robe at the computer. I sweetly said to him, "Honey, would you like to go for a walk with me?" He carefully looked at me and after just a hint of a pause responded, "Sure, I'd love to walk with you." Into the bedroom he went and as he started to find a shirt he asked the harder question....."Are you wanting to walk on Temple Square or around it?" Now, we both know the mission rules. If you are on the Square you are supposed to wear your suit, white shirt, tie and badge. I was in my Sunday clothes still, hence the question, but Ed really tries to avoid the suit whenever he can. But I wanted to walk on Temple Square with my sweetheart tonight. My look communicated my answer and confirmed his fear but all he said was, "Ok, it'll take me a little longer."

Out into the night we went. It is 61 degrees, 52% humidity with a light breeze with a 40% chance of rain. The streets were quite empty as was the Square. At 9:00 the buildings on the Square close but the gates are open until 10:00pm so we walked around looking at the temple and feeling the night air. About 20 minutes into our walk we began to hear distant rumblings so we decided to turn back and head to the apartment hoping not to get caught in the rain. We headed out the West Gate and there it was in front of us off in the distance......fireworks! No rumbling thunder for us; instead, a wonderful light show. We stood right there on the sidewalk and watched across the street and through some trees that gave us a perfect view. At one point Ed put his arms around me and in touching me I could tell he had to be uncomfortable in the humidity in his suit coat. Now, grant you it isn't really that humid, but it was more so than we are used to and Ed feels it more than I do.

Maybe it was the fact that Ed taught a lesson on eternal marriage today at church, maybe it was that he had been away from me for almost two weeks (he returned late Friday night), maybe it was that he is just a good man, but he told me in no uncertain terms that he was happy to be with me on a walk even if it was a little humid and he had to wear a suit. (At that point he did remove his suit coat and carried it back to the apartment.....we were off the Square. ^_^)

It was so peaceful out tonight. On this day, I am grateful for peace. There is so much of sadness and despair in the world. Fires, floods and thoughts of 9/11 filled my thoughts today but those thoughts were accompanied by thoughts of gratitude for the Constitution of the United States. For those men who signed that document and what it meant for them and their families. Their lives were never the same. They had such a vision and they knew it was from God.

I am grateful for all those who have dedicated their lives to ensure this freedom for us; to make it possible for Ed and I to have a peaceful walk to enjoy the spirit of a religious place at 9:00 o'clock at night without any fear. We enjoyed the night and the lights.

Family Reunion

I have to say that with Ed in Pennsylvania I truly do believe that this life is just not enough time to spend with family. Ed sent me a flash drive for work and inside was a little note: "Hi Honey. I love you. Where are you. I am here alone. See you on Friday. Love Ed." As I used to say: Loneliness is the lack of a specific person. I am so grateful for eternal marriage; that families CAN be together forever.

One of the many little signs up around the mission is one that tells us: Heavenly Father is organizing a family reunion and I am helping!

With Ed in PA and trying to recover from a bad cold I didn't do much but try and help keep things going at work. One incident was memorable. We have a Samoan sister who is transcribing audio tapes made in Samoa in the 1970's. Last week she came to me upset with the content of a certain history she was doing. It included stories of power, greed, control, murder and other unsavory subjects. She did not want to include these stories as they were difficult to listen to and she thought not very relevant to the genealogies of these families. I quickly prayed to give the right answer to her. The answer came just as quickly. I told her that I'm sure Joseph was sick at heart as he translated the plates and included the stories of the women and children being thrown into the fire because of their faith or feeling the fear of the Lamanite girls who were kidnapped by the wicked priests of Noah. The Old Testament is filled with stories that are difficult for us to comprehend, but these stories bring us gratitude for our blessings and awe at the faithfulness of those who lived through these circumstances with honor and integrity.

I am so thankful to be here and to have the opportunity to do this work. I know this is where the Lord wants us right now. I am grateful for the spirit of Elijah that has been planted in my heart.